Death. She had gone through it before. It was an old friend that had embraced her in darkness and it left Shepard wondering if death had to be so dark. It was peaceful though – floating in nothingness – with no thoughts at all. When she was alive she'd think non-stop about her relationships, political conflicts, dangerous situations, and war plans. It felt nice to have her mind off of everything for a change. She didn't have to care about anyone in this big black empty space but fate always did have a funny way of saying hello. If fate and death were rivals, Shepard was sure they'd be fighting pretty hard over her right now, because the minute her eyes cracked open she knew something was horribly wrong. Her so-called peaceful death gave her a rude awakening.
With aching bones, the red-haired woman struggled to get onto her feet, and examined her surroundings. The greenery was a pleasant surprise, one that Shepard had sorely missed during the war against the Reapers, because she remembered seeing destruction everywhere she looked. That led to the question though, what had happened during the time she was unconscious? Everything looked completely fine – as if untouched by the Reapers' influence. It seemed unlikely, impossible even, for a planet to have such life in it after the destruction that had been done. She could see the cleanliness of her surroundings even through her darkened helmet and it was a scene that seemed to come straight out of a story book.
All reasonable thoughts tossed away – Shepard narrowed her eyes – when she came to the realization that she was in unknown territory. Anything was possible and she could possibly tick off an alien species of sorts or even humans if there was a human colony living in the area. Fingering for her gun, Shepard had simply done the action out of habit, but she was genuinely shocked when she found her N7 Crusader still on her back. The beautiful shotgun was a sight for sore eyes, a familiarity she gladly welcomed, and she was happier than a cowboy riding a bull. Flipping her arm into view, she sighed in relief to see her omni tool still equipped as well, and suddenly she was a whole lot thankful for being on a stranded planet with all of her tools.
From the looks of it, she still had some medi-gel left but it didn't look like it would last long. She was certainly no scientist nor doctor, so Shepard had no general idea on how to replicate and create medi-gel by herself. Considering this, she knew she would have to go the rest of her adventures on this planet without medi-gel after it was all gone, and she would have to revert to basic medical skills. That meant binding her wounds by herself and seeking medical attention in different ways. The idea itself wasn't too comforting so she'd have to save as much medi-gel as she could.
Shepard finally collected details from her surroundings. She was near a town, one not too far away, but it looked like it would take quite some time walking to it. If she was lucky, she'd be able to find someone who knew what was going on, and maybe they'd be friendly too. Shepard would have to try her best to suppress battle emotions if she wanted to get along with the residents on this planet. As much as the soldier in her screamed to be wary – the diplomatic side knew that she couldn't make friends if she pointed a gun in their face. One couldn't help but be suspicious if they were in Shepard's situation though because someone could have landed Shepard here and took off. What other explanation could there be? That she teleported without any device through supernatural means? Unlikely.
Mentally preparing herself for the journey ahead, Shepard now had the knowledge that it would take quite some time to get to the village, and hopefully they'd have welcoming arms. Food and water would be nice. As much as the sea looked tempting, Shepard knew far better than to drink dirty salt sea water. Natural instincts yearned to take a taste though but Shepard's rationality gave a plain and simple 'no' to the rest of her body. Taking a step forward, Shepard's bones creaked, as she began to walk in a steady pace into the forest of trees before her. N7 Crusader safely placed on her back, Shepard understood that if she couldn't reach it in time if she was attacked, then she could use a nasty wave of biotics towards potential enemies. She didn't want to use her biotics but it was a potential scenario that could become reality.
"I want my mommy!"
The voice was clear. Shepard's translator easily translated it through her ears and registered it as Spanish. Spanish. Could she possibly be on Earth? The thought lifted her heart with hope. Could things have increased in beauty so drastically after a war? Didn't it take a while for things to get better? For trees to grow back? For greenery to prosper once more?
'Don't get your hopes up too high Shepard.' Shepard inwardly told herself. Jumping to conclusions didn't always help her reach the complete and true conclusion. Shepard couldn't just ignore the cry in the grove of trees though and began to look for the source of the voice. Steadily avoiding spots where she could be easily seen, she moved tree to tree, peering past their trunks each time. It wasn't long until she finally spotted a little girl crouching near the floor, crying her eyeballs out, and wheezing sobs. The girl was very human, Shepard could recognize her kind anywhere, but what shocked her was the weird android looking creature sitting next to the little girl. He was consoling her, with pats on the back, and soft whispers that Shepard could barely hear.
What sort of manner of thing was that? It looked like a robot but it acted… human. It strikingly reminded her of EDI on the Normandy.
Shepard scanned her options. She could make herself known and attempt to help them, stay in place and wait for them to do something, or walk away. The first option screamed at her but she wasn't too sure it'd be a good idea. They might be hostile but there was only one way to find out if it was the truth.
"Do you guys need any help?" Shepard's voice was automatically translated into Spanish. The girl and the robot looked up abruptly. Although Shepard could not discern the robot's expression she could see the little girl's expression quite clearly. Relief. The little girl shot up in the spot, tears already drying up, and she almost was about to run forward before the robot grabbed the little girl by the arm to prevent her from running forward at all. Clearly a sign of hesitation.
"Who are you?" The android spoke.
"I'm Shepard." Shepard spoke carefully as to not intimidate the android. It would do no good if they ran away on her now. If she could help them maybe they'd help her in return to find out where she was.
"Why do you wear such strange armor?" The robot gestured with his head to her clothing. "Do you not have a face underneath that helmet?"
Shepard thought of taking her helmet off but decided against it. It actually might be better to walk around anonymously until she could find a way back home. If she revealed her identity they would know where to find her if she needed to go on the run and conceal herself into society. She needed to consider all possibilities, after all. If she planned ahead, certain situations may not occur, but then again she just might be really paranoid.
"I struggle breathing." Shepard lied straight through her teeth. "This helmet filters the air for me so that my lungs won't work so hard until they're at the state of collapse." Hoping the bold-faced-lie would get past the android, Shepard could feel him stare straight through her helmet, before he finally continued to question, "What about the armor?"
Ah. Right.
The armor.
"I was cosplaying."
The little girl stared at Shepard questioningly but the robot seemed to completely understand what she was talking about. Laughing softly, the robot chuckled, with a clear vibration in the back of his voice that reminded Shepard once again the he was far from human.
"I get it. Like one of those superheroes right? I'm not sure which one you're supposed to be. Are you an original character or something?"
'Superheroes?' Shepard thought skeptically. She had only read about superheroes on Earth's published comics but she had never thought that they actually existed. Either she was misinterpreting what this Spanish android was saying or there were legit superheroes running around protecting the land Shepard was currently standing on. Either way she had hit the jack-pot and it'd be perfect cover for her. Pretending to be a fan for superheroes. Spectacular.
"It wasn't easy to make but it was worth it. Don't I look great?"
"Ha. Yeah. You look awesome. Wish I could have thought of something so stylish."
He thought her armor was stylish. How cute.
"My name is Sinnig'cm. It's long so people just call me Sin."
Shepard cocked a brow. Sin? Seriously? That wasn't the greatest of nicknames to have but she wasn't going to admit it aloud. Gesturing to the little girl, Sin then introduced her, "And this is Katy. I was baby-sitting when we decided to play near the forest. We went deeper than intended and we've been lost for about two hours now… We can't find our way out. If you could perhaps help us get out of the forest – we would be forever grateful."
Shepard's mind mulled over the fact that she didn't exactly know where she was either. She could certainly get them out of the forest and back on the beach but she's not sure if that's what they'd actually want. Still – it was worth a shot – because maybe they'd know how to get back home if they saw the beach.
Shepard proceeded to say, "I know how to get to the beach, is that enough?"
Sin looked positively pleased – his eyes lighting up – before he grabbed the little girl's hand and stood up. "That'd be great." He affirmed, nodding his head at Shepard, before squeezing the girl's hand within his in a sign of comfort. Shepard had a feeling that just like she hadn't been telling the whole honest truth to the android, he hadn't exactly been too honest with her either. That much was evident as Shepard finally took in the girl's ragged appearance. The girl had scratches and bruises on her skin and face. The android himself looked like there were dents in his head as if someone had whacked a baseball bat against his metal framing. Naturally, curiosity began to etch at Shepard's skin, but she refrained herself from acting on her impulses. Self-control was indeed a wondrous thing that Shepard had endless gratitude towards, and it was the result of long years of hard-work and training.
The two took a few steps forward as evidence that they were ready to go. Shepard simply turned and retraced her steps. It wasn't too hard to find her way back to the beach, right back where she had first appeared, but she was pretty sure a boat hadn't been there the first time she had woken up in the sand. A small boat, with another android carefully navigating towards the shore, wasn't too far off. Shepard eyed the two in her company and they looked ecstatic.
"Your ride?" Shepard finally asked.
"Yes." The robot spoke. "They probably realized we were missing and were going to look for us. That omnic is a friend of mine – I recognize him even from this distance."
Omnic. Shepard plastered the word in her brain, filing it away for further research, but for now her best guess was that the robotic species were called omnics. She had never heard such a term before but it had sounded eerily like omni, like her omni-tool, and the omni-gel that could be created out of items. If they were related somehow Shepard knew she could get to the bottom of it. However, for now, it was just information she pushed to the back of her brain. Aware that the boat had finally stopped, the omnic and the little girl both began to step in the water, and Shepard suddenly feared for the omnic with wonder on whether or not he'd short-circuit from stepping in water. Oddly enough, no such thing happened, and Shepard wondered if the omnic was water-proof in some way.
"Thank you for your help…" The omnic looked over his shoulder. "We will remember you stranger. We will return for you – to take you off this forsaken island – for the generosity you have given us."
Wait… forsaken island?
Shepard now knew she was on an island. In the middle of the ocean and for some reason the omnic was insistent on coming back for her. Was something going on in this island?
"Wait what!?" Shepard shouted but they were far too away to hear her as they boarded the boat with the help of the other omnic. Waving at her cheerfully, both Sin and Katy bid her farewell, and Shepard gave a small wave back. Her only help was now going somewhere else in the midst of the ocean and for some reason they all seemed relieved to be rid of this island. Shepard sighed before turning to look back at the village hanging over the forest on a hill ahead of her. It stood there, beckoning her to reach it, and Shepard needed to find out what the hell was going on with this island. Not to mention her own situation that wasn't exactly butterflies and happy fantasies.
Even now, she could hear gun-fire, and the screams of Reapers running towards her. The war had far from left her alone – despite her having left the war – and Shepard wasn't in the right state of mind to adjust to a new situation in just a few minutes. It would take time.
Everything would take time.
Walking back into the forest, Shepard knew she had an adventure waiting for her, even if she was dreadfully tired of adventures.
