A blinding flash of light

Smell of smoke and ashes

Weight of his first assault rifle

Small smile at the holo

Knot in his stomach

Sweat trickling down his arm

A blinding flash of light

The young human opened his eyes. He scanned the room that he was in. It was a small room, with graceful curves arcing down from the ceiling, lit softly in a hue of blue. It had a distinctive sting in the air; the smell of antibiotics. A small table was near the door, with his black armour and weapons arranged in a neat pile. They were burnt and scarred, and some were clearly broken beyond repair, yet somebody had bothered to look after it. A sign on the left chest of the armour read "Jackson, L".

Asari hospital, he thought. He had never been in one before, but he knew enough about asaris to know. He relaxed a little, knowing that this place was most likely safe. For now.

He glanced up, realising with a start that he had at least ten hoses plugged into his body. Three machines worked with a low hum at the head of his bed, keeping him alive. He closed his eyes, and flexed his thin body. Legs? Check. Ten toes? Check. Knees? One had a bandage, and it hurt to move it, but it seemed okay. Arms? Check. Hands? Check. Omni-tool? Broken, but that wasn't surprising. Biotics…

Jackson opened his eyes again, fear taking hold of him. He tried again, staring wide-eyes at his hands. He could not summon his powers. No tell-tale sign of blue glow. No tingling sensation. Nothing.

He then realised what had happened before he lost consciousness.

Ah, crap. Jackson closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. In the middle of some asari hospital, damn near dying, and I have no way of defending myself. Guns broken, armour useless… Damn, I need to replenish.

His hands instinctively went to his stomach, grabbing at nothing but the soft bed sheet. He noticed what he had just done, and chuckled silently. He glanced back at the table, noticing that his eezo bottle was still there, still attached to his armour. His arm extended towards his armour, as if trying to pull it towards him, but nothing happened.

This time he laughed. Feeling helpless and stupid, he decided to simply relax.

Let's hope that these asaris aren't planning to sell me. He closed his eyes, and was soon sound asleep.

…

Kisa entered the room. She glanced at the human who she was assigned to. He was found alone, just outside system, inside a broken gunship. It was emitting a rescue signal in all frequencies, travelling in near-FTL speeds. The rescue workers had a hard time trying to figure out how to approach it safely. In the end, they used non-explosive missiles to reduce its speed.

When they discovered him, clad in his unusual-looking suit, they weren't sure what to do with him. He could not be positively identified, and all his gear were custom-made and severely modified to the point where they looked nothing like the guns that pirates would carry. The only thing that gave the officials "all-clear" was his Systems-Alliance symbol on his left shoulder pad. The incident was thankfully kept a secret, lest it made the tourists afraid of some sort of attack. Not that anybody sane would attack Nevos.

Then again, there are lots of crazy people out there.Kisa thought as she checked the machines' readings. They were all positive. In fact, this human should have woken up by now.

She marvelled at the speed which he recovered. In all honesty, she thought that he was dead. Even after the surgeries with cutting-edge technology and medical synthetics, the human wasn't likely going to survive. She had felt sorry for the man: who knew what he had went through?

But in mere 32 standard hours, this human could walk. It became clear to her that the man in front of her was not normal. She looked carefully at his face. It wasn't handsome, but likable. It had a faint trace of a grin, and was definitely friendly.

Well, friendly if you ignore the scars. Kisa thought. He had two old scars on his left cheek, and one fresh one across his forehead. They weren't very noticeable and didn't interfere with his general charisma. If anything, they enhanced it.

As she turned to leave, she heard a small moan. She spun around, and saw the man taking a deep breath. His eyes fluttered open, immediately scanning the room, right to left. Military style.

His eyes locked onto her face. He had black iris. Not uncomfortable black, but soft, soothing black. One that somebody could look into, and see their reflection. He smiled cheerfully.

"Hello", Jackson said.

"Hi. It's good to see that you've recovered. You've been out for some time. Do you feel dizzy?" Kisa asked. She realised that she spoke a little hurriedly, something that she had never done in the hospital.

You idiot! That's bad for the patients!

"No, I'm fine. Where am I? What time is it?"

Kisa remembered the fact that his omni-tool was broken. She reached into her pocket and drew out a new one. Standard-issue, human-made. The hospital kept a few just in case their patient's broke. He accepted the new omni-tool gratefully.

"We're in Nevos, currently eight hundred … no, June 2nd, 2185 human standard time." Kisa had to check her omni-tool to make sure she got the conversion right. Even after a hundred years or so, she weren't sure about Citadel-to-Human conversions.

Jackson was mildly surprised. 2nd of June… less than a week after him and his team entered Beta-Two relay. That meant that he was knocked out for about four days. He made sure that the asari couldn't read his face, and put on the omni-tool.

"Okay… Thank you very much."

"I'll get you a cup of water. Your body has almost recovered, but you'll need some rest before you can walk". Kisa said with a smile. Usually, her smile was mechanical. This time, it wasn't.

"Thanks."

Kisa walked toward the back of the room, and got a plastic cup from the drawer. Jackson only then realised that there was a water purifier and a closet at the back of the room.

I must be really tired.He thought. I missed something that large.

He drank the cool, healing water, feeling life flow back into his body. He needed more.

The asari, noticing his thirst, filled his cup again more. The human thanked her again and drank deeply.

He is well mannered. Kisa thought. Unlike the other human that was here before.

"Get some rest. You should be good to go in another day or so. Don't worry about anything for now. Do you need anything?"

Jackson chuckled. The asari clearly didn't know who he was or what he was doing. If she did, than she wouldn't ask a question like that. He vaguely remembered the last time somebody asked him the question… Perhaps five years ago?

"Well, I need a lot of things. More than you can possibly imagine. But for now, I should be fine. Thank you."

Kisa noticed what he meant, and smiled. Secrets, hmm? That's… enticing. She started to walk out of the room. Jackson realised that he did need something right now.

"Uh…"

"Yes?" Kisa turned around, looking at the human once more.

"Could you get me that little bottle on my armour? It's there, just below the chest plate." He pointed at the small, cylindrical container.

She was curious about his armour. Completely black, it was shaped unlike anything she had ever seen. It wasn't clad in plating like the ones that normal soldiers wore, and yet she recognised the cutting-edge kinetic barrier lacings weaved throughout the armour. The design was angular and geometric, which could be both menacing and comforting depending on the situation. It was clearly expensive, and very heavy. The armour was designed to withstand a firefight. She reached down and pulled lightly at the cylinder.

It came off more easily than she had expected. As she held the container, she could feel a tingling sensation.

By the goddess!She thought. This… thing is filled with element zero!

Jackson was also surprised that the container came off so easily. Perhaps the strap was burnt off. He noticed the asari's shocked expression. There was only one reason that was possible.

Damn. I should have realised that asaris could sense eezo.

Kisa turned to the human, sweating slightly. He gave her a solemn nod. What could he be doing with all that element zero?

"Don't worry about its contents, please. Trust me." The human whispered. His voice was pleading, but had a sense of reassurance. He was a natural leader with compelling voice and confident posture.

Kisa gave the human the bottle, and looked directly at his face. His face was grim. He seemed to understand her shock.

"Trust me." He repeated.

"I do." Kisa replied, surprised at how true her words felt. It was rare for her to trust strangers, especially one who asked for a bottle of element zero. She smiled, but left the room in a hurry.

Jackson shook his head and let out a little sigh. He opened the bottle, and drank deeply. He felt his whole body tingling with power. As he closed his bottle, thin wisps of blue rose from his hands.

He put the bottle next to him, and curled up to sleep.

Kisa watched from the outside window, muffling her terror.