Mass Effect: Manipulation/The Mole

The Mole
James Skinner was starting to get irritated. It wasn't that harpy Pilasi who was getting to him, nor was it her idiotic fellow protestors, nor even the Livis mercenaries, who reacted to his presence with either suspicion or attempts at flirtation. Those barely even appeared on his radar anymore.

No, what was bothering him was the goddamned buzzing. Someone was doing their level best to blanket the entire area with a cacophony of clashing signals. He had no idea who was doing it or why. All he knew was that he had a massive splitting headache and there was no organic reason why.

Finally, after days of struggling to resist the urge to kill someone, Skinner decided that the buzzing had to die. He began to search the Livis camp for anything that might be sending out the signals. Since most of the camp's communications seemed to be not working, he reasoned that it had to be something that wasn't part of the standard equipment. It was then that he noticed that every morning, Pilasi would bring a small metal case with handles out of her tent and place it near the camp's main transmitter. She would only retrieve it at night, as everyone was going back to their tents. One day, after she'd placed the case in its usual spot, he approached it and placed his hand on the smooth metal.

Suddenly, he felt as if someone had shoved a full symphony orchestra in his skull. His arms felt like they'd been sprayed with acid. Barely able to think, he bolted from the camp, and by the time his head had cleared, he saw that he was a good ten minutes from the campsite.

And then he saw Pilasi running towards him. "Mr. Skinner!" she called out, her voice full of concern, "Are you alright?"

Skinner was bent double at that moment, and he saw that there was a decent-sized rock near his foot. He picked it up. "I'm fine," he said, "Perfectly fine." Then he struck her in the side of the head with the rock.

It took an hour to drag Pilasi a good distance away, but she came to with a foot pinning her to the ground and a very angry human staring down at her. "Who hired you, you little bitch?" he demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"That damned little box. You're the one who's been preventing the Livis company from sending out a message. Who hired you? Why are you sabotaging the camp?"

"Please, Mr. Skinner..."

"It's Commander Skinner, bitch. And drop the act. If you think I'm above killing a civilian, you're wrong."

There was a pause, and then suddenly Pilasi's face contorted into an evil smile. "Who said I was a civilian?"

It took a few seconds for Skinner to grasp the meaning behind the words. Oh, shi-

His train of thought was interrupted by her foot striking him in the jaw, staggering him sideways. A few seconds of disorientation was all she needed to get to her feet again, and suddenly Skinner was fighting for his life.

Skinner knew that the asari were far more agile than most humans, but Kenira was like mercury; every time he tried to hit her, she simply wasn't there anymore.