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#RedrockAgency – February 25, 2016
This is a lot bigger than us, Jason. I... I still have trouble remembering what I saw during my time there, but... these people... I don't understand why the Alliance hasn't done anything.
Jason gives a bit of a shrug. "They seem to be trying... Given their reactions and questions when they picked us up, I don't have much faith that they're getting anywhere, though. Cerberus definitely seems to be on their radar, though. For whatever that's worth." He pauses for a moment before adding, "I got a few names when we were onboard their ship, though. Might be worth following
Leah steps up to Vasquez' office, showing little enthusiasm for having to fill her boss in on all of the details of her betrayal. She taps the interface without even thinking to buzz her. Once the door slides open, she lifts her gaze to look around and winces at the sight of Jason, assuming Vasquez must have filled him in by now. "Oh, sorry, Chief..." she offers, "Halisi is done
looking me over and said you wanted me to stop by to fill you in on everything..." She chews on her lower lip nervously as he eyes wander back and forth between Jason and Vasquez.
Vasquez nods faintly, glancing to her screen as she recieves a message from Halisi, before returning her attention to Jason. "Yeah... maybe. I just-..." When Leah enters she stops, looking at her and then gesturing for her to take a seat in the last remaining chair. "Yes. I know it's probably not something you want to be doing right now, but I need you to tell us as much as you can. From
Jason swivels at the waist as the door opens, propping one elbow up on the backrest of the seat as he glances back at the doorway. Although obviously upset over Leah's attempt at kidnapping Vasquez, he can't help but feel sympathy for the woman. At least she didn't blow Vasquez' arm off with a shotgun. "Sorry about... everything..." Jason offers before facing forward once more.
Leah nods, somewhat relieved that Jason didn't immediately jump down her throat. She takes the remaining seat and sucks in a deep breath. "I... just hope you both know I never would have done this if I had any other choice... If it was just me they were threatening to hurt, I would've been more than happy to take the fall. But I-... I couldn't let them hurt my dad...." she says, her
voice growing quieter towards the end as she assumes it'll probably just be dismissed as a poor excuse.
Vasquez lets out a heavy sigh, nodding. "We know. You don't have to worry about that. Alright? We just need as much information as possible, to figure out what's going on. To... to do something about all this." She maintains a calm tone for the most part, but it is clear that this is personal to her.
Leah nods a couple times, avoiding eye contact. She shuffles towards the edge of her seat. "Okay.... I'll tell you everything I know." she says. She takes a deep breath. "Umm... It all started when I was in the hospital after... Well, you know." she begins, "A man came to visit me in my room. He only identified himself as 'Mr. Kurt' with Bozemen Cybernetics." she recounts with a roll
of her eyes, "I'll never forget his face, I was so happy at the time... I-... I thought I'd never walk again. He was tall. Maybe in his late fourties? Early fifties? I don't know... He had short, grey hair. Was dressed well. I had no reason not to believe him when he told me about Bozeman Cybernetics assisting with some sort of charity program to help people with serious injuries..."
Vasquez presses a key on her haptic keyboard. Her eyebrow twitches slightly at the mention of Bozeman Cybernetics, but she remains quiet, nodding for Leah to continue.
Leah puffs her cheeks up and pushes out some air, looking off to the side as she thinks on the order of everything. "I was immediately prepped for surgery. I thought that was a little strange but-..." she lowers her gaze as a pang of guilt tugs at her, "...but I wasn't about to question it. I thought it might be my only chance to walk again... I know you guys would do your best to
take care of me, but-... well, I'm not stupid. I know how expensive a procedure like that costs." She sighs and swallows, nodding to herself before continuing, "Dr. Decker performed the surgery." she glances up at Vasquez, "He's the one I brought you to. He-... He's dead now." she adds, her guilt piling up, "I don't even know for sure if he was a willing participant. For all I know, he
was just another unfortunate victim of Cerberus' games. But I couldn't let him hurt you or anyone else...." She goes quiet.
Jason rests his elbow on the armrest and stares at the desk as he listens, doing his best to remain quiet and to not react to anything being said, lest he make Leah uncomfortable.
Vasquez 's expression grows heavier as Leah continues, but she still says nothing. She nods once more, placing her elbows on the table and leaning forward, chin resting on her knuckles.
Leah stares off in silence for a few moments before continuing, "When I woke up it didn't take long for things to go sideways. They implanted something in my eye and made it very clear right from the start that I wasn't in control anymore... They communicated through text." She grabs her lower eyelid and pulls at it for a second to punctuate her point, "It was sent directly to my
eye... The moment it seemed like I wasn't going to play their sick little game, they shocked the hell out of me. They had me do a few things for them..." she pauses again, unsure of how this next part might land. "When I visited you after my surgery-..." she begins, glancing over at Jason, "...It was to put something on your terminal. You were already pretty drunk-... I mean, perfectly
understandable given the circumstances." she adds, trying not to sound too judgemental given everything she's done, "...So they had me slip something in your drink. They assured me it wouldn't hurt you, just put you out for a few hours. And then I-... I did what they asked...."
Jason lets out a deep breath through his nose, glancing up at Vasquez with a mix of frustration and slight embarassment over his state of being during Linda's absense being laid out.
Leah glances distantly at the terminal on Vasquez' desk. "What if-... What if they're listening right now...?" she asks, her voice beginning to shake.
Vasquez raises an eyebrow at Jason being drugged, seemingly on the verge of saying something when Leah voices her concerns. She shakes her head. "I-... I don't think so... We haven't used that terminal since we moved." Narrowing her eyes, she asks: "You... didn't do anything to the systems here, did you...?"
Leah shakes her head a few times. "No... Just the terminal you had at the Respite and the hospital's system." she says with a sigh. "They gave me some sort of glove that seems to enhance my biotic energy. I have it upstairs if you want to take a look at it-..." she pauses and her eyes widen slightly, "You don't think they can track it or something, do you? I mean, that would be a bit
redundant, right? With the tech they had in me, why would they be tracking the glove, too? Right...?" she asks, her gaze shifting from Vasquez to Jason as she repeats herself, "....Right?"
Vasquez shakes her head faintly. "I... don't know. But... I don't know a whole lot about biotics. You should probably let Halisi take a look at it. For now... go on."
Jason nods in agreement with Vasquez. "They won't be holding Renala for much longer. She could probably figure it out in the morning if Halisi can't. Either way it doesn't particularly matter. Cerberus knows where we are..." he says before realizing that's probably not going to make Leah feel any safer. He gives an apologetic tilt of his head.
Leah swallows hard and nods. "They had me retrieve the glove from a locker down at the spaceport. I don't remember which locker, but as soon as I got home I grabbed a pen and made sure to write it down on a napkin. I didn't look at the napkin so they couldn't see what I was doing, I just watched TV and did it... I thought," she gives a short shrug, "...maybe if I get out of all of
this it could be a good lead to start with. Maybe see who rented the locker.... I can swing by my house and send you the locker number if you think it might help?"
Vasquez nods. "Yeah, any information you have that could help. Doubt it'll lead anywhere, but it's worth a shot."
Leah nods a few times. "I'll get it as soon as we're done here. There's.... a few other things I need to take care of before tomorrow, anyway." she admits with a sigh. She goes quiet as she contemplates how to approach revealing her final betrayal. "That's not all..." she begins, "...Me and Damien were close. You know-.... like 'sorta more than friends' close." She looks down for a
moment, feeling incredibly uncomfortable. "We were spending a bit of time together and he began getting suspicious of me. I don't know why... I don't know if it's just everything he was going through at the time, or-... or maybe he legitimately saw or heard something that set him off, but he suddenly stopped trusting me..."
Jason glances over at Leah. "Are you saying that's why he ran off? You know, he tried to attack me shortly before he disappeared... Sounded like he was under a lot of stress. Guess he had more going on than I knew..."
Vasquez catches on fairly quickly, and closes her eyes, mumbling "...shit..." quietly under her breath. She flinches slightly at Jason's question.
Leah shakes her head a bunch of times, her eyes welling up with tears yet again. She shuts them tightly and wipes the tears away with the back of her hand, attempting to get a handle on the waterworks before they begin. Once she opens her eyes, she sucks in a deep breath before responding. "No they-... I killed him... They gave me a choice. Either me and dad die, or I kill Damien
and I-... I..." she pauses and closes her eyes again as a few more tears escape, "...I'm so sorry. I don't expect any of you to forgive me. I can't forgive myself... His body is buried behind the hospital parking lot and I'm going to take his brother there tomorrow. He deserves to go home and have a proper funeral. With family..." She trails off, descending into a few more sobs and a
Jason brings his hand up to his mouth and lets out a "Fuck..." as it sinks in. A part of him wants to tear into Leah, but after seeing what Cerberus was able to make Vasquez do, he can't bring himself to tell her off. He bites down hard to keep his tongue in check.
Vasquez nods several times, eyes still closed. She takes a deep breath and opens her eyes, observing Leah with a mix of guilt and held-back frustration. "They got me too. Maybe you already knew, but... I was under their control. It's on me that you needed those implants in the first place. I'm as much to blame as you are for everything that's happened."
Jason follows Vasquez' lead, reaching out to place a hand on Leah's shoulder. "This doesn't sit on your shoulders alone, Leah. We're all to blame. You were caught up in something we got mixed up in long before you had anything to do with us." he says, glancing over at Vasquez with a nod, "I can't even begin to express how sorry I am that you've all been swept up in this whirlwind. But
Leah nods slowly, her gaze aimed down at her knees. The words do little to aleviate her guilt, but the intentions are welcome. "...Someone on the inside helped me." she says finally. "I was only able to disable my implant due to instructions by one of the-... operators, or whatever you want to call them. Whoever it was even sent someone to stop the people keeping watch on my house.
It bought me and dad enough time to get here... I don't know who they are, or why they helped me, but it sounds like there's some good people left in their organization willing to do the right thing."
Vasquez sits up a bit straighter, her eyes gaining new focus. "You had inside help? That... that could be huge... did they say anything? Do you have any way of contacting them?"
Leah shakes her head. "No... I'm sorry. The only person I had direct contact with was the woman waiting at my house when I got there to pick up my dad tonight. She was heavily gene modded. Looked-... reptilian. Eyes. Skin. The whole package. She said she didn't know who hired her. I'm not sure how true that is, but I wasn't in any position to push the subject..."
Jason blinks a couple times and rotates in his seat to face Leah. "Reptilian?" he asks, "Face only a mother could love? Insufferable? Likes to make herself at home in your place? Nasty spots all up her-..." he taps a fingertip against the side of his neck, but begins shivvering in place at the thought of her.
Leah furrows her brow at Jason's display. "...Sure?" she says, somewhat confused. She scrunches up her nose, "I... wouldn't put it that way, but.... yeah?" She sighs and looks between the two, "I'm sorry, Chief. That's really all I know. Honest. It's been a long night and I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow. Do you think it'd be alright if I just-..." she nods back towards the
Leah nods a couple times and stands from her seat. "Thanks, Chief." she says, "I'm... so sorry about all the trouble I've caused. You've both been far more understanding than I deserve. I'm gonna head home and grab that locker number for you." She puts a hand up, knowing what they're probably thinking, "Don't worry, I'll be careful. If it looks like anyone is watching the house I'll
just cut my losses. Come tomorrow I'll be out of your hair. Promise. I'm gonna see about chartering a ship off this planet for me and dad. I'll make sure I find someone who doesn't mind taking a few credits to keep us off the ship logs..." she sighs.
Jason gives a nod as Leah stands. "Stay safe, Leah. If you come across any trouble, just send a message our way. I doubt we'll be getting much sleep tonight anyway with everything going on... Jasper is just outside. Let him know everything is fine in here and feel free to hitch a ride from him."
Vasquez seems on the verge of protesting the idea of going off-world, but decides against saying anything. She just nods to Leah.
Leah takes a couple steps back towards the door. "I'll let him know... I think I'll pass on the ride, though. I could use some alone time to clear my head." she says before turning on her heels and stomping off down the hall, her clunky boots leaving muddy footprints as she walks.
Jason shakes his head and props his chin up with his hand, staring distantly at the desk between him and Vasquez. "The shit just keeps piling up..."