Chapter1: Innocent Revelations

Year: 2180

Location: Citadel

When once I would have stood out like a elephant in a tutu, now I blend in relatively well with the crowd - after all, I look just like another human.. a rather tall one at that, but still, from a first glance, just a human.

But I'm not. I was there at the uncovering, I was there since 'shekarar da hawaye', the year of tears and at 'na tsoratar game kiran', the harrowing call. It feels strange now, the old adopting the customs of the young, but then that is what happens when you lay hidden for eons, avoiding the accursed creations of a jealous and covetous race.

I wander uninhibited through the early morning crowds on what the signs keep telling me is Kithoi ward. It doesn't look particularly fancy, and thirst for knowledge has driven me to the local school - the Larathos Institution. It's a pretty dreary place really, though I have met some interesting characters there who like to give my days a splash of colour.

First off, was a Krogan called Toska, whose family had renounced the ways of most of their people and although they were trying to have children, only Toska had been born. Surprisingly, his best friend was a Salarian (who was only nine years old) called Shielo Risolor who, despite being so comparatively young, was at the same developmental stage as the others.

Then there were the Asari twins, Arla and Lulis Rani who were always disrupting everyone with their antics, and while sometimes it was rather annoying and my embers started to burn, I reigned myself in and instead looked at the funny side of their jokes and pranks, which, fortunately I had never been on the receiving end of… yet.

Finally was a Turian named Therus Si'ius, who was just about as uptight as you could get, and it never failed to make me smile when Arla or Lulis told him to yank the tree out of his ass.

Today was the final day that any of us would be there, but it was also Therus' twentieth birthday, which apparently is a special sort of birthday.

If you wanted to count how old I was, then you could spend years working it out - but I, myself have forgotten when it was exactly that I came into this life - and what's more impressive than having lived so long is that I haven't tired of life. It's ups and downs, highs and lows, it truly is a spectacle to behold, and I can say that so long as I have lived, I haven't missed a beat.

As I arrived at the gates of the institution, I could see the group that I'd gotten close to in the past year (having joined only then, and lying about my age too) were milling around the outside, waiting for me before we went in together.

I suppose it was either a blessing or a coincidence that we were taking the same classes as each other, though Toska didn't take up any theoretical sciences, only applied science. I came into view of my small group of friends, and we exchanged smiles and greetings as we went in.

…

The day was largely uneventful, partly because nobody wanted to actually do anything, but also partly because none of the teachers had bothered to give anyone anything to do, and some hadn't even bothered to come in to say that their lectures were cancelled.

By the end of the day we were just about ready to prepare for tonight. Believe it or not, we were going to one of the Citadel's more 'up-market' clubs, called Nebula, though it was quite a journey away, being on Bachjret ward.

"Hey, Adiel, do you need a lift to get there?" Arla asked me just before we parted ways for the next couple of hours.

"No, that's ok, It would be easier if you guys could give me an address though."

"Easy - its 8891D. I'm sure you can't miss the huge sign saying 'Nebula'" Shielo said, exaggerating the nightclub's name as though he were saying the intro to an action movie.

"Ok, I'll see you there in… three hours." I said, chuckling as I checked my watch to see how long I had until the festivities would start.

"Aite, see you later!" They chorused excitedly as I left and made my way quickly back to my apartment, half walking, half jogging the way there.

Occasionally I would receive an odd stare, and I could feel the stare intensify as the offender scrutinised my legs. Although I did look very human when I was clothed, unclothed was an entirely different matter.

To start, my legs were more akin to that of a Salarian's, a Turian's or a Quarian's than they were to a human's, with the way that they my thighs curved forwards slightly more than a human's, and although it wasn't particularly visible, there was a solid shape in the back of my legs where there was an extra part of the limb that made it look as though I had the most enormous calf muscles when I was clothed. My feet were a dead give away, though I kept them completely hidden from view whenever I went out.

And that was to say nothing of the rest of me. My arms were more similar, although they were longer and slightly thinner than a human's. There was even a difference in skin quality that originally had been a huge give away, but with the recent popularity of skin and muscle weaves the difference had decreased. My skin wasn't smooth and slightly haired, it was somewhat hard - though stiff would probably be a better word. It was made up of the same material as Chitin, though instead of growing in great plates, it grew in thin layers, giving me the appearance of skin without technically having any.

My hands and face were also essentially the same, although my hands could have been described as exceedingly bony, and it wasn't directly noticeable, but I didn't have fingernails, just fingers that were more pointed than usual. Not sharp like talons, but still sharp enough to make it not noticeable.

My face however, was what made me blend in so well, and that is what I was thankful for. It was essentially the same as any human that you could meet on the street nowadays (who were highly gene-modded to enhance their appearances). My eyes may have been slightly deeper set, and my cheekbones more prominent than normal, but there wasn't anything too garish about me that would suggest I was actually an alien... At least, not from a distance.

My torso would also have been a dead give away, seeming that if I were a human, it would seem as where each of the muscle groups lay, a plate was covering it, giving me a sort of permanently muscular look, but there was also a slight colouration difference between the muscle plates and the gaps, as the plates were of a slightly lighter hue.

The light brown of my 'skin' also gave me a more human look, and although my eyes weren't in the norm, cybernetics were also very common which gave me an excuse for their bright orange glow. The only inconspicuous part about me was my hair. At least, that's what it looked like, though in reality it was more akin to a famous 20th Century invisible alien hunter, as each my 'dreads' were more like a solid strand than large clumps of individual hairs.

Still, I was undeniably pleased that I'd been able to keep my origins hidden from everyone around me for the few years that I'd been living on the Citadel. In fact, once the humans had revealed themselves to the Galaxy, it was just my luck that I at least looked marginally similar to them and I've managed to pull off being hidden in plain sight almost as long as humans have been around.

…

As I unlock the door to my apartment I can hear sniggering, and I turn around to see a couple of young teenagers out in the hall with their backs to me, it looks like they're playing with something so I ignore them and head inside, moving to the bathroom so I can have a shower before getting ready.

Turning the shower on, I let the water heat up before I decide to get in, already having stripped down to nothing. It's a short wash, though I let the hot water soak into my skin greedily and let the steam relax my muscles, calming myself from the excitement of the party. For some reason I feel nervous, though I can't exactly say why… It's not as though anything especially dangerous or exciting is going to happen, after all, we are only going to a nightclub.

...

An hour later and I'm all ready to go, so I get in an elevator that's heading up towards the rooftops after carefully shutting and locking my apartment, throwing the keys, along with a jacket into a rucksack. You might think that it's an odd choice, to go up instead of down, but if you could travel like I do, then you'd understand.

When I reach the roof, I take off the shirt that I'm wearing, and put that into my bag as well before slinging it over my shoulders and move to the building's edge, starting to concentrate. The cold wind that rushes around me in the dizzying heights of the Citadel's arms is distracting and nearly makes me topple off the edge, but I'm not looking for cold.

Finally, I find a spark and cling to it, kindling it into a fire that rages inside me. Suddenly, light bursts through my skin through jagged breaks and I feel the energy and power that's inside of me. Arching my back I can feel my wings break through my back, spouts of fiery energy that extend further than my arm span.

From my bag I grab a rebreather and cover my head with it, giving me oxygen enough to breath on the journey. And then I fall. I let myself tip over the edge and I can feel the insane gush of wind bracing against me. A couple of skycars see me since they swerved out of the traffic flow and for a moment it looked as though one of them would catch me, but I pulled up and swerved away, my 'omni-tool' glowing around my wrist with directions to the club.

The tinted windows of the skycars mean that I can't see the reactions of whoever was in there, but I begin to play some music and chuckle to myself lightly, knowing that it would have been one of shock seeing what looked like a man falling to his doom from the heights of a Citadel apartment block, before suddenly being carried away by two orange blurs.

Toska

Toska was one of the last ones of the group to arrive. He had meant to ask Adiel for a ride over here, but when the time had come he didn't really know what to say.

While Toska was by no means stupid, he wasn't fond of relying on other people for anything, so if he ever did need to, he usually forgot to ask or the words seemed to get stuck in his mouth. When he did arrive though, he could see that it was only Therus who had yet to join them.

"Here early for a change Adiel?" Toska's deep voice boomed from the skycar access way as he left the taxi.

Adiel laughed saying "Look who's talking?" in return and they greeted each other with a hug, each one delivering enough force that would probably crush anyone smaller.

That was what Toska found strange about this human. Adiel looked human enough, even if he was the same height as some of the larger krogan - though he didn't share in their mass… But he didn't smell the same as other humans. He didn't even smell soft like the others… well, apart from Therus anyway. He had brought it up to the others a couple of times, but they waved it away, saying it was something to do with how his parents had given him genemods and the like, and although Toska didn't quite believe it, he didn't really focus on it unless they grappled in any way, shape or form because it wasn't too noticeable otherwise.

The group chatted idly about what they were going to now that they'd finished, and unsurprisingly Arla and Lulis were heading away to Thessia to start their own businesses. What sort of trouble they would get up to no one had any idea, but everyone decided that they would stay in contact with them - after all, having people you know on Thessia can get you a long way in the Galaxy.

Adiel was rather unsure with what to do afterwards, but that he'd had enough of learning and wanted to do something more geared towards action, so was thinking of doing detective work.

Shielo said that he was going to follow in his father's footsteps and become a xenobiologist, but he did mention that he's always dreamed of doing work for the STG. How he's 'always' dreamed of it when he isn't even old enough for double digits is kind of weird - especially seeming as Toska, Arla and Lulis are nearing thirty.

Toska also wanted to do something which entailed action, his youthful spirit going against his parents wishes, but it was also partly because Toska had yet to do a rite of passage, and he was beginning to have uncontrolled outbursts of anger, from which people could only just scramble out of the away.

Almost half an hour after the time that they said they were going to meet, everyone started to get a bit restless, wanting to go inside for a drink and a dance, when Therus showed up, stepping out of the skycar. He smiles and nods and one by one we head into the club.

Its funny - because of the different life spans of every race, people stopped caring about the age that you went in to the club. If you looked too young to be drinking though you didn't get served by the barman, and if you got drunk enough you got chucked out by a couple of krogan bouncers.

Without knowing quite what to do to start with, everyone headed to an empty booth and Adiel and Toska went to the bar to get the drinks. Toska ended up with a jug of Ryncol, while they got the ladies some red from Illium, Therus had dextro brandy and Adiel had a large glass of something called scorpion tail, while Shielo had a non-alcoholic drink ('Mustn't damage self, brain most vital organ, would like to drink something though').

…

…

The drink that I'd been getting was supposedly one of the stronger drinks that humans could safely drink - in fact it was also safe for Asari, but Arla and Lulis didn't like the sound of it so they steered away.

Despite this, I'd had several of them and I was only just beginning to feel light headed. By now, the girls were on the dance floor after having dragged Therus and Shielo with them, all the time swaying to the thumping music that was banging through my eardrums.

Torkas had almost finished his second jug of ryncol (having chugged the entirety of the fist one down in one swig) and had slowed down after that… well, after getting up for a refill and almost toppling flat on his face, which had caused everyone - even the people around us - to laugh.

"Adiel can I ask you something?" Torkas said, eyeing me while he took another krogan sized sip from his jug.

I was a little hesitant, as anyone would be, having a krogan wanting to ask them a question. "Sure." I say noncommittally with a shrug.

"Why do you smell funny?"

"I have no idea Toska you big lump, now come on. Let's go dance!" I not so deftly avoid the question, but he doesn't seem to care to ask again and glugs down the rest of his jug before we both stand up, waver a little bit, finding our balance from the sudden lack of blood in our heads and move towards the others on the dance floor, the pounding music feeling more and more infectious all the time.

As I move to the beat, a small hand is put on my chest and as I get pushed to the edge of the dance floor I see that its a pretty looking human girl. She's short - or at least, looks it to me, and her eyes flash emerald while her hair floats chestnut brown behind her back, her features seeming to fill my vision as she stares into my eyes and when I reach the wall, she pulls down on my shirt, bringing me to her level and I feel the soft sensation of our lips touching.

I'm not entirely sure what's going on - whether this is actually happening or not, but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts all the same.

Just our lips proves to be not enough for her when our tongues meet and begin to dance with each other, and even then it seems not to be enough as I caress her back, my hands roving, and she reaches forwards, one hand still on my chest as though it were glued there and while the other clutches at my groin, feeling the stiffness that has appeared before her touch.

I don't notice the C-sec officers entering, I'm too distracted, but a couple of them stand by the entrance and are scanning people as they exit, while a few others have head into the club and are searching for something.

I only notice them when our lips part and she pulls my head close by and whispers - well, shouts over the music - "I want you."

Looking down at her I can see that she's got a sultry smile on her face and the slight frown on my own disappears when I'm caught by her eyes again, being replaced by a smile of my own. I'm too distracted to see that one of the guards is watching me intently. He could have been mistaken for a bit of an oddball, watching a couple of people making out, but he was eyeing me closely as I lost myself in her touch and the fire inside of me started to break out.

Some people dancing around us didn't care, but others who weren't quite as drunk as they might have liked saw and backed away in disgust as jagged tears appeared in my skin, emitting a deep orange light as though fire was pouring out of my skin.

We stood there for a moment, and I was happy just to sway gently as she put both her hands around my neck and pulled me in again.

A few seconds passed away like this and then Therus pulled us apart, and could see my own small crowd surrounding me, an almost angry look on their faces but for the most part it was shock.

"What the hell is going on?" Lulis said, tentatively reaching out to touch one of the cracks in my skin.

Comprehension dawns on me and although I gently move her arm out of the way, I'm panicking, my heart racing and looking around us I stammer, saying "I..I can't tell you here." Looking over their shoulders I can see that there's a couple of officers looking straight at me and I know exactly what I need to do now. "Meet me at my flat."

I leave then, in a hurry, though not running. If someone were to look at me they may say that it looked as though I'd left something important behind. In hindsight it probably wasn't the best move, but there was no way I was gonna get taken into some cell to be persecuted like the rest of my people.

Having left my bag in the locker room I go and collect it, and as soon as I have it I head to the exit, slinging it over one shoulder. By now the cracks in my skin have sealed again - panic tends to do that - and I walk passed the two guards at the exit. I can hear the scanner going off, and one of them stops me from exiting proper.

"You don't come up on the DNA scanner. Wanna tell me why that is?" The pair was a Human and a Turian. There wasn't a real answer that I wanted to give to them so I just shrugged and mumbled 'I don't know'.

"I'm thinking you got some illegal mods in you. And it looks like you do too. So, you got two options. Maybe you can convince us to let you go if you tell us where you got them, or you can stay silent and we'll take you in." I turn my head slightly and I can tell that the other guards in the club are right behind me, arms folded in a threatening gesture.

"How about you just let me go?" I ask trying to seem innocent, but I can't help the tones of annoyance coming through my voice.

The Turian stopping me from leaving nods to one of the guards behind and I feel my arms being trapped as his taloned hands come up around my shoulders, and lock behind my neck. I know that a fight is unavoidable now if I want to get away, so I launch myself backwards, landing on the Turian behind me and it breaks his hold, allowing me to spring backwards onto my feet.

I look around me, dropping into a combat stance and now the krogan bouncers have joined the Csec guards, making it seven on one.

They make the first move. Two of the guards come at me wielding concussive batons. I move in to block one, and I drag his wielding arm over him as I roll on his back, dodging the other guard's swipe and directing it into the guard I rolled over.

They look at me in anger and surprise, but I don't give them time to react, launching a sweeping kick at the next nearest guard who rushes in quickly. He hits the floor with a loud oof and I can hear the air rushing out of him. To take him out of the fight with a swift strike to his neck. hard. It won't kill him, but he will definitely not be in fighting condition for a while.

six left.

They've surrounded me again, and on some silent signal they all rush in. I launch a powerful kick at the knee of one of the human guards and it bends backwards sickeningly, and he falls to the floor in agony while I matrix underneath another guards attack and drop to the floor when a third takes my leg out from under me. I roll out of the way as quickly as I can, barely missing being crushed by a krogan stomp. I cover my head as they start to kick me on the floor, but I ignore it best I can, finding the spark and using it to ignite the fuel that's been building up for centuries.

The cracks spread more readily across my body now, their light like an ethereal flame dancing across my skin.

Islam my fists into the floor, releasing a shockwave just before a boot would have landed on my face and the guards are sent sprawling outwards. I noticed that the music had stopped abruptly. Everyone in and out of the club was watching the fight. Some were even taping it on their omni tools.

I ignored them and took the opening that id made, sprinting out of the open club doors and flinging myself over the edge of the rapid transit terminal, sprouting wings as I fell and pulling my rebreather on as I felt the atmosphere thin out and suddenly stop when I left the mass effect field surrounding the ward.

...

It was an hour or so before I heard the knock on my door. I looked keenly through the eyehole in the door and opened in slight relief as they had arrived like I asked.

"Have you seen this?" Shielo asked, turning on the tv and putting the news channel up as the headlines were showing.

"In other news, a fight broke out early this morning at club nebula in the Bachjret ward." The Asari spokeswoman said as an image of an on scene reporter next to her appeared and enlarged as she spoke. "Yes, there were several officers and two of the club's bouncers involved, but the suspect was not apprehended. Several eyewitnesses have testified. Both cctv and amatuer footage of the early morning brawl has been released to Csec officers to analyse the situation." The screen changed to video footage of the fight. "When Officers tried to arrest the suspect on suspicion of illegal genemods, the suspect lashed out, leaving one officer with a broken leg, and one other with a collapsed trachea,. Both are in medical care and we have been told their condition is stable. The other officers were engaged by some form of biological weapon, which appears to be some form of biotics." Suddenly the footage changed and the view was one of outside the club. "As well as cctv footage, eyewitness accounts say that the man 'Leapt over the edge' of a nearby sky car terminal, and proceeded to 'fly away.'" The footage ended and the reporters came back onto the tv. "Csec are issuing a station wide alert for the arrest of this man-" A slightly blurred picture of me came up onto the screen, obviously hastily taken and enlarged from the video. "He is considered to be a highly dangerous individual. If you-"

Shielo turned the tv off again with the touch of a button, and they swarmed around me, demanding answers.

"OK!" I almost yell, giving in to their peer pressure. "Give me a second." I leave them standing in the main room and head to my bedroom, where I strip - not naked, but enough to show my features.

All the while I can hear people banging on my door, shouting at me to come out and go with them peacefully. That's what you get for making conversation every once in a while.

Ignoring the banging on my door, I head back out. Just before I round the corner, I take a deep breath. This is the first time that they will know just who I am, and I've known them and lied to them all the while - It is not something that I am proud of, but it had to be done. For selfish reasons. I march out, head lowered, but not nervously so.

I can see shock on their faces - well, on everyone's except for Toska. He at least had a sense that I wasn't who I said I was… but even so. I don't think any of them were quite prepared for it. I stood there, not quite naked as day and they could see my true form.

It felt like an age before anyone spoke, and when they did, it was still shaky. "All this time… You-you've been this?" It was Arla, and she was looking at me not in disgust, but rather in betrayal.

"I kept myself hidden for so long. I… I didn't realise it could end this way."

"Sooo…" Therus said, question in his voice. "What are you?"

I spend a few moments deliberating before I answer. "To be quite honest, I'm not sure whether or not I should tell you, or show you."

They spare a glance at each other before they gather in closer, the knocks on the door still coming occasionally.

"Fuck it. We don't have long." I say as I grab hold of the two closest to me, Shielo and Therus and a drag them closer, putting their hands to the side of my head.

For a second, they struggle. But as I can feel the eons of my history being poured into them, they waver, and after a couple of seconds, I release them, letting them totter backwards. Therus goes and sits heavily on my couch, while Shielo falls to the floor, his eyes shaking manickly, mumbling to himself as though he'd gone insane.

I reach out for the Arla and Lulis next, though they seem afraid of what I've done. "It's like a mind meld. Only you can't hide anything."

Reaching out again, I they tentatively take my hand and I place them on the side of my head, just like before. A few seconds later and the cycle has been repeated, although now both twins step backwards in wonder, slight gasps leaving their mouths every few seconds as they come across some new event in my history.

Finally, I take both of Toska's hands and place them against my head. I suppose he takes it the best, partly because despite Krogans' tendency to kill each other, no one really knows how long they can live for. Some theorise that they are in fact a sentient form of biological immortality, somewhat similar to the Earth lobster, and much like my own race.

Ten minutes pass and I can hear sirens outside. I leave them in the main room again and get dressed, clothes that cover myself as inconspicuously as I can, as well as grabbing a good size duffel bag and throwing important things inside, spare clothes, credit chits, that sort of thing.

And then the door breaks open.

AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed/fav/followed right from the beginning. I wasn't sure what kind of reception this would get, but I'm grateful for the support!

Don't forget to leave any comments you like (but if you're going to criticise, make it constructive please)

Also, this is going to be written in between my fairly hectic work schedule (I go to an Art College which sucks up a LOT of time) but there should be one or two updates every weekend if I can manage it.

Ta Ta For Now!

(/^_^)/ Voodoo