Author's note: Well, here we go. A Mass Effect fanfic. I'm not too sure how I'm going to do this. So.. Should I add Aria's POV or not? As of right now I have nine chapters of this fanfic done, but I don't want to put them on here just yet. So this chapter is really just a sort of.. Test run if you will. Please, tell me what you think. Thank you for reading and I hope you like!

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Mass Effect or its characters. Except for my OC (Subject 4091/Elle).

4-16-14 NOTE: This chapter has been rewritten. So again I hope you guys like and review. Thank you! ^-^

"Subject four-zero-nine-one is responding well sir." A voice said, using the communication systems in the far left corner. It was slightly raspy, like the sound of a smoker's voice, though definitely feminine.

"Good. We're going to need her. Everything else has gone to shit… Cerberus doesn't need to make any more mistakes than necessary." A man replied, his voice void of any emotion.

My mind was foggy from the morphine the doctor had injected into my body minutes prior to begin operating on me. The feel of a knife against your chest is pretty frightening. Thankfully, there was a commotion somewhere in the base that was making several warning sirens go off in the med bay. The doctor had turned around, her back facing me, to put up a lock on the doors to secure them.

That gave me just enough time to make my escape. Very quickly, I threw my legs off the side of the cold metal table and grabbed a scalpel that was laying on a tool table to my left. Just as quickly, I launched myself at the doctor. My right hand, which was holding the scalpel, came down and sunk into the doctor's temple, my first kill. I felt sick. What if that woman had a family? Tears began to fill my eyes. NO! Don't think about it. Just get yourself out of here.

As I ran towards the exit of the ship, Cerberus troops surrounded the area and me.

"Screw her… let's just shoot her now. There will be less problems to deal with!" one soldier yelled at the Captain.

"Absolutely not! Cerberus needs her alive, damn it! We have specific orders to bring her back alive and unharmed." A woman troop yelled back.

"Subject 4091, stand down! Just come with is and we will lead you back into the Cerberus vessel and forget about what happened here." The Captain said. I was barely about to catch what he had said before a sharp pain shot down my back. What was that?

"Please, why are you doing this?" I asked. "I haven't done anything wrong… I don't want to be an experiment anymore. I never did!" Suddenly I became very dizzy and nauseous.

"Just come with us 4091. You're better off here than anywhere else." The Captain states holding out his hand towards me. I shook my head, the dizziness getting worse. The last thing I heard was gunfire before everything went black.

*"Claire, my beautiful baby girl," Mama says smiling brightly, "I love you so much." Mama pulls me into a soft and warm embrace. She smelled of jasmine and honey. I was five years old then, and at the time it felt like my mother's arms were the safest place in the universe, and also the place that made me the happiest.

"I love you too mommy." I told her, grinning like she had just given me a bag of candy.*

I opened my eyes, seeing a metal ceiling. My head ached, but the memory of that dream eased me out of my discomfort. I rolled into my left side, groaning as a sharp pain shot down my spine, and saw a purple woman with facial markings. She must be asari.

"Where am I?" I croaked my throat dry like sandpaper. She just stood there a moment, leaning against the metal door frame, staring at me, expressionless. Then she smiled. My breath hitched in my throat as I got a better look at her. She was beautiful, though she seemed to be a little rebellious. Like a pirate of some sort.

"You're on my ship. The name's Aria by the way…" she paused, "and before you ask, no, I'm not with Cerberus, I saved you, and we're heading to Omega where, I suppose you'll be treated and quarantined, at least until I figure out if I can trust you." Aria smirked.

"Quarantined? Why? If you said you saved me, then you must have saw that I was running from Cerberus…right? Aria?" I ask, panicking. The last thing I need is another person that wants to treat me like some sort of experiment. I then tried mustering up the strength to stand up and walk around. Aria tilted her head to the side, looking at me amusement clear on her face.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." She stated. "You need to calm down. I'm not the enemy here…unless of course there is a reason for me to be. What's your name anyway?" My mind drew blanks to that question. Tears began to form in my eyes. What's my name? Did I even have a real one? Was it Claire? Or did Cerberus just put broken memories into my head to make me seem a little more human?

"S-subject 4091…" I finally say, avoiding her gaze. I felt ashamed. It was absurd to be called human, to be called a person. I realized just then that I loathed myself. Everything that I am is because of Cerberus. Everything from my thoughts to my bone marrow. Aria seemed to notice my distress. I could feel her gazing through me as if she could read all the things that I have ever thought or felt.

"How about I just call you Elle?" she asked after a moment of silence. I looked at her surprised. She didn't seem like the kind of person that would just take pity on someone. Yet here she was, taking pity on me and I was grateful for it.

"Yeah, that will work." I say and finally meet her eyes with a small bit of hope forming inside of me.

I have been on Aria's ship for two days now. It seemed much longer though. Time was almost mocking me for the hope that I now felt. It was almost like it wanted to torcher me. Maybe it was because of the grief I felt for the doctor whose life I ended. Or because of the other crew members that looked at me in a sort of resentment. I didn't know why, it wasn't like they had reason to. I wasn't even a real person in my own thoughts. Cerberus made me through experiment. Didn't they? I had so many questions that seemed like they would never be answered. Even the ones I had for Aria. That angered me the most. She was able to answer them, but when I'd ask, she would smirk and send me away. I think it's the smirk that gets to me. Dammit.

The sound of a door opening startled me out of my thoughts. Looking up, I noticed Aria had stepped in, making her way to my bed.

"We're about to dock on Omega. You may want to dress into something…different." She states, sitting down, looking at my attire. I stared at her, getting even angrier with her.

"Why should I Aria? Why should I listen to you when you couldn't even answer some simple questions I had for you?" I yelled, jumping up from the warmth of my bed, facing away from her. The nerve she has.

"I didn't ask you to fucking save me!" I say, turning around, gasping when Aria was right there, just less than a foot away, glaring at me. When had she moved?

Last time I saw Aria glare at someone, she threw them out the airlocks of her ship. So you could definitely say that I'm more than a little scared at the moment. But Aria grabbed my face gently, which surprised me, pulling me even closer to her. I could breathe her air, smell her intoxicating scent, see her shake in anger, and it immobilized me.

"You'd do good to remember that Omega has only one rule, Elle." She paused, taking a breath, trying to calm down. I looked into her gorgeous blue eyes, barely breathing, my heart beginning to beat faster.

"Don't fuck with Aria." She stated, letting go of my face before sitting back on my bed. "Now get dressed, unless if you want the men in Afterlife to think you're there for a good time, with your low cut tank top and cute little booty shorts." Aria smirked, but there was a little edge to her voice. It didn't really sound like she was giving me a choice in all honesty.

"Y-yes…okay." I stammer. Blushing, I quickly turned to grab some clothes and go to the bathroom. Once inside, I leaned my head against the metal door, letting out a sigh.

"What am I doing?" I whispered, sinking to the floor.