My eyes flutter open, but everything is still black.
"Damn…" I take a sharp breath inward as I try to move. It hurts, but it feels like nothing too catastrophic happened when we reached the ground. Nothing broken, anyway. I'm still alive and that's a good thing, I mentally concluded. I let a groan escape as I sit up. The chameleon pressurization process starts again and that familiar constricting dynamic doesn't feel quite as harsh anymore. The cycle relaxes to a comfortable level and the HUD begins to reboot. The exterior cameras finally come back online and my augmented vision is fully restored.
The first thing I see is ice; ice and snow. A temperature indicator on the HUD indicates that it's about -20 degrees Celsius and I deduct that it'll probably get much lower as the night wears on. Looking up at the sky, I see thousands of brilliantly shinning stars. Not quite as vivid as they were above the atmosphere, but still breathtaking nonetheless. Especially for me, having never really seen stars until I put on the chameleon jumpsuit.
"Arthur?" I say quietly and his blinking helmet avatar finally appears on the right side of the HUD.
"Looks like your lucky stars were shinning down on us after all!" The non-organic announces happily.
"Yeah," I look around, searching for the person who made that possible. "Where's that lady…?"
"Right here," A female voice to my right announces. I twist around, still sitting on the ice. "It looks like your armor doesn't take too well to biotics." I scramble to my feet, ignoring the soreness of my limbs. "I wasn't sure if I'd cooked you alive in there."
"I'll be fine," I reply, "How are you holding up?"
"The same," She turns and looks away from me into a distant glaciated valley. A very large moon rises beyond it. "Kaiden, he's awake. We'll be headed your way shortly."
"Aye aye, ma'am. Glad you're still with us, Commander." A concerned male voice replies. The commander turns back to me. "Let's move out!" and just like that she books it towards the valley.
"Arthur, didn't she just nearly suffocate in vacuum not ten minutes ago?" I switch over to a private link, "I just want to be sure I'm not imagining what I'm seeing."
"I was thinking the same thing. It seems a brush with death doesn't faze HER in the least." The little helmet blinks.
"Or falling twenty miles to your death." I start to follow the woman who is already a few meters ahead of me. I slip a few times before a Chameleon Suit rendition of ice crampons shoot out of my boots, "Thanks Arthur. I might have a chance at catching up with her now."
"Good luck with that!" The non-organic blinks with amusement.
The Commander and I reach the far end of the valley about a half hour later. My mind is still absolutely reeling from the events that had transpired so far. I feel myself start to become increasingly exhausted as we run to meet this Kaiden fellow. The Commander says nothing as we make our way through the icy plains. I can't blame her, I decide after pondering the awkwardness for awhile, She's just been rescued by a complete stranger. She has no reason to believe I'm trustworthy. The woman held the lead as we ran, but she looked back at me every other minute. Whether it was out of concern or suspicion, I wasn't sure.
"Finally!" The Commander announces over the radio. "There's one of the escape pods!" She starts to sprint towards the large shinning silver capsule and tears off around the corner. I try and keep up the best I can, despite having better footgear. When I come skidding to a halt around the escape pod, I see the Commander embracing another man wearing similar armor to her own.
"Damn! She's taken!" Arthur exclaims in annoyance. I can't help but laugh out loud. Both the Commander and her friend look up at me in annoyance.
"Wow." The man says over the radio, who I assume is Kaiden, "Where did you get armor like that?"
"Don't get too excited, Lieutenant. It sucks with biotics," She looks back at me and ushers me towards the escape pod hatch, "You, sir, have a lot of explaining to do."
"I'll do my best, ma'am." I shut off the radio and enter the small escape vessel ahead of them.
When I step through the hatch, I'm greeted by a moment of stunned silence. I just stood there, glancing around at the strange new faces of this alien time period. There were five people inside. Three of them were human men and they sat on the left side of the escape pod. I guessed by their matching fatigues, they must be military servicemen. The other two people sitting across from them looked very alien indeed.
"So, this is the one who saved Shepard." A very strange looking person broke the silence from the right corner. His voice sounded like it had slight flange and a low-pitched reverberating chorus to it. He was hunched over on the bench, just barely clearing the restraint harnesses, and it was clear that he would stand more than a foot taller than me when standing straight. His face was almost cat like and reptilian at the same time. He wore a suit of blue armor with dominant blue hues and subtle dark grey. Upon a second glance, I found there was something distinctly avian about him as well. He had two long toes extending from his foot that reminded me of the hens we took care of back home. This person had to be a Turian. I nodded in greeting.
The commander stepped in from behind me and I took an empty seat to the left, ducking under the restraints.
"Glad to see you're still in one piece, Garrus, Tali." She nods to the pair of aliens. The other alien, whom I guessed was Tali, looked almost human in appearance, save for the hands with three fingers as opposed to the human five. The Quarian looked quite small sitting next to the towering Turian. She was still in a spacesuit and her face masked. The most distinctive feature I took notice of was the Hijab covering her head. It was beautifully decorated, full of lines and patterns. She looked at me inquisitively.
As Commander Shepard stepped forward, the three service men next to me stood as one and held a salute.
"LeBlanc, LeFave, and LeRoy," Shepard turned to address the three servicemen, "No surprise seeing you guys together." She cocked her head slightly before returning the salute, "At ease."
"Aye aye, ma'am." The Canadian closest to me replied and all three sat down.
"Where's Joker?" The commander looks around the escape pod briefly, deep concern in her voice.
"Chakwas set up a makeshift med-bay in one of the other pods. He's only suffered a few fractures and she's taking care of him as we speak." Kaiden explains, removing his helmet as he does. Shepard turns back to the open hatch of the escape pod, closes it firmly, and slides an electronic locking mechanism in place. It engages with a satisfying CLUNK!
"Shepard… we've lost twenty servicemen and women, by my count; Navigator Presley…he didn't make it." He adds.
"Shit…" Both Shepard and I whisper in unison. She looks devastated for the briefest moment, but only for a moment. As she turns to face her crew, the commanding officer is back in a second.
"The distress beacon was launched before the second attack hit us. The Alliance will be here," Her voice is full to the brim with authority; the perfect picture of charisma. I can't help but feel reassured, despite everything that's happened so far.
"We just need to sit tight and keep a constant guard patrolling the escape pods."
"Already done, Commander. We secured the area the moment we landed." Garrus pipes in from the back.
"Good," Shepard turns her gaze in my direction. Without warning, she reaches up and slams the harness restraint over me.
My whole body jumps involuntarily with surprise, "Uh, what are you doing?" I look up at her uncertainly. She steps closer and punches in a code into the keypad just above the harness and far out of my reach. Two beeps follow and I feel a locking mechanism engage at the connection points of the metal harness I'm now trapped in.
"You don't know me, and I don't know you," She turns and moves to the empty seat next to Kaiden, "Also, you just happened to appear out of thin air and be in exactly the right spot to catch me when I got blasted from the Normandy." The battle hardened solider turns back to me and sits down. She swiftly removes her helmet with two simple clicks of opposing latches and her face is revealed to me for the first time. "Tell me, how does that work, exactly?"
For someone who I can only guess has a great deal of experience in battle, the woman looks surprisingly good. Slightly disheveled light brown hair reaches down to her neck. Her eyes bare an interesting semblance to my own, mostly dark brown but progressively more green closer to the pupil. Her face looked ironically calm in the midst of all the stress everyone has been through for the past few hours. A shrapnel scar in her left cheek is the only disturbance on the otherwise serene face. She didn't even seem all too concerned about my intrusion; more curious and protective of her crew than anything else. Despite locking me up in a rollercoaster harness, I admired her.
Time to shine…
I reach behind the chameleon helmet and press firmly on two pads that only activate when the suit gloves touch them. The HUD powers down and the helmet depressurizes with a slight hiss. I lift the helmet away from my head and attempt to pull it through the harness. It reacts with a CLANG and doesn't fit through no matter which way I turn it.
So much for shining…
"Ah, hell." I whisper. Two of the Canadians chuckle beside me. I finally figure out I can just pull it through the sides of the harness and set it in my lap with an embarrassed smirk.
"Well, you're definitely Human, and from the United States, by the sounds of it." Shepard smiles a bit.
The Turian's voice flanges deeply in agreement, but I can't understand him. Grins widen and chuckling ensues at my expense.
The translator must be in the helmet.
"Okay, you got me. No surprises there," I wave off the teasing, "Not even here for five minutes and I'm already being picked on!" A small chorus of laughter follows, mostly concentrated with the French Canadian Trio. Even the Turian looks like he's cracking a bit of smile. The Quarian continues to look at me, inquisitive as ever.
"In all seriousness," I lean forward towards Shepard, "This isn't something I can explain easily, but I'll try," I sigh and look straight into her eyes, "I'm a time traveler."
The metal box we're in, not much bigger than a walk-in closet, is very quiet now. Only the sound of whistling wind and the hiss of drifting snow could be heard. Shepard continues to look at me intently, her expression revealing only slight surprise from my revelation.
"I'm really just a normal everyday guy from the year 2011 who happened to stumble upon technology from 2329." I continue, feeling pressured from the silence.
The Quarian, Tali, speaks up for the first time, but I can't understand her either. The language sounds akin to Hebrew or Aramaic.
I look over at the masked face in the corner, "I'm sorry, I can't understand you. The Chameleon Helmet must act as a translation interface. I could understand Garrus before I took it off."
"She said, 'How did you know where I would be when I was spaced?'" Shepard translates.
"Ah," I glance down at the helmet briefly, "I wasn't planning on being here, actually. This was completely unexpected; though I'm glad it turned out this way." I look from Tali back to Shepard expectantly.
"What's your name?" Shepard asks, sounding more curious than before.
"Jason Bourne," The last name is out of my mouth before I've even thought about it. Perhaps it was a subconscious decision to maintain at least a certain degree of anonymity.
What the hell, it's a time period almost two hundred years ahead of mine. Who could possibly find out?
"Okay, Jason, we've got some time to kill," The commander leans forward slightly, placing her helmet in between herself and Kaiden, "Tell us your story from the beginning and we'll go from there."
"Really?" I blink in surprise, "You don't think I'm crazy?"
She offered a small smile, "As far as I'm concerned, you're innocent until proven guilty."
"Wow," I'm bordering on being stunned, "That's an unexpected surprise, Shepard."
"Some might say I was too merciful, but I did lock you up, just in case." Her smile broadens at that. "And saving my life gets you some points."
"Only some, huh? Fair enough," I looked around at the small crew around me, each person looking expectantly at me to begin the tale. "Okay," I sigh deeply, "Once upon a time, there was a boy named Jason. He was one of those silly loner types who do stupid things like go wandering off into the woods at night in the middle of a blizzard. Well, one night, he found a strange concrete bunker out in the middle of nowhere…"
"…and when we hit 2400 feet, Shepard here lit herself on fire like a dozen blue propane torches. That was my first introduction to biotics and those don't set well with the Chameleon Suit. The system crashed, I passed out, I woke up, we trotted on over the valley and through the woods and here we are." My hands slap back down onto the helmet to conclude my deadpan presentation. I gauge the expressions of all those present for the first time since starting the story.
Shepard appears to still be interested, but what she really thinks is unknowable by her expression; Kaiden is scratching his stubble thoughtfully; the Turian looks more impassive than Shepard does; Tali's body language suggests that she might have actually enjoyed the tale, and all three Canadians have gone to sleep.
"This AI," Kaiden leans forward, addressing me, "It's in your suit?"
"Yep." I lean back and rest against the headrest, feeling almost as tired as the French Canadian Trio from telling my story.
"Are you aware that the creation of artificial intelligence is illegal in Council Space?" The Lieutenant asks.
"No, I had no idea," I reply, my voice getting quieter from exhaustion, "Sounds like it could complicate things for us."
"It will," Shepard finally speaks, "The council is going to have a field day with this." She says, more to herself, "You're not in a very good position, Bourne. You're using alien technology that's at least 100 years more advanced than our own and you've got an AI to boot."
"Maybe that's a good position, depending upon your perspective," Kaiden offers, turning to Shepard, "But you're right, the council has a hard enough time accepting Reapers exist. They're not going to like this."
The commander crosses her arms and looks back at me, "Tell me more about this AI."
"He has a name," I shake my head, "He's not like some monotone computerized personal assistant. He has a highly developed personality and a legitimate sense of humor, in fact. From what I've experienced with him in the past few hours, he's also very loyal, and self-sacrificing," I turn the helmet so that both cameras are facing into the center of the escape pod, "Why don't you guys get to know eachother?"
The Quarian starts to interject and she sounds suspicious. Shepard nods at her input,
"It's a valid concern, but if he was going to infect our omni-tools, he might as well have done that already," She turns her attention back to me, "I want to meet this person."
I do a double take. I'm legitimately shocked that this military commander is so willing to understand the whole story. I was already impressed before my wild tale unfolded to her.
"You sound like the genuine article, Shepard. Arthur will no doubt be impressed by that." I smile.
"Come on, now. Let's hear him say that." She smiles in return.
I let my fist come down on the helmet with a THUNK. I start to feel a slight vibration resonate from the helmet and certain parts of the chameleon suit. A high pitch wine begins and gradually pitches up until it's no longer in the range of human hearing. Then, something completely unexpected occurs. The silhouette of a man gradually fades into view in the center of the escape pod. Everyone, including myself is looking at the image unfolding before us in anticipation.
Let's see, time travel, tough shields, onboard AI, sticky-patch system, ice cramp-ons, and a holographic projector! Good grief, what CAN'T this suit do!
Very quickly, the details start to fill in. The image begins to interact realistically with the cool blue lighting of the shuttle. Within two seconds, a smartly dressed gentleman is standing in the middle of the room; just as if he'd been picked up from a Broadway and dropped in the middle of 2183. He wore a black textured top hat, held a mahogany cane in his left hand, wore a red bowtie, and brightly polished shoes. His face was tinged with mirth and already smiling before the projection had fully materialized. It was a hologram that was indistinguishable from real life, as far as I was concerned. It was Arthur.
He looked at me briefly and turned to Shepard, "Commander Shepard," He began, his voice was just like it sounded in the helmet; always animated, no matter what the circumstances, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you! You're feeling better, I trust?" Arthur bows slightly and offers his right hand in greeting.
For the first time, Shepard looks taken aback with the person/hologram that's standing before her. Her mouth was slightly open, eyes a bit wider than usual. Probably for the first time in her life, she was speechless. She regarded the holographic hand before her with uncertainty. Then, just like before, the commander was back faster than you could blink. She stood up and shook the hand firmly.
"Likewise." She answered coolly, not betraying her true feelings in the least.
"How does that work?" Kaiden asks, looking at Arthur in wonder, "You look just as solid as any of us."
"Sounds like you guys are still in the dark ages of holo technology," Arthur turns to the Lieutenant, releasing Shepard's hand, "The Chameleon Suit's holographic projector is completely wave based as opposed to old fashioned light and sound projectors. It can simulate any sort of atomic structure, given enough energy is supplied."
"Interesting," Shepard says, not sounding very interested, "but I want to know more about you. Who created you and what were you designed for?"
"Would you believe that I was the experiment of a lonely scientist who had an affinity for 20th century media?" He chuckles, "Now, I'm not going to claim to be smarter than other program, but I was designed without traditional robotic limitations; unshackled would be the apt term."
"So, you have no inhibitions in your programming?" The commander looks at the hologram warily.
"Ah, you're wondering if I'm secretly scheming to enslave the universe like the Reapers plan to." He lifts his arms dramatically, "Well, you can rest assured that my interests are far more localized than intergalactic domination. I was raised to pursue what I found fascinating. Manipulating people for personal gain has never entered my list of things to do, frankly," He blinks, expression becoming more amused, "Unless there's an opportunity for comedic relief at Jason's expense. There is that."
"Ha." Is the best retort I can muster in my drowsy state.
"What are you interested in, then?" Shepard moves closer to the shuttle hatch, probably to see a different angle of the hologram.
"Hmm," Arthur looks down slightly in thought, "The mysterious inventions of Leonardo Da Vinci," He pauses, thinking of another, "The origins of Stonehenge… ceramics! I'm an expert sculptor, if I do say so myself." He taps his cane on the metal grating.
"You're a sculptor?" The commander's eyes blink in surprise, "You don't sound anything like the Geth, if you're being honest."
"I'm not much use in a battle, if that's what you mean. It looks like you've got that pretty well covered," He smirks, "If you need someone to solve riddles, or provide information about alien and historical cultures, that's where I come in handy."
"How much do you know about alien culture?"
Arthur turns around and faces the two aliens sitting in the right corner.
"You, sir, are a Turian. Your species evolved with a focus on public service and duty. This had a profound influence on you galactic status as 'those guys who get the job done.' Religiously, Turians generally believe in the essence of a spirit, but don't hold to the idea that spirits can influence the world around us." The hologram looks back at Shepard, "Need I continue? I could go on about the Unification War and dextro-amino acids, if you'd like."
"I think you've made your point," The N7 solider, now looking rather tired, resumed her place at Kaiden's side. She sat down heavily, "You've told me a lot about your capabilities and those are impressive, no doubt about that. But what exactly are you proposing to do by coming here? Stop the Repears, or return to your original timeline?"
"Shepard," I wave from across the shuttle and yawn before continuing, "He thinks they're both related. The Reaper's influence might be what's preventing the time displacement technology from working properly."
"So if we stop the Reapers, you can return home." Shepard concludes.
"And the galaxy finally gets a break from a centuries long genocide," The AI turns and takes a step closer to Shepard, "For the record, I eagerly anticipate our collaboration in the months ahead!" He offers his hand again. Shepard lazily accepts it.
"We'll see, Arthur," She offers a smile, "I'm going to need more convincing than that. But now isn't the time or place. Garrus?" The Turian sits up at attention, "Keep an eye on these two for the next two hours and then wake up LeRoy to take your position."
The alien rises to his full six foot seven height and moves around the hologram to stand just in front of the hatch. He seems rather relieved to be standing after being hunched over under the restraints.
"The picture of service, what did I tell you!" Arthur gestures towards the Turian and looks at me for a response.
"I think some people want to get some shut-eye before the Alliance picks us up." A tired Commander Shepard says warningly.
"Of course!" Arthur turns to address her with a lazy salute, "I'll be here if you need me." The hologram fades and there's an audible pitching down that gradually lowers until it fades away completely.
Silence finally descends upon all and it successfully lulls me into a fitful sleep. I fall forward against the locked restraints with a slight CLINK and I'm out almost instantly.
What a fuckin' day.
