Miranda Lawson

Miranda Lawson is a human informant, a major protagonist in Mass Effect Galaxy and a squad member in Mass Effect 2. As Jacob Taylor's informant, she gives him guidance and advice during missions, often via hologram. Miranda is very well traveled and has many contacts, extending from Citadel space and the Terminus Systems, to as far as the hostile Nemean Abyss. Her vast network of contacts may be explained by the fact Miranda is a known Cerberus operative, one who still has friends &mdash; or at least friends of friends &mdash; in the Alliance military. Miranda is both voiced by and modelled upon the actress Yvonne Strahovski.

Mass Effect Galaxy
Miranda first makes contact with Jacob Taylor after being referred to him through his former commanding officer, Derek Izunami. Izunami arranges for them to meet in a bar called the Fringe on Cartagena Station, a space station in the Nemean Abyss. Miranda greets Jacob after he takes out a group of pirates who had taken over the bar, quipping that she was expecting someone taller.

She then explains the supposed batarian plot to sabotage the peace talks at the Citadel by assassinating Ambassador Jath'Amon. Miranda gives Jacob three sources which may relate to the recent batarian attacks: a turian arms dealer named Illo Nazario on the planet Tortuga, who has worked with the batarians for years; the planet Bekke where a batarian army is reportedly gathering; and a rumor that the batarians have kidnapped several scientists and are holding them on the Ahn'Kedar Orbital Platform.

Miranda then assists Jacob from his ship during his investigations. On Tortuga, Jacob receives the codes for Nazario's compound from Miranda's salarian contact Ish. After Jacob fights his way through the compound, he and Miranda find that Nazario has been infected with a deadly bioweapon and agree to find a cure in exchange for his information on the batarians. On Ahn'Kedar, Jacob rescues the captive scientists and learns that they need a large quantity of element zero in order to complete a cure.

When they arrive on Bekke, Miranda reports strange readings from the planet surface as the ship comes under fire. She later picks up the massive eezo cache Jacob discovers in the facility. Miranda accompanies Jacob during his interrogation of Nazario, who informs them that Jath'Amon has no intention of a peace treaty, the peace talks being a cover to assassinate the council with the bioweapon. She then accompanies him to the citadel, where Jacob subdues Jath'Amon and saves the council. Miranda later joins Jacob on his resumed vacation on the Arcturian Jade with a bottle of celebratory champagne.

Weapon Proficiencies

 * Submachine Guns
 * Heavy Pistols

Cerberus Officer

 * Rank 1
 * Health: +5.00%
 * Weapon Damage: +6.00%
 * Squad Health: +2.50%
 * Squad Weapon Damage: +2.50%


 * Rank 2
 * Health: +10.00%
 * Weapon Damage: +12.00%
 * Squad Health: +5.00%
 * Squad Weapon Damage: +5.00%


 * Rank 3
 * Health: +15.00%
 * Weapon Damage: +18.00%
 * Squad Health: +7.50%
 * Squad Weapon Damage: +7.50%

Rank 4

Select one of the following specilizations,

Cerberus Leader

 * Miranda's coordination of the fire team gives an increased bonus to squad weapon damage.
 * Health: +20.00%
 * Weapon Damage: +25.00%
 * Squad Health: +7.50%
 * Squad Weapon Damage: +15.00%

Cerberus Tactician

 * Miranda's leadership tactics leave no one behind, giving an increased bonus to squad health.
 * Health: +20.00%
 * Weapon Damage: +25.00%
 * Squad Health: +15.00%
 * Squad Weapon Damage: +7.50%

Cerberus Officer's squad bonuses remain in effect even if Miranda falls in battle.

Squad Points
Unlike the other squad mates, save for Jacob Taylor, Miranda Lawson has 30 points available for distribution.

Dossier
Age: 35 (Born 2150) Due to lifespan, relative age: 23

After Cerberus gains possession of Commander Shepard's corpse, the Illusive Man selects Miranda to be the head of the Lazarus Cell and puts her in charge of the Lazarus Project. Over the course of two years, Miranda oversees the development and implementation of Cerberus' vast resources towards bringing Shepard back to life. When Shepard briefly wakes for the first time, Miranda is the first and last person seen by Shepard before falling back to sleep. At some point, the research base comes under attack by a saboteur. Miranda wakes Shepard over an intercom and guides him/her to the base's last shuttle. Miranda takes Shepard to be briefed by the Illusive Man, but not before killing the traitor who instigated the attack.

When Shepard goes to investigate the colony of Freedom's Progress, Miranda becomes a permanent squad member. Aboard the Normandy SR-2 she functions as Shepard's second-in-command, but also serves as a proxy for the Illusive Man, which means she can override Commander Shepard's orders in certain situations. According to EDI, Miranda is the leading operative of Lazarus Cell which is headquartered on the Normandy.

Initially, Miranda expresses skepticism towards the level of importance the Illusive Man has placed on Shepard, especially since the Lazarus Project required a huge investment of Cerberus's resources and her own time. She also notes that she wanted to implant Shepard with a control device to regulate the Commander's actions, but the Illusive Man declined her suggestion. Soon after their mission gets underway, Miranda admits that the Illusive Man's estimation of Shepard's value to their cause was accurate.

During their mission, Shepard can ask Miranda about her past. She explains that she never had a mother, only a father who is extremely influential, wealthy, and ego-maniacal. Using a modified copy of his own genome, Miranda was genetically engineered to be a specimen of human perfection. Everything, from her intelligence, physical constitution, biotic abilities, to her appearance were designed before birth to be excellent. She boasts about being able to shoot a droid's head off from 100 meters away or just as easily crush it with her biotic powers. Miranda also heals faster than other humans and will probably live half a lifespan longer. If Shepard accuses her of being cocky, she retorts that she's only stating the facts.

However, Miranda’s gifts were a burden growing up. Despite her accomplishments, Miranda’s perfectionist father never showed approval or pride towards his daughter. He always expected more and better from her- forever chiding her to be greater than she already was. He also imposed a very strict lifestyle on Miranda, and forbade her from making friends and having a social life. Miranda remarks that he didn't want a daughter as much as a dynasty, which was why he used his own genetic template to create her. The constant pressure and lack of affection led Miranda to relinquish her privileged lifestyle and run away from home as a soon as she could- although some gunfire was involved. Her father used his extensive network of contacts to chase her across the galaxy, but she managed to elude him nonetheless.

At some point Miranda approached Cerberus and joined them in exchange for protection. Miranda knew of them since her father sympathized with their human-centric agenda and was a major backer. When she enlisted with Cerberus, he stopped pursuing her but severed his ties to the group. Despite their past dealings with her father, Miranda agrees with Cerberus' desire to help humanity. Miranda also enjoys the opportunity to work with people as smart as she is and the amount of latitude their clandestine operations afford her; she is given an objective, all the resources she needs, and nothing more. Evidently, Miranda has advanced far enough to become one of the few in the organization, much less the galaxy, that meets and answers directly to the Illusive Man, who appreciates her abilities.

Unfortunately, Miranda still retains some of the insecurities that drove her from home; despite leading an illustrious career, Miranda doesn’t believe she’s truly earned her accomplishments. Because of her father's genetic tampering which gave her the innate advantage to succeed, she still feels like she's living under his shadow, and that her failures are the only thing she truly owns. Miranda admits this has made her somewhat jealous of Shepard, whose vast accomplishments can be credited to skill, talent, and drive.

Loyalty: The Prodigal
During the mission Miranda asks Shepard to help her deal with a personal crisis. As part of his obsession with creating a dynasty, Miranda's father had also created a genetic duplicate of Miranda named Oriana, who is effectively her twin sister. Miranda explains that she joined Cerberus was to hide and protect Oriana as well as herself. While their father stopped searching for Miranda, he never stopped looking for Oriana. With the help of Cerberus, Miranda managed to establish a new life for Oriana on Illium, where she has lived the life of normalcy their father would have denied her. Unfortunately, Miranda recieved word from a contact claiming that their father has finally discovered Oriana and will try to abduct her. Cerberus has made arrangements to relocate Oriana, but Miranda wants to check up on her anyways.

On Illium, Miranda's contacts informs them that Oriana will be leaving the planet with her family, and one of Miranda's confidants, a man named Niket, volunteered to escort Oriana. However, Eclipse mercenaries led by Captain Enyala have arrived on the planet and will likely try to intercept Oriana per her father's orders. Miranda and Shepard head to the spaceport to stop them.

At the spaceport, Miranda and Shepard confront an Eclipse mercenary who accuses Miranda of kidnapping and reveals that Oriana was only a baby when Miranda 'rescued' her. Miranda explains that while Oriana and her share the same genetic makeup, she was created when Miranda was a teenager, and has no knowledge of Cerberus, Miranda, or their father. Miranda apologizes for keeping those details from Shepard, but asserts what she did was in Oriana's best interests and letting her live a normal life was the best gift she could give her.

After fighting to where Niket is supposed to meet Oriana, Shepard and Miranda find Niket, along with Enyala, trying to book Oriana for a different ship. At gunpoint, Niket explains that he just discovered Miranda abducted Oriana as a baby and accuses her of lying to him. Niket claims that handing Oriana back to her father will rectify Miranda's mistake. However, after being pressed on the issue, Niket admits that he is also being paid by her father.

Niket and Enyala are the only loose ends she needs to tie up to protect Oriana so Miranda decides to kill him. At this point, Shepard can either let Miranda kill Niket, or perform a Paragon interrupt to stop her, but Enyala will kill him instead.

After Niket dies, Shepard and Miranda get into a firefight with Enyala and her men. After eliminating them, Miranda expresses remorse and disbelief over Niket's betrayal and death. They arrive at the dock to observe Oriana and her adoptive family preparing to board a transport off Illium. At this point, Shepard can suggest leaving or telling Miranda to introduce herself to Oriana.

Back on the Normandy, Miranda thanks Shepard for helping her and confides that she is glad Shepard trusted her and that she knows she can trust Shepard as well.

Loyalty: Confrontation with Jack
After gaining the loyalty of both Miranda and Jack, the next time Shepard boards the Normandy Joker will radio in about a fight aboard the ship. Jack wants Miranda to admit what was done to her by Cerberus was wrong, but Miranda refuses to acknowledge that Cerberus was at fault claiming it was a splinter group, not Cerberus, calling the shots.

Choosing one will lose you the loyalty of the other and the chance for romance with them so pick wisely. They do however still keep their alternate outfit and additional skills. Alternatively, if your Paragon or Renegade scores are high enough, you can choose an option favoring neither person and keep the loyalty of both.

If you choose one of them, you can afterwards regain the other's loyalty provided you have a very high Paragon or Renegade score. The chance for romance, however, is lost.

Romance
Miranda is a potential love interest for a male Shepard, and can be courted after completing her loyalty mission (above).

After the loyalty mission, Shepard can talk to Miranda, and given the right dialogue options, will result in Miranda "wanting Shepard to admire her body." If Shepard returns her feelings, she expresses cautiousness in the relationship, but also expresses her interest in it as well. Alternatively, Shepard can accuse Miranda of being jealous of him. She will attempt to deny it but sexual tension builds in the ensuing conversation, and taking the option to kiss her will further the romance plot despite her insistence that it doesn't mean anything. But, after Jack's loyalty mission, the relationship is put at risk during the confrontation between Miranda and Jack. If Shepard sides with Miranda or resolves the situation using a high Paragon or Renegade meter, then the relationship will continue. If the relationship sustains until the Suicide Mission, then, before Shepard goes into the Omega 4 Relay, Miranda will 'coincidentally' meet Shepard in the Combat Information Center, telling him to meet her in the engine room in five minutes. If Shepard accepts the invite, she walks into the elevator and winks at him before the doors close. After this happens, the Romance scene culminates, earning the player the "Paramour" achievement if the player has not earned it yet.

Suicide Mission
If Shepard's squad manages to successfully reach the Collectors' base after passing through the Omega 4 Relay, Miranda is an excellent choice to lead the 1st and/or 2nd fire team.

If Miranda goes with Shepard to battle the Human-Reaper, and Shepard opts to destroy the Collectors' base despite the Illusive Man's objections, the Illusive Man will order her to stop Shepard. Miranda will then refuse, confirming her loyalty to Shepard, state her resignation from Cerberus, and drop the Illusive Man's comlink. Her resignation may have dire consequences in Mass Effect 3, as it was only the Illusive Man's influence keeping Miranda's father away from her and Oriana. However, considering that her younger sister is just as sharp as she, this threat may be overestimated.

Trivia

 * Along with Thane, Miranda is one of the "poster" characters for Mass Effect 2 and appears on most of the promotional art and demo footage.
 * Once Yvonne Strahovski signed on to voice the character, the development team decided to model the character's face based on the actress'. Additionally, the character's original Scandinavian surname was changed to better match Strahovski's Australian accent.
 * Miranda's original surname was Solheim, Norwegian for "Sunhome." This was chosen in part because she is one of the relatively rare characters born on Earth (i.e. from the Sol system).
 * Miranda is also the name of one of Uranus's moons.
 * Early ideas of Miranda pegged her as a blonde, but once they created her Cerberus uniform, black hair seemed to better complement the "femme fatale" look.
 * During Miranda's loyalty mission, after getting on a very slow elevator in which is heard Mass Effect's elevator music (as a reference to how long it usually took until the elevator arrived at its destination), she hacks it in order to get it to move faster, breaking the music speakers in the process.
 * Miranda's name is of Latin origin and translates as 'she who must be admired' apt considering she was engineered for perfection.
 * Humorously, if you pursue a romance with Miranda, Mordin will give his common relationship advice, but tells Shepard to check for listening devices as "Cerberus can plant them anywhere" and recommends a checkup afterwards.