Mass Effect: Massive Shock

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect or BioShock franchises or any characters or property that BioWare or 2K games has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 and BioShock and BioShock Original Characters I come up with are MINE to use and distribute.

A/N: /UPDATED/ Alright so, it's been a while since Massive Shock actually finished and there's a few things I want to mention to people new to the story that was overlooked initially.

First, this story wasn't a "Write as you go" kind of thing. Every single chapter, every word, every teeny bit of this story was written MONTHS in advance of its post date. Chapter one? Posted on December 20, 2011, despite being finished in October of that year.

Next, Like I said a while ago, this story is mostly OC's. In fact, you'll find most of the characters are OC. However, you'll get big, important roles from Mass Effect characters like Garrus, Tali, Sha'ira, Barla Von, so on, so on.

Moving on, this story is a Self-Insert, however, since I started writing, I feel the main character has drifted away and away from me as I went on. We became 2 different people, and though the character is based off of the author, he's actually not like me by the end of the story. We both change as the story goes, we both grow up. You'll notice that my writing style will change. You'll notice the tone of the story will change. And I prefer the word "Evolve" over change. The story grows as it goes, you'll see that. And part of the reason for that is the sheer amount of TIME it took me to write and post this. It took about 10 months to finish. (I expect the entire series will take up the next 5 years of my life. Yeah.) My life has changed a lot since I started writing, to when I finished it, and you'll see both myself, my writing, and my characters mature as the story goes on. So if you're one for more whimsy than anything else, you might want to stop reading after a while. If you're the opposite, be patient with it. You'll like it!

Next, I want to warn you: This story is long. I had a proper calculation a while back, but I lost count. But I want to guess that it's about… 600 to 800 pages worth of material? Just a warning, the chapters average about 20 pages each.

And finally, I want to thank you personally for coming.

Personal Note: /UPDATED/ So, things change, but I'd like to thank some people.

First, great big thanks to my sister in particular, who's sat through a reading of every one of my chapters so far, giving me critique and help where I needed it. And thanks to everyone who reviewed my story, and thanks to everyone who gave me help when I asked for it. You know who you are, I'm not one to single people out, but I want everyone to know that it's soooo appreciated. If I ever meet one of you in real life (Doubtful, but you never know!) I WILL give you a big hug!

Stylistic Notes: Any Narration of any kind will be done in bold print. Any communications, read text, past events, stories, or subconscious thoughts of characters other than myself will be done in italics. Also you may notice that my favorite punctuation to use is the ellipsis (…) I don't really mean to use it. I just want to make the story sound like it's coming straight out of my noggin. And that's how I think, full of awkward pauses. Anyways, Enjoy!


Rated M: For Coarse Language, Graphic Violence, and Non-Explicit Suggestive Themes.


"Nothing endures but change."

~Heraclitus~


Ch. 1: Broken Rapture

9:43 AM December 20, 2011


My name is Robert Jackson. I am 17 years old today. It's harder than you think, you know. Describing yourself without sounding like an ass. Well, I'll try my best.

I'm pretty short, about 5' 9" or about 175 cm for my metrics and about 200 pounds or around 90 kg. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not unfit, far from it. I'm in the best shape of my life. I exercise six days a week and I stay pretty active. I used to do competitive boxing and had a perfect record of 7-0. You'd think that would make me very fit all around but truth be told I'm probably one of the least agile people out there. Sure, sure, I can beat most people at arm wrestling and I am often the first person people call when they need help moving but if you asked me to climb a fence or even vault over a railing, I wouldn't because I would run the risk of falling and cracking my skull on the pavement. Now if you asked me to try and pull the fence down or break the railing, I'd give it a shot.

If you asked me what my favorite feature about myself was, it would probably be a tossup between my eyes and my hair. My eyes are a light green with a splash of yellow in there too. My eyes are my friends' favorite feature of me, but I like my hair. I have thick dark brown hair that I wear in a short Mohawk, sort of like Logan's hair in Dead Island. Except I shave a little strip out of the back so that it looks like an exclamation point, like Johnny's hair in Metal Gear Solid 4. You've probably inferred by now that I like video games. I'm pretty mainstream; I have all the best games and all the major systems.

Now, now I know what you're thinking: This guy can't possibly have any flaws! Well believe it or not I do.

I am typically too much of a nice guy, often sacrificing far too much for other people. And as everybody knows, nice guys finish last. Like this one time I helped a friend out by lending them like 200 bucks. I got a little pissed at him when he came to school a week later with a brand spanking new pair of super smooth Raybans. That leads me to the next one; I can get a little… aggressive, when I'm angry. But it's not like I have no self-control, for instance I'd never hit a girl. NEVER! That's just despicable… My biggest and most annoying flaw is that I have little to no inner monologue, it's a wonder I'm not saying this out loud right now. Now I know what you're thinking, "Well that's just Tourette's." I'm afraid you're wrong there, because I don't blurt out random vulgarities. I just can't think in my own head.

I also have a little trouble taking things seriously. And I'm a little narcissistic… which is probably why I'm talking about myself in my head… but in my opinion that's not really a flaw.

Anyways, so it's my birthday. My family decided it would be a good idea to take me on a little outing today, but I'd much rather just lie around at home. For some reason they're taking me to a weird 1950's to 1970's era museum in San Francisco. What the fuck? I don't even like the 1950's! What's good about it? Stalin? Cold War? Cambodian genocide? Or maybe Dr. King getting assassinated? Though that kind of led to Civil rights so… Still! What the hell?

"We're here!" my mom announces from the driver's seat.

"Finally!" my brother, my partner in crime, exclaims next to me.

"Rob! You're seventeen!" my mom says in some vain excitement, "How does it feel?"

"I feel like a new pair of pants. Tight," Oh God… that was an awful, AWFUL joke. My sister chuckles a little next to me.

As we walk up to the museum entrance I turn up the volume on my iPod in attempt to drown out external distractions. Events seemingly fly by from there, go inside and get a program of exhibits, all the dull stuff. My mom is mouthing something noiselessly, seems important so I pull my ear buds out of my ears.

"…meet back here at 11:00 okay?"

"What for?" I say.

My mom rolls her eyes and feigns anger, "Rob, were you listening? We're meeting back here for lunch and a movie!"

"Oh, alright, so I can just wander?"

"Yep."

"Sweet."

I immediately walk off in another direction, plugging my ear buds back into my ears. Oh look an exhibit about cities… boring. An exhibit about the space race… plaque has too many words. And… oh yay… an exhibit on planes, damn those are some old machines… wait… what's that?

I can hear something, sounds like talking even though the museum is deserted. I pull the ear buds out of my head and look around. A garbled, static clouded voice is emanating from a fat looking radio in the plane exhibit.

I walk up to it and duck underneath the velvet rope. I fiddle with the knobs a little and the voice clears up.

"…receive? 17 seconds. Do you receive? 16 seconds. Do you receive? 15 seconds…" The voice keeps repeating and counting down, it sounds hard and metallic, probably because of the radio.

I pick up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Ah. At last. 13 seconds remaining until structured event. Are you receiving?"

"Uh… sure?"

"10 seconds. Then we will see you very soon, Robert Jackson."

My eyes widen. Did this radio just say my name? "Who is this?!"

"9 seconds. We look forward to meeting you. 8 seconds. Do not worry yourself. 7 seconds. Do not fear. 6 seconds. Only fight. 5 seconds until structured event. 4 seconds. 3 seconds. 2 seconds. One second."

A sound, like an explosion rips at my ears, then it is followed by a hideous screaming that rips and tears at my head. I clutch at the sides of my head in terrible pain and knock the radio over. It feels like the sound is spinning around inside my skull. Ah! This shit hurts! What the fuck is happening?! The pain is too excruciating, I feel like my brain is boiling in my skull. I drop to the ground in pain. When will it end? Everything goes dark.

I'm in darkness. I can't see anything. But I can see everything at the same time. Like this room, this darkness, is all that there is and ever was. It's a void, a place where nothing dwells, a dark space in the light of day. I can't hear a thing. Not a thing. Am I breathing? Am I alive? A glint of something in the distance catches my eye. Impossible. There is no light for something to glint off of, is there? The thing approaches. It looks like a metal hand reaching from the dark towards me. I can't move. The sound in my head, the screaming of a million billion souls, grows louder in my head as the hand approaches. I can't fight it. The hand latches onto my skull and rips and tears at my face and my head until my brain is exposed. The hand pulls my brain from my skull and begins to pull it away into the darkness. I follow it, stumbling, trying to take my mind back. The hand laughs at me in a voice that draws like molasses and echoes in metal. I want to scream at it, to roar, but the hand has taken my voice too. I fall to the ground. I look up. The hand is holding my mind above me. A second hand, this one devoid of flesh, a skeleton's hand, stretches from the dark towards me. Between the hands, a face, a skull that is half metal and half bone appears partly shrouded by a hood that blends in with the dark of the void behind it. The Grim Reaper laughs at me, laughs because I think I am still alive, that I am still my own.

The maw of the skull opens and a pair of pale lips can be seen from inside. The lips speak. "You are ours. Be born. Grow. Sleep. Awaken. Repeat. Learn. Become. Work. Fight. Continue. Then find your end. Live, slave. But do not die here. We have a need of you. Your end will come, in time. Now, you will soon be born again. You will quickly grow. Your sleep will come very soon."

It reaches out with its bony hand and touches my forehead. The touch of death. The world goes even darker than it was before.


?

I'm not dead. Well I suppose I might be, I don't know what it feels like after all. I'm not unconscious, I've been that before. I'm still aware. The inside of my eyelids aren't illuminated by the dull light from the museum. They're illuminated by… moonlight? And it's cold. Really cold!

"Gah!" I exclaim as something icy and wet climbs my feet.

I sit up and look down at my shoes, which are in a pool of… sea water? I quickly take my feet out and stand.

Shit it's cold! It must be below freezing here! All I have on is a freaking t-shirt and jeans! Sure they're nice but not warm!

I stare around at my surroundings. I'm on some kind of stone staircase facing an amazingly tall structure, it is oddly familiar. I turn around and gape at the vast ocean before me. Great. Where the hell am I? Maybe hell…

"Well guess I'm not swimming out of here," I say to myself as I walk through the huge ornate doors of the tall structure.

The room I'm in is pitch black, where the only light is the moonlight coming through the small opening in the door where I entered. The door suddenly closes behind me and I'm left standing shivering in the cold dark. Minutes pass, I'm afraid to take a step. I can hear something near me. The wind? No… breathing.

Suddenly the room lights up as the power kicks in and I blink and cover my face. I rub my eyes and try to adjust them to the light. A small chuckle from behind me makes me whirl around in shock. Nothing. No I wasn't hallucinating or anything. That was a laugh. I look around to my left and right frantically, still nothing. Okay just remember your dojo training. What's the number one rule in video games?

Look up.

I do as I am trained. Oh shit. A figure is hanging from the ceiling above me. It drops and I quickly side step. The figure is clearly human, but so disfigured and deformed I threw up in my mouth a little bit. The man (or woman?) is wearing torn, dirty and shabby clothing that is drenched in blood and the he-she has threatening meat hooks in each hand. Okay I'm not one to profile people but I think this bitch or bastard wants to kill me.

"Hey handsome," the monster says in a surprisingly feminine voice, I can't help but feel flattered. "Wanna dance?"

The creature takes a few steps forward, her arms at her sides. Okay really threatened here. She suddenly lunges at me and tackles me to the floor. I immediately roll her over and I get on top. In a fit of adrenaline filled combat rage I smash my fist into her deformed face repeatedly.

She screams and laughs maniacally. She kicks me off and I slam into a wall. She leaps to her feet and does a back flip.

I get to my feet just in time to dodge the pair of meat hooks flying at me after she threw them. They latch into the wall behind me.

Now's my chance.

I charge and slam my shoulder into her stomach. She back peddles a little and falls onto her back. Before she can stand I stomp on her knee as hard as I can. She screams in pain and excitement and clutches at her shattered kneecap. I take a few steps forward and curb stomp her deformed face repeatedly. Eventually she stops making noise and just twitches a little, her completely smashed in face is ringed by an expanding pool of blood. I quickly backpedal from her and into a wall. My God. I think I killed her… Isaac Clarke style! Clarke'd!

Hey what's that?

I see a massive golden statue holding a thick chain in its hands. That looks strangely familiar. Wait a minute this is all really familiar. In the sudden realization that I've been in this place before, I look over my shoulder at the dead creature, then at her weapons in the wall. Wait I recognize this place… is this…?

I run over to a plaque that sits in front of the statue. A large golden button sits in the middle, I press it and a hideously familiar voice speaks to me from it:

"Is man not entitled to the sweat on his brow?"

Oh shit.

"'No!' Says the man in Washington, 'It belongs to the poor!'"

This can't be real.

"'No!' Says the man in the Vatican, 'It belongs to God!'"

Oh God…

"'No!' Says the man in Moscow, 'It belongs to everyone!'"

I'm in…

"I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible, I chose…"

"Rapture…" I say out loud, in unison with Andrew Ryan. My inner monologue has failed me yet again…


5:49 AM December 20, 1968

Six years. Six fucking years I've been in hell. I've been fighting everything, from Splicers, to Big Sisters, to Big Daddies. All for what? Tenenbaum and the Little Sisters? ADAM maybe? Survival? I still can't believe I'm in freaking Rapture. That place didn't even exist in my universe. It was just a fictional location in BioShock! A fucking video game!

I remember when I first saw one of them. Little Sisters, that is. Dirty, smelly, blood oozing from her mouth. I needed ADAM somehow, but I didn't want to harvest her, but I didn't have that Rescue plasmid either. So I had her take me to Tenenbaum. Wasn't easy though, I had to convince her that I was her older brother, apparently she could tell I had no ADAM in my system. That's when I knew for sure that I was in Rapture in 1962. That Little Sister's name was Anne. And she was the first one I rescued.

Since then I have rescued 72 Little Sisters, while simultaneously trying to survive against Sophia Lamb's goons. She really hates me. I can't say that I blame her, Lamb has been making Little Sisters almost constantly and I keep rescuing them and taking them to Tenenbaum.

Splicers loyal to Lamb finally got me though. Today, on my 23rd birthday, on the 6th anniversary of my death and my rebirth. I was just minding my own business, enjoying a bottle of smooth merlot, wearing the clothes I came to Rapture in like I do every year, when I got hit on the head and knocked unconscious. FYI I usually don't like to drink, but I'll get drunk on another birthday alone, like every single man out there I'm sure.

Now I'm being dragged through the hallways, getting my jeans wet. This sucks! I need to escape this damned city somehow! I can't take a bathysphere out of here until Delta kills that crazy ass Pastor guy or I'll get blasted out of the sea by a torpedo. I can't take Sinclair's sub, that'll be messing with the Balance. That's a term I came up with when I refer to how things are supposed to happen. I can't do anything that'll mess with the Balance or the future could turn out very different. Every day I dread when Rapture will sink and I'll drown, while everybody else is whisked off to safety. Well except for all the Splicers in the city…

As we pass in front of a hotel, I see the genetic ghost of a woman being stabbed to death by a man. I've had this problem with those genetic ghosts like Jack did in the first Bioshock game; they'll appear every once in a while appearing almost like they're in a film noire or something. I see the splicer on my left notices it too… Hey, that means we share genetic code! Gross! Seriously, splicers look like something out of a Marilyn Manson music video.

"So, you guys ever meet Delta," I mumble as the two splicers drag me down the hall.

"Shut up! Lamb is gonna rip you up good!" The splicer on my right with MY tommy gun says.

"I've never met him personally," I say spitting a tooth onto the ground, "But I'm an admirer of his work."

"Quiet!" The on my left with MY shotgun says, he raises it threateningly into my face, "Or I won't wait for Lamb to—"

The ground, the walls, and the ceiling shake violently. Oh shit! It's starting. The window near us forms a long jagged crack along its length and makes a loud noise and the splicer on my left drops my arm and aims towards the window as it cracks. Big mistake.

I grab the forearm of the splicer on my right with my free left hand. Icicles erupt from the back of my hand and ice coats my skin as I activate my Winter's Blast plasmid power. The splicer's forearm freezes quickly and I yank my arm from his grasp. The force of it tears his limb off at the freezing point. He drops my tommy gun and screams in pain.

I quickly pick up my tommy gun and gun down the other splicer as he turns around. After he is dead, I turn around and take my crowbar off of my belt and swing it into the remaining splicer's head. He drops down. Ah good old crowbar, works just as well against splicers as it does against head-crabs… Thank God I didn't get sent to the Half Life universe. I grab my shotgun and I stuff both of my weapons in my backpack and I start running toward the nearest bathysphere, I'm getting out of this damn city. I spot my reflection in a window and pause for a second to stare at myself instinctively.

It's shocking really how much I've changed. I used to be fairly tan, rather stout and muscular, with a neat short mohawk as my preferred hair style. Now my hair is dirty and matted and is almost shoulder length and I'm finally growing that beard I've always wanted. Though, I'd say it's more like thick stubble than a real beard. I've also gotten a lot taller, leaner, thinner, and paler over the past six years. Luckily my pants were a little oversized. If I saw myself on the street I'd think I was a hobo.

First thing I'm doing once I'm out of here? Getting a goddamn haircut. Then a shower. Then proper food. I'm tired of these damn Pep Bars!

I don't need to worry about Tenenbaum or any of the Little Sisters. They all escaped a few weeks ago. Therefore I was forced not to rescue any Little Sisters I found after they left because they wouldn't have anywhere to go if Delta was harvesting them, if he wasn't then they would go to Eleanor. Not like I knew if Delta was harvesting them or not. There's a reason I chose to rescue those little sisters and not harvest them. Actually two: First, I'm not that desperate for ADAM. Second, I'd preferably not rip open a small child to get ADAM.

The glass on the window cracks across my reflection and I am brought back to reality. I start running again, dodging debris and icy ocean water as I run.

I run full speed through the corridors and halls and rooms that I have become so familiar with over the past six years. I ignore the many panicking splicers around me as I run determined through the rooms. I leap over tables and counters deftly, which impresses me to no bounds. I've never been able to jump very well. A splicer gets too close and I whip my crowbar from my belt and smash it into his head. I hear a sickening yet satisfying crack and I keep running without losing any momentum.

As I round one of the last corners to the bathysphere I hear a shout from behind me, "Big Brother!"

My heart nearly stops beating, even though it was beating a mile a minute just seconds before. I spin myself around and see a Little Sister running towards me. No not just any little sister, Anne. I run the rest of the way and give her a kneeling hug as she reaches me.

"Anne! What are you doing here?! You were supposed to leave with Tenenbaum weeks ago!" I yell over the explosions and breaking walls.

"I didn't want to leave you alone!" She yells back.

"What the—I can handle myself!" I say a little insulted.

She smiles. Her smile vanishes as a nearby pipe explodes and icy water pours out.

"We're getting out of here!" I say as I lift up Anne, one armed.

I run as fast and as smoothly as I can toward the bathysphere. Once we reach it I put Anne down and she runs inside. Right as I take a step to go inside something rams into me and lies on top of me. A spider splicer with knives instead of hooks, and a bandaged up head, is on top of me. He snarls and tries to plunge a knife into my chest with both his hands. I manage to catch his wrists before he reaches me, it becomes a test of strength as we fight for the upper hand.

"Big Brother!" I hear Anne scream from the bathysphere. I see her move to leave to help me. I can't let her get hurt.

I let go with one hand and use my Telekinesis plasmid to push her back inside the bathysphere, she yelps and looks at me frightened and pleading. I give her a reassuring smile that masks my pain as the knife begins to very slowly enter my chest, and raise my arm again. I use my Telekinesis plasmid to pull the lever controls of the bathysphere. Anne looks in fear and realization and rushes to the door as it closes. I can see her mouthing the words "Big Brother" inside.

I tear my eyes away and look into the spider splicers deep orange eyes. I grab the side of his bandaged face with my free hand and activate my Incinerate plasmid. My hand suddenly lights on fire and so does his head. He screams in pain and tries to roll off of me but I roll with him and keep my hold on his face. He kicks me off and turns to run away. There is a large handprint burn that went straight through the bandages on his face. He glares at me and runs out of the room.

I turn, yanking the knife that's stuck in my chest a little out, and see the top of the bathysphere just vanishing over the large pool of water. I run and jump onto it and hold onto it with all my strength. I hold my breath as best I can as the bathysphere lowers itself into the icy depths of the Atlantic Ocean. My lungs were already burning from all the running and I didn't get a full breath into my lungs, let's just hope the bathysphere moves fast. I fight the gasping reaction that comes with getting plunged into icy water and grip the bathysphere with all my strength.

I open my eyes after an immeasurable amount of time and see out of the corner of my eye that Rapture is already sinking into a very deep abyss and we're slowly rising to the surface of the ocean. I can see Sinclair's sub rising very quickly to the surface. Damn Sinclair, bastard thought I was just a damn splicer when I first met him.

Then I feel my guts lurch to the side inside of me as a massive explosion from Rapture causes our bathysphere to spin out of control. I hold on for dear life and force my eyes open. I can see Anne inside of the bathysphere clinging onto a support rail in fear.

I know what I have to do now. It hits me that I have nothing left to live for except for these kids. I'll do what I have to then.

I let go of the bathysphere and push myself off of it. The momentum of the spinning bathysphere carries me for a short while before I steady and start sinking. I face the out of control bathysphere and muster the last bit of EVE in my body to steady the bathysphere with my Telekinetic plasmid and send it flying toward the surface. I see the bathysphere hit the surface of the ocean. Good, she's gonna make it.

I feel weak and heavy as I slowly descend after Rapture as it sinks into the dark undersea chasm. My lungs are screaming for oxygen, but I won't let them have any. I can't. My life flashes before my eyes and that's all it takes me to realize that I didn't have any hard life growing up. My parents were happy, which was a rare occurrence in America. My family was kind and loved me. I was a smart guy who did well in school and had a lot of friends who cared about me and who I cared about in turn. Now I can see how I took that all for granted. Now that I have nothing, that I'm about to die, I don't miss it anymore. I used to hold on to that faint hope that somehow I might get to see them all again. That was a vain hope however. I knew that I'd die here, but I just didn't want to admit it. Looks like that's it then.

I feel myself descending faster and I flip myself over now ready to accept my fate. I quickly descend into the pit that Rapture disappeared into. As I pass the edges of the pit, my vision darkens from the lack of light. Looks like this is it. Might as well get it over with. I open my mouth to take a breath and end it all.

Suddenly I feel a massive pull from my right and I am pulled straight into a pitch black crack in the abyss. I feel myself speeding through the abyss in pitch blackness and I don't know what's happening and I can't slow myself down, the pull is far too strong.

Deeper and deeper I fly into the abyss. All light has faded from the place and it seems like so long ago that I was in any kind of light, when in reality it has only been mere seconds. Light has become a memory in this place. As I move through the abyss. I feel a change. The small abyss around me feels almost as if it opens up into a world completely new.

This new place, darker than the heart of the Devil, feels different. I know that I am still in water, but the water is different. It's almost as if, rather than being in the icy waters of the Atlantic, I am in an air-conditioned room, the water feels more like still air.

In this place breathing becomes moot. Living feels unnecessary. Is this hell? Or maybe heaven? I can still feel myself moving with blinding speed through the water. The world around me is dark but also not dark. And just then, the Noise returns. The hideous disgusting Noise that I heard when I first went to hell, to Rapture. The Noise sounds like the screaming of some unearthly creature, one with a million billion mouths and voices, boring into my very being. This place is hell. I clutch in vain at the sides of my head, in an attempt to stop the noise. But the noise bores into every part of my skull.

Then as quickly as the noise came, it disappears. I feel myself slow down to a halt through the water. The water I am bathed in is warm and pleasant and I am welcomed to a bright light from above.

A light? A light! I swim towards it. Struggling to get myself closer to it. My lungs feel like they're turning inside out in search for oxygen. The light grows larger, and larger until it encompasses my whole vision. I can feel myself near the surface. Then my body gives out. The light fades from my vision and I fall unconscious.

I awake to the feeling of warm air all around me and warm lips upon mine, filling my lungs with air. Now that's a feeling I missed. I lurch and the lips that gave life back to me pull away. I turn on my side and cough out lungfuls of water onto the cold metal ground. I fall back onto my back and breathe. Funny how much you can like something especially if it's taken away from you… like air.

I hear muffled voices speaking and I feel hands on my shoulders shaking me. I try and open my eyes but the light blinds me and I cover my face with my arms. Some people help me sit up and I slowly adjust my eyes to the light.

I am looking down at my lap, and I am sitting on a cold metal floor. I can see a thin hand on my left thigh. Wait a minute… that can't be right… I blink to clear my vision. Okay that hand only has three fingers. I look up at the face of the three fingered person and see a hooded feminine figure with a glass mask obscuring her face in front of me.

"Are you okay buddy?" a flanged voice says from my right. I turn and see a… a… an alien with a painted metallic face and mandibles staring at me. Wait a minute that's a…

I look back at the masked woman. And that's a…

I look directly ahead of me to see the person that breathed life back into me. Her skin is blue and she has… tentacles or something instead of hair. That's a… an asari?

I look around at my surroundings, and I see many aliens walking or gathered around me. I can see a huge artificial lake to my left and a fake sky above me. In the center of the lake is a massive statue of a… Mass Relay…

Oh shit…

I'm on the Presidium… on the Citadel.