Mass Effect: Reaper Dreams

Mirror Mirror (Part 1 of 2)

"Science fiction films are not about science. They are about disaster, which is one of the oldest subjects of art."

Susan Sontag

February 28th, 2188

Subject Zero

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Ramirez took a long drag on his cigarette, staring at Jack as if she were some insolent puppy that had just peed on his carpet. It was difficult, but she managed to keep her ego and her acerbic brand of moxy in check. Leaving his office without the information she needed would fuck her over in the worst way, send her back to the start. She'd lose Miranda's trail for good if that happened. She couldn't let it happen.

"You're here because I think the world of Kahlee Sanders," said Ramirez. "You have ten minutes of my time, so what do you want?"

Jack wasn't used to sucking up. It took everything she had to swallow her pride and fake a smile when all she really wanted to do was beat it out of him. She wasn't sure if she hated the little goatee or the fancy cigarette worse, but something about the man screamed for an ass kicking.

"I know you were one of Miranda Lawson's contacts before she disappeared. I need to know what she was looking into," she said.

Ramirez tilted his head back, forcing a thin trail of smoke from his lips. "Why?"

Jack dug into her leg with her own nails. "Because it's important, because I want to find her."

"Sounds personal," said Ramirez. "I do not like personal."

"What the f..." Jack stopped herself. "Excuse me, what do you mean by that, if I may ask?"

"This isn't a help desk. I am in the intelligence business, Ms. Nought. I trade important information with trained professionals. I have neither the inclination nor time to humor some schoolteacher looking for her girlfriend," said Ramirez.

Jack already had enough of him. "Ok, asshole, I'm done putting on my kissy face. I don't know who the fuck you think you are, but do you have any idea who you're talking to? I've been everywhere, done everything. Killed so many people I lost track, served time in the hardest joints in the galaxy, served on the Normandy, took a trip through the Omega 4 to blow the hell out of the Collectors, and I was there in London putting the hammer down on the Reapers, so don't fucking call me schoolteacher."

Ramirez let a faint smile play across his lips while he stubbed out his cigarette in an ashtray. He leaned back in his chair and stared at Jack with hard eyes.

He chided her. "All too easy, Ms. Nought. You are formidable, no doubt, but I am not another Alliance secretary or bureaucrat you can intimidate, and how far has that brought you, eh? Sanders said you would be well behaved, but I knew better. It took me less than a minute to get you barking like a mad dog"

Jack snarled. "What the fuck?"

Ramirez leaned back in his chair, folding his hands so that only his fingertips and thumbs touched each other. "You fancy yourself a rebel, a real bad girl, am I right? Yes, I have seen your criminal record sheet. Very impressive, but that was then and this is a bold new galaxy. You are no longer that person, else you, a former Cerberus prisoner and test subject, would not be here at my desk begging me for information about a woman you love, who is, in fact, a former Cerberus operative."

Jack didn't have much of a comeback. "Yea, I know, it sounds crazy."

"Not really, nor is it surprising," said Ramirez. "We all stood at the brink, Ms. Nought. We looked into the abyss, thought it was over, and then we got a second chance. Many are grateful. They want to do it better. Everyone is changing their ways, leaving their old selves behind. Out there across the galaxy, everyone is wanting to fall in love or is in the process of it. Friends are becoming lovers, colleagues are becoming lovers, even old enemies are becoming lovers, and shortly afterwards, they all want children. The whole damn galaxy has gone, what is the term? Baby crazy, I believe, which is only natural, in fact it is evolutionary imperative."