Chapter 1: Close Encounters


Foreword.

We're probing Pluto and finding other Earths. Is there a relay on Charon? Time to make a crossover between Mass Effect and Reality. The setting is here, and now. This is not about Canon.

About the story: The game universe is inverted, for the most part. Asari are hopeless romantics instead of pole are not the overpowered saviors of the Galaxy, but their usual idiot selves. Hair tentacles do flop around. All characters are original (with cameos and some lore from Mass Effect).

Meet Alice Shepard. A simple, normal human, whose shitty life is about to be turned upside down by a very unusual encounter.

Nutritional Facts: This story contains humor, questionable morals, embarrassing situations, sickeningly romantic love, hot xenobiology, bloody graphic violence, politics, and of course, asari. It starts slow and cute, but it's a trap. There will be no other warnings on top of chapters for all of those things, because you like surprises! Enjoy!

STORY RATED M FOR A REASON!

Thanks for beta/proofreading/suggestions/ideas/reviews go to : Ka'Dira Ezra, bob20978, SVUBenson, YunikoYokai, echographia, A Very Thirsty Megalomaniac.

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E3 2016, L.A. June. Mid-afternoon

The Cosplay Fashion Show was hitting the main stage hard. The audience applauded and cheered as two scantily-dressed anime kittens bowed and exited stage. Alice squeezed herself between people towards the stage to get a better view as the DJ cued a punchy electronic music track, and two asari cosplayers entered.

One was dressed in Aria's crime boss outfit, and the other, posing as her bodyguard, was wearing extremely realistic-looking armor. Both had pistols. Both were sexy as hell. Nerds gaped. The audience roared.

They danced, pretended to fight and open fire at unseen enemies, made a hell of a show, and at the end, the bodyguard lifted Aria in her arms and carried her, then pretended to kiss her.

The mostly male audience made their approval known with whistles, good-natured cat-calls, and a standing ovation.

Alice found the show spectacular, and admired the result as much as the amount of time, effort and talent such costumes implied. The armor, in particular, seemed too real. As the "bodyguard" stomped through the crowd towards the exit, she looked so confident and badass that people stood clear of her path. "Aria" sauntered right behind her.

Damn. I wonder how she made that suit. And... I'm focusing more on her armor than on their show. I'm such a nerd.

Then, Aria's eyes met her own, and her heart skipped a beat.


"Meet the Stars" booth. Almost end of day.

As the announcer began pimping the limited collector's edition Geralt Sword (with real silver plating), the CDProjekt Red Witcher 3 booth was overrun by a flash riot. Fans piled up to acquire the precious item, and security had to step in to quiet things down.

Right in front, the Bioware booth was deserted. The famous Mass Effect voice actresses Jennifer and Ali had finished their autograph sessions and were about to leave. They were relaxing and talking to each other. It had gone well, although some fans were still crying about the endings.

A red-haired woman sat down in front of them. She seemed to be in her late twenties, had deep green eyes, and wore a black N7 halter top and jeans. After greeting them, she pulled her knees together and set her hands on top, looking rather shy and embarrassed, as she confessed that she would really love an autograph in the name of Alice Shepard.

Then came the usual confusion, but she was used to explaining all this by now. Yes, it was her real name, and she certainly looked very much like the "real" freckled Shepard, except her smaller, more pointy chin. It was just a coincidence. She had a Ph.D in particle physics, and had never handled a gun in her life. She was a geek, and a huge Mass Effect fan.

The conversation went on as Alice and the two actresses began debating the rumoured existence of a male Shepard character in the game.

When Alice took her leave and stood up, she almost bumped into "Aria", who had been there, patiently waiting for her turn. Seen from up close, she looked much gentler and softer than the Queen of Omega. Her ultramarine eyes lacked that killer stare. She was very cute, not deadly. Her cosplay was perfect, especially her makeup, crest, and skin texture. The exposed skin showing through the sides of her outfit matched the purple on her naked arms, hands, and face.

"Aria" nervously scratched the tip of one of her crest tentacles.

Alice realized she'd been staring, and snapped out of it, embarrassed. "Uh... Sorry... Nice costume!"

She began walking away.

After two steps, Alice stopped and turned around. She heard the cosplayer introduce herself as "Nel." Her voice was very feminine, delicate yet articulated, with an undefinable accent. As Alice began wondering who she might be, why she was so interested in her, and how she could be that attractive, Nel scratched the tip of one of her tentacles again.

Alice moved a little bit further away, but kept observing her. Finally, Nel took leave of the stars with a bashful bow, and walked off.

Alice needed to talk to her, perhaps about her makeup or her costume, or anything else. She'd make up a subject on the way. As she made her way towards Nel, her eyes drifted towards her cute butt, which prevented her from noticing a promotional Pokeball rolling on the floor. She stepped on it and lost contact with the ground, her swearing swiftly interrupted by her head crashing into the armored bodyguard.


At the bar

The armored girl, who introduced herself as Sharon, had left to buy drinks. Meanwhile, Alice nursed an extremely mild concussion, a very light bruise, and an almost non-existent headache. Nel was sitting in front of her, watching over her, worried in an irresistibly cute way.

Alice looked around. There were other tables, with people eating and drinking, and quite a lot were dressed up or disguised. Colorful advertisement posters were everywhere. She could even spot another asari cosplayer at the other side of the room.

Sharon came back with drinks and set them on the table. She was teal-colored, with light cyan freckles, deep blue eyes, and looked tougher than her mate, not shy at all. Alice noticed the bright colored "Best Cosplay Award" sash around her chest, and smiled. She smiled back to Alice in a calm and reassuring way, then put her hand on Nel's shoulder.

As Nel noticed the award too, Sharon made a little victory dance in front of her, turned a few turns, raised her arms, moving her hips in a very suggestive way. All Alice could do, though, was stare at her armor. It was rather thin, and followed the contours of her body; not skin-tight, but not bulky either. It seemed to be made of an intricate arrangement of hard plates which slid smoothly upon each other, not restricting her movements at all. There were no visible weak spots, even under her arms. It seemed very comfortable. The general color was dark green, with dark grey camo patterns, and a kind of faint shimmer.

Alice just knew something was wrong with this thing.

Nel pouted. "I spent hours on this impractical Aria outfit, and you come dressed for work, and you win! Goddess..."

Sharon pulled another "Best Cosplay Award" sash out of her utility belt pocket, wrapped it around Nel's chest. "We won as a team, peach."

The asari exchanged a tender look, said something to each other in a language that sounded a bit like Japanese but wasn't, and had a quick kiss. Then Sharon sat down.

Nel's smile went from ear-to-ear. Her gums were purplish, but her teeth seemed human, although not in the right number, and her canines were very pointy. She explained
"She's my bondm... girlfriend".

Alice's eyes were about to bulge out of their orbits as she managed a "God... Wow. Shit. Are you... for real...?"

Nel seemed embarrassed again, and scratched her head. Her tentacles twitched and curled a bit at the tips. Her friend was much more straightforward. She extended a hand to the human, for her to touch and examine.

Alice knocked on her forearm plate, which felt like no craft material she'd ever encountered. A few repaired scratches and impact marks were visible. The armor on her hand looked insanely high-tech. She played with Sharon's fingers, watching as tiny articulated plates arranged themselves to perfectly follow her slightest movements.

Nel, seemingly bolder, also extended a hand. Alice took it and tried to rub the makeup off, just in case... but that didn't work. Her skin felt slightly cooler than the human's and had a firm, velvety, soft texture. Instead of hair, it was decorated with many small, lighter purple freckles, and a few ultramarine. It felt alien, but natural and alive. Nel had a faint citrus smell, enhanced with weird but pleasant chemical tones.

Alice's brain stalled as it finally hit her. They were real.

She offered a very good impersonation of a deer frozen in the headlights of a truck. Sharon chuckled, while Nel looked around, making sure no-one was within earshot. The restaurant was noisy enough, and she seemed to think it would provide adequate cover. She leaned forward and whispered "We have been observing humans for a long time, you know. I am an anthropologist... Your species is so fascinating! Don't worry, we will not harm you. And, oh, yes, we're real asari, we did not come out of a videogame. I'm Nelinara, but please keep calling me Nel."

Alice quickly glanced at their pistols. There was no reason for them to be fake.

Sharon picked up her drink, cleared her throat, then raised her hand. "Alright. Greetings, human! We come in peace. I'm Ch'ara. Cheers!"

The alien was so... relaxed! She had giggled! Alice shyly raised her hand too, but everything she wanted to say stayed stuck back in her throat.

The plastic seat creaked under her armor as Ch'ara relaxed back. She explained, casually sipping her drink through a straw. "You know, thanks to this game, now we can go around without spending hours on make-up, as long as there's a gaming or cosplay convention around. Feels great!"

Nel smiled. "We have been looking for a... suitable human to invite inside one of our hideouts. I don't suppose you would be interested?"

Alice's legs tried to push the seat back a little, but it was bolted to the floor. She stared at Nel like a mouse in front of a cat and tried to shrink.

Nel sighed. She seemed sincerely let down by Alice's reaction. She leaned forward a little closer to Alice, extended both hands on the table, and waited. She did a little "come here", and tilted her head, smiling. She seemed so... nice!

Ch'ara had been watching, amused. She sucked on her straw, making an absolutely ridiculous gurgling sound in her empty glass. She smirked "Come on, human... we're trying to be serious here... don't be afraid!" and earned a sigh from her mate.

Alice kicked herself. Her wildest dream was right in front of her, in the form of beautiful and friendly aliens. She had been fantasizing about this since her first space opera movie. That was it!

She cleared her throat, still shuddering, and slowly took Nel's hands.

It was absolutely terrifying.

"Good!" Nel said, enthusiastically. "Now that you've agreed to come with us..."

Ch'ara added, pointing a finger up, "Well, as long as you don't say 'No', we'll take that as a 'Yes'..."

Alice gulped, and finally managed to speak. "Are you going to … eat me or something?"

"Shepard would go," Nel taunted "Besides, we're nice girls... I swear."

They stayed there for a while, talking about what was going to happen next. The aliens did their best to reassure Alice and convince her everything would be fine. They would simply introduce Alice to their friends, have dinner, spend the evening together... just like normal people. Then she would go home just fine. Nel could think of someone who would be delighted to meet her, and she was pretty sure Alice would share the feeling.

Alice knew it was fucking insane, but her curiosity and the alien's friendliness got the best of her. They raised from their chairs, and walked towards the exit.

As they walked past a Wookiee, Ch'ara high-fived it and they greeted in their own language. Alice wondered how many of those cosplayers were actual aliens.

"Of course, we can't let you know where we are taking you," Nel explained while they were waiting for a cab. "We are going to abduct you for the night, okay? Cellphone off, please."

Ch'ara went in the cab first to give directions to the driver. Then, Nel ushered Alice in. The driver, who had come to the convention specifically to ogle some hot cosplayer ass, began adjusting his rear view mirror, in which he met Ch'ara's eyes. She gave him the icy death stare. He adjusted his mirror back and remembered he was also a huge Mass Effect fan.

Ch'ara blindfolded Alice with a sleeping mask she had pulled out of her utility belt.

The conversation about the game became animated, with Nel and the driver doing most of the talking. Alice really wanted this. She closed her eyes behind her blindfold, and tried to relax, to let herself go. She focused on Nel's sweet, lilting voice, and after a while, her foot stopped nervously tapping the floor.

Shit! I wanted to try skydiving next month... Feels like I forgot my parachute!

She was in the center, squeezed between Ch'ara's hard armor and Nel's smooth skin. Her body had already chosen sides, and was beginning to lean a bit more on some turns than others.

She felt Nel's hand on her thigh, and twitched. Nel reassured her. "If you want out, say so, okay? Don't jump out the door..."

At some point the Mass Effect endings were mentioned. The rest of the way was dead silent. Alice didn't jump out. They arrived at their destination.

"This is it, girl." said the asari.

To be continued...