This is a spinoff to a great abandoned story on this website.
Read the original first: Search for member "themarshal". Find story "Returned" in his or her profile. Enjoy! Then come back here.
25 years post-synthesis, FemShep somehow comes back from being disintegrated by the Reaper beam. The Normandy is still missing, and the relays are still offline. Shep's obsession is to find Liara, but this is not going to be easy... Shep negociates her way aboard a brand new asari ship, apparently capable of much faster FTL speeds.
Rated M for horror. It is Synthesis after all.
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Chapter 1: Takeoff
I ride the skycar home and rush into the shower. I need to clear up my thoughts.
How could I not see it! I had let despair take the best of me, and lost years whimpering about myself. Time to catch up and remember who you are, Shepard.
I'm finally leaving this place, this useless life... but finding Liara is not going to be easy. I will not be captain of this ship, only a more or less welcome passenger. We may go towards her, but we may as well go the opposite direction. It's a bet, but it is the only option I have. I will need help.
How could I not see it ? Such an obvious clue, hanging in front of me, for all this time ?
The reapers are gone. Everyone has strange green circuits showing through their skins, but I'm the only one to see them. Synthesis was supposed to be the best solution. It ended the war. It was meant to change everything, yet no-one cares about it. What did it do to us?
And my body feels the same as before.
Did I die so everyone could have fancy glowing tatoos that made the reapers love us and go away ? There must be more to it... It must mean something.
There seems to be much less sickness around, quarians don't need suits anymore, I heal suspiciously quickly, which is all nice, but irrelevant. That damn catalyst told me it would reconcile organics and synthetics... how does that work ?
I was disintegrated and used as parts to build this... thing. That should give me at least a head-start in understanding it... but I still have no idea.
My omni-tool beeps. I get out of this shower, pack up a few things... clothes, some of my favourite paintings of her, my painter's kit, my terminal... few things really. I came here naked, on that beach. I see no reason to leave with much more. I throw the rest into a large cardboard box, clean up, pay my rent, and leave.
I arrive at the rendez-vous one hour early. I'm not missing this one.
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During mission briefing, I am introduced to the crew as Alice Shepard. Not that one, though. Same family, which neatly explains how I look like her, and... allows a bit of her prestige to rub off on me. Admiral Lidanya introduces me as a "human observer" without any authority. Some of the crew seem to disagree with my presence, but the admiral's authority is respected.
Our mission is simple: reach the Dawn Seeker. Apparently I do not yet have clearance to know more. I wait outside the briefing room while they finish.
It's already more than I could ever have asked for.
.
While our shuttle rises to orbit, I recline my head back, grin, and thank God, then Goddess, then Lidanya, then Liara. I have no idea how I resurrected, but I know why. The hope of being with her again brings back all the smiles I didn't have in the last five years. Strike that. Thirty years.
Sitting at my left, Lilinella, a young, polite asari who has been assigned to watch over me.
"ETA four minutes."
I remember the Destiny Ascension, such a beautiful, sleek ship. More like a palace cruise ship than a dreadnought. When coming aboard, I'd thought "Nice, but lots of extra weight."
Our destination is now visible through the windows. It is quite large, like a small dreadnought.
I laugh, hold Lili's hand and chuckle "You're the best, girls."
The thing looks like a wreck. All credits, time and design effort went into making whatever magic is inside work, then they slapped a hull and engines on it and called it a ship. Bare metal, no paint, all simple shapes, it looks like it's been built by broke quarians.
Asari can do things in a hurry, after all. This means a lot to me. Ugly is efficient. Like the crucible, this thing has a mission, a purpose, and it has priorities. Looking good just isn't on the list.
Lili explains: "This is not the Dawn Seeker, Alice. This is the First Step. Our first step."
No more questions. We board.
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The inside of the ship seems to be one single elongated room, a gigantic cargo hold. Doors along its sides hint at more conventional quarters somewhere. The crew discharges cargo crates into a mass effect conveyor: a series of aligned rings, going lengthwise along the cargo hold. As crates are loaded into it, they leisurely float away inside, to their destination, which is hidden from view by more piles of crates.
I follow Lili along the conveyor.
She is part of the science team who designed this ship, and promises to explain as much as she can. Embarrassed, she informs me that she has been assigned to me because she is "the only one to really like humans here." Her blushing makes things very clear.
She reminds me of Liara, in a way. Youngest member of a team of geniuses, enthusiastic, passionate, yet a bit shy and awkward... and fortunately, she doesn't look like her at all, which means I'm not bursting into tears right now.
We reach the other end of the cargo hold. In the center of the back wall, floats a tiny, yet very bright speck of light, apparently suspended there by complex machinery. The whole thing screams of a cutting-edge prototype of something that should not even be possible. Asari scientists are checking and adjusting the consoles, seemingly satisfied.
The conveyor leads to the floating spark.
"This is it", Lili says, with pride and awe in her voice.
"Is this your mini mass-relay ? Something so small ?"
"Alice, you know we repaired the Charon relay. When we figured out how it worked, I felt humiliated. The Reapers had made these relays enormous, cumbersome, and impractical, on purpose.
They wanted us to consider them as almost divine, and impossible to replicate. They did not want us to ask questions about the trap they laid. They wanted us to build conventional FTL ships, and use their relays."
She impresses me. "Amazing... that makes sense."
Admiral Lidanya orders operations to start. Asari scientists fasten their seat belts, put on safety glasses and protective earmuffs, and cast barriers. The machinery begins to hum with more intent. Lili explains.
"Remember the Conduit ? Or the citadel beam ? This is similar, except instead of approaching from the outside and being shot into space, you will simply go through. Like a door. It is a simplification of Reaper tech, much more energy-efficient."
"Alice, this floating speck of light over there is the gate. Right now, its aperture is extremely small, only letting through a communications beam. We will enlarge it and go through. Like the Conduit, as I said."
"Why the conveyor ?"
"Well, power draw depends on aperture size. When fully open, it is voracious. So we only open it for a fraction of a second... which is why you will be shot through it by this... gun. Don't worry, there is a decelerator at the other end. I should warn you it feels a little bit weird, though."
Damn. This always happened to me before I died. Why should that change ?
What can I do, except nod. We walk back towards the entrance to the conveyor.
Our crew enters it, one at a time, just like the crates did. I go last, with Lili in front. As I admit to myself that I am scared shitless, I also notice this is the best day of my new life! It feels so good to be back! I smash a fist into my palm and solemnly swear that no amount of crazy shit will stop be before I find her.
We float inside, and the sensation is surprisingly pleasant. It reminds me of Liara using her biotics to make me float above the bed, while making love...
The PA pulls me out of my daydreaming, sharply announcing "Ready to shoot." Acknowledgements are given, then a countdown.
"Three."
The noise goes progressively louder, It starts sounding like a full-blown storm wind, although the air is still. I cover my ears. All I see in front of me is Lili's butt.
"Two."
The other end of the room lights up in a white so intense I can see the veins through my eyelids.
"One."
The air all around us tingles. It no longer feels like air. My hair stands on end. My whole body is shaking.
Then everything happens so fast that I am not even conscious of being shot through and caught at the other end. I am just... there, floating inside another mass effect conveyor. The gate is behind me, closed, just a small speck of light again.
Still floating, Lili turns around with some difficulty and flapping of arms, and proudly tells me "Welcome aboard the Dawn Seeker!"
We get out, one by one.
She was right. It felt just like a mass relay jump... a bit weird, but that's all.
.
After we exit the conveyor, Lili walks me through the ship. It is a larger version of the First Step, its cargo hold well stocked with supplies for a long haul trip. It is also a real dreadnaught, with proper weapons. The asari don't intend to go exploring without taking precautions.
She downloads a map into my omni-tool, and takes me to the observation lounge.
The view is amazing. We are orbiting Benning, and right in front of us, sits another First Step. Space mechs and workers in exoskeletons are assembling the hull, sending spark plumes into the void.
"We now have enough materials and parts here to finish it.", says Lili.
"This is... beautiful."
"Once its construction is finished, it will be the first link in our new transport network! Perhaps later, we will build larger relays, to send ships through, or repair the original relays, but at the moment it appears more important to quickly build smaller, cheaper ones, to reestablish communications and transport people and supplies. We can send parts to build more Dawn Seekers too. I hope your people build their own."
"Amazing plan."
This makes Lili glow.
"The Dawn Seeker will soon depart... of course, our ultimate target is Thessia, but we will take a more winding path to seed new relays. I think we will visit at least Sur'Kesh, then Tuchanka, along the way. This will be a very long trip, Shepard, but you should live long enough to see the end."
I don't seem to age, but... Liara is waiting, and I have no idea where. We'll see. At least, I can return to Earth using the onboard relay, if things don't work out... Damn, I miss her so much...