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“I guess I want to stand for something too.” — Spoilers for Mass Effect: Foundation follow. |
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Lakshmi is a street urchin living in the Terminus Systems.
A brunette little girl almost ten years old with a distinctive Y scar over the right eye and an impoverished background, Lakshmi took to begging in the streets to survive. One day, she comes across two humans and asks them for credits. The woman, Miranda Lawson, doesn't give her anything, but her partner Jacob Taylor promises money in exchange for directions. Lakshmi warns the pair that the place they're going is a dangerous one: her cousin's family was abducted there to be enslaved.
Their conversation is interrupted by a gang of batarian thugs, and in the ensuing chaos Lakshmi manages to lure Jacob and Miranda into momentary safety. She hands both of them red and green decorated fabrics to help mask their faces from the public, and receives thanks from Jacob as the adults go their own way.
Later, Lakshmi eyes leg meat being served at a street stand. Its batarian proprietor takes away her credits but refuses to hand her the meat, accusing her of having stolen the money. Lakshmi tries to start an argument with the batarian but a gigantic piece of a Cerberus ship smashes into the proprietor and his stall, killing him. Lakshmi takes the leg meat lying on the ground and begins eating it, but yet another batarian orders her to summon her uncle Taleed, shoving her in the process and trampling the meat underfoot.
An injured Jacob asks around for Miranda's whereabouts and Lakshmi comes to his aid, threatening would-be hoodlums with her uncle's reputation. She reluctantly informs Jacob she knows of Miranda's whereabouts, concerned that Miranda's captors will kill him. Lakshmi's mother spots the pair, and Lakshmi is ordered to prepare a bed for their guest. She later points Jacob to her uncle's stash of weapons in their hovel when he vows to rescue her enslaved aunt and cousins.
Lakshmi tags along with Jacob when the man deems himself fit to continue, carrying some of his stuff while guiding him to the warehouse where slaves are taken. Peeking through an overhead window she sees her uncle being ordered to kill Miranda. Jacob advises her to head back, but she falls prey to a hostage situation when the batarian ringleader Torthak gets hold of her.
Lakshmi hugs Jacob out of gratitude moments later. The man managed to free her by shooting the batarian, and now her family minus her uncle is all accounted for. She gives Miranda a yellow rose before running off and waving the pair goodbye.