The moment I was capable of even knowing that I existed I let out a deep gasp for air. I opened my eyes, but I was as blind as a bat, seeing nothing but a blur that had decided to occupy my vision. Everything hurt, my head, my neck, my limbs...
After having my sudden realization, I quickly felt for my limbs. A wide smile formed on my face the moment I discovered I was no longer in a state of molecular disintegration. What joy.
I wasn't alone in my joy. I could hear groans coming from both Thomas and Allen, who were just a "little" more vocal in their new found joy of fully-attached limbs.
"Hey, you guys alright?" I asked, still unable to see even an inch in front of my face.
"Well... we're alive." Allen said sarcastically. "Are you having trouble seeing too?"
"Yep." Me and Thomas answered unanimously.
I kept on blinking in an attempt to regain my vision, as the feeling in my fingertips crept back. All of our surrounding I could make out was a cold, hard, metallic surface.
I kept crawling, before I touched a metal railing. I used this to pull myself off the ground, as my vision finally began showing signs of improvement. I could see a window, and a floor composed of shiny plate metal.
"Where the hell are we?" I asked myself, as a few more blinks finally repaired my vision.
I saw the majestic, five armed splendor of the wards, glowing in the misty purple nebula that protected it. I had to blink a few more times just to make sure my eyes really were fixed.
We are on the Citadel.
The word "we" is especially apparent, as I look back to see Allen helping Thomas back on to his feet.
"Guys! You know where we are right now?" I said, almost shouting in complete excitement.
"No, my eyes are still being assholes." Allen answered, still helping Thomas back onto his feet. "Where are we?"
"Look out that window! We are on the Citadel!" I start shouting, as my nerd beings to take over. "The heart of galactic civilization!"
"What? What do you mean? As in Mass Effect? I swear if your pulling a trick on me..." Allen starts to say, as he rubs his eyes again and staggers over.
"No I'm serious, guys! Look out the window!" I kept urging, as they finally made their way over.
Allen and Thomas both took a moment to adjust, as they squinted at the electronic horizon. Their jaws dropped, as the three of us simply stared out the window for the longest time.
"OK, what the hell is going on?" Allen finally says, looking at me and Thomas. "No, what the FUCK is going on?!"
"I don't know." I replied with a dumbfounded expression. "Um... let's take turns recalling what we remember."
"Well... I remember you being a complete retard and picking up that disco ball thing." Allen said after a moment of thought. "Seriously, why did you do that?"
"Um... I don't remember." I answered with the same dumb look. At that time, I honestly couldn't remember.
"Aren't you guys forgetting something a little more important right now?" Thomas redirected, pointing at the window. "We're in Mass Effect, don't you know what that means?"
"Yeah, it means Reapers." I said, taking off my backpack and unzipping it.
I wanted to find my cellphone so I could take a picture of this, but I couldn't find it. Instead, I found what looked like three arm-length wristbands made out of some sort of glowing tech.
"Hey guys, check out what I found." I said with a smile, gently taking them out. "Some sort of high-tech wristbands."
"Maybe they are omni-tools?" Thomas suggested, as he stared at them with even more curiosity.
"Here, let me see one of those." Allen commanded, taking the largest one from my grasp and putting it on. "Um... on... go... start..."
Allen stopped for a second after his unsuccessful attempts, an instead stared at the device. Like that, a orange hologram engulfed the entirety of his lower left arm.
"Ah, so that's how it works... you have to "want" it to turn on, if that makes any sense." Allen said with a smile, using his other hand to flip through the different options on the device. "Go on, try it."
Thomas and I quickly obliged, strapping them on and "willing" the tools to turn on. I figured that it somehow scanned your brainwaves.
Right in the middle of my thought process, there was a sharp beeping noise that started coming from our omni-tools. The three of us looked down, seeing that we had all just gotten a message. It read...
"Requested transfer for – 5,000,000 credits – from :unknown ID: - has been cleared. Thank you for your business."
The three of us looked up at one another. We all mentally agreed that this was becoming one of the best days ever, despite some other circumstances that were facing us.
"Um... wow..." I exclaimed, running my hand through my thick hair. "That's... that's kinda ridiculous..."
Our flabbergasted thoughts were thrown off as the door to the small room slid open, revealing a turian dressed in a orange outfit.
"Hey, what the hell are you kids doing in here?!" He asked in some anger, taking a few steps towards us.
"Oh, sorry sir, we were just... taking a moment to rest." I quickly made up, facing him. "We just got here, and we got lost on our way to-"
"I don't need to hear your life story, just... get the hell out before I call C-Sec." He cut of in annoyance, rubbing his plated face with his three-digit hand.
"Yes, sorry sir." I quickly apologized, as the three of us quickly got out of dodge.
"Damn humans..." The turian remarked bitterly, as he entered the room and shut the door.
The three of us wandered around for a while, receiving a variation of looks from people of varying race. It was... awesome, but in an ill-informed way. We were attracting attention I would rather avoid, though I couldn't really blame people for taking a double take at the sight of us. We weren't exactly subtle. I was wearing a oversized black army surplus jacket with a t-shirt under it, and dark blue jeans. Thomas was wearing a light jacket with a blue long-sleeved shirt and casual pants, while Allen was wearing a green hoodie and cargo pants with a camouflage pattern on them.
Not to mention all three of us had stuffed backpacks on, filled with our now useless school work among other things. We would have to ditch our clothes later, but for now, it's all we had on our backs.
"Wait, whats going on over there?" Thomas asked, as several people, mostly humans, were all grouped together watching one of the larger screens in the area.
We joined the group to listen and watch. Just by glancing at the screen I could guess what it was about.
"- continuing to receive reports that the human colony of Eden Prime has been attacked by a sizable hostile force." I started to hear, as murmurs increased in the crowd. "Most reports are frantic and scattered, but most say that the Geth, a synthetic race of machines living in the Perseus Veil, attacked the colony almost twelve hours ago, killing hundreds for no discernible reason at this time. It is unknown what the motivation for the devastating surprise attack was, but we will continue to report as the story develops."
"Well... at least we have a better idea of where we are time-wise." Thomas cracked with a small smirk.
"I think we need to get mean, very fast." I said, looking back at my friends.
"Now your speaking my language." Allen agreed with an utterly demented look now filling his face.
We asked one human where we could find the markets, and he kindly directed us to a large door up ahead. We went through to see the chaos that was the Ward markets. Dozens of different kiosks lined the room, along with the species to match. There was smoke, laughter, and a lot of yelling as people bargained their goods. It was utter chaos.
"Wow, now this beats going to the mall by a long shot." I started, breaking the silence between the three of us.
"This is insane. Where the hell are we supposed to start?" Allen asked out loud without looking at us.
"I don't know." I said, looking around the markets. "We should pool together what we have and try to get the best equipment possible."
"Good idea." Thomas agreed, opening his omni-tool and then closing it again. "Wait, how exactly are we going to get ourselves involved?"
"We'll worry about that later." I delayed quickly, eying up the best looking gun dealers I could make out.
"Yeah, right now, it's about the guns, guns, guns." Allen said with another unsettling smile.
"Don't get yourself too excited, Allen." I urged, patting him on the shoulder as we walked. "Wouldn't want a repeat of the November Incident."
"Sean, you are such an asshole!" Allen said rather loudly, stopping to stare at me. "Are you really going to remind me of that?"
"Aww, come on! It was over a year ago, you can laugh at it now!" Thomas said, trying to cheer Allen up.
"Yeah, I suppose. At least you guys are the only people in this universe who know about that." Allen agreed, calming himself down. "Don't you dare go telling Shepard or anything, or I'll... man, I'll do something..."
"Hey, no need to threaten your friends, King Whizzbang." I commented with more humor dripping from my voice. "We're the only ones you got right now."
"Fine. So lets go find a dealer or something, OK? I don't want to think about... that THING anymore." Allen urged, as we continued on.
We wandered aimlessly around the markets for a while, until we came across a place called Morlan's Shop.
"Hey, lets try this place." I told my friends, and we walked in.
"Hello there, welcome to Morlan's Famous Shop! You want many good supplies, yes? The salarian greeted from behind the counter. I'm guessing he's not going to deny paying customers just because of what they are wearing.
"Actually, yes we are!" I told him in my best poker face possible. "Me and my two friends here are looking for the best top-of-the-line combat gear on the Citadel."
"Then you've come to just the right place!" Morlan replied in a thrilled tone. "Please, check my selection of hardsuits and firearms, I'm sure you'll find something that suits your tastes!"
With that, Morlan left us to our own devices, as we browsed the place separately for what we wanted. I was personally piqued by three weapons in particular, the M-5 Phalanx Heavy Pistol, the M-76 Revenant Assault Rifle, and the M-97 Viper Sniper Rifle. I was surprised that...
"Sean, look." Thomas said, nudging me and ruining my train of thought. He was holding a cigar sized metal cylinder. "They are already using the heat sinks from ME2."
"I noticed that." I quietly agreed, nodding at him. "Just go with the flow."
After that, I started looking at the hardsuits. I decided to go with the good old basics, meaning the highest level tier of Oynx Heavy armor, which even came with a knife attacked to the front chestpiece. After spending ten minutes learning how to put it on properly, I walked out of the dressing room, feeling a new sense of confidence due to my second skin.
Thomas and Allen made similar suit decisions, though Thomas went with the Medium version. I suppose he felt the heavy was too bulky for his smaller body frame.
"Wow, you three look like your ready to fight a war!" Morlan exclaimed with a bright face.
"Well, you can never be too careful. All sorts of dangerous stuff out there in the galaxy." Allen told Morlan.
"You know it!" Morlan agreed in his fast diction. "Tell ya what... since you guys have been such supportive customers, next time you come around I'll give you a big discount."
"Wow, thanks Morlan..." I told him in a rushed tone, as our reason for coming here started to take center stage in my mind. "...but we need to get doing."
"Alright, come visit my store if you ever need anything. The discount will always available for the three of you." Morlan said, with a wave and a smile. "Oh, and don't forget to tell your friends about Morlan's Famous Shop!"
"We will, thanks!" I thanked quickly as we left for our next destination, where ever it was.