A Mass Self Insert

by Bads25

Follow William May as he learns and adapts to the new reality he finds himself being thrown into. Will he survive the years to come and help save the galaxy? Or will the actions of his enemies cause the cycle of death to continue? NOTE: This is a Self Insert that takes place before and during the events of the first Mass Effect game. Rated M for Sexual themes and language.

1. The Fall

A Mass Self Insert

Hey, I feel like that's actually a clever title. Don't like it? Sue me.

Please don't sue me.

Anyway if the title doesn't give it away, this is a Mass Effect self-insert story. Never really done one before, so I hope that this one turns out better than I'm expecting it to. Now, the ONLY thing I'm going to be changing about myself and my other family members in this is our first names, and that's simply for privacy reasons. I don't like giving out my name and I haven't asked them, so I simply won't.

PLEASE READ THIS NEXT PART!

I realize that I haven't updated my other stories like I promised I would. I would like it to be clear that I fully intended to honor that promise, but with a combination of losing my account password, a computer crash, and a loss of my story, it became nearly impossible to actually get those stories to continue. As of this moment, I am working on them as much as I can, but until I feel like they are ready, don't expect an update on them. In their place, I will be posting this while I work on getting those stories back on track. PLEASE NOTE THAT THEY ARE NOT ABANDONED, JUST ON A LONG HIATUS.

Now, like all Mass Effect stories, I'll be starting on the first game. I have been reading a lot of mass effect stories on a friends account due to losing mine for a while, so I am really inspired to try my hand at it. Please know that if parts feel similar to another story, which is NOT my intention, feel free to let me know and I'll try my best at changing it.

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN MASS EFFECT OR THE DEATH CHARACTER THAT WILL BE APPEARING EVERY NOW AND AGAIN. Death is the one character I will be borrowing from "welcome to the family" by TheRev28. He was a great character and all credit for his character goes to him, not me.

Now, let's jump into the first chapter!

CHAPTER 1

THE FALL

"I STILL THINK THIS IS A HORIBLE IDEA!" I shouted to my brother over the roaring wind.

"QUIT BEING A BITCH! THIS WILL BE AWSOME!" he shouts back. "BESIDES, YOU'RE TURNING 21 THIS YEAR, SO HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY!"

"THIS IS YOUR IDEA OF A BIRTHDAY PRESENT?!" I exclaim as the vehicle were in bounces slightly. "THIS IS A HORIBLE IDEA!"

"THERES YOUR NEGETIVITY AGAIN!" He yells with a shit eating grin on his face. "BESIDES, YOU REALLY NEED TO GET OUT OF YOUR ROOM MORE. THIS IS ABOUT AS OUT AS YOU CAN GET!"

"BY JUMPING OUT OF A PERFECTLY FINE PLANE?" I complain. "FUCK YOU B! FUCK YOU!"

"OH SHUT UP WILL! NOW CHECK MY CHUTE FOR ME!"

If you haven't figured it out yet, my name is William. William May to be precise, and for some damn reason my brother has decided to take me skydiving. Naturally, being the gamer I've been my whole life, I thought this was a horrible idea, especially with my fear of FALLING. It's something I've always had ever since I was a kid. Never enjoyed rollercoasters, never went on those suicidal bungee jump things they have at amusement parks (or bungee jumping in general); hell a small hill at the right speed could make that fear come back up.

And here I am about to, mostly unwillingly, jump out of an airplane. Thanks bro. Thanks a fucking lot.

"YOU DO REALIZE I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IM CHECKING FOR, RIGHT?" I yell as I tighten up a lose strap on my brothers harness.

"YOU'RE DOING FINE!" He yells back. "LET ME CHECK YOURS."

I spread my arms and legs out, letting my brother check the straps on my suit. He and I have lived almost completely separate lives. He and his buddies are always out causing some sort of trouble, and I'm usually at home reading or playing games. He prefers having lots of friends, while I'm content with my small group.

And then there's our physical differences. Being 5 foot 7 inches; with wide shoulders, black hair that's kept short, I'm a decently large person to check over. Sure, I'm 200 pounds large, but other than my damn gut I'm pretty fit. My brother on the other hand, being the bastard he is, ended up being taller than me; 5 foot 9 or 10 inches. He has orange hair, which he got from our mom, and in currently trying to get down to 110 pounds before he graduates from high school.

I keep telling myself that I'd lose my damn gut if I was simply more active, because it's not like I ate like a slob at all. Sure, no salads or anything, but I don't go out and eat fast food every day either.

I'm getting of track, aren't I?

"ALRIGHT, LOOKS GOOD!" He says.

"REMIND ME AGAIN WHY I AGREED TO THIS!" I complain. I know exactly why I ended up where I am currently.

My family was on our spring break vacation to Florida. My grandparents have a place down there they go to during the winter and it's a hell of a lot better being there than freezing in Michigan. This was the first year I was able to head back down after starting collage two years ago, missing only a year due to finals for my classes. Since I got to come down, and since we were celebrating his birthday as well, he wanted to go skydiving.

Now, no one in my family has ever gone skydiving before, and I can't blame them. The whole concept is foolish. Who in their right mind would think that jumping out of a perfectly fine airplane would be a good idea? I mean sure, I get doing it in the military, it's a sound strategy, but it just doesn't make sense anywhere else.

Because my no one in my family actually wanted to go with my brother, and the place we went to refused to let only one person go for some stupid reason, my brother literally begged for someone to come with him.

There was no way my grandparents would do it. They were terrified of just the idea of him doing it! That left mom, dad, our uncle and his family, and me. Mom and dad quickly said no, and while my uncle's family has a kid right between the age of me and my brother, he said no as well. That left just me, and my parents immediately told me I had to go with him.

I know what you're thinking. 'Your 20 years old! You don't have to listen to them!' Well, you're right, but wrong as well. My parents are strict in the weirdest of ways. My brother will get yelled at for going out and doing stupid stuff all the time, but in the end they let him go back out and do it again. Me on the other hand? I didn't do shit, and actually get punished when I get into trouble. After 20 years of that, I learned it was better to just shut up and take the crappy hand I had been dealt.

So now here I am, standing near a door that was going to open up so that I could jump out of it. Yay life.

"HEY B!" I yelled to my brother, B being his nickname since we were kids, mine being Will.

"YEAH?"

"WHY THE HELL ISNT THERE A PROFESSIONAL JUMPING WITH US?"

"DIDN'T YOU HEAR THEM WHEN WE SIGNED UP?" I shook my head before he continued. "THEY WERE ALL INJURED FROM PREVIOUS FLIGHTS. THAT'S WHY THEY PUT US IN THESE PARICHUTES! THEY OPEN UP ON THEIR OWN, AND IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG THERES A BACKUP!"

"WE ARE GOING TO DIE UP HERE!" I yelled, trying to get some humor to calm my nerves. Sadly my catchphrase that I yell to my teammates in games didn't calm me down at all. Just then one of the workers stood up and opened the door we were supposed to jump out of and gave us the signal we were taught to look for. A simple thumbs up and a nod.

"WELL IF WERE GOING TO DIE," My brother yelled at me, "THEN YOUR GOING FIRST!"

And with that, he promptly shoved me out of the plane.

…

Cue screaming.

"YOU STUPID *********** IM GOING TO ******* RIP YOUR **** **** OFF AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ******* *** YOU **** SUCKING ****!"

Use your imagination. Hehe.

Ok, so I'm falling. Not just any direction but I'm falling backwards. Which means I can see my brother jump out a second after me and start flipping me off. I swear to god that fucker is going to die one of the most horrific ways possible if I live through this.

I spread my arms and legs out to slow my decent and let my brother catch up to me. When he does, it takes me a bit to maneuver over to him so were falling right next to each other. Naturally, once he's in range, I hit him in the arm as hard as I could before maneuvering away from his retaliation strike. He's glaring at me now, but the fucker deserved it. I mean, who the hell pushes their brother out of a plane!?

It's only now that I realize I'm still falling backwards, so I tuck in on side of my arms and flip over before putting them back out. If I wasn't suppressing the clenching pain in my gut, I would have probably taken a moment to appreciate flipping myself over. I'd also appreciate this amazing view of the earth, slowing getting closer.

But I'm dealing with my fear of falling, so I can't.

My brother decides to tuck in his arms and shoot forward after giving me a look I know all too well. It's his race face, or at least that's what I call it. He gets it whenever he wants to race me, or someone, to whatever our destination had been. I mostly see it when him and I are driving separately and come upon a long straightaway.

'Yeah fuck that' I think to myself. 'I'm already falling. There's no way I'm going to give in and fall FASTER.'

YOU REALLY SHOULD.

Um…. What the hell was that? I look around for any signs of what I might have just heard, but there's nothing but open sky around me. Huh, well at least whatever that was let me forget about falling for a minute.

…

"DAMN IT!"

My brother was now getting smaller and smaller. Not surprising, since he probably wouldn't look back up to see if he was winning. The only surprising thing is the sudden appearance of a 747 jumbo jet.

Wait… WHY THE HELL IS THERE A FUCKING JET THERE?!

I TOLD YOU THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE WENT FASTER.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU AND WHY IS THERE A PLANE IN MY WAY?!" I yell at whatever is somehow talking to me.

THERE IS NO NEED TO SHOUT. AS FOR YOUR QUESTIONS… YOU WILL FIND OUT SOON ENOUGH.

"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?!"

…

"FUCKER YOU GET BACK HERE AND TELL ME!"

…

"FUCK!" I yelled as the jet got too close for comfort before closing my eyes. Damn, I knew I my brother would be the death of me, but this was just st-

THUD

…

…

…

"What the hell?" I said, opening my eyes, only to find myself standing in a vast grey field of dirt with a white sky. "Wasn't I just skydiving before colliding into a jet that came out of nowhere?"

YES YOU WERE.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" I yell. Whatever this stupid voice was, it was quickly getting on my nerves.

TURN AROUND, AND SEE FOR YOURSELF.

Doing so, I turn around only to come face to, um, chest I guess, with a tall dark robed figure with a scythe in its hands. Well, if that's not the grim fucking reaper then I don't know what is.

YOU ARE CORECT IN YOUR ASSUMPTION. I AM DEATH.

Great. Death can hear my thoughts. Now he knows I find his voice, or rather his lack of one, annoying.

I AM SURPRISED YOU ARE TAKING THIS SO WELL.

"Yeah well, that's mostly because I'm still PISSED OF THAT MY BROTHER FUCKING KILLED ME!" I yell at him. "OH AND, I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE YOU STILL ARNT TELLING ME A DAMN THING!"

I DID PROMISE YOU ANSWERS. ASK AND I SHALL TELL YOU.

"Alright." I say, trying to calm myself down. "First off, am I really dead?"

THAT ANSWER IS COMPLICATED. I WILL EXPLANE THAT MORE AFTER YOUR OTHER QUESTIONS.

"Um, alright I guess. What was with that jet coming out of nowhere?"

THAT WAS MY DOING. I NEEDED YOU TO PREFORM A JOB OF SORTS. ONE THAT, UNFORTUNATLY, REQUIRED YOUR DEATH WELL BEFORE YOUR TIME.

"So I am dead?"

IT IS COMPLICATED.

"Right. So why the hell would you need me? And what do you mean well before my time?"

I NEED YOU FOR A JOB. AND YOU ARE NOT SUPOSE TO DIE UNTIL YOU ARE OVER A HUNDRED YEARS OLD.

"Shit, I was supposed to live to be a hundred? Wow." I look around in bewilderment. "So where are we?"

THIS IS MY DOMAIN. IT IS RARE FOR MORTAL SOULS TO BE HERE.

"This is your domain? I'd recommend a change in scenery. This place looks like shit." It takes a moment to realize who I'm talking to again. "No offence."

IT MATTERS NOT. DUE TO THE NATURE OF MY JOB I HARDLY EVER RESIDE HERE.

"All work and no play. That must suck."

INDEED IT DOES.

"Well, I think that's about all the question I had other than the ones you didn't answer." I say. "So we might as well get to those."

VERY WELL. I REQUIRE YOUR ASSISTANCE IN A DIFFERENT PLANE OF EXISTANCE. UNFORTUNATLY THAT MEANT YOU COULD NO LONGER EXIST IN YOUR PREVIOUS REALITY.

"So it's kind of like I'm moving from one reality to another?"

NO. YOU ARE DEAD IN YOUR REALITY. IN THE ONE I WILL TAKE YOU TO, YOU WILL NOT BE DEAD.

"So I can never return to my old reality?"

NOT IN THE WAY YOU WERE ABLE TO BEFORE, NO.

"Well that fucking sucks." There goes my hundred year life.

YOU ARE TAKING THIS FAR BETTER THAN I EXPECTED.

"Well it's not every day you get to talk to death I guess. And you wouldn't have done this without a reason. Everything in earth history said that you were a pretty fair guy. You died when it was your time, and if it wasn't then you get to keep on living."

THAT IS CORRECT. I DO HAVE MY REASONS.

"So what's this job? And what reality am I going to?"

IT IS A JOB YOU KNOW WELL, AND A REALITY THAT YOU HAVE KNOWN FOR A LONG TIME.

"Well that's not fucking helpful." I mutter.

I APPOLOGIZE. I CAN NOT GIVE YOU ANY ADTIONAL INFORMATION OTHER THAN THAT. REST ASSURED, YOU WILL KNOW YOUR JOB WHEN YOU FIGURE OUT WHERE YOU ARE GOING.

"Alright then. Do I have a history going into this place?"

YES.

"Can you tell me?"

YES.

"Will you?"

PERHAPS.

"For the love of... Who would have thought Death has a horrible sense of humor."

I HAVE NO INTENT TO BE HUMEROUS. I AM MEARLY WEIGHING THE PROS AND CONS OF INFORMING YOU OF YOUR HISTORY.

"Death." I say, getting as much steal in my voice as I can. "Tell me so I don't fuck up your damn job."

…

…

…VERY WELL. WHEN ASKED, SIMPLY TALK ABOUT YOUR PREVIOUS PAST. AS TO HOW YOU GOT TO YOUR LOCATION, SAY THAT YOU WERE SKYDIVING.

…

…

"WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF HISTORY IS THAT?! WHAT THE HELL COULD BE BAD ABOUT ME KNOWNING MY OWN HISTORY FROM MY OLD LIFE!?"

THAT WILL BE APPARENT WHEN YOU DISCOVER THE NAME OF THE UNIVERS YOU WILL SOON INHABIT.

Let it be known that Death is an asshole.

I RESENT THAT.

And a fucking annoying one at that.

I BELIEVE IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO GO, BUT FIRST YOU MUST MAKE A DECISION. NUMBER ONE, OR NUMBER TWO.

"Fuck it. Number two." I answer.

INTERESTING CHOICE. GOOD LUCK.

"Hey wait, wha-" I start to say before I suddenly start falling again. "FUCK YOU DEATH! FUCK YOU!"

THUD!

"Ohhh, that wasn't pleasant at all." I groan. Apparently, death decided to just drop me long enough for my fear of falling to settle in before letting me land. And instead of letting me see, he just let me fall on my ass.

Groaning, I stand up and take my first look at the world I'll be living in from now on. At first it doesn't seem like much, quite a few grass covered hills with a few trees, which looked similar to a cross between a palm tree and a pine tree, scattered about, but nothing too strange. The sky was a mixture between a bright blue and an emerald green, and I honestly found it quite appealing.

I was wearing some sort of flexible over-suit that was pretty thin, yet had quite a bit of weight to it. It was colored in a sort of onyx black with a few light blue lines along some of the seams. To be honest it looked like some sort of armor, but I thought it was way too flexible to offer any sort of protection.

I reached around to my back when I felt some weight there and ended up detaching some sort of backpack. It didn't look like it opened up, at least from what I could see, but it defiantly had some weight to it. If I had to guess I'd say roughly ten or eleven pounds.

The thing that was really eating at me was that the suit and pack looked eerily familiar. I knew I had seen them somewhere, but I couldn't remember where and it was killing me.

"Well, I better start moving. Hopefully I can find some sort of town or something and try to figure out where I am." I muttered to myself. Lord knows there was no one else around to hear me.

"Hello?" A female voice said from behind me, almost causing me to jump and scream. "Is someone out there?"

"Can you help me?" I yelled as I turned around, trying to find the sound of the voice. "I'm a little lost."

"Stay where you are!" The voice yelled to me. At least I knew they were in front of me somewhere. "I don't know how you got out there but your standing in the middle of a minefield!"

"WHAT!?" I yelled. "WHY THE HELL IS THERE A MINEFIELD OUT HERE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!"

"This isn't the middle of nowhere! This is a System Alliance base!" The voice informed me. It sounded like she, whoever she was, was getting closer. "Why are you here?"

Well, I guess this is where I use Death's cover story. "I was skydiving and landed here! If I knew this was a bloody minefield I would have landed somewhere else!"

"You were SKYDIVING!?" she yelled. "YOU DO REALIZE THAT THAT'S BEEN ILEGAL SINCE THE 21ST CENTURY RIGHT?"

"If I did I probably wouldn't have landed in a minefield!"

"How do you… Just stay there. Ill disable the mines in a second." Phew. I guess I'll get to live. "And I WILL be taking you in as a threat to base security" Damn.

"Well at least I'll be alive!" I say, trying to make light of the situation. I hear a small snort, so I assume that whoever this is has at least a small sense of humor. The person finally starts walking over nearby hill and I get my first look at…

A really good looking girl in combat armor. If the rest of this universes girls look like this, then I think Death did me a huge favor! It was only after a second of admiring her that I noticed her gun.

More specifically, a Lancer from Mass Effect. How can I tell it's the lancer and not the avenger from the other two games? The damn rifle has the M7 logo on it, and that was only on the Lancers from the first game. The avengers were red, and in the following games they had an M8 on them.

My word I played that game way too much to actually know that. Well, at least I know why the armor looks so familiar.

"Sorry for dropping in on you like this, I'm William May." I say with a small chuckle and she lowers her weapon slightly. Wait, HOLY SHIT SHE HAD HER GUN POINTED AT ME AND I DIDN'T NOTICE.

"Why do I always end up with the ones who think their funny?" She mutters to herself. Oh right, dropping in, skydiving. Heh. I didn't even think of that. Good catch girl. "Turn around and place your hands behind your back. You're under arrest for trespassing in an Alliance military base."

"Yeah, like I said, sorry about that." I say as I turn around and comply with her request. Actually, it sounds more like a demand to me, but whatever. "I really didn't intend to land here."

"Regardless its illegal and you're in a high security area. I have to take you in." She says firmly.

"Aye aye mam." I say with a smile as I feel something go around my wrists. I steal a quick glance back to see a pair of hard-light handcuffs, and that alone is enough to set my mind into an utter nerdgasm. I'm about to make another joke when everything turns grey.

HOW ARE YOU SETTELING IN?

"Oh, hey death. I'm fine. Why are you here?" I say before I get a really bad thought. "Wait, were not going to die here in this minefield, right?"

RELAX. I AM MEARLY CHECKING IN ON YOU. IT WOULDN'T DO GOOD FOR ME TO JUST LEAVE YOU HERE TO YOURSELF.

"Phew. I was worried there for a second. Oh, can you do me a favor?"

THAT DEPENDS ON THE FAVOR.

"Well, since I don't really know the tech in this day and age, what with this being a game where I'm from, I was kind of hoping you could put that knowledge in my head. Just enough so I don't seem like a complete idiot when I don't know how to use things here and whatnot."

THAT IS REASONABLE. I ALSO CAME TO INFORM YOU OF YOUR DECISION EARLIER.

"The number thing?" I ask as I feel a sudden flow of knowledge in my head. It… wasn't an unpleasant feeling. "I was wondering about that."

YES, THAT. THE CHOICE YOU MADE WAS BETWEEN ALTERING YOUR BODY OR LEAVING IT AS IT WAS, NOT THAT YOU HAD KNOWN THAT.

"So which did I pick?" I ask, hoping that I get to change myself.

YOU PICKED THE FORMER, HOWEVER IT IS NOT IN THE WAY YOU THINK.

"So I can't just lose this gut? Damn."

THAT WILL SIMPLY GO AWAY WITH TIME AND EXCERSIZE, AND WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN A PROBLEM IN YOUR OLD LIFE. NO, THIS ALTERATION WILL GIVE YOU NATURAL BIOTICS.

"Biotics!? Hell yeah!"

CALM YOURSELF. JUST BECAUSE YOUR BODY WILL BE ALTERED DOES NOT MEAN THEY WILL BE POWERFUL.

"You're giving me shitty biotics? Thanks for getting my hopes up."

I DID NOT SAY THEY WOULD BE 'SHITTY' AS YOU PUT IT. WE WILL BE DECIDING THAT NOW.

"How are we going to do that?"

FIRST, YOU SHOULD PICK WHICH SKILLSET WOULD BE MOST APPLICABLE TO YOU.

"Meaning… what, like Vanguard, Sentinel, or Adept?"

CORRECT

"Well that's a no brainer for me. Vanguard. I know its powers like the back of my hand with how often I played as one."

VERY WELL. NOW WE WILL DECIDE HOW WELL YOU WILL MANAGE TO LEARN THE BASICS OF THAT CLASS

"And how will we do that? Debate about it or something?"

NO. WITH THIS.

At that, Death pulled out a six sided black dice, with the ones being skulls instead of just dots. Honestly, it's not surprising that death carries around random game components.

"What do I do with this?"

YOU ROLL IT.

"No shit. I meant what will it do.

I ALREADY EXPLAINED THAT. WHEN YOU ROLE THAT, THE NUMBER IT LANDS ON WILL BE HOW WELL YOU MANAGE TO LEARN THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF THE VANGUARD CLASS.

"I take it six is the strongest?"

THAT IS CORRECT.

"Sweet. I get really strong warps then." I say as I gesture to where the die was, with a five proudly showing on top.

WHEN DID YOU… I CAN TELL YOU ARE GOING TO BE AN ANNOYANCE TO ME FOR QUITE SOME TIME.

"You deserve it. I mean, you did kill be before my time." I say with a grin on my face.

JUST PICK THE DIE BACK UP. THIS NEXT ROLL WILL DETERMIN HOW STRONG YOUR BIOTICS WILL BE. NO DOUBT YOU ALREADY REALIZE THIS, BUT THIS UNIVERSE'S BIOTICS ARE RANKED QUITE DIFFERENTLY THAN WHEN THIS WAS A GAME.

"Yeah, but it is kinda similar to how the level system worked in the third game" I countered. "Just a bit more realistic."

JUST ROLL THE DICE.

"Jeez. No need to get grumpy."

I AM NOT 'GRUMPY.' I SIMPLY HAVE A SCHEDULE TO KEEP.

I let out a huff of disbelief and rolled the die, but instead of landing on a side it somehow stood on one of its points perfectly.

"Great. Do I get a redo? This die is broken."

IT IS NOT BROKEN. THIS MEARLY MEANS THAT YOUR BIOTIC POTENTIAL WILL BE DETERMINED BY HOW MUCH EFFORT YOU PUT INTO YOUR LEARNING AND PRACTICE.

"Oh, that's not that bad then.

I was just happy I was getting biotics in the first place. This was going to be stupid fun… minus the whole inevitable Reaper invasion that was coming and could very likely kill me without much effort, plus whatever I had to fight along the way.

Well, that was more depressing than I thought it was supposed to be. Eh, whatever. Still happy about the biotics.

YOU CONTINUE TO SURPRISE ME.

"Well, let's be real here, I have no clue what it is I'm actually supposed to do, but was just told that I'm going to be one of the strongest human biotics alive. Granted, that won't be much when compared to the Asari, or at least that's what some of that info you gave me is saying, but it's still something to look forward to!"

YOUR POSITIVE OUTLOOK IS SOMETHING I SINCERALLY HOPE YOU KEEP. NOW, ROLE THE DIE ONCE MORE. THIS WILL DETERMIN HOW CREATIVE YOU CAN BE WITH YOUR BIOTICS.

"Creative? What does that mean?" I asked as I tossed the die without a second thought, and was pleasantly surprised by the four I received.

THAT IS FOR YOU TO FIND OUT. I HAVE GIVEN YOU ENOUGH ALREADY.

"Yeah, yeah, you've been great to me Death." I say with a smile, before I realize something. "Hey, is my history actually real here?"

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY REAL?

"Well you said to just act like my life had actually happened. I'm just wondering if I actually have relatives out there, or if things I've done have any actual weight to them."

AHH, A FAIR QUESTION. THE MAJORITY OF YOUR LIMITED ACHEVMENTS (Hey!) HAVE RETAINED THER MERIT. OBVOUSLY ANY GAMES OR MOVIES YOU HAVE WATCHED ARE NOW DATED, AS WELL AS MOST OF YOUR GENERATONS SLANG.

"But those things happened, right?" I ask, just to be sure.

ABSOLUTLY. ALL I DID WHEN YOU WERE KILLED WAS BRING YOU TO A SIMMILAR TIMELINE AND ADVANCE YOU FURTHER INTO THE FUTRE.

"A similar timeline? What's different?"

IN YOUR PREVIOUS REALITY, HUMANITY IS ALONE IN THE GALEXY.

"Huh. That's depressing. Well I get to meet aliens in this reality, so that's more than what I can say about the rest of my old family."

THAT IS ONLY IF YOU ARE ABLE TO NOT BE ARESTED.

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?" I ask, but Death is gone and color is slowly starting to return to the world. "Damn you Death!"

"What was that?" The girl asks, stumbling slightly as time resumes.

"What was what?" I ask.

"I don't know. Everything just felt… off."

Interesting. I should keep an eye on that. "The only thing that feels off to me is not knowing your name, miss…?"

"Sarah." She says, not offering up any indication if that was her last name or not.

"Well, Sarah, I can honestly say that while it is a pleasure to meet you, I wish we had met under better circumstances."

"I'll bet." She says with a small huff of a laugh. Damn, she is good looking.

"So…" I continue, trying to somehow get some information out of her with small talk. "How far to this base of yours?"

"About sixty miles. This is just a training ground. I have a transport nearby to get us there quicker." She states flatly.

"Thank god. I think I hit my head on a branch coming down, because I'm feeling kind of dizzy and really don't want to walk sixty miles."

"Great, now I'll get reprimanded for injuring a prisoner."

"But you didn't cause it." I state, confused on why she would get reprimanded.

"Yeah, but I did do this." A second later I felt my head land on the ground before everything went black.

UNKNOWN LOCATION

UNKNOWN TIME

I jolted upright and immediately regretted it when I hit my head on something. Groaning in pain, I opened my eyes to see it was the top bunk of the bed I was laying on. Well, I guess that girl REALLY didn't like me, or I got so wasted I had a horrible, yet interesting dream.

A quick look around told me that it was the former.

I was in a small holding cell, just big enough to have a bed, a toilet, and a table with a chair, everything bolted to the ground. Even the damned toilet, which I quickly used. I don't know how long I was out, but I REALLY needed that.

After I finished my inspection of the cell, I promptly laid back down. If someone needed me, it was pretty obvious they would wake me up.

"PRISONER, STAND UP."

Damn it.

I do as instructed and stand, grumbling that they chose AFTER I had laid down to have me stand up. Like I didn't get enough of that from my own family. Seconds later, the door opens and in walks none other than Captain Anderson. Well, I know him as Captain Anderson, but he might not be a Captain yet.

"I'm Captain David Anderson." Screw it. Why do I even try? "I understand you were arrested as a threat to base security."

"Yeah… like I keep saying I'm sorry about that. If I had known there was a base out here I probably would have steered clear of it when I landed."

"Ah, a skydiver." Anderson said with a small smile. "A dying sport, what with the ban against it here on Earth."

Ah! So were on earth! Still a bit confused on where, mainly due to the pine/palm trees, but I'm on Earth!

"Yeah. I'd say it's a damn shame if I actually enjoyed the sport."

"Why do it if you don't enjoy it?" Anderson asked, clearly confused on why anyone would do something they dislike as a hobby.

"Two reasons. My brother, the bastard he is, made me do it just to try it out. The other reason is because I have a fear of falling that I'm trying to get rid of." I answered, getting a chuckle out of Anderson.

"Facing your fears head on. That's quite commendable." He said, his smile growing a bit wider. "Though it sounds like your brother is a real ass."

"Don't I know it? I've had to live with the bastard." I said with a laugh. "Although, he's probably worried about not getting any contact from me in… how long have I been here?"

"Nine days. Private Sarah, the one who found you, said you made a comment about hitting your head. Turns out you did, since you passed out not that long after the two of you started towards the base."

"That lying bitch!" Is what I wanted to say. I didn't, though. No need to possibly ruin that girl's military career. "Tell her I said thanks. Wasn't my idea to land in a minefield and she kept me alive."

"Your one crazy son of a bitch, making jokes about a minefield after what probably felt like a five minute nap!" Anderson said with a laugh. "You know, the Alliance could use someone like you. Got any fears of being shot at?"

"No more than the average person." I said with a small smirk. "And it doubles for being shot. Why, you recruiting?"

"Hell son, the Alliance is always recruiting. There's a lot of empty space between us and the rest of the galaxy. The more people we have out there, the less chance of something horrible getting to us."

"I'll be honest here captain, I'm surprised you're even offering." I said. "Wouldn't it make more sense to determine if I'm a threat first?"

"Are you a threat to the security of this base?"

"No."

"Well there you go." Anderson smirked. "Besides, we've had nine days to run background checks on you after we got your ID. Seems to me like you arriving here was just an accident."

"Well, I'd need to think about it, but I really do appreciate the offer." I said with a smile. "Can I have a day to think it over?"

"Not a problem. Follow me. We were going to transfer you to a different room today, so you might as well take it now that you're awake."

"I was wondering why I didn't get that room upgrade right away. I think I need to check my airline rewards."

"Ha. Let's get moving son."

I followed Anderson out of the cell and into a brightly lit corridor. There were several other officers and soldiers milling around, a few of them snapping into a salute as Anderson and I walked by them. The hallway was quite wide, and lead to a larger door at the end.

Anderson submitted his credentials to the computer before the door opened, revealing a staircase. When we reached the top, there were a lot more people, and everyone was moving around. If it wasn't for Anderson's unique appearance, and the fact that the man was six feet three inches tall, I would have lost track of him.

Mostly due to having a nerdgasim. In my defense; here I was, a young adult from the early 21st century, suddenly surrounded by technology much more advanced than anything I had ever seen outside of videogames. Don't you dare tell me you wouldn't be having one too!

We maneuvered our way through the base, going through several corridors, painfully slow elevators, and staircases before I actually got a view of the outside world. Specifically, a large window looking out towards a runway with a view of the ocean in the distance.

"Welcome to what use to be the Patrick Air Force base of the old United States Air Force. Now a-days it's officially called 'Alliance Marine Outpost Four-Seven-Nine,' but most of the people stationed here like to call it Patrick's Perch."

"Why do they call it that?"

"Because this is where one of the old orbital elevators is located. Every Alliance officer and soldier I've talked to since getting here swears the thing looks like an old pirate crow's nest, but I don't see it." Anderson huffed. "Apparently it's a tradition to climb the thing to a certain level where there's an overlook."

"Huh. Learn something new every day." I said. Orbital elevators? The only time I've heard of those is in Halo! What are they doing here?

"Let's hope you keep that attitude if you end up enlisting." Anderson said as he started walking. I quickly followed behind him, listening as he rattled on some random facts about the base. As much as I admired the man, the games didn't show how much he loved to talk about next to nothing. "Here is where you will be staying."

I snapped out of my 'I hear you but I'm not listening' daze and followed Anderson into a room. Inside, it looked a lot like Sheppard's holding area at the start of the third game. A bed, desk with a terminal, a few dressers and a nice wide window to view out of. There was another door inside that I assumed was a bathroom.

"Thanks Anderson." I said, before a thought left my mouth before I could even understand it. "Can you do me a big favor and get me a new Omni-tool? I think I lost mine after I landed."

"I'll have someone stop by with one later. For now, just relax and think things over. Someone will be up with something for you to eat shortly. I can't imagine how hungry you probably are."

At that my stomach growled loudly, causing us both to laugh. "I guess you better tell them to hurry. My stomach might escape and start eating anything."

"I'll tell them to rush the order. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some reports to file." I nodded in appreciation and he left, the door hissing as it closed behind him. I quickly jumped onto the bed, which simply felt AMAZING, and started to think.

My first thought ended up being about the damn Omni-tool and why I asked for one without even truly thinking about it. I ended up chalking that up to the info Death had given me about the tech here. Most Omni-tools outside of the military and politics had special bands that went on the user's wrist. The band in turn projected the Omni-tool's holographic interface and held the processor for the actual unit as well as the fabricator. Military Omni-tools were two parts.

The first part was actually implanted in the user's arm of choice. This allowed the soldier access to their Omni-tool 24/7, but it wasn't nearly as powerful. When they were in uniform or armor, the implant connected to build in processors to increase performance drastically, as well as gaining access to additional functions. Politicians wore similarly designed clothes that helped increase the performance of their Omni-tools.

Civilians could get implanted versions as well, but they were more expensive and did more or less the same as the bands depending on the brand. Most civilians simply used the bands simply to avoid having the implant surgery. Even in this day and age, people were still afraid of needles. Not that I'm criticizing those people, hell I'm one of them.

My thoughts then drifted to the big decision I had to make. It wasn't a hard one, I already planned on enlisting the instant I realized this was the Mass Effect universe. There's no way I'm just going to let Shepard do this on their own. I was just concerned on if I was ready for it.

The biggest thing holding me back was sadness. While I had adjusted quickly to what Death had told me, it was only now that I let it truly affect me. I knew I was going to miss a lot of my old life; my friends, my family, and especially my dog. It hurt me that I didn't get to say goodbye to them.

It hurt even more that the last thought I had of my brother was that I wanted to kill him. Sure, the bastard deserved it at the time, but in hind sight he was probably horrified by my death. I took a lot of crap from him and yet, because he was my brother, I defended him. Now, he was going to be without me to help protect him.

I was so deep in my thoughts that I didn't hear the door open. It was only as I felt a hand on my shoulder that I returned to reality. Reacting on instinct, I jumped away from the person and got into my best fighter stance, which was basically what I had seen from MMA fighters on TV.

"Whoa there buddy. Not going to hurt ya." The woman said, and I visibly relaxed. "Sorry for startling you. I'm just here to drop off your food."

"Your fine. I should apologize for being so jumpy, miss…?"

"Shepard. Private Cassandra Shepard, at your service."

WAIT WHAT!? JUST HOW EARLY AM I TO THIS DAMN TIMELINE?!

"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" She nodded. "Some Captian just tried recruiting me. If its not too much, can you tell me why you joined?"

"Its fine, I don't mind." She says, walking over and leaning against the desk. "Short story or the long one?"

"Well, since I'm contemplating enlisting myself, why don't you give me the long one?"

"Alright. Well I was born here on Earth. I knew my parents, but not as well as I would have liked, since they were both in service. Spent my early year's groundside with a sort of foster home due to an illness that kept my bones from developing properly on space stations and ships."

"How the hell did you get that?" I interrupt. Mostly because it's sounding a lot like a mix between the earthborn and spacer backgrounds, which is really messing with my head.

"No idea. Even the doctors didn't know what caused it, though the odds of getting it were apparently one in a trillion. Anyway, after my body finished developing, I was medically cleared to go live with my parents at or near their postings. Ever since I saw Earth through the window of a freighter I had booked passage on I knew that I had to enlist. Then a couple months back, I did." She said with a smile. "Trust me, if you took the lift up the old elevator and saw the view from up there, you would enlist too."

"I'll take your word for it." I said with a smile. "It certainly sounds amazing."

"Breath taking really." Shepard said with an honest smile. After a few seconds she looked at me. "So what about you? Why are you thinking about enlisting?"

"Captain Anderson made an offer to me after my… less than graceful appearance." I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "Let's just say that I did some skydiving, and landed in a minefield."

Suddenly, Shepard burst out laughing. It's honestly kind of cute, the way her laugh sounds just so… care free? It was like she didn't have the years of stress that being a ranking officer would bring. I could see why Kaidan would end up liking her.

As she laughs, much to my embarrassment, I get my first proper look at her. Like me, she's wearing the standard Alliance duty uniform. Her body, despite what she said about her development, is quite slender. It's not what it really looks like towards the start of the first game, but then again, if she's a private herself, then that's not for some time. What's surprising me is her face. The only thing you could customize besides skin color and make Shepard your own.

It looks like I'm dealing with a default Shepard.

When I looked more closely, however, I begin to notice small changes. Things like her eyes being a light yellow of all things, not as many freckles on her face, a much thinner neck, and most of all, her hair color. It's not the default red/orange that is iconic for the female Shepard look. Instead, it's a much more vibrant red, but not overpowering like some of the color options. It's just enough of an addition to stand out, but subtle enough that you could miss it.

Confusing, I know. How do you think I feel looking at it?

"So you're the guy that Sarah was talking about!" She said after regaining control of herself. "The one cracking jokes about 'dropping in' and 'if you want I'll try to drop by your house some night?'"

"I don't remember the last one, but yeah. That's me." I confirm, again much to my own embarrassment.

"Well, Sarah is known to exaggerate. What's your side of the story?"

"Landed in a minefield, cracked a lame joke that I didn't even realize I made, was dizzy from hitting my head, and then got knocked out by your friend." I say. "I kept that part from Anderson, so you tell her she owes me a beer."

"Will do." Shepard said with a smile and pushed up from the desk. "Well, I hope you do end up enlisting. Anderson knows potential when he sees it, and I have to agree with him."

"Coming from you, that's high praise" I reply, getting an odd look from her. "I assume you're here with Anderson?" She nodded. "Then he sees something in you as well, and I'm pretty sure you're going to be a legend someday."

"Who wants to be a legend? I just want to keep people safe." Shepard said with an honest smile. Well, looks like she's a heavy paragon. I can work with that. Most of my Shepard's were paragons except for Killer. Heh, he was literally out to get the highest body count possible. The STG squad and Kaidan on Virmire, the colonists on Feros, the guards and Rachni on Noveria, and that was just the main missions. I'm so glad I didn't end up with THAT Shepard.

"Well, I won't take up any more of your time, and I think my food is starting to get cold." I say with a smile before I put my arm out. "It was good meeting you Shepard. Hope we get to meet again."

"The pleasure was all mine. And don't worry about Sarah. You'll get your beer out of her." Shepard replied with a smile and shook my hand. "Maybe even more than one."

"Your damn right I will! No one knocks William May out without paying for it later. Even if it means enough drinks to knock me out again!"

"Hah! Well, I hope I'll see you later William!" Shepard said as she walked out the door, it closing with a hiss as she turned around and gave a quick wave.

I walk over to the desk where the terminal and my food are, and promptly sit in the chair before I start devouring my food. At first it looked like crap, but after the first bite (and another loud stomach growl) it tasted like the best meal on Earth. As I spun around and looked out the window, food in hand, I took a moment to relax.

"Huh. Even in the future, that sun looks the same as it used to." I mutter between bites, my thoughts drifting in every direction. "Yeah. I think that this is going to be one hell of an adventure."

By the time I realized there was something wrong, I was face first on the floor with no control of my body.

ALLIANCE MARINE OUTPOST FOUR-SEVEN-NINE

UNKNOWN DATE AND TIME

'Ok, this is getting annoying.' I thought to myself as I slowly tried to regain control of my body. Shortly after I had collapsed, the guy who was supposed to bring in my new Omni-tool found and took me to the med bay. By then I had blacked out for reasons unknown and only woke up about ten minutes ago, with STILL no control of my body. Currently, I was only able to curl my toes and move my arms slightly upward, but progress was progress.

The door to the med bay opened and a female nurse walked in. I tried to get her attention, but with next to no control over my body, that was quickly becoming a failing task. Finally, I had managed to move my arm just enough to knock over the stupid call button, sending it off my bed and onto the floor.

It was pretty funny watching the nurse jump from the sudden noise, and if I could have, I'd probably laugh my ass off. But instead I just laid there, only managing a half grin that I guarantee looked stupid.

After calming down from being startled, the nurse walked over to me and put an arm on my shoulder. "Mr. May, please don't try to move right now. We've run some tests and are currently waiting for the results, but early analysis indicates you are a very lucky man."

The look on my face must have been one of confusion, since the nurse started to explain some more. "Our records show that your family was downwind of an eezo leak while you were in the womb. Most people are perfectly fine with no effects, however there are those who are born with defects and a smaller percentage still who are born with biotics."

"Most children who are born with biotics show signs quite early, but your case is special. Once the tests come back we'll know a lot more, but our theory is that you developed an eezo node in your brain. As a side effect, your biotic potential had been suppressed until you hit your head during your… skydiving incident." She continued, trying to suppress a smile at the last part. Does EVERYONE know that now?!

"We believe that when you hit your head, the node shifted, and your body blacked out to recreate the connections from the eezo node to your brain. However, this caused a delayed temporary paralysis. Our best guest without the results of the test are that you'll have full function of your body inside of a day."

"How…. Am I…. Lucky?" I managed to croak out, though it sounded terrible. Almost like it wasn't my voice at all.

"Well, an eezo node in your brain isn't uncommon among biotics of other species, but there have only been a few documented cases among humans." She paused, clearly nervous about the next part, which worried me. "Each case ended up with the patient dying from a form of biotic cancer, or being permanently paralyzed. But we don't believe that's the case for you!"

"It most certainly is." A male voice came from the doorway. As he enters my field of vision, it's obvious he's a head nurse or something, simply from the way he's dressed. "All your tests came back negative. No signs of any biotic cancer and you should regain full control of your limbs by tomorrow morning."

"How….. Long w-…. was I…. out?" I ask.

"Coming up on four hours. Lucky for you there was no one else needing work done, so we were able to rush your tests." The man says. "I assume you are regaining some control of your body already. Just don't push yourself too hard, and you should be fine."

"Thanks… Doc."

"Just doing my job." He says with a smile and starts to walk over to a desk, but turn around. "One last thing. We would like to run a full body MRI on you to get a proper counting of your eezo nodes. You're certain to have a lot of them, since you've managed to keep that barrier up for a while now."

I looked down, or rather tried and eventually managed to, but I didn't see anything. No feint purple glow that was the telltale sign of biotics being used. It was only after a minute of staring that I could see the faintest purple outline around me. Not an impressive barrier by any means, but hey, I was probably doing this without implants, so score one in my book!

"You should feel proud about that barrier." The female nurse said, giving me a warm smile. "Most biotic users can't do much with their biotics without an amp or lots of training. You've been doing this unconsciously for the past two hours, with no training or amp. It's even strong enough to stop things from hitting you."

Seemingly to demonstrate this, she reached over and flicked my forehead. Well, she tried to, but instead of her finer connecting, a series of purple ripples appeared, coming from where she had flicked me.

Don't get me wrong, if I could I would probably be hitting myself to see how strong my barrier actually is right now. I just can't even lift my damn arm, let alone show how damn excited I am about this! Apparently the doctor and nurse got the idea of how happy I was when they saw my stupid grin and heard the heart rate monitor pick up the pace of its beeps.

"Heh, calm down now." The doctor said with a smile. "Concentrate on getting your movement back before you start thinking up all the way you're going to abuse your new biotics."

"Doctor, why did you have to say that?" The nurse complained when my smile grew larger as ideas started forming in my head. There was no way in hell that I was going to pass any of this up! "He needs to rest and recover, not bend the laws of reality with only hi-HEY!"

A small laugh escaped me as the nurses skirt fluttered up slightly. Unfortunately it wasn't that strong of a lift, but I was beyond happy. I didn't expect a damn thing to happen, and yet it did!

"Hmm, very basic biotic usage without training or hand gestures." Oh, right. I forgot that hand gestures were commonplace for the use of biotics. "Perhaps that has to do with the location of the brain eezo node. With your permission, I'd like to do a more thorough MRI on your head to see if there's a relation between where the node is located and your use of biotics without gestures."

I nodded what little I could but he got the message. By this point in the conversation I was getting really tired, but I had one last thing I wanted to say.

"Can you… pass… a message… for… me?" I asked, and the nurse nodded. "Tell Captain… Anderson… I….accept."

OK so how do you all think I did? Honestly, I'm not too sure about it, but I figured you guys neededSOMETHINGsince my disappearance. And like I said at the top,I AM CONTINUING THOSE STORIES.I just need time to get back on track and get those stories back to where they were at. Until then, I'll be working on this.

And please, do tell me how I did. I enjoy the feedback.

So until next time, stay safe and have fun!

UPDATE

Hey everyone! Just in case you didn't read this in the latest chapter (Chapter 9 at the time of writing this) I've been busy with exams and holidays, so I haven't had much time to write. I will still be writing, but expect either longer breaks between chapters while I figure some things out, or updates to previous chapters like these. Not much done in this one, but I feel like it's defiantly an improvement over the original.

Anyway, have a great insert your religious holiday here and a happy new year!