Adult-FanFiction.org : Games

Slaves of Cerberus	By : NakedOwlMan Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 138076 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all the characters in it are owned by people that are not me. I have not made a cent off this work of fiction

Chapter List
- 87
- 88
- 89
The sound of his shoes echoing across the high office walls brought her attention up from the stock reports in front of her. "You're three minutes late, Arthur," she said, watching him with narrowed eyes as he approached.

Arthur Quinlan stood at the foot of the stairs that led up to her elevated office space. "I apologize, ma'am. I wanted to ensure that the tasks you entrusted to me were completed before I arrived."

"I'm not interested in excuses, Arthur," the blond-haired woman said coldly, not making eye contact with him as she continued to work. Despite her being half his age, she still lorded her authority over him effortlessly. "We're reaching the most important days of this entire operation. I need nothing but the best of your abilities from this point forward. There is no room in my organization for anything less. Is this understood?"

"Of course, ma'am," Arthur assured his boss. "Do you want my report on our operations thus far?"

"I wouldn't have called you in here otherwise," she said impatiently.

Arthur brought up the datapad in his hand. "All of our dummy corporations are showing record profits, as I'm sure you've already seen from the stock reports."

"Naturally," she responded. "Anything to report on the labor dispute in the Artemis Tau cluster?"

Arthur nodded. "The leaders of the striking workers have been identified and are currently under surveillance. Awaiting your decision."

"Let's just watch them for a few days," she responded, her tone cold and clinical. "Find out as much as we can about their personal lives. Who they care about, what they fear losing the most. Once we know that, it shouldn't take more than a few well-targeted threats to ensure that any talk of organizing a union would be unwise."

"Understood, ma'am," Arthur noted. "There was an accident in one of our ship manufacturing facilities. Three men dead, five wounded because of a VI malfunction."

She sounded annoyed. "Well, send a year's worth of salary to the widows and find replacements. What do I care?"

"We've gotten a few headlines out of it, unfortunately," Arthur responded. "Especially since Equis Corporation won the contract bid to rebuild the Alliance fleet. There's an ANN reporter sniffing around some of our other operations."

This brought out a mocking laugh. "Let him sniff. If every corporate regulator and investment firm in the galaxy hasn't managed to figure out by now that nearly 80% of all economic activity since the war ended has been done under the authority of myself or one of my associates, then I doubt one reporter would be able to do any better."

"Still, if he digs enough, he may be able to find out some uncomfortable truths," Arthur cautioned his boss. "Like that deal we worked out with those Terminus pirate fleets to only attack our competitors. I've heard word he's trying to get an interview with one of the captains who was captured."

She frowned. "Do nothing for now. But if it looks like he's getting too close, feed him a false story. A big lead that looks like it gives him everything he's looking for. Once he's gone public with it, we'll have some of our agents expose the holes and destroy his reputation." She thinly smiled. "After all, a dead reporter is just an invitation for more reporters to start asking questions. But a discredited reporter... the sharks will smell blood and rip him apart."

"A wise move, ma'am," Arthur said. "I have a few other minor events that may require..."

His words were interrupted by the quiet beep of his boss's personal terminal. She glanced over, and upon seeing the identity of the caller she immediately turned away from Arthur. "Come back in an hour. This call demands my immediate attention."

"Yes, ma'am," Arthur responded. He bowed to her, then turned and made his way out of the office.

Once the door was closed and he was out of sight, she began rapidly typing on her terminal. Engaging multiple security protocols and disguising her outgoing image. Once this was done, she opened up the incoming message. A familiar face was seen on the screen, and she spoke. "The hedge sparrow fed the cuckoo so long..."

"That it had it head bit off by it young," said Henneman on the other end of the call.

"Report," she said.

Henneman adjusted his glasses. "We'll be docking shortly. I just wanted to send over the information you requested. Dossiers on all of our incoming subjects."

On another monitor, the files came through. She scanned through them and saw something surprising. "Kasumi Goto?" she asked Henneman. "She wasn't one of the acquisition targets."

"Heh, yes," Henneman said. "The Alliance ship that has been following us attempted an infiltration. She managed to stay out of our sight for quite a while before we discovered her. But she failed, and I figured... well, why let another warm body go to waste?"

Behind her monitor, she smiled, glad that Henneman couldn't see her pleasure through the encryption protocols. "I assume you found what you were looking for in the Shadow Broker archives?" she asked him.

"Most assuredly, yes," Henneman responded. "All of my research notes from my time working with the Shadow Broker, and so much more. With this, I should be able to recreate the formula we were working on within a few weeks of testing." He cleared his throat and added. "In addition, there's enough here that I imagine I would be able to reformulate my other creation."

"The formula that you used on Brooks and the clone?" she asked.

Henneman nodded. "And on the Phantoms, yes. I had an idea in mind, as it appears that Miss Lezayen and Lieutenant Commander Williams may no longer be an option. I was thinking... perhaps these two."

Two of the dossiers on her screen lit up. She studied this with furrowed brow. "Interesting. I just hope you are certain we can keep them under control afterward. Especially her," she didn't need to say any more than that. It was obvious which of the two she was referring to.

"I don't imagine it will be a problem," Henneman responded. "You've seen what my formula did to our previous subjects. And now that I have your resources at my command, I will be able to refine it even further."

"You would be wise not to forget, Henneman, that 'my resources' are not there just for you to indulge your petty perversions," she said, tone deadly serious. "We have an end goal in mind, and I expect you to deliver."

Henneman gave her a brief nod. "Of course," he said. "We will start our work on the two formulas and testing prototypes just as soon as we've gotten settled in back at base."

"One more thing, doctor," she said. On her other screen, she tapped on two of the dossiers and highlighted them. "Your first formula, the one the Shadow Broker was working on... I want these two to be the first test subjects."

"I expected you would," Henneman said. "Believe me, I already had plans for those two, myself. Let's just say that you and I, we have similar grudges."

Her expression darkened. "This is no 'grudge,' Henneman. No petty squabble. This is justice. Pure and simple. I expect daily reports on your progress from now on. That will be all."

Before he could respond, she terminated the connection. The room now silent, she looked back at the monitor, and the dossiers displayed there. Most of the women, she cared nothing for. They were little more than playthings for her underling as far as she was concerned.

But three of them, she knew well. And hated. The two that she had ordered Henneman to experiment on first... and her, of course. She stared at their faces on the screen and felt the rage, the anger swell inside of her.

"You killed him," she said to the screen. "You killed him and I will make you pay for it."

Standing up, she walked over to the side of the room, and the life-sized statue that had been situated there. Staring into the marble eyes of the man she loved more than anything in the world, she spoke in hushed tones. "I promise you, I will make them pay. They will regret robbing this world of you. Robbing me of the chance to ever see you. To witness your greatness first-hand. I will do everything I can to make them suffer, and I will do it all in your name." She paused, and then added one more word. Two syllables drenched in absolute, adoring reverence.

"Father."

She took a moment to stroke the cold cheek of the statue's face, before turning away and walking over to the window of her office. The floor-to-ceiling glass offered a stunning view of the red-tinted space at the galaxy's core. In the distance, she could see the Normandy closing in on the station, moving into position to dock.

And as she thought about the women on the ship, and the torments that would be visited on them thanks to her, she couldn't help but smile.
- 87
- 88
- 89
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Slaves of Cerberus