Senior Prom, a magical night for any teen, no matter what species. As I waited by the punch bowl for Sareena, I watched the excitement. An Elcor stood in the corner doing a two-step with its date. A Salarian was grinding a human with the music. I tugged at the collar of my military formals (father made me wear them), wondering where Sareena was. I had been waiting for almost an hour. She insisted on driving separate, saying she wanted to surprise me.

The DJ's voice came over the speakers. "Okay graduating class of 2186! Now we'll switch over to some human music. This song is called 'Digital Love' by our favorite human music duo, Daft Punk!" A cheer ran through the crowd. Even though they haven't been around for almost two hundred years, they were still pretty popular. Our a cappella group, The Alternative, tried to do some of their songs, but you can't really sing techno. The music started and everyone around me started dancing.

"Zatio, there you are! I was looking everywhere for you." I turned and saw Sareena across the way, and my jaw dropped. She was wearing blue and purple fabric over her environment suit, which draped over her shoulders and down to her waist. It connecting to a skirt that went down to her feet. her hood was made of a metallic purple fabric.

People parted as she walked toward me, staring in awe. A few girlfriends got a little annoyed with their dates that night. I walked over to her and kissed the end of her helmet. "You really know how to make an entrance," I said. She looked up at me and I saw her smile. "Well, I am a Quarian. I always seem to cause people to double-take," she replied.

The lyrics of the music started to echo throughout the room:

"Last night, I had a dream about you.
In this dream; I'm dancing right beside you.
And it looked, like everyone was having fun.
The kind of feeling, I've waited so long."

We moved to the dance floor, where we held each other, slowly spinning to the music. I pinned a corsage to the fabric on her chest and she smiled. "I love you," she whispered. "I love you t-" I stopped. I felt like this had all happened before... Wait, prom was almost five years ago; about two weeks before...I looked down at her agin.

Sareena's helmet was smashed, and I could see her beautiful face. She had a sad, pained look on her face, and a tear ran down her cheek. There was a huge chunk of metal stabbed through her. The room we were in started to fade away. She was lying in my arms, not moving, not breathing...

~~~Morning~~~

"Sareena!" I sat up. For a moment, I didn't know where I was. Gathering my bearings, I looked around. After a few seconds, I realized I was in my studio apartment on Bachjret Ward. It was in the shape of a circle, with a living area in the middle, a kitchen to one side, the bedroom area where I was, and a door leading to the bathroom next to it. Against a row of windows overlooking the ward, my laptop sat on a desk. I got out of bed and looked at the Drell sleeping in the top bunk. When Axel wasn't in his body, it just slept.

I looked at the clock on the wall screen. 7:00. My Quarian History class wasn't for another three hours. I walked into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. My fringe was a bit uneven from lying in bed, and my face paint was faded and smeared. Back in the main room, Axel was being projected from my high school class ring. "What's up Axel?" I asked, forcing a smile.

On the outside, Axel looked like any V.I. He glowed orange and took on the form of a Drell. Axel is actually an A.I. that was created to care for me when I was younger. My parents love me and my siblings, but they are constantly working. Mom works for Presidium Real-Estate, and my dad, an ex-general in the Turian army, works for C-Sec. Even now, they are both so busy, I usually end up caring for my brother and sister. Axel is now my best friend. He has thoughts, emotions, and opinions. You know, like a normal person.

When I was five, my uncle Creestus created him for me. You probably know that name. Creestus is the CEO of Apex Technologies. He actually programed Axel the day I was born. The day of my fifth birthday, my uncle said, "This is Xavier 5976, or Axel, for short. He will always be there for you. Your parents are great, but they always seem... distant. Axel will be there for you when they can't."

Axel wasn't smiling when I walked in. "You were dreaming about her again, weren't you?" he asked in the gravelly voice Drell have. "Well... yeah. How'd you know?" I, asked, staring at the ground. "First, I know you too well. Second, you were screaming her name at two in the morning," He said, a small smirk forming. "Oh. Yep, that might give it away," I mumbled, walking over to my dresser. I activated my Omni-tool and turned on the small Holo-screen on the coffee table. An Asari newscaster appeared.

"Today, November 20th, marks the five-year anniversary of our victory over the Reapers," she said. "And even today, we are still paying the price. Many worlds are estimated to pay 1.7 trillion Credits, and even now, the Citadel is still under construction." A sick feeling filled me at the thought of that day. Images flew through my head: people running, Reapers floating over the station, the explosion... "I'm going to go see her today, after class." I grabbed a gray shirt and black pants, then went into the bathroom before Axel could say anything else.

I shut the door and undressed. The hot water felt good on my tired body. It made me wish I could just wash away my stress, my anger, and my pain. I walked out a little later, deciding I would leave early to pick up breakfast at the transit station. I grabbed my messenger bag and jacket while walking toward the door. "You want me to come with you when you go?" Axel asked from the desk. "Nah, I don't want you to miss work. I'll be fine. Oh, and go ahead and take the sky car. I'll just take the train." I was about to walk out the door when Axel stopped me. "Hold on one sec."

Axel transferred over to his body, another one of my uncle's creations. It was a living Drell body that he started breeding A little after i got Axel. When the body got to the age of 25 Earth years, he gave it to Axel. Instead of a brain, there was a small receiver and memory core. He could transfer over to this body whenever he wanted. While in it, Axel can feel pain and hunger, as well as eat, sleep, go to the bathroom. The minus is since he has a living body, he can also catch real disease. Just a few years ago, he had to be cured of Kepral's Syndrome (The cure was found just after the defeat of the Reapers).

When the transfer was complete, his two sets of eyelids blinked a few times. He rolled his arms a moment, and then walked over and hugged me. "See you later, man," he said, then grabbed a jacket and left. I stood there, a little thrown off as I heard the elevator open and shut. That's what I loved about Axel. He could go from best friend to father figure in two seconds. I looked around my apartment, then left.