#RedrockAgency – March 5, 2025

Renala leaves her office, locking the door behind her as usual, and walks down the corridor to ring the doorbell to Vasquez' office. She's in a white fleece jacket and simple pants, and she's carrying a small camera sensor assembly her hand. She looks tired more than anything else.

Vasquez looks up from her screen as the door opens. She swipes it aside and gestures for Renala to enter. Her hair is in the usual ponytail, and yesterday's concert tee is gone, replaced by her preferred combo of white tanktop and gray jacket emblazoned with the Redrock logo. The one trace of her trip that still lingers is the slightly chipped black nail polish. Her gaze is sharp and focused, and a steaming cup of coffee rests

Renala straightens her posture a bit as she steps through the door. She seems a bit on edge, but how much of that is due to her caffeine intake is unclear. "Thanks," she says, and walks up to stand behind one of the chairs. "How was the trip off-world?"

Vasquez ' lips twitch into a brief smile despite herself. "It was good," she replies, before quickly changing gears, expression souring. "But I've been informed we had another... severesecurity breach while I was away. Has your sweep gotten us any results?"

Renala sighs. "Unfortunately not," she says. "I'm working on setting up a system to detect physical security problems, but it needs much more fine-tuning before it'll be useful to you three." She brings up her omni-tool to tap at, browsing through the device list, though her attention is still mostly on Vasquez. "I've reviewed the footage too, but she was completely invisible to us until she chose not to be, so I

Vasquez lets out a frustrated sigh, running one hand across her face. "We need answers, T'Iavay. Do whatever you need to do to figure out how the hell that bitch slipped in here undetected, and put a stop to it. I don't care if you have to gut our whole infrastructure and start from scratch. Whatever it takes. If you need more resources, I'll figure out a way to make it happen." She sags a little in her seat. "We're supposed to be

Renala tenses up a bit at the answer, mirroring the frustration. Wouldn't that be the dream, to tear it all down and do it all over again, but do it right this time.... "Even I don't have any idea how much time that would take," she says wearily, "and that highlights the biggest problem: it's just me doing this, and there are a lot of devices around here that we don't think about until they start squeaking." She

Vasquez ' body tenses briefly at the unexpected biotic display, before seeing the camera in her hand and glancing at its now-empty spot on the ceiling. Renala's words make her eyebrows furrow slightly, a silent moment's consideration passing before she nods. "Clearly we're overdue. I'll make it happen," she agrees.

Renala looks a bit awkward at the reaction her biotic display gets, but she doesn't mention it. The affirmative answer is hesitantly accepted with a nod. "Just be every careful about the hiring process," she says, "lest we might get the kind of person we're trying to keep out." She pops open the glass dome on the camera and replaces the defective sensor, which is one among four arranged in a two-by-two grid. These

Vasquez ' face twists slighlty with displeasure at the implication that she needs reminding to be careful about critical hires, but she lets it go uncommented - maybe her good mood from the trip and Jason's surprise hasn't entirely evaporated yet, despite the news. She watches Renala work, her words drawing a nod. "Good. I'll let you know once I've located a suitable candidate for our tech team," she says, before adding: "This

Renala looks a bit defensive as she notices her reminder didn't go over well, but it fades as Vasquez doesn't go into it. The phrase 'tech team' does draw a small smile from her, however. "Of course," she says. "I've got a stake in this as well, because it's my time that goes into training them." She looks down at the camera for a second, and puts it on the table. "Before I turn this thing back on," she says.

Vasquez furrows her eyebrows, eyes sharp as they scan across Renala's face, trying to decipher the nature of the situation. She nods and leans forward, hands folding before her chin rests against her knuckles.

Renala is trying to navigate this subject with a grace she's not used to. "The system I mentioned I'm working on," she begins. "I set that up before I went to Thessia. You know, so it can gather data to comb through when I get back, and... well, it found something I'd rather it didn't." She looks a bit defensive as she hasten to add, "it's nothing helpful, nor new to you." She then sighs and gets to the point.

Vasquez ' frown deepens, confused at first. "Argument? What-" Her eyes widen slightly, and then she closes them with a quiet curse. "...I see." She doesn't say anything else yet, looking up at Renala again, watching her expression closely as she waits to see where she's going with this.

Renala does not look any at ease. Maybe she is seeking more than to inform here. "I then went through and destroyed all surveillance records of it, and talked with Ilyna to let her know what i know, and I was ready to let it go," she says. "But I forgot to erase the case from the alerting system, and, well, it... picked up on a certain romantic gesture on the roof on New Years Eve." She frowns, unhappy with her

Vasquez ' frown remains firmly in place, but there's the slightest twitch in reaction to what Renala has to say. Her gaze falls to her desk for a moment as she thinks, seeming more troubled than surprised. She takes a deep breaht and nods. "Sent a copy of the footage my way, then erase it and the case," she instructs. "I'll handle it."

Renala tenses up as she scrutinizes Vasquez' reaction, but her order does appear to put her at ease. "You don't have to tell me twice," she says, and picks up the camera again, and closes its glass dome, but it won't power on until it's back in its place. "I-... thank you, I'll do that right away."

Vasquez nods again. "I assume I don't need to tell you to keep this to yourself?"

Renala walks over to just underneath the camera's slot, but she does not plug it in yet. "You assume correctly," she says, "I don't want anyone to know my part in this, either."

Vasquez watches Renala relocate, another nod following in response to her words. "Good. Anything else?"

Renala shakes her head. "By the way, I've noticed you two have got a new pet. I'm not much of an animal-person," she says as she finally uses her biotics to put the camera back in its place, a well-honed maneuver as someone must have designed these things to slowly fall apart. Not the smoothest change of topic as the camera comes online, but she's trying. "Anything I should keep in mind if I'm near it?"

Vasquez expression softens a little, the corner of her mouth twitching upward as she lets out a quiet snort. "His name is Justice. I was going to send out a memo later today so nobody's caught off-guard. I'll be sure to include some basic info. He's friendly, but there's a few things important to keep in mind with dogs."

Renala looks over at Vasquez as she speaks. "Thanks, I'll make sure to read that," she says. There's genuine interest there, for there's probably a reason she's not yet been caught off-guard by it despite working late yesterday. "Anyway, I'd better get back to work," she says as she steps over to the door.

Vasquez nods, gesturing to indicate she can go ahead. "Keep me posted."

Renala nods, opens the door, and begins making her way back to the office.