-Beep-Beep - Beep -
Fire?
-Beep-Beep - Beep -
Burning?
-Beep-Beep - Beep -
Where am I ?
-Beep-Beep - Beep -
It's so black. – No wait there's light flickering..
-Beep-Beep - Beep -
What happened?
-Beep-Beep - Beep -
I was on a mission for… someone.
-Beep-Beep - Beep –
Harsh Female Voice: "Get the implant online, I want it awake and ready to go with all the data uploaded!"
Harsh Male Voice: "Neural Implant transmitting memory files copied pre-Lazarus awakening, its already nearly done."
-Beep-Beep - Beep -
Voices nearby, can't see them through the black, how did, THE NORMANDY! – ATTACK – SHIP – ESCAPE – BURNING, OH GOD ….
-Beep-Beep - Beep -Beep-Beep - Beep -
Harsh Male Voice: "Pulse rising, Its going into cardiac arrest!"
-Beep-Beep - Beep -Beep-Beep - Beep -
Harsh Female Voice: "What! How can that be we had It locked down-"
Harsh Male Voice: "Yeah and now we're waking It up, go figure."
-Beep-Beep - Beep -Beep-Beep - Beep -
I couldn't breath – BREATH – CHOCKING – I still can't breathe, there's something on my face.
-Beep-Beep - Beep -Beep-Beep - Beep - Beep-Beep - Beep -Beep-Beep - Beep –
The BURNING, it HURT so much! It was in my lungs, choking my heart – my last thoughts they were..
-Beep-Beep - Beep -Beep-Beep - Beep - Beep-Beep - Beep -Beep-Beep - Beep -Beep-Beep - Beep -Beep—
LIARA!
-Beep-
"HUURGH!"
My eyes were open, I was in a room – no a LAB, weird logos covered the walls. People in grey armour surrounded me, one of them wearing blue – not Liara blue though. I ripped out the cords in my arms I yelled and stretched, a biotic pulse leapt from me smashing my captors against the walls.
"BOCWS: CSPV.71 you will obey and stand down! That is an order." A pain lit up in the back of my neck I felt numb for a second and my senses dulled, "87% Transfer on the Neural Implant, there's been file corruption, obviously Lawson never needed the original to have the implant so the control chip so she didn't bother too.." The dark skinned woman in blue armour slapped the guard? Working at the nearby terminal, "Shut up, do you want 'It' to kill us all!"
It. Did they mean me, there was something in front of my vision, a HUD, not something I hadn't seen before, but this one seemed to float seamlessly across my eyes. There were five bars of red and above that a solid clear line of blue, to the top left there was the letters BOCWS, Bio-Organic-Cloned-Weapon-System, underneath that were the letters CS71. Clone Spare Parts Vat. 71.
I screamed in unaddultered fury and enclosing my fingers in a biotic shroud tore a chunk of flesh from the back of my own neck, a piece of metal came off in my fingers, disintegrated almost immediately by my hands biotic shroud.
"OH SHIT! – Sit 'It' just.." Even in my pain I could hear screaming now, I relished it, revealed in it, my captors were suffering now just as they should.
My vision was less blurry now, the pain dulled in my neck and I stood straight scanning the room, I saw a door hiss open and charged for it. Biotics sending me further than I thought, I stumbled, tripped but made it outside the lab I awoke in.
- SECURITY BREACH - WARNING LEVEL 5 SECURITY BREECH IN PROGRESS -
Huh, never boring around me huh. No have to focus Jane, don't get distracted.
- SECURITY BREACH - WARNING LEVEL 5 SECURITY BREECH IN PROGRESS -
Yeah, yeah, heard you the first time. I've got to find a way out of here. I stumbled down the hall just in time for a usual day occurrence.
- LEVEL 5 SECURITY BREECH IN PROGRESS - WARNING ACTIVATING DEFENCE SYSTEMS -
Oh great, turrets.
Just what a girl needs to brighten her day, and me without my armour how careless.
A flash hit my mind, my brain felt like it was trying to escape my skull, my armour had broken apart, I was FALLING, the planet beckoning me – LIARA! Had to find Liara…
I unleashed a small Nova before spinning into the opening of a biotic charge, love this ability it made traveling around Geth invaded worlds so much easier… wait when did I learn this ability again? I can't seem to – ERROR 505 – FILE NOT FOUND. The HUD in front of my eyes flashed orange. Weird, doesn't matter though, have to escape here have to get to Liara.
It seems so quite now, oh I'm in an elevator and its going up. When did that happen? I was facing a turret and then I … doesn't matter just have to get out of here, how did I get here again?
- SECURITY BREACH - WARNING LEVEL 2 SECURITY BREECH IN PROGRESS -
- SECURITY BREACH - WARNING LEVEL 2 SECURITY BR "WOULD SOMEONE TELL ME WHERE 'IT' IS! GIVE ME A SIT REP ASAP!" EECH IN PROGRESS -
Heh, guess you forgot to disable the elevators, bad luck honey. Good for me though.
- SECURITY BREACH - WARNING LEVEL 1 SECURITY BREECH IN PROGRESS –
- SECURITY BREACH - WARNING LEVEL 1 SECURITY BREECH IN PROGR"WOULD SOMEONE TELL ME WHY ARE ALERT LEVEL IS DROPPING AND YOU HAVEN'T EVEN FOUND THE DAMNED THING YET!"ESS -
Oh dear looks like my luck is about to run out. Ding, oh the doors open, buh-by evil lab/base I'll make sure to tell the Normandy to drop in soon so we can blow you up.
- DEACTIVATING DEFENCE SYSTEMS "Er ma'am the Security Level isn't based on Threat or project , it's based on the actual Physical Level the intruder has breached." -
As the elevator doors closed I must admit to being tempted to listen in to whatever reply the boss lady would have given, but needs must and all that.
I ran down the corridor and turned and turned until finally I emerged, I looked up and saw the never ending sunlight of the presidium. Huh, must be on the Citadel, I'll just head over to the embassies to see Anderson. This areas new, I don't remember it, well I suppose I didn't see all of the Presidium and they must have had to rebuild a lot after the battle with.. battle with.. someone.
Damn. Whatever those nut-jobs did to me its messing up my memories good, it's really hard to focus. "Shepard, over here." A voice of sunshine, flowers and butterflies rose to my ears from just below me, I looked down and saw her. My blue goddess my love, Liara T'Soni, she must have seen me somehow she was waving… and who was that! A redheaded woman with a pony tail had just come over from the bar and was kissing Liara. MY Liara, on the check… oh only the cheek thank goodness. Before settling down in the seat across from her, well Liara is allowed friends I just wonder who…
I descended the steps and my life shattered. It was me.
Admittedly a slightly older me, with a different hairstyle that actually looked quite cute, I liked my current hairstyle thank you very much not what some poor knock of resembling me showed. Oh is that an Aids-Assistance-Mech with the same hairstyle as me but in metallic silver?... okay maybe I should get a change but I'm not letting that copy touch my Liara. Creaking made me look away from the unsettling scene, my hands had been clenching the handrail bar and without biotics I had twisted it to a pulp?
Scary changes in strength aside I needed to get my girlfriend away from that hussy, "Fucking evil copy.."
"Well I'm afraid that's not quite accurate CSPV.71," I turned to see the woman in blue armour from before, I set about charging up a biotic shroud for my fist "You see you're the evil copy and She's the original.." and my world splintered into a million pieces.
Now I wasn't about to take this explanation at face value you understand, but the evidence was irrefutable. I'm not the Citadel Council, I can take a look at facts and take them at face value. News reports had the success of Commander Shepard broadcasted on some show called Battle-space, an Extranet show devoted to covering the war with the Reapers. Which was apparently underway and in full swing. The other me the real Shepard had bought even more time, saved hundreds of thousands of colonists, taken down a race called 'The Collectors' (lovely dramatic name that, almost as good as 'The Reapers'), taken on the Shadow Broker, which apparently Liara was now running his info-network, cured the Genophage, re-saved the Rachni which I thought I had ended by killing the last Queen, united the Geth, saved a space station called 'End' twice, discovered a live Prothean, united the Geth and the Quarians in peace oh and killed 300,000 Batarians, by blowing up a Mass Relay.
Well that was a lot to live up too, a lot to surpass and even with the notable amounts or tech that Cerberus Prime had shoved into my body I doubted that I was a match for the real legend. I was just a spare, one of the many spares grown of the course of 2 years so that when organ transplants failed the next organ could be cut out and moved across into the real me.
I was a copy, a fake. I had nothing, I was nothing – the scientists told me repeatedly, Liara had started to mellow me, so maybe after being called a Renegade Spectre for my first year as a servant for the council, I had with Liara at my back shined through as a Paragon of righteousness for the rest of the Galaxy. But the real me, I mean me, I mean ME! Well I didn't have that time to grow, in fact apparently I was a little over two years old and one of the youngest clones that had been transferred pre-Lazarus project ending.
That was when she told me 'I could be more', and hell she was right, I was NO, AM COMMANDER FUCKING SHEPARD – First Human Spectre. I'm going to fight for my right to exist. I had the body, the brains and a ton load more tech than Shepard ever had, and I had an army at my beck and call, all Shepard had was a squad with more personality disorders than a psyco – er psyco somethingmajig. Whatever, they were practically fanatics worshiping the ground she walked on.
But the squad she took with her to face the Collectors had been selected by the woman waking me up, the woman was head of Cerberus Prime; after this Tim-guy got himself mind-fucked by a Squid. She knew all their strengths, and all their weaknesses, the plan was simple. Take out the squad that followed her fanatically like a cult, yeah like a cult, Okay take out the Cult of Shepard (Hey dramatic sounding names how's that one?) before moving on to the finale.
Taking out the legend herself.
We had a plan, we had a mission and most importantly I had a purpose, something to live for.
The plan failed miserably.
I mean I had a damn army. I even sent half of it at her in the first attack, she didn't even have armour on but then again, she was - is – am a Biotic Vanguard. Biotics take time to grow, to mature and develop. You can get boosts along the way and I had the best tech boosting me. But I'm only two fricking years old. Shepard's had years to mature and practise her Biotics, to hone them to the best of her ability. Me.. I've had two damn hours.
This plan was in motion long before they work me up, Hell taking out the squad isn't something they even needed me for. Pretty sure I'm just a morale booster, but Shepard's troops they believe. Didn't help my troops lacked conviction, hearing them moaning about how they were screwed and couldn't hold up against the real thing wasn't improving my temperament. Still I tricked her deep in, I had her locked in a box staring across a screen, I had already warned my troops about calling her Shepard.
I was, I am, I will be Shepard; the real Jane Shepard soon.
She just stared at me, and me at her. Back on the landing where I had introduced myself properly for the first time she'd been shocked at me, I'd seen disgust from the others but her just shocked. She'd looked at me with something; some meaning it had made me feel odd. Sick to my stomach, like I was being judged and found lacking.
Now staring at me again she seemed amused, but I knew what an angry me looked like and this wasn't it. Her speech was inspiring it made me want to fight harder to prove to the world that I'd beaten her with my mind, better than the original any day. I turned to go twice and hesitated each time, leaving her – me here just felt wrong. We'd accounted for every variable, there was no way for her to break out, and that wasn't what was worrying me.
I felt like I'd let myself down.
Well it's not like she'd die. I could always come back in a day or so…
"Enjoy your last few minutes with a Turian and a Krogan, Shepard, sorry you can't chat to you bondmate, but hey at least you'll be able to talk to an Angel before you die!" with that she took off laughing, I didn't get the joke though I remembered that she'd said that Garrus had got himself a new codename with Angel in it though.
Oh right oxygen, I remembered the false memories that weren't truly mine, dying in a vacuum, the cold setting in dampening my burning flesh… I tapped my Omnitool as we turned and left unblocking the com section hiding Shepard from electronic counter-measures. The drone Glyph, it had made me laugh, I don't care if it ruins our, my mission; No ONE deserves to die like that, I forwarded a location text ordering the drone to come get 'me'.
I saw the acknowledgment pop up on the file. I'd done what I could, I couldn't delay anymore though my destiny awaited.
I nearly powered my fist biotically, through the head of the first trooper, to tell me that we had no chance; against the real Shepard, in the end I left him for bait, with the rest to slow her down. I wasn't sure if I was regretting letting her live now, she was coming for me, win or lose my purpose would complete. She raced through the ship in record time, still not sure how she got to the bridge but the Normandy looked so different to how I remember it the insides red and silver a vast difference from the light blue hue of my day – no, her day.
I stocked up on Medigel and made sure to consistently replenish my supply during the fight, it was only when the shuttle delayed our departure, only when the bay doors opened that I felt fear overtake me. I remembered hurtling into space, fire consuming my being. But it wasn't me, not really.
Pity my subconscious didn't seem to think so, I needed to get nearer the exit, needed to get back on the ship. I was running out of Medi-gel fast, every crate I went to was littered with explosions, the gun Shepard was using my HUD logged it as a 'Venom' I have to say it looked awesome and I wanted one. Preferably one; that I was holding, facing my enemy rather than the other way around. But we don't always get what we want, me I never have.
Haven't really had time.
When my shields dropped for the last time she seemed to sense it, she biotic charged me, slammed me into the railing thrown back a bit herself. Then she charged me on foot throwing us both over the ramps guard rail – I don't remember that being there before?
We rolled to near the bottom and then she was on me, her fist beating me down, blood poured from my nose before the implants healed me on the spot. There was a jostle of movement and she fell off me, hurtling down to where the low-level shield protector had faded in and out before dropping completely. She was hanging on now too, a reflection of me, or perhaps the other way around, I was a reflection of her, a flawed reflection anyhow.
I saw her little squad, Liara through herself down, the fembot I'd seen earlier grabbing her legs and holding her on tight, behind the mech that woman 'Traynor' that' I'd fired, held on to her. They pulled me – the real me, to temporary safety. I looked to see the woman who awakened me; she had so many names, each time I asked she told me that 'until I was really Shepard a tool didn't need that information.' She turned looked at me hesitating before sneering and turning away, shaking her head.
I could feel a memory from my past, no Shepard's past. A movie from a long past age, 'The Mummy Returns – Curse of the Scorpion King' or something like that. Two men poised over the edge of a crevasse to hell, grappling at the ground trying to pull themselves to safety, the good guys woman came and helped him up risking everything. The Bad guys woman, someone he'd sacrificed everything to be with abandoned him to his fate, in despair he let go and fell in the crevasse.
I looked at Shepard, the real Shepard and prepared to loose myself into oblivion.
"Give me your hand!"
I blinked, she couldn't could she, why would she?
It didn't matter, "What do I have to live for?" I relinquished my grip on the edge, her eyes went wide and with a "Shepard!" from Liara, she launched herself at me grasping my wrist in a tight grip. "Well I've always wanted a Sister…" I hesitated, then reached for her arm and grabbed it as well with heaving from her companions I was pulled aboard. We ascended the sloping ramp with cautious haste before clambering over the railing. Obviously not trusting me to reconsider and jump to my death Shepard, the real me kept a firm grip on my other hand. Her eyes met mine as she forced me to climb awkwardly over the railing "I've lost enough people already, I'm not losing another if I can avoid it."
I swallowed cautiously, the hatch started to close. Obviously someone had gotten to the controls.
I kept a hold of Shepard's hand, a Sister…
Was that what she'd been thinking earlier when we first met in person? Mindoir had taken everything from me, my first friends, my family. Liara was wonderful and I looked forward to having lots of little blue children with her but, I'd – no those were the real Jane Shepard's memories. This was confusing.
The interrogation of the head of Cerberus Prime had concluded.
I fear I might have lost Jane a little credibility and intimidation factor seeing as I was still holding her hand. She turned to me and gave me a smile I had thought I'd never see directed at me, well unless I was looking in a mirror. "Now then.." bumping me playfully "..what am I going to do with you?"
-0-