Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all of its characters are property of Bioware

AN at end of chapter

Prologue

The entity watched as the glow of the machine began to die down and its precious cargo had begun its journey. It sat contemplating the now dormant dais and the impact that the individual would have on the contingency plan.

"A contingency plan for a contingency plan," it thought, "Ksad would approve."

The entity then began to power down the remaining systems of the complex as it prepared to return to its silent vigil of the complex. As the remaining lights winked out it once again reflected on the one that it had been its only company for the last few cycles. The simplicity of the creature had astounded it almost as much as the shear amount of chaos it had brought to every modeled scenario it had presented it. Most surprising had been the final orders that the being had given it before it started its journey.

As darkness began to envelope the complex it considered one more scenario model to satisfy its own curiosity. While it would not be accurate in any way it would give him something to dream about as it returned to its sleep…

Him???

Sleep???

The entity gave a chuckle as the full extent of the influence of his friend began to make itself known at the same time the scenario finished its predicted course. He reviewed the results for a time before he let loose a loud guffaw of laughter and began his hibernation.

It almost felt pity for the destroyers.

Almost…

"Not now you stupid little bosh'tet!"

Not for the first time, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya began to curse the malfunctioning scanner as the screen faded into static once again. She stared at the machine and was barely able to resist the urge to hurl it on the rocky ground of her camp site.

"Auntie Raan told you not to trust a volus trader that is too respectful," she scolded herself.

Although she now knew exactly why the scanner had been such a bargain…

With a frustrated sigh she set down the scanner and activated her omni-tool and began the arduous task of once again bypassing the overtaxed circuits of the equipment. As she listened to the tones and beeps of the glowing tool at work she began to reflect on her situation.

"Three weeks into my pilgrimage and all I have to show for it is a courier shuttle that is almost out of fuel, a pistol less than a quarter of a ballistic block, a energy scanner older than the flotilla, and a handful of unconfirmed reports of geth."

As she thought of the last one her mood began to darken even more.

At the time it had seemed like a good idea, track down small patrol and find out what her people's mistake was doing beyond the Perseus Veil. It would give the Migrant Fleet invaluable intel on a possible threat and it would make her father proud.

But after a week of dead end leads in some backwater system she was beginning to think that she should have done what most of her friends had suggested and start looking into a used starship. She could probably find one that was in decent enough shape and the fleet always welcomed new ships.

She continued to daydream about commanding the newest addition to her people's fleet before shaking her head. She had already used to many credits to be able to afford anything more than a courier shuttle, and that was if she didn't worry about the condition. Besides she had already committed herself to her course and she wasn't going to back down because of a malfunctioning piece of equipment.

A moment later her optimism was rewarded with a tone indicating that omni-tool had finished it's repairs. She gave it a triumphant grin as she powered the scanner on to check for geth.

"It's like father always said, we Quarians can fix anything, give us some junk parts and some eezo and we can…" Her internal monologue trailed off as the scanner began to click insistently. She frowned as she adjusted the display.

"That's not a geth signature," she thought, "That's dark energy and the only times I've seen that much released at once is..."

Her train of thought was brought to an end when the ground around her began to heave violently. Confused she quickly clung to the scanner as she tried to steady herself.

"This is area was completely stable when I scanned it what is going on?" she thought desperately. Any more thoughts were brutally cut off with a loud roar of thunder that brought her to her knees. As she slowly stood up she became aware of two things. The first was a small plume of smoke that had just started to rise over the next ridge. The second was the text on the display of the scanner announcing that it had found a match to the energy pattern.

Relay Transit.

She stared at the scanner for a moment before setting it down and drawing her pistol. She cautiously made her way to the ridge as her mind began to supply her images of what she would find when she reached the smoke plume.

A new geth weapon?

An undiscovered cache of Prothean technology?

As she arrived at the crest of the ridge she took a deep breath to calm her racing heart before she slowly levered herself across…

…And nearly dropped her pistol in shock.

Not thirty meters before her had once been a sloping hillside covered in rocks and some shrubbery. Now it looked as if someone had came and flattened an area ten meters in diameter and polished it to a glass like finish. And in the center of it, obscured by the smoke, was a shape.

As she began to ease her way forward a sudden breeze cleared away the smoke and she did drop her pistol. Lying in the center of the glassed area was a body with steam rising from it. Concern outweighing caution she broke into already prepping her omni-tool with a dose of medigel. As she reached the body she knelt down and turned it over.

She gawked at the sight of the pink skin face before her.

A Human!

Granted it wasn't the first time she had seen a human before, she had met several at refueling stations since beginning her pilgrimage, but this one didn't seem much older than her! He was clad in a simple jumpsuit with a dark jacket of some sort over the top of it. His head was topped with covering of dark hair that fell around his ears and over the top of some strange metal wire and glass construct that covered his eyes. Clutched in his hands was a rucksack that had an equal amount of steam rising from it.

She shook herself out of her daze and began checking him, she was fairly certain it was a male, for injuries. As she reached out to see if he was still breathing she screamed when his eyes suddenly shot open and he abruptly sat up, his head swiveling back and forth in confusion. When he caught sight of her he jumped to his feet at the same time she did. For a time the two stood there staring at one another before she cleared her throat tried to speak to him.

"Are you injured?" she began slowly. Instead of answering her question he tilted his head to the side, his brow furrowing as if in contemplation. After a few moments she tried again.

"Can you understand me?"

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya of the Quarian Migrant Fleet."

She jumped at the sudden statement from the human and stared at him as she finally processed what he had said. After a moment he nodded his head as though coming to a conclusion.

"You are important."

Unbidden she felt her cheeks flush at the odd statement.

"W-what do you mean?" she stammered.

The strange human frowned for a moment before shaking his head.

"I don't know why you are important, just that you are."

She caught a look of confusion in his eyes before she spoke up.

"Who are you?"

The simple question seem to surprise him and a look of panic appeared in his green eyes before he answered her.

"I don't know."

Author Note:

Yeah I know.

He hasn't updated one story in almost two years and suddenly he starts a new one.

I'm a prick.

Believe me I have been trying but in between a full time job and taking college courses on those days that I don't work I have had precious little time for writing and those time that I do sit down I have been fighting writers block and and vile plot bunnies on completely unrelated subjects.

This is not me trying to make excuses,

This is me stating a few facts.

I will continue to try and update A Kindred Spirit but those updates maybe sporadic as I will try my hand at weekly updates for this story.

This will be Tali/OC story with a few surprises every now and then and a really evil surprise planned for my oc.

I plan on skipping some of Mass Effect 1 to try and give the story a bit more realism.

(No way in hell I am going to write about Shepard running around planet after planet in the Mako)

I also plan on altering events that happen in game to address somethings that always bugged me.

If you like then review.

Fair warning any flames will be directed to the little voices in my head that tell me to burn things.

Until next week.