Aria T'Loak, who's got a heist of her own planned.

As per usual, it was supposed to be an easy gig. The Normandy was in port on Omega for a few days while Shepard took care of... something or other, Kasumi hadn't really been listening during the briefing. While that was going on, she was going to try and check a box off her burglary bucket list, and crack open the Pirate Queen of Omega's personal vault. She didn't know what was actually in it of course, but that wasn't really the point. It wasn't what she was stealing that mattered this time around; it was who she was stealing it from.

For someone to sneak off with anything, however small, from the most secure place on the station would be a huge, not to mention hilarious, embarrassment to the establishment. It'd be a steal for the ages; Kasumi's reputation would grow even more legendary and she'd get another lovely souvenir for her collection. And indeed, that was how it would have gone had she not accidentally triggered a silent alarm somewhere along the way. She wasn't even sure where or how. She just knew that when she got to the vault door, she was greeted by a flash of blinding light and what felt like a few thousand volts of electricity surging through her body.

She vaguely remembered hitting the ground before she blacked out. Now she was here, stripped naked and fixed upright in a standing position, restrained in some kind of tube or booth she expected to see in a mad scientist's lab in a sci-fi film. Fun! This wasn't the first time she'd been caught, but this was certainly the first time she'd been caught like this. She'd have to give Aria credit for originality whenever she came by to gloat. it was inevitable; all the people who'd managed to capture her did it sooner or later. Usually by then she'd have cooked up some terribly clever escape plan, but right now her options for that eventuality were pretty limited. Seemed she'd have to improvise, rely on her winning personality... or just wait for Commander Shepard to negotiate her release once the crew realized she was missing. Whichever came first.

Without a way to tell time, Kasumi wasn't sure how long it was before the doors slid open. Now, Aria T'Loak cut an intimidating figure on her best days, but as she crossed the threshold with arms folded across her chest, there was something especially intimidating about her: she was smiling. That wasn't good. When someone like Aria was smiling, it meant that they were about to do something very nasty to someone they really didn't like, but not before smugly monologuing about it to their captive audience.

Kasumi knew. She had done it all before.

"Hello thief," Aria greeted.

"Hey Aria," Kasumi replied casually. "Kinky setup you got here. Like what you see?"

"Oh, you know I am." She circled the tube. At first, Kasumi thought she was inspecting the restraints, but she quickly realized Aria was inspecting her, and wasn't sure whether to be unsettled or flattered. "I have to admit," Aria continued, "you caught me off guard when you broke in. Tell me, did Shepard put you up to this?"

Kasumi paused before answering. Tempting as it was to pin the blame on the Commander, if for no other reason than shits and giggles, Kasumi decided against it. No use making things more complicated for Jane than she already had.

“Nah. All me," Kasumi shrugged, or at least tried to. "Shepard doesn't even know I'm here."

"Oh really?" Aria stopped in front of her once again. Kasumi nodded, causing Aria's smile to extend further. "Interesting."

“Oh? Up to something are we?” Kasumi tilted her head as far as she could. “Well don’t keep me in suspense. I'm at your mercy. Go on. Tell me all about your cunning plans."

“Oh I intend to do more than tell you,” Aria snapped her fingers. "I'm going to show you." The doors to the darkened lab opened and Kasumi saw a silhouette outlined in the light pouring in. A very familiar silhouette: her own. Her earlier humor vanished and she watched in horror and a morbid fascination as she saw herself step into the light. Her skin tone, her hair and eye colors, even her makeup and measurements were all correct. The only difference was that her doppelgänger seemed to lack certain sexual characteristics. It had the same perky breasts as she did, but no nipples, and she couldn’t tell whether or not it had a slit between its thighs. Nevertheless, it was extraordinarily accurate, and terrifying. There was no life in her counterpart, no light behind her eyes, no desire for adventure and excitement. There was simply a blank expressionless stare. Whatever it was, it never blinked. It just stared.

“Meet Kasumi-Bot,” Aria said, wrapping her arm over the shoulder of the copycat Kasumi. “The resemblance is uncanny, don't you think?" Kasumi said nothing. "What about you Kasumi-Bot? Doesn't our guest look just like you?"

“Yes mistress,” her counterpart said in a monotone imitation of Kasumi’s voice. Kasumi had to admit, however, with a little inflection it would be a flawless impersonation.

“What the fuck is this, Aria?” Kasumi asked, no longer finding this amusing. “What are you planning to do with that… that thing?”

“To put it in terms you’ll appreciate, Kasumi, I would call it a heist. Only instead of stealing things, I’m going to be stealing people. Starting with you.”

“Steal me?” Kasumi laughed, but there was no humor behind it. “You’re nuts, Aria. Even if you did get your toy to pass as me, the second it stepped onto the Normandy my crew mates would know something was off. Even if I wasn’t around to tell them myself. You can’t steal a person without stealing their memories too.”

“True enough… Unless of course one copied those memories onto an external storage device. Say for example… a greybox?” Kasumi’s blood ran cold. “We could hypothetically use that as a backdoor to gain access to someone’s brain. Their memories, their personality, everything that makes them who they are could be filed away for safekeeping. Now if someone else’s memories were on said greybox, they would need to be cleared before we could do it.” Aria paused. “Tell me: was he someone important to you?”

Kasumi didn’t respond at first. She suddenly felt very numb. So numb that she didn’t notice her heart beating faster, or the tears rolling down her face. Then, the numbness faded, and a response came.

“You bitch!” She shouted, trying to struggle against her restraints. “I’ll fucking kill you!” She screamed more words in a dialect Aria didn’t recognize, though she could tell they were unkind. When the thief finally stopped, Aria gave her a moment to catch her breath.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said. Kasumi-Bot didn’t react to her counterpart’s outburst, she just stood still with the same vacant expression on her face. “So, now you understand why you’re here. Your greybox will allow us to program Kasumi-Bot to be like the real thing, only with certain restrictions and compulsions programmed in. Namely that she’ll be loyal to me, and to my interests.”

“Why?” Kasumi demanded. “Why me?”

“You’re a member of Shepard’s crew. More than that, however, you keep enough of a distant than any imperfections in Kasumi-Bot will be chalked up to your eccentric behavior. They won’t put you under a microscope because there’d be no point. The perfect position to undermine them from within.” Aria paused, looking Kasumi up and down. “And I must admit, I am curious to find out if she’s as flexible as you are.”

Kasumi glared at Aria. “You are a twisted, sick, bitch. I hope you know that.” Aria smiled and shrugged.

“It’s good to be the Queen.” She turned away, then added, “Don’t worry. I promise to take very, very good care of you.” She turned to leave, Kasumi-Bot remaining. “Kasumi-Bot, would you mind staying here for a little chat with our friend? I think she needs a little instruction in her new life, and who better to help her than you? After all, you know her better than anyone.”

“Yes mistress. She will be made to comply with her new existence.”

“Send her to me when you’re done,” Aria said. “Consider it a field test of your special features.”

“As you command, Mistress Aria.”

Aria left and the lab doors shut behind her, leaving the two alone in the dim light. Kasumi stared at the android, who was staring back at her. The thief had to admit, her copy was an attractive one, but this was too disturbing for words.

“So, what do you want?” she said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Kasumi-Bot cocked her head. “Aria mentioned a ‘chat.’ What are you gonna chat with me about? How I’m a big loser for getting caught? How you’re gonna fuck me over and replace me? What?”

“Mistress Aria has ordered me to help you comply with your new reality. You will not be a free woman any longer. You will serve Mistress Aria’s interests, and you will obey her every order.”

“Fuck you,” Kasumi replied.

“You will,” Kasumi-Bot said. “You will be programmed with many different skills to replace your current unnecessary training. You will learn to please and serve. You will be a loyal servant of Mistress Aria.”

“Never,” Kasumi spat. “I’d rather die.”

“Your previous life is already at an end. Your life is now my life. I am you, and you must obey.” Kasumi shook her head defiantly.

“I’ll never obey. Never!” Kasumi-Bot stepped closer, placing a hand on Kasumi’s chin and lifting her head to look up at her.

“Resistance will only cause you pain. You will be broken down, rebuilt, and programmed to obey. Compliance is mandatory. Resistance is painful. Obedience is pleasure.” Kasumi looked at Kasumi-Bot, her blank stare piercing forward, and then something else… What was that? Were her counterpart’s eyes glowing? No, it wasn’t a trick of the light. They were glowing, a bright, bright white, so bright that it was like it was burning into her skull.

Then the beams shot from her duplicate’s eyes into her own.

“AHHH! FUCK! STOP!” she screamed. “PLEASE! GOD DAMN IT! MAKE IT STO-“

***

Aria smiled. She could hear the thief screaming from the other side of the compound. Her brain was being forcibly wiped clean by her replacement. It wouldn’t kill her of course, but by the time the screams died down, the thief would be nothing but an empty shell. Empty, but still living. The perfect candidate to receive the program Aria had prepared for her. All in all, it was the perfect system. The replacement was nearly indistinguishable from the original, and the original could be reprogrammed to serve Aria in any way she desired. A shame the greybox had to be sacrificed, but that was an acceptable loss in her mind. After all, she could always make another. A smile crossed her face as she waited for Kasumi-Bot to bring her prize to her.

***

When the door to Aria's bedroom opened, she turned to see Kasumi standing before her. Her eyes were rolled back in her head, her expression vacant, her posture rigid. She was a blank slate. A blank slate unable to think for itself, responsive only to commands.

"Hello ****," Aria greeted.

"Hello mistress," the **** responded. "How may I serve you today?"

Aria smiled. "Stand still," she ordered, and the **** did as commanded. She approached, and inspected the body. The skin was warm and supple to the touch, the muscles toned and fit, the breasts and nipples still sensitive. She would have to test that more thoroughly later, but for now, she was pleased. She turned to Kasumi-Bot.

“Well done,” Aria commended. “Now, don’t you have a ship to catch… Kasumi?”

Kasumi-Bot stared for a second, before there was a soft click and she smiled.

“Yes mistress,” she said in a flawless, emotive recreation of Kasumi’s voice. “They won’t know what hit them.” Aria smiled, and turned back to the ****.

“****, come here.” The **** did as she was ordered, and without another word, began to undress Aria, slowly and sensually, just as Aria had programmed her to. When the Queen of Omega was fully nude, she turned to the **** and ordered her to kneel. She did, and her hands reached for Aria’s waist, holding her steady as she brought her mouth forward. Aria was delighted to feel the ****’s warm tongue begin to caress her pussy, lapping up the moisture that was already beginning to build between her legs. The **** knew exactly how she wanted it, and performed flawlessly. Aria moaned softly, and ran her fingers through the ****’s hair, gripping it tightly to hold her in place. Not that she needed to, the **** wouldn’t stop unless she was told to, but Aria found the added control to be a nice touch.

Aria let her head roll back and she closed her eyes. The sensation of the ****’s warm mouth on her sex, the softness of her skin, and the quiet slurps and moans that came from her throat were all perfect. She was a perfect ****, and she was all Aria’s. She would be a herald of what was to come, a new order in Omega. An order in which Aria would have access to anyone’s darkest secrets, and a **** **** that could be replaced without resistance, and without anyone noticing.

Aria moaned, and her grip on her **** tightened. She would have to enjoy this one while she could, but for now, there was only one thing that mattered: she was the Queen of Omega. And her reign was about to become absolute.

…

Shepard waited by the docks. Where was Kasumi? EDI couldn’t find her on the ship, which meant she had gone off to find trouble. Still, Kasumi’s misadventures were usually pretty well-timed, probably because she wanted to be ready to make a quick escape. For her to be late was… troubling.

Then, Shepard saw her at the end of the docking bay, walking towards her. Shepard waved to her. “Hey! There you are! What took you so long?” She didn’t see any armed guards chasing her, so it must not have been anything too dramatic.

“Sorry Shepard,” Kasumi-Bot replied, smiling and shrugging sheepishly. “Was doing a bit of, uh… Let’s call it self-discovery. Yeah. That’s a good phrase for it.” Straight-laced Commander Shepard raised a disapproving eyebrow. She had no reason not to believe her, it was just that when Kasumi was vague, it usually meant they were about five minutes away from being chased off-world by the ruling elite, who were suddenly a lot less wealthy for some reason. Kasumi-Bot just laughed and waved dismissively. “Don’t worry. Everything went according to plan. See?” She gestured around them. “Not a guard in sight.” She cupped her hand over her ear. “And not even one chirping alarm! Anyway, are we good to go?”

Shepard eyed her suspiciously for a moment, before nodding.

“Yeah, but try not to do it again,” Shepard said. “The last thing I need is you being thrown in some cell somewhere because of something stupid.”

“I’m an innocent flower, Commander,” Kasumi-Bot replied, feigning innocence, “but if it’ll make you happy, I’ll make sure to be back in time for curfew in the future. Scout’s honor.” Shepard just sighed and shook her head.

“Just get on board,” she said.

“Yes, Commander.”

“EDI prepare for takeoff.”

“Commander, my sensors still do not show Miss Goto as being on board the ship. Are you sure you want us to leave?”

“I’m looking right at her,” Shepard rolled her eyes. “We’re good to go.”

Kasumi-Bot smiled, and as she followed Shepard onto the Normandy, she thought to herself how easy it would be to fool everyone. She had the memories. She had the skills. She had the same voice and the mannerisms and of course the same body. She was, for all intents and purposes, Kasumi Goto.

They'd never know what hit them...