You focused on the roar of the V6 engine and advertisements on the radio as you desperately try to stay awake. You got off work twenty minutes ago and made the commute back home. Your job was alright, but it was a headache. Honestly, you were just waiting for a better one to come along with more pay and less hours. Eventually that would happen, but you would settle for the economic stability for now.
You pulled up into your short driveway attached to an apartment complex and note how murky the sky is. You see a few lightning bolts streak the sky in white, but they don't make any sound. You chalk it up to static in the atmosphere.
As you're walking towards the front door, a piercing sound like a screech invades your thoughts and you look up. Long arms break through cloud formations along with the massive body of a reaper. They land and you watch stupefied as the first beam fires accompanied by a loud, haunting drone.
VRUUUUUUUN.
The reaper shoots a streamline of red in a pathway leading to your neighborhood. You run away from the complex just in time to see it implode and collapse under a blast. You make a break for your car, but the handles are melted together.
You run towards your neighbor's place further down the street. Maybe she could help you. You desperately sprint as you hear the drone.
VRUUUUUUUN.
You are 100 yards from your neighbor's house when you hear a voice like an incessant hum. It's pulling you away from the apartment in front of you. You try to move towards the house; however, you are petrified, but not in fear. No matter how hard you attempt to move nearer your body won't respond.
You struggle mentally and will yourself to go forward, but your body turns slightly and, on its own accord, starts walking towards the tree line nearby. You enter the woods and your body stumbles haphazardly on the uneven ground. You wince as your face is struck with an outstretched branch.
Beyond the tree line and hidden behind shrubbery, a small ship is resting on broken saplings. The shape is insect or squid-like in form. You panic internally as you realize the ship resembles a dwarfed version of the reaper. A feeling of dread seeps in as your body moves involuntarily towards a lowered entrance into the ship. You fight fiercely to move backwards, but your body continues and enters the ship. You are enveloped in darkness as you hear the entrance close behind you.
You feel the tight grasp of whatever was pulling you into the ship relinquish and you regain control of your body. You fumble to get your bearings and try to explore the dark cavern. Instead of walls, you feel textured grooves and flesh-like pockets. You search for anything that could get you off the ship: a button, an opening, a door.
After finding nothing, you walk towards where you sensed the entrance was. You can feel the ridges of the opening and push your body against it yielding no results. You do it again, harder. It's no use you're stuck.
After several more attempts, your breathing becomes labored and each intake becomes shorter than the last. You huff now and each intake of breath to fill your lungs pains you. You are running out of oxygen.
You scramble for the entrance and push with the last of your strength. You feel it shift slowly behind you and a sliver of light breaks through the small crack, but your energy runs out from the exertion. You collapse on the door and watch as the sliver of sunlight dissipates in front of you. You shallowly breathe now, attempting to conserve your oxygen, but you feel the familiar sensation of oxygen disappearing as your lungs struggle to expand.
Fatigued, you wait as your breath becomes shorter. With the lack of oxygen, you can feel your head beginning to pound as a headache develops quickly. You take your last breath and feel numbness envelope you along with a feeling of sheer terror. You can no longer tell if your eyes are open or closed as you drift off.
You struggle to clutch to your consciousness and feel your eyes open. You are tremendously drained and scarcely able to see. Your vision is hazy and two figures above you are out of focus. The obscured figures huddle close to you and look down at you with blue glowing eyes. They are prodding you softly. You experience a sharp sensation on your lower abdomen before passing out.
Your eyes flutter open and you find the orange glow of lights and ship gauges around you. You sit up from the leather seat and clutch your pounding head in your hands.
What was all that? A dream? It felt real, though.
"Captain, are you all right? You are exhibiting signs of fatigue." The AI chirps.
"No, I don't think so. Think I had a nightmare." You respond while rubbing your temple gently.
"Humans typically have nightmares. They are dreams that cause oppression through anxiety and terror." Vic recites.
"I know what a nightmare is. Not why I'm having them." You spat back.
You were always cranky after waking up. Always? Huh, you could remember waking up cranky, but not your name. This reminds you….
"Vic." You call.
"Captain?" The sphere tilts towards you slightly.
"At the time I mentioned picking a new name, I wasn't serious. I may have to anyways."
"No." The AI says cheerily before turning back to the front.
You stare at it in disbelief.
"No? I can't change my name." You ask.
"That is correct."
You slink back into the chair and brace yourself for what could be a painfully annoying experience.
"And, why not?"
"We agreed you would change your name when you remembered your real one."
Ah, so it was a technical thing. AIs were funny like that. You decided to avoid a headache and compromise with Vic.
"Irrelevant isn't a human name. We won't stay under the radar if I go around addressing myself as 'Irre.'"
"You are arriving at a conclusion." It responds flippantly.
You ignore the fact that you were just sassed by an AI.
"Instead of changing my name, we can add to it. I need a surname. And, a middle." You propose.
Vic was silent for a second. It seemed to consider it.
"Humans have two names, so I will be able to add to your file; however, the title will remain as IRRE."
That worked better than you thought. You pinch your temple and feel your headache going away slightly.
The AIs tendrils hover over the controls and the see the 'autopilot' come on. Vic turns towards you and blue lustrous holo screens appear from the three tiny projectors on what could be a forehead. You begin to type in the name of one of the Shepards from your save files, but stop.
Could it be possible that one of the Shepards you made could be running around in this universe? You also weren't aware if the Shepard here was male or female. Actually, nothing indicated that there even was a "Shepard" in this universe. You wave off the idea. There must be a Shepard, somewhere. It was their universe, after all. Not yours.
You focus on coming up with a name. Something that wasn't completely off-the-wall and simple.
Finley.
Harper. No. Then you would share a name with the illusive man.
Quinn.
Sage.
Sage sounded right. However, the irony wasn't lost on you. Sages were all-knowing bearers of wisdom and you couldn't remember who you were. You type it into the glowing screen in front of you and grin as you move Irre towards the middle.
S-a-g-e.
I-r-r-e.
D-r-a-k-e.
You saved it before Vic could say anything about the placement.
"I saw that." Vic sounded entertained.
"Oh, I know." You smirk.
You lean forward in your chair when you see red cloudy formations concealing the space station, Omega. The image looks more foreboding in actuality than it did in the game. You begin to second guess your decision of coming here alone. Then again, you weren't completely alone. You had an AI.
However, you doubted anyone in Omega would just ignore the fact that they saw a small robot following you around everywhere. Even worse, you knew someone would try to take him away or mug you for him.
Him? Since when was 'it' a 'he.' You presumed you just made the connection since the voice coming out of the AI was definitely male. Maybe you were growing fond of him.
Your thoughts are interrupted with the sound of speakers crackling and a gruff voice coming through.
"State your business."
Seriously, since when did Omega start screening ships?
"We're here for services rendered." You quip from your side of the cockpit.
"Be specific." The impatient voice said on the other side.
"We are…a delivery service." You cringe at the pause in your voice.
"Yeah, delivery my ass," responded the voice, "I'll be waiting in the entrance, so don't get cute."
The speaker makes a popping noise signaling the end of the conversation. You sit back in your chair and huff.
"An interesting attempt, Captain, but the battleship gives us away."
"I know that. I couldn't just say we're here to see if I can use my Jedi mind tricks on you."
"That makes no sense…"
You realize your references were outdated now that you were in…what year was it?
"A more appropriate reason would be that we came here for inexpensive upgrades for the ship which also happens to be true." Vic continued.
"Yeah, yeah." You wave Vic off, but you were wary of meeting the owner of the gruff voice. After a short silence, Vic spoke.
"It is 2184."
You raise your brow at the AI. Knowing Vic was in-tune with your train of thoughts wasn't alarming, but seeing it in action was disconcerting.
"Make sure you don't do that when we get off the ship. It's odd and will make people apprehensive."
"Obviously." He replied.
You comprehended he was talking about you. You shake your head out aggravation, but you knew it was true. You stood and stretched before heading towards the weapons bench. If you were going to walk about in Omega, you would not be without firepower. You attach the heavy pistol, a submachine gun, and the sniper rifle to your back.
The year, 2184. It meant that the citadel was saved from Sovereign, but Shepard was dead. His or her meat guts were already in the hands of Cerberus. Just thinking of Cerberus made the bile rise in your throat. You didn't hate Cerberus before, but that was when they weren't a real thing. Now that they were, they were a threat and extremely dangerous.
You grasp the side of the ship when it shakes slightly as it docks. You head towards the entrance of the ship when you hear the soft hum stir from beside you.
"And, where do you think you're going?" You ask curiously.
"I am coming with you, Captain. Your chances of survival will increase with me accompanying you." He replies.
"I gathered you knew what kind of place Omega is, since it was your idea to come here. You do realize someone is going to try to steal you, right?"
"I am capable of handling myself. Also, while you were asleep I uploaded myself to the ship." Vic answered.
"A failsafe, I'm guessing." You presumed.
"Yes, I can self-destruct this vessel, eliminate all data from it, and return here."
You knew it was pointless arguing so you just nodded and watched as Vic messed with the console to the door. It slid open and you walk out warily; however, having Vic right behind you did assure you, but only slightly. It was still Omega.
You resolve there and then that despite your wariness, you wouldn't let it show. If you did, the surroundings would eat you whole. Subconsciously, you straightened your back and relaxed your shoulders. Your face became a blank slate and carried none of the apprehension you felt.
As you enter the docks, you immediately see why Miranda thought Omega was a pisshole. There was nothing that wasn't marred by the lifestyle of Omega. Every splattered, stained wall depicted some kind of horrible accident. Maybe they weren't accidents.
You head towards the end of the docks. There's a Turian with bright red clan markings leaning against metal cargo boxes. He looks in your direction and does a double take. He shifts his weight and motions you over.
As you come closer you can hear a low whistle coming from the Turian.
"You are definitely…not a delivery person." He chuckles.
He stands up fully and he's a foot taller than you. You narrow your eyes at him.
"Really. What gave me away?"
He motions lazily in Vic's and your direction.
"Aria, is definitely going to want to see you." He motions for you to follow.
"Why would she want to see me?" You ask, but you already knew the answer.
"Dressed like that, you look like you can get into shenanigans. If Aria finds out I let you through on my shift, it's my ass on the line."
You smirked at his response. You follow him down the docks.
"And, what if I don't want to meet her." You state. It came off as impassive.
"Like I said," He put his hand on an assault rifle, "don't get cute."
DON'T GET CUTE. Don't do it.
Anyways, I decided to update early because I was in the mood. Also, I was having too much fun dropping easter eggs all over my story. Developing the character VIC along with the main character has been a highlight of writing this chapter. I hadn't intended for him to become so cheeky, but I'll run with it.
I was really surprised about all the combos of choices you guys sent my way. Some of them I was expecting, like starting the story at the beginning at 2183, but most of you went the odd route on the years, so I commend you for that. Trying to mix it up. I had to laugh when the majority of the votes were renegade. I think only one person was for paragon...
Anyways, the review box is below, so I'll leave you to it.
