Hello there, I'm The Royal Protector, and you're reading one of my first attempts at fanfiction. I tried writing other ones, but this one seemed the best one.

I feel the need to point out that English is my second language and thus there will be grammatical errors in the story. Any criticism is welcome, as long as it's constructive. As for updates, I have no idea, most likely when I'll have time, but I expect around 1 chapter per week.

EDIT: I'm coming back to earlier chapters, mainly to correct typos and such and tweak the story a bit here and there.

This SI will explore a path that I don't think has been explored before on . It will go more AU as the story goes on, due to interference from the SI, in ways that haven't been written down I think.

"speech"

'thoughts'

*sounds, gunfire, etc.*

(notes, addendums)

(A/N: Authors Note)

Disclaimer: The Mass Effect franchise is not mine, only things I own are my OCs.

Mirror Images

Chapter 1: Prologue

You know, falling off a mountain road in my car, waiting to die wasn't how I imagined my weekend. Then again, I kinda deserve it, since I shouldn't have driven (slightly buzzed, I admit) in the mountains at night. Well I guess I should explain the situation, I just got my driver's license and my 18th birthday was closing fast, so naturally I was going to celebrate it like any other person.

Getting absolutely shitfaced with my friends.

To my surprise my friends rented a place in Austria, saying it was far away from everything and it would be nice to do some hiking while we're there. Everything was going great until we ran out of alcohol and 'other' things, anyways, we did a rock, paper, scissors championship, the loser would have to grab things down from the village that was near us. Three guesses who lost, and the first two doesn't count. With a defeated look and mindset I asked for the car keys and started my journey down the mountain. I was doing great until a goddamn deer came out of nowhere and I was forced to pull sideways. Needless to say the car is falling right towards the ground right now, really fast. Now I know three things: one, I'm going to die here, two, I will likely die quickly, because the ground looked really rocky, and three, I fucking hate deer.

My internal musings were cut short by the ground, which the car has reached.

Ever heard of the stories where people say they saw their lives flash before their eyes? Total bullshit. Although the part about the white light is kinda true. I'm in a milky white and gray place just… levitating I guess. I look around only to see the same scenery: foggy white and grey, I look down and I almost have a heart attack as I notice that I have no body… I'm just a cloud of…something. I'm about to ask what is going on when my body flares up with so much pain I didn't think it was possible, Fortunately as fast it came the pain goes away and I feel myself settle down.

Wait.

Body?

I force ?my? eyes open (which was hard as hell) and see that I'm in a white/blue room. I notice that I'm in a white bed next to some beeping machines. I smell the air and the smell of antiseptic hits my nerves.

'Ah. A hospital of course, maybe I didn't die there and my friends called an ambulance' I thought. I looked around, searching for a call button to indicate that I'm awake, after about ten seconds of finding nothing I glance down to my arm and see two things: one, my skin was a bit paler than it should be 'maybe I was out for a long time or something' I mused. Oh, and two, a tube attached to my arm and the beeping machine (which I'm confident is a heart monitor). Gripping the tube I tear it out and the machine flatlines instantly (I know that wasn't very nice of me and that should have given about half a dozen doctors a heart attack, but I don't really care). Sure enough a really startled looking nurse rushes in and looks at me sitting in the bed like she saw the devil. After a couple seconds of uncomfortable silence and a shocked expression (from the nurse) later I decided to start a conversation, hoping my rusty german skills were still functioning.

"Guten Tag, Krankenschwester" I said trying to remember my german classes.

"…What? Never mind you're awake- I gotta call Dr.B'lezea." and with that she stormed out of the room probably to call a doctor, leaving myself to my devices. 'Okay, I wasn't that bad, the rushing out was totally uncalled for' I thought to myself.

"Well that was weird." I said after a couple seconds 'and what did she mean by I'm awake? I get that I was probably knocked out or something but that doesn't warrant that kind of reaction' I thought to myself. Looking around the room once more I realize that this place is advanced, and I mean touch-screens-and-blue-lighting-everywhere advanced. 'Austrians' 'probably they have a lot more spent on healthcare than we do.' I thought. As I said that the door to my room swooshed open (oh yeah. those too) and walked through the nurse and-

"Mr. Carter, I see that you're awake." said the… asari?!

' .Fuck.'

"We didn't think you would be up so soon, it was much more likely that you awaken in about 4-5 months." said the nurse.

I must've looked like I saw a ghost, because then the nurse said "Are you okay? you really don't look good."

'Yep, never trying weed and alcohol at the same time, because I see a goddamn ASARI in front of me. How the hell?!'

They must've noticed I was focused elsewhere, because the doctor said "I think he's experiencing a mild shock after awakening." "Better we give him some water, food and some time to rest."

"Yes, I think that's a good idea."

'Maybe I have an idea what's going on, but I'll have to test it' I thought. "Wait, what's the date?" I inquired as they were about to step out.

They turned to look at me, then at each other, then back at me and said " It's June 29. 2172, I'm sorry, but you were in a coma for the last two months after the eezo carrier incident." Said the nurse somberly.

'Yep, I've read enough fanfiction to realize what is happening' I was in the Mass Effect universe. That can be either very good news or very bad… I really hope it's the former. I started to feel panic rising inside of me. 'Not now, I need to be in my game now, I can panic later' I scolded myself. Well, time to play dumb.

"Sorry, but I think I have a slight memory loss. Could you tell me where I am and what accident were you talking about? I asked, hoping to gather some information on my current situation.

The nurse thought for a second before replying. "Well, as I said earlier, there was an accident involving an eezo carrier exploding above the colony world of Tyrole. The resulting shockwave and eezo contamination killed everyone". "Well, except you" she informed me with sorrow in her voice, no wonder, an entire colony dying must mean a lot of body bags.

"As for where you are, after SAR teams found and stabilized you, they took you to the nearest, best equipped hospital, which happened to be the Huerta Memorial hospital on the Citadel" explained the doctor, while the nurse fought back tears. 'She must have had someone on the colony' I wondered. The nurse soon excused herself out of the room, probably to cry, then the doctor turned back to me.

"If you don't mind, I would like to run some scans to determine whether you can be released." She continued and after my nod she proceeded to scan me with her omni-tool and all the while writing notes. 'That's soo cool, I wonder if I have one too' I pondered. After a few seconds of trying various methods to activate it (not that I knew how to) I was about to give up when an idea occurred to me. I focused on my left arm and 'willed' my omni-tool on. To my satisfaction a familiar orange glow surrounded my arm. 'Success!' I fist pumped internally.

'Okay, let's see what secrets this thing holds.' I thought as my fingers were dancing on the holographic screen (it actually felt like a solid object!) and trying out the different options.

About a minute and various features later I found the user details and started reading.

Name: William Carter

Age: 17

Date of birth: July 1st 2154

Place of birth: New York, Earth

Current residence: New Geneva, Tyrole

There were other numbers that were probably important, but my mind got stuck on these 5 lines, I probably just sat in place and stared at the screen for god knows how long.

'I am… someone else….?' I managed to question someone, anyone that might have listened, but to my misery nobody answered. After waiting a moment the doctor (Whom I completely forgot was there the whole time) spoke up.

"Hmm, your body is surprisingly intact, no muscle degeneration, immune system and-" she flashed a light into my eyes, which caused me to rapidly close my eyes and look elsewhere. "- eye implant fully functional, hearing obviously functioning" She listed off, ticking points on her datapad.

"Okay, it seems you have fully recovered from any effects the explosion had on your body, I think the coma even helped your body regenerate any damage." She announced happily.

"That's certainly good to hear, when can I leave?" I asked cautiously. I knew I probably had to spend at least a couple of days in this bed just to be sure, but I wanted to get out of there, I never really liked hospitals, too many bad memories I guess.

"Actually, since you're fully recovered you can leave this afternoon." The doc informed me with a smile on her face.

I think my brain stopped for a second because I heard 'afternoon'. "Sorry, but did you just say this afternoon?" I asked confused, that's unusual to say the least.

"Yes, Huerta Memorial is a very busy hospital and you're currently occupying a bed that somebody could use right now, now that I think about it I have six other patients that require my attention" The asari said as she walked towards the door of my room." Oh, and don't worry about the expenses, the Alliance covers it as compensation for the accident, and you can also retrieve your possessions at customer services." She said turning her head towards me, still walking, with that she stepped out, leaving me mouth agape on my bed. That and the reality that I'm in another universe catches up to me and I descent into panic. 'Okay, higher brain functions stopped working.'

Four hours and a mental breakdown later I find myself sitting on a bench near one of the lakes on the presidium. After Dr. B'lezea left I had a sort of WTF moment that lasted a while. Information overload probably. Anyways, when I finally collected myself I left the bed and went to customer services to retrieve 'my' stuff. I got a black Rolex that I apparently got from my grandfather, family heritage probably, clothes that were a mix between a modern and a futuristic style, at first I was a bit skeptical, but after getting dressed everything I had against vanished. It looked good on me and was comfortable as hell. It consisted of dark blue jeans, a dark grey T-shirt, a blue-black jacket and a pair of black shoes. While I was checking myself out in a mirror (graciously provided by some staff) I noticed my new body. I was about 185 cm tall(~6 ft) with a muscular (for a 17 year old) body, my face changed quite a bit as well: my hair was dark brown, bordering full on black, my neck was somewhat thick, cheeks high, medium sized nose and ears and then my eyes…

Remember the part about 'eye implants'? yeaah…

My irises were of a brilliant silver color that had a subtle lighting effect. When I inquired about it to someone they said that I had massive ocular damage and was nearly blind, because apparently I was under about 4 tons of rubble when they found me, when they dug me out there was debris in my eyes that caused profuse bleeding and as they tried to clean it they managed to tear out pieces of my eyes.

I know, delicious.

But, due to modern bionics and medicine I got my perfect 20/20 vision back, so, everything is fine.

All in all, I looked quite charming if I do say so myself.

Back to the present, after I had sat down and checked my omni-tool for messages I was bombarded by a mountain of mail. Most of it was spam, but a few stood out. Few of which were from the Alliance, to summarize them they said that they were terribly sorry and as 'compensation' they covered all the expenses concerning my treatment and deposited 500 000 credits to my account. Another one stated that since my 18th birthday was in a couple of days and thus assigning me to a foster family would be redundant, they 'made' me an adult and updated the database with me.

Good news all in all, I got some starting money and have the rights of an adult.

Then I realized that I'm in MASS fuckin' EFFECT. 'That should be impossible' I stated 'Sure, I've probably read almost every SI out there worth reading, but they were all just stories.' I tried to reason with myself 'Unless…. the car… I died…'

'There is no entity that warned or brought me here as far as I know' I mused.

'Just died and woke up here… maybe…' I thought as an idea popped in mind.

'I reincarnated' I declared ' It makes sense, no entities nor unexplainable happenings, just me, my car and this poor sucker's body I inhabit now, probably died while in coma and I snatched his body.'

'Now… what the hell should I do? In 14 years this galaxy will disintegrate faster than the citizens of Hiroshima if my knowledge could be trusted.' I asked myself since apart from the occasional random person walking by; I was alone in this little corner of the Citadel. And I started sinking down the bench I was currently sitting on. 'When they arrive, billions will die, and the cycle could even go onward if the 'wrong' ending is chosen' I was on the verge of panic at this point, fearing what could come.

As I searched for an answer I turned inwards and listened to what my instincts had to say. It was what I did whenever I was in an uneasy situation, and it never failed me before. This time it told me the most basic instruction ever.

"Adapt. Overcome. Survive" I voiced my thoughts "Do what humans do best in the universe, no matter which."

'Yes' I sat a little straighter at that 'It doesn't matter that the Reapers will come, they can be killed like everything else, I will do my damnest to see this trough and no mountain sized C'thulu cuttlefish will stop me.' I smiled, confidence radiating from me.

'Now, to survive I'll need combat experience, armor, weapons and a job to sustain myself until then.' I listed off. For combat experience I only had paintball and airsoft experience, but that would hardly help me here, I fired a few live weapons and was far from a bad shot, but weapons changed in the last 150 years, so I'm back at square one. As for armor and weapons I would need money, lots of money, like about a million credits for quality stuff and ammo. It all came down to getting a job.

'Let's see, I could become a merc… no, I would get a bad reputation, which would only hinder me when the invasion begins, assassin? No… I don't have the connections nor the experience, C-sec? That could prepare me as well, but no, I hate bureaucratic BS. Bounty hunter? Same reason as being a merc..'

I let out a frustrated sigh as I fail to find a good solution to my problem.

*BEEP-BEEP*

The beeping of my omni-tool wakes me up from my little internal argument and I brought my 'tool up. I inspected it and found that I had a new message, opening it, it read:

To: William Carter

From: Human Systems Alliance Navy Recruitment Office

Subject: Recruitment Offer

Mister Carter, we invite you to join the Alliance Navy. The Alliance could always use more good men and women serving and protecting humanity from danger. If you choose to accept our proposal you will go through military training and be part of the Armed Forces. We hope you will consider our offer and make good judgment.

For more information, turn to our nearest recruitment office.

PS: This message is automated, please do not respond.

As I finished reading the message I felt myself grinning like an idiot.

'Jackpot' I thought with glee 'Experience, armor, weapons and income source, all check'

'Now, where is the nearest recruitment office?' I muse, bringing up the search engine on my omni-tool (which happens to be Google, don't ask me how it is still around.) and start to look for an office.

After a ten minute search I found out there was no Alliance office on the Citadel, which, in hindsight was obvious and I had to book a shuttle ticket for Arcturus to get to the nearest Recruitment Center. The ticket cost me about a thousand credits (apparently that's a fortune around here) and now I'm sitting in my window seat, looking at the shrinking piece of white dot that is the Citadel. The trip should take about 18 hours, so I will most likely sleep and try to relax while I can. I look to my left and see a female turian sitting next to me, fiddling with her omni-tool. I've spoken a few words with her just for pleasantries and she seemed nice, which is a good sign, considering if I remember correctly there was a strong anti-human sentiment in the games before ME2. As long as no one starts being racist, I'll be a happy camper. Looking back out the window I catch sight of the relay we're heading through and I can't help myself but think how much my life will change over the coming years. 'Oh boy' I thought as I got comfortable in my seat, preparing to sleep 'Weirdest birthday ever'. As I fell asleep the shuttle just started to accelerate to FTL speeds.