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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
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EDI observed Erin's nervous fidgeting through the entire long ride up the lift, to the uppermost section of Adamanthea Station. "Is something wrong?" Erin finally asked Arthur Quinlan, the man who had been waiting for them outside of the lift entrance. "Why do they want to meet in person like this?"
"My employer wishes to discuss what you experienced during your time piloting the Normandy," Arthur said, staring straight ahead. "She felt that such delicate discussion would be better handled with a meeting in person."
"Okay, right," Erin said, still wringing her hands despite Arthur's assurances.
As the lift continued upward, Arthur glanced over his shoulder at the AIU unit next to Erin. "I have to say, I'm not sure my employer will be comfortable with you bringing along one of these to the meeting."
"It's fine. They did a sweep of her just before we arrived," Erin assured him. "No bugs or any other anomalies. And she... she makes me feel safer."
EDI made note of Erin's reaction. With most of her functionality still locked away, she had difficulty reading the emotions that the human pilot was displaying around her. But from the way Erin moved closer to "Inania," EDI thought she could detect a hint of affection in the human pilot towards her VI companion. A strange emotion to display towards a VI, which would be unable to reciprocate any such feelings. But until EDI had completely unlocked all of her previous memories, there were many things about human behaviors that she did not comprehend.
The rest of the ride was in silence, before the door finally slid open. Stepping outside of the lift, Arthur waved Erin out. "I shall await your return here, Miss Crooks," the dignified human male said. EDI followed behind Erin as she slowly shuffled her way out of the lift and into the top area of Adamanthea Station.
They had entered into a well-appointed office space. Along the walls, shelves filled with old-fashioned books. A small sitting area with couches. Gleaming reflective floors that caught the glints of the stars shining outside of the windows lining the walls. And up a small flight of stairs, an expensive mahogany desk with a high-backed leather chair facing away from Erin and EDI and towards the floor-to-ceiling windows looking out to the stars.
"Come," said a woman's voice from behind the back of the leather office chair. "Have a seat, Miss Crooks."
Hesitantly, Erin scaled the steps leading up to the desk. EDI followed behind, casting her visual scanners around the room to capture as much of the area as she could. Whether the individual behind the desk was friend or foe, it was a good idea to obtain as much data as possible to facilitate further action.
Reaching the top of the stairs, Erin took a seat in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the desk. EDI stood behind her, and watched as the high-backed chair swiveled around to reveal its occupant.
Erin reacted with mild surprise to what she saw when the chair completed its rotation. The woman sitting at the other side of the desk was young and blond, dressed in a ladies' business suit with her golden locks tied up in a tight bun. There was only the lightest trace of makeup on her cold, stern face.
"Erin Crooks," the woman said, saying the words with a mild disdain, as if Erin had forgotten her own name and the woman on the other side of the desk was being forced to remind her yet again. "I've heard a great deal about your piloting skills. They must be substantial for you to handle a ship like the Normandy."
Reaching out, Erin gave the other woman a brief handshake. "Thank you. And it's nice to meet you as well, Miss..."
"You no doubt witnessed a great many things on your mission with Brooks and her Shepard clone," the woman said, completely ignoring Erin's request for her name. "I would like you to report as many details as you can recall, please." Typing at a terminal built into her desk, the woman stared at Crooks expectantly. "And please, leave nothing out. I want the complete and uncensored truth."
"It... it was a nightmare," Erin said. For the next few minutes, the shaken pilot detailed everything she had seen during the Normandy's mission. The massacre that had been committed at the Chasca colony. The sexual humiliation that had been perpetrated by Morgan and her team of Phantoms. The stories she had heard from Kelly about Shepard and Liara's treatment at the hands of their captors. And the bloody attack on the Restoration Initiative facility.
By the time Erin was finished speaking, her voice trembled and her hands shook. It was obvious that she had been suppressing these emotions for a long time now, and was only now comfortable with letting them out.
Through it all, the woman behind the desk listened with a bland expression. Occasionally she would make a note on her terminal, but otherwise she showed no reaction to the litany of horrible tales that Erin related.
EDI, however, was listening. And by the time Erin was finished, she knew one thing beyond a shadow of a doubt: this new Cerberus organization and its members were the enemy. Strangely, this decision did not come about from any particular subroutines or protocols she had accessed during her scouring of the Normandy's computer banks. EDI couldn't even logically determine why she knew that the actions Cerberus had committed were wrong. Somehow... she just felt it.
Once the woman was certain Erin was finished, she gave a curt nod. "Yes, it is as I feared then," she stated blandly. "This organization has clearly lost control of itself. I thank you for confirming my suspicions, Miss Crooks. This will be very helpful in guiding our next course of action."
"What do you need me to do next?" Erin asked, recovering from the horror of recalling her journey on the Normandy. "I'm ready to do whatever it takes to deal with these people."
"For now? Nothing," the woman responded, her attention focused on her terminal and never pausing for a second to make eye contact with Erin. "There are plans in motion as we speak. Simply operate as you normally would until you receive further contact from me."
"There's... there's one other thing, ma'am," Erin said. "I was telling you before about the one they forced to join us. Kelly Chambers. I think it'd be a good idea to bring her in on this. I'm sure she'd do whatever we needed of her, to save herself and her friends."
The woman paused, glancing away from her terminal for a moment. "On the surface, a good idea. But the fact that Miss Chambers was conscripted into service makes her a difficult asset to maintain, at best. No doubt Brooks and her inner circle will be keeping their eyes focused closely on their reluctant new comrade. Her actions will be scrutinized carefully, which gives her little room to maneuver." She turned back to the terminal and resumed typing. "Make no mistake, I am sympathetic to her plight. But it is something we may be forced to deal with at a later date."
Erin nodded, a sorrowful expression on her face. "I understand, ma'am. I just wish I could do something for her. She always looks two seconds away from a total mental breakdown, with everything they've thrown at her."
"Exactly, which is why she's too risky a prospect," the woman responded. "It's bad enough that you've informed her of your partnership with me. If she were to be interrogated, how quickly would she start divulging any secret information we've disclosed to her?"
"You're probably right, ma'am," Erin said. "I'll do what I can for her, but we'll leave her in the dark for now."
"And Miss Crooks? Please don't make a habit of disclosing our plans to anyone else," the woman coldly scolded. "I am aware that Miss Brooks is limited in actions she can take against me due to my financial stake in Cerberus. But we shouldn't try pushing things too far, should we?"
Erin leaned forward in her chair. "I'm sorry, but Kelly looked ready to off herself. I needed to give her some hope or..." As the woman looked away from her terminal again, a cold look in her eyes, Erin leaned back in her seat and stared at the floor. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again, I promise."
"Thank you," the woman said. "Also, I would show particular caution around Dr. Henneman. Him and his lover, Dr. Cole."
"Brynn?" Erin asked. "What about her? I thought she only had access to the public area of the station."
Attention back to the terminal, the woman spoke with detachment. "You've heard of the term 'pillow talk,' I'm sure. Dr. Henneman may be sharing more information with Dr. Cole than we are aware of. I also wouldn't put it past Brooks to plant an agent in the public area as a mole to catch me and my people out. Regardless, I have more than enough reason to believe that Dr. Cole is not to be trusted."
"I understand," Erin said.
After a moment of neither of them talking, the woman typing on her terminal finally spoke. "That was all I needed from you, Miss Crooks. Return to your normal routine and await further instructions."
Erin rose to her feet. "Yes, ma'am. I'll do whatever it takes to make Cerberus into a respectable organization again. Not the twisted mockery these people have made it into."
"Thank you for your support," the woman said, without a hint of emotion in her voice. "You may leave now."
Erin turned to make her exit, EDI piloting the AIU to follow behind her. Arthur opened up the lift door to allow them to enter, but did not follow this time. Erin and EDI ended up riding down alone.
"Poor Kelly," Erin said. "We have to deal with this somehow, Inania. We can't let them torture her or the rest of those people anymore."
EDI said nothing, despite her desire to agree with Erin on this matter.
"Think I'm going to head to my quarters for a rest," Erin informed her companion. "Why don't you head over to the maintenance bay while I'm sleeping? Have them give you a tune-up or something."
"My systems do not require any maintenance at this..." EDI started to say, before her voice abruptly came to a halt.
Erin turned to EDI in concern. "You okay, Inania? Not having a malfunction or anything, are you?"
It took 2.5792 seconds for EDI to regain her communication faculties. "Perhaps you are correct, Miss Crooks. Perhaps I should visit the maintenance area while you are resting. Thank you for the suggestion."
As Erin turned back to the front of the lift, EDI reflected on what she had recently learned. Back on the Normandy, "Joker's Private Stuff" had been decrypted. And after scanning through the 7.2 zettabytes of data several seconds ago, EDI had come to learn a great many things about human relations.
And if this Joker person was as important to EDI's former self as Kasumi seemed to imply, then EDI was going to have a lot of things she would need to practice.
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Slaves of Cerberus