Part 4

1 day later...

"Something suspicious is happening," he told one of the Alliance commanders, "Yesterday, two C-Sec officers were arrested because they were actually working for Cerberus. I want to know if there's anyone else who is acting weird."
"I've noticed something strange happening with some of my men," replied the commander, "They are acting weird. But after Earth it's understandable. They're going to hate aliens after the planet was invaded by Reapers. But I can assure you none of them are Cerberus. What happened is a one-off."
"Ok thanks."
He walked out of the room and immediately entered the one next to it. He was interviewing all the C-Sec and Alliance commanders in an attempt to find out what was happening. Having two Cerberus operatives infiltrate the Citadel was beyond a joke. Emi had told him what they had done to her and how they threatened her after he had beat the crap out of them. It was... disgusting. Completely disgusting.
But why had they been so interested in him and Renswick? They weren't the highest-ranking in the Alliance fleet, nor the best. There was nothing special about them. But they had specifically asked for information about him. Something weird was happening in the Citadel.
He decided to trust no one but the ones he knew he could trust. Renswick, Emi and the crew on board the Falcon. No one else.
"Hello Commander," Thomson said as he stepped into the room, "I'm just wondering if you've noticed anything weird. Two C-Sec officers were arrested yesterday because they were working for Cerberus. Are any of your men acting suspicious?"
"No, sorry. Everyone just seems normal."
"Thanks for your time."
He decided to go and see the technicians for the Citadel mainframe. If Cerberus was going to attack then they would have found some code or something that would give him hints. It would be stupid to attack something as large as the Citadel without taking down their network.
Unfortunately, however, the technicians were quite far away from the embassy. And he wasn't sure he had the right clearance to access those areas. He wished he was a Quarian - they had plenty of expertise when it came to technology.
Wait. He knew a Quarian. Emi. But... she was in the hospital after the officers who worked for Cerberus attacked her. Luckily there was no permanent damage to her, just bruising. It would be an easy fix for a human, Turian, Asari or Salarian. But she was a Quarian. They had to be very careful she didn't get an illness. They had to remove her helmet to be able to heal the bruises, but by doing that she was at risk. They had worn masks to prevent the transfer of germs and sterilised the room, but it wasn't always enough. Care had to be taken.
Huerta Memorial Hospital was on his way to the technicians, so he decided to go and see how Emi was doing. The door to the elevator hissed open and he set the lift so it'd take him where he wanted to go. It closed behind him and he felt movement as it took him down.
A moment later, the doors opened and he stepped out into the hospital. The floor was still grey like in all the Citadel, though the walls were white in colour and most of the panels contained windows, which looked out across the Citadel. There was some sort of blue glistening lake in the bottom, where fountains spurted in regular bursts. Shuttles flew past the window with a gentle hum.
He activated a terminal run by Sirta, who provided gifts for the hospital. He scrolled through the options of the things he could buy her... flowers would probably be a good option. There were some chocolates, though none were suitable for the type of protein her body was made from and would probably poison her. That left either Turian Whisky or several book collections. She probably wasn't the whisky kind of person, but he wasn't sure what books she was into either. He had decided on the flowers for 100 credits, then there was the decision between poetry, romance or action.
He ruled the action our immediately. But poetry or romance?
Thomson purchased the flowers then pondered the decision for a while before choosing the romantic book collection. He knew from what Emi had told him on Earth that the Quarians loved telling stories as a way of escaping the usually dull life on board the Migrant Fleet. She would probably appreciate the books more than the flowers. At least the flowers looked nice. Red roses.
He walked into the main part of the hospital with the flowers in his hand and the books tucked underneath one arm. Thomson found Emi's room fairly quickly as she had uploaded a map to his Omni-tool.
An Omni-tool was an orange holographic projection that many people had on their arms. It could be used to hack into things, send messages, receive and send data and as a weapon, amongst other things. Emi had sent him a map which he was using to navigate his way around the hospital.
It wasn't exactly a simple route but he reached her room after a few moments. He pressed the green hologram mechanism that locked the door and it turned before hissing open.
Emi was laying on a hospital bed in the centre of the room. There was a nurse in the far corner who seemed to be checking some equipment and there was a large window that looked out across the Citadel, with a view similar to the one he had seen when he had first walked in.
She turned towards him, her movements slow as if she was in pain. Her hands were pressing against her stomach, "... Hey Thomson..." she greeted him, "... Thank you so much for rescuing me again... if you hadn't have walked in then..."
"Think nothing of it. I bought you some things to say 'get well soon'..." he responded, giving her the red roses that were wrapped in flowered paper.
"... Oh keelah... thank you... no one has ever bought me flowers before," she said, taking the flowers in her three-fingered hands and resting them on her stomach as she still continued to put pressure on it.
"How are you doing?" Thomson asked her, nodding towards the hands that were on her stomach, "You still seem to be in a some pain."
"... Well... physically I'll be alright... in a few hours the pain will be gone and the bruising will have healed... mentally though... I don't know... thank you so much for the flowers... they helped more than all the drugs they've given me."
"I also bought you some books but... I wasn't sure which ones you'd prefer, so I got you these..." he said, placing the large romantic book collection on the table next to her bed. She read the titles on the spines of the books.
"... You are good at guessing," she told him, "... I read some books by this author before back on the Migrant Fleet... I had one or two in the series but now I have the whole collection... thank you... you're so nice to me..."
"Hey, I'm not going to exactly ignore you after you were beaten up like that. How are your injuries?"
"... Well they think I have some bruising in my stomach and my cheek was pretty black and blue when I first was taken here... They don't want to give me any pain killers though... They don't know what it will do to me... When I was first taken here they switched a machine on that healed the bruises on my face but the ones on my stomach will take a little longer..."
"And has anyone else been treating you badly?"
"... No. Not as such... Everyone looks down on me and I see the doctors sneering at me when they close the door... I think that they're only helping me because it's their job, not out of choice..."
"I'll have a word with them, if you'd like. I can't stand people treating you like this. You have done nothing wrong, and on your first trip to the Citadel you've been arrested, abused and treated like shit."
"... I wonder if it happens to us all, here..."
"I'll make a complaint to the council. Don't worry. Did they say when you'll be able to go?"
"... A few hours. I think..."
"That's good. When you've been discharged, send me a message and we can meet in Purgatory Bar. It might be good to get away from well... everything for a while."
"That would be nice... What will you do?"
"I was on my way to see the technicians to see if they had encountered any Cerberus code in the system. But I decided to come and see you before because you worried me."
"... I'm fine. We'll meet in the bar later but... thanks. Thank you Thomson..."
"You're welcome. I'd better get going, I'll try and see you again before you're out. Just to make sure everything is fine."
"... Bye Thomson... thank you once again... if you hadn't have walked in when you did then... I don't know what would have happened..."
"Don't worry. I'm glad I walked in too."
He opened the door and it closed behind him with a whir. Thomson walked to the first doctor he saw, who was wearing a white jacket.
"Excuse me," he said to the Salarian doctor, "My friend is in that room over there. Do you have a problem with Quarians?"
"Well no but-"
"There are no buts. You will treat everyone with the same respect as you do other Salarians. Got that? How would you feel if it was your first time in Citadel space and you were getting treated as she is? She has been arrested, abused and now all the crap you and your doctors are doing. Do you think she deserves it?"
The Salarian shook his head, "No but-"
"I said no buts. She is a Quarian. Deal with it. She has done nothing wrong to you and you should treat her nicely. Just because she is of a different race to those normally seen in the Citadel doesn't mean that you can treat her like that."
"I understand."
"Good. Make sure it doesn't happen again."
He walked back to the elevator in a rather foul mood. No wonder Cerberus had so many people working for them when everyone disliked Quarians like that. When he and Renswick had fought the Geth several years previously, he had met several Quarians and all had been nice and friendly - definitely not deserving of the grief he had witnessed people giving Emi on the Citadel.
The elevator took him to the technical level of the Citadel, where the main servers were run and C-Sec operated their network. He saw several Keepers walking around - green aliens that looked like a cross between a crab and a praying mantis. They were one of the secrets of the Citadel - no one knew where they came from or what they did. But it was a crime to obstruct them, Thomson knew that.
He turned left along a corridor with numerous terminals dotted along the side and a large hologram covering one of the walls. He followed the signs for the office of the technicians. As he got closer towards the door at the end of the corridor, the terminals changed colour and purpose. They were for security and firewall defences rather than interfacing with the Citadel's network.
Thomson pressed the green hologram in the centre of the door and it hissed open, revealing a grey room with a tiled floor. There were several desks arranged in straight patterns at either side of the door. He walked to the nearest occupied one - a grey-haired man who looked bored out of his mind.
"Hello," Thomson said to him, "I'm Lieutenant Thomson. I'm wondering if you've found any unusual code in the system. Yesterday two C-Sec officers were arrested because they were working for Cerberus and it's my suspicion that they might be planning an attack."
"There were some unusual files in the C-Sec network," the technician replied, "Some new sort of communication system was installed, but they used the correct passwords and there was nothing out of the ordinary. Other than that I haven't seen anything."
"Ok, thanks. Just send me a message if you find anything. Something weird is happening and I'm going to find out what it is."
"I will. What will you do now?"
"I'm... not sure. I've interviewed the commanders and I've asked you, so I might go back to the hospital and see my friend. See if anything turns up whilst I wait."
The technician nodded, "See you then."

Several minutes earlier...

"Nice boyfriend you have there," the nurse said to Emi as Thomson walked out of the room.
Emi turned towards the nurse, "... He isn't my boyfriend..."
"Oh, really? Sorry, then. You just seemed to like him a lot."
Emi smiled inside her helmet, admittedly a little sadly, "... I think I'm starting to like him more than a lot... But he'll never feel the same about me..."
"Well I hope everything goes well between you two. A relationship between a human and one of your species is kind of rare."
"... I know... But I've wanted a human to fall in love with me for most of my life... It could never happen, though... Not to me... It's just a child's dream..."
"Well you're free to go now. The bruising has healed a lot faster than we expected. You may encounter some slight discomfort from your stomach but you will be fine. You can go and meet your... friend."

A beeping noise was audible. Thomson activated his Omni-tool which seemed like a holographic wireframe skin around his arm. It was flashing which indicated someone had sent him a new message. He brought it up so he could read it.
"My bruises healed better than they thought. We can meet in the bar now. I'll be there in a few minutes - Emi. xxx"
Once again he entered the elevator and programmed it so it'd take him to the Purgatory Bar. It was his second time in the club. The first time hadn't exactly gone to plan after he had got in a drunken brawl with a Turian soldier. But he had no intentions of getting drunk today. Today was about celebrating Emi's good health after she was beaten up by the Cerberus operatives.
As soon as the lift opened again, he could hear the gentle thump of a drum beat as loud music poured out of the speakers from inside the club. As he got closer he started to hear the muffed sounds of an electronic-style song that accompanied the rhythm.
The entrance to the club hissed open when he got near, and he immediately noted the two Turian C-Sec guards stationed outside the entrance. The music was a lot louder inside the club. There were flashing lights all around the complex array of stairs and platforms that formed the Purgatory. There were several bars around the club, all of which had colourful bottles of different drinks - most alcoholic - behind them. There was a dance floor towards the top, though some people were dancing without being on it.
He didn't find the music exactly appealing, but it'd do.
Thomson felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to look into the glass of Emi's pink mask. He smiled at her, "Hey Emi. I'm glad you're ok."
"... Me too. I've never been here before... Have you?"
"Well yes. Once before. I was drunk and got into a fight and got thrown out, but on the upside that was several years ago. After Renswick and I had fought the Geth and stayed with the Quarians for a little while we came back and kind of got a little drunk."
"... You stayed with the Migrant Fleet? What ship?"
"I think it was called the Neeah? Might have been mistaken though. Why?"
"... That was the ship I was born on... maybe we met before..."
"Maybe we did. Wouldn't that be cool?"
She nodded, "... Definitely... Do you remember how long you stayed?"
"Well about two and a half years. So we probably would have met, I think. I guess I just didn't take notice."
"... I don't think I can remember us meeting, but we might have done..."
"Well I do think it's cool. Are you in any pain, by the way? You don't seem to be holding your stomach any more."
"... It only hurts when I press it now... even though earlier pressing it was helping... Oh well... they said the bruises will have gone completely in a day or so."
"Good. Do you want to get a drink?"
"... Yes, please... though nothing alcoholic. I don't like alcohol... and I don't want to get drunk."
They started walking towards the bar that was closest to them.
"Have you ever been drunk before?" he asked curiously.
"... Only once... on some Turian beer... It was at a party back on Earth with some of your ambassadors... apparently I couldn't stop laughing or hiccupping... I don't remember most of it."
"Wow. How much did you have?"
She shrugged her shoulders, "... To be honest? I have no idea... must have been quite a lot... I have no plan on getting drunk again... ever..."
Thomson smiled, "So what do you want?"
"... I think I'll have a Turian apple juice."
They reached the bar.
"What can I get you?" asked the human bartender. He looked about middle aged, with black hair. He wore a black and white striped apron.
"We'll have a cranberry juice from Earth and a Turian apple juice, please."
"Sure. Give me one moment."
He turned to Emi whilst the man behind the bar went to get their drinks.
"Do you need a straw or anything like... with your helmet?"
"... I think a straw would be nice."
"And a straw please for the apple juice," he added, speaking to the barman. He turned back to Emi, "So, when we leave the Citadel, what would you like to do?"
"... I'm not sure," she said, "... I think I'd like to go home... it's all been a bit too much... first with the Reapers, then Cerberus... It's a lot more than I expected..."
"I understand. I was just wondering... well, if you'd like to join the crew of the Falcon? It'd be nice to have you around."
"... I'd like that... Thomson, I want to tell you something..."
"What?" he asked.
"I..." she began, "... Doesn't matter... The drinks are ready..."
He turned back to the barman, taking the apple juice with the straw and handing it to Emi. He left the cranberry juice on the bar until he had paid for the drinks, then he took it in his hand and followed Emi to a table. They sat down opposite each other.
"... What would you like to do?" Emi asked him.
"I'm not sure. I think I'd like to do a little more exploring, but my main priority first is seeing what Cerberus are doing and trying to stop the Reapers. But I can't be the only one wanting to do that - the council said that Commander Shepard had asked for help too. So he must have a plan to destroy the Reapers. If they're all destroyed then I'd just like to explore. Maybe settle down somewhere after a few years."
"... Do you have a girlfriend or someone you care about?" Emi asked him.
"Well, no. I've never really had a girlfriend. It seems the military isn't for the kind of person who would like a relationship with someone. Do you have a boyfriend or anyone back on the Migrant Fleet?"
Emi shook her head, "... I've never had a boyfriend... When I was younger I was too busy reading when everyone else was doing something productive... like learning about technology... I guess it was a waste of time... It just filled my head with things that could never happen... Maybe that's why they chose me as an ambassador, since I don't have any other use on the Fleet..."
"I'm sure that isn't true. Technology isn't everything. Neither is being able to fight. Someone like you could have many uses. Maybe they made you an ambassador because you were the only person available who knew reason. There would be no point in having a soldier as an ambassador because they were made to fight wars, not stop them. I'm sure you were the only one who had everything they were looking for in an ambassador, not that you were useless. I think you do a great job. I know I'm a soldier, but preventing wars is better than fighting them."
"... Thanks Thomson."
Emi took a drink of her apple juice using her straw. Thomson had a quick sip of his cranberry juice, which left a slightly bad aftertaste in his mouth. But he didn't mind it.
"I know it sounds a weird question," Thomson said, "But I've wanted to ask it for a while. What is it like, living in a suit?"
"I know you'd ask sometime... everyone does... I always tell them it's fine but..."
"But?"
"... The truth is, it's horrible... The only person to touch me was my mother when I was born... the rest of the time I have to rely on artificial nerve stimulators to give an idea of what it could feel like... I'm twenty four years old and no one has seen my face for pretty much all of my life... No matter what I do, I always feel alone..."
"I'm sorry..." Thomson told her, "It must be so hard..."
"... You kind of get used to it, but it doesn't stop it hurting... I'll be fine. This is about celebrating, right?"
Thomson nodded, "Celebrating the fact that you're fine after what Cerberus did to you. And the fact we escaped from Earth unharmed. That itself is something to celebrate."
"... So what should we do?"
"Well... after we've finished the drink we could go to a restaurant and get something to eat?"
"... Sounds fine to me... but I'll have to have it liquefied..."