Chapter 1: Trouble in Paradise
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep...
Ungh... Really right now? Stop beeping...stupid alarm. Maybe if I just ignore it, it'll stop. That's how they work right? Snooze, off, or ignore? I'll just go back to sleep...
Or not because this thing apparently never shuts off. Damn that was a weird dream. It was so vivid, too. Almost like I was actually there. Easily the most painful dream I've ever experienced...if a painful dream can actually exist. Ah, well better shut that stupid alarm off and start my day.
I don't even need to open my eyes for this...should be right around here on my dresser. Or here. Wonderful. I have crazy dreams now and alarm clocks that can apparently move on its own. So annoying, where the fu-...
Ok this isn't my room. This is NOT my fucking room! Why is everything all metal and futuristic? What the fuck is going on?! I should be at home, in my comfy bed, with a wooden dresser, right fucking there!
I started frantically looking around the room trying to gather my surroundings in a desperate attempt to figure out where exactly I was, only to look down and notice wires connected to me.
"Noooooo, no, no, no, no, no! I don't know who you are or why these are hooked up to me, but I want nothing to do with this. My organs are staying inside of me thank you, and in nooooo way am I about to be sewn to two other people. Not now. Not ever," I said to myself as I ripped off the wires, and carefully removed any needles.
Next order of business is finding my way out of whatever this room is. Except that there seems to be no door. This isn't even a room, it's a box! Scratch that, it's worse. This is a cage. All that's around me is metal walls. That's it. Cold metal walls, weird looking hospital bed, a small locker in the corner, and all these odd scanners and machines surrounding it. I'm trapped. I'm gonna die. Shit, balls, fuck, *insert random expletives here*.
"Ok, ok, calm down," I said to myself while sitting down in the corner, bringing my knees up to my chest, hands around my legs. There has to be a rational explanation to this. Think Rick, think!
Ok all I remember is that weird painful dream. What did I do before that...? I remember playing Mass Effect 3 and beating Palaven. Then...then I got a call from Josh. About some breakthrough with...with his teleportation stuff...
Of course! I'm at his lab! I got hit by that weird lightning stuff and must've lost consciousness. That totally explains the pain I was feeling and the weird dream. The lightning messed with my brain. And I'm here in what must be a hospital ward of his facility. Well that's a relief.
I sat there for a few more minutes, happy to have finally figured out what was going on...at least until I heard that annoying fucking beeping again. Only now that beep is a solid high pitched squeal. "Seriously?! What. The. Fuck?! What is beeping?!" I yelled.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down," I heard from the opposite side of the room. The wall had slid open revealing two people, a man and a woman, standing there apprehensively. They were dressed strangely, but they most definitely looked like doctors, although they weren't wearing any uniforms I've ever seen. I know I've seen these before, but I just can't seem to place where.
"False alarm, patient is fine. He just ripped off everything attached to him. However he seems disoriented," said the woman into a radio. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to lie back down on the bed. We need to perform some tests now that you're conscious."
"Now that I'm conscious? How long have I been out?" I asked
"Just about the better half of the week. You'll have plenty of time for questions after we finish our tests. We ran some before, but only some baseline scans to make sure that you weren't injured. Besides a few scrapes and burns you were fine. We needed you to be awake to perform anything else. Just lay down," she continued. Seeing as how I didn't really have a choice, I complied.
"Thank you. Ok, now let's see what we got here... Start scans," she commanded though to what I wasn't sure. Then the bed and all the devices around it sprang to life, sending strange beams at me that moved from my head to my toe. "I can't say I'm too fond of all these strange... beam... things around me. Last time I was around sciency objects I didn't know, it didn't quite end so well..." I told her.
"Well I can assure you that these are simple medical scans," she replied. "No harm will be done. Though how these qualify as strange I couldn't tell you. This is standard medical equipment."
"Standard my ass. I've never seen this in hospitals. And what with the teleportation equipment in the other part of the facility putting me here in the first place, I feel like you could understand me being wary." I told her.
"Sir, these-"
"No stop calling me sir. My name is Rick. Where's Josh? He'll tell you what's going on."
"Sir- I mean Rick- as I was saying, this equipment is standard in any care facility across the universe, there is nobody named Josh here on this part of the colony, and we don't have teleportation technology. The closest thing we have to that is FTL travel and the mass relays."
She turned away and started talking, "Scans commencing for patient Rick O'Connor, 6'2", 200 pounds, brownish black hair short-ish medium length, brown eyes... Ok initial scans show nothing wrong. Every thing normal. Body in good condition, decent weight, muscle tone normal, heart normal, brain scans normal, although patient exhibits lapses in memory..."
I let her continue, because God knows I wasn't paying attention to anything she said after mass relays. Nothing she said made sense. I had to be in Josh's lab still...unless that wasn't just a dream. Unless that was, in fact, real, but I have no idea how that could be real. FTL travel? Mass relays? Those don't exist where I come from, those only exist in...
Mass Effect...
Holy shit. Now I know where I've seen rooms, equipment, and clothes like this before. All this stuff is from Mass Effect. But how? I thought that was just a dream! Maybe it teleported me to a new time? This is far too real to be just a dream. Did all the times Josh press that stupid button send me here? It must've broken some dimensional barrier or something. I don't know. The only person who can answer that would be Josh, and he's not here...
And what did she mean ideal body conditions? I definitely wasn't in perfect shape the last time I checked! I wasn't out of shape, but I wasn't close to being toned. Looking down I noticed that I was now, not ripped or anything, there was just more muscle definition. I was more a powerlifter, not somebody who focused on making his muscles show, but they were always there, just not visible like they now semi were. Only explanation for this had to be that my "dream" was actually real. It would explain the intense pain that cloud thing caused. Stop thinking about it. All this thinking is making my head hurt. Time to figure out what exactly is going on...
"Rick... are you alright? You've been awfully quiet."
"Yea... yea I'm fine. You know...you're right..." I said, my nerves making themselves known in my voice, "I do seem to have trouble remembering some things. Where are we for one? And what year is it? How did I get here?"
"This is a Human colony on the edge of the Terminus Systems known as Eden Prime. The year is 2183. As to how you got here, we were hoping you could tell us. We were working on a research base on a dig site, looking for any valuable artifacts when we found an intact, working, Prothean beacon. As soon as we found this beacon we saw a flash of light and a loud explosion about half a mile away in a field..."
She brought out a data pad and started typing on it and then continued to talk, "We thought the beacon had triggered some new technology yet to be discovered, but when we got there, all we saw was you in the middle of a small crater Rick. We found you in outdated clothes, all of which are in your locker over there, as well as a new set for you. We happened to see your I.D. as well. It says you're from Earth, Michigan to be exact, but unfortunately we have no records of anyone with your exact name in our databases here, even those who may have visited on shuttles. More importantly all your possessions were incredibly outdated, and your I.D. said you were born in the 1990's. That's impossible seeing as how that was close to 200 years ago. So who are you exactly?"
I know all that was important and that all this is overwhelming, but a few of the details stood out and signaled some warning bells, prompting only one question: "Is there an Alliance vessel coming here to procure the beacon?" I asked.
"Yes but that's top level clear-" the man chimed in from the background, speaking for the first time, but he never really got to finish his sentence as I cut him off.
"Wonderful!" I shouted as oh-shit instincts kicked in for survival, "Listen, I don't have time to explain but know this: you and everyone else on the colony is in grave danger. Don't ask, I can't tell. But what I can do is try and save your lives until help arrives, but you'll have to trus-" I didn't get to finish my sentence as a horrifying noise went off in the distance. I could tell it was far away but at the same time it felt as if it were right next to me. I knew that sound all too well: the ominous horn announcing that a reaper is nearby, in this case Sovereign. I really was in the Mass effect world. Worry about that later. Focus on not getting killed by Geth now.
I could tell everyone in the room with me was terrified at this sound, any doubt that may have shown in their faces about my warning instantly vanished. They didn't know what it was but they were smart enough to put things together.
"Well that saves me a lot of hassle," I mumbled while starting to dress, putting on the new space age clothes while taking any possessions out of the pockets of my old, mainly an ipod, some headphones, my wallet, and my cell phone. "Now listen, I can save us, if you can get us to the shipping warehouses. Are they far from here, and can you lead me there?"
"They're about a 20 minute walk from our location," the woman said, taking charge as the man was still clutching at his head from the sound Sovereign emitted, "and I can lead you there. But on one condition: when and if we're safe, you have a lot of explaining to do."
"Deal," I replied. "Now get us outta here."
The un-named woman led us outside, and damn is this place beautiful: minimal structures, beautiful skies, rolling fields of green. Definitely deserving of the title of Eden Prime. I never thought I'd be able to live anywhere but the city. I mean, I love places away from the city, but I never thought I could actually live there. It's too far away from civilization for me. But this place is different. I could see myself here. There's something about it that's just so serene that couldn't be conveyed in the game. Well it would be serene if the sky wasn't blood red and it wasn't being invaded by a reaper and its Geth armada.
Ok, enough sight seeing, back to running for my life, and right on cue as if we didn't know we were in danger, a Geth drop-ship flew by overhead.
"What was that thing? I've never seen anything like it!" the woman asked.
"That would be a Geth drop-ship, lady and gent, and it's Filled with - you guessed it - Geth!" I replied.
"But that's impossible! Geth haven't been seen outside of the Perseus Veil since the end of the Morning War!" She said.
"Yea, well they're here now," I retorted, "and I suggest moving over talking before we all end up dead. If I may make a suggestion? Take an out of the way path. We don't need armed enemies discovering us."
With that, she lead us down the slope to the warehouse, leading us behind some of the shacks that had been set up and behind some trees leading to the warehouse. As we moved along we watched in horror as squads of Geth indiscriminately murdered every colonist they came across. Nobody said anything, however, either due to fear of being caught or the fact that there was nothing to be said. We were about three quarters of the way there when a small group of Geth, maybe about 2 or 3 of them, got in the way.
"Of course!" I whispered. "Now what do we do? We can't go out there without getting gunned down. The closest cover to hide behind is far enough away to be spotted, and any distraction we try to make will just get us killed..." And then like an answer to my prayers, a single unnaturally loud gunshot sounded in the distance, pulling the squad's attention and causing them to move away from us.
"Well there couldn't have been a better time for that to happen, lead the way..." I said to two people next to me. As we made our way in silence hoping not to get caught, our goal almost in sight, I remembered something: the gunshot that just saved our lives ended somebody else's. That was Saren killing Nihlus, which means we should be getting to the warehouse just before Shepard if my estimates are right and assuming the game timing is accurate. Guess we'll find out soon enough.
The rest of the journey went smoothly, no Geth in the immediate vicinity to hinder our progress. At least until we got to the warehouse itself. Geth were swarming the front of the warehouse just like in the game. Well looks like I'm gonna be psychic from now on. Not sure if that's a gift knowing what I do, or a curse...but now's not the time to think about that. More important things are on my plate right now...like getting into this fucking building.
"Going in the front is not an option. We'll be killed before we make it within 50 feet of the walkway up there," I observed. "There has to be another way in there. If we stay out here we're screwed. In the bad way. The really bad way."
"Thank you for that. Stating the obvious and an attempt at comedy. That's what we need right now," retorted the woman. "Anyhow there should be a back entrance, but it's not exactly common knowledge."
"Meaning what?" I asked. "You mean like some super secret entrance?"
"Kinda..." she stated, hesitation clear in her voice. "See my brother-in-law and husband work here..." she continued as she started walking along the back of the building, feeling the walls for something. "...and they kind of smuggle some shipments for themselves. Normally I detest the sort of thing, but right now this could save our lives...here it is," And with that the wall slid open, revealing a small, isolated room with a few crates in it, a single lightbulb lighting the room. Well the futuristic equivalent of a lightbulb.
"Not another step!" we heard from the corner of the room, all of us turning to see the source of the voice greeting us with a pistol in our faces. "Who are you? And how di-...Anna? Is that you?"
"Powell! It's so great to see you're alright!" She said embracing him, but for some reason he wasn't quite as enthusiastic. "Have you heard from Stan? Is he alright? I know he was working today...Why isn't he in here?"
Hey! It's Powell! The coward Ashley almost killed when she found out he was hiding.
Powell let go of her and held her shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes, sadness clear in his own, and said "I'm sorry Anna...He...He didn't make it..."
"No...no how could you?! You saved yourself and yet you couldn't save him?!" she said slowly walking away as tears started flowing down her cheeks. I assumed Stan must have been her husband.
"Anna please, you'll give us away. I know you're upset. You don't think I am? He was my fucking brother," Powell stammered out. "Believe me, if there was anything I could have done for him, I would have done it in a heartbeat. I was back here already when the attack started...napping. Stan was out front covering for me while I grabbed some shut-eye. Next thing I know, I'm awake, there were guns firing, bullets ricocheting all over the warehouse. I went to go check it out and saw Stan running back here, but he fell down at the end of the crates we use to hide the entrance on the inside of the warehouse. I went to go help him up...and then I...I saw the blood. And the unfeeling look in his eyes...like he wasn't there. And then I came back here. Waiting for this nightmare to end. I'm sorry..."
This being said, Anna leaned against the wall, slowly sliding to the ground, her body shaking with sobs the entire time. There was nothing to say. We all sat or stood there, nobody daring to break the silence that permeated the room.
We waited there for what seemed like forever, and that's when I realized that something was wrong. Shepard and crew should've been here by now. There should've been a huge firefight outside. Why weren't they here? If they're not here then...shit... the bombs. The damn bombs! Quick, think, think, think!
Ok... not the greatest idea but I can't wait here forever. If I do something I could end up dead, but on the other hand not doing something will guarantee it. Let's do this.
"Powell, was it?" I asked, even though I knew it was. I'd seen him before from the game.
"Yes," He replied, seeming to notice me for the first time since entering the room. "Who are you? This section of the colony isn't big, and I know everybody here. But I've never seen you before. Where did you come from?"
"My name is Rick, and there's more important things going on here than my origins. I need a favor from you."
"I'm going to stop you right there," Powell interrupted. "You aren't getting shit from me until you tell me who you are and how you got here."
"Look I told you my name, and I'm telling you there are bigger things than where I ca-"
"Tell me why you're here! Did you bring these... these monsters here? Are you the reason this peaceful colony is being attacked? Because I swear to God if you're the reason my brother died I will kill you!"
There's only a few things I truly hate: being interrupted, hypocrisy, ignorance, and false accusations. Powell just did two of those.
"Look asshole," I started, "I know you're grieving right now, and I now this whole situation is a shock to you, but you can not pin this fucking tragedy on me! If I was responsible for this, do you honestly think anyone in this fucking room would be alive right now? If I had planned this attack do you think I would've had to sneak the entire damn way over here? Do you think I would have warned these people with me about this attack if it was my doing?" I paused, never breaking eye contact with Powell.
Silence.
"That's what I thought. Now, if you'll let me speak, you'd see that I'm trying to save your ass, so will you help me? Or are you just gonna sit here on your ass while more innocents die?"
"Before I do anything," Powell started, his voice a little less accusatory and more hurt than before, "I have to ask you something first. You said you warned them about the attack? How did you know this was going to happen?"
Great...didn't account for that question. Ok...think on your feet Rick...you can do this. Convincing cover story. Need a convincing cover story so they don't think I'm insane...
"Well? How did you know?" Powell pushed.
"Well you see..." I said pausing a little to think and buy some time, "I was actually...traveling. With my family. On the way here as a matter of fact. We were...going to make a new life here. See if we could live on this colony, you know? On the way over here we were attacked by the same ships you see outside. I was the only one to make it to an escape pod, and that escape pod crashed into the field over by the Prothean beacon. You can see why I might not want to talk about it. Satisfied?" I asked while trying to sound convincing.
"Good enough," was his answer. "Sorry about your family. Now what was this favor?"
"I know you're a smuggler, but I really don't care. What I do care about is what you've been smuggling. If I know how these machines act the way I think I do, or at least the way I expect them to, they aren't just going to leave. They're going to destroy any trace of them being here, and this section of the colony along with it. That's what happened to our ship. I don't know why the Alliance team that showed up hasn't arrived at this warehouse yet, but I'm not just gonna sit here waiting for the next nasty surprise the Geth have waiting for us. Do you have any fire-arms, grenades, or shield generators back here?"
"Well..." he started as he looked through some crates, "I have a few pistols here, no grenades, and about 3 shield generators."
"Great. Give em to me. How do these generators work exactly?" I asked
"All you do," Powell said as he brought one over to me, "is stick one on you, press this button, and you're in business. Now these aren't military quality, but they're still really good. If you get hit with too many shots, it'll overload. Stop taking fire, and they'll recharge. Just pay attention to how much fire you've taken; you don't have a helmet with a HUD to tell you after all. Simple enough right? And I'm assuming you want one of these too right?" he asked handing me a pistol.
"You could say that," I replied. "It's been a while since I used one of these, anyone wanna give me a run through on the basics?"
"I can help you with that," piped up the man who had previously said nothing the entire time I was with him. Turns out his name was Shawn and he had worked security before. He gave me a run down on the gun: what did what, how to know if it's about to overheat, and stuff like that.
After he was done, I walked over to the inner warehouse entrance in this room, shields up and pistol ready, and turned to them and said "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going out there and giving these things a taste of their own medicine," thank God for the gun training I had before I ended up on this forsaken colony, "so is anybody with me? It'll be dangerous and I can't guarantee your survival. I can't even guarantee mine, so I'll understand if you all just stay here."
Shawn was the only one who responded, but even then he didn't say anything. He just walked over to Powell, grabbed a pistol and shield generator of his own, and then walked over to me, simply nodding.
"Good to know I'll have someone watching my back out there," I said putting my hand on his shoulder. "Time to teach the Geth that not all these colonists are helpless..."
We made our way out of the warehouse, but to our surprise there were no Geth outside. If I didn't know any better I would've swore that Shepard had already been through here, but seeing as how I heard no gunfire previously, that was impossible.
"Wonder where all the Geth went?" I asked Shawn. He said nothing, but pointed left to a hill that a few Geth were running up.
Guess that would be Shepard and crew. Geth must be trying to neutralize them. Good luck with that. They're running a little late aren't they? Well let's go make it easier for them once they get here.
"You don't talk much do you?" I asked, looking at Shawn. No response. "Ooooookay then...moving on. I think we should go this way," I said heading to the right of the warehouse. We made it to a downward ramp when we suddenly saw a body in a pool of blue. Nihlus.
"There were aliens on this colony?" I asked, looking at Shawn. Gotta play the part of stranded newcomer after all.
"No," he replied, "Judging from the armor and weapons though, it seems like he's here to help. Must be part of the Alliance group that came here to help take care of the Geth behind us. Let's move forward."
"Right back to business I see. You go ahead, scout the area. I'll catch up in a second. I'm gonna stay here and see if I can learn anything from his omni-tool." Shaun said nothing but walked ahead, pistol at the ready.
Well...I know why he's here. No need to search Nihlus' omni-tool. I was staying behind to see if Shepard would catch up, but I can't even see him at the hill. He needs to get here soon. Or she. I don't know yet. Hopefully those bombs the Geth set up won't go off before he/she gets to us. And hopefully I'll still be alive too.
Well better go catch up to Shawn. I'm reaaaally hoping this doesn't get too outta hand considering we just have pistols...but somebody has more than just pistols. I'm just hoping they show up soon. A few gunshots sounded from Shawn's direction.
I started jogging to back Shawn up, but then I remembered something and spun around on one foot, jogging back to Nihlus' body.
I don't think he'll mind if I use his shotgun for a bit... Thank you assorted Elder Scrolls games for teaching me to loot bodies before moving on. Doubt I'll do it often, but I think these are special circumstances. Anything more than just a pistol will be useful. More gunshots.
Right, off to help Shawn.
A/N: Hey guys, I told you the next chapter would be up shortly. Expect another update soon because this is half of what I originally had as one chapter. I have a lot written, but as before it's just a matter of working out the kinks. Once I've posted what I have, expect an update roughly every two weeks? I'll push for sooner but no promises.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed it, I know it's not a lot of action, but that's coming up so bear with me. Again, leave any feedback or criticism in the reviews or a PM.
On another note if anybody's a registered Beta who happens to be reading this and would like to help out, I would gladly accept it so PM me.
Rfalzar, signing out.
