Interesting Times

April 9th, 2173

21:14

Unknown Location

Codename: The Illusive Man

He could almost feel how the nicotine rushed through his veins as he took a drag of his cigarette. He kept the smoke in his lungs before slowly releasing it into the air. The smoke obscured his view of the dozen holographic screens in front of him, every single one showing something different.

His eyes jumped from screen to screen, taking in every scrap of the displayed information. Some of them were important, others not so much, but could become so in the future.

Three screens switched between news channels from the Alliance and outside, but those were mute until something roused his interest.

The rest of the screens either displayed reports of ongoing projects or projected live feeds of current operations.

And his eyes wandered to one of those live feeds again and again, even when he tried to distract himself with the status reports of the construction of Chronos Station.

As important as the construction of the future headquarters of Cerberus was, the current ongoings on Illium were much more vital to the advancement of humanity. Should anything go wrong, he had three teams on stand-by to run interference while the AIS teams evacuated the Special Asset.

Oscar Denebren was too relevant for humanity to lose him to some greedy business owners.

Of course, TIM had some backup plans should Denebren die, but they didn't come close to what could be done with him alive.

Denebren's name was on a list that his most talented analysts compiled. A list that wasn't even as long as his index finger.

Every name on this list was vital for the steady rise of humanity on the galactic stage, and Oscar Denebren was climbing the ranks with every passing year.

Others on this list were, for example, Dr. Barbara Helkin, Dr. Takahashi Hoshiyume, and, to TIM's great displeasure, Andrew Clark.

A chuckle escaped him as he thought back to when he saw Andrew Clark's name on that list. He wasn't one to curse openly, but then he did so loudly. It wasn't like TIM hated him, not the person at least, but the fact that Clark was using him and his organization.

At first, he thought Clark and the AIS were going against them because they perceived Cerberus as a terror organization or a threat to the Alliance.

They wouldn't be the first or the last to perceive Cerberus as such, even if their goal to ready humanity against the darkness of the galaxy was noble.

Yet, the true motives of the AIS and the Alliance were not so shallow and shortsighted as he first thought. Instead, they were using Cerberus as their scapegoat.

Everything Cerberus acquired by morally ambiguous means, be it research or technology, and would put the public into an uproar if the Alliance did the same, was taken by the AIS and used to further their own understanding and research.

This way, the Alliance could preserve its image as an upstanding government on the galactic stage while also closing the gap between them and the other species.

If that had been the only thing, then TIM wouldn't be so annoyed with Andrew Clark. After all, they were working toward the same goal, the betterment of humanity.

But the cheek of the man and how he treated TIM as an asset annoyed him greatly.

Clark used one of the spies TIM found in his organization as a go-between and used him to deliver messages to TIM about which facility would be raided next so he could evacuate personnel to make it easier for the AIS.

And TIM could only follow his lead in this.

The times he evacuated the whole personnel and destroyed everything concerning the research they were doing, the AIS attacked a completely different facility, and the setback was much worse for Cerberus than if TIM had just followed his lead. The only comparison TIM could make for this situation was that of a child being punished for not listening to their parents.

Furthermore, Clark proved this way that he had more knowledge about the inner workings of Cerberus than TIM had suspected, leading to a downright paranoid atmosphere among his people.

TIM was sure that he still hadn't found every single infiltrator and thus had to be very careful who he tasked with which project. If the location of Chronos Station leaked to the AIS, then his new headquarters would become obsolete before he even took one step on it.

Yet, even if Andre Clark annoyed him to the point where he would like to strangle him with his own hands, TIM couldn't deny that Clark belonged on the list. The man was more than competent enough in keeping the STG and the other intelligence agencies in check. So TIM would continue to let Clark keep his position and life.

But the moment the man lost his usefulness, he would gladly give the order to eliminate the man.

A status update appeared on one of the holographic screens, and he saw that Denebren was entering the building. TIM could only hope that Denebren was smart enough to prepare enough protection to survive until a team could exfiltrate him, but from everything TIM knew of the man, he shouldn't have to worry.

Denebren wasn't one to leave himself open to obvious danger, otherwise, he wouldn't have been so successful until now. The way he dealt with his enemies and how he inspired loyalty in those working for him were some of Denebren's best points, and TIM would have liked to have him as one of Cerberus' partners.

Perhaps TIM would make an offer in the future, but for now, Denebren belonged wholeheartedly to the Alliance, and there was no reason for him to ponder about joining Cerberus.

Furthermore, he would have to keep Denebren's association with Cerberus a secret, as there would be problems with Henry Lawson otherwise.

Henry despised Denebren with everything he got, while Denebren, on the other hand, thought Henry to be nothing more than a fly buzzing around him. If he had to guess, then TIM would say that Henry was jealous of the success Denebren had and the loyalty he inspired. Henry tried multiple times to bribe employees of Ad Astra to change companies and work for him, and every time he got rejected.

There was even a rumor that in his anger at being constantly rejected, he offered the janitor half a million credits but got rejected still.

Nothing about the rumor was true. Henry wouldn't lower himself to speak to a janitor, and if one looked just a bit closer, then one would know that the rumor originated from Oscar Denebren's office. A little bit of petty revenge for harassing his employees and a minor hit against Henry's reputation, too.

Still, this one-sided rivalry was something that gave TIM headaches and would continue so. Denebren should have given him more than a slip on the wrist all those years ago when Henry first tried to influence Ad Astra.

The slap did its job, and Henry backed away for a time, but time also helps people to forget, and Henry was the type of person that tended to forget things that disagreed with his self-image. His following successes helped in the matter, and his failures were quickly brushed aside as inconsequent.

If even his daughter sought to distance herself from him, perhaps TIM should seek a temporary cessation of their partnership.

Through the backing of Cerberus, Lawson Shipping had seen a rise to the top of the market, and even now, TIM was using their ships to transport materials for the construction of Chronos Station.

Maybe he should reveal that he had taken in Miranda, his daughter, it would probably lead to him ending the partnership by himself. Of course, TIM would only reveal it after the construction was finished, and he made sure that nobody would be able to tell the location of Chronos Station to the AIS.

Yes, that would be the most promising strategy.

Lawson would cancel the partnership, taking the sheltering of Miranda as a betrayal of sorts, especially after he asked Cerberus to search for her. He would believe himself in control, that Cerberus would slow down its growth without his support.

Nothing like that would happen.

Lawson may be Cerberus' biggest financier at the moment, but many more supported the organization, and they all would clamor to take his place in the food chain. The loss of ships to transport their goods wouldn't be a problem either, Lawson would continue to ship them around, just not knowing that they belonged to Cerberus.

On the other hand, Lawson's own company wouldn't be able to weather the severing of their partnership so well. There were enough sharks in the water that would pick up on his sudden lack of support like fresh blood, and they would see a weakened opponent. An opponent disliked by the one on top of the food chain. They would pounce on Lawson, try to get his shares of the cake, all to perhaps find favor with Denebren, to become the one shipping his goods.

It was funny how it all came back to Denebren. The man probably wouldn't even care about the whole situation, yet he would still play a part in Lawson's return to Cerberus.

Anita Goyle would retire from her position as the Alliance's ambassador in a few years, or if some crisis happened, and it was an open secret in some circles that Denebren was aiming to become the next one.

When Lawson heard that, he immediately began to look for his own candidate, as he knew that he himself wouldn't garner enough support. He found his candidate in Donnel Udina, a member of Terra Firma. Udina was more moderate than many of his fellow party members but was still firmly in their camp. TIM had thought of supporting Udina himself, the man would push the same goals as Cerberus, at least in parts, yet he wouldn't support an obvious sunk cost fallacy. If it was anybody else but Oscar Denebren, then he would have aided Udina from the shadows.

It was madness to think that Denebren wouldn't get the post, the position was his from the moment he only said that he was thinking of coming forward as a candidate, and his election as ambassador got only more assured over the years.

Yet Lawson couldn't -wouldn't- see it.

Well, the losses he would incur would bring him back into the arms of Cerberus faster. It would also be an opportunity to see if Udina would run against Denebren for appearance's sake or if he truly expected to have a chance against him.

If it was the latter, then TIM wouldn't waste another second thinking of supporting Udina. Somebody with such delusions couldn't even be used as a puppet, they would believe themselves powerful and thus uncontrollable, and TIM didn't want to clean up the messes Udina would undoubtedly leave behind.

Yet, if Udina knew that the choice for the next ambassador was a foregone conclusion, and he only ran against Denebren because law and tradition dictated that there had to be at least two candidates, then TIM would look more into the matter of helping Udina.

If Udina proved himself capable, it wouldn't be a stretch to see him take up a position of power where he could be useful for Cerberus.

But all that depended on Udina. No matter what anyone would say, Lawson would still pour thousands of credits down the drain to see Udina elected. Correction, to see Denebren get not elected. It would hurt Lawson's company more than anything. Money, thrown away for nothing, burned political capital for favors that would result in nothing, and the company's shareholders' trust in him would be shaken. Lawson would have no other choice but to come back to Cerberus, and TIM would welcome him with open arms as long as certain benefits were given to Cerberus.

It would still be some time until TIM could start with this plan, but another one concerning Miranda could be discussed with her. It would take some time until the necessary preparations were done, and the cover had to hold under the scrutiny of the AIS, but Miranda would probably be the best agent for this mission. When Denebren takes up the position of ambassador, he would need a capable secretary, and Miranda was nothing if not capable. Capable enough to not buckle under the pressure of the job as a secretary, and at the same time funneling secret information back to Cerberus.

Yes, he would talk with her about that, she should have a say in this mission. Not that there was any other option but her taking this mission, but the illusion of choice was better than nothing. Also, she would gladly take this mission just to prove herself and to make sure that Cerberus wouldn't sell her out to her father.

People with a motivation beyond money always achieve better results.

TIM's eyes wandered back to the live feed from Illium. So far nothing exceptional happened, and he hoped it would stay this way. Yet, he wished he had the opportunity to know what was happening between those inside the building.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------April 9th, 2173

21:15 SET

Illium, Tasale-System

Nos Astra

"Mr. Denebren, welcome to the Circle of Alameina."

"It's an honor to be chosen to join such an illustrious group."

The grin on my face turned into a slightly more relaxed smile, and I could see how the Asari who greeted me relaxed a bit as well.

Ayala Nessara, Asari, exact age unknown, but in the middle of her matron phase, no known children. Made her fortune through real estate, and possesses buildings on most planets where Asari settled, from Thessia to the Citadel. Her general disposition is a mix of paranoia and nervousness. It's suspected that her mother encouraged their children to fight over the inheritance of her own fortune.

It was a good thing, I made sure to have someone compile dossiers on the people I was meeting. Coming here without sufficient information would have been foolish.

"Please, take a seat," said Nessara, pointing to the chair in front of me while she sat down.

"Thank you," I answered easily and joined her and the others at the conference table.

I kept the relaxed smile on my face while my eyes slowly moved from person to person, and I recalled the important bits of information about everyone present.

First of all was Qintinius Cicerio, the Turian. I believe it wouldn't surprise anyone if I said that he accumulated his fortune by playing to the Turian stereotype. And that means guns.

He bought and sold them all over Citadel space and beyond. Be it a small backwater colony, or the best store for hunting rifles on the Citadel, Cicerio had his fingers in all of them. Yet, he made the big bucks by making sure that hundreds of pirate groups, gangs, and even Omega itself had access to some of the newest pieces of armaments available. Of course, nothing could be traced back to him, and he had enough bureaucrats in his pocket that anything even slightly suspicious disappeared.

If I'm being honest, I could appreciate his carefulness. At least I wouldn't have to worry about investigations into my person by associating with him.

Something that couldn't be said about the second Asari in the room.

Mirala De'Tiyovi's life was an open book, literally in this case. She called Illium her home now for around three hundred years, ever since she arrived here during her maiden years, and there wouldn't go a week by without her name plastered in one or another magazine.

The number of scandals she was involved in would have destroyed any other person, but she seemed to revel in them and come out of them just fine.

Well, it wasn't too surprising for me. After all, De'Tiyovi owned quite a few news agencies, and her gossip magazines were always the first to report her newest scandal. Of course, only a few people knew that she owned them, else people would think that she engineered those scandals to keep her magazines in the limelight.

Thankfully, whenever one magazine put one of her escapades on the front, another would report about her charity work one or two weeks later.

And as fascinating as it was, what truly interested me was her communication network. Somehow she managed to acquire an Extranet line that belonged only to her. So, while every normal person had to wait for the data to be processed when they wanted to access databanks outside their star system, De'Tiyori could send data through the Extranet without any delay.

That in itself wasn't so special. The galactic governments had each their own satellite network for communication so that administrative and military information wouldn't be transmitted via the public network, and it was possible to book private lines in the public network too.

Of course, there was also the option to install a back door channel, but the prison sentence you got when you were caught wasn't a laughing matter. Most Salarians died in prison when they did this, and their prison term wouldn't even be half over.

But back to the booking of private lines.

I booked one myself, and let me tell you, the fees were exorbitant, and only companies with a turnover that could support a country or two could pay those fees without going broke.

And somehow, De'Tiyovi got one, and she wasn't paying a single credit for it. Furthermore, the cybersecurity of her line was top-notch, too. My people still hadn't breached them.

The only thing they found out was that the network line covered most of Citadel space and, most importantly, was connected to all homeworlds of the Citadel species.

Well, except Khar'shan, but who needed that planet anyway?

If everything went as I wanted, this Extranet line would be mine.

The last person was the Volus. Personally, I had expected the fourth member of the Circle of Alameina, excluding me, to be a Salarian. The trinity of Asari, Salarian, and Turian was almost everywhere, so to see a group as powerful and influential as the Circle deviate from the expected was quite interesting.

But just because Nisco Ron wasn't a Salarian shouldn't mean that one should underestimate him. What Volus lacked in military might and the ability to intimidate people by their sheer presence, they more than compensated with their cunning minds, especially if they got information to use against someone.

And Nisco Ron had information about almost everyone on Illium. Be it the janitor cleaning the toilets in the skyscraper a kilometer south or the current supreme judge of the Illium Court of Justice, Illium's supreme court.

The only thing that surprised me was that the Shadow Broker hadn't recruited or killed a talented information broker like Nisco Ron.

Perhaps it was because Ron didn't have the ruthlessness needed to go against his opponents until they were destitute. He liked to stay neutral in all matters and only used his acquired information to gain advantages in the stock market. Every other negotiation, he left to people owing him favors for either digging up information about someone or burying their own.

And that was the true power he wielded. Not the considerable wealth he accumulated but the favors he owned and the blackmail he had on hundreds of people. He may have swept more things under the rug than one could count, but I was sure that he held onto something in case he ever had need of it. A little black book, one could say.

In contrast to the other three, Nisco Ron didn't own any company in the traditional sense. Anything he owned was either stocks or partial ownership, but he didn't possess a controlling interest in any company or shop under his purview. Nonetheless, his diverse portfolio gave him access to all social levels. Something that only benefitted his information gathering.

Furthermore, some of my people discovered that some of the shops he partially owned were laundering money.

The shops themselves were nothing special, and they didn't make enough money to hide high sums in their books since they were just local stores, but the first time I heard about it, I was stumped. Nisco Ron was a very careful type of person, so why would some of the shops he was connected to launder money so openly? It wouldn't take more than a phone call to the right person at the next police station to solve the situation if the authorities tried to investigate, but I had expected Ron to hide this better, if not stop it entirely.

At least, that was my first thought.

The people I've had on intel gathering only found the money laundering business because they looked into every shop and company connected to Nisco Ron and were specifically looking for any dirt on him. I was sure that if anybody looked for places that dealt with money laundering specifically, they would have found those shops too. And from there, it would be no big step to finding Nisco Ron, as well.

It was his way of advertising his services. It wasn't just those small-time shops, the bigger companies in his portfolio probably did it too, but those hid their dealings far better. Other than that, I couldn't explain his unusual sloppiness in hiding his own dirt. I hadn't found any evidence supporting my theory yet, but that was only a matter of time. It would take some time since my analysts were quite busy with all the jobs I heaped upon them, but they would find it.

Maybe I should look into hiring more? Thoughts for another day.

If I was right, then Nisco Ron was laundering enormous amounts of money through his companies, and his connections to various banks probably helped in this regard.

Furthermore, he was the first to speak up after I took my seat at the table.

"I believe there is no need for an introduction. We all should know about each other at this point, so we shouldn't waste time with unnecessary formalities," Nisco Ron said, his speech occasionally interrupted by the breathing noises of his environmental suit.

"That would be great," agreed De'Tiyovi, "I have a reservation for QeuQeu's in a few hours, and I would like to have some time to choose an appropriate outfit for the restaurant before I go there."

"Don't act like you didn't have one already. In my estimation, you knew what you are going to wear a week ago, and if you didn't choose one already, then you will be late no matter what with how long you're going to take to choose one," remarked Cicerio.

"How rude," pouted De'Tiyovi, her cheeks puffed up like a child's. Of course, that was an act to distract people from her manipulative personality. It was supposed to look like the action of an innocent sulky child, but to me, it looked more petulant than anything.

I kept smiling lightly during the interaction as if I was amused at their banter rather than showing the annoyance I truly felt.

"Perhaps we should take this a bit more seriously for now," suggested Nessara. "This is, after all, the first time that Mr. Denebren is meeting us in person. We wouldn't want him to get the wrong picture of us, right?"

"I don't mind. It's rather refreshing to witness such lightheartedness. Normally, when people like us gather in one place, it's a rather tense affair," I lied. In truth, I wanted to get to the gist of our meeting, and this useless banter annoyed me greatly. Not that could show that openly. For now, I would have to establish a cordial relationship with them. Even if it was just theater on all our parts.

It wouldn't surprise me if they staged their banter to feel me out, and from the way they shifted their bodies subtly in their seats, they figured out that I knew what they were up to.

Nisco Ron nodded to himself, and I guessed I passed some sort of test.

"Well, as amusing as it is to watch Mirala and Qintinius have a go at each other, we should concentrate on Mr. Denebren's induction into our circle."

Count on Nisco Ron to be the voice of reason.

"Yes, that is a good idea," supported Nessara. "I'm sure we all have more to do than sitting here all evening, so we should tell Oscar... I can call you Oscar, right?" I agreed with a flippant hand gesture. "Well, we should tell Oscar what his responsibilities and benefits are if he decides to join the Circle of Alameina."

"As if the outcome of his choice wasn't obvious," scoffed Cicerio. "If it was anything else but him agreeing to join, he wouldn't have come."

He was right, of course. I wouldn't have set foot in this building if I hadn't decided I would join this illustrious group in the first place. Much too dangerous otherwise.

"It would still be nice to hear confirmation from his own mouth," replied Nisco, clearly wanting to get on with the matter.

"Then let me say it out loud," I said with enough gravity fit for the occasion. "I'm honored to accept your invitation to join the Circle of Alameina. I'm hoping for a good working relationship between us."

At least until I had enough power to take everything from you.

And from the way most of them smiled, I could see they thought the same way I did.

"Well then, we should probably get started to get you truly inducted into our operations," said Nisco Ron, and I couldn't wait to know more.