16 Ch 16

(Council chambers)

(After the meeting)

"Tell me I am awake and this is not a dream." Spartacus said as he settled down in his seat, mentally exhausted. "What the fuck happened? That was absolutely not normal. I was really hoping that it was luck but now, I can't even deny it if I want to."

"It was certainly something that I never expected to see." Vertock said, his voice unsure. That was a rarity for him. His mind was running simulations on the required reflexes, hand eye co-ordination, foresights, but he kept on drawing up a blank. He was one of the rare Salarians that did not think out loud. Yet, this corundum was forcing him to revert back to old habits.

"Inconceivable. Superior reflexes as well as the ability of a precog. That is the only way. No, no not sure. Magnetic blades, no, scan detected no magnetic field. Staged performance, collusion between the Bartarian and the Humans. Motives don't align, makes no sense."

Seeing Vertock spiraling out of control, Spartacus and Tevos began to grow concerned.

"That is enough Vertock. Guessing will not lead us to any solutions." Tevos interrupted. A sigh escaped her mouth. "I guess I know why Matriarch Sulakio wants him."

"The Mistress of Blades." That caught Spartacus's attention.

"The very same." Tevos closed her eyes and began to wonder if the stories were true. That may explain the Matriarch's interest in the boy. "Both of you are aware of the major belief of the Asari of Siari, the leading religion on Thessia."

"All is one." Vartock translated the literal meaning of the word.

"Yes. We believe that the entire creation is a single consciousness. Each individual is a single aspect of that consciousness. One which returns to the greater whole on their death."

Her hand extended as she took a glass of water and drank it.

"We Asari believed that we could peek into that consciousness and see the ebb and flow of time. We had a few Matriarchs well before my time who could look into the future. They were believed to be seers. I cannot tell you if they had the ability to actually see into the future, or if they were very forward-thinking."

"Are you suggesting that the boy can see the future?" Spartacus interrupted.

"No, yes, maybe. I don't know. All I know is that if my hunch is correct, he should have an abnormally good latent Biotic Talent." Tevos continuied.

"He has no traces of Element Zero." Vartock interrupted.

"All I am saying is that if he does unlock his biotic potential. It would be monstrous, it would certainly lead credence to this belief." Tevos sighed. "The reason I am telling you this is because I believe that such a theory will become popular within the Asari space. Something that the Matriarch's may joke about but the young ones will believe."

"And if he does have as you said monstrous latent biotic abilities." Spartacus said.

"It would over turn the status quo. Alex will become a symbol that would indicate power. The truth will not matter at that point." Tevos took another sip.

"Forgetting about the hypotheticals, we have to consider the girl as well." Spartacus said.

Vartock nodded. "Her abilities are not any less monstrous, explainable but still monstrous. She took three shots and managed to hit the same point on the sniper. "

"I agree. It is also her commanding skill that is worrisome. The Turian accompanying her was treating her as if the girl, Tanya was a commanding officer. I would have recruited her into the Turian fleet if not for the supply issues. It would be hard to adjust our methods to allow for a non dextro-amino species to co-habit with us." Spartacus said. "I would have recruited her into my retune if not for the fact that she wants to make her own company." There was a hint of disappointment in his voice. 

 "To be honest, I don't know if we should be concerned or glad." Tevos said. "It seems so obvious that both of them are natural born warriors and leaders, and yet they want to follow other paths."

There was silence in the chambers as the Council returned to their own thoughts. One that was broken by Tevos.

"Onto other matters. How were weapon brought into the citadel council chambers." Tevos asked. "This was a serous breach of security, one that is inexcusable."

"I can answer that. The boy and the girl used a loophole according to which a weapon is one with a mass effect propulsion field. Their weapons are considered antique by that classification.". Anger thrummed on Vertock's face as he continued. "I have no idea how the Bartarians brought weapons into the council chamber. I suspect that they bribed some guards." There was a pause as Vertock brought himself under control. "Requesting permission to deploy STG."

"Why can't we use the Spectres?" Tevos asked.

"Spectres lack the subtility possessed by STG. They are intended to act. STG is intended to only observe." Vertock paused. "I will send a dossier of a few members of the STG that can be inducted into the Spectres. It will be good to diversify the Spectres a bit." Vertock became a bit pensive before he continued.. "This investigation would be my final act." 

"Is it time already?" Spartacus asked.

Vertock nodded. "Yes, I am slated to retire. My replacement should be here in a few weeks. I would be required to brief him. If by that time, my investigation is incomplete, he will continue it in my stead."

"It would be a pity to see you go." Tevos said.

"With a lifespan of 40, I want to spend atleast some of my time relaxing." Vertock was looking forward to his long overdue vacation. 

"Now, how do we handle the media?" Spartacus words caused both of his companions to become alert. There was still more work to be done. "They will be milking this for all this is worth. The council's failure, humanity forced to step in and do C-Sec's work for them. We now have a messiah in our midst. Some Asari is gonna say something. They obviously do not know that we had some spectres on standby to be deployed."

"Right, I will use my contracts within the media." Tevos said as she stood up.

"What about the humans?" Spartacus asked.

"They have won this round, the question is what can we give them. They already have their own men within the C-Sec." Tevos closed her eyes. "There was some interest in making a joint Asari biotic unit with the humans. We can provide them training and more insight into our technology."

"The Hierarchy was interested in making a joint task force with the humans cracking down on illegal activities through out the transverse. There was some hesitation due to the blunders that happened during the first contact war. However, this might be the catalyst necessary to restart some of the talks."

"Human culture and scientific method absolutely interesting. Alot of Salarian wish to collaborate. But impeded by the regulations in place. Easing up the regulations and having an exchange program would prove beneficial, and alleviate the curiosity among the many young Salarians."

"They would have gotten all this within a few decades but now we need to accelerate the timeframe. Remember, that is no excuse to do this in a foolhardy manner."

"Agreed." Vertock said.

"So , we begin our work." Tevos turned around and the other councilors got up as well. They had a lot of things to set up, and some fires to put out as well."

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(Sulakio POV)

Sulakio, the mistress of blades. One of the bravest and wisest warriors of the current era. Her blades had ended the life of many people. She had lived her life through combat and now that she had come home, she was sorely disappointed. She could find no other Asari to continue her ways. Times had changed. Asari commandoes did follow and incorporate her teachings. But, they were not students that would devote their life to the blade. Her own daughter had drifted apart from her. 

And yet, here she saw the impossible. A boy with raw talent, scantily just over a decade year old. A boy skilled enough to deflect bullets. She replayed the impossible scene again. The boy just using his blades deflecting all the bullets. Her heart bean for the first time in many years. Such a feat was impossible for her. She would use her biotics to create a shield as she closed the distance

Yet, here she saw the impossible. She saw the surety in his moves and knew that he was moving with assurance. There was no denying it, she was enthralled. 

She would need to change the tournament format going forward. A few ideas coming to her mind already.

"My lady. Lady Tevos has sent a package." An Asari commando, her personal assistant entered.

"Oh, show it to me." Sulakio's voice range out. 

The Asari placed the package in front of the Matriarch and opened it. Sulakio's eyes fell onto the broken blades. "Can it truly be." Her melodious laughter rang out soon afterwards.

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A shadowy figure was looking at a few reports. Two videos playing infront of him. His fore finger was tapping the desk as he looked through a few reports simultaneously.

An open locket was by his side. His eyes glanced towards it, reassuring him of its presence. Within the locket, there was a picture of a blond woman holding a blue eyed baby with a tussle of golden hair. There was a gentle smile on her face.

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(The citadel)

The citadel was abuzz with excitement. This had been an exciting week for the general populace. A tournament took place on their home turf, followed by an exciting council session. Usually, such sessions were boring where small trade disputes were settled. But recently, the Bartarians had over played their hands. 

An attempt was made on the champion's life and yet the champion had thrived. The Champion had heroically deflected each shot. On the news, the scene was showed in great detail as anchors and various experts discussed these events.

"I just find it very unlikely that the Bartarian were collaborating with the humans. There is too much to lose for the Bartarians."

"This feat is impossible, unless if he could see the future. He may be someone who could peek into the collective consciousness of the universe."

"Preposterous, there is a more likely information is that he is a result of the spartan program."

Such debates were taking place, but one thing was certain. Alex's popularity was on the rise, as a result, children were wearing two swords on their hips. Even some of the adults began to copy it, and for a time it became a fashion statement.

Meanwhile, the human embassy were bombarded with requests of exchange students to learn the sword style which can be used to deflect bullets. A request where they had to embarrassedly refuse due to the absence of any such martial arts.

As a result, manga's started to become popular and the line at Tanya's stall began to increase. It was to the point that C-Sec got involved to maintain order. Tanya in an attempt to prevent any bad feelings began to give the C-Sec officer that came to maintain order copies of the manga for free. Chatting with them while having a pleasant smile. 

Tanya was happily making bank. One that she had used to establish her company. She used part of the funds to rent a lab and publishing press on Noveria for a year. On paper, it would be a place where they would think about new concepts and ideas. In reality, it would be a place where she and Alex could tinker away out of the sight of prying eyes.

No one would suspect a publishing and printing service to be doing anything illicit. It would also give Alex a chance to come up with his concept of a Bacta Tank. One that would get there foot into the pharmaceutical area of business. 

For now, she could relax.