Miranda Lawson

'"I'm an excellent judge of character. I think you'll find my assessments to be right on the money." '

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--or at least friends of friends--in the Alliance military.

Miranda is both voiced by, and modeled 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.

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 Unlocks choice between Cerberus Leader or Cerberus Tactician
 * 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%

Dossier
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 they see 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 him 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 the Shepard's orders in certain situations. According to EDI, Miranda is the leading operative of Lazarus Cell which is headquartered on the Normandy.

Initally, 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 Sheppard with a control device to regulate his actions, but the Illusive Man declined her suggestion. Soon after their mission gets underway, Miranda admits that the Illusive Man's estimation of Sheppard'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 egomaniacal. 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. 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 she says 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 was actually familar with them before she ran away as her father sympathized with their human-centric agenda and became a major backers. When she enlisted with them, her father stopped pursuing her and severed his ties to the group. Despite their past dealings with her father, Miranda was also drawn to Cerberus' desire to help humanity, and because they appreciate her gifts. Miranda also enjoys 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.

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 that this has made her somewhat jealous of Shepard, whose vast accomplishments can be credited to his/her own 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 generic duplicate of Miranda named Oriana, who is effectively her twin sister. Miranda explains that part of the reason 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 the planet Illium, where, over the years, she has lived the life of normalcy that their father would have denied her. Unfortunately, Miranda has recieved news from one of her contacts hinting that their father has finally discovered Oriana's location and will try to abduct her. Cerberus has already made arrangements to relocate Oriana, but Miranda wants to check up on her anyways.

On Illium, one of Miranda's contacts informs them that Oriana will be leaving the planet with her family, and that one of Miranda's other confidants, a man named Niket, volunteered to personally escort Oriana to the spaceport. However, Eclipse mercenaries have recently 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.

If Shepard asks Miranda whether Niket can be trusted, she explains that Niket was one of the very few friends she had growing up, and was the only one she kept in contact with after she ran away, making him her oldest friend. Niket was approached by her father multiple times and offered money in exchange for Miranda, but he never sold her out. After she rescued Oriana, Niket was one of the only people she trusted with the knowledge of her existence and whereabouts. He had many opportunities to turn the both of them over but he never did.

At the spaceport, Miranda and Shepard are confronted by an Eclipse mercenary who accuses Miranda of being a kidnapper 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 actually created when Miranda was a teenager; their father intended for Oriana to replace Miranda. When Miranda joined with Cerberus, she kidnapped Oriana and they arranged for her to be adopted by an anonymous family. In actuality, Oriana, now 18, has never known about Miranda's existence or her true origins. Miranda apologizes for keeping those details from Shepard, but asserts that what she did was in Oriana's best interests and protecting her from their father and letting her live a normal life was the best gift she could give her.

While fighting their way to the dock where Niket is supposed to meet Oriana, they overhear dialog from an Eclipse officer implying that Niket is working with Eclipse and plans to hand Oriana to her father. This is confirmed when they find Niket, along with the Eclipse officer, trying to book Oriana for a different ship than the one Cerberus arranged. At gunpoint, Miranda demands to know why Niket would betray her. Niket, who refers to Miranda as "Miri", explains that he only recently discovered that Miranda abducted Oriana as a baby and accuses her of lying to him. He says that he looked out for Oriana since he believed that she chose to run away too; but now he realizes that Miranda never gave her a choice, and basically stole her and denied her a life of wealth and comfort. 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 for his actions.

Miranda asks Niket whether her father knows about Cerberus' original plans to relocate Oriana, he says that he didn't tell anyone else since Miranda closely monitors her father's information feed, and informing would have blown his cover. Miranda realizes Niket and the Eclipse officer are the only loose ends she needs to tie up to protect Oriana and prepares to shoot him. At this point, Shepard can either let Miranda kill Niket or perform a Paragon action to stop her- but the Eclipse officer will simply kill him instead.

After Niket dies, Shepard and Miranda get into a firefight with the Eclipse officer and her mercs. After eliminating them, Miranda expresses remorse and disbelief over Niket's betrayal and death. They arrive at the dock just in time to observe Oriana and her adoptive family preparing to board their transport off Illium.. At this point, Shepard can suggest leaving or tell Miranda to introduce herself to Oriana. If Shepard suggests they leave, Oriana will look in their direction to see Miranda and express puzzlement, but Miranda quickly turns away and enters an elevator with tears running down her face as the doors close. If Miranda goes to talk to Oriana, their conversation is not shown, but Miranda will rejoin Shepard in the elevator, smiling, while Oriana watches them leave, also smiling.

Back on the Normandy, Miranda thanks Shepard for helping her and confides that she is glad Shepard trusted her and that she trusts Shepard as well. If Shepard asks about her impressions of Oriana and Miranda didn't speak to her, she imagines that they're similar because they are essentially the same person, and isn't sure if she is truly happy, but doesn't want to contact Oriana in the future since it could put her in further danger. However, if Miranda did talk to Oriana, she says that they have the same taste in classical music and temperament, but Oriana has a better sense of humor, will probably go on to do social work across the galaxy, and, most importantly, is happy. Oriana will later send an email to Shepard asking that they look out for Miranda.

If Shepard is a male, Miranda will also gently caress him, hinting romantic interest.

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 you have a high enough paragon or renegade score, you can choose one of the neutral options and keep the loyalty of both. A very high Paragon / Renegade score is required to keep both loyal.

If you choose one of them, you can afterwards regain her loyalty with an extremely high Paragon / Renegade score. The chance for romance is lost forever, though.

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

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 set off the radiation pulse. Miranda will then refuse, confirming her loyalty to Shepard, state her resignation from Cerberus, and drop the Illusive Man's comlink.

Bugs
If Miranda fights the Oculus with you in the end battle on your ship, after the fight she still reports from the comm with Joker, though she is standing next to you.

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).
 * 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.
 * If you complete Miranda’s loyalty mission, her sister sends you an email thanking Shepard and Miranda for saving her and her family-a comment at the end of the message playfully scolds Miranda for reading Shepard's mail.
 * In the elevator up to meet Niket, the team heads to "Dock 94," likely a reference to Docking Bay 94 in the original Star Wars.
 * During Miranda's loyalty mission, after getting on a very slow elevator with the first game's music, she hacks the elevator to get it to move faster. This is a reference to the fan dislike of the first game's slow elevator rides that served as hidden loading screens.
 * Miranda's name may be a reference to William Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest." Miranda, the daughter of Prospero, also led a secluded life with her father.