Shepard leaves

Jane stood up and walked out of the VIP section. She was furious. She was flabbergasted! She marched to Aria who actually was sitting just outside, waiting. “Well?” Aria said. “Are you done?”

“How could you do that to Liara?!” Jane shouted.

“She asked me to,” Aria said.

“Lifelong contract?! But why!” Jane yelled.

“Because she asked me to.”

“This is something you’ve always wanted!” Jane yelled.

“No. I only give temporary contracts,” Aria said. “I only agreed to this because she offered me something I couldn’t refuse.”

“What?!” Jane yelled. “What did she give you?”

“Thousands of years free of charge,” Aria said. “An asari like her is priceless. And a lifelong contract that I don’t have to pay for? That’s even better.”

“But…” Jane said.

“Why do you even care? I thought you were over her,” Aria said.

“Yeah but… this is wrong?”

“She consented to it.”

“It’s still WRONG,” Jane said.

“How?”

“Why is she tied up?”

“She asked me to.”

“Why is she naked?”

“She asked me to.”

“Let her go.”

“No.”

“Why not?!”

“She refused to let me.”

“But…”

“Shepard, you cannot change her mind,” Aria said. “If you don’t like it you can have her contract. I don’t care. But I just did what she asked for because I value consent, do you?”

“Well… yeah… but…”

“Do you want to see the contract?” Aria said. “Even I can’t undo it. She literally is the one who made it there for it falls under the consent laws. Meaning it cannot be broken unless the person who made the contract wants it. And since she made it lifelong, then it is legal and binding and no one can do otherwise. Not even Tevos.”

“So… what do I do?” Jane asked.

“Enjoy it,” Aria said. “I’ll give you an offer, Shepard. You can take over Liara’s contract but only if you actually plan to obey it. A breach of contract is not something you want to deal with. Not even you Spectres are invulnerable to that.”

“I’m not a Spectre anymore,” Shepard said.

“Whatever,” Aria said. “Look. Are you going to take her? This is the only time I’m offering this for free. If you refuse, then the next time you won’t be able to afford her. Trust me.”

Shepard sighed.