Mass Effect: Terminus

Sashryn Velentor

The you g woman watched as the man named Elvis, of all things, addressed the shadowy figure who called himself Kayne. After listening to the conversation, she sighed to herself. Biotics. An Asari biotic was one thing, but an experimental biotic? He could be dangerous. It was that kind of man who was usually hired to kill people like her. She would have to watch him.

Sashryn continued leaning against the wall until One of the men, she couldn't recall his name, approached Gerard. After looking from one man to the other and listening to what the alien had to say, Sashryn slowly stood up, a hand casually resting on the sidearm at her hip. She could tell from his tone that he had no love for Cerberus, little surprise there, and if a fight broke out, Sashryn would be ready to aid Gerard. He was, after all, the only one she even partially trusted here.

Gerard Kalgard

Gerard nodded to Kayne, relieved that there would be no ill-blood between them for the time being. That relief subsided when the Quarian approached him. The question itself had no negative connotation, but the tone in which he asked it suggested otherwise.

"Hard to say," he answered. "Not sure exactly how long I was imprisoned before I decided to shed all affiliation, or if they even existed at that point. As for how long I was on active duty, that would be between the Geth attack on the Citadel and shortly before what I've heard through the grapevine referred to as 'The Great War.'

If you're looking for any information on experiments or the like, don't bother. I was only a grunt. Prior to joining Cerberus, I was an engineer in the Alliance military. With no need for training, I was deployed immediately. Never even saw any of the bases beyond where they recruited me and the outpost they set up elsewhere in the system. You can tell how well that worked out for me."

Elvis was tapping his foot in impatience as the crew squabbled over the former employer of the one human named Gerard. He heard a noise coming from the cock pit and knew exactly what that meant. He stepped into the middle of the very crowed room, "QUIET, now that we have unnecessary background knowledge of Gerard and Kayne here I hope you all can ignore all that business while we are ...working togethre. Because your past does no matter now that you are here. The past does not matter, understand? I am sure the Batarian could not care less what hate group you belonged to or who you have killed, same goes for the Turian, the captain and for me. We are killers, all of us are stained by that. But it is what we are good at and now we have the oppurtunity to be self employeed as it were and have the luxury of not being beholden to some faceless government or illusive person."

*inhale*

"Now that being said, we are coming up to the ....base....It is a bit of a fixer upper at the moment, so no stray shots or rough housing for the immediate future as Gerard puts his skills to good use in making the rest of the systems work" he said glaring at the human who made such a dumb announcement to a room full of aliens. "We will be landing soon, most of the lower level is dormitories for all of you. ME and the captian have our own rooms so I suggest you all get along. And before you complain, note that you are going to have a place to rest your head and be fed and get merry when not on the job...." With that Elvis moved into the cockpit and started the final maneuvers into the station...

Spoiler:

he called back, "Welcome to the Red Lion." He slowed up the shuttle, to lightly guide his ship into the main docking area, the old docking doors opened up with creaks and moans, and similarly closed behind them. The docking clamp slammed home onto the shuttle, letting them know that his landing was successful. He opened the doors to the shuttle, the stale recycled air gave off a smell of metal and sulfur. The place used to be a mining barge for the asteroid field in the omega system.

Still standing silently and upright at attention, Kayne peered in no particular direction as he waited with his hands behind his back. Though there were no nearby viewports for him to view their upcoming destination, it soon became apparent they would be docking soon. He patiently waited as the shuttle made its way into the station.

When the shuttle opened and the smell of the station's artificial air became perceptible, he knew their short journey had come to an end. Remaining silent, Kayne awaited either orders to depart the shuttle or being addressed by their captain first, which was also a likelihood. The future had indeed taken an interesting turn.

Fehln Davris

He would have intervened in the squabble that was currently going on, but he was in tight quarters and the scope that compensated for his bad eye was currently in his hands, neither of them good things in a confrontation for him. Luckily his employer seemed to defuse the situation, and just in time apparently, to give them a view of their new headquarters. He had no idea what to expect from the salarian or the asari in regards to a ship or a station if they were going to be in space, now he had answer to the latter part.

He had to admit, it wasn't that bad looking on the outside, though given what his boss, Elvis if he remembered Kiares saying, had said, the inside wasn't going to look that good. As they began to dock with the station, he finally decided to ask the question that he was going to need answered before he did anything besides settle in. "This place have an armory or anything close enough to one?" it was directed to both Kiares and Elvis "I'd prefer to know now so I can get started on either getting one set up or make sure our weapons will be in order for our next op." If nothing else he would at least be able to make sure nothing happened to them during their escape, otherwise they'd be having trouble.

Gerard Kalgard

While he didn't exactly want to deal with the Quarian, Gerard wished Elvis hadn't gotten in the way. If Ken had something to say, it should've been said. If talking proved fruitless in resolving differences, at least he could know who he didn't like. Sure ground was critical, especially with regard to how one perceives his companions.

Regardless, they were coming up on the base. There would be time to talk to the Quarian later. It was obviously kept in "workable" condition, which is to say that as long as something was remotely functional it was kept in service, including those parts and machines far past their expiration date. Business as usual then.

Once off the shuttle, he made his way over to Elvis and signalled him.

"Show me what's in the worst need of repairs or replacements. I'll give the base a once-over after the big jobs are out of the way."

Elvis

"You do not need to ask me questions...This is not the dark ages." Elvis lifted his Omni tool to his hand and patched into the Station. Those that did have omni-tools would be granted access to most of the general files and systems to the ships. Of course the most important functions would be only handled by him, and a few to the Captain. Those that she would like to have and a few she did not need to know about.

"You should have access to the station layout now. And Gerard I would like you to go over the life support systems and make sure they wont turn off incase someone accidentally shots or hits something."

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Kiares

“Unfortunately, the armoury’s current inventory favours a rather… inventive approach if one means to create items which are destructive in nature, but I am sure you can improvise.”

“Ken, if you feel righteous rage for a wrong done to people whose only relation to you is purely genetic, you can burn that off by taking a walk to familiarise yourself with the station. The exploration part is advised for everyone else, as long as grave injuries are avoided. Additionally, there’ll be a meeting in the mess hall in exactly twenty two hours.”

“Elvis, we’ll have a little chat in your quarters. And I urge everyone to remember that eavesdropping counts as a capital offense on this station.”

Fehln Davris

He looked over the layout of their headquarters on his omni-tool, thankful that he had gotten this job before he had to sell it like his rifle, otherwise he'd have an even worse time finding work. Once he found the location of the armory, he began making his way towards it once Kiares explained its situation. "Considering our current economic situation, I'm less concerned with making more weapons, and more concerned with making sure they don't jam on us in the middle of a fire fight, or spirits help us, blow up in our faces. Regardless, I am a hunter captain, if I could not adapt, the beasts I hunt would have killed me long before I began hunting criminals."

He began making his way towards the armory, making a note that he was going to have to fix his armor up while he was at this, and really go over the scope for his eye now that he had the proper equipment, at least he hoped. "And to lessen the possibility of someone doing something they're going to regret, I would suggest everyone drop their weapons off in the armory, especially the ones picked off the guards. At least then I can figure out if you broke anything while you were beating them to death." He had no idea if they actually would, some of them were actually bound to keep them because of distrust, but they were going to have to maintain them personally, he wasn't about to hunt them down over those.

Gerard Kalgard

This Salarian didn't know the first thing about engineering if he thought the worst problems could be diagnosed by looking at an electronic map. Technology could tell you what systems have failed, but not why or how, much less give a fix. Chances were, Elvis was entirely unaware of the problems that would cause the most trouble. That made Gerard's job even more time-consuming.

If the Salarian's ineptitude were not enough, the lizard had the balls to use a human era to degrade him. Suddenly, the Turian's words held wisdom. It was best to hand over the weapons before he pointed one of them at the smug idiot's head. Besides, the others already had cause to distrust him due to his past with Cerberus. There was no reason to make them even more weary by refusing to disarm.

"I'll be heading down to the AI core and getting to work. You mind taking these to the armory for me, Turian?"

Gerard relinquished his eviscerator and the side arm he picked up back in the prison. There was no point in going right to have to go back and turn left if Fehn was going that way regardless.

Sashryn Velentor

The young woman got off of the ship with the rest as they arrived at the station. It was not very large, but it would be more than enough for what she would need. After listening to the captain's instructions, she pulled out her omni-tool and began programming it for some specific functions. If she was going to live here, she would want to know everything she could about it, such as its security capabilities.

As she did this, she overheard 'Elvis' talking to Gerard, and particularly his quip about the Dark Ages. Shaking her head at the weak attempt at an insult, or perhaps a failed attempted at making a comment that was relatable, she continued her work until the Turian spoke up about the weapons. Shutting her omni-tool off, she walked over to him and handed the side-arm over, keeping a hold of her rifle.

"I'll be keeping a hold on my Raptor. I've made some sensitive adjustments to it, and I wouldn't risk anyone tampering with it by leaving it in the armory. At least not yet. Nonetheless, I think I'll go with you, to make sure no one has messed with it already."

Fehln Davris

The female human handed over her pistol, but preferred to keep her rifle apparently. He could understand, having preferred to maintain his own rifle personally before having sold it, his adjustments being one of the reasons he was able to sell it for such a high price. The buyer possibly doing well with it, dead in an alley somewhere, or simply trashed it by virtue of not knowing how to maintain the rifle. The final thought almost made him shudder with anger, but that would only be true if he knew where the buyer was in the first place.

The other human, Gerard, handed his weapons over to Fehln, which the turian took before continuing on his way. "Unless there are any others who want their weapons inspected, she and I are going to see what we've got to work with," he gestured for the female to follow him, continuing on towards the armory.

Gerard Kalgard

After handing over his weapons to the Turian, Gerard made his way to the elevator and then to the AI core. The Salarian did specifically instruct him to check the life support, but that order would have to be delayed for the time being. AI cores, even without a functioning AI, still serve as the hub for all major systems. It would be counter productive to begin work on the life support only to be shut out by a faulty mainframe. That kind of mistake could get everyone killed if the machine didn't want to turn on.

To Gerard's relief, the Salarian hadn't questioned him. At least Elvis knew enough to let the engineer do his job. Perhaps he could work peacefully and efficiently now.

The first thing the engineer noticed upon entering the core was that it contained all the key components to operate a station AI. He was mildly shocked; for he did not believe that a small group of rogues could afford or program an artificial intelligence. This would also make his job far easier. An AI was connected to all the ship's nonvital systems, as well as a degree of influence over the vital systems. When coupled with its charcteristic limited self awareness, diagnostics became trivial. Gerard rushed to turn it on, visibly pleased by its presence. He flipped the switch, but to no effect. Confused, the engineer looked around for any sign of a problem. Then he found it: a single missing power wire.

Gerard grimaced at the sight. One arbitrary wire was stopping him from operating the entire system. Noy wishing to bother Kiares with this business, he decided to contact the Salarian on the com.

"Elvis, your AI is missing a vital power chord. Could you tell me if you have a spare? I know these wires with metal alloys aren't exactly cheap, but getting the AI running will help with every other system on the station."

Elvis nodded to Kiares, acknowledging that they probably had alot to talk about not to mention go over. All the work he had done and the work that still needed to be done. All the new additions to his happy little family. Credits, jobs, and grudges; all in good time.

"We shall talk momentarily, i will meet you in your cabin, i have to update our status to potential employers through the Shadow network. The sooner we do that the sooner we can get something going."

He made his way to the elevator then down to his room. He opened the doors to reveal a rather nicely accommodated room with access to a personal bathroom and bed. A mounted head of a Collector and Reaper brute were among some of the nicer trophies he had collected during the war. but other than his trophies and golden disks called "records" he purchased through the black market from earth. He was just about to approach his oversized computer terminal when he received Gerard's message.

And to think I thought I would be able to relax tonight

He looked to his desk and retrieve that very cord and made his way to the Core. He opened the door to find Gerard snooping all about the damned machine. "Before you say or ask for it, yes i have the damned thing. I intentionally unplugged that machine. This is no V.I. that just has a few minor routines to do around the ship. This is an A.I., Shackled yes, but an A.I. is an A.I. and I do not know if you knew this being locked up for a few important years, But we just got done with a war fighting the biggest Bio A.I.s the universe will ever know, whose soul purpose was the destruction of all civilization."

*INHALE*

"I. Do. Not. Trust. A.I.'s You understand? Now....this is not as sophisticated as a Geth or that ship that shepard pilots, the billions of credits that went into installing all their state of the art electronic counter measures and cyber warfare would make your head spin. What the Normandy's A.I. is comparable to this is comparing a Salarian to a Turian. One is quick, smart, and operating at levels so fast it would amaze you. The other is officiant, but not very subtle and is only good for a few set tasks. So.....Do you really want this thing?"

Gerard Kalgard

"Absolutely," Gerard replied. "Even the simplest AI would be a great boon for me. I'm repairing a station, not commanding a warship.

If you have any concerns, let me assure you that I've been dealing with AI technology since childhood and I know how to keep the things under control... or how to 'shut down' rogues. Either way, there is no cause for worry."

A distrust of AIs was entirely understandable. One would be a fool not to have reservations about this kind of technology. But Gerard was confident that he could handle it.

Elvis

He tapped his foot in frustration, really not comfortable with the thing going go to active again. Hopefully the thing doesnt hold a grudge. He tossed the wire to Gerard.

he stepped forward and looked him dead in the eyes, "This is your baby now Gerard. If anything goes wrong, its on you. You are its caretaker and executioner iif need be. Be sure to keep a short leash."

Elvis looked at his omni tool, a red button showing up for a second then disappeared, he smirked and then motioned with his hand for Gerard to get on with it.

Gerard Kalgard

"Understood, sir. I accept full responsibility."

With the formalities out of the way, Gerard turned on the AI, smiling as the aged system flickered to life. A nearby interface became illuminated, and the AIs form -- two parallel right triangular prisms, with the tips pointed downward and an oval above and between them -- came into focus.

"Give me your identification," Gerard commanded.

"I am Nohansen, sir. How may I assist in your endeavors this day?"

Gerard raised an eyebrow. Colorful language was uncharacteristic of AIs, but this one seemed to go out of its way to sound sophisticated. Before he had a chance to respond, the AI asked another question.

"And what, if you would so indulge me, may I refer to you as?"

"I am Engineer Kalgard. You can call me Gerard if it pleases you."

"Sir Kalgard, would you, by chance, know how long it as been since my most recent activation?"

"Hell if I know. I'm new on this station. Now come. I require your assistance with the life support systems. I'll go over the records with Lord Presley when we're done."

"Very well, sir. I shall rendezvous with you there."

With that, the AI's interface receded, though Gerard knew he still had vision over the room. This wasn't quite what he expected, but it would have to do for now.

Fehln Davris

When he finally reached the armory, the sight he found on the other side of the door shouldn't have surprised him, yet he honestly couldn't say that THIS was what he was expecting. This place was literally just to store whatever weapons that had once occupied the station, there were a few scattered tables, the bare minimum equipment required to maintain the weapons, and a neglected terminal that had seen better days, then again this whole station probably did.

He deposited the weapons on the nearest table that he could see in the light offered to him by the hallway, looking for a switch to turn on the lights before he got to work. When he managed to locate it near the door, he flipped it once to no effect, flipping it back to off before trying again a few seconds a later, but this time the lights came on. He wrote it off as Gerard managing to get the power back on before returning the table. He removed the scope from his eye once again, now able to actually adjust the settings and give it an actual inspection thanks to the equipment.

He preferred to do it after every mission, just to make sure nothing was wrong and find the best setting that could give him his old vision. It forced him to be precise, one mistake could leave him with a faulty scope, and by proxy a dent in his funds in getting a new one and making the necessary adjustments. But a hunter needed precision in the first place, otherwise they would never get far in life, although working on such a small thing offered its own challenge.

"Might want to get to work now human," he called to the woman "not sure how long we're going to be at this with the tools we've got here."

The trip had been rather uneventful, with the only event of note being the brief incident regarding the male human's previous employment with a particular pro-human organization. Working with a former Cerberus goon would hardly be a problem for Harus, as that particular bunch of non-human hating nutters were practically nonexistent nowadays. Adding on to that, the human seemed to lack the personality traits commonly associated with Cerberus employees, such as murderous hatred towards everything that didn't share his genetics and the tendency to constantly spout nonsense about the inherent superiority of his species, which was nice.

They arrived at the station shortly afterwards, prompting the Batarian to rise from his seat, exiting the shuttle along with the other crew members. His employer, the Salarian by the name of Elvis, conveniently granted the crew access to the station's general systems, and most notably, a map of the complex. The Turian then offered to take the crew's weapons to the armoury, mostly to ensure the escapee's stolen arms didn't randomly explode during their next mission. However, as Harus considered himself capable of keeping his weapons in operable condition, he ignored the offer.

After making a mental note to be in the mess hall in twenty-two hours, the Batarian accessed the station map from his omni-tool and made his way to the nearest elevator. Eventually arriving at the station's middle level, Harus examined the state of the mess hall and the neighbouring rooms. To be frank, they were in rather terrible condition, much like the rest of the station. On the other hand, it was certainly better than some of the other places he'd lived in, and would probably be cleaned up and improved upon once the credits started flowing in.

As there was no reason to remain on the middle level for the time being, Harus returned to the elevator, and continued to explore the station.

Sashryn Velentor

The young woman followed the Turian silently until they reached the armory. Once he managed to get the lights working, he removed his eye replacement and began working on it. As he did so, and advised her to get to work, she payed her rifle in the table and looked around for some equipment. Not much would be useful to her, just some cleaning equipment. She would have to use her omni tool for the rest.

Once she had her rifle separated into several parts, she began to clean it thoroughly, not wanting to risk anything after the guards had taken it. As she worked, she spoke to the Turian,

"It seems we may be working together for a while. We should probably know what to call each other, other than 'human' and 'Turian'. Call me Flare."

Gerard Kalgard

The engineer made his way to the life support system, finding the AI interface waiting for him.

"Nohansen, run diagnostic."

"Yes, Sir Kalgard. One moment please."

The interface remained static for about fifteen seconds. Then it began speaking again without warning, in the same creepy way characteristic of AIs.

"Power flow is only marginally acceptable. Faulty wiring and circuitry is causing inefficient energy usage and may compromise the transition between the main life support system and emergency backup systems in the event of system failure or malfunction."

Gerard sighed. "So our redundant systems may be useless?"

"Yes Sir, that is accurate."

"Elvis won't be pleased with that. Send a list of the faulty parts and their positions to my omnitool. I'll see what I can do. "

Nohansen complied. Gerard, meanwhile, opened the station layout and found the area most likely to store what he needed. He found, however, only three quarters of the parts he needed to make the necessary repairs.

"Guess I need to make an order," he muttered. "Alright Nohansen, that will be all for now. I'll wake you up when we're ready to begin."

"Sir, I would prefer to remain active."

"Unfortunately, I can't do that. You take a lot of power to run. Until I get this place working at optimal capacity, keeping you running for longer than I am using you would be added inefficiency in an already strained system. Elvis would have my head if I compromise the station just to keep you on."

"As you wish, sir."

With that, Gerard flipped the switch. He frowned, knowing that his excuse would not be credible forever. He took out his omnitool and made a note.

AI is adverse to being shut down.
Create standard protocall to wipe memory of shut down upon execution.
Create algorithm to create false memories to fill in the time.

After writing that down, he sent a memo to Elvis, detailing the parts he required to fix the life support, the cost of each part, and why it was important to get this fixed immediately. At the end, he also requested that the Quarian be sent down to help co-create an algorithm when he had free time.

Fehln Davris

He could see the human working out of the corner of his eye as he finished making the necessary adjustments to his eye. Shen then took the initiative to suggest that they give each other their names, and he heard something he hadn't heard in quite some time. He was in the middle of putting the scope back in place when she said the name Flare, and almost made him shove the scope straight in instead of his careful placing.

"Flare eh? Haven't heard that name in awhile?" he said thoughtfully as he began work on Gerard's weapons. "You're not exactly a legend among us bounty hunters, but you've got to be good to operate like you do. You've got the skills of a true hunter." His spoke respectfully, his only feelings that of admiration. "As for me, the name's Fehln Davris, and unlike many of my fellow bounty hunters, I take the hunting part of my profession to heart."

He could already tell that Gerard's weapons had taken a beating, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He had dealt with all manner of problems with weapons, though he was going to have to inspect some of the parts closer.

Sashryn Velentor

The woman smirked at the Turian's words.

"Fehln Davris? I recognize that name. There was a mark on your head, and I almost took it. I didnt, ovbiously. It was early in my carrier, and I lacked the skill to do the job. Meeting you now, I believe it was a wise decision. Perhaps one day you and I shall cross blades so to speak, one the hunter, and the other the prey. Then we shall see who is the greater."

Her tone held no malice or threat, simply one hunter speaking to another. She continued examining her weapon, cleaning it thoroughly, and checking the parts for any obvious damage. Finding none, she put the weapon back together and began reprogramming her omni-tool to check the more complicated systems in the firearm. As she did this, her tool continued adjusting for its security breaching and controlling purposes.

Ken looked for a long moment in the human eyes. If what he said was true that means he was only with Cerberus as far back as five years ago. If that was the case he could not have been there when...

His thoughts were cut off when the salarian cut in. Ken turned to look at the station. It looked well enough, if a tad dated. He shrugged and was about to turn back to the human when he felt them dock. Kiares took that moment to cut in and half scolds Ken for possibly only disliking of Cerberus was done with them having attacked his people before. Half true if you think about it. Ken stood up and looked at Kiares, his eyes looking her up and down. He made a dismissive sound as the rear hatch opened.

"Like you could ever begin to understand." With that he turned to the door, the moment he crossed the thresh hold his image went static and he vanished, his stealth mode activating. He did not leave right away but hung around the exit to listen to what the others said. Making a few notes, such as hacking the station to find what the Salarian was keeping hidden from everyone.

As the others left he made his way to avoid them, pulling up the map of the station he took a look at was near by. First stop, the command center. In this he found a locked door. A moment later the lock was open and he strolled on it. He would have to talk to Elvis about the security sub-routines at some point, that was far too easy. Perhaps he will mock up some dead bolt security measures if he had the time. With a shrug he took a look around the command room, if it could be called that.

It was a pretty standard command center for a station like this, a couple of terminals around the edges of the room with large 3d display in the center. Walking over to one of the terminals he took a small device, as big as a small candy treat and placed it under the terminal. This device would give him remote accesses to the terminal and by extension most of the station.

Not wanting to be discovered he quickly left the command center, letting the door lock behind him as he went down the hall to the 'armory', well as much of one as they had. He came out of stealth before entering, he found that people tend to be a bit jumpy when you simply appear out of thin air in front of them. He waved to the Turian before he set down his Sniper, submachine gun and pistol.
"When you get the chance, if you could look these over that would be great." It was at that moment that his Omni-tool beeped. Thinking that odd he looked at the message that he had received. It would seem that Gerard of all people was looking for him.
"It would seem that I am needed, sorry to drop and run but duty calls." With a small nod he turned and left.

The V.I core was right down the hall from the armory so it did not take him long to arrive.
His sword was still on his back as he entered the room, he hardly let anyone else touch it after all. The sword itself was somewhat of a miss match, the blade had belonged to his foster mother. He had however changed the grip to better suit his longer, two fingered hands. Not to mention the small EZO core in its hilt.
It only took him a moment to see Gerard, he walked over to him and nodded. No need to seem overly hostile, Gerard had done nothing to him after all.
"What seems to be the problem?"

Gerard Kalgard

Gerard looked over at the Quarian. It was still rather odd not to be able to look the person you were speaking to in the eye, for lack of a better term. Though that didn't stop the human from trying anyway.

"Before we get to that, I need to know if you can help. How much do you know about coding artificial intelligences?"

Given the history of the Quarians with the Geth, perhaps that was not the proper way to phrase the question. But what was done was done. Speaking in flowery terms and beating around the bush was not exactly Gerard's strong point.