It was near midnight on a stormy Monday in the middle of Iowa. The halls of the house were quiet, save for the torrent of rain smashing against the windows of the home. Down in the basement, a young 15-year-old Alex was creeping out of his room. Alex was a tall, lanky kid with a bush of dirty blonde hair and blue/green eyes. He wore Xbox pants and a white t-shirt and carried a green game case in his hands.

Alex heard about the game from all of his friends, how it was awesome and how every choice you made had an effect on the future of the game. He had heard the lore, how there were sentient robots who wanted to preserve life by killing it and that the player was the best the galaxy had to combat against the threat. It sounded like just the game Alex wanted to try. So, he had asked a friend to borrow the game so he could give it a whirl.

Slowly pushing away the curtain that was his door, Alex poked his head out and held his breath, listening if his dad had decided to get a midnight snack. Even through the rain, Alex could hear his dad snoring two floors above him. Alex smirked at that, his father was a very sound sleeper. Tip toeing out of his room, Alex rounded the corner and saw the 42" flat screen TV resting on the cabinet. Grinning to himself in excitement, Alex went to his black Xbox and pushed the eject button. The black Xbox pinged at the pressing and Alex's heart jumped. He had forgotten about the new model's… unwanted additions.

Hearing that it was still safe to play, Alex loaded up the game and turned the volume on the TV. As he watched the loading screens, Alex couldn't help but feel his excitement rising. This game had received a lot of praise and a strong, healthy fan base. He was willing to join alongside these fans, anything for a good game.

However… Alex had a sense of foreboding in the back of his mind. It may have been the storm and his initial fear of tornadoes picking up his house and sending them to Oz, but Alex felt like something was about to happen. Something big.

The title screen appeared, a planet on the lower half on the screen with the words "Mass Effect" in the center of the screen. The flashing "Press Start" prompt beckoned for Alex to begin on his journey. Without hesitation, Alex pressed Start and selected Start New Career.

It was indeed interesting, making the whole creation process seemingly a recreation of an old profile. This already made Alex feel like he had a whole lot of power. First things first, male or female? Of course, Alex wanted to chose male. As he held up his controller, he tried to select the "Custom Male" option. However, his joystick started to act weird, and when he pushed up, it went down and selected "Custom Female".

"Shit," Alex whispered under his breath. He tried to select "Back", but it gave him an error message. Alex sighed, Might as well move on, I can learn more about the creation process.

The name was next, all too important for creating your own saga. Alex thought for a second, this was a fluke character. Maybe he should just give it a random name instead. Alex shrugged to himself and typed in "Jane". Simple enough. Pre-Service History. Alex cocked his head in interest; he got to choose his background? Awesome, Alex grinned and looked at his three options with interest.

Spacer was first. Alex read carefully, "Both of your parents were in the Alliance military. Your childhood was spent on ships and stations as they transferred from posting to posting, never staying in one location for more than a few years. Following in your parent's footsteps, you enlisted at the age of eighteen." Alex thought for a moment, it was the simple background. Not too much of a "wow" factor too it. A safe start, Alex guessed.

Next, Alex scrolled down to the Earthborn background. Squinting at the screen, Alex read the print, "You were an orphan raised on the streets of the great megatropolises covering Earth. You escaped the life of petty crime and underworld gangs by enlisting with the Alliance military when you turned eighteen." Alex grinned a little to that background. It was a lot cooler than the Spacer background, but it sounded a little too rough for Alex's tastes. Good for a "bad ass" but Alex was far from it.

Finally, Alex looked at his last option, Colonist, "You were born and raised on Mindoir, a small border colony in the Attican Traverse. When you were sixteen, slavers raided Mindoir, slaughtering your family and friends. You were saved by a passing Alliance patrol, and you enlisted with the military a few years later." Alex stared at the screen for a moment, that past sounded… horrible. Losing everything, Alex wasn't even sixteen yet! But, this was a point from which a true hero could rise up and be extremely powerful. Alex clicked, "Select".

A new screen came up and Alex looked at the title, "Psychological Profile". Psych tests too? Man, Bioware went ALL out, Alex thought. He looked at the three new options.

First was Sole Survivor, "During your service, a mission you were on went horribly wrong. Trapped in an extreme survival situation, you had to overcome physical torments and psychological stresses that would have broken most people. You survived while all those around you fell, and now you alone are left to tell the tale. The Sole Survivor's unit was slaughtered in a thresher maw attack on Akuze." Alex thought about this with disgust, Jane had already went through a tough time losing her parents on Mindoir. Why make her a Sole Survivor? Alex scrolled down.

The next option Alex looked at was Ruthless, "Throughout your military career, you have held fast to one basic rule: get the job done. You've been called cold, calculating, and brutal. Your reputation for ruthless efficiency makes your fellow soldiers wary of you. But when failure is not an option, the military always goes to you first. The Ruthless character sent 3/4ths of her unit to its death and murdered surrendering batarians on Torfan." Alex shook his head. No way would Jane do that, it would be a stupid thing to do. Throwing away life like that? No, Jane would never do that. Again, Alex scrolled to his third option.

Its title was "War Hero" and Alex was already liking the sound of it, "Early in your military career you found yourself facing an overwhelming enemy force. You risked your own life to save your fellow soldiers and defeat the enemy despite the impossible odds. Your bravery and heroism have earned you medals and recognition from the Alliance fleet. The War Hero almost single-handedly repelled an attack by batarian slavers on Elysium." Yes! Alex thought to himself with a smile. This was the Jane he wanted. A hero willing to sacrifice her life to save others. It's what Alex would do. He pressed, "Select" and waited for the next screen to load.

Classes were next, combat powers listed beside the six classes. Alex didn't want to do anything flashy for Jane, she was already starting to sound like a heroic bad ass as is. He quickly clicked "Soldier".

The thunder outside shook the house profusely as Alex jumped in surprise. Setting down his controller, Alex stood up to examine the world outside. In the sky, it was pitch black, with blue lightning streaking across the sky. Rain came down in blankets, flooding the ground with the quarter size droplets. Alex felt a chill run down his spine. He pushed the image out of his mind as he went back to creating Jane.

Facial creation was cool. Alex had a wide variety of choices for his character. He decided to give her narrower, softer features. With longer velvet red hair and slightly blushed cheeks. Her big emerald green eyes and freckles also made her seem more adorable… and a little sexy. Alex shook his head at the thought and clicked "Confirm".

Just then, the whole house lit up in bright white light, causing Alex to cry out and shield his eyes. He heard electricity buzzing its way through the entire house. He could feel the static around him thicken, taunting him with the extreme charge ready to burst. And as soon as it happened, it went away.

Slowly, Alex opened up his eyes and looked around. Nothing had been harmed, and Alex wasn't dead. The TV was still on, and playing Mass Effect. Carefully picking up his controller, Alex intended to quickly start the game and save so he could go to bed. Didn't want to risk it anymore. When Alex looked up at the screen, he looked at it confused.

There was a new message on the screen, a small window with the background grayed out. It read, "HOW ABOUT YOU JOIN THE GAME?"

Anything to get to bed sooner, Alex thought as he selected yes.

Immediately, the screen flashed white and a swirling hole appeared on the screen. Alex scoffed at it, was Bioware trying to hypnotize Alex? Alex started to push buttons, anything to skip past it. The screen didn't change. Alex sighed, it froze. Standing up, Alex started to walk over to the Xbox.

That's when all hell broke loose.

The TV started to act like a vacuum cleaner, sucking in air as if it were breathing. Alex jumped back, was he high? The pull of the TV got stronger, almost like it were a black hole. Alex could feel himself being pulled across the carpeted floor. Alex groaned, trying to pull away. But it was useless, Alex felt himself being pulled into the TV.

Alex found himself hurtling in a tunnel of white and blue energy, it reminded him of what it looked like in Hyperspace in Star Wars. Alex felt himself flipping in the energy tube. He heard the electrical charges, feeling them strike out into Alex's body making him cry out in pain. Alex looked forward, trying to see the end. All he could see was the tube, and Alex just closed his eyes and waited for the end…

The grassy plains of the McArus farm were quiet that morning. Mr. McArus sat on the porch of his house, rocking on his chair while staring into the crystal blue sky. With his daughter at school and his wife in town, McArus could finally relax for a few minutes and enjoy the day.

Suddenly, he saw a ping of light in the sky. McArus dismissed it, probably a space probe or a ship passing by the planet. Who would want to visit-

The ping of light was getting bigger, and getting closer as McArus saw the ping become a ball of light flying down to the surface. Getting out of his chair, McArus ran inside and got under the kitchen table, waiting for the impact of the meteor.

The ground shook as the ball came crashing down, shockwaves rattling the house and McArus. When the shaking stopped, McArus slowly got up from underneath the table and looked through a window. A plume of dirt and dust forming several feet away from the porch. Grabbing a pistol, McArus went outside. Slowly approaching the smoldering pile, McArus pointed his gun at it. Then he looked down into the depression.

In the crater was a human boy. He wore odd clothing, with pants that said, "Xbox 360" on them and a white shirt. He was cut up, bleeding and his body was smoking from energy. McArus ran back inside to get the skycar's keys, leaving the boy to his deep dreams of home…

TO BE CONTINUED