Chapter 1: A new game
"Did that all really happen?"
"Yes but some of the details have been lost to time, it all happened so very long-"
I didn't give the scene a chance to end, pausing and exiting the game. I had beaten Mass effect, going through the whole series from game one to end, for what felt like the hundredth time. It is a great game series, you'll get no argument from me, I wish there was something new, some way to make it fresh again.
After a while it kind of gets boring you know? There's only so many different option combinations you can make before you've seen it all.
Sighing at that thought, I opened steam up to pick a new game, something else to ease the boredom I was feeling. I might just torture myself, play some dark souls? At least I haven't beat those games too often, they're too damn hard for that.
Before I could pick it out of my game library, I got a notification.
Odd.
Somebody commented on my profile, but I don't have any friends on steam and I don't review anything. Why would someone do that?
I clicked the tab and brought up the message.
D3U5X - [You seem to like Mass Effect a lot, tell me, have you gotten bored with the story yet? I mean by now you must have the whole thing memorized, right?]
As I read the message I could help but get a strange vibe about this guy. I mean, who goes around messaging random people to ask people if they're bored? I was bored though, so I figured I'd answer him, it'll be an interesting conversation
g0dslayer - [Pretty much, a few side quests that I'm a bit foggy on how they progress but otherwise I know it all. Even read some of the books and watched paragon lost]
D3U5X - [I thought as much, with the hours you have logged, you'd have to be a major fan of the series. Tell me, what would you say if I told you there was a way to add a new element to the game?]
g0dslayer - [?]
D3U5X - [There's a mod for mass effect called Immersion, it adds a new person to the story. They become an actual part of the universe, and have an impact on the events! New dialog, different endings, it changes everything!]
g0dslayer - [That sounds cool, but wouldn't it mess with the game? I mean what you're talking about is a big change, it might crash it]
D3U5X – [It won't, give it a try, and I promise it will change how you see mass effect.]
A link popped up and I stared at it for a few minutes. I'm not dumb enough to trust some random person who messages me out of the blue. It could be some asshole trying to hack my computer and there was no way I would let my only source for entertainment go down.
But… I couldn't help but wonder, what if it's not a scam? What if it will actually do what he says, change things. What if it makes the game new again?
Thinking to myself I must be crazy, I clicked the link and started the download. It only took a few minutes and it was done. A prompt came up before I could open the folder saying it was installed and ready for use, do I want to open mass effect.
Not wasting anytime I brought up mass effect 1 and started what I hoped would be a brand new experience.
Nothing seemed different at first, at least not until I selected start new career. The screen changed orange, displaying something called the Hercules project database.
[Accessing…..]
[Accessing…..]
[Subject 10 profile corrupted. Please renter subject information.]
It looked like some sort of medical form, asking things like height, age, eye and hair color. I was lost for a second till I saw a flashing box in the corner.
[Use webcam?]
Huh, I guess it makes the character based off of your own physical look. A bit odd but whatever, I'm sure I can customize the look after. I clicked it and pointed the webcam at my head, waiting for it to do whatever it was supposed to do.
All of a sudden the form was filled with info, and it was mine! Height, age, it even guessed my weight right, this was getting creepy! It changed to a view of the avatar and it looked like me! Brown hair, blue eyes, a bit on the lanky side, it was like looking at photo. He was even wearing the same clothes.
Before I could do anything else the screen changed to what looked like a relay jump. The screen began pulsing, over and over, growing brighter and faster by the second. The screen flashed a brilliant blue that blanketed the room in its glow, blinding me at the same time. That's when I felt the world fall away, dropping me into an abyss of light.
I fell for what felt like hours, nothing but blue light all around me, pulsing every now and then. Was I dreaming? Was I dead?
Before I could put more thought into it the weightless feeling disappeared, and I dropped.
Hard.
I kept my eyes shut and grit my teeth, trying not to yell out from the pain of the drop. As it started fading I opened my eyes, taking in my surroundings. I was in some sort of storage room , metal crates around me, and there were no windows. At the end was a door with some sort of pad next to it.
As I stood up the door opened, and two people in white and yellow armor walked in talking to each other.
"-id you see the last failure, almost makes you feel sorry for the- HEY, how did you get in here?" The one on the left said, catching site of me and grabbing a blue rod from his waist.
The other one did the same and they came towards me, their weapons surging with energy.
"Come quietly, or we will use the stun rods." The second one said. "We have to get you back to your holding cell, with the others."
I backed away, scared and confused, who were these people?
"I-I haven't done anything, please, hold on sec!" I say, growing more terrified with each step they took.
They stopped and looked at each other for a moment, before looking back to me.
"We know" one said, before they both thrust their arms forwards.
My body was in agony as soon as they made contact, and the world went dark soon after.
