Lawson Family Reunion

"I need to talk to you," Oriana had said in her message. "Somewhere secret. Somewhere safe. Come quickly." The next thing anyone knew, Miranda was gone from the Normandy. With Shepard currently away on business and Normandy grounded at the Citadel, she had to make her own passage, and so she did. She had to admit that as much as she prided herself on being a Cerberus operative, she didn't have many ideas for safe haven on Illium, but she knew of one place they'd be left alone.

Dantius Towers had been abandoned since the late Thane Krios had introduced himself to Shepard by murdering the towers namesake. Debates as to how to divvy up the lucrative real estate turned into negotiations and litigations that would undoubtedly go on for years, leaving the unfinished building vacant in the meantime. Miranda snuck in, then made her way to the top of the building, to the very office where Nassana Dantius had died. Once she was there, she sent two signals. One to deactivate any lingering security systems, the other to summon Oriana.

She waited, pacing nervously back and forth as her mind conjured all sorts of ideas about what could possibly be wrong. Had their father found them once again? If so, Illium wouldn't be safe. Nowhere would be. Nowhere but the Normandy. She would have to convince Shepard to take in her sister, then follow-up by convincing her to kill Henry Lawson and make the nightmare stop. She could do it, but what would it cost her? She would give Shepard anything she wanted. Money, information, loyalty, and perhaps things still more personal. If it meant she and her sister would never have to look over their shoulders again, Miranda would let Shepard have her every way she wanted, and she would relish it.

"Miranda?" Oriana's voice called as she entered the office. Miranda turned to see her sister, and ran up to embrace her. Oriana returned the gesture, holding her sister close. "I'm so glad you came."

"Are you okay?" Miranda asked, taking a step back. Oriana looked her over, then nervously pushed past her and began to pace in the same way Miranda had been doing, in case there were any doubts that they were twins.

"No... No I'm not," Oriana replied. "Something's happened... I didn't know what else to do so I called you."

"Go on," Miranda encouraged. "I'm here." Oriana nodded thankfully.

"My family... The one who adopted me... They're dead."

"What?!" Miranda asked, shocked.

"They were killed."

"Oh god, Oriana I'm so sorry," Miranda walked up and hugged her sister again. This time, Oriana did not return the gesture. "Do they know who did it?"

"No," Oriana shook her head, "and they won't, I'm sure of it."

"Don't say that Ori."

"I'm sorry. It's just difficult, you know?" She leaned against Dantius' desk. "They were family. I trusted them. I loved them."

"I know."

"Who would have ever guessed they were disloyal?" This time, there was a pause. Miranda stared for a moment, visible confusion on her face, and not a small amount of concern.

"...Who was disloyal, Oriana?" Miranda asked, suddenly very cautious.

"They were. Mom and dad. Why do you think I had to kill them?" Oriana asked, as if it were an obvious point. Miranda's lips parted slightly as she struggled for words. "I'd have never thought it. I mean, they didn't know you, you couldn't have influenced them. Yet they had betrayed their duties to the Alliance. They couldn't be trusted, and they were too old to be saved. So I did what was necessary. Like we are all supposed to do."

"I couldn't have... Alliance... All supposed to... What the hell has gotten into you?!" Miranda cried suddenly in an almost hysterical voice.

"Duty," Oriana replied, just as she shot Miranda with the stun gun. With a shriek, Miranda went limp, and crashed to the ground ****. Oriana looked down on her sister's **** form, and considered removing her clothes to prepare her for Admiral Lindholm. Instead, however, the second phase of her programming kicked in as agents in black N7 gear came to retrieve Miranda. Oriana robotically exited the room and the building as her brain began to rapidly rewrite itself. She would soon forget her family and her origins alongside the rest of her memories and identity. Oriana would proceed to the nearest Alliance black site to undergo excessive cosmetic surgery to truly remake her into an exquisite whore. When that was done, she would then sell herself into sex slavery, where she would spend the rest of her life happily servicing clients rich enough to afford using her empty-headed body. Believing her to be too sexy and stupid to comprehend their words, they would be loose-lipped, and Oriana would pass along to her true owners. It was hardly dignified, but she didn't care. She served the Alliance.

Besides, it was more dignified than what was about to happen to Miranda.