Samara

“Wait… that’s Samara,” Miranda whispered as she pointed to one of the ice baths.

Samara had her eyes shut but her red headpiece was very distinct. She was otherwise naked. “Shit…” Jack said. “She looks… hot. I mean… not as hot as you obviously but still. Damn.”

Miranda looked at Jack. “Should we say hi?”

“Why would we say hi?” Jack whispered. “We are very naked. Besides it looks like she’s meditating. You know she hates being interrupted when she is.”

“Shepard always interrupted her meditations,” Miranda whispered.

“Yeah, exactly,” Jack said. “Look, let’s just sneak away. Maybe she won’t notice us.”

Miranda rolled her eyes. “And what if she does?”

“Then we say hi,” Jack said.

“I can hear you, you know,” Samara spoke. “You can just say hi.”

Miranda’s and Jack’s faces turned bright red as during their banter the very naked Samara made her way over to their tub and was standing in front of them. “Samara,” Miranda said trying not to move her eyes downward.

Jack however was not holding back as she stared at Samara’s naked body. “Hot damn.”

“I always knew you two had something going on between you,” Samara said. “Tell me. Did this happen before or after you threw a chair at her?”

Miranda gulped. “Before…” Miranda mumbled.

“I see…” Samara said. “Well, I never cared what you two did. I have to say, I’m not sure why you bother hiding anymore. We all knew you were together.”

“You… you did?” Miranda asked.

“Why do you think Shepard never pursued either of you? It was very obvious. Especially considering the walls are not soundproof. In fact, Tali often complained that she could hear you two all night long,” Samara said.

Miranda’s face turned into a tomato. “S-so you all knew? W-why… didn’t you say anything?”

“Because it was obvious you wanted to keep it a secret,” Samara said.

“It was mainly Miranda,” Jack said. “We weren’t sure what Cerberus would do with that kind of information. We agreed to keep our relationship a secret because of that. I mean… if the Illusive Man or Miri’s father knew about us…”

“I understand,” Samara said. “But… there’s no need to hide anymore. No one is going to come after you anymore.”

“Thanks,” Miranda said. “So… why are you here?”

“Just relaxing. Since I’m retired, I don’t have much to do anymore. No burdens. My daughter returned to her monastery so… I have nothing left to do,” Samara said. “I just live vicariously now.”

“I see…” Miranda said. “Well, it was good seeing you.”

“I should warn you…” Samara said. “I’m not the only one in this spa… there are others too.”

“Oh…” Miranda said. “Who?”

Samara smiled. “Why spoil the fun? I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”