I've been working on this fic for a while and thought it's finally time to upload the first chapter. (And don't worry Fear Effect fans I'm still working on it)
This is a semi self-insert but mostly consists of OCs in the Mass Effect universe, also despite many points of this fic (especially in this chapter) this is not a crossover.
I hope you enjoy and any feedback, good or critical, it's highly appreciated.
I don't own anything that isn't an OC in this fic.
Reality Effect
There was a faint crackling as the tape began recording in the cold dimly lit room. The walls themselves were carved directly from stone and lit only by a small white light. In the centre was a metal table with two men sat on ever side.
"Log C-024B, Doctor Alexis Muller conducting." Said the first man. Alexis Muller spoke in a soft south German accent as his dull blond hair brushed over the collar of his white lab coat that sat over a grey military uniform. Alexis' pail blue eyes gazed across the cold metal table to the chained man sitting opposite. "The subject's name is John Marston. He is American, apparently in his thirties, scars on right cheek and appears to be from the old west…"
"Old! Look, who are you people? Where am I?" An angered Marston demanded.
"I'll ask the questions if you don't mind Mr Marston." Alexis said, "Now tell me, what year is it?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"A simple one, now answer it."
"Nineteen-eleven. There, are you happy now?"
"Thank you Mr Marston."
"Look here! Tell me where am I?"
Alexis stopped and sighed. He bent over the table and held his hands together with a serious look. He took a deep breath before saying; "Mr Marston, you are in no position to make demands."
"I won't say another thing until you tell me who you are and where we are?" Marston said.
"Very well, you're on a moon orbiting a distant planet on the other side of the galaxy from earth." Alexis said.
There was a brief moment of silence as the answer twisted though Marston's mind.
"Is this some kind of joke?" He demanded, "This sounds just like one of those stories Jake reads."
"Oh but this is so very real Mr Marston." Alexis replied before turning back to his notes, "Now tell me do you have any family, is this Jack your son, brother…?"
"What the hell do you want with me?"
Alexis sighed.
"Mr Marston I'll be frank. We're looking for advanced technology or unique individuals. Mr Marston, if you want to live, if you want to return home, then tell me, are you special?"
"So what if I am? Are you looking for a hired gun? If so then I'm sorry to say I'm already under a more pressing contract."
"We have ways of extracting what we want Mr Marston." Alexis said in a stern and serious tone, he'd gotten good at saying that phrase. "Even if you're not special, even if you're just a normal man, you can still prove useful to us, to me." Marston stared at him in silence. It was a stair that could make rock crumple away, Alexis however didn't give in.
"Take him to his cell, this concludes the interview."
It is in the rolling hills and valleys of England's green and present south-west this story begins. Only on this Saturday morning dark clouds loomed over a large town that sprawled out over the river's valley as rain drizzled miserably on the buildings that were a diverse mixture of everything from medieval to modern. It was an ordinary town with a rich history. Few trod the water landed high streets where many chain stores sat amongst smaller businesses, church towers and spires raised above the houses roofs, the Victorian factory and the old castle. It was the sort of town big enough to be on a map yet few outside the county would have heard of.
This is the town that George Williams calls home.
The Williams household lived in a large white house at the end of a quiet street. From the looks of the house there was little clue to the owners Simon and Rebecca Williams wealth. They lived here happily with their two children and pet dog. Of course all that is not important, what was important is that this is where their oldest child George's story begins.
George was nineteen, tall with dark brown hair and grey eyes. He wore a green and white shirt and dark blue jeans. In his room he sat at his computer carrying out his all-time favourite hobby, playing games.
His room itself was large and smartly decorated with green and white walls and matching wooden furniture with a décor of trinkets, his own paintings and a large world map. It was also in what could only be described as an organized mess of game cases, DVDs, books, electronics, pens, pencils, paper, a globe and many more items. He didn't care so long as the floors were clear and besides today was a day off for him, no work, both paid and homework, no chores, nothing so he can just relax and do what he wants and that inevitably would be one of three things, gaming, reading or drawing.
The rain pattered against his window that looked over the small road and towards the hills beyond. The house itself was a large white semi-detached at the end of a row of similar houses that sat the end of the quiet residential street perched on top of a hill. The sound of the rain was one he always found soothing as it fell against the glass and the world outside, currently however it wasn't helping him much as, yet again, his character died.
"Argh! Come on!" He exclaimed before sighing, he then noticed someone in the corner of his eye, his head snapped round to see none other than his sister leaning on his door frame with a sarcastic smirk on her lips.
"Die again?" She asked.
"What do you want Helen?" George asked.
Helen was his fifteen year old sister. She had brunette hair tied into a ponytail and blue eyes. Her slender arms were crossed over her light pink sweater and blue jeans clad her legs that were crossed in a comfortable position. She was tall, but not as tall as George.
"Oh, you know, I'm just hanging around,"
"Don't you have some homework or something to do?" George said in an uninterested tone as he turned back to his screen just as the game finished loading.
"Yes actually, Mum said you have to help me,"
"No." George immediately replied.
"But it's history, you love that don't you?" Helen pled with a hint of enjoyment in her voice. George was used to this; Helen always enjoyed finding new ways to wind him up.
"The answer is still no." He said.
"Mum! George won't help me with my homework!" Helen called down the stairs.
"George, help your sister!" A slightly muffled voice called back.
He sighed, slammed his finger frustratedly down on the pause button and then turned towards his sister, raised himself from his seat and said; "Fine then, what do you need?"
The first thing you would notice about Helen's room was how white and graceful it was. There was not a space anywhere that wasn't made to look as overlay feminine as possible. Even the Harry Potter and Twilight books that lined her shelves, the DVDs of the same books, her laptop and seldom used Xbox somehow seemed to fit in to the grand palace like decor.
She began to explain her essay on medieval kings of England as George stood behind her looking down at her laptop. He really didn't mind helping his sister yet he did his best not to show it.
He let forwards for a closer look. "Well as far as- Ah! Ah arr!"
"What? What is it?"
"Your laptop, the thing just shocked me." George answered as he waves his pained finger around. There was a static charge in the air that was slowly rising, static shivers travelled up his arms and down his spine. His and Helens hair began to stand on its ends as a hum reverberated around them.
Helen's head slowly spun to George with a frighten look across her face. "What's going-"
There was a brilliant flash of light.
George hit something hard and metal with Helen landing on top of him. He groaned and gasped for air as the whirl of machinery dying down echoed around him.
"Where is he?" A muffled voice called.
George's head was full of questions as another voice that sounded as if it was calling over a radio replied; "Behind you."
"Aurgh! Gordon! You've got to get out of there!" The first voice called as George's vision began to clear. He was under some large contraption stuck in some kind of raised metal platform, he was sure that he had seen it before.
'What the Hell?' He thought to himself.
"He's outside. I'll go and find him." Another voice called. George looked to his left in time to see a man in black body armour and green trousers leave the room through a large open door. At the far side of the room there was a balding man with glasses and a with lab coat franticly typing away at a computer console. The hum of static began to fill the air again as the man looked up. His eyes widened in surprise as they met George's eyes that were wider with in shock and disbelief.
"Ahrr! Who on Earth are you?" The man cried.
George's mind was racing. He recognized this place, that man. But none of this is real!
There was a brilliant flash of light.
The team known as SG-1 prepaid themselves in front of the ancient alien circle known as the Stargate. Today was nothing more than a routine trip to an uncharted planet known only as P3D-768. They weren't expecting much. There are no signs of intelligent civilization around the gate.
It was Corneal Jack O'Neill who stepped through the event horizon first and arrived in the dazzling light on the other side. He checked around the gate as his hands rested on the P90 hanging around his middle. The planet was fairly ordinary and like many places Earth like. The trees were green, the sky blue, there was nothing here except for the MALP and DHD.
It was the Jaffa Teal'c who stepped through next followed by Doctor Daniel Jackson and Major Samantha Carter carrying a crate of scientific equipment.
"Right." Jack said. "Carter, Daniel, you do your sciencey stuff, me and Teal'c will have a look around."
"O'Neill, do your hear that?" Teal'c asked as his emotionless eyes scanning around.
"Hear what big guy?" Jack asked as Teal'c took a defensive stance and raised his staff weapon in anticipation of something.
"That humming, it sounds… unnatural."
It was true, now Jack could also hear it, along with Daniel and Sam. It was the hum of a static charge as the air around them became energised. Their hair began to stand as shivers flowed down their spines.
There was a brilliant flash of light.
Then silence as suddenly lying beside the MALP and DHD were two humans.
George groaned and rolled over. He had no idea what was going on. Next to him was Helen with a similar perplexed look. He shifted himself up in bewildered silence and looked around. There were trees around and some kind of unmanned probe that looked vaguely familiar. He looked to his side and saw four people standing in front of… a…
George couldn't believe his eyes.
"Um… Hi there." Jack called, he was surprised to say the least, and little surprised him nowadays, "Teal'c put your weapon down."
George couldn't reply. His moth opened and closed as his mind was overloaded with impossible thoughts. 'First Half-Life and now Stargate!'
"What the hell's going on!"
"Um, yeah, we were about to ask you that." Jack answered.
"George where are we?" A frightened Helen asked. Her mind was also racing with impossible thoughts and questions.
"You're on P3D-768, do you require assistance?" Teal'c asked. George only could nod as the static charge flowed and hummed around them.
Daniel cautiously approached in an effort to help; "Um, hi, I'm Daniel… um… do you know how you got here?"
George shook his head.
There was a brilliant flash of light.
George fell though large and heavy plants, his fall seemed slower than normal and he hit the ground with far less force than before. Helen landed beside him.
He gasped for air and instantly choked. His lungs burned. He gasped more and more but the air was like nothing he had ever breathed.
"Tawtute!" A surprised and hostile voice called over his gasps.
His vision was blurry but he could make out a large alien rainforest around them and then a giant blue humanoid with feline features standing over him with a bow and arrow that looked as if it could kill an elephant aimed directly at his choking body.
The humanoid growled and lowed the bow before grasping for George's clothes. There was a sudden flash of blue light as the alien reeled back as blue light flowed from it into George. A sudden shot of pain flowed through his bones and though his head and chest, he cried out yet just as suddenly as the pain came it turned into a good kind of warm tingle, he could breathe, his body felt stronger, his ears and eyes more alert to the sights and sounds around.
The humming grew again.
There was a brilliant flash of light.
A cool breeze blew through the air as the evening sun shone down on the sandy streets of Constantinople. The locals in their bright clothes walked the streets in a normal fashion that was until the cries of Byzantine Templars echoed through the streets as the grey coated Assassin Mentor Ezio Auditore raced across the rooftops above. He hoped up and down the walls and terracotta tiles, he launched himself over a street, released his hookblade and caught hold of another building before pulling himself up as rocks and crossbow bolts clattered and flung nearby.
He hoped up onto a zip wire and soared across the buildings before dropping down into a small side street. He was clear; the Templars were lost far behind. Satisfied the Assassin brushed the dust from his robes and he strolled down a side street.
There was a brilliant flash of light.
Ezio shielded his eyes but tripped and crashed on to something soft before hitting the sandy ground. He looked up to see what he had tripped over as a blue light formed around him and began to flow into a young man and teenaged girl, dressed in odd clothes and appeared to be in as much confusion and shock as he was.
Helen choked and spluttered as she gasped for the air around. George turned to her and attempted to see if she was safe before looking up to the shocked Assassin before drawing his eyes to the light that flowed from Ezio into him and Helen.
"Who are you?" Ezio exclaimed in Italian, somehow George could understand him yet was too shocked to answer; Ezio shook his head and asked again in Turkish, again George could understand that yet he didn't know the first thing about Italian or Turkish. He didn't answer; he didn't know what to say, what could he say, his mind was overloading with impossibility and it stung with pain, he clasped his skull as Helens breathing became steady and then also clasped her head.
There was a hum of static.
"Are you alright?" Ezio asked in Turkish and yet again George understood.
There was a brilliant flash of light.
Harry, Ron and Hermione walked through the grand stone corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was getting late and the group were making their way back to the Gryffindor common room. The school was abuzz with the upcoming Triwizard Tournament; it was only a week away, but Ron had more pressing matters.
"I mean what's Snape's problem, really, all I did was-"
"Almost blow up half the class." Hermione finished and ignored the ginger haired boy's glare.
Harry merely sighed and shook his head. "You should be happy Ron, if it wasn't for Hermione you would have lost more than a few hours of free time."
Ron grumbled to himself then he suddenly noticed something, there was a high pitched static ringing in the air. "Do you here that?" He asked as the ringing echoed around him. "That ringing?"
"Ron there's no… wait… yeah actually I do." Hermione said as strands of her hair began to rise all by themselves.
There was a brilliant flash of light.
Everyone yelped in shock.
The three pupils stared in surprise at the sight of two people in muggle cloths that suddenly appeared on the ground in front of them.
"Where are we now?" George murmured as he groaned and pushed himself up to look around. His eyes widened at the sight of the three staring at them.
"What did he say?" Ron whispered to Harry. Harry shrugged.
"I don't know. It was Italian I think." Harry said. Hermione nodded in agreement.
"I'm not speaking Italian." George said with a confused look.
"Now that was English," Ron said before turning to Helen. "Is she ok?"
"D-Daniel Radcliffe…" Helen said in a dreamy voice and with misty eyes that gazed up at Harry. George let out a long sigh, rolled his eyes and almost face palmed.
"Who?" Harry asked, slightly unnerved by the look Helen was giving him. It wasn't a bad look and Harry had a few similar looks from girls but this look was the dreamiest and most star struck he had ever received. And she didn't even know his name.
He never got an answer.
There was a brilliant flash of light.
Obi-Wan Kenobi stared into the dark eyes of Lord Vader's mask. His hands grasped his lightsaber as he extended the beam and readied himself to meet red beam of Vader's that glowed before him.
"I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan." Vader said as he slowly approached and raise his lightsaber for battle. "We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner. Now I am the Master."
"Only a master of evil, Darth." Obi-Wan said. He lunged forwards, there was a flurry of lightsaber strikes. They clashed and sizzled as the two swung round the other to get a strike. Eventually they stood back facing each over.
"Your powers are-"
There was a brilliant flash of light.
"-what the?" Both Obi-Wan and Vader were surprised to say the least at the sudden appearance of two humans, a young man with a frustrated look and a girl who was muttering to herself about a something named Daniel.
George looked around the room and then lingered his vision on Vader as his mind raced to process the information.
"Um… We're not the ones you're looking for." George said and cringed before the words escaped his mouth. He stared into Darth Vader's emotionless mask he wished there would be another flash of light and send them somewhere safer, preferably home.
"Friends of yours Obi-Wan?" Vader asked.
"I've never seen these two before, but they are anomalies in the force." Obi-Wan answered.
"Then you won't miss them." Vader said darkly as he raised his lightsaber.
There was a hum of static.
There was a brilliant flash of light.
The Gulag is less than a prison and more of a death sentence. There are no such things as friends here, only yourself. It is a frozen hell, and one that Captain John Price is determined to survive.
He sat in the dark corner of his cell. The sounds of the slow methodical dripping of water reverberated loudly over the ghostly echoes of cries from other prisoners. It was the same every day and night, it was driving him mad, and so was that sudden static sound.
There was a brilliant flash of light.
"Bloody 'ell!" The captain exclaimed as he quickly blinked his vision clear and looked upon the two people in his cell.
Wasting no time he sprang into action and grabbed the young man by the collar of his shirt. "Who the hell are you?" He said as he glared into George's shocked eyes, a blue glow began to flow from him and into George. "What the…"
"I'm a friend! I'm a friend!" George squeaked in panic and pain and raised his hands to his stinging head.
"How did you get here?" Price demanded, "What's going on?"
"I don't know! I don't know!" George answered. "I'm just as confused as you are!"
Price sighed and released George who crashed to the ground next to a terrified Helen. They barely noticed the static building around then. He looked at the flowing blue light that travelled from him and into George.
"What is this?"
He never got an answer.
There was a brilliant flash of light.
"System overload!"
"Temperature reaching five hundred degree centigrade!"
"Power increase of 1.21 Gigawatts!"
It was chaos in the control room. Consoles exploded and overloaded. Sparks flew and the lights flickered in the dark, cavernous room. Technicians and scientists panicked as those who weren't on the floor taped franticly at the holograms and controls in an attempted to bring the systems under control.
"Sir! It's coming through!" Alexis called up to a metal platform where a man stood, clasping onto the railing not for support but in determined annoyance.
He wore a pure black military uniform with matching well-polished leather belts and jackboots, underneath was a brown shirt and two silver insignias of three oak leaves above two diamond pips sat on his collars. A peeked cap sat over his greying black hair and shaded his face yet three scars that dragged down the right side remained as clear as his cold and emotionless grey eyes that glistened in the shadow. He was in his fifties and over all had a look that said he was never to be messed with, otherwise you will regret it, and you most certainly would beg to have never been conceived yet alone born.
The man glared down though large glass windows where another platform stood amongst bolts and sparks of electricity. Two large towers raised on either side of the platform which channelled the lightning to the centre where a ball of brilliant light pulsated and faded into and out of existence.
There was an explosion.
"Shut it down!" The man barked. He'd spent too long on this project to stop now. If the machine was destroyed then there was no hope in returning home and everything they had been doing would have been for nothing.
Without hesitation Alexis ran out of the control room and into the chamber. Up above the platform three rings span around each over in opposite directions conducting lightning down to the central coil and then onto the platform where the towers attempted to hold the portal. He charged under the Faraday cage towards the main power junction. Sweat dripped from his brow as he threw open a bulky red box and then pushed up a hefty leaver.
Everything stopped. The whirring of engines died down. The lightning ceased. Alexis sighed out a breath that he didn't know he was holding.
Back in the control room the man in black turned to a scientist near a working console and barked in an authoritative tone, "You! Where did the portal go?"
"Local universe Sir." The man shakily answered as his shocked eyes scanned the orange console, "This Galaxy, somewhere... I don't know where exactly sir."
"Well find out then!"
The Citadel gleamed in the purple glow of the Serpent Nebula. The streets and towers of the Wards glowed a pleasant orange as they rotated from the halo of white light that is the Presidium.
Ships of all shapes and size soared soundlessly around as smaller 'cars' glided between the Wards' towers and superstructures where many millions of people of all known species lived, worked or otherwise occupied.
The people of the Citadel went about their everyday lives. Some worked, some partied, some rested, some stroll through the presidium, some shopped, some covered up galactic incidences, some caught criminals, some begged, some sort information and some found out how unpleasant the lowest levels can be, although they didn't live long enough to regret it.
On one level at the uppermost reaches of the superstructure yet below the towers a small rodent descended from some of the first stowaways on the first Asari ships scurried about the bustling markets, shops, restaurants and clubs and into a small alley in search of a meal. It didn't know that it would be witness to a remarkable and seemingly impossible event that even the greatest Salarian scientist or Asari philosopher would dismiss as fiction.
Nor would it know the far reaching ramifications that would be caused by the sudden brilliant flash of light that brought two living beings into spontaneous existence. It caused a great commotion in the space-time continuum and the fabric of reality that suddenly found itself very unreal.
Of course every reality has weak spots for instance one of this galaxy's is a small moon orbiting a distant plaint where this is almost a daily occurrence. However the Citadel was not a weak spot and this led to some interesting effects.
For example a ship that's element-zero core was going into meltdown suddenly found itself safe and its crew surprisingly alive, and considerably richer. Another example is a group of primates on a distant world in a distant galaxy that suddenly discovered fire, writing, communication, video games and clothes and would forever worship the great gods George and Helen until they destroyed themselves in a thermonuclear war over who George and Helen exactly were.
No one knew this was happening as George and Helen crashed to the hard ground of the alleyway with a wispy aura of blue and white light flowing into them for a few seconds before dying away leaving the two alone on the alley's floor.
"This is all a dream." Helen said to herself as she curled up in the foetal position. "I'm gonna open my eyes and I'll be home in my bead and none of this… Ow! What did you do that for?"
"To prove this isn't a dream." George sighed as he sat up on the ground and met his eyes with those of a curious squid-like rodent. "Where are we?"
"I just hope it's safe and warm and comfortable…" Helen said and then she opened her eyes. "Or maybe not." She sighed.
George made several shooing gestures towards the squid-like rodent but gave up as it continued to sit and stair. He sighed.
"I think it's stopped now… So were stuck here."
"But where is here?" Helen asked in panicked distress. "I don't want to be here! I want to go home!"
"So do I, but we must stay calm. Just take deep breaths." George slowly said as he turned to his sister who had tears in her eyes. "Come on breath with me. In… and out… In… and out… feeling better?"
"No, just stupid."
"Well you're not." George said as he stood, the rodent's eyes followed him expectantly. "First things first we need to find out where on Earth we are."
"I don't think we're on earth." Helen said uneasily as she slowly rose to her feet.
"What makes you say that?"
"That sign over there, it's not in any language I've seen."
For George however the language seamed familiar, what shocked him more was that he could read it.
"I-I can read it, I think." Helen said in shock.
"So can I, It says 'Accesses corridor ZW-103C, Authorised Personnel and Keepers only.'" Something suddenly clicked in George's mind. "No."
"What? What is it?" Helen asked. George didn't answer as he turned and near hypnotically stumbled down the corridor to the far end where a large round door was. Helen and the rodent followed slowly. When a green holographic panel appeared in front of the door George felt his suspicions confirmed.
He slowly reached his hand out and unsteadily he touched it. Nothing happened.
George began to panic as he franticly swapped his hands over the hologram, then a small white light besides the door caught his eye. "Of course, the first game…" He mumbled.
"Game, what game?"
He ignored Helen as he taped the physical button.
The doors swished open.
A sight chuckle of disbelief escaped his lips at the sight before them, humans and aliens walked by, not just any aliens but, Turians, Asari, Hanar and many others. Beyond was a large window looking out upon a city in a pink nebula with another arm visible in the distance, then slightly a large four pointed silver aquatic looking ship gliding by, ripples from dust formed over its kinetic barriers.
"We're in Mass Effect! We're in Mass bloody Effect!" George said in a mixture of disbelief, shock and slight joy that his guess was right.
"Um George… What's Mass Effect?"
Never before in the history of man was someone as lost, confused and bewildered as George was as he sat in that dark alley on the Citadel. Only an hour ago this place was a piece of fiction and now it was all too real. George believed in the theory of alternate realities but not only did this take the biscuit it dunked it a cup of tea, chewed and digested it.
He had been explaining the world and story of Mass Effect to Helen who was taking everything worse than George. For some reason he suddenly felt confident in impossible and insane situations. It was as if he suddenly had a whole life of experience shoved into his mind.
"So what do we do know?" Helen asked as she absentmindedly stroked the small squid-like rodent. It purred.
"I don't know. I really don't know. We may never get home." George sighed in distress.
They continued to sit in silence until a small sob escaped Helen's lips. George slowly slid over to her side and sighed.
"Helen, listen. I know we've fought in the past but I've always been there for you, and I always will be, even now. I'm your big brother, it's part of the job." George said with a reassuring smile.
"How… How will we eat, and, and where will we live?" He asked between sobs.
"I'll figure something out." George said as he turned and sat against the wall. He thought for a moment. 'Perhaps if I could find Commander Shepard we could join the Normandy. No, that would never work, I may be able to blag my way on-board but Shepard will never let Helen on. Besides it's too dangerous for her. And I can't fight. We don't even know the date or where Shepard is. What we need is money.'
George slipped his hands into his pockets and pulled out his iPhone and wallet. He hated the idea of selling his phone to some antique shop. It was a present from his father and it was brand new. George opened his wallet to find his ID, driver's licence, a few other cards and a five pound note. Maybe if he found the right trader he'll be able to sell some stuff for something.
He sighed. The rodent lifted its purple head from Helen's lap; it looked around for a moment before scurried off behind some crates. Helen would have called for it to come back, only she knew it was hopeless. She didn't even know what it was.
"If we sell our stuff then maybe we can find a cheap hotel and I'll look for a job…" George began. The rodent suddenly came scurrying back with something hard and orange in its mouth. It dropped it into Georges lap and looked up at him expectantly.
At first George was disgusted but then he got a closer look at the small orange rectangle. Carefully he picked it up and examined it. "I don't believe it," He gasped.
"What? What is it?" Helen asked.
"If this is what I think it is then, then this is a… a…"
"A what?"
George was almost speechless, is breath struggled to escape from his thought as he read the small digital readout on the orange item. "A two million credit chit!"
"Credit? As in money?" Helen asked in as much disbelief as George.
"Yes. I have no idea how but…" George was speechless. He started cheerfully petting the rodent in overwhelming joy. "Who's a good little Asari-squid-rat thing?"
They would never know where the credits came from by some sheer luck the disruption in the time-space continuum had snatched it out of the pocket of a Batarian crime boss who was now franticly searching for it as five unpaid and angry mercenaries surrounded him. The anomaly then dropped the credit chip nearby for that the rodent found and fetch.
George and Helen took their first cautious steps out and onto one of the Citadel's streets. Nearby was a large market with stands selling everything from Turian cuisine to Volus enviro-suit parts. The smells of exotic foods and drink drifted through the air as a menagerie of new, bizarre and wonderful sights and sounds overwhelmed them.
Helen became absorbed by an Asari boutique whilst George was fascinated by a games stand. Nether less he continued through the streets and market in a new high spirit, all the while Helen was demanding for him to buy her new clothes and shoes. He didn't, they needed that money if they were to have a chance to survive, and there was something else he wanted to get first.
They continued though attempting not to look out of place yet something was and it was unnerving George. For some reason they could understand everyone and everything even if they were speaking their own languages. Hearing a Turian speak his own language, which sounded like a series of organized clicks and tweets, and understanding him completely somewhat frightened George.
He found it easier to just ignore the impossibility of everything that has happened, is happening and what most likely will still happen and just go with it. Helen who was in awe of everything was in a similar state of mind.
They turned down a less crowded street where many high end shops, restaurant and cafés lined the sides underneath a glass roof that looked up at the mighty towers and the other four arms that glistened in the glowing nebula, nearby were the walls of the Presidiums ring and the Citadel Tower was clearly visible.
It was the kind of street that was popular yet little known about outside of the local area but it would provide high quality survives and items from family run or otherwise small businesses. The street sing read 'Zakera Ward, Presidium Junction, Sol Street'. Sol, George remembered, was the name for Earth's solar system, which filled him with some form of confidence as he walked amongst the Turians, Asari, Salarians, Humans, Elcor, Volus and odd Hanar that also walked and floated down the street.
Soon George found what he was looking for. He approached the purple VI shaped as an Asari stood in front of it somewhat unsure of what to do. "Hello and welcome to Avina, how may I help you?"
"Um… Hi… yeah, what is the current Earth date please?" George unsurely asked.
"The current date in Earth Standard Time is November the 16th, 2181."
George froze. "T-T-Two years…" He muttered with a quiver.
"What's wrong?" Helen asked.
"Two years, we're two years before the game."
"So? It gives us two years to get out of here before those Reaper things attack." Helen pointed out.
"Yeah, you're right," George said as he slowly walked away and sat on a nearby bench. "It's just, everything, it's all wrong," He sighed.
"You think?"
"The chances of finding a way home, they're… they're more remote than… well us being sucking into a game whilst passing through several other games, films, and TV shows on the way here,"
"Is that good or bad?" Helen asked.
"I don't know." George again sighed. He looked around at the crowds of aliens and humans. It somehow seemed so normal despite the differences. "I think the first thing we need to do is buy some Omni-tools."
"Omni-tools?"
"Wrist mounted computer things." George answered as he stood and looked around at the shop singes, he then noticed one on a small shop that proudly displayed 'Wilkinson's Electronics' and its windows were smartly displaying several holographic television screens.
The inside itself was not dissimilar to many small electronic shops back on his earth, although what was on sale were considerably more advanced. George turned to a large holographic screen that to his surprise was playing some movie in full 3D and the name on the base said Sony. He made a mental note to get one. He moved towards the counter when he spotted what he was looking for. A range of Omni-tools were laid out on display each with a name and specification tab, yet truly he had no idea what to get.
"Can I help you?" A kind feminine voice asked in English and in what George would describe as a generic human accent. George looked up to see a woman about the same age as him and slightly shorter with shoulder length red hair and emerald green eyes standing on the other side of the counter looking down at whim with a smile.
"Um… yes, I'm looking for an Omni-tool, well, we're looking for two." He corrected as gestured to Helen was standing beside him trying to look less interested in the technological wonders around her than really she was.
"Certainly, do you know what you want?" The woman asked. George glanced down at her name tag on her purple and white shirt that said 'Eleanor' in a constantly changing string of languages, all of which he could read.
"Yes, well, no not actually. I kind of want a good one, what's the best you've got?"
"Easy," Eleanor said as she reached into the cabinet and pulled out a small wrist strap like device. George quickly realised where this was going and slid his wrist watch of his left arm and into his pocket while she wasn't looking. "This one here comes complete with pretty much everything, I've got one and personally it is the best I've ever had. Do you want to try it?"
"Ok,"
"Left or right handed?"
"Right," George answered. Eleanor smiled as she gently guided her soft hands to strap the band onto George's outstretched left arm.
"Are you implanted?"
"What?" George answered in a tone and look that showed more confusion and predominately shock than when he first arrived on the Citadel.
"Sorry, I mean do you have the implants that allow you to use these things without interface gloves?" Eleanor said.
George blinked in thought, he was sure had never heard of that from the game, people just touched things and they worked, although now he comes to think about it, it does make some form of sense, and he vaguely remembers something about gloves and 'bare skin' from the game's codex.
"No, actually I don't." He said awkwardly.
Eleanor gave a light giggle, "Don't worry about it, I only got mine done a month ago and I suggest you do too, it fells so right just to be able to touch things without gloves. I have no I idea why I didn't get them on my eighteenth." She reached behind the counter again and pulled out a packet of small black disposable gloves.
Eleanor continued to smile a genuine smile, not one of those fake ones most people have in shops as she held out the glove and gently helped put it on is right hand.
Eleanor spent the next half-hour talking George and Helen though the Omni-tool. By the end he knew almost all the functions, had set himself an e-mail, booked an appointment to see a doctor about implants, and had chosen his operating system, Microsoft Omni-Windows 2. The omni-tool seemed far more advanced than the one in the game, instead of the plain orange shell he actually had a screen with menus and things to click on. "I'll take it." He said.
"I knew you would," Eleanor replied, "but it is expensive I'm afraid. There ten thousand each,"
"I'll take two, one for me and one for Helen," George instantly replied.
"Seriously? Can you really afford that?" Eleanor asked, George waved the credit chit, her eyes bulged.
"Well then, in that case you've just gave us a week's profit in a day." She said almost giddily, she scanned the credit chit with her omni-tool, there was a ping and the credit readout decreased by twenty thousand.
Next on George's and Helen's mind was food. They had found a small restaurant and sat at a far table. The menu was filled with many strange, exotic sounding and undoubtedly alien foods. As George looked though the menu it again began to sink in that he, a nobody, and his sister, was stuck in a game. Only this wasn't a game. It was a real living world that in which everyone existed just as much as back in his world.
"Why?"
"Why what?" Helen asked.
"Why are we here? How are we here?"
"I don't know George. I've been following you in all of this,"
"I know, it's just…" George sighed, "I don't know what to do. We're here, in a game and, even with all this money I have no idea what to do. Were we brought here for a reason? Was it just some random event?"
"You'll figure out what to do. You always do." Helen said hopefully.
"Yeah, you're right." George said, "If this was some random event in space though then what was all that white light and why can we understand all these languages?"
"It's strange but you're the sciencey one, don't you know anything?"
George rubbed his head with is hand, "Wormholes, parallel dimensions, black holes, nothing about insanely becoming the most multilingual being in existence."
"Are you ready to order?" The Asari waters asked.
Their meal was interesting to say the least, and that was in a good way. Helen had some kind of Asari meat and pasta whist George ended up having what he could only describe as Asari fish curry, which was surprisingly hot and spicy for a graceful and aquatic species such as the Asari. The fish tasted like a cross between cod and haddock, it was generously bathed and in and mixed with a sauce that didn't hold back on the spices and had an aftertaste of lemon, with it was rice like small beads that gave the appearance that someone had dropped a bag of small plastic beads in the pot. Overall he liked it.
After George paid for the food and left a tip that made the Asari waitress squeal in delight (he still hadn't worked out the exchange rate) George and Helen proceeded to wonder around the Presidium. The artifice lighting was beginning to dim and his Omni-tool's clock said it was getting late.
"So what now?" Helen asked.
"I suppose we should find a hotel somewhere to stay for a few nights." George sighed, "As much as I hate to say this but this most likely is our home now. I suppose I should also find a proper place for us to live and a job. Who knows how long this money would last,"
"We are going clothes shopping right?" Helen asked.
"What?"
"You know, we can't wear these out of date rags for the rest of our lives,"
"I know that, but, right now?"
"Is there any better time?"
George remained firm under his sister's pleading cheerful smirk. But she was right, although they weren't completely conspicuous they were receiving a few glances similar to those that someone from their time would give to someone in clothes from the Victorian times.
"Fine," George said, "But only one outfit for tomorrow. I want to go to bed."
The hotel wasn't necessary prestigious or massively expensive yet the rooms it provided with views of the Presidium were what George believed was considered modern and stylish.
Helen dumped her bags in one room and proceeded to fall back onto the large white bed with a sigh. It was late and George was exhausted, not to mention being bored out of his mind after hours of Helen dragging him through clothes shops. He moved to another bedroom, it had a large bed with white sheets in the centre of a clean floor made from some kind of soft substance formed into tiles, a large Asari rug lay in under the bed and stretched out of ever side as a Turian made vid-screen hung on one wall. He dropped his bag in a corner before he too flopping down into the bed that was just as warm and comfortable as his was back home.
Home, he sighed. Everything he has ever owned and known was now gone, it was a thought that sliced through him. It was his parents he feared for the most. He and Helen had just vanished after all. He couldn't image what was going on at home and in their minds. There would be a police investigation; it would be all over the news as people would begin to point accusing fingers towards them, his parents. He had to get back, they both did, and unless that same static ball appeared again and just so happened to take them home, they were stuck here, forever.
He was frightened by the thought; the questions that he was sure would plague him for all his life flowed through his mind again. He sighed and slowly let fatigue drift him into a restless sleep.