Summary: No, Sirens aren't just holovid stars...

Chapter 2: 2357CE – Cocktails

Matriarch Benezia desperately resisted the urge to rub her eyes in hope it would alleviate her migraine, even as she looked around the luxuriously appointed lounge. These Humans were both completely fascinating and utterly infuriating. The very first day of negotiation had, bizarrely, sidestepped convention and focused on cultural exchanges and history. It had actually been incredibly helpful, the background it gave her on Humanity had allowed her to get a feel for just who she was negotiating with. Though it had been just a tiny bit alarming when she finally put humanity in a framework she could understand and realized that the entire species were basically enthusiastic Maidens. Immense curiosity, passion, energy, and a degree of seemingly random recklessness that made trying to sort out what they'd do next an exercise in frustration.

Worse, at least based on their media, she was pretty sure this species was going to turn into the galaxy's most attractive Maiden Bait. New species always drew in curious Asari Maidens by the tens of thousands. Which was actually, normally, good. It helped tie new species specifically to the Asari in a completely natural way that neither the paranoid and stand-offish Salarians or the militant Turians could manage. Unfortunately, in this case, Benezia could almost physically see how it was going to backfire. For these humans had a history of starting Crusades as easily as a stripper dropped her panties. That had been purely among their own kind…and how they shared a border with Batarian Space. Oh AND with the Krogan DMZ, too. Just for good measure. She'd already caught more than one human grumbling about the Genophage, and the government representatives themselves had made their policy on slaves and slavers brutally clear. Combine tens of thousands of innocently idealistic Asari Maidens with a species that was already ready to start multiple 'justifiable' crusades…and Benezia already wanted to drink the thought away every time it popped back into her head.

Then today had come along and just made everything ten times more complicated. The humans had ambushed the negotiation team with wanting to talk about the Treaty of Fairxen, claiming it would be an easy one to get out of the way. All three members of the Citadel team had been wanting to put that discussion off as long as possible. But the humans hadn't been put off at all. That should have warned them something was up. And, to be fair, they did realize something was up by the time the Humans had asked just how hard it was to change the treaty. They'd settled in to explain that it was virtually impossible, since it was one of the few pieces of legislation that every signee, even the Associate races, had to universally agree to amend. They'd been blown away when, after convincing the humans how hard it would be, they had…promptly signed the treaty with the full authority of the Systems Alliance. Before becoming an Associate race.

When Turiak, their Turian diplomat had untactfully blurted out a confused question about why the Humans would willingly build down their fleet…the Humans had finally sprung their horrifyingly trap. The one that was the cause of Benezia's current migraine.

The Humans didn't have any dreadnaughts.

The assertion had been utterly ludicrous. Right up until the Humans had promptly pulled up the design specs for the Super Dreadnaught still hovering protectively nearby. While it had obviously been heavily redacted, it had also easily shown off what the problem was. 'Dreadnaughts' were defined by the Treaty of Farixen to be vessels possessing a main gun 800 meters long or longer. But the Systems Alliance didn't use mass accelerators as main armament. None of their vessels, not a single one, had a mass accelerator that big. Instead, they used Gravity Lensed Grasers, Fusion Lances, Plasma Cannons, and Particle Beams as their main armament. Technically, Mass Accelerators out ranged all of those, but when the shocked Turiak had clung to that fact, the Humans had simply showed them video of the their ships micro-jumping on top of the Turian Patrol fleet at Shanxi. Their unique form of FTL was capable of precision jumps, so long as it was within their scanner range. Which meant they could instantly close to point blank range and unload energy weapons fire that would utterly ignore kinetic barriers.

They had literally handed the Humans a document that, as soon as they'd signed it, said that unless the Humans themselves agreed to it…no one else could build significant numbers of Dreadnaught sized vessels. Whereas the Alliance could build as many as it wanted. No wonder they'd been eager to sign it. And Benezia was not looking forward to explaining those facts to the Council. Even if the Council itself had marked the signing of the Treaty of Farixen as one of their highest priorities…

"Are you feeling well, Ambassador?"

Benezia blinked, realizing she'd been so distracted that she'd completely missed the Human approaching her. Oddly, it wasn't one of the Humans she'd been introduced to yet. She did share the spectacularly red hair that the XO of this vessel had. And something of the facial structure too. But this human had a spectacular set of glowing markings running up and down her arms. Arms that were completely visible, as the woman wore a rather fetching dress.

"I'm fine, miss. Just a mild headache. I don't believe we've been introduced?"

The redhead grinned, the expression so cheerful that Benezia's own lips quirked.

"Nope! I'm too much of a nobody for that! You've probably been introduced to my mother, though. I'm Lieutenant Sae Shepard. I'm just part of the guard detail, normally. But my status as a Siren got me an invite tonight, since I wasn't on duty."

Shepard. So the hair and facial structure weren't a coincidence. This must be the XO, Hannah Shepard's, daughter. Though…that second comment was far more intriguing than the revelation of her parentage. And possibly worrying.

"Siren? I'm sorry, but I was under the impression that a Siren was some sort of action star in your movies?"

The younger Shepard woman blinked, then her lips twitched and she snorted a laugh, only to blush and slap a hand over her mouth. After a moment to fight her blush down, the Lieutenant quickly tried to apologize, snapping to what was unquestionably some sort of military attention pose. Which…actually looked pretty humorous in that dress.

"Sorry, Ma'am! I can see how you might have thought that after the vids they showed back on day one. But Sirens are real, even if we're pretty rare!"

Even though that comment sent a flash of worry through Benezia, she also couldn't help but be disarmed by the clearly flustered young woman. Chuckling, she waved the woman's concern away.

"It's quite alright, Lieutenant. Mistakes in communication are always common with first contact. The best thing we can do is to learn from them, instead of stressing over them. How about you educate me about Sirens, so that I understand? It can be a learning experience for both of us."

The redhead relaxed after a moment, then cocked her head in an expression that Benezia had noticed several of the more expressive humans use while thinking about something. While the Lieutenant was clearly sorting out exactly how to answer her question, she took a moment to look the woman over clandestinely. Perhaps 175cm (5'9"), with more sculpted muscle than she'd seen on any of the other female soldiers. A figure most Asari Maidens would be jealous of and an air of confidence-in-motion even when she was standing still and thinking. Benezia hadn't observed enough Humans yet to know if they would consider her attractive. But, adding in those striking tattoos to the rest of her, she was certainly going to have to beat a few Asari off with a club. Assuming she actually wanted to, of course.

"Sirens are…a bit of a complex issue. Originally, we were the result of a black project. Back before the Systems Alliance even existed. Enhanced soldiers with some special abilities. In fact, those abilities are actually why I sought you out. Putting a pin in that for a moment for the sake of explanations first, the Siren program has evolved somewhat from its original intention. We're still all military in some fashion, for at least a twenty-year minimum hitch. But some of our abilities proved to be too much of an aid to R&D efforts to keep making Sirens only as combat troops."

Okay. There were several things she had questions about in that description. But most important, possibly…

"Made?"

Shepard shrugged at Benezia's one word question.

"I can't go into specifics for obvious reasons. But, yes. Sirens are created using a careful balance of genetic augmentation, cybernetics, and…the process that goes into our tattoos. Sorry. That last one I'm not sure I can say anything about."

There were now a lot more questions that Benezia needed to ask. But they would need to be very carefully and formally asked across a negotiation table. Not of a random Lieutenant. The citadel had some pretty strict limits on genetic and cybernetic augmentation. For now, a different question.

"You said something about special abilities? I certainly did see some odd things in the holo program, which I admit is a part of what made me assume Sirens were entirely fiction."

That won a chuckle out of Shepard. And, thankfully, an explanation.

"Yeah, I can see that. While I'm not allowed to discuss everything, some of what we can do is readily available with a simple search. It was the briefing I got on biotics that made me curious though. We know for certain that the abilities are not the same thing. Sirens don't manipulate dark energy in any fashion. But, I noted certain similarities. Such as the effect of the ability we technically call Distortion Blast compared to your Warp ability. Phase Lock and your Stasis ability. Biotic Charge and our Phase Walk. A number of similar abilities, really. I got curious just how similar Biotics and Sirens really are. In function, if not in mechanics. And I figured who better to ask than an Asari?"

Who better indeed? Benezia wondered if Shepard herself really had come up with the idea on her own…or if her higher ups had put her up to this little meeting. Given that she'd approached Benezia over any other Asari in the room, she suspected the latter. Still, the woman was clearly genuinely curious, and Asari biotic abilities were hilariously well documented. No matter how much Benezia gave away, she'd be getting far more critical information in exchange. With that in mind, she set about having a rather interesting conversation with this new Human…

... ...

Shepard liberated an expensive looking something from the oppression of one of the serving trays, watching with good humor as the Asari Matriarch swayed away to go socialize with more important people. For an 800-year-old alien, that woman had a nice ass. Better yet, she'd already noticed that none of the Asari seemed to mind you looking, so long as you weren't weird about it. Much less touchy than humans about that sort of thing, it seemed. A nice change of pace, really.

She hummed as she popped the tasty treat, which she still couldn't identify despite it tasting nice. That was mildly annoying, but she knew better than to ask. It was probably something she'd never be able to afford anyway. Besides, she was still chewing on something else. Specifically, that rather enlightening conversation. She was quite sure that high command would be pleased with the amount of information she'd gotten them, which had been less about the actual biotic abilities and more about the doctrine of using them. She knew that, in turn, the much older woman had probably gotten more out of her that she realized. But Mira had made sure to help her stay away from anything Higher had order her to avoid. And virtually everything she'd revealed had been information that was inevitably going to get out. Indeed, making their potential allies and enemies both aware that they had their own unique counter for biotics had been part of her job.

Mira could take care of reporting most of the details for now. Sae would have to give her own impressions later. But for now…there were several thoughts that the older woman had had on how to best utilize Siren abilities that she really wanted to try out. And it was probably better to keep a grunt like her away from any political agendas that hadn't been preplanned anyway. Time to slink off and exchange this dress for something a bit more combat ready…

... ...

Benezia left the Arcturus system with…mixed feelings. Caused by a dozen issues she was well aware that the Council itself was already hotly debating. Technically, she had accomplished nearly every single thing the Council had sent her and her fellows out for. But there had one too many surprises along the way. And a single rather irritating failure.

Even ignoring the consternation over the Treaty of Farixen issue, a number of other technically successful points had proven considerably more…double-edged, than anyone had expected. Trade deals had been ironed out, only for it to quickly be proven that Humanity had far more technology to trade that the Citadel Species would want than vice versa. Their lack of interest in eezo and Mass Effect technology was particularly galling to her own people, as eezo and everything made with it were their greatest sources of trade.

Then there had been the AI issue. That one had completely blindsided the negotiation team, as they'd been completely unaware that the Systems Alliance had AI. But, apparently, they did. The trouble was that the AI was an exotic type that no one had ever encountered before. Apparently, their Sirens could map their own neural net, then create an AI based upon said neural net their own natural powers. Which…brought up questions about if that even qualified as an AI. The Humans argued, ultimately successfully, that since it was the result of a semi-natural ability, that it would be like attempting to ban the use of a specific Biotic Ability.

For Asari those abilities were fully natural. But for virtually every other race, it was the result of mutation caused by eezo exposure. Ergo, like Sirens, a Turian Cabal is essentially a Turian with grafted on abilities. Refusing to let a Siren make an AI would be akin to telling that Cabalist that he couldn't make, say, a biotic barrier. If not for Humanity having proven already that they had a lot to offer the Citadel species, the argument might not have worked. As it was, they'd gotten away with a special exemption for the AI laws specific to the Siren method. Benezia was just glad that the Quarians weren't still part of the Citadel, or there might have been hell to pay over that little change…

There had also been the one point of failure, which the Council wasn't going to like. The Humans had been brutally blunt in their warning than any STG, Specters, or others found operating illegally in Alliance space would simply be shot or captured. No warnings, no negotiation, and no exceptions. It had been driven home when they had revealed an STG vessel had attempted to violate their borders during the talks…and had been promptly captured. The crew was being held and would be tried in a human court on espionage charges. Which would likely result in prison time of several years. The Salarian representative, likely STG himself, had attempted to negotiate…and been shut down completely.

The Systems Alliance wouldn't be able to hold that line forever, at least not for the Spectres. But for now the Alliance had pointed out that none of the races, not even the three Council races, had ever actually agreed to Spectre operations in their own space. Special Tactics and Reconnaissance was a leftover from the Krogan Rebellions, and their existence hadn't become public knowledge until after that war. In the aftermath, no one had bothered to formally get a treaty signed regarding them. Meaning their extralegal authority wasn't actually legal outside of the Citadel itself, which was technically the only place 'ruled' by the Council directly. The powers that be were already working on fixing that, but several species were going to be belligerent about it, without question. There wasn't a single species that actually liked letting Specters waltz around breaking their laws, after all. It would likely take a few years and certain amounts of background dealing before they could formally get enough signatures to force the issue with the Alliance.

Ultimately as her ship hit the Relay, the point for Benezia was that the entire three-month long exchange had been like that. The Humans had seemed to be up to every trick. Fully aware of even information that should have been isolated from them. Hell, they'd actually forced the Council to explicitly state conditions for when they would or would not intervene between Council races. And, surprisingly, they'd leaned far more on pushing non-intervention for nearly anything short of territorial invasion against aggressors. Given their…concerning reactions to the Batarians, that probably spelled several types of trouble for the Hegemony. Something which Benezia was personally gleeful about, but knew the Council wouldn't like. Well, the Salarians and Asari wouldn't. The Turians would probably forgive Humanity for their recent slap in the face if they caused any sort of trouble for the Batarians.

Better, and the reason she was fairly sure she wasn't going to face too much backlash, was that the Humans hadn't even tried to have it all their own way. Many of the concessions they'd gained, including the immediate embassy that was going to be established on the citadel, were gained in exchange for willing technology transfers. It had surprised everyone that the Humans were more than willing to provide Eridium Technology to the galaxy at large. And not just for sale by themselves either. All on its own, providing knowledge of how Eridium could be produced in the first place, as well as a fairly comprehensive primer on its usage, had more than covered their need to 'contribute to the galactic community.' It would undoubtably be some time before anyone caught up to the Humans own expertise in the area, of course. But giving away the knowledge of the technology instead of trying to hoard it had been a major chip in their favor. Particularly as it would mean, eventually, that they'd given up much of their military advantage.

At the end of the day, all she knew for sure was that the galaxy had just changed. And she had no idea if it was for the better or not…

... ... ...

A/N: So, on every platform this has been posted so far, I've gotten one or more comments about 'but humans wouldn't have just given their advantage away.' I don't blame people for thinking that by reflex, since they would have needed to pay attention to the Timeline chapter and keep it in mind to understand what was going on. But I've had enough comments on it that I'm adding an explanatory Author's Note.  

Eridium tech is a, at this point, centuries old CIVILIAN technology. For the majority of its uses, it's essentially just a super-dense energy storage medium that allows a lot of other technology to work. A Super Battery, more than anything. It has other properties that allow this, and which humanity makes use of in a few different ways (their own FTL, Siren's, Etc). But basic-level Eridium tech is extremely well documented at this point. The Council doesn't realize it yet, but they could literally have picked up a college textbook from any decent university on Earth and gotten the basics. Humanity didn't fight to keep it because they COULDN'T keep it. Not without refusing entry to the Council races entirely. And possibly not even then. So they got the best use out of it they could by generating good will offering it up outright, including providing instructors that will bring the other races up on the core technology slightly faster than if they'd just enrolled some students in a few technical courses. Bonus points that, by doing so, they have an inside view of what the races are using it for and how fast they are developing.

Giving up civilian grade Eridium tech also doesn't mean they are doing the same with their better military versions. Even with proper instruction, it would take years for anyone in the Council Races to make use of it's more esoteric properties, and humanity isn't telling them about some of the more well-kept secrets about how to use the esoteric bits like space/time warping. They also aren't sharing their weapons tech, which might be powered by Eridium but is, in fact, a whole different area of research. And no way in hell are they teaching anyone how to make Sirens. That process is an incredibly tightly held secret. So, they gave away what would have been free if the Council was patient, while making it look like a generous gesture since the Council had no idea how common the knowledge was. All while being able to somewhat control the pace that the rest of the galaxy figures out there is more to it than energy storage...