Andrew White stared down at the data pad in his hand and then pinched himself a couple more times to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. His arm by this point was a mess of red welts where he'd done the exact same thing multiple times as he typed - but he was hardly concerned about how he looked at that point. After several minutes of just staring around him at the huge apartment he finally stepped away from the counter and tried to take his first step - tried being the operative word. He found himself lurching forwards as he overpowered the movement and let out a curse as he saw the ground coming up to meet him; his face twisting into a look of mixed shock and annoyance. After finding himself lying on the ground once more he stared across at one of the haptic panels and decided that it was worth a go.
"VI, where am I?"
He nearly sobbed in despair when he saw a holographic green ball appear, but managed to get over his self-imposed pity-party long enough to listen to the reply of, "You are in Apartment 212, Presidium Complexes, The Citadel."
The young blonde stared at the glowing orb before groaning and pushing himself upwards so that his back was against the bench in the middle of the kitchen. "Right," he muttered as he carefully got to his feet, making sure not to overpower his step, "and this is a Cerberus facility, is it not?"
"That is correct," came the reply from the hologram; its surface flashing as it spoke, and Andy nodded before making his way cautiously to sit on the couch in the lounge area he could see; the VI popping up on another terminal when he moved so that he could still see it.
Sinking into the leather he gave a sigh and buried his head in his hands; rubbing his eyes and gathering himself. It took nearly an hour for him to come to the very basic conclusions and organize the questions he wanted answered, but the VI was very patient with him and allowed him the silence to ponder his situation. Finally sitting back with a sigh his eyes sharpened and he nodded to himself. "Okay, first things first - were you told to tell me anything?"
"Yes Mister White. An Operative will be arriving in four hours with a package containing your identification, and a clean chip for your Omni-tool."
Andy nodded again and looked down at his wrist, noticing the small, almost invisible marking on the skin about the size a sim-card would be back on Earth… over one hundred and fifty years ago. "What modifications have been made to my body, and how long have I been here in this apartment?"
"That data is confidential," replied the VI, and Andrew scowled at the eerie green orb, "but you have been in this apartment for twenty two hours, fifteen minutes and thirty nine seconds."
"Alright then." He looked around the room and stood up again, this time smoothly and without having to regulate the energy he put into the movement. His first steps were tentative as he got used to the extra energy he seemed to possess, and he climbed the stairs to the second storey. At the top he looked into a luxurious bedroom that overlooked the rest of the apartment, and raised an eyebrow when he saw the fish tank, desk, terminal, and bed… all very reminiscent of the Captain's Cabin on the Normandy SR-2. "VI, what are you called?"
"I have the assignment Mel."
"Wonderful, Cerberus seems to have a penchant for three-lettered names," he muttered under his breath as he walked around the room and peered at the various futuristic objects. Twisting the dial on his alarm clock he found there to only be three different music choices and groaned when he heard that they were all the same, repetitive club music that he had grown accustomed to in the game whenever he was in Afterlife on Omega. "Mel, can I upload more music to my clock if I so wish?"
"Yes, Mister White."
"Fantastic, because if I have to put up with that bloody music for over an hour I'll go freaking mental."
"Your psychological profile does not indicate any markers of dementia or neural decay, Mister White."
Andrew shook his head despondently before sitting down in front of the terminal and looking at the glowing interface. "I assume this terminal is connected to the Extranet?"
"Yes, Mister White."
He looked at the window that was open in front of him and rolled his eyes at the username and password prompt; this was getting ridiculous. Turning back around to glare at the still-present green orb he gave a small scowl. "Any queries I have for the Extranet you can answer for me, correct?"
"Correct Mister White; this platform has been upgraded with a communications link to the extranet."
Knowing that he was in Cerberus' company he carefully navigated his way to the topic of Shepard under the guise of wanting to know about important people in the current universe, and after nearly two hours of expanding his knowledge of the citadel in far more detail than was available in the Codex on the game, he finally got to the person he wanted.
"Okay, what is the history and current status of Commander… Shepard of the Alliance?"
"Commander John Shepard," the VI replied after a minute pause, "born on April 11th 2154 CE on Earth. Joined the Alliance Military at eighteen years of age-"
"What is Commander Shepard's most notable mission?" Andy interrupted, and he grinned when the hologram replied with, "Commander Shepard repelled an attack on Elysium by Batarian Slavers almost singlehandedly; saving his entire squad from death. He was injured heavily on the mission, but not one colonist or human died because of his actions. He was awarded the Violet Star for his actions at the colony."
"Paragon," he muttered under his breath, and then turned back to the hologram. "Okay, then - now what am I doing here?"
"That information is classified," repeated the VI again, and Andy gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Well too fucking bad. Do I have a contact that I can establish a communication link with?"
"Negative, Mister White."
Rolling his eyes he stood up and walked towards a large, metallic-looking wardrobe and opened it…
"Holy shit…" he breathed with wide eyes when he saw what was inside, and he carefully reached forward to pick up the smallest weapon of the lot.
"That is an M5-Phalanx, Mister White."
"Yeah, I know," he muttered under his breath, and he looked it over before placing it back where it belonged and looked at the other weapons. "What are the rest of the weapons?"
"The weapon occupying slot 2 is an M-8 Avenger Assault Rifle, slot 3 is an M-24 Katana Shotgun, slot 4 contains an M-29 Incisor, and slot 5 contains your armour which is Light Crisis Armour."
Andy looked at the armour in question and grinned at its appearance, and he was thanking the heavens above that there weren't any Cerberus logos anywhere; apparently they didn't want people knowing who he was affiliated with. "Mel, would you please load up a tutorial on how to put on the armour?"
"Of course Mister White."
For the next half an hour Andy practiced putting on and taking off the armour in question until he knew how to do it by heart, and the next hour after that was spent learning how to operate the weapons that he at that point had magnetized to his back, and his pistol on his thigh. His excitement at playing with his new toys however, disappeared very suddenly when he heard a crash from downstairs followed by yells, and then a muted pop and a flash that had his ears ringing and lit up the bottom floor for a moment. Footsteps quickly followed, and Andy grabbed one of the thermal clips on his armour and slammed it into place on his pistol and his assault rifle before bringing up the former and crouching with his back up against the wall that would hide him from view of the stairs. A couple of seconds later and a head appeared, and Andy stood up calmly, pressed the muzzle of the pistol the bare neck of the man who had an assault rifle in his hands, and then released the safety with an audible blip.
"Drop your weapon," he said coldly, and the man did just that; his gun clattering to the ground a second later and his expression filled with shock, and a little bit of fear. There was a yell from the bottom of the stairs and Andy quickly turned his body so that he was behind his assailant. Looking down he saw two more armoured, gun-wielding men, and he gave a scowl before plucking the M-96 Mattock from the back of the man in front of him and sliding it onto his own back; disposing of the far-less dangerous assault rifle that had been on his own back a moment before. He took the sniper rifle as well when he saw that it was his favourite weapon of Mass Effect 2; the M-92 Mantis. After a moment a bark of laughter came from one of the men at the bottom of the stairs, and the eighteen year-old blonde looked down in surprise.
The man in question was grinning up at him and holstering his assault rifle, "Brilliant!" he yelled up to him, "I was told to expect a runt that knew next to nothing about combat!"
"I don't," Andy shot back, "in fact, I've been told by this bloody VI that everything I want to know is classified - like what the hell I'm here for, why the hell I feel so much stronger, and why it feels as if there's a fuzzing beneath my skin, so maybe you could enlighten me."
The man held up a small box and Andy cocked his head. "Omni-chip," the man explained. Andy lowered the pistol a fraction with narrowed eyes.
"You're the Cerberus contact?"
"Yep!" was the chipper reply, and Andy rolled his eyes before thinking for a moment and then pressing the muzzle back into the neck of the man in front of him.
"Tell me what they've stuck in my body and then we can talk like civilised human beings, yeah?"
The man shrugged, "Sure, but I was instructed to tell you anyway - there's no need to hold a gun to Harry's neck."
Andy shot the man a dry look, "Well excuse me if I didn't expect a flash grenade to come flying in through my front door and then be stormed by three armed soldiers."
The man grinned again, and nodded. "Can't fault you there kid. Cerberus has outfitted you with a few… upgrades," he explained, and the teen shot him a small glare.
"No shit, tell me something I can't figure out."
"Okay then smart-arse," shot back the still-grinning man, "you've been under the knife for over ten weeks."
"…you're kidding, right? What the hell takes ten weeks to complete?"
"An experiment," came the too-jovial reply, and Andy scowled again.
"An experiment? What the hell am I, a guinea pig?"
The man gave him an odd look, "A what?"
"A- you know what? Never mind, just what the hell did they do?"
The soldier pulled a chair over from the kitchen bench while the other one went over to the door and stood guard next to it. "Well, they used Nano-tech to convert all of your muscles into cybernetic fibres, as well as reconstruct your skeleton and replace it with mass-treated carbon-fibre." Andy looked at the man in shock before looking at the fingers he had clutched around the grip of the pistol with a sense of wonder. "Oh they're not visibly noticeable," assured the solider with a grin, "but you are the first person to ever survive the skeletal procedure; every other patient has died as soon as the skull begins to change; you know, brain haemorrhages and all." Letting out a bark of laughter at the expression on the teen's face he continued with his explanation. "You went through some DNA modification, also highly experimental, for reflexes, healing and the like, and then we inserted a sub-dermal infiltrator layer before treating your skin with some more nanotechnology to make it tougher."
"It doesn't feel any different," commented the youth, "if it was tougher I'd expect it to feel-"
"Rougher?" interrupted the seated soldier, "Most people do expect that, but it's a load of bollocks. It strengthens the makeup, but keeps virtually all of the characteristics of normal skin cells."
"Right," nodded Andy, this time allowing his pistol to drop to his side. Ignoring the sigh of relief from behind him as he walked down the stairs he took a seat on the couch he had vacated earlier and sat back - his eyes still fixed on the burly man who had been explaining everything to him. "You mentioned a sub-dermal implant. I'm assuming you're referring to an invisibility cloak of sorts."
"That's right," the man confirmed, "if you're just walking around at the time it can work for up to three minutes, but when you throw in adrenaline rushes, combat situations, reflex enhancement, shielding, and biotics then you're down to about fifteen seconds with a thirty second cool down time."
"Biotics," Andy said dryly, and the man's grin reappeared full-force.
"That's why you're so bloody lucky you're still alive kid; with all the tech you're made up of it never works, but for some reason your biotics seem to work in tandem with everything else. It's something that even the scientists can't understand."
"Great, just fucking great," he groaned as he buried his head in his hands again, "please for the love of God tell me that I'm normal in some way?"
"Well… you can still shit and piss like the best of us," quipped the man standing guard by the door, and his grin only widened when Andy sent him a vicious glare.
"So really," Andy summed up as he turned back to the apparent leader of the group, "the only thing that's the same is my brain." Looking slightly nervous the man sent him a lopsided grin and the blonde glared. "Okay, what the hell did they do to my brain?"
"Just some nanotech," he replied vaguely.
"That'd better not be synonymous with 'control chip'," snarled the teen, and the soldier shook his head immediately.
"Naw, nothing like that; just some enhancements to prevent neural decay and speed up synapse transmission. Biotics are naturally immune to the former, but they just wanted to be sure."
Andy sighed and stood up before pacing, and then freezing before sending the man a glare, "No more additions?"
"Ehhh… well your eyes are cybernetic now."
"Fuck you."
The man grinned, "Now now, keep your hair on."
"Is it still my hair? You come in here and tell me that I'm essentially not me anymore and expect me to be calm? I'm the furthest from calm I think I can possibly be!"
"Well it's done now," shot back the grinning man, "so stop your moping." He opened the small box and threw Andy a small chip, and the youth scowled as he caught it, but still pressed it to the small indent in his left wrist. The skin seemed to liquefy and then cover it until only smooth skin was left, and a second later a holographic interface burst into existence. "That's your link to the extranet, where available, and other features such as-"
"Hacking, personal features, the codex, and suit and weapon monitoring - yeah, I know." The man looked impressed and watched as Andy tapped away for several minutes. When he saw the progress bar of a download shoot across the screen he raised an eyebrow, but then laughed aloud when some Old Earth Rock came out of the interface and the youth's face took on a gleeful grin. After some more tapping he froze and then looked at his arm in shock, and then back to the readout he was seeing. "This… what kind of specs are this Omni-tool running?"
"Ah, you noticed did you? That there's the latest development from HMOT; the Master X Omni-tool with enhanced shield, tech, and medical recharge features. It's running a tri-quantum core for faster hacking, and 1 Exabyte of storage for programs and-"
"Okay, I think I've heard enough…" interrupted Andy looking rather pale, and he sat down again before taking in a very, very deep breath to gather his thoughts. "Okay, now that I know what's changed, and what I'm packing, what am I here to do? I mean, Cerberus isn't going to spend however many credits they did on me and expect nothing in return, so what the hell do they want?"
The soldier's joking demeanour disappeared almost instantly, and Andy did so as well when he felt the atmosphere change. "Cerberus wants you trained up, trained up big time. They want you to be the best you can be, and then they want you to go freelance."
"You're pulling my leg - you've got to be."
"I assure you I'm not."
Andy stared at the man for several very long seconds before replying, "And what if, in the future, I decide to go against Cerberus? They could be training the enemy for all they know - isn't this just a tad against the caution that Cerberus normally displays?"
The soldier shrugged, "I don't know why they're doing this, but the Illusive Man seems to trust you, so it's my job to train you in combat, Steven's job," he jabbed his thumb at the man standing by the door, "to train your biotics, and Harry'll be getting you up to speed with your infiltration tactics and tech."
"So I've had a couple of million credits spent on me, now you're going to give me what… three years training, and then you'll just turn me loose? No restrictions or obligations?" The man grinned and nodded, and Andy shook his head before sinking back into his chair with a deep sigh and then rubbing his eyes. "Seems almost too good to be true."
"You'll get used to that."
The blonde gave a chuckle and nodded. "Right."
After several seconds of silence the man stood up and walked over to stand in front of him, and Andy looked up to see a grin on the soldier's face. Seeing the offered hand he shook it. "My name's Aiden - and if what I've seen today is any indication I'll enjoy working with you."
The teen grinned in return and stood up, still gripping the man's hand. "You already know, but I'm Andy White - I'm sure I'll enjoy being trained by you and your team."
The man grinned and nodded, "Likewise kid." They finally relinquished the handshake and Aiden walked with his team towards the door. Just before it hissed shut behind him however, the red-haired soldier turned his head over his shoulder and grinned ferally, "Get some sleep kid; tomorrow you're going to need it."
Andy looked at the now-red circle that signalled that the room was locked and he shook his head with a groan before trudging back up towards his bedroom. "What the hell did I do to deserve this crap?"
With rounds whizzing over his head, flash bangs making his ears ring painfully, concussion grenades pounding through his body, and biotic warps smashing brutally against his cover, Andy White was a very, very pinned down young man. Contrary to what most people would be doing in his situation however, Andy was not pissing himself in fear, nor, in fact, was he whimpering or showing any signs of distress at all - no, Andy was reminiscing on his life so far in the Universe over one hundred and sixty years ahead of the one he was born in.
Ever since that first meeting with Aiden, Harry, and Steven, Andy had been trained in every single method of combat the 'verse had to offer; from stealth to biotic assault to battlefield tactics and even hand-to-hand combat for a couple of months. It had taken him a year of self-study for him to pick up even the basics of how the technology of the modern Universe worked, but as soon as he had them down his work on the subject had come in leaps and bounds. Of course he'd kept that skill rather hush-hush; studying it at the Citadel Information Centre to hide it from his benefactors in fact, and all because he'd had a rather nasty hunch that his Omni-tool contained a virus designed to monitor all aspects of his life. It took him until half-way through the second year of his training for him to actually isolate the program and then set it up so that it fed false intelligence to Cerberus, but the wait had been worth it in his opinion.
Of course coming into a new universe wasn't all exciting and happy times; Andy had spent every night for the first two months in the Citadel getting over the fact that his family was dead, as were all of his friends, and in fact every single person he knew in his old life. He wasn't ashamed to admit that he had thrown tantrums at his situation; he doubted anybody else in his situation would've, or could've, done much better. According to records he had dug up he was now technically the great, great, great, great grandfather to ten children; his sister having married at twenty nine years old and having two kids. He had missed her wedding, and his parents' funerals, and all of the memories that most people had in their lives - and that had hit him hard. After six months of silent depression he had finally taken a walk down to Chora's Den and gotten himself abysmally drunk with Steven, as well as having a rather fantastic romp with an Asari that had caught his eye - and with that one night he had put his past behind him and focussed on the future.
When he had said that getting all of his powers was too good to be true he had been right, of course. All of the tech they'd stuffed inside of him wasn't without consequence, although none of it was painful at least. His diet was huge, and he was easily able to put away a couple of kilograms of food at each meal, with equal amounts of fluid, although a program he had constructed for his Omni-tool, coupled with a neural link to his biotic implant, allowed him to control his powers and such with enough accuracy that he could walk around without any of the enhancements, and then with a mere thought activate what he called 'battle-mode'.
Which was what he was in right now; with shotgun rounds, sniper bullets, and grenades hammering his position ruthlessly. He'd had a feeling that Steven had been pulling his leg, and now he had his proof; because running into the middle of the Blue Suns' headquarters on Omega was not a 'cool club to go to; just go in there and tell them that Steven Hawkins sent you'. The moment the name had left his lips he'd been on the receiving end of some pretty serious hardware, and for the past two hours he'd been slowly decimating their forces. Reaching into his pocket he tore the top of the package and sucked the concoction inside down his throat before hiffing it over the top of the now-very dented container he was hankered down behind. There was an increase in gunfire a second later and Andy had the stray thought that if that piece of plastic was him he'd be Swiss cheese right about now.
Taking a deep breath he activated the sub-dermal implant and then stepped out from behind his cover before charging at the group of seven Krogan that had been firing at him, and were still doing so. As soon as he was close enough he reached deep inside and pulled his biotics to the surface; charging a singularity from the dark energy he was drawing from the environment around him. The moment he started manipulating the energy however, his body lit up like a Christmas tree and the surviving Blue Suns channelled their fire onto him. His shields flared a brilliant blue as they absorbed the rounds, and just as they ran out; flaring once to signal their demise, Andy let go of the ball of blackness; releasing it right into their midst. A searing pain carved itself into his chest and blasted the air out of his lungs, and he collapsed back into one of the crates as he watched his attackers get lifted off their feet and twirled around the miniature black hole. Manipulating the field directly he caused it to detonate, and winced as they were all vaporised with a blindingly white blast.
He looked down at his shoulder and gave a scowl at the hole that had been punched through it; a lucky round just as his shields had failed having hit him there, and quickly slathered some medigel on it, as well as the large gash across his chest where a bullet had carved its way through his skin and armour. Looking around at the near-hundred dead Blue Suns he gave a deep sigh and then pulled himself to his feet before heading to the door that still had the glowing-red orb hovering at its centre. It took him all of five seconds to dismantle the locking mechanism, and with a pneumatic hiss it slid open… to reveal Steven sitting on a deck chair eating popcorn. "Fuck you," Andy snarled when he caught sight of his teacher, and said man grinned and stood up; giving him a once-over.
"Wow, you took a beating!"
"Get me to a goddamn doctor right now or I'll kill you."
The grinning mercenary held up his hands disarmingly when the twenty one year old pulled up his pistol. "Righto, we're going."
It was a bit of a walk, but they finally reached Mordin's Clinic and Andy had the pleasure of being in the hyperactive Salarian's company for the third time during their stay on Omega. As soon as the Salarian caught sight of the injured soldier he gave a sigh and then hauled him onto the table. "Gunshot wound to right tricep, regeneration is restoring muscle tissue at accelerated rate; wound on chest, dermal damage… both will leave scars, yes." With a small jab Andy found the pain disappearing as painkillers made their merry way through his system, and he grinned as the endorphins reached his brain… which was why he didn't give Steven's, "Well this is it Andy; your training is done - you've surpassed all of us, easily so," as much attention as it was due at first.
"Oh, well that's grea- hold on, what?"
The mercenary leaning in the doorframe smiled, "You heard me kid; we're done. Cerberus hired us because we're the best in our fields, and we can keep a secret, and it's been three years. The Blue Suns were your last test."
Andy stared at the man, his mouth slightly agape. "That's it? You're saying 'cheerio' and 'might see ya 'round' just like that?"
"You knew the deal kid," reprimanded the man, "we're weapons for hire. All of us respect you, but none of us are friends - hell, Aidan and Harry are normally my competition and we're shooting at each other. I will admit that the three years we've trained you has been a welcome break from all the mercenary work, but its high time we all got back into it, and you're ready to get out there on your own anyway."
"Well how the fuck am I going to get off this rock?"
"You're taking this better than I thought you would," commented the dark-haired biotic.
Andy rolled his eyes and sat up, ignoring Mordin's protests. "I guess I've been preparing myself for this for a while - though I expected to have some notice at least."
He got a shrug in return, "Well life's a bitch. Cerberus has set you up with a ship that's waiting in the docks - the codes have been sent to your Omni-tool." A quick check by the recently trainee-turned-freelance confirmed what Steven had said, and the latter gave a grin before stepping forwards and holding out his hand. "With all that said and done, I've enjoyed our little escapades."
Sighing resignedly Andy shook the man's hand with his good arm and nodded with a small smile. "It has been fun." Retrieving his hand he sat back on the hospital bed and cocked his head to the side. "Where are Aiden and Harry?"
"Gone," explained the merc, "neither of them are big on goodbyes."
"Right," drawled the blonde, "pussies."
Both snorted with laughter and Steven gave him a nod. "Well this is goodbye for the time being I guess. We'll probably catch each other sometime, and hopefully it's not on the battlefield against each other."
"Too true," agreed the young man, "too true." The two sunk into a silence for several seconds before Andy stood up and smiled. "Well I guess this is where we split ways and I try and find a pilot, in fact I think I have just the man for the job."
"Well good for you," chuckled Steven as they walked towards the exit of the clinic. They kept together until they reached the trading floor, and, ignoring the crazy Batarian blathering on about how humans were the blight of the galaxy, shook each other's hands one last time before separating, likely to never see each other ever again.
Andy was surprised at just how easy it was to accept that fact; that the only constant company for the last three years was gone, but shook it off after a moment before making his way down to the entrance to Lower Afterlife. Just to the left of the door was a small store where a Quarian was working on some spare parts, and Andy leant on the counter and watched the man work for a moment. The mechanic caught sight of him before he could make comment, and stopped working immediately before holding out his arms. If a mask wasn't covering his face Andy was sure he'd be seeing a beaming smile at that moment. "Kronos! It's been ages since you came by!"
Andy found his cover name to be oddly ironic, and to be honest he doubted the Illusive Man had chosen the name with no idea of what it meant. His first name had stayed the same, to aid in the transition of identities, but his last name still threw him occasionally. Time indeed.
Andy took the offered hand and shook it with a warm smile, "Kar'Shaal, it has been a while. How's business?"
The Quarian's shoulders drooped and he let out a sigh before leaning on the counter and looking over his shoulder. "I'm barely getting by just paying for food, and I sleep here to keep costs down - all the scraps I get are in worse condition than a Varen's chew toy."
Andy stifled a laugh and looked at the suited man that was standing, rather depressed, in front of him. "Hey Kar, you're a pilot, yeah?" The Quarian turned his attention back to the young freelancer and nodded, clearly confused, and Andy sent him a grin. "Well ain't that just fancy - I just happen to be in need of a pilot for my new ship."
Andy was sure the mechanic was gaping at him. "Y-you want me to be your pilot?" He got a happy nod in return, and then he pointed over his shoulder, "But… but that means that I don't need to stay here anymore…"
"And you're upset about that? C'mon Kar, get your stuff and come with me."
"…you're not pulling my arm, are ya Kronos?"
"Nah," Andy grinned, "'course not. I'm done with what I came here to do, and now I need a good, stable, and friendly pilot that isn't corrupt to come into business with me as a freelance mercenary."
The Quarian stopped his hurried packing and looked over his shoulder uneasily. "Mercenary work? I don't know Kronos…"
Andy could see the problem immediately. "You think you'll be morally conflicted? I'm not your normal freelance mercenary Kar; I only do missions that I think are for the right reasons, and if you come along then I'll consult you before taking any jobs, how does that sound?"
Twenty minutes later the two were walking along the docks; the blonde walking along with his omni-tool guiding him to his ship. The two finally came to a stop, and both of them stared at the vessel in front of them with matching looks of shock - although both of them had their expressions hidden behind their masks. "Kronos?"
"Uhuh?"
"Is that your ship?"
"Yep…"
"Fuuuuck…" came the breathy exclamation, and Andy could only nod his head in agreement.
They both entered at the same time after getting over their shock, and after several seconds in the air-lock they entered the ship proper. They found themselves standing at the helm of the massive ship, at least by civilian standards, and Kar'Shaal gaped at the interfaces in the cockpit. While the Quarian was drooling over the navigational equipment and finding out just what the ship was capable of Andy found his feet taking him to the back of the ship; past the minimalist desk that sat three meters back from the pilot's seat that was clearly meant for him as the ship's commander; past the small galaxy map behind that, and then through the doors underneath the stairs.
He looked into the crew-quarters and had the thought that his crew got it way better than Shepard's would on the Normandy SR-2. Four single beds were arranged around the room, and each of them had a small bedside table on one side, and a desk on the other; complete with a terminal and enough space for some personal belongings. There was a door that led to the shower and toilet cubicles, of which there were two each, and Andy shook his head with a wide grin before returning to the main deck and going into the other door, which hissed open to reveal the armoury… outfitted with the shittiest weapons and armour available. 'I'll have to make a supply run and sell off what I've got to make room for some actual hardware,' he thought as he retreated back onto the helm. He then turned his attention to the steps leading downwards and after looking over his shoulder to make sure that his new pilot wasn't passed out from over-exposure to top-of-the-line ship features he headed downwards. He came out into a deck that was about three-quarters the length of the one above - around ten meters long.
He peered through at the kitchen and small-yet-cosy dining area, meandered into the mini med-bay, and then behind him, through the doors and into the engineering area which also housed the mass-effect core; a large sphere that pulsed with blue energy. After returning to the kitchen to check if it was fully supplied he returned to the main deck and looked over at Kar who was sitting down in the pilots chair and bouncing happily on the cushioning. Considering that John Shepard had just died on the SSV Normandy Andy didn't have the faintest idea of what to do, and let out a sigh before freezing, and then getting a devious grin on his face. "Hey Kar, set course for Illium would you? We've got an appointment with a certain Asari."
The Quarian spun around in his seat and cocked his head, "An Asari? Not your girlfriend now, is it?"
Rolling his eyes he paused mid-way up the stairs that he hadn't yet explored. "No, Kar, it's not my girlfriend - but it's a job that'll make this whole galaxy a lot safer for a lot of people… and it'll get us loaded."
"Aye Commander," saluted the pilot dryly, and as Andy continued up the stairs chuckling he had the thought that his pilot and Joker would get along splendidly. When he finally arrived at the landing above his omni-tool flashed momentarily and the red orb disappeared to allow him entrance. He raised his eyes at the large bed, desk, and storage space inside and gave a small laugh when he entered his private bathroom and saw the luxuriousness of it; hell, it matched his bathroom on the Citadel. He carefully took off his armour and dumped it in the evacuation chute where it was promptly ejected into space and changed into a pair of underwear he found in one of the drawers. Cerberus had, apparently, thought of damn near everything. After dressing in a pair of comfortable jeans, a pair of black leather shoes, and a light green t-shirt he made his way back onto the bridge and headed up to where Kar was piloting the ship.
"How's she handling?"
"Like a dream," the Quarian said breathily, "hell, I knew it was coming and I didn't even feel the transition from being still to engaging the FTL drives. We'll be hitting the first relay in around three hours, and the entire journey will run us about two days."
"Excellent. Oh, your quarters are down the back of this floor. You've got your own bed and stuff, and if you need to change suits or whatever then you could use the airlock or the med-bay downstairs; both have decontamination abilities from what I could see."
"Sounds good Commander."
"You know that you don't have to call me that."
The Quarian shrugged and looked up at him from the chair, "It sounds right when I'm piloting. If I'm free then I'll call you Kronos, but I'd rather be professional when it comes to being on the job."
Andy nodded with a slightly appraising look, "Fair enough. I'm going to head down to the med-bay and redress this wound of mine and then catch some shut-eye. Give me a buzz if there's any trouble, yeah?"
"Sure thing Commander."
Nodding his goodbye Andy made his way down to the lower deck and quickly redressed his wound; reapplying some medigel and taking a couple of painkillers when the pain flared up once more. He could still see the bare muscle in the open hole, but compared to what it had looked like at Mordin's clinic it had regenerated massively. If he had to hazard a guess it'd be a mere ache with some red skin by the time they reached Illium. Giving one last holler to Kar on his way to his quarters he quickly stripped off and collapsed onto the bed; the day's activities finally taking their heavy toll on his exhausted body. The last thing he thought before Morpheus claimed him was that he'd best get rid of all the Cerberus bugs and rewrite the operating system before he did anything important.
