Fallen Host

"Are you sure this is the best idea, Operative?"

"Yes."

"But we don't know who this is, we don't know where they are, we don't know if they're even Cerberus. Why risk ourselves like this?"

"The risk is minimal, Dr. Turan, and we need people. Whether this... Harbinger of Progress is a technician, a wetworks operative or a glorified janitor, we need people. The encryption algorithms are running at full?"

The man nodded sourly. But then, 'sour' summed up most everything about Dr. Arda Turan.

"Then, as I said, the risk is minimal. If any intrusion is detected, doctor, then we drop the virus, collapse the link, burn this place to the ground and move on. Am I understood?" Another nod, equally sour. "Good. Please give our friend 'Harbinger' a ring, Doctor."

---

Somewhere on the Citadel, Elise's server received a rather heavily encrypted ping.

Someone was knocking.

After a long day of work, Elise had decided it fitting to turn in early. Getting into her soft, warm bed and curling under the covers, Elise closed her eyes and-

-Immediately sat up straight in her bed as her omnitool started pinging.

So much for sleep, then. When I find out who decided to call me after a long day of work I'll-

Elise immediately shut up as she noticed the rather heavy amount of encryption placed onto the call. After seeing such, Elise quickly ran the appropriate encryptions (Cerberus standard, plus her own for added safety) before answering the call.

"And here I thought you'd never call me. Certainly took your sweet time, you did." While Elise was eager to rejoin Cerberus, she wasn't about to leap head-first into some small group working with a hamster as a generator and somebody's basement as a Base of Operations.

You'll have to excuse me. Where are my manners. You can call me 'Harbinger'. Not giving you any names until I know your not just Salarian's screwing around where they don't belong." Elise moved through apartment to her "work" terminal, attempting to quickly hook her omnitool up to the projector she'd recently bought with one hand as she tried to keep the omnitool steady.

"My apologies for the late hour, Ms. 'Harbinger'. We had to be secure before we made contact." Operative Isabelle Mirice's voice was polite, neither icily cold nor particularly warm. After all, she wasn't talking to an ally. Not yet, anyway, she thought.

"It's my pleasure to meet you, on a more pleasant note," she continued, even as Elise's projector whirred into life. "Operative Isabelle Mirice, Internal Affairs liaison to Corvette 18115, at your service."

The call transferred from omnitool to projector quickly and cleanly, giving Elise much more information to go on than a trio of antiquated lightbulbs.

For starters, it gave her a look at Mirice. The woman wasn't hiding behind a mask or helmet, but faced the camera head-on, her features falling somewhere on the scale between 'typically Andean' and 'Mediterranean'. Her hair was worn short, accentuating a tall nose and perpetually turned-down lips. She carried herself well, at least - she looked short but seemed taller.

The room behind her could have been anywhere, one of those ubiquitous prefab modules that you'd find on any given Alliance colony (or on Earth, since the War). A pleasant melody bled through the microphone - Quando sugl'arsi campo from Mozart's Lacio Silla - the singer's voice a stark contrast to Mirice's much less musical tones.

Her lips tightened in what was probably a smile. "So. Ms. Harbinger. Why risk seeking me out? If you left Cerberus, why are you so desperate to re-enlist, as it were?"

Had Elise been expecting this call tonight, she might have put effort into looking professional. As it were, however, she had not expected the call and had planned on slipping into the land of dreams tonight. Now?

Now Elise stood before the Operative (or at least the holographic projection of the Operative), in a loose grey t-shirt and her panties. Elise didn't care too much for that last tidbit, however. They were both women (or at least the Operative looked female), so it's not like it wasn't anything they'd seen before. As the woman spoke, Elise listened carefully while rearranging her rather long hair (after deciding to let it grow out) into a somewhat decent ponytail. Still working with her hair, Elise looked at the Operative when she'd stopped talking.

"First off, allow me to apologize for my state of dress, or rather lack thereof. I had been planning to catch some shut-eye before you called." Elise finished with the ponytail and brushed the stray strands of hair out of her face before crossing her arms in front of her chest. Her cybernetic replacement gleaned ever so slightly in the light, and her cybernetic white eyes were trained on the Operative. She wouldn't even comment on the absolutely dreadful music bleeding through the woman's microphone.

"Secondly, if you truly were Cerberus, you should know better than to speak names during a holoconference, no matter how encrypted it may be. Now to answer your question. Why did I seek you out? If you haven't already figured it out, Cerbeus is nothing but a joke now. The Illusive Man huskified everyone that was dumb enough to stay. As you're also probably well aware, Cerberus Daily News is no longer in Cerberus hands. As for why we're a joke there, let's just say its a good thing Operative Thanatos isn't around to repeat his mistakes a second time. As for why I want to re-enlist... I don't like what Humanity has become. The Alliance, our "voice" in the galaxy, is doing nothing but slowly and surely ripping humanity apart from the inside-out. I thought that after a whole year, the situation would have improved. Sadly I was wrong, and it's only gotten worse. We need the old Cerberus. Not the one that devoured itself until there was nothing left but a laughable joke. The one that truly put Humanity first. Never last."

Mirice's expression didn't change one iota as her eyes swept Elise up and down, lingering for a moment on the other woman's cybernetics. Hmm.

Elise's apology was waved off, but the rebuke got a raised eyebrow. "If I am Cerberus? If? Ms. Harbinger, I was foolish enough to blurt my name, rank and God-damned serial number on that pathetic forum. It was enough for you to verify my legitimacy, was it not? Otherwise, why would you have contacted me?" She shook her head ruefully. "No doubt some poor section of an Alliance intelligence branch is investigating everything I've ever been connected to as we speak." Another faint smile, with pride purring from her voice. No, Isabelle Mirice was far too clever to be caught that way. Or so she thought, at least.

"No. If either of us has to have their loyalty to the cause questioned, it is you, Ms. Harbinger. Which cell did you belong to?" Questions of why did you desert? and why didn't you present yourself for integration? were left unasked, for the moment.

There was a brief pause. "You are right, of course. The Systems Alliance is, has always been, a parliament of fools and traitors." It looked like Mirice was about to add something more, but had abruptly changed her mind.

Not yet. Check her out first and then, if she's suitable, then recruit her.

Elise noticeably tensed, not at all comfortable sharing such information.

"Which cell I belonged to is not something I'll be sharing over a holoconference, just in case things go south. I will tell you that I was the one they sent out if somebody needed to go missing." Elise had enjoyed her years in Cerberus. Hell, it'd been good money doing something she loved, but at some point, Cerberus had started along a road that would not have ended well, and that had been where Elise saw that it was a good time to bail out.

Now she was speaking with an old Operative (and a snarky one, at that). However, it didn't take a genius to see the question that lingered in the air, but that could come later. It was, however, comforting to know someone else harbored hatred towards the Systems Alliance.

Mirice's lips pursed as, behind her, the music swelled. Judging from her expression, either she wasn't used to being snapped at like that or one of the flutes was out of tune.

"Very well, Operative," she finally replied, leaning in slightly. "You say you want back in? You want to help guide humanity back to strength?"

With an audible snap, the feed abruptly staticked up - white electric snow covered Mirice's face and figure in a swirl of blankness while the audio feed crackled and popped. The aria changed, becoming an atonal mess of muted screeches and beeps.

Even with the static, Elise could still spot the other woman's smile.

"Apologies for the inconvenience, Operative. Just a few passive countermeasures - security, you understand." She leaned forward, the 'snow' parting just around one deep brown eye.

"So you're unimpressed with the Systems Alliance. Which side do you fall upon, Operative? This 'transitional authority' or the separatists?"

Elise frowned when asked which side she fell on. To be perfectly honest, Elise hated what the Alliance had become, and she hated what the Seperatists were doing as well.

"Whose side am I on? I'm not on either side, and I don't support the ideals of either side. Both say that they can lead us to a brighter future for humanity. The way things are going, all I see is a one way road to self-destruction. So unless this "bright future" is every human world and colony up in flames, things need to change." Elise directed a cocky smile at the Operative.

" And I don't know if I'd call that "security", but it certainly gets the job done. As for guiding humanity... I don't want to simply make humanity strong again. No... That's not enough. Humanity needs to be on top." Elise looked the Operative in the eyes (or at least, the eye she could see). Before, what she was doing now would have repulsed Elise. Of course, humanity had been at it's prime at that point. Now she couldn't have cared less about the other species in the galaxy. Humanity came first.

The eye crinkled in a faint smirk - clearly, with her countermeasures in place, Mirice felt a bit more open. They might not have been impressive to look at, but if anyone short of the STG (or, she supposed glumly, the Consensus) had been listening in via Elise's terminal, their copy of the conversation would be nothing more than whistles and beeps.

Mirice was quite content to let a Cerberus defector - a traitor, in her eyes, albeit a useful one - get in possible trouble by receiving holomessages from an active cell, but she'd be damned if she let anyone outside her immediate control know of her plans.

"A good answer, Operative," she replied, "Things need to change, and soon. And it's Cerberus who will force that change." Mirice's one visible eye burned with madness. After all, you'd have to be mad to still Believe in Cerberus, and Mirice Believed with a capital B.

"Humanity on top, paramount, unrivalled in the galaxy. It's a fine goal," her voice dropped almost to a whisper, "But it's one that cannot be attained until our own house is in order." A pause. "Operative, if called to do so, would you kill another human?"

Elise had not been expecting such a question, and was unable to keep a smirk off her face.

"Why? Need someone to disappear? I have no problem with killing off members of humanity if they're in the way of progress. He'll, if anyone is in the way of progress, regardless of species, then they need to vanish." Elise had no problem killing someone. It was her job, after all. She had no problem killing someone, and if someone tried to stab her in the back, they died too. Elise also knew that, should this call get out, the Operative was more than willing to let Elise take the fall.

Mirice replied without a smirk. Or, maybe, with one - it was nigh impossible to tell under the static. "Yes, I need someone to disappear. Several someones, in fact."

The eyeball tilted to the left, following the path of the Operative's head as she mentally weighed up the pro-con table.

Seconds dragged on.

"Very well. Operative, I am prepared to overlook your past defection in light of a certain pressing need. Do you still wish to rejoin our organisation? And do you have any further questions?"

Despite the continuous drones, beeps and squeaks of the countermeasure suite, Elise might just be able to make out the faint sound of a haptic interface at work. Mirice was typing something.

"As long as you aren't leading me into a trap, then I can make them disappear. Otherwise, I would very much like to rejoin your organization, and as for questions..." Elise opened her omnitool, checking several things before closing it.

"My questions can wait until we meet face-to-face, granted we ever do." Elise looked at the Operative again, frowning as she thought to herself.

Is this the right thing to do? I mean, sure, the Alliance is running humanity into the dirt and all, but Cerberus doesn't have the best track record... I still have that open invitation from Stefan, I could still go and enlist... No. The Alliance isn't helping humanity any longer, but Cerberus...

Elise smirked as she heard the the Operative typing.

Cerberus is the path Humanity needs to follow.