The mysterious swordswoman you have encountered when you both arrived to intervene in a confrontation that turned out to be between your father and his companions and the mysteriously corrupted Keepers. One that had fought with a masterful combination of biotic powers and swordsmanship, one that you have seen and fought against before, yet showing no signs of brutal huskification Cerberus seems to have been subjecting its forces to. Intrigued by that, as well as by the notion that she seemed to have at least passing idea of what she was up against, you resolve to strike up a conversation.

She is quick to sense your attention, returning your look with her own with a neutral expression.

"Henri Ford, Citadel Institute for Xenoarchaeology. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

She blinks, and you tell yourself you see a ghost of a smile twitch on her lips, and then she says something that derails whatever idea of how this conversation would go.

"I understand you're one of professor Stahlberg's men?"

You take a moment to collect your thoughts. Perhaps she was familiar with CIX from before the war? It was not that much of a stretch, her customized armour would not look out of place in a society the professor was attending when delivering lectures on long lost civilization and asking for funding few new expeditions - it was a sleek, form fitting suit with unobtrusive decorations that would not look out of place among formal coveralls or robes.

"You've heard of us?"

"I've… yes." She says after a brief hesitation. You keep looking at her, hoping she was looking for words. After a few seconds it becomes increasingly apparent that this was not the case.

"May I know your name?" You decide to ask directly. Frustratingly, she looks away and you begin to worry that you've consigned yourself to the awkward silence after all, left with more questions than before.

"Yoake." She says so quietly that you almost miss it.

"Thank you." You say, recognizing reluctance with which she had volunteered the name.

There it was again, that shadow of a smile. "He spoke well of you." Yoake drops another bombshell.

"When?" You ask the question that jumps to forefront of your mind.

"During evacuation. Professor was instrumental in organizing it."

"He's… here?" And he's alive? The news was somewhat dulled next to learning that your own parents made it after you've more or less - no, there's no point in going down that path. You need to get your thoughts back on track.

"He and some of your colleagues have been studying equipment left behind by Cerberus. They will be pleased to see you alive." Yoake explains, some of the tension seemed to have left her. You meanwhile latch onto that thread and muster another question:

"Cerberus… pardon me my directness, but would you mind saying what is your connection to them? You used to work with them?"

There is another pause and again you wonder if you overstepped, or how badly, in your inquisition. But eventually there is a soft sigh.

"I did. I... don't like talking about it."

"I can understand that. I've met ex-Cerberus before." You nod, recalling brief encounters with the occasional engineer or support staff you've met in between deployments with the faux-N7. Only few of them were not visibly stricken by guilt for their past judgment, especially after a clash with Cerberus forces, some telling themselves the Cerberus they had joined was simply a different one from the one they had left.

"I... see." Yoake says, and there's another pause, but before you can press on or change direction, she adds. "I regret every drop of blood drawn by those blades."

She says this with a finality that tells you she's not ready to pursue this topic further, leaving you guessing and spinning possibilities - you put a stop to that.

Rather than navigate this minefield, you could ask about something else - you probably have time for one question before you reach the hideout…

>Ask about the evacuation - what was Presidium like when they left it?
>Ask about the hideout - what sort of facility Cerberus was running here?
>Ask about the district - has she been patrolling it?
>Ask about her background outside of Cerberus - there must have been something else, perhaps with Alliance?
>Ask about her past interaction with CIX?
>Ask or tell her something else (specify)
>Don't ask anything else for now.

Once again I apologize for my slowness.

Story thus far summarized:
https://pastebin.com/RMXUsvkr

Thread 1:
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2019/3369286/
(most of) Subsequent threads:
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Henri%20Ford

>>6417600
>Ask about the district - has she been patrolling it?

>>6417602
All good, QM.

>>6417600
>>Ask about the district - has she been patrolling it?

>>6417602
Its okay Wanderer, worth the wait for a quality quest.

>>6417602
Thanks for running.

>>6435619
I'm not dead yet. Just exhausted from working an intellectually challenging (for me) day job... at least it is an enjoyable one though.

Hopefully there will be time to learn more of the mysterious woman later, but right now you had an imminent mystery to solve, and there was one thing only she could answer.

"So I understand you've taken it upon yourself to patrol this district?" You ask.

"That's right."

"Did you encounter anything that would strike you as exceptionally unusual or out of place? Aside from the general activity of the corrupted Keepers, I mean."

When an answer was not immediately forthcoming, you focused your gaze on her expression, attempting to read her. You could make out her furrowed brow through her transparent faceplate as she seemed to put in an earnest effort in trying to remember anything.

"I'm afraid I don't have much to contribute, doctor, aside from the Keeper incursions which I've been intercepting. I did on occasion witness a... materialization of one of those monolithic structures, but that was from a short distance, outside of the perimeter I've felt confident in my ability to patrol. That happened several times, what looked like dim hard light lattice emerging among existing structures or replacing them, then growing opaque and solid."

"I see…" You hum to yourself. "Did this always happen in a particular area?"

"No, at least I couldn't discern any recurring patterns or shared landmarks."

"Interesting..." You say, pondering the possibilities. One possibility was that those structures needed the changed Keepers to initiate the emergence, and Yoake's patrols prevented that from occurring in the district. But there was still a possibility that there was a different reason.

"Alright, hold on tight, we're landing." Kris announced from inside. It seemed you've arrived at the hideout.

You look around as the Livingstone began to slow down and align itself as it descended towards an unobstructed parking spot. The place looked vaguely familiar despite the state of devastation, with what was probably the tallest office building cut off cleanly at height of third story and you briefly find yourself wondering if the portion that did not evaporate was still drifting somewhere in the Serpent Nebula or perhaps around the Earth, but quickly move on to survey rest of the area, skimming across what amounted o several terraces' worth of commercial establishments - various stores, restaurants, salons and yards of various purposes, all currently dim and devoid of life. If survivors were around, they were keeping low profile indeed.

As the skycar touches down you detach yourself from its side, Yoake doing the same, and Kris and your father and his companions disembark as well. Dad immediately takes charge

"Over there. Follow me." he says and heads off towards one of the bulkier structures a level below that of your landing pad.

You are guided down a passage between two half demolished office and store blocks towards what looks like a wide mall, a row of storefronts emerging from a large warehouse. As you clear the line of sight and reach a slope down, it becomes apparent that you are headed for what used to be a furniture emporium with what now strikes you to be a disproportionately small customer-facing salon compared to its storage block, though you figure much of the solid structure has only been revealed because more eye catching storefronts were now deserted or turned to rubble.

"Hidden in plain view, eh?" Dad says. "I admit I'm ashamed that that tumour had exploded so much." He adds, referring to the extent of Cerberus operations and you're reminded of how he used to tell you how his brief tenure at a civil service audit office ended with him quickly getting promoted towards a wildly different analytical posting after he had submitted a report on some suspicious patterns in military contract orders. At the time neither one of you had any inkling of what true nature of such a movement could be, though you still ended up having a disagreement as to whether the matter should be brought to attention of the press, where father was adamant that the matter has been addressed to best possible effect, having been passed under review of the appropriate bureaucracy on Arcturus station.

In hindsight, knowing how ruthless Cerberus used to be when eliminating threats, you wonder if in the end what you got was the best plausible outcome. Back then you didn't even have a backing of a Council supported scientific institution, much less fighting experience against a world ending threat, your current companion or a friendship of a SPECTRE.

Your reminiscence branches out towards all the other times that you spent reuniting with your family during your brief stays aboard the Citadel. The simple, but cozy and neatly lived in apartment your parents had rented. Actual homemade cooking or pastries. Father's vinyl collection. Mother's bookshelf of classical sci-fi, from Verne's terrestrial voyages to Kovalchuk's pre-first contact galactic utopias. Or even an occasional trip to Earth or Beckenstein. The memorized images and sensations whirl at the edge of your consciousness as you make your way towards a logistics entrance. Father makes a quick gesture with his omnitool and the heavy cargo door opens revealing… a perfectly normal warehouse, packagings of old fashioned disassembled furniture piled on the massive shelves, a solitary forklift hoverdrone with its eezo core cannibalized lying on the side between them.

Then, in one of the shelves, there is a movement and what you took for stacked crates turns out to be a cover for an elevator. The elevator is not empty. There is a person on the platform. You find yourself approaching the person.

It's ridiculous, one would have thought a Cerberus hideout would be better insulated against rain leaking in from the outside.

Luckily there is someone here to brush the annoying drops away.

"Hari. My little Hari."

"I told you not to call me that, mom." You protest with no force behind your words.


***


You are Tuferson Kris, a Krogan, a special consultant for the Citadel Institute for Xenoarchaeology and a friend of someone who clearly needs some time to deal with his family business. Henri went to hug what was presumably his mother and his father seemed to also have abandoned the somewhat reserved persona to join in, his companions watching the scene with some degree of empathy or wistfulness. You could swear even the sword wielding woman allowed herself a hint of a smile before catching your gaze and resuming her neutral expression.

Sentimental creatures, those humans. The sight does nothing for you, obviously, and you certainly don't find yourself wondering what Tuchanka looks like right now with the Shroud destroyed. No point in dwelling on things you can't change, right? Not that you would be dwelling on anything, you had work to do. Right.

"So, miss Yoake, was it?"

"That's right. Doctor Tufferson?"

"Mhm." You grumble. "I overheard you mention professor Stahlberg?"

"Indeed. He had set himself up near the core of the shelter. I assume you would like to meet him?"

"You assume correctly. Would you...?"

"Certainly. Please, follow me. There's a secondary access path, formerly an escape route, leading towards the core of the facility." The woman nods and walks towards the back of the warehouse. You give one more look at the Ford family and allow yourself a smirk before turning to follow the mysterious warrior woman.

Yoake guides you through the storage area towards the back where you find a stairwell, presumably leading up to office areas of the store. Rather than going up, however, it becomes immediately apparent that you would head towards the grated section with 'authorized personnel only' signs in the back, the barrier ostensibly in place to restrict access to a computer stack and several file cabinets. Its real purpose was most likely to limit access to where a floor had been retracted to reveal downward stairs, a revealed hidden passage.

You follow the swordswoman as she guides you wordlessly down the stairway into a simple corridor that seemed to extend far into distance, obscured by darkness except where dim light of a few door terminals weakly illuminated it.

"The passage leads further to a shuttle hangar which has been collapsed during the Reaper incursion." Yoake says as she notices you gazing past her as she approaches the nearest door and activates her omnitool to open it. "Connected to admin and office area..."

With that the door opened and an odd sense of nostalgia washes over you.

"...format drift in the records, do you think you could wring it into shape?" One voice says, a slightly overweight middle aged man sitting behind a desk, his eyes focused on a file projected onto the terminal in front of him.

"The ETL helper didn't catch it? Send me a cap and a pointer, I'll - Ah, I see. Huh. This is going to take some effort. Can you move onto the next batch in the meantime?" Second voice, this one belonging to a woman roughly in the same age range, her loose ponytail of strawberry blonde hair bobbing as she skimmed the display of her own terminal.

"Yeah, no worries and thanks." The man slides the file off to the side and notices the two of you for the first time and his focused expression eases into a smile as recognition dawns in his eyes. "Kris! You're alive!"

"Kris!" The woman looks up from her display as well, lighting up alongside her colleague. "That means so is Henri, right?"

"Joe. Joan." You recognize the two CIX workers with a nod, all cool and casual like. You definitely don't have to push back anything unkroganlike, you just allow a smile to form naturally. "Yeah, he's catching up with his family." You hesitate for just a moment. "It's, uh, good to see you in one piece, too."

"You bet! I can't believe we made it. Miss Yoake really pulled our asses out of the fire. Thank you again, miss."

The swordswoman allowed herself a small smile as she nodded at the man.

"Kris! Marvelous. I was wondering when you two would show up." A new voice booms into the exchange as the door in the back of the room closes behind another man, clad in simple scientists' coveralls, same as Joe and Joan. His hair was black peppered with gray, his expression comfortable in a wide, delighted smile, one of the two distinct patterns you recall the man showing, the other one being a furrowed brow as he examines a new artifact.

"Professor Stahlberg." You give the man a respectful nod. "Sorry we took so long."

"Don't mention it. The work is not going to go anywhere and I understand you've been busy. I did however put together quite a few places for you to check out, and we're working on more. I hope you're ready, there are some disturbing recurring patterns here so our work may one day save the galaxy from an extinction event."

You blink.

"You mean the Reapers? Those are dealt with, though?" You venture, the obvious fact slightly cracked by nonchalant confidence of the CIX legend.

Professor's expression switches to the thoughtful mode. "They have been, haven't they? Wait, where was I again...?" There's an awkward moment when you struggle to realign yourself and remind yourself where you are and what you are here for, Joe and Joan likewise looking for words and Yoake simply observing the reunion with controlled, neutral expression. Before you can come up with something to says, professor Stahlberg relaxes again. "I'm sorry, I was just in the middle of going over my notes on a particular ruin when I heard the commotion. If it's important, I'll let you know. For now, though - welcome back, son!"

Professor quickly covers the distance in a few energetic strides and gives you a quick hug. You're pretty sure he doesn't consider you an actual son and it's just how older humans address their professional juniors in familiar settings.

"You're not here to tell me of your adventures yet, though, aren't you? You're here about that mess - right, I know now. I was trying to find references to Keepers and got side-tracked. Did you know this place is built around a disconnected Keeper terminal? Those Cerberus shits were up to something, but their work may end up of help yet. If we can get to it, that is."

"Wait, what was that about Keeper terminal?" You ask, trying to keep up with the leaps in logic and intuition of the older scientist.

"This facility was a research cell." Yoake speaks up. "I knew it was involved with Citadel tech and possibly Keepers, but it has been defunct since..." There was a barely perceptible pause, but you caught it. "...the coup attempt."

"Well, I took a look around after miss Yoake gracefully allowed us to take shelter here. Sadly, I was not able to reach actionable conclusions so far. There's just so many threads to pursue... well, now that you and Henri are here, we have two more heads to toss at the problem."

"That's why we're here." You nod, and consider what would the best use of your time be...

>Ask the professor to show you to the Keeper terminal. You can take a look at it with your omnitool.
>Ask Yoake to show you to the facility computer, perhaps with help of the two nerds up in the ship you could dig through what's left of Cerberus files.
>Ask the professor to share what he had found so far, perhaps some of the paths he was exploring could be relevant to the problem at hand
>other idea (specify)

>>6437786
>>Ask Yoake to show you to the facility computer, perhaps with help of the two nerds up in the ship you could dig through what's left of Cerberus files.
Gather and build off of what the others have learned.

>>6437786
>Ask Yoake to show you to the facility computer, perhaps with help of the two nerds up in the ship you could dig through what's left of Cerberus files.
The Alliance/Council is probably going to want to get some more nerds down here.