Mass Effect. Erotic journey. Ch.2. The journalist’s request

Mass Effect. The journalist’s request

Characters: John Shepard, Emily Wong.

Location: Citadel, Hotel Solarias.

– Rumor has it that you haven’t been idle. Congratulations on beating Fist.

The girl’s voice snapped Captain Shepard out of his reverie, and he jerked his head to push the dark thoughts away, then turned to the journalist standing by the information column. Emily Wong was a rising star in the local media, a fairly well-known figure in certain circles, but the Alliance officer wasn’t interested in her right now.

The Normandy had only docked at the Citadel docks half an hour ago, and the captain had already been pissed off by two different people in turn. First by Admiral Mikhailovich, who seemed to enjoy bickering with those below him in rank, and then by the reporter from the Westerland News. Shepard couldn’t remember her full name… Larissa? Carissa? There was something Arabic about it, but the Alliance soldier couldn’t remember the full name. In any case, she was no kinder than the unfortunate Admiral – she was even better at prying into the smallest nuances of an officer’s work, and Shepard had to resist the urge to punch her in the smirking face.

The captain’s mood had soured, however, and he entered the Citadel’s residential level leading to the markets in a rather somber mood. He was noticed, though, so he had to put a benevolent expression back on his face and turn to the reporter who had called out to him. Emily Wong was a pretty young Asian woman with a chiseled figure, professionally accentuated by a simple blue dress with a plunging neckline. As in their previous encounter, the girl exuded energy. When she noticed that Shepard was paying attention to her, she perked up noticeably:

– I was sure Fist was a big part of what was going on here. Did you find anything in his office that might help me?

In truth, Captain Shepard had indeed copied the data from his digital storage device after the shooting at the strip club owned by Fist. Only after that, things got crazy fast. First the rescue of the Quarian Tali Zora, who later joined the crew. Then becoming a Spectre, buying new uniforms and getting orders from the Council… In short, Shepard had completely forgotten that his Uni-Tool stored data from the criminal mastermind’s computer. But Emily hadn’t forgotten, which made Shepard mentally praise her for her good memory and again mentally send her away for being intrusive. Still, he nodded and turned on his instrument.

– I’ll give you copies of the disks that may contain the information you need, – the Captain said, starting the file transfer protocol.

Emily almost screamed with joy. She’d obviously thought that Shepard had long since reneged on his promise to help her, but the Captain wasn’t the kind of man to make promises for nothing.

– You have Fist’s data? I wasn’t even hoping for that! – The girl quickly looked at the information she had received on the disk, her eyes gleaming with joy. Then the girl put on her serious mask again, more suitable for a journalist of her class, and started typing quickly on her tablet.

– Here you go, Captain, – she said. – For your work.

Emily blushed slightly, not knowing if the credits given to the Captain would be enough to pay for what he had done. The girl was undoubtedly aware of the leap in her career she could make with this data in hand, just as she was aware that she owed it mostly to the man in the dark green armor marked “N7” standing before her. She was rather sweet in her shyness, which made Shepard, not a man to be easily taken in by feminine charms, involuntarily admire the reddish blush on her cheeks and the long lowered eyelashes through which Emily looked at the Captain with a look of gratitude. An idea flashed through the Captain’s mind, and before he had time to think it over, the Spectre spoke:

– And how would you rate our future cooperation? What if I agreed to give you an interview?

– Exclusive?! – the girl couldn’t believe her ears. – Tell me what happened first?!

Her eyes lit up with such happiness that Shepard felt a little uncomfortable. Emily grabbed the captain’s hand, squeezed it tightly and said:

– It won’t cost much, but I’ll be happy to pay whatever is required. Where can we meet?

Shepard hesitated, but Emily, moved by the captain’s suggestion, offered the place herself:

– I’ll get a room at the Hotel Solarias on Shalmar Plaza. Do you know where that is?

– I will know, – the captain nodded, giving the girl a well-deserved, slightly shy smile. Emily jumped up and down like a little girl who had finally received a long-awaited gift.

– Meet me in the restaurant on the first floor at eight o’clock tonight. I’ll be waiting for you. Unless, of course, you’re busy, uh.

– I’m free tonight, – Shepard said honestly. The girl nodded and held out her slender hand for another shake, smiling amusedly.

– See you later, Captain Shepard.

– See you later, Ms. Wong, – the commander said.

Shepard showered, combed his hair, and even trimmed his beard. He had also changed his military space suit into a civilian suit so he wouldn’t look silly in the restaurant. In fact, John realized that the whole thing looked a little strange. He was going on a date? What a silly, childish word. But that’s what it seemed to be.

Maybe it was too late for him to admit it, but he really wanted to spend the evening with Emily.