Mass Effect: Zero Probability

Prelude

Messing with Hydrogen

I hate my life.

I carefully place the newest batch of chemicals into the accelerator and shut it. Hydrogen is fun to play with until the five thousandth time. I rub my bleary eyes and move to the splash of blue light emanating from the lab's computer.

"Beginning test round... Ah heck, I don't know, begin." I grump, tapping a few keys.

'How did I end up here?' I groan inwardly, 'Oh yes, lab assistant, crazy scientist, new machine.'

The machine begins to warm up and for the umpteenth time I wonder exactly what it is. The professor didn't tell me much about it, he just told me to run it with Hydrogen until I got 'results.' Whatever that's supposed to mean. I should really be at home studying, or better yet, sleeping. I have a BioChem final in the morning, and instead of doing what's important for my future, I'm here in a lab trying to work a machine whose origins are more than a little vague. Still, the extra credit is nice, and the money helps assuage the pain. Money helps all things, who doesn't need money? I suppose I can put up with vague for the amount that the professor pays me.

I set the sensors for alert mode and pull my notes closer to the dim LCD light, hoping to get a little studying done as I wait for the machine to start. In all reality, I should probably stop worrying about it. I know the stuff, and the test won't be much harder than the others I've taken. Chemistry, well, science, is my passion, I have a hard time notthinking about it. I suppose that might be unhealthy to some psychologists, but I don't think any man got anywhere by not loving his work.

My studying is interrupted as an alert pops up on the screen. I look closer and see that the system is primed. Now all I have to do is cross my fingers and wish to the magical fairy.

"Alright, be nice to me this time, let's take it slow." I mumble, confirming the start.

An edge of overly dulled anticipation creeps into my mind like molasses as the process begins. I don't understand what most of the bars mean, or what exactly the professor is trying to do, but one thing is for sure. It looks like the Professor is trying to create a new element.

But why is he using hydrogen?

The machine hums steadily, and the sensors begin to respond. Looks steady so far. I slowly increase the power, readings are shifting, but still within the green. My anticipation jumps a little, usually by this time the hydrogen just disappears, and I have to prepare another batch. I've come to hate electrolyzing water over the past four hours.

The hydrogen begins to react, and I hold my breath, hoping against hope. If this is it, I can go home and sleep, and-

Poof.

Nothing.

"Son of a..." I snarl, slamming my fist into the desk, causing my Mountain Dew to jump slightly.

I kick my seat and stalk over to the apparatus, wanting nothing more than to tear it from it's seating and hurl it across the room. I fume for a few more seconds, them close my eyes.

"Calm," I order, regulating my pulse and lowering my body temperature, "Just relax, get the tubes, and start over, the next time will work."

Yeah right.

I flip the latches to the compartment open, and reach for the handle as a tingling sensation runs up my spine. Something doesn't feel right. I hesitate as my hand falls on the handle, feeling that same feeling, but stronger.

Bloody Mountain Dew.

I release the last thing holding the reinforced steel compartment shut, and my sanity is consumed by blue.

I'm floating. Strange.

I open my eyes, and see the vastness of eternity spread out before me. I gaze in wonder at the specks... No, universes laid out on the grand canvas of all that there is. I feel like I could reach out into forever and touch them all, gather them into my hands and...

Is this what God feels?

Something flashes before my eyes. A scene of death, carnage. A scene of pain.

I gasp, clutching at my head. What was that? Where di-

Another flash, more pain. A blood red sky shimmers before me, and giant shapes descend from the sky. Their shadows dance across the ground, as the blood flows like rivers. I see death, so much death.

I scream as the vision closes. Why is this happening?

A lone figure stands before the shapes, and a throne of bone, blood is his dominion. I see the dying raise their hands towards him, then everything erupts into-

I have no strength left to scream. Tears of blood and blue leak from my eyes, and form rivulets down my cheeks and across my body. Searing pain! A slow pressure builds, until it feels as if my body would burst if there were any place for my innards to escape. The sun burns with fierceness, scouring the flesh from my bones, and then... nothing.

The memory of pain haunts me.

I lay curled in a ball, somewhere, it doesn't matter. I have no strength left, all I want to do is dash my brains out against the ground upon which I lay, but all I can do is sob and shake.

Although I'm not aware of it, time passes, and I finally gain a firm enough hold on my senses to open my eyes. I breathe very slowly, then shut my eyes again, applying the mental exercises I've used since I was a child to calm myself, refocus my thoughts. The pain is gone. Relax, focus, uncurl.

Where am I?

I'm nowhere I recognize. I'm in a small room filled to the brim with crates, metal crates. A small pool of blood, sweat and tears is underneath me, and a door is set into the wall a few feet away. Wherever I am, it's not home.

I groan, then thank fortune that it was my rest day for workouts. My body is already pretty much toast, I can't imagine what it would feel like if I had been sore before I got here.

Before I have time to think anymore, I feel something... strange. Then a blaring siren goes off. What's happening?

I look up, and see the roof of the room I'm in snap open, and all of the sudden, I feel my body being hurled into the air. A moment later, I can't breathe, and I feel like my entire body is being crushed and torn apart at the same moment. I open my mouth to scream, but nothing comes out.

As this experience enfolds me, something else happens. The emptiness around me is suddenly filled with blue light, I find that the pressure has ceased, and even though I can't breathe, my lungs don't burn any more.

What's happening?

I stare around me, and realize, that against all odds, I'm somehow floating in a void of stars, and flying crates. I've somehow been ejected into space. Even stranger than that, is the fact that I'm still alive. The blue bubble around me feels... solid, which is strange, because it seems to be constructed of nothing more than light. I try to move, but I'm held motionless.

Something bumps into my prison, and I notice that it's a body... my body. I would scream if I could, but I can't. Instead, I just stare. Then I see them. Dozens of them.

Me. All of them dead, frozen bodies. My bodies.

What is going on?

Something bright... brighter than the sun flashing into existence, growing steadily larger. I try to turn away, but I can't. Pain scalds my eyes, then the light stops.

A space ship.

My injured eyes stare in amazement as the large metal craft glides through space towards me. I want to turn and run, I want to scream, I want to do something, but I can do nothing. All I can do is stare as the ship drifts towards me, sucking up the space debris in it's path. It's heading straight for me.

In a moment, an open door on the craft closes over me, and I find myself floating in some kind of bay. What is this?

A strange language I don't understand blares through the air, and I suddenly find myself slamming into the ground. The shimmering aura of blue snaps out of existence, and I suck in the first breath I've taken in a few minutes.

Where am I?

I stare at the ceiling, then hear something approaching. I try to move, but my muscles appear to be completely shot. In fact, even thinking about moving brings pain to my body.

As I contemplate this pain, I hear something approaching me at a swift pace.

"Is he alive?" Someone asks.

"He appears to be breathing. I am not sure how though, he was in open space for at least a minute without any kind of suit." Another voice replies.

"He was covered in a mass effect field of some kind." The first voice says, "Get him to the medical bay."

A blue hand reaches over my vision, then I feel blessed darkness creep over my body.

When I awake, my body still feels sore, but the constant pain is gone. My eyes flick open, and I find myself staring at a ceiling. A very white ceiling. I wonder if someone carted me off to the hospital while I wasn't looking. I suppose the mind blowing hallucinations I've been having would set off some kind of physical reaction. I wonder how long it took the professor to find me. He doesn't usually show up to the lab until seven.

The first thing that flashes through my head is my insurance. Or the fact that I don't have any. I quickly put that thought away before all of the medical bills and such can stack up in my head and possibly cause some more damage to my already hurting brain. I'll burn that bridge when I cross it.

"You're awake." Someone says.

My eyes flick left, and I spot someone in my peripherals in a black space suit of some kind, facing away from me. I would crane my neck to take a better look, but it appears as if the muscles in that region of my body won't respond to any kind of stimuli.

"Relax, your little jaunt in open space was not kind to your body at all. Most of your muscle tissue was shredded as the blood froze inside it. I'm quite frankly amazed that you are alive. Another millisecond of exposure, and your heart would have succumbed." The person explains, "The others were not so lucky..."

"Who?" I manage.

She turns, and I nearly yelp. I may have if I had had the air to do so. Before me stands a blue skinned, tentacle headed alien. For lack of a better description, I appear to have run into an Asari. But of course, that would be ridiculous, Asari aren't real, they're part of a fictitious universe created by our friends at Bioware.

"What are you?" I blurt.

She looks taken aback for a moment, before a look of understanding crosses her eyes, "Ah, I see."

"See what?" I ask, trying to sit up.

My abs scream in agony, and I find myself falling back onto the table, hissing at the pain.

"I told you." She notes, "Are you convinced?"

I nod, pain spiking through my neck as I do so, "Ok, but what are you?"

"I am an Asari."

No way. This is not happening.

"I must be dreaming." I mumble.

"I am afraid you are not," She says, "Although by the looks of it, your body has been in a dream state for the past twenty-two years. This is also your apparent age."

I blink, "What?"

"You have been dreaming since the day you were created." She explains.

"You mean born." I interject.

She pauses before continuing, I can sense the hesitation in her voice as she speaks.

"Not necessarily." She replies, "From what we've been able to gather from your DNA and samples from the other bodies we found, you are an exact copy of approximately twelve other beings who have since perished."

Well, if that isn't a comforting statement, I don't know what is.

"What?" I manage through my disbelief.

"We are in pursuit of a group of scientists who have been conducting some rather unorthodox experiments upon humans in order in induce a-"

"That will be enough Illia." A stern, flanged voice orders.

Somewhere in the back of my partially malfunctioning mind, a voice pipes up that I am about to meet a Turian. I've always wanted to meet an intelligent veloceraptor. Images of Jurassic Park pop into my head, and I find myself smiling slightly at the thought.

"Are you able to understand me?" A Turian asks.

I manage to swing my head toward the voice, and come face to face with someone who should be dead. Well, will be dead now that I think about it.

"Nihilus?" I breathe.

I suddenly find myself staring down the sleek barrel of a pistol.

"How do you know me?" He demands, his voice cold.

I gulp, finding myself unable to speak. He actually looks like he's going to shoot me after the protracted silence, but the Asari steps in.

"Nihilus!" She chides, "He is still suffering from a severe amount of internal damage. His brain probably is not working properly. He could have heard it while unconscious. If you wait a while, I am sure he will be able to answer any questions you may have."

The killer gleam in his eyes drops away, but the weapon remains at eye level, making me feel distinctly uncomfortable. Unfortunately, uncomfortable and I don't have a very good track history, it usually leads to small mistakes.

"I saw you die." I blurt, only realizing what I have said after the betraying words leave my mouth.

The ridge over his left eye rises slightly, and I find myself searching for an excuse.

"That is to say, I thought I saw you die… and there wa-" I stumble out.

"Enough." Illia cuts in, "You can clearly see that he is not in good health. You are not dead, so whatever he knows about you is probably jumbled in with some other information that has been downloaded into his mind. Go Nihilus, I will have him report to you when he is ready."

Nihilus glances at her, then puts away his weapon, "Very well, I trust your judgment. But he is not to be allowed out of the sick bay before I have interrogated him personally. Understood?"

She nods, "That is reasonable."

Nihilus gives me one last glance, inclining his head a fraction, then marches away. Well, at least I wasn't picked up by Saren. Nihilus is one of the good guys, or at least, not in league with the crazed prophet of the Geth. I don't imagine that a bullet to the back of the head is an appropriate greeting between fellow agents of a millennia old genocidal machine race.

"Don't worry about him." Illia says, moving my head back into a more comfortable position, "Nihilus is a Turian of honor, he will not harm you or allow you to come to harm. He is merely on edge, we have been following these men for weeks with no results. You are in effect, our first lead."

"But I don't know anything!" I protest, "I just woke up, and I was suddenly in space!"

She raises a finger to her lips, "Rest now young human, your body must recover it's strength."

I feel something prick the side of my neck, and the world fades away.

I feel myself floating in some kind of fluid. My eyelids feel so heavy, and I feel so small.

"What is the progress?" A cool voice asks.

"They are maturing on schedule," A more nasal voice replies.

"Can you not make them grow any faster?" The first voice presses.

A snort, "This is very delicate work. The organs need time to mature properly, any kind of growth hormone would cause irregularities, especially when working with the systems we are. If you wanted quick you should have been making Salarians, not humans. Fear not, your little toys will be complete in the time frame that I have supplied. When can I expect payment?"

"When the product is delivered." The first clips out, "You have your retainer, and all the equipment you need. Do your work, and I will reward you handsomely. Fail to do so…"

"Do not try to intimidate me." The second shoots back, "I may not be a cold blooded killer like yourself, but I am quite capable and this is my domain."

A snort.

The world fades.