The Real World

Lisa stepped back from the street light and gazed at the poster she had just hung up.

HAVE YOU SEEN ME?

NAME: Conrad Verner

AGE: 37

SEX: Male

EYES: Grey

HAIR: Blonde

HEIGHT: 5'10"

RACE: Caucasian

INFO: I was last seen at 10:45 PM on June 6, 2012 at my home at 617 N Falcon Way, Toronto, Ontario. I was wearing a Mass Effect N7 hoodie and blue jeans. If you have seen me, please call at 647-555-0012

Lisa nodded and glanced down the street and the paper signs fluttering in the breeze. She had a wagon load, and was making her through the neighborhood. She glanced down at her own N7 hoodie, thinking of Conrad and wondering where he could be.

The Mass Effect Galaxy

Conrad was quite certain he was slowly losing his mind. He knew he was not originally from this dimension, universe, timeline, or whatever it was. The point was, he was from some when or where else. The problem that was arising was increasingly Conrad couldn't remember any details from that life. He vaguely remembered his wife still, but half those memories were Conrad talking about his wife since the change. There was something about Reapers; he needed to tell Shepard they were coming and then help to save the galaxy. Conrad was increasingly taking notes on those so he could remember. It was frightening, some mornings he would write something down, and by the evening his mind no longer recognized that it existed. His walls were becoming plastered with notes and print outs from media that Conrad remembered from his past life.

He had an article about Eden Prime that he had written "Beacon" and "Saren" on, but for the life of him Conrad could no longer remember what the beacon was or who Saren was, other then the rogue specter that had caused all the hubub a few weeks back. He did know it was vital he remember and that it was key to Shepard, but he didn't know why it was key, just that it was.

That was the other scary thing. Conrad hadn't BEEN in this universe when the hubub had happened. He had been home, with his wife. But he remembered watching the news broadcast where he was declared a traitor. He remembered talking about it online with people. But he had never done any of those things.

A duality was growing in Conrad's mind, where memories of growing up on Earth during the First Contact War and subsequent induction of humanity to the council were competing with memories of growing up in Toronto and having this entire world be nothing more then a game. But the memories of Conrad's new life were winning, and his memories of the time before faded as they were slowly replaced.

Conrad's rooms took on the look of a conspiracy theorist, plastered with news reports, journal entries and pictures of Shepard and the Normandy's crew. He posted on a variety of online forums, trying to convince people of the existance of the reapers, which were publicly known as a boogy man brought up during the Council's inquiry into Saren.

But, as one Turian poster named Exarchkun4 put it, "Reapers, those claims have been dismissed."

Few heeded Conrad's warnings, so he went to one person he did remember from his past life, a reporter named Emily Wong. Emily was famous for breaking a huge story about crime aboard the citadel when she released the files of one Chora Fist, a crime lord in the employ of Saren. She had followed up with an even more stunning expose on the horrid conditions of Citadel traffic controllers which had one her several accolades and established her as a serious investigative reporter who got results. If she was willing to pick up the Reaper story, Conrad knew people would listen.

"Hi, I'm here to see Emily Wong about Commander Shepard's package." Conrad told the salarian secretary, who showed him right in.

Emily stood and greeted Conrad as he came into her office, a large well appointed afair overlooking traffic on the Zakira ward. "Dr. Verner, I'm so glad you could come! The Commander has been of so much help in my investigations, I'm excited to see what he's sent me."

"No problem Ms. Wong!" Conrad assured her, "The Commander and I are close personal friends. Here, let me show you what he's sent to me."

Digging into his satchel, Conrad pulled out schematics he had drawn up for Sovereign, including his calculations on the required mass effect fields and theoretical dark energy manipulation for the recorded maneuvers on Eden Prime. He also pulled out several extra net articles relating to Matriarch Benezia with Conrad's theories on how Indoctrination could work (those had been written before Conrad had frankly quite forgotten what Indoctrination WAS). Among these he included a rare copy of Shepard's full report on Eden Prime to the council, including the vision from the beacon (gotten while Conrad still had top secret clearance for his mini stealth generator) and a recording of the damning evidence Udina had presented to the Council publicly.

Emily had a keen investigative mind, and as she pulled the various writings Conrad had together, a very clear picture began to form in her mind of what exactly the Reapers were. She wasn't familiar with the equations Conrad had used, but she did know enough to recognize that they were far beyond anything the Council races were capable of manufacturing.

"Dr. Verner, this is amazing!" Emily gasped as she paged through his summery of Indoctrination. "If this is all true..."

"It is!" He hurriedly assured her, "All of it. I got the raw data from Commander Shepard himself."

Emily nodded absently, she had recognized Shepard's writing style from the Eden Prime report and knew it didn't match the official version. Though it did answer quite a few questions she had had about just what had happened to the Beacon and why Saren wanted it.

"Dr. Verner, I can't than you enough. Please see my secretary about your cash reward, and I'll make sure you're in the byline."

"The only reward I need is knowing I helped Commander Shepard." Conrad declared, puffing out his chest, "Don't mention my name, I would prefer it if all the credit went to you and the Commander."

Emily smiled. That confirmed in her mind that this was all true. Loonies usually wanted some sort of personal recognition for their "discoveries" and scam artists were eager for the reward. That combined with the very brief research she had done on Dr. Verner (Who was widely recognized as an expert in the fields of dark energy and xenoscience by his peers) made her believe the veracity of the information she had just recieved.

"I'll get to work on this right away Dr. Verner. You have my thanks."

"Glad I could help Ms. Wong." Conrad said with a grin, shaking Emily's hand and leaving.

Emily sat down and got to work, but she had barely started before she was interrupted by her secretary. "Ms. Wong, there's a man from the Alliance to see you. Says his names Major Muhammad."

"Let him in Vik." Emily replied. When the major walked in, Emily began her prerehearsed tirade for when she finally broke into some really juicy government secrets.

"Now you listen here major, the people of the galaxy have a right to the truth, and no matter what the Alliance has to say, this will go to print and-"

"Ms. Wong, the Alliance has no problem with you publishing articles about 'indoctrination' or 'reapers' or whatever else Mr. Verner has told you about. I'm just here with a friendly warning." The Major interrupted.

That made Emily sit down. "What are you talking about? Does the Alliance already know about this? I thought you were ignoring Commander Shepard's reports."

The major coughed slightly. "Ma'am, Commander Shepard hasn't submitted ANY reports about indoctrination, and his brief mention of the Reapers's in a few scattered reports are nothing more then commentary on what the enemy claims is a race of machines that did to the protheans what the geth nearly did to the quarians."

"What are you talking about? Dr. Verner just showed me-" Emily began, but the look on the Major face made her stop. He looked embarrassed.

"I hate to say it, but you're not the first person Conrad Verner has hoodwinked. He's a brilliant man, don't get me wrong, but sometimes genius and madness are two sides of the same coin. Dr. Verner, to the best of our knowledge, has never been in contact with Commander Shepard or the SR-1 Normandy, aside from a brief meating where the Commander signed for an autograph and was photographed by Mr. Verner. They are not friends, brothers, lovers, or whatever else Conrad has told you today."

"What?" Emily asked in bemusement.

Muhammad activated his omni-tool and played an audio file. "-And then, since Shepard's a girl this time, I totally had her romance Garrus Vakarian because they were just made for each other! You know, he's got the reach and she's got the flexablity! It would be so hot if you could get Miranda to join in, but the game won't let you so-"

The major stopped the play back and blanched. "I am afraid that was a therapy session the good Doctor and I shared. He has a perverse fascination with the Commander, apparently imagining at times he is a she and that they are lovers, or that the Commander engages in completely illegal romances with people in his command, something I am glad to say he shows no sign of doing in real life."

The major tapped a few more buttons and sent a list of links to Emily's computer. "Here is a list of 'stories' Conrad has submitted to the site . Some of them are harmless fantasies about him joining the crew of the SR-1, others are perverse to the extreme. I recommend you do not read anything rated above a T on that site."

Emily quickly glanced at a list of stories, and they all made her stomach turn over. Several of them featured a gender swapped version of the commander named "Lisa" and the others were almost as distasteful.

"But it all looked so real..." She pondered, glancing back over at the documents Conrad had given her.

Muhammad shrugged. "Honestly at first I almost believed him myself, he is incredibly intelligent. But once the veil was lifted, it became obvious hes lost in a fantasy world of his own making. If you do find some truth in those files Ms. Wong, by all means, publish them. I quite enjoy your articles. I just wanted to give you fair warning of who 'Dr. Verner' really is."

Emily stood and walked the major to the door. "Thank you sir, I almost made the worst mistake of my career. Publishing a story based off facts from a loon like that... It might have destroyed my career."

The major smiled and shook her hand. "Thank you Ms. Wong. Would you care to join me for lunch? I would prefer to discuss something more reputable then Mr. Verner, and I have to say I would love to hear more of your investigative technique."

Emily smiled and nodded. "That sounds lovely. Why don't we try Enrico's, I hear they have excellent ramen."