Greetings! This is my first SI, and yes, I am still working on my other Mass Effect fanfic. This just would not get out of my head and started as a collaboration with my sister Elateyin121 (you should check out her story if you haven't she is an amazing author). We had so many different other ideas that we decided to do two separate stories, so if they seem alike in any form, that is why. Please review, they make my day!
Disclaimer: Bioware owns the ME universe.
Lewis Carroll is an ancestor of mine. You know, Alice goes down the rabbit hole into Wonderland and everybody says the author was on drugs? I think he just had a crazy great imagination and a little of the madness of the Mad Hatter. When I was a kid I wanted to find my own rabbit hole with a new world and have an adventure, though I must admit I was scared too. That Queen of Hearts freaked me out as a child, and I figured to have a good story you have to have a bad guy to let there be a hero. Good and bad, but I still wanted to go on an adventure, find romance, and be a heroine. I figured my wishes haven't come true yet because I am not quite mad enough. Apparently 15 years later, I meet that requirement.
I plop onto the couch, face first, next to my sister, incredibly tired. I recently got a second job and work 10 hours straight almost every day now. I hate it, but I am saving money to move out and get into the next chapter of my life.
"Tired?" My sister Megan asks.
"Mgmneyablegh." I answer, face still pressed into the cushion. Megan laughs a bit and scruffles my hair.
"Sorry it sucks." She responds and I just sigh flopping over.
"Why aren't you playing Mass Effect 3?" I ask her. Personally, I had taken a vacation when the game came out and played it for a week straight. I loved it until the end. I romanced Thane so I cried a lot and was disappointed that they didn't have more of a quality romance for us Drell lovers. I stayed faithful to him the whole time and eventually got to meet him across the Sea.
Mordin and Legion are in my top five favorite characters so I cried again. The endings were a whole other monster. Two days after I finished the game and truly realized that my Shepard is dead, the endings truly made little sense, and that the adventure was over, I cried again. Those games and the characters became very personal to me. Special. If that makes me a weirdo then so be it. I have my Canon endings in my head that I intend to put into my Shepard fanfic.
I have been trying to get Megan to finish her play through, telling her that the Garrus romance she has is going to be great, but she is wary of the endings. So here we are, me wondering why she is not playing- I want to see a real Mass Effect romance- and she answers my earlier question.
"I wanted to look something up." I groan at her answer.
"Well when you do finally get around to playing, save before the romance scenes so I can watch ok? I didn't get much, and we're both dead." I reply standing up so I can get something to eat. I look forward to playing Dragon Age: Origins again, since I just deleted my canon playthrough when I transferred my Mass Effect games from my brothers X-Box to my new one. Now I have to replay them all, and I thought it would be easy. I was wrong. Not everything happens the same way twice, a small decision impacts the greater scheme of things. This would soon become a big part of my life.
Something snaps while I am dreaming and I hear and feel the sound the Reapers make. It's very loud, as if it is shooting through my body and I bolt up in bed.
"REAPERS!" I scream and my sister Samantha tells me to shut up and go to sleep. I groggily shake my head, thoroughly freaked out, but lay back down on my stomach and check the time. 'Ugh. Only one hour until I wake up.'
I flop back onto my pillow waiting for 3a.m. and then wonder why Megan, whom I also share a room with, didn't yell at me.
9:30 a.m. and I am home from my first job, luckily no second job today. The only thing good about going in so early is getting off so early. I also get the whole house to myself today! Woohoo!
I quickly grow confused when I see Megan's car in the driveway still. 'She was supposed to work 7-3 today. Maybe she is sick.'
I grab my purse and exit my car, hearing a very loud 'meow'. My brothers cat Grayden comes running up, mouthing off at me and wanting attention. My cat Fuu never meows so this cat is incredibly loud to me. She purrs as I scoop her up and I can see Fuu coming over to say hello as well. Fuu suddenly freezes and then bolts the opposite way and Grayden starts squirming in my arms. I turn to where both cats were looking, Grayden's meowing now sounding scared and she finally turns to my face and pretty much yells at me, so I let her go. She bounds away quietly, hunched down and I bring my knife from my purse, flicking it open and going to our side yard.
'Grayden just came from over there so I don't understand why she is so nervous. Doesn't matter. If someone or something bad is over there I am going to kill it… maybe. Hopefully this is just my overactive imagination and paranoia.' The grass is tall and thick making it hard to see. I worry briefly about spiders and snakes, and round upon the base of the fallen tree. The tornadoes last year kept out house intact, but our trees and yard suffered, this tree being one of them. I look down at the base of the tree and see where the roots once lived, a rabbit. It's cute little nose is moving, but it doesn't. It has red eyes that stare at me and I see a small square… shiny swirly metal thing on its foot, effectively trapping it.
"Oh you're stuck? Here, let me help you." I coo and step closer, its eyes never leaving me. 'What a creepy looking rabbit'. Black with red eyes… yeah it's creepy but it is a creature in need. I am not going to leave it. I slowly pick up the box and wonder how it got there, and what it is.
It burns hotly in my hand but I can't let go, panic beginning to set in. I look at the rabbit, still staring at me and its eyes glow.
"What the-" I begin and then scream as it opens its mouth, emitting the Reaper noise. I don't know if I piss myself as I fall down over a root and the box starts glowing, but I know I am scared enough to have done so. My free hand reaches to catch me from my fall but it only finds air. A hole at the base of the tree, bigger than I have ever seen, swallows me up and I tumble into a dark red tunnel.
Falling deeply down the hole I see many things fly past me. Races of creatures I have never seen before, a nebula, lasers, I bounce off the side of a ship. Random yelps and screams emit from my mouth, but really I am just trying to find something to hold onto. I flip over to see my destination and see a giant red light, and it just radiated evil. 'Reaper' is all I am able to think and I scream bringing my hands up to cover my eyes when the box in my hand starts melting and I feel it burning along my arm. Green glows from it and I scream in shock and pain as it envelopes me. I don't feel anything anymore.
I wake up to a bright flashing red light accompanied by a blaring alarm. I push myself up, taking note of my location and then my arm. It feels funny. 'I have a bracer on my arm.' I notice the bracer is black with intricate green markings swirling and forming runes. 'I don't get it.' I stare at it completely confused, a little scared, and very fascinated. 'Why did it do this? How? What purpose does this serve?' I tap it gently and nothing happens, so I tap it hard. Nothing. My finger hurts but it does nothing.
The ground shakes beneath me and I hear an explosion. I quickly turn my attention to the dire situation around me and notice that I am in some sort of hold. Crates are everywhere, metal pipes, and a giant window. My breath leaves me body when I stand up, my knees going weak as I look out and see a planet orbiting below me.
'I am on an exploding ship? In outer space?'
"THIS MAKES NO SENSE!" I yell and hear a voice over the loudspeakers.
"Mass Effect fields aren't responding! Shields are down! Communications aren't working! Evacuation is necessary!" A man frantically stated.
"Mass Effect fields? No way…" I mumble realizing where I am. Or where it seems I am.
'I'm on the Normandy?' I think elated for a second until smoke starts to clog my lungs and another explosion rocks the ship. 'I'm on the Normandy as it explodes! Waugh!'
"Merchant Vessel Barrasaad 2486 in need of assistance!" The male voice announces, trying in vain to communicate and find rescue. I relax.
'I am not on the Normandy.' An explosion brings me to my knees. "I AM STILL ON AN EXPLODING SHIP!" I yell at my stupid self and then yell in pain. A crate fell on my arm from the last explosion, effectively pinning me. I struggle until I feel a pop in my shoulder and tears from in my eyes at the burning pain searing down to my fingers.
A hand rests on my good shoulder, startling me. The person pushes the crate off my arm, using his body and I see that he only has three fingers. I hiss in pain as the crate rolls off and he stands up fully, grabbing my good hand, standing me up and running out the cargo door.
'A Salarian has just saved my life.' I realize astonished.
The smoke is thick, making me cough and the fire is burning too close for comfort. I briefly wished I could put my hand over my face, but he hasn't let go of one hand and the other arm is hanging useless and painfully at my side. I give all my trust to this unknown Salarian. We run up two levels, dodging fires and small explosions. I almost throw up upon seeing a dead man, but concentrate on moving my feet.
Running is not my forte and being overweight does not help. Life threatening situations can make you do some amazing things. I hear a deep groaning that seemed to make the ship vibrate and glance up. The ceiling was cracking and a few small pieces fell off. Dread entered my entire body, making it tingle and I surge forward, grabbing the Salarian and using the force to drive us forward, tumbling to the ground just as the floor behind and above us caved in.
"Sorry." I croak out to the Salarian as we untangle and he says something back. 'I don't have a translator.' I think to myself thoroughly disappointed. I have no idea what he said. It sounded really neat though. Like a flourishing dance.
The smoke in this area is thinner, though the water from the fire sprinklers has us soaked. I hear a rough voice call out and the Salarian picks up speed, grabbing my hand again. I see a Turian poking his head out of an escape pod and I am proud of myself when I don't stumble in shock. The Salarian and Turian plop me in a seat quickly, then going to their own, buckling themselves in.
'I can't buckle mine. I can't move my right arm.' Desperation overtakes me. 'I don't even know how this thing works!' Tears burn in my eyes and the door has closed. The Aliens start talking and gesturing toward me, but I can't understand them. 'I am screwed.'
I hear something click and wildly fling my arm out to grab the wall as we barrel into space, but the force of the exit hurtles me out of my seat and I smash my head on the other wall, effectively knocking me out.