Ok, hello Fanfiction world! I'm going to start out this little throw-together with a little info for anyone who bothers to read this. (I know i don't.)

I've been reading Mass Effect FF for a while, and I felt like i needed to contribute. It actually used to bother me that I read this kind of stuff since I bought into the stereotypical writer. Perhaps a nerd? someone with no social skills? maybe some creepy guy who lives in his parent's basement and played Final Fantasy all day? Yeah. that's what i thought. However, my opinion changed over time. I have actually come to respect some of the writing on this site. I don't stray to far from Mass Effect all that much, but the stories I've read are awesome. I do feel that Self Inserts get a bad rep, and while they might occasionally deserve it, (C'mon. A magic Xbox?)

I felt like the ideas swimming around my head were enough of a spice up that i wouldn't feel like an idiot for posting them. This is my first, so be gentle. I don't take criticism well, but I am begging you. I need it. I might make a few grammatical errors every so often, but I'm expecting most readers to be able to use their heads to figure out how the story line develops. Also, I'm a romantic, so please. Don't give me crap for that. You have been warned. As usual, I do not own Mass Effect or anything pertaining to it, Bioware is the developer, yadda yadda yadda. Well ladies and gentlemen, strap in, it's going to be a bumpy (and bloody) ride!

SUBJECT 23

- Location: SSV Rebirth-

Drip

Drip

Drip

Drip

The sound resonating through the hull as the ice around the room started melting. The water mixing with the blood, giving off a pink hue in the dark room. The only illumination was from the sun, and the coloring was evil in nature. As he sat there, smiling contently, happy that he had accomplished something he had dreamt of for 5 years. 5 years. Has it been that long? He thought to himself. He had only just looked at the monitor, which displayed the current date. 2180 seemed so unlikely. He was almost bothered by this newfound evidence, which proved that his torture had lasted longer than he had originally thought. His mind slipped back into that first day…

-5 years earlier-

The guards threw him unceremoniously on the floor, as a woman, in her early twenties prepared a syringe. He took a quick second to look at the room surrounding both of them. Cold metal met his gaze at every turn. Just the dim glow of a halogen light above allowed vision. The woman turned, and grabbed his head, forcing him to meet her gaze. He saw that face, the one that would haunt his dreams for many nights to come. Her perfect features only made her striking brown hair stand out. No, it wasn't brown. Black? He couldn't tell. Then she focused on him, and he saw the malice in her eyes. She spoke:

"I don't know where you came from, but you are quite a perfect specimen."

He looks up, confused. "Who are you? Where am I? Please. I just want to go home!"

He was pleading, desperate. Talking far to fast to be coherent, yet he tried his best. It had only been a few hours since he arrived, and truth be told, he had no fucking clue what was going on. She turned, and as she did, she brought her hand down across his face.

"YOU will speak…when spoken to." She stepped a little back as he swore. He had a mouth, and no fucking way was he going to take that, especially when he was in such a fucked up situation. She resumed.

"We checked your DNA. You don't exist at ALL. That's not possible, especially in this day and age." She dragged him over to a chair, which was lying untouched in the corner. As she tied him rather forcefully, He couldn't understand what was going on. Was this a dream? She certainly couldn't be here. HE couldn't be here. What the hell was going on? Her swift punch to his genitals brought his attention back. He coughed out in pain, as his vision swam, and tears of pain started to congeal, she laughed, high and strong. She just smirked as she strapped his wrists down even further, causing more pain than necessary.

"Now…we are going to use you. Your genetic code is perfect, as you somehow retain genetic traits that should have been lost almost 200 years ago, and those traits are going to let us change you into a very valuable tool. You see, we are humanities protectors, and you will be our greatest weapon. However, we had a small evaluation of you on the Citadel. You know, when you were running for your life? You don't mind aliens. In fact, you almost like them. We can't have that. So in the next few hours, you will go through pain you have never experienced before, and yet, you will be stronger than almost any human. At that point, we will drop you on an alien planet, and you will go forward, on a killing rampage, while unstoppable."

She spits out the last word with glee. TIM told her that she would be allowed to pick the planet herself, and that was the highlight of her day.

"*cough* and you expect ME to voluntarily do this? You're crazy, you're ALL CRAZY! There is no way in HELL I would do that to anyone!" He's almost hysterical now, straining vainly against the chair. She turns back towards him.

Her voice is like ice, which he would soon come to find as being ironic.

"You WILL do what we demand. You see, I forgot to mention that after we modify you, we will set you through a sort of…regime. You will learn to love this organization and all it stands for. We will convert you no matter how much time or effort it takes to finish the job." she glances over at him, and notices that he isn't moving. She waits for a response, yet nothing comes. "Well? Do you have something to say?" she steps towards him. "Say something, damn it." He looks up, rebellion in his eyes.

"Fuck you. Fuck you and your little organization. FUCK ALL OF YOU." After he finishes his statement, he goes back to struggling against the binds. The woman just laughs, grabs the syringe, and injects his arm. His initial yelp of pain is overshadowed by his following screams, as what feels like molten metal enters his body. The woman just stands there smiling. She whispers something that not even the guards pick up.

"Just wait. You think this is hell, you don't understand true pain yet. I look forward to this, Subject 23."


Back to the present…

-Location: SSV Rebirth-

Status: dead in the water

Crew: 1700 approx.

Crew status: 1 unidentified life form. No other readings

Damage: Hull breaches on 7 decks

Barracks: hull breach

Crew Deck: 1 unidentified life form

East corridor: severe liquid damage to electrical systems ERROR liquid identified as blood

West Corridor: massive hull breach.

Experimentation quarter: 3% of area still attached to ship, rest unaccounted for

Communications: 0% power. Last communication sent has been erased.

Engines: hull breach, power gone.

END FILE REPORT

******WARNING: SEVERE DAMAGE TO SHIP. COLLISION COURSE WITH SYSTEM STAR EROS SET. RECOMMEND ESCAPE THROUGH LIFE POD

******ERROR: LIFE PODS ALL ACCOUNTED AS DESTROYED

Have A Nice Day

He sat back, as he surveyed his handiwork. The ship was heading towards the sun, and he couldn't get off. It bothered him that he wouldn't get to kill her. She had gotten away in a messenger shuttle with two others. They were the only ones who would survive. He turned around, and viewed the crew bridge. It looked like your average ship deck. Quiet, homey, yet with a sense of direction and purpose. However, given how he had just recently decorated it, most people wouldn't enjoy being up here. He just relaxed his shoulders, and enjoyed the view as he headed into the star. The bodies of all the crewmen he hadn't sliced through had all gathered here, the last safe place on the ship. He had butchered his way through the entirety of the Rebirth, and made this the last stop. You never knew people's screams until they saw their own intestines on the wall. All the broken bones, the brains, and the torn apart ribcages, He found it beautiful, given what these people once were. The sun drew nearer, and he started to feel the heat.

"Ironic that I die by a sun, given what's happened to me. Heh. Well, can't be a worse hell then the one I just left." He closed his eyes, aware that he would die leaving his life incomplete yet, he accepted his fate, as the sun stole the ship out from underneath him.


Rebuilt Values

-?-

location: Earth

Date: 2552

"GET DOWN!"

The streaking sound of a missile impacts twenty feet to his right, as he is thrown back behind cover. 23 Grabs his assault rifle, and sprays the incoming line. The sound of his gun sounds like a wood chipper as it cuts down a group of jackals. His squad had taken up position behind a fallen tower. They were evacuating civilians, but the squad was losing men fast. Next to him a marine is trying to get the longswords to make an air strike.

"Requesting a heavy drop on these targets! Where the fuck is Sierra 117! We need backup or these civvies are dead!"

The radio is unintelligible to 23, who just keeps shooting at whatever moves. Finally, some reassurance comes.

"FNG! We got a Spartan coming. Get your ass over to the warthog! We have to holAAARG!" Whatever information the sergeant was going to give is cut off, as a brute catches him with a spike grenade. 23 soon realizes that he's the only one left, as the brutes move toward him.

Fuck it, no one can see-

The combat fatigues that 23 had grown accustomed to split as he calls upon ice to armor his body. It had been there all along, but only paper thin, so as not to get him shot by his allies. No one knew what he was, and he liked to keep it that way. That was his plan after all. He brought his arms to bear, and ejected a blade from his forearm. The look on the brute's face was almost comical.

Guns were useful, and 23 knew how to use them thanks to some training before the attack, but using his ice to cut through enemies, well, he had already perfected that back on the Rebirth.

Your all going to die, you covenant bastards-

He ripped through the enemy lines, cutting through various aliens. They were fighting back, but his armor was too strong. He took a missile to the back, turned, and shot the blade from his arm. It impacted the front of the tank, and speared it's way to the back. The engine ignited, and the tank disappeared in a blue electrical light. He fought, until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He whipped around, bringing another blade to bear, but was held back by an armored hand. Holding him back was a giant of a man covered in marine green armor.

23 looked behind them, and the enemy was retreating. The giant spoke, in a deep, gravelly voice.

"Private, I don't know what the hell happened to you, but we have to get back to the evac zone. They need our help. Do you understand?"

The Spartan seemed to be unsure if the man he was holding was still coherent. He couldn't explain what was in front of him, but It was decimating the enemy forces, and had shreds of a military uniform. He wasn't sure it was friendly until it spoke.

"Sir, with all due respect, those civilians aren't as important as wiping out an enemy squad. Let another team protect. You saw what I can do, let's go and finish this."

23 didn't care what happened to those frogs back at the landing pads. Why would he? He was made to fight. This is what they wanted. This is what she wanted. The soldier once again spoke:

"Private, there are no more squads. It's just you and me. Believe me, I know how mad you are, but there are more important things than the enemy. We have to fight for what we believe in. do you honestly think that we should abandon those poor people, just to go kill some Covenant?"

23 almost felt the man's gaze piercing through his armor. Finally, he spoke.

"You're…you're right. Lets get back."

As the walked back towards the evac center, 23 realized something. He was about to do what they had always wanted him to do. Become a mindless killer. No more. He wasn't going to become what they wanted. He would fight for his own morals. He would just need to discover them again.


-One year later-

Location: New Austin

Date: 1911

Goddamn it was HOT. Why? 23 had no idea. All he knew was that he felt like the sun was melting him, and if he hadn't been through that previously, he would have sworn it was happening now.

"I swear to god John, I'm going to blow out my brains out all over this wagon. I'm gonna do it."

This merits a laugh from the grizzled man sitting next to him.

"Well, I don't think the doctor would take too kindly to that, 23. I wouldn't appreciate having to take on the gang alone, either."

The man stretches his legs, seemingly oblivious to the baking heat inside the closed wagon.

"You have a chain gun, Marston. You're already close to being the damn grim reaper without it. You could take Mercer without me, and still have time to down a few back in Armadillo."

The two men both chuckled at the joke, and sat in silence. At last, 23 spoke up, in a far more somber tone.

"You realize that there will be women in there, right? We're going to have to kill them too."

John just turned, looking at 23 with a horrified expression.

"Damn, your one crazy son of a bitch. What in the world makes you think we have to kill them? They ain't killers."

23 turned, a look of anger on his face.

"How do you know that? They could be anything. We can't leave that to chance! I'm not going to fight my way through a fort and then get my head shot off by some bitch who was fucking the guy I just killed."

Silence takes hold, in the small space. Marston turns away and sighs.

WHUNK!

"GODDAMMIT WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR?"

23 grabbed his right arm in a desperate attempt to stop the numbing pain. Even with his armor, it still hurt like a motherfucker.

"Now you listen, and you listen good. You are NOT going to shoot a single woman in there. We have boundaries. What we DON'T do to finish the job is what makes us better than them. You know who you sound like?"

"Don't….Don't say her fucking name Marston, I get it. You're right."

Satisfied that his partner had gotten the message, John relaxes once again.

"Remember that 23, the measure of a man isn't how far he's willing to go, but how far he won't let it go."

23 sat there, quietly. It made sense. Huh, he didn't feel hot anymore, just calm. They heard two whacks, and the show began.


-Three year later-

Location: Florence, Italy

Date: 1502

It was a sunny day. Warm, but bright and vibrant, the city took the same façade as the sky. However, above the city, along the rooftops, two men run, jump and climb away from the yelling guards chasing them.

"Ezio, don't you have any smoke bombs?"

23 was wearing his armor, which terrified the guards, yet he hadn't attack them, so they presumed it was a special armor style; nothing more. Instead of the normal glacial blue that his armor usually was, he had added green streaks to it, making it glow brilliantly in the sun. Next to him, a man in a white and red outfit ran, as they jumped rooftops. They escaped ambushes the guards set up, they climbed out of reach, and they even ran on ropes. A brilliant show of agility was causing the guards much trouble.

"I don't think the city guards like us killing templars, 23"

Ezio, was as funny as he was fast. They both laughed, still running. The two ran at breakneck speeds, yet always maintained their synchronization with each other. At last, they found a flower cart next to a large tower. They both jumped inside, as a collection of guards ran off, searching for the assassins.

"We did it, the last templar leader in Italy is dead, and the assassins will maintain the peace!"

Ezio was happy, as they had finished a hard job. The campaign had taken three years. Everything was difficult for the assassins, until Ezio had caught the young man he knew as 23 fighting off guards. They soon became fast allies afterwards, and 23 was welcomed into the assassin ranks.

"Ezio, I think I am done here. I can feel it."

23 was rather somber. He liked it in Florence. His friends, the beauty, the women, ALWAYS the women. Yet, he felt it. He had to leave, just like the other lands. He had finished his job. Ezio calmed, and nodded, as the both climbed the tower. At the top, 23 looked around. Ezio, who was watching him with interest finally spoke:

"You have been a good friend 23. I hope our paths cross again in the future. I'm sad though, not for myself all that much, but rather for the girls of the city. Who else will fill their nights with pleasure?"

They both laughed loudly. It was well known by the girls of the order that 23 was rather adept at convincing girls to let him stay the night. Not that they had any problem with it, as they usually enjoyed his company.

"Well Ezio, I guess that job will fall on you."

The man just laughed.

"Before you go, 23, I must ask. You have always helped us, never asking for assistance yourself. Why do you do this? Why are you looking for this woman?"

23 turned, and looked out over the city once more. Why was he looking for her? It had been 5 years since his torture. Surely there was no need to care. Just put it in the past.

No. No I won't do that. I promised her. I promised her that she would not die in vain. I will kill that monster. After what she did to me, and what she did to Lyla-

"I fight…for revenge. That woman I mentioned, she must die. For what she did to me, and who she killed"

23 turned, and faced Ezio, who looked rather disturbed by his friend's attitude.

"I respect your goals, 23, but I would not seek revenge. I would seek vengeance. Much less troublesome."

23 raised his brow.

"How so?"

Ezio laughed.

"well, It's a different word. Other than that, nothing."

They both lost it. It wasn't that funny, but they had both grown to care for each other as brothers. Anything could be funny to them.

"I must go Ezio, it has been an honor fighting with you"

Ezio grabbed his shoulder.

"As with you. I shall see you in the future my friend. Goodbye."

And with that, 23 turned. Surveyed the town below him, and jumped. He was falling, and as he did, the city grew radiant. Blindingly bright but warm. He fell into the light, and slept.


-Present day-

Location: SSV Normandy

Date: 2185

Commander Alicia Shepard. She was always the hero. Standing tall against the Geth, Saren, Reapers, whatever the galaxy threw at her, she dealt with. The one true savior of the Citadel; and she was giggling like a schoolgirl. Currently sitting around the table with Chakwas, and Kelly Chambers, the three women were discussing things not usually heard around a military ship.

"So Commander, you and Garrus?"

Kelly was a flirt. It made her job a lot easier since she could talk to people so easily. That didn't mean, however, that she gave away secrets. Before the commander could respond, Dr. Chakwas piped into the conversation.

"Oh you would not believe the stories on the first Normandy. Half the men on the ship were after her, and then she goes out of her way to hook up with our resident asari doctor, no less. However, its about time you made a move on a more, shall I say, difficult challenge? You and Garrus always had that amazing connection. Not to mention that you keep staring at his ass when he walks by."

Now, Shepard was strong, both mentally and physically. However, hearing her past (and present) relationships analyzed by a 60 year old doctor, whom she considered her second mother was almost more than she could take. The fact that her bisexuality was thrown up into the air for discussion was also a bit of a blow. Kelly, however, found this new data to be as exciting as finding out that Santa existed. Most women would laugh, or giggle at this information.

Ms. Chambers, squealed. Loudly.

Before her apparent "girlfriends" could give Alicia any more grief, she was saved by an unlikely voice.

"Commander, EDI just found something out here, and well, you should have a look at it."

Ah! Joker saves the day.

"Well, girls it's been a pleasure but duty calls!"

before the two women could respond, Shepard made a dash for the elevator. She arrives on the deck, and casually makes her way over to Joker. She liked him. He reminded her of a little brother who was often annoying, but lovable. Most of the original Normandy crew reminded her of happy times. Garrus, with his nerdy calibrations, which, she did have to admit was very sexy. Laugh if you want, but any man who can calibrate a Mako just by reading the drivers manual would make any engineer girl hot for them. Which might have been why she liked Garrus so much. She felt horrible, when she saw the scars after his surgery, yet he just laughed it off. She was almost tempted to tell him how she really felt about him, but she just wasn't ready. Liara was still around, somewhere. Wrex was, well. She didn't know exactly. Somewhere on Tuchanka. Kaidan, mysteriously disappeared. Tali, was on a secret mission, yet they promised to get back together to fight. She liked Tali. Always talking about the fleet.

Shepard had thought she would be interested in that migrant fleet marine that Tali always talked about, but they had just been friends. Always. Alicia found that hard to believe, but she had no doubt that Tali would find some nice guy, always ready to look out for her. She walked up behind Joker.

"Now, what's going on?"

Joker turned in his chair.

"Commander, we've found a dead ship. There's just a problem. It doesn't have any affiliation. The name just says the SSV Rebirth. Yet, we checked it against all ship departments known, and it doesn't match any."

At that time, EDI popped up, her blue orb of a head hovering over the holograph pad.

"Shepard, I have identified the ship as a Ex-Cerberus experimentation ship."

Joker, annoyed, quickly interrupts.

"and that's not all commander, I'm not reading any life signs but I'm detecting strange liquid readings. I don't understand it. You might want to check it out."

Alicia, considering her options, looks back to Joker.

"Is Miranda up yet? She might know something."

Joker shakes his head.

"The ice queen? Nah, she's out cold. She's been up for two days straight. Jacob's awake, but I doubt he would know about this kind of stuff."

Alicia nodded.

"Alright. Tell Grunt and Garrus to meet me in the airlock in 5."

Joker piped up. "A heads up Commander, the ship went past a sun. That ship is barely holding together, yet most of the damage looks older. Be careful, and take your helmet." Shepard just nodded and headed through the airlock.


"Ready?"

Grunt and Garrus both nodded. The Rebirth had taken such extensive damage that the squad had to enter through the engine room.

"What do you expect to find, commander?"

Garrus was curious, since most dead ships were just hunks of metal. Shepard turned.

"Joker and EDI seem to think that something is giving off strange signals. Normally that's not a problem, but they appear to be of liquid origin."

Garrus was confused."Liquid? Since when does water give off signals strong enough to be detected by a warship?"

Shepard just shrugged. The decontamination finished, and the door to the ship opened. The air in the confined space rushed out, leaving the three in a void. Thanks to their helmets, it wasn't a problem. They moved forward. As they searched, all the found were charred skeletons, most likely from the sun. Garrus spoke up.

"If they knew they were in danger of a sun, why didn't they abandon ship?"

The squads question was soon answered, as they reached the life pods.

"All of them are wrecked. Not even a quarian could make something out of these." Shepard ran her hand across the window of a pod, the glass fell through as she touched it. As they prepared to head out, Grunt made an observation that Garrus and Shepard overlooked.

"Shepard, These pods were cut apart. Most of the bodies back in the engine room were also sliced up."

Garrus turned, skepticism apparent in his voice. "So we're looking for a guy with a paper cut fetish?" Grunt growled.

"Hardly. I may not know much, Turian, but I would assume that even you know that life pods are made out of the same metal as most starship hulls."

Shepard meanwhile was growing uneasy. The amount of bodies, and the new discovery was allowing her to figure out what might have happened.

"So, this was an experimentation vessel. Do you suppose that one of their experiments got out and did this?"

Garrus shook his head. "No, it destroyed the life pods. It would have to be intelligent to know what was going on. They wouldn't have intelligent….."

It dawned on them all.

"Oh God. They were experimenting on people."

Shepard was determined to solve this now. "Lets move farther ahead. Maybe we can find out what they were doing here."

They made their way through the ship, finding only hull breaches and bodies. Garrus lead the way, and found a locked door.

"Commander, this door, it's locked from the inside. My guess is this might be where the survivors ran."

Shepard looked at her omni-tool. "It's also where the signal is coming from."

"Shepard."

Alicia turned and looked at Grunt, who was gazing up. They all focused on the ceiling, and a vent, with it's torn cover greeted them.

"Whatever it was, it got in."

Shepard had had enough of this. "Garrus, open that goddamn door. I'm guessing that whatever did this is still here."

The turian nodded, and proceeded to hack the door. It turned green. Shepard turned to the other two.

"Ready?"

"Ready" they both replied. She approached the door, and set it to open. It clunked open, only about a foot. As it did, something fell through. All three jumped back, guns leveled, but instead found something quite unexpected. What fell through was the top side half of a human male.

"Shepard…he was cut in half from the top down."

They looked at each other nervously. Garrus spoke up.

"should…should we go back?" Grunt laughed loudly, breaking the tension.

"If I had known you were so pathetic, I would've thrown you out the airlock when we met."

Garrus turned, annoyance playing in his eyes. "If I had known you were still a kid when we met, I would've kicked your ass."

They stared each other down until Shepard coughed.

"Are the two apes done comparing dick sizes? Let's go. We need to find out what happened."

They both nodded. Shepard hit the door console hard, and it opened the rest of the way. Various bodies and parts fell out into the hall in front of them. Most with their hands still attached were holding various weapons.

"Hah, whatever it was knew how to fight. It took on an entire crew with weapons and won."

While Grunt was busy being impressed, Shepard and Garrus just tried to look away. They stepped over the collection of corpses, and walked into the Deck, guns out. They scanned the room. Nothing but bodies. A LOT of them. Wait, there was something else.

"Is that…is that ice?"

Garrus was as surprised as Shepard.

"Don't touch it. Let's find out what happened here before we go poking things that might kill us. You and Grunt cover that thing. Get in close. I don't want this ship falling apart from a stray shot."

The two squad mates nodded, and proceeded to the anomaly. Shepard turned, and accessed her omni-tool once more. She powered up the main console, and the last image that was shown before hitting the sun popped up. Shepard read.

"Guys, it looks like that prior to hitting the sun, everyone was already dead. Whatever killed them was the only thing left."

Garrus and Grunt looked at each other, a little bothered. This thing had cut through an entire ship and then survived a flyby with a sun. While Shepard was busy looking at what little data remained, Garrus was observing the ice. It just looked weird… Garrus couldn't place his finger on it, but it bothered him just being near it. It looked like a giant oval, protruding from the wall, made entirely out of ice. Somehow it was giving off a brilliant sapphire color, making the entire room look like it was underwater.

"Shepard, I think something's in there."

"Garrus quiet. Its your imagination. Hold on, I've found a vid. It's the second to last one. I'm playing it, get ready"

They all look at the projection screen, which flickers to life.


What comes into view is a twenty-something year old man, frantically speaking.

"To any Cerberus vessels out there, we require assistance! Subject 23 is loose in the ship. I repeat. 23 IS LOOSE. He's already killed a large number of the crew and destroyed the engines. We are going to fly into the sun! We have lost all life pods, and shuttles, and we have more wounded. The project leader escaped in the shuttle with two others. They are operative Obediah and operative—

BEEP BEEP BEEP! The man on screen looks at a nearby console.

"Oh fuck he's down the hall, LOCK IT! LOCK THE DOOR!"

The room quiets, as the door turns red. Screams can be heard on the other side of the door, as thumps hit the ground. Shepard and Garrus share a glance, and realize they were bodies. Inside the crew deck, people start sobbing, and praying can be heard on the recording, as the man comes back to the view screen.

"We shouldn't have done this. What we created, he isn't human anymore. If your seeing this, then we are dead. All of us. Kill him. Don't let it leave this ship!"

His face, frantic and terrified covers the screen. The power goes out in the room.

"oh god, he's in the vents! He's killed the power!"

The lights flicker back on, as a man standing below a vent is grabbed, and brought headfirst into a vent. He screams like a dying animal, as his legs, which are dangling shake like he's having a seizure. Blood explodes from the vents as the man drops back down without a head. The men and women in the room scream, and start shooting wildly into the ceiling.

They panic.

"We gotta get out! WE GOTTA GET OUT!"

They pound on the door, yelling, crying for people to help them. Then, a laugh, short and horrific pierces the air.

"hehehehe…your all going to die…"

There is complete silence, as everyone in the room freezes. They can't tell where the voice is coming from, only that it's from the vents. The man on the screen can barely hold back the terror in his voice.

"What. What do you want?"

Silence.

"I want her. I want her to die. I want her to feel pain. I want her to hurt. Where is she."

Back in the present, the voice sends shivers down the squad's backs. Garrus mutters.

"…the fuck…"

The man regains control of his shaking, but only slightly.

"She left. With that right hand man and Obediah. Will…will you let us go? Please…"

one woman cries out that she has a son, while others beg. As soon as it starts speaking, they quiet.

"Does your son know what you did? What you did to me? It wouldn't be fair to give him such a mother… no, I think I'll kill you. Painfully."

"If we give her to you, will you leave us alone?"

"Quick, grab her!"

The crowd holds the woman, and throws her into the circle they form. She is screaming, trying to get out, they push her back in. some scream at her, telling her to stay the fuck away, she's the dead one. She stands in the center, shaking, sobbing.

She waits. A minute. Two. people are holding their breaths. She looks up, waiting for something to happen.

Ice explodes out of her chest. The worst part, she isn't dead. She gapes at the spike protruding from her chest, trying to breathe. She can't, and so she falls to the ground, twitching, staring at her former crew mates Finally, her eyes close. Again, the thing in the vents speaks.

"How long… How long was I here."

The crew, looked around nervously. No one spoke.

"HOW MANY YEARS!"

the captain spoke again, tears coming down his face. "Five. Five years we worked on you."

Silence.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Please, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME.. PLEASE!"

the lights flicker, and die. Complete silence bathes the room. The emergency lights flicker on, then off.

They flicker back on within half a second.

and in the center of the circle, he stands.

They scream.

The lights spark, on and off, similar to a strobe light.

He jumps.

Cutting of the flesh can be heard between the flashes.

Screams, all around are heard, some piercing the air, exaggerating the already horrific sights.

At the end of 15 seconds, the lights turn on. All that Garrus and Shepard see are an empty room, full of blood and bodies. All of the sudden, a body falls in front of the screen. It's the captain. His face cut apart, blood pooling near the camera lens.

"Apology accepted."


The screen goes black, and Shepard and Garrus turn to face each other. Not a word is spoken. Once again though, Grunt breaks the tension.

"HAH. Got what was coming to him. Coward. That guy has style. I would love to meet him. Shepard and Garrus just stare.

"well, I think we should just leave this thing here. What about you Shepard?" Alicia was all in favor of that. "Lets go. We'll get Joker to blow this thing apart from a distance."

Before they could leave, however, something gave way. A loud grinding sound tore through the Rebirth, and the squad shifted to the right. Garrus lost his footing, and fell, sliding. The gravity kicked back in, just before he ran into the anomaly. Jerking upwards rapidly, He threw out his hands to stop his mask from shattering. He catches himself on something. A sigh of relief can be heard.

"guys? Guys I'm alright."

He looks up, and finds himself holding onto the ice. Horror fills his eyes, as he starts to back up. The ice has melted where his hands broke through, at which point it starts to break apart rapidly. The whole oval collapses, and out comes a body. Shepard trains her gun on the thing, watching it. It was surreal. The thing had arms and legs, fingers, everything. Then it started to move. Garrus had fallen on his ass after tripping over a body, and was slowly backing away.

The creature pushes itself into a kneeling position, still looking down. It brings it's head up. Shepard notices it doesn't have a normal face, instead having the entire face meeting at a point where the nose would be. Two black slits allow for eyes. She suddenly becomes hyperaware of it's body. It's almost as if the being is made out of ice. From what she can tell, it's physique is one of a runner, wiry and fit, yet containing small amounts of what looked like ice-muscle. Popping back to the present, Shepard inches a little farther away from it. Garrus is only 5 feet from the thing, and he is currently not moving. Then, the creature jumps. He drags Garrus to his feet, arm around his neck, and ejects a blade from below his forearm, holding it close to Garrus's throat. Then it speaks.

"Put the guns down, or he dies."

All of this happens within seconds. Shepard stands there, gun aimed at Garrus, She aims to the left more, where the creatures head is.

Shepard noted that it was the same voice on the vid, yet far less monstrous. Also, less hostile.

"You let go of my squad member before I blow your frozen head off."

The thing just chuckled. "Your gun won't do a damn thing. Right now my armor is stronger than most starship hulls. Trust me, I'm not an enemy." Shepard found that hard to believe since he was the one holding Garrus hostage.

"Let him go, or so help me I will cause you pain worse than death itself!"

Now, Grunt had heard Shepard get mad, but this was a little extreme. Garrus thought she was a little overboard.

why is she getting so defensive? She's always so calm in these situations-

Meanwhile, the thing holding him laughed again. "You really care for this man, I'll give you that. I can tell. Alright. Put those guns down, and I'll let him go. I wasn't planning on killing him anyways."

As he says this, he lowers his blade, and releases Garrus, who steps away rapidly. Shepard, convincing herself that Garrus is fine, lowers her gun, but ever so slightly.

"Who are you. Explain what the hell happened here, and tell me why I shouldn't kill you now."

It just crossed it's arms, and leaned back. It's pose was completely relaxed, almost to the point of unnerving the squad.

"My name is 23. I did this ten years ago, and you can try, but 1, you don't want to. 2, you need my help."

Shepard became interested. This guy knew how to talk.

"Alright, tell me. What happened ten years ago." 23 tensed up. The squad was ready for a fight, but Garrus could tell it wasn't going to be one.

this guy isn't going to attack, something's bothering him-

23 turned around, and stared out into space. "I was taken from home. I don't know how, but I ended up on the Citadel. Cerberus found me somehow. They brought me here. They needed me, they said. Told me that I was going to become humanities savior."

23 turns, glancing at Garrus. "A savior from aliens."

Garrus, holding his gun, tightened his grip on it. Just in case.

"I didn't want to. They said aliens were a blight, and were limiting humanity. I thought differently. I respected all alien races."

He turned away again.

"Still do. However, they spent a year turning me into this." He motions to himself, and turns back to face the group.

"They never said how much they spent on me. They didn't even tell me what I was meant to become. Only after they finished their work on me did they tell me. I was the only one who could do it. My genes could adapt to their science." At this point, his voice turns bitter. Shepard was desperate to ask.

"What did they do to you?"

23 looks up. Laughs. "Well, you might already know. They turned me into a god of war." He held his arm up, and ejected a sharpened blade from his hand. "I have complete control over water. I can use it, wield it, and morph it."

As he says this, he takes the icicle from his hand, and swirls it around the group. Floating so beautifully, as it turns into water, then evaporates into the vacuum. "It makes sense actually. What do all planets need for life to live on? Water. What can cut through ANYTHING if given enough pressure behind it? Water. I control it. I'm not invincible, but I'm pretty damn close. Going through the modification was hell though. Every day would be a full 24 hours of injections, followed by them locking me in my cell for 2 to sleep."

He tenses at that point, the water floating around him turning to ice. "I didn't know what would happen or what to expect from the injections. Some nights I woke up with water in my lungs. Drowning from my own bodies liquid. I never did die though, instead I somehow was able to control it before I died. Even if I didn't want it to go away. What they did to me during the first year…"

He tenses again. The ice cracks.

"After a year, I had it down. I was pathetic though, I couldn't even call on my armor yet." He gestures to his body. As he does, the ice relaxes back into water.

"Like it? It's the thing that keeps me safe. I'm human underneath all this, and I have different settings for it. I can have it paper thin, yet at that point it's still strong enough to stop a knife. At the current setting, it could stop a nuke. Anyways, back when I my first name was subject, I couldn't do much. They knew I would grow over time, but they wanted to turn me into a model Cerberus agent."

Even though they can't see his face, Shepard can almost read the smirk on 23. "heh, didn't work. They couldn't get rid of me and start on someone else, so they tried to kill me on the inside. They did things. Horrific things. I thought development was hell, I couldn't come up with a word to describe CDT."

Shepard wondered. "CDT?" 23 nodded.

"Cerberus Developmental Training. What they called my four years in hell. Anyways, I'll skip over the bad parts. I got loose one day, killed everyone on this ship personally. I sabotaged the life pods, and slaughtered the crew. I didn't care before, but I've recently…traveled."

As Alicia was about to question him, 23 raised his hand. "Don't ask, I couldn't explain it any more than I could explain where I get my abilities. Regardless, of how I felt then, I still think I did the right thing. Everyone on this ship did something unspeakable to me. I killed them all for good reason. I'm assuming you saw the tape?" Shepard nodded.

"Good. So you know what I'm capable of. Now that you know a little about me, and I know a little about you" Shepard stepped up before he could finish. "I haven't even told you my name. Your bluffing if you think you know who I am." 23 went back to his folded arm look.

"Your name is Commander Shepard, Savior of the Citadel, destroyer of the Geth, and the Survivor of Akuze. Next to you is Garrus Vakarian, fresh out of Omega after getting shot by a rocket, and next to you is Grunt, the tank bred distilled from Warlord Okeer designed to be the perfect soldier. Am I missing anything?"

Shepard just stood there, stunned. "How…how did you know that." 23 sighed quietly.

"I know a lot of things. Don't ask, I just know. Anyways. Now that I've answered your questions, can I ask you some?" Shepard nodded.

"Can I help you fight the collectors?"

"How do you—"

"Because I do."

"I don't know. Can I trust you? You killed a lot of people, how do I know you won't rip apart my crew and steal the ship?"

23 laughed. Not threatening or scarily, but honest to god hysterical laughing. "If I wanted to do that I would've just killed you and your crew as soon as this klutz woke me!" 23 points at Garrus, who just stands there, not sure if he should say anything. "Now, I'll fight for you Shepard, I promise. But I have only one request." Shepard motioned for them to start walking.

"Tell me on the way. I want to get out of here before we unfreeze anymore ice covered killers." 23 just chuckled, and started walking. As he did, the group took notice. The way 23 walked, It almost looked like he was skating. It was mesmerizing.

"Alright, now, I'm after someone. When I find them, I'm going to kill them. I just need your help getting to them." Shepard fell in line behind 23.

why can't we ever recruit someone normal?-


-SSV Normandy, 10 minutes after unfreezing-

Joker sat in the cockpit, eyeing the ship in front of him. Coffee on the ship tasted like ground up shit, but the food was better after Gardner got those new ingredients.

"You summoned me, Lieutenant?"

Joker nearly did a double take. Miranda needed to stop sneaking up on people. Especially people with a knack for hurting themselves when frightened.

"Uh yeah, EDI and I found a dead ship giving off some weird signals. Mrs. Roboto over there says that It belonged to Cerberus." Miranda just stares out at the ship.

"Did Shepard go out there?" Joker nods.

"Yeah, she's coming back with someone. They found a survivor. Crazy huh?" Miranda frowned. There was no way a ship that destroyed should have been able to keep someone alive.

"Well, what's the tag?" Joker swiveled back to view the control console.

"Hold a sec-Yeah Commander?"

+Open up. Don't worry about decontamination, we're all clean+

"Aye, Commander. Anyways, what were you saying?" Miranda rolls her eyes. She shouldn't have to repeat herself.

"I said, what was the ships tag?" "Joker repeats the action, eyes rotating impressively.

"Some research cruiser called the SSV Rebirth." Miranda stops.

No…No it can't be-

The airlock opens.


-SSV Rebirth, 12 minutes after unfreezing-

"You can share a bunk with the regular crew if you want."

"No, it's alright. I don't sleep that much. Normally I just do it for pleasure."

Shepard stole a glance at 23.

"I meant that I like to sleep. Not always with women. Sometimes a good nights sleep is a luxury. Normally I'm too worried about taking a knife to the throat."

Garrus smiled. This guy sounded young, but interesting. Not some punkass merc.

"So, 23, how old are you?"

23 turned. Since Shepard accepted his help, his eye slits expanded, allowing them to see the top of his nose. His eyes were cloudy, yet he assured the group that it was the armor, and not how he looked underneath. 23 turned, and was apparent in smiling.

"Well, Cerberus caught me when I was 15, so I'm 25 now." Shepard thought that was interesting.

"Well, at least your not the youngest on our team. We're going to be picking up a quarian who happens to be 24. Or is it 22? I don't know. Anyways, you'll have some seniority." 23 just kept walking. The group was outside the airlock.

"Shepard."

The group stopped and looked at 23.

"I've learned self control over the past five years. But if you agree to help me with finding this woman, I will cause her pain beyond recognition."

Shepard stood, waiting for more.

"She did things. But she took someone from me. I don't want to go into specifics. She wasn't a lover, but. The situation we were in…"

Alicia could see just how difficult this was for him. It was almost as if he was giving off his emotions like a vapor.

"If you agree to help me, will you be able to live with what I do to her?"

Shepard thought. "I help my squadmates, 23, I'll try to persuade you not to, but I won't stop you if you don't want to be."

23 relaxed. "Thank you. You're the only one who can really help me find her."

"I want to know who she is, but give me a sec." She typed on her omni-tool. "Joker. Open up. Don't bother with decontamination, we're all clean." The door opened, and they all stepped in. Shepard turned to 23. "So what's her name?" 23 turned.

"Her name is—"

WHURRRCHUNK.

The airlock opened.

"Miranda Lawson."

They all turned to look ahead, and found themselves staring at the subject in question.