Author Notes: Ok, guys. This is my first fanfic. I'm a huge fan of the Mass Effect series. I loved every minute of it... except the last 15 but that's another issue. Anyway, since ME3 has come and gone for me, I decided to expand the lore a little bit and write a fanfic. I've written stories before, certainly. I've always enjoyed writing. However this is the first time I've ever written a story and put it out in the public. I don't mind constructive criticism. In fact, I welcome it. So please, any thoughts you might have are welcome, so long as they are civil. I'm doing this for your enjoyment, so I'm happy to tweak my writing to make the story better.

Just for clarification; this is essentially a self-insert. I don't tell it from the first person; more of a third person omniscient. I also don't use my real last name, birthday, or other personal details. But the main character is basically a reflection of me, of what I might be like were I in Mass Effect.

So, without further adieu, please read and enjoy.

Prologue

Chief Engineer John Rettinger stood at his terminal, hard at work on the engines of the SSV Normandy SR-1. It was the most advanced ship in the Alliance Navy, and John didn't take his job lightly. He was busy tweaking the capacitors to ensure proper discharge of the drive core. It was important work to be sure; if the drive core didn't discharge the static it had built up during FTL travel, it would be disastrous for the ship. But the work was also repetitive and mindless, allowing his mind to wander as he worked. Many thoughts crossed his mind, but the one that came most often was that his family and friends would never have believed any of this.

The year was 2183. John was technically 188 years old, though as far as he was concerned he was only 25. He was born in the year 1998. As he began to think about the last days of his old life, a memory appeared in his mind's eye:

John sat in the living room of his family's late 20th century house. He was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. He couldn't believe the words of the doctor when he told John that he had cancer of the lungs. In that time, the year 2016, cancer was treatable, but no cure existed. The best the doctors could truly do was extend the life of a cancer patient by a few years. Ten at best, so long as the cancer hadn't progressed far by the time it was diagnosed. John was not so lucky. It was basically a death sentence. It weighed heavy on John. He was only 18, barely an adult by legal standards. Yet he already had lung cancer, doomed to die from a disease that was essentially a lump of useless cells. Damn.

John's family couldn't even afford the expensive chemo and radiation treatments that could extend his life. Could. It wasn't even a guarantee. Fuck. So his family drowns in debt no matter what while he's not even guaranteed much more time? I don't think so, he thought. No matter what I don't want to make this any harder on them than it has to be. So no. No chemo. No radiation. I'll have a hard time convincing them that it's the right thing, though. Damn, this is morbid. But if they spend a bunch of money on treatments, only for me to die in five years anyway, it'll just make it harder on them in the long run. His thoughts were interrupted as his parents came down the stairs.

"Hey," his dad said gently.

"Hey," John replied, raising his head to look his parents as they sat down in the living room chairs.

"How you doing?" Dad asked.

"Fine. Just… thinking," John answered

"About what the doctor said?" Dad asked. John nodded. "I guess we're gonna have to start thinking about scheduling chemo, huh?"

"No," John said immediately and defiantly. "I'm not going to make you guys pay for chemo and radiation treatments. It's expensive and I know you're struggling as it is. I won't put you guys in debt up to your eyeballs just so I can die in five or six years instead of two or three."

"John!" his mother exclaimed. "Don't think that way!"

"What, Mom?" John replied. "I'm not gonna sugarcoat this shit! It would be useless to pour a bunch of money into treating it just to extend my life five years! If even that long. It's not even a guarantee. You heard the doctor. It's already progressed pretty far. It's only a matter of time."

"There might be a cure in five years!" Mom responded, the volume of her voice escalating.

"They've been working on a cure for decades!" said John, unintentionally raising his voice as well. "They're not even close to one now! You really think that they're gonna come up with one in five years?"

At those words John's mother broke into tears. She threw her arms around his dad and hugged him as she cried. Damn it. He knew this wasn't going to be easy.

He sighed. "Look Mom, I'm sorry to upset you. I really am. You don't think I'm upset? I'm just trying to make it as easy on you guys as possible. And trying to be all optimistic and shit about it is only going to make it harder in the long run. If we spend money on a bunch of chemo treatments and stuff only for me to die in five years… well then I'm gone AND you two are drowning in debt. So I don't care what you say. I'm 18 so I can choose for myself. I'm not getting any treatments. At least then you don't have a bunch of fucking medical bills once I'm gone."

His dad looked at him with a look of great sadness, but with a hint of hope. "John," he said. "Have you thought about the other option the doctor mentioned?"

John blinked. "No I hadn't, actually. I don't know, I guess it just seemed so outlandish that I didn't even consider it. It's almost like sci-fi. But… if it's true and they can do it…" he trailed off.

John's mother sniffed. "We can use your college savings to pay for it. I mean, even if it works you probably won't need it," she said.

"Good idea," John said, beginning to like the idea more and more. "But… even if it works, will I see you, or anybody else I know, ever again?"

"Well…" John's dad said. "There's at least a chance."

John looked at his parents. He looked at their faces and saw in both of them that they were both upset that it had come to this. But he also saw hope in their faces. Hope that he might live to see them die, instead of vice versa. At that moment, as he looked at the two people who had raised him, he decided exactly what he was going to do.

"And here we are. Welcome to Engineering," John heard a male voice say behind him. He snapped back to reality from his vivid daydream.

"Keelah!" he heard a second voice say excitedly. "I had no idea the drive core was so big!" This one wasn't human, like the first one. It was female and sounded almost synthesized, as if it came from behind a mask or helmet of some kind. Must be a quarian, John thought as he turned around. He saw his CO, Commander Jeremiah Shepard, at the entrance to the engineering platform. With him was a female quarian, as he had guessed. She looked up at the drive core of the spacefaring vessel with a look of what he guessed to be awe and wonder, though he couldn't tell for sure behind the mask. "I've never seen a drive core so large on such a small ship!" she continued, the speech indicator light in front of her mouth lighting up in tandem with her syllables.

"Think you'll be comfortable here?" Shepard asked.

"Comfortable? Are you kidding? I'll be more comfortable than a corrupt volus businessman!" the quarian exclaimed excitedly. She then seemed to think better of speaking to Shepard in that way, and bowed her head slightly, saying, "Um, I mean, yes sir."

John chuckled. He knew the Commander wouldn't care about that. As long as his crew remembered who was in charge and followed orders, formality only bogged everyone down.

Right on cue, Shepard laughed and said, "Tali, there's no need to be that cordial with me. So long as you remember who's in charge and follow orders, formality only bogs us down."

The relief of the quarian, who was apparently named Tali, was evident. Her shoulders relaxed and her head dropped slightly as she sighed. "Thank you," she said to the Commander. Shepard nodded in response. He began to walk toward John, beckoning her to come along. She followed.

"Tali, meet Chief Engineer Rettinger. John, this is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, the newest addition to our crew," Shepard said by way of introduction. John offered his hand to the quarian.

"Nice to meet you, Tali," he said as he shook her three-fingered hand. He expected it, but it was still strange to only feel three fingers instead of five.

"You too, uh… May I call you John?" Tali said with some trepidation.

"Yeah, sure. John's fine. Like the Commander said, no need to get bogged down in formality."

"Ok, then," she replied.

"Well," Shepard said. "I've got to get back up to the CIC. Chief, show her where she can be useful. Go ahead and start making sure the ship's ready to fly. We're aweigh in half an hour."

"Yes, sir," John replied with a quick salute. The Commander returned it, then turned and walked out of Engineering.

"So, Tali," he said, attempting to break the ice with his new subordinate. "You were born on the Rayya?"