Chapter 1
Nihlus
"Why have we stopped?" Nihlus asked as he stepped onto the ships bridge.
"Uh, well, sir," the Turian sitting in the pilots seat said, "We're getting some odd readings from the relay, and the exteriors cameras show..."
"Show what?" Nihlus pressed.
"Well, we could be wrong sir," the Salarian in the co-pilots seat said as he turned to face the Spectre, "But... it looks like a body."
"A body?" Nihlus asked in disbelief.
"Yes, sir," the Salarian said as he tapped his console and brought up a screen that showed a close up of the Relay's core. Nihlus leaned in to look at it and furrowed his brow as a small black splotch appeared near it's bottom and began to drift upwards. The Salarian tapped something else and the image changed to show a line spiraling around the core, originating from its center. "We've tracked the revolutions and came up with this model. From the looks of it, the body actually came out of the center of the core and has been orbiting it for several hours. The orbit has been getting wider and wider at a constant rate and should break free in about thirty-seven minutes, at which point..." The Salarian tapped at the console again and the image changed to a single curved line moving away from the relay, "The body will be expelled along this trajectory."
Nihlus stared at the screen as his mind raced. This was too odd, and too unlikely to just leave it be. He turned to the pilot, "Set us along that trajectory with the airlock right in the center of it."
The Turian blinked at Nihlus as he realized what was being asked before quickly turning to the controls, "Yes sir. Adjusting position now... the body should reach us in the next forty minutes."
Nihlus nodded his approval and stayed on the bridge, patiently waiting while the pilot and co-pilot quietly spoke to each other about the absurdity of the situation. They waited until the body was to finally break free, and looked on in awe as it was flung towards them, seemingly encased in a cloud of raw eezo that was gradually fading. As the body neared, the outer airlocks doors were opened, and as soon as it had passed through them, it shut and began the decontamination process before the inner doors opened, and they found a young human unconscious but somehow, beyond reason, alive.
When Nihlus received word several hours later that the human had woken, he went to see him. The human's reaction to his arrival was unexpected, and disconcerting. Nihlus had been expecting a barely aware man with a very addled mind. What he encountered instead was an alert, terrified young man who looked as though...what was the human saying? Saw a ghost? When Nihlus had approached, the human flinched away before seeming to realize what he'd done and forcing himself to relax as much as he could. "What's your name?" Nihlus asked.
The human frowned at him and shook his head, "I can't understand you."
Nihlus looked to the human doctor standing nearby with a chart, "He doesn't seem to have a single implant, not even the basic translators, or even haptic feedback nodules." The doctor turned to the human, "He asked what your name was."
The human looked from the doctor to Nihlus and shakily spoke, "Dazac. My name is Dazac. Dazac Praeletum."
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I was sitting stock still, every muscle in my body felt tensed. It seemed that no matter how hard I tried, I wasn't able to form a complete thought before everything slipped away. My hands were numb and my knuckles were white from gripping the edge of the bed. The doctor was moving around busily, humming to herself. It was a tune I recognized but couldn't name.
The doctor stopped humming and picked up a datapad before striding over to me. "Well," she began, "I'm not sure how, but you appear to be in perfect health with the exception of the memory loss. All your vitals are solid. Honestly you're one of the most physically fit people I've ever come across. Your eezo nodules appear to be a bit more... robust than normal. How is it that you don't have any implants?"
I didn't reply. I'd heard her, but, I was at a loss for what to say. I was at a loss for what to think.
"Dazac?" she prodded gently, "Dazac can you look at me?"
I didn't move for a moment, just staring into nothing before I slowly turned my head to look at her. She had amber eyes the looked at me worriedly. Her brow was furrowed and she was frowning. I hesitantly relaxed my hands and slowly moved my hand up towards her face, getting a surprised look from her when I touched her cheek. It felt like skin. It was warm. I dropped my hand and looked away before very quietly speaking, "I'm in space?"
"Yes," she replied softly, trying to be comforting, "This is a transport shuttle from the Citadel. We're on our way to Earth."
"Earth," I repeated.
"That's right," she said with a nod.
I turned to look at the door where I'd watched who I assumed to be Nihlus leave the room. "Nihlus," I whispered.
"You know his name?!" the doctor said with clear surprise. I looked back at her trying to convey my thoughts without speaking. Why was she surprised. She must have understood because she explained, "He never said his name. I never said his name. How do you know him?"
I looked at her, trying not to start screaming. She had just confirmed what I'd feared. I had to fight to swallow the lump in my throat before saying, "I need to talk to him."
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Staring at the floor wasn't helping nearly as much as I had hoped it would. The sense of someone's eyes on me was unnerving. I bit my lip as I rubbed my palms together, trying to do anything to keep from shaking, to keep from shouting out. Why wouldn't he just say something? Anything.
"Please," I begged, "Please, just say something!"
"What do you want me to say?" He asked.
I looked up at him and found green eyes staring back at me, searchingly darting over my features, trying to find some grain of dishonesty. But I couldn't be dishonest, not about this, not with my mind in such a panicked state. I was frightened of all of this. Terrified. And he just kept staring at me, making it worse with every passing second. When I didn't answer he sighed and stood, moving over to the window, and looked out into the void.
"Your story is certainly outlandish, but then again, so were the circumstances we found you in. Traveling through a relay with nothing but the clothes on your back, clothes that the humans on the ship have told me went out of style almost 200 years ago..." Nihlus sighed, "I want you to write everything down for me so that I can go over it all. I'm not concerned with these 'side quests,' as you called them. Nor am I concerned with any individuals' personal life. I want the main details, the big things covering all three of these 'games' of yours."
"Then what?" I asked.
Nihlus turned to look out the view port, into space. "Then I will find out the truth. Whatever it may be. You shouldn't know what you do, whether that's because you're telling the truth, or because you're plotting something... I will find out."
I let out a sigh of relief, thankful that I had at least that much for now. But then my thoughts swirled around and I was back to worrying again. What would happen now? What would actually change? Where do I go from here?
"We're approaching the Relay," He said, turning back around, "Once we've docked you'll come with me. Our first course of action will be to double-check your health. I'm not sure what the effects will be like, but I'm certain there will be something. As far as I know, no one has ever been exposed to so much eezo before. That you're alive at all is a miracle in and of itself. Not only that but you've yet to show any symptoms of complications from the exposure, something that shouldn't be possible." I nodded as he began walking to the door, "When you're ready meet me on the bridge."
I waited until the door had shut behind him and then slumped forward, putting my face in my hands. I could hardly comprehend my situation. This was the sort of thing that you daydreamed about, not the sort of thing that actually happened. When daydreaming it always seemed like it would be so cool, so exciting. Reality was a lot harsher. I was terrified and couldn't think straight. I wanted to hide, to close my eyes and wake up to find it was all just a really vivid dream. I tried thinking back, but the last thing I could remember from before several hours ago was walking into my house, and then... nothing. I had a few images and sounds in my mind, but nothing solid enough or clear enough to identify. I looked at the door and repeated his name in my head again, as though to cement in my mind the reality of it.
Nihlus.
