Chapter Text
Would Tann stop yapping if I stood up and hurled myself out the nearest window, Sage Ryder wondered, her mouth twisting as the Salarian continued his lecture, or would he simply change topics and start rambling about the cost of plate glass?
“Are you listening?” he snapped, his beady eyes focusing on her sharply. “I’m trying to explain the complexities and factors of my decision.”
She blinked pale violent eyes and forced herself to focus, plastering a smile on her face. “Of course I'm listening. Go on.”
“The answer is no. I'm sorry, Ryder,” Tann spread his long fingers and gave her a smug little look that said he was anything but sorry. “I will not approve your transfer to Eos. I appreciate that you have a particular interest in Remnant Technology, but your skills are much better suited for your original posting-”
Sage swallowed hard, a roaring sound filling her ears as she watched Tann's mouth continue to move. The room spun slightly, and for a moment she wondered if she would black out.
He was not approving her transfer.
He was forcing her to join the Tempest crew.
Harry had been right.
“-and I'm not unsympathetic. I understand that your recent experience at the hands of the Archon may have left you a little rattled,” came his voice from far away, “but that's no reason for you to run from your responsibilities and transfer to Eos. The Pathfinder Team needs people with your skills, and your brother is excited to have you join him.”
Seth.
Sage squeezed her hands into fists at the mention of her brother: the heroic Pathfinder who had saved them all. This was his doing, she was sure of it. Tann had no reason to stop her transfer unless Seth had complained and insisted she be posted to his team.
Seth wanting his own way.
Seth wanting to control her.
Seth destroying yet another thing in her life that didn't involve him.
The thought of working and living in such close proximity to her brother after so much time away made her feel claustrophobic, almost dizzy. Once, she would never have believed Seth would sabotage her like this – they were family after all – but he never coped with distance between them, and she knew this was his doing. Seth was a parasite, growing stronger and more impressive while sucking the life out of her.
He would never let her go.
“I'm not rattled, Tann,” she said, her tone rising in pitch as her biotics flared slightly. “This is ridiculous. You let others leave the Pathfinder Team after Habitat 7, and-”
He coughed and tapped the name plate in front of him, leaning back as though finding her biotics distasteful. “That's Director Tann, Ryder. And my decision is final. You're to report back to your original posting on the Pathfinder Team in two weeks when your leave is up, and then you're to report to Lexi for another psych evaluation. These outbursts will not be tolerated. How you convinced Dr Carlyle to clear you when you can't even control your biotics in an emotional state is beyond me.” His eyes narrowed. “You're dismissed.”
Sage stood slowly, not trusting herself to speak, choked by her rage at the offhand way he was kicking her out of his office. She was nobody, it was true, but to act like she was being unreasonable and to refuse her transfer after everything she'd done and everything that had been done to her? The accident, her father's death, and the kidnapping – it meant nothing to Tann and the others.
They wanted things their way.
Seth wanted things his way.
She stormed out of Tann's office and almost barrelled into her twin, lurking outside, clearly eavesdropping. Seth jumped and stumbled back a step as she pushed past him, trying to swallow her rage. Seth turned and followed her, his handsome face apologetic.
“Don't be mad at me, Sagey.” Seth rushed forward to walk beside her, his sleek black Pathfinder armour a shining obscenity in the bright light. “Dad wouldn't have wanted us splitting up. You know I'm right."
“Dad is dead,” she hissed, desperate to get away, her frosty gaze on the door ahead. “I don't think it matters what he wanted anymore.”
Seth darted in front and turned, his large frame blocking her path, forcing her to come to a stop. “And what about mom?” He dropped his voice. “Lexi thinks we might be able to find a cure and revive her any day now. You think she wants to wake up and find that her only daughter has abandoned her?”
Sage rolled her eyes and walked around him. “Don't bullshit me, Seth. Harry says her condition is so advanced it'll take years of study to find a cure. Years. I love mom, but I'm not going to give up my life to sit around and wait for that to-”
“Typical,” his bitter voice came from behind as he moved to catch up with her. “You always do what you want, the rest of the family be damned. You're so selfish-”
Her anger erupted as she rounded on him, glaring upwards at his face. “Selfish?” she snapped. “You're calling me selfish?”
Seth squared his shoulders and met her eyes evenly. “Did you even stop to think about what these last few months have been like for me? I watched Dad die and I had no time to stop or mourn. I had to keep going no matter what I faced or how much it hurt.” His gaze softened and he clasped her shoulder. “I know you're scared after what happened with the Archon, but you need to do what's best for everyone.”
Sage swallowed hard. Was her brother seriously hinting that she'd used her cryo-injury and coma to get out of work? That she'd had things easier than him because he'd been able to keep going when she was hospitalised?
She shook her head. “And what about what's best for me? Don't I deserve to follow my dreams and do something here that will help people? There’s remnant technology on Eos that needs to be studied! It might change lives. It might-”
“Well, you'll have to leave it for someone else,” her brother interrupted, his tone belligerent again. “Director Tann isn't going to approve your transfer unless I agree, and I'm not going to let you go play in the dirt on Eos. I leave in a few hours for a priority mission to Voeld, and when I get back you're going to join my team. It's what’s best for everyone.”
Sage turned and marched up the corridor then stopped at the door. How far Seth would go to get his way? She wheeled to face him, skin crawling, remembering Harry’s warnings, but she stowed her fear and embraced her anger, welcome and familiar. Comprehension hit her: in a few hours he would be gone.
Seth’s hand came down on her shoulder. “I’ll keep you safe,” he gave her a look, loving yet condescending. His hand tightened. “I know you don't want to hear it, but it's what's best for you. Tann and Lexi agree-”
Sage whirled around and hit the door controls with unnecessary force.
“Fuck Tann and Lexi,” she snapped. “And fuck you too, Seth. Fuck all of you.”
She strode through the door, not waiting for a reply. “Sage,” Seth called. She refused to turn around. People in the halls turned to look, to whisper, but she ignored them and strode on. Seth and Tann could do what they liked, but after what Harry had told her earlier in the day, she wasn't going to sit around and let them control her like a marionette.
Not anymore.
Angry bugs seemed to crawl across her skin, a hot flush of embarrassment and frustration. She'd been naive to think Tann might be reasonable. She should have known better, especially since she’d suspected her brother was nattering away in his ear. Seth was a liar, a selfish twisted liar. He only ever thought of himself.
He’d always bent the truth when it suited, but when he'd lied to her when she was in a coma he'd taken it to a whole new level. His lies about Habitat 7 being perfect and their father being alive and fine had shattered her when she woke up and learned the truth.
Bastard.
Of course she'd lost her temper. Of course she’d been upset when she discovered the truth! Who wouldn't? And then, to add insult to injury, Harry told her that Seth had tried to use her reactions against her, claiming she was unstable, that her biotics made her dangerous.
Sage shook her head, furious. She'd forgiven Seth for a lot of things over the years, but he'd gone too far by trying to convince Harry to place her under his guardianship. He'd even floated the idea of using SAM's implant to dampen her biotics.
As though she were incapable of running her own life.
As though she were dangerous.
As though she were unable to make decisions for herself.
Thank God Harry had said no and quietly met with her to ensure she knew what her brother was up to. She hadn't believed him at the time. But after the meeting with Tann she didn't doubt it was true, and the thought of having Seth in control of her life and being stripped of her biotics terrified her.
She had to get away.
“But to where?” Sage muttered to herself as she reached her room, opened the door and slipped inside.
She needed to find a place where she would fit in, where she wasn’t the only human around. A place where Seth wouldn't think to look for her. A place he hated, where he would never go.
A place like Kadara.
“SAM?” Sage sat on her bed and opened her omnitool. “Can you give me all the info you have on Kadara and the guy who runs it - Vidal or something? Use a secure channel and scrub my records afterwards. I don't want Seth or Tann seeing what I've been looking at.”
“Of course, Ryder. I'll forward the info to you on a secure channel.”
She exhaled as the info scrolled across her haptic screen, skim reading most of it. Kadara was every inch the shithole her brother claimed it was, but it had potential. It had a vault of its own and several Remtech sites that she could explore and catalogue. Most importantly, it had a busy port filled with people – the kind of place where someone could disappear and hide.
Sage scrolled on, then stopped. She let out a low whistle. Images of Reyes Vidal, the current leader of The Collective and the man who ruled Kadara from the shadows, played across the screen, surrounded by data. He was younger than she'd assumed, better looking too. Clearly very aware of it, she thought ruefully as she took in his low-lidded eyes, carefully styled hair, and a dangerously attractive face.
Her brother hated the man, but she found herself starting to like Reyes the more she read about him. He was driven and manipulative, but he appreciated useful people. Without a doubt, she could make herself useful to him. She scrolled to her brother’s reports. Seth claimed Reyes Vidal was incredibly sleazy, with an eye for attractive people.
Reyes Vidal was perfect.
Now she just had to make herself perfect for him.
“SAM, is it possible for you to make me a profile on Reyes? His likes, dislikes, sexual preferences, psychological profile, based on what you've seen and observed?”
“Of course. I'll generate a profile for you based on all information and observations available.”
Sage let out another slow breath. “Thanks.”
She looked at herself in the mirror across the room and winced at her washed out appearance - her pale skin, pale hair and pale eyes. Maybe with some effort and some makeup she'd be passable, but she wasn't a honeytrap by any means. She would have to get Vidal's attention another way, and dazzle him with her biotics or Remtech abilities.
First, she had to find a way off the Nexus and onto Kadara without her brother tracking her. She would have to find a smuggler who could get her to Kadara, and who could put her in touch with The Collective and with Reyes Vidal.