July 8th, 2175
09:04
Citadel, Widow-System
Presidium
Miranda Lawson
She had just stepped outside the building where the Department of Prothean Archeology offices were located. She bid farewell to the Turian ambassador's assistant and started a slow walk back toward the human embassy.
A quiet smile was on her face. Putting someone who overstepped their position in their place was always quite nice.
The thought that her father relished doing things like that appeared in the back of her mind. She quickly banished it before it could diminish her good mood.
Her walk through the parks of the presidium was calm, and Miranda decided to take a small detour to give herself more time before returning to the embassy and having to continue playing the role of Yvonne Orianson. After all, making sure her cover wasn't broken by accident was exhausting even for someone like her. Anyone else would have probably been found out and hauled into an interrogation room by the AIS to be grilled about everything they knew about Cerberus.
But, Miranda thought, the work isn't too bad.
It was surprising, but she truly enjoyed working with Oscar Denebren. He was different from how she had envisioned him. The last time she met him had been during a party she had visited with her father, where Denebren had put him in his place with a few well-placed words, and her father did his best to avoid Denebren for the rest of the party until it was polite to leave. It had only reinforced her admiration for one of the most, if not the most, powerful individuals within the Alliance. Her father's rants about him, which she had had to listen to before ever meeting him, had planted the seed that would grow into a tree. Anyone who could make her father go red with rage was someone to admire. And Oscar Denebren did it regularly with ease.
When the Illusive Man had asked her to go undercover as Denebren's assistant, she hadn't hesitated for a second before agreeing. The only thing Miranda had worried about was that Denebren would recognise her, but she had changed a lot from back then, and her worries turned out to be unfounded. Denebren hadn't recognised her.
Most of her work was the standard fare for an ambassador's assistant and not too difficult to complete in a timely manner, considering her talents and abilities. She didn't have contact with any secrets worthy of sending back to the Illusive Man and endangering her cover for it. At least, none that Cerburus couldn't find out via different means. Yet, there had been some internal documents and information she sent back to Cerberus with the help of a dead drop. Of course, she also had access to a communications terminal with a direct line to the Illusive Man, but the terminal was for emergencies only, and Miranda didn't have to use it until now.
Nevertheless, she was satisfied with the past few months. Miranda had the feeling she was actively helping humanity. Not in the way her work with Cerberus allowed, but that was simply expected. Cerberus and the Alliance, to which Denebren belonged, had different perspectives on how to approach the galaxy and humanity's place in it.
Cerberus wanted humanity to be the dominant power within it, without having to limit itself due to alien powers. It wanted humanity to flourish, to ascend toward a bright future, to never bow to anyone. On the other hand, most of the people working for Cerberus thought that the Alliance was kowtowing to the Council and made itself dependent on the other powerful players within the galaxy. One of the reasons people started working for Cerberus in the first place.
Despite this widespread view within Cerberus, Miranda and the upper ranks of the organisation knew that this perspective on the Alliance didn't match the truth. Working with Oscar Denebren dispelled the last doubts Miranda harboured that this view could have been true.
While the philosophies of the Alliance and Cerberus indeed differed from each other, they weren't direct opposites. Both wanted to make humanity strong, able to stand alone, even if they wanted only to have the ability to do so in the Alliance's case. Yet, while Cerberus wanted humanity to stand above the other species of the galaxy, the Alliance sought to stand on the same level as the others while still maintaining its dominant power. Denebren put it best in Miranda's opinion.
The Alliance wanted to be the first among equals.
And working with Denebren showed her that he didn't just spout nice-sounding words. He truly lived those words. Everything he did had that goal in mind. Even if it took far longer than Miranda or Cerberus would have liked. His actions with C-Sec proved that. It was a long-term strategy that would take years to come to fruition, but, if Miranda was honest with herself, it would be far more stable and encompassing than anything the minds of Cerberus would have thought of. After all, most of them were dissatisfied with the Alliance's slow pace toward becoming the dominant galactic power and, as such, would never think about a strategy that would take so long. Personally, Miranda, too, was in the camp of sometimes wanting quick changes, a trait she sadly got from her father's education. Something she was starting to understand, one of her hereditary traits from her father that had ensured that he had always been beneath Oscar Denebren in everything he tried. One, she was slowly exercising by observing her current employer and how he handled everything he started and had to do.
It was truly satisfying working with him.
The only thing she would like to change was his incessant need to send her to make him a coffee. It was his way to playfully haze her, and Miranda found herself already moving toward the coffee machine the moment he started talking about wanting a cup. He had conditioned her without her noticing, and that was more terrifying than anything else.
While Miranda had been lost in her thoughts, her feet had carried her through the presidium's parks, and before she knew it, she had arrived in front of humanity's embassy. Without pausing, Miranda walked into the building, and the mask of Yvonne Orianson was back in place.
She walked through the lobby, ignoring the people loitering around, waiting for an opportunity to bring forth their concerns. Instead, Miranda went toward a security gate to the side, where she swept her Omni-tool over the scanner. The door opened automatically, disappearing sideways into the wall.
Walking through, Miranda arrived in a short corridor that would lead her to the actual security point for the part of the building where most of the work happened.
The embassy was separated into two parts. One where the public could go in with an appointment, and one where only accredited personnel were allowed. Of course, while neither was unsecured, the latter part was by far more openly and heavily defended.
After all, the public part couldn't look like a military fortress. Yet, that didn't mean that any part of the embassy was unsecure. It was simply more well hidden and subtle, especially the part of the public zone where the ambassador's office was located.
A full N-team and two dozen marines would arrive at the office in less than thirty seconds if the ambassador triggered the alarm. In addition to that, a special shield generator in Denebren's desk would shield him while two turrets would come down from the ceiling and turn the office into kindling. Furthermore, the balcony was also secured through a shield generator powerful enough to stop one or two tank shells. No sniper would be able to assassinate the ambassador that way.
Part of her, the Cerberus part, did a thought experiment about how she would do it if she ever got the assignment to do so. It took her only a few minutes to decide that getting to Denebren inside the embassy was close to impossible without starting a war and attacking with a small army.
The door at the end of the short corridor opened without Miranda doing anything, and she walked through into a square room where four heavily armoured and armed soldiers stood in each corner, and a fifth one stood next to a frame Miranda had to walk through to get scanned before she would be allowed to enter the secure area.
She stood still for almost two minutes before the scanner was satisfied that she was who she pretended to be and didn't carry anything dangerous or could be used to introduce a virus into the embassy's systems.
With a nod, the soldier standing next to the frame gave her the go-ahead to walk on. Giving a nod herself, Miranda left the checkpoint to finally enter the secure area.
Another corridor opened up before her, and only a few of the staff were in it when she started to make her way toward the secure communications room where Denebren would be.
The closer she came to it, the more people she met. Staff, technicians and security guards. Some greeted her with a nod, while others ignored her and concentrated on their own work.
Finally, she arrived at the communications room and, with another swipe of her Omni-tool to transfer her credentials, Miranda was inside.
"...and the first combined team is going down in a few hours?" Miranda heard Denebren's voice before she saw him.
When her eyes found him, he was on the other side of the room, talking to a screen that showed a woman in a military uniform. Slowly, she made her way toward her current boss, past the comm officers who ensured that the connection was stable and secure. Miranda respectfully stopped a few steps behind the ambassador, getting a better picture of the woman on the screen.
It took her only a few seconds before she recognised the face as that of Captain Jahira of the SSV Springfield, the ship that was at the centre of the ongoing crisis. Yesterday evening, the ambassador somehow managed to establish a stable connection with the Rishtar-System. After he entered the high-security room, Denebren had sent her away on some errands, and when she returned, he only said that the matter was handled. And a few hours later, the connection was established, and, most importantly, stable.
After making sure that the two vessels hadn't shot at each other yet, he gave them orders to withdraw to a safe distance where nothing could happen. Afterwards, he acted as a relay point between the Turian vessel and their ambassador, and from what she managed to glean from their conversation, the Turian ambassador had a far more difficult job to convince the captain of the Turian vessel to relax and not to claim the ruin for the Hierarchy immediately, without any compromise.
One of the reasons why they hadn't sent any teams down to the ruins to explore them until now. It took for the second Turian vessel to arrive and its captain to take overall command before any real progress happened.
After Denebren had sent her home to get some sleep before her meeting, he was still in discussion on the composition of the mixed team that would be sent down and a myriad of other minor problems that had to be solved. And from what she saw from the corner of her eyes, Denebren looked like he had only slept an hour or two before getting up to continue working. After all, despite the situation, the world around didn't stand still, and he didn't want to leave too many of his tasks in Udina's hands, without having something in his hands that could keep Udina under his control indefinitely.
Furthermore, from what she had observed, Denebren had slight control issues. Yet, on the other hand, Miranda had never met somebody above a certain level of influence and power without those issues. She had those herself, but at least she was honest enough to acknowledge it.
"Yes, sir," replied the captain, and Miranda's focus turned to her. "A shuttle is going down with the team members we selected, and they are going to meet up with the Turians on the ground. And don't worry, sir, they are all professionals and can keep calm. Even if the Turians provoke them."
"I don't believe they will try to provoke them to get an advantage," replied Denebren. "It probably wouldn't help their interest, but equip the people you are sending down with cameras. If the Turians are asking, they are for the Council, so that they can't say we acted inappropriately within the ruins or pocketed something. Mention the Asari in that context, and none of the other team members should have any problems. I think the Turians should get what we want to imply. Some opinions are universal among troops, especially those on the ground and the frontline."
A quick smile appeared on the captain's face at Denebren's joke, but it quickly disappeared and was replaced by a determined expression. "I will relay your words to the team, sir. I promise you, we will not disappoint you!"
Her words were answered by a comforting smile from Denebren, and he said softly: "I have no doubt about that captain. I will await your good news with anticipation. Good luck." He saluted her and then motioned for one of the comm officers to close the connection.
The moment the screen went black, the smile slid off Denebren's face within seconds. Instead, it was replaced by a tired expression, and Miranda finally noticed the bags under his eyes. He did his best to cover them with makeup, but Miranda's experienced eyes found the edge where the makeup didn't cover it completely due to Denebren's inexperience.
"Are you alright, sir?" asked Miranda, a hint of genuine concern finding its way into her voice. "Do you need a stimm?"
A short twitch of his face told her what he thought of the idea of taking a stimm. "No, thanks. I have never taken one, and I won't start with it now. They may give you the necessary energy for the moment, but coming down from them makes you far more tired. If I take one, I am more inclined to take another one sometime down the road. And you know the side effects of taking them too often."
Miranda understood what Denebren meant, and she was truly impressed that he had never taken one, if he was being truthful. She had taken some stimms Cerberus developed in-house herself and knew that they tried their best to maximise their effectiveness while minimising their downsides. The cost-benefit ratio wasn't completely to her liking, but they were effective out in the field, and that was what was important to her, despite the days she had to spend bound to a bed afterwards and not being able to work due to the immense headache.
"Besides, I am going to make my way up to my apartment to take a nap in a few minutes. I already finished most of my work for today during the night, and the meetings are all in the afternoon. So, I have enough time to rest."
"As you say, sir," said Miranda. "Is there anything you would like me to do in the meantime?"
Denebren thought for a moment before saying: "Nothing that is particularly urgent. Your usual daily tasks should be enough." He paused for a moment and added: "If you could put together a list of available Prothean researchers of the Alliance, then it would be great. As it stands right now, the full exploration of the ruin will be a shared endeavour. Other parties will muscle in on it, but as long as we can play our part, the parliament at home will be happy. And if I can keep the parliament happy, then our work here will be far easier without them constantly trying to look over our shoulders and wanting justifications for our actions."
"And if we can take away some new knowledge from it that helps us to further our own, that would be the crowning achievement."
"It would be," admitted Denebren, and Miranda knew from his tone that he didn't care too much about it. The fact that he was a proponent of human-developed technology was no big secret, especially after his outburst. Another point that made Denebren popular among some Cerberus members. Even the Illusive Man had mentioned that he was impressed by how much the ambassador did to further humanity's research into technologies that weren't based on anything the Alliance discovered from the old rulers of the galaxy.
Yet, the need for quick solutions made it impossible to start more than a handful of such projects from the ground up. Instead, they either used preexisting tech, which was based on Prothean findings, or the theoretical and practical research done at universities sponsored by Denebren. Not that Miranda cared overly much. Everything new was based on something old.
"Personally, I won't expect much. From the first look at the readings the good captain sent us, there are no significant energy readings, which means there probably won't be any active tech, so if they find any technology, it won't be anything significant. I guess it will only be of true interest to historians and cultural anthropologists." Denebren let out a tired sigh. "Maybe I am a bit too pessimistic about it. We will see what the expedition finds, but to be honest, I hope they will find nothing much. Everything after would be easier to manage."
Stretching his arms above his head, Denebren turned around and continued: "Walk with me, Yvonne. Let's talk some more." He didn't wait for her answer and started walking toward the exit. Miranda decided to follow him, interested in the reason he wanted her to follow him.
They exited the communications room together and made their way toward the elevator to ride down to a lower level where small apartments for the upper-level staff were located. In Miranda's opinion, there were few more secure apartments on the whole Citadel, especially the ambassador's apartment. After all, it was located directly next to the barracks and right in the middle of the floor. The one time she had been inside, she had noticed that it had a screen that encompassed one whole wall, showing scenes from different locations due to the fact that the room had no windows.
The way towards the elevator was silent, only interrupted by a yawn from the ambassador.
Only when the elevator's doors closed, did Denebren turn his head toward her and asked: "How did the meeting this morning go? I hope it wasn't too unpleasant."
"It went well," replied Miranda, thinking back on the meeting with the department head, while a quiet smile appeared on her face. "It went according to our expectations. The man the Turian ambassador sent did play his part, too. I believe this particular department head learned where her place in the hierarchy is."
"Excellent," said Denebren with a similar smile to that on Miranda's face. "I thought about it, and came to the decision that the lesson has to be reinforced and made into an example for the different departments under the Council's control. That way, the next time such a situation happens, they won't even get the idea of trying to play any power games."
The cold in Denebren's words sent a shiver down her spine. Until this morning, Miranda had thought the ambassador would be satisfied with having Miranda give the Asari the third degree. Something happened during the night that changed Denebren's opinion.
Curious, Miranda asked exactly that. "Did something happen, sir? Something that changed our approach?
Denebren shook his head. "Nothing significant. I simply had time to think during the night, and decided that we have to set an example. For prevention, of course. And if I have to be honest...," Denebren paused for a moment," I need a way to release my frustration and anger. Making things difficult for her should be a nice release."
Taken aback by his confession, Miranda could only blink before squaring her shoulders and asking just as the elevator arrived on the correct floor and the doors opened. "I am sorry, sir, but I have to admit that this seems out of character for you to me."
Denebren chuckled: "Yes, I have to admit that this seems out of character. But I have done that before. A few times, less than twenty, but yes, I have done it before. It is not a nice thing to do, but as long as I do it to achieve an effect that is more than my personal satisfaction, I can ignore any bad feelings about it."
It took Miranda by surprise to hear Denebren speak so openly about something that others would find morally ambiguous, but somehow it helped Miranda see the person Denebren was behind the carefully curated image presented to the public. It made him look more human to him, and that made him even more impressive in her eyes.
"I see," replied Miranda after a few seconds of silence. They turned around a corner when she asked: "What would you like to do?"
"What bureaucrats do best. Delay, delay, delay. Everything via paperwork. Send messages to the people in charge of every archaeological excavation that is even remotely connected with the department, and let them send inquiries to check everything. Let them make every possible request. Put everything on hold that isn't important to the Alliance. Meaning everything that is cultural or historical. But we still give them problems at excavations where tech is in play."
"I understand, sir," replied Miranda. "It will be done." She gave him a smile. If she acted accordingly, she could rise in his trust. A task here, a favour there, and Denebren would trust her with more and more, until one day he would give her something that she could make use of. Furthermore, when the time came, Denebren would hopefully be more sympathetic to her and Cerberus's cause.
And even if she couldn't convince him about Cerberus, at least she would have an exit strategy. While she believed in Cerberus and its mission, she was always intent on protecting herself first and foremost. After all, if she were gone, who would make sure that her little sister stayed safe? She was the first and last line of defence, and she would do everything to keep protecting Oriana from their father.
Finally, they arrived at the door to Denebren's apartment inside the embassy, and with a swipe of his Omni-tool and a scan of his eye, the door slid open and revealed the inside. Denebren stepped inside the frame and turned around to face her. "Thank you, Yvonne. I appreciate your help," he put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a genuine smile. Somehow, a warm feeling started in her chest, and she knew that her cheeks turned slightly red in embarrassment as she looked at his smile.
"It is no problem, sir," replied Miranda, and she was surprised how honest her words sounded. She even felt like she truly meant them, without any ulterior motives behind them.
"Well," said Denebren, letting the moment end, even when Miranda would have liked it if it had continued for a moment longer, "nonetheless, you are a great help." He turned his head back toward the interior of the room. "I'd better get rested. The meetings in the afternoon will be hell if I don't get some sleep."
"Have a good rest," said Miranda as the ambassador turned around and walked into the room. He raised his left hand as a reply, and the door closed behind him.
For a few moments, Miranda stood still before the closed door, her thoughts empty. She tried to identify why she felt this way. But she couldn't come up with any reason that made sense to her.
Miranda shook her head, ridding it of any thoughts that didn't have to do with the work she had to accomplish today, and turned around, walking toward the elevator to get back to the upper floors.
After all, the ambassador had given her work to do, and the thought of disappointing him... well... she simply didn't want to.