By the gods! It took me so long to get this done. Sadly, I have no one to blame by myself for this one. Too busy playing Terraria and other random stuff that I got to myself. It's been at least a month since last update, so I apologize for that. Either way, I hope that once I quit my job (which will be very soon) I'll finally be able to find some semblance of a balance between writing and procrastinating.
Anyway... yeah, I'm back! As much as I hate to admit it, this chapter was hellishly difficult to write for some reason. Block after another after another. It was like punching my way through a fortress of stuff that kept standing in front of me, and my push button didn't work. I don't even know WHY it was so difficult to write, but thankfully I got through. Of course, to make matters worse, this chapter is a lot shorter than what I would've wanted, but as you know, you don't always get what you want.
And so... well, I have nothing else to say for now. Read the newest chapter! Enjoy
P.S: If I didn't do it already... I will suggest that you check out CuHnadian's story, Homeworld! He's got a good thing going on there and it's definitely worth a read! I'm sure he'd appreciate a review or two as well, so be sure to leave those too! Everyone benefits from criticism! :D
"Please wait a moment here. Mr Snyder will receive you in just a moment," the secretary tells me while gesturing me at the small couch near the coffee table.
It's a pretty modest room as far as I'm concerned. A small table which the secretary used, a pair of small couches and several doors leading to... probably offices. I have no idea. There's some music softly playing, almost similar to some of the elevator music I've been hearing all over the Citadel.
The letter I got from this Snyder guy, whoever that is – though I get the feeling I should know of him – told me about a job offer, though there weren't any details in the letter. Finding the office was easy enough. I just had to ask around and the people quickly pointed me at one of the tallest buildings in the plaza. A bit too quickly, I have to note, which again intensified the feeling that I should know this guy.
A moment turned into a minute. A minute turned into five minutes. Well, I guess this Snyder person is a busy one. Then again, he didn't really tell me the exact time I should be here, so I doubt he was expecting me this soon. Hm. I believe I'm wasting time here. Time better spent on finding out who the hell I'm dealing with. A quick extranet search later I find my answers.
Johann Snyder was apparently one of the latest famous directors in the movie industry. Started his career by starring in a several movies, then unexpectedly tried directing a movie, and even more unexpectedly, did a good job out of it. Six years and four blockbusters later, Snyder is one of the most popular directors in the past decade, mostly due to the fact that everyone enjoyed his action-packed movies, not to mention the fact that his movies contained actual plot, and good ones at that. Hell, according to this article, even krogan loved him, mostly because he presented some very good action in whatever he filmed.
In my mind, I already started connecting the dots. I did a commercial. A famous movie director offers me a job not a day later. I start grinning. Holy crap! I'm going to star in a fucking movie!
It's not exactly what I had in mind when I wondered what I was going to do for the next to years, but this is definitely more than awesome! I've actually wanted to become an actor when I was a kid, though admittedly I was more inclined towards comedy – Jim Carrey was practically my idol at the time – but I loved action movies too, especially the ones from the early 90's with Stallone and Schwarzenegger. Starring in a movie would be like a childhood dream coming true! Just wow!
My daydreaming is interrupted when the door closest to the secretary's office opens a relatively young man steps out. His brown hair is set in a stylish hair cut and he has a small yet visibly controlled stubble on his face. His clothes, I must admit, were pretty cool. A old-styled (not for me, at least) gray suit, with the upper portion unbuttoned, revealing his the red button-up shirt he was wearing beneath it. What stumped me the most, however, were the glasses he was wearing.
Yeah, the lenses were tinted slightly red, but I could see that they were less of a fashion accessory and more like... reading glasses? With how available were the vision correction procedures, I'd expect someone like him to fix his vision, given how much money he probably earns. I guess I can ask him later, because there is no doubt that this is Johann Snyder.
I stand up as soon as his eyes lands on me and he starts moving towards me. I don't know what I have been expecting but the warm grin he's sending my way was definitely not it. "Alex! Glad you made it!" he offers me a hand, which I take only to have it nearly torn off by the excited handshake I'm given. "I'm Johann Snyder, though you probably already know this, but you can just call me Snyder. Everyone does. I honestly didn't expect you this soon, but you got here right on time! Follow me!" he lets go of my slightly numb hand and urges me to follow him. I do exactly that.
"Uh, Alright. What am I on time for anyway?" I ask conversationally as we walk through the winding hallways of the building. I'm too curious about the job offer to stay quiet. "What do you want me to do?"
"First of all, let's meet the other actors first, I gathered them here anyway, so I might as well tell it in front of them too, because explaining twice would be too much of a hassle," he replies with a roll of his eyes.
Oh. That will be a bit awkward. I don't know any of the popular actors in this year and age. I'm just going to sit there and stare at them wondering who the hell these people are. "The actors?" I ask, hoping he'll tell me just why am I meeting the actors. "Seriously, what am I here for? Am I getting a role or something? You talked about a job..." I say with a small grin, hoping he'll finally answer my questions. The anticipation is killing me.
Snyder stops and stares at me weirdly. "Getting a role?" he asked in confusion before he bursts into laughter, as if I just told him the biggest joke in the galaxy. "Of course not!" he says and crushes my childhood dream with three three words. "What made you think of something like that? Now come on, I'll tell you everything when we get there!"
Dejectedly I follow behind Snyder, who pointedly ignores the state that I'm in. Wow. Way to crush a guy's dreams, dude. Why don't you shoot my puppy while you're at it?
I decide to keep my mouth shut to at least keep my other childhood dreams intact, because I suspect this man would crush them as well, and finally he leads me to a door. 'Meeting Room' is written on a little sign right by the door and Snyder walks inside without pausing.
Inside the room I find a rather small round table with several chairs placed around it. There was a TV in one of the corners, along with a comfy-looking couch. There was another small table on the opposite corner, with what was looking like an honest to god coffee machine on it. Other than the inanimate furniture in the room, there were also four other occupants. Two human guys, a human woman, a single turian and an asari. As soon as we entered the room everyone turned their attention to us, more specifically, me. "Who is this?" one the guys asked, a gruff looking man looking to be in his forties... or fifties. I have no idea how all this works now that the average life span is over a century.
"This," Snyder stepped in front of me, gesturing at me with both hands. "is our new consultant!" he announced cheerfully, making everyone scrutinize me even more, while I stare at Snyder in confusion.
"Consultant?" I ask, noting with some amusement that I'm not the only one who asked this question.
"Yes. Our new consultant," he replies, giving me a glance and a smile before turning back to the actors. "Since none of you have any actual combat experience, other than Stan and Lavius here," he gestures at the gruff man, "that means that you two simply cannot convey properly what I want you to convey. Which is why I brought to you the best expert on fighting geth that we could get, Alex Engelstein."
Once again, all eyes are on me. I have to note that I have no idea who these people are, which makes it even more awkward. I think that in normal circumstances, had I actually seen any of their movies, I'd be in awe and awkward as hell, but since I didn't I think I can act normal. At least as normal as possible in these circumstances. "I don't get it," I reply. "You want to hire me because... I fought geth?" there are hundreds of people who fought geth. The whole damn Citadel Fleet fought geth. Why me?
"Alright, take a seat and I'll explain the whole picture to you," he says and I as he says, taking one of the surprisingly comfortable chairs. "We're filming a movie about the heroic, yet tragic events on New Tokyo. When the geth attacked the colony the local garrison was annihilated, leaving the seven-thousand colonists to fend for themselves. In the following three days the colonists formed resistance groups all across the capitol city and on the third day they actually fought off the ground forces. Unfortunately, because of that the geth resorted to orbital bombardment, which destroyed the colony and all it's inhabitants but their efforts delayed the geth long enough for the Alliance to arrive and deal a decisive blow to the geth forces... now... what I'm filming about is -"
"Other colonies were attacked?" I ask, surprised at how surprised I am at this information. I recall that side quest where you had to destroy gath bases that they attacked human space from, but I never heard of any colony being attacked. To hear that a human colony was destroyed like that, and it probably wasn't the only one, was... oddly shocking. Things are different than they were in the game. It's just one of the things that drive that fact deeper.
"Sadly, yes. Thankfully, the Alliance successfully repelled most of the attacks and New Tokyo was the only colony that was actually destroyed. I want to honor their sacrifice and I'll do it the only way I know how: filming a memorable movie, so they won't be forgotten. And this brings me to the reason why you're here..." he pauses here... probably trying to add a dramatic effect to his speech. He's succeeding.
"Which is...?" I find myself asking.
"It's a movie about people who had no training whatsoever, adapting to the situation in order to survive, and surpass all odds. These guys are professional actors and I fully trust them to do what they need to, but I want them to know exactly what it's like to be in the shoes of someone untrained to find himself in an intense warzone. I could get any Alliance soldier for this job, but you are perfect for it. You are the prime example of adapting and then surpassing all expectations. You were a bouncer, right? And now look at you, six months later, a goddamn war hero!"
I'm left staring at him, feeling slightly awed by what he said. But... I can't help but focus on one thing in particular. "No offense, but that's stupid," I finally respond, not really caring that I'm technically speaking against hiring me. "everyone reacts differently to that sort of thing. I mean, I was cowering behind a crate on my first firefight but I got over it. Someone else might not."
"Very true, but we're filming about people who will cower behind crates but will then adapt and start fighting back. You did the same thing after all, didn't you? Besides that, you fought the geth, you know how it's like, so you can tell us what it's like for someone who isn't a soldier to fight them," surprisingly, it isn't Snyder who says this, but the gruff guy, Stan I think was his name.
"That too. So, oh great hero, will you tell us simple mortals what it is like to fight the evil space robots?" Snyder dramatically asks with an exaggerated flourishing bow, which looks too ridiculous to exist in this universe. The turian snorts loudly at Snyder's apparently frequent antics but stays silent.
"Uh... what exactly will the job entail? I mean, I can tell you stuff right now but... any more details you can tell me?" I ask cautiously, trying not to sound too paranoid. Getting paid for telling them what it's to fight the geth? That just sounds too good to be true.
"No problem. I'm hiring you for a week. You'll be paid five-thousand credits a day, free lunch or dinner and if you'd like and in return you just have to sit here and talk for several hours a day. How does that sound?"
"Well, I'm going to need the money anyway, and I don't really have any other jobs right now... so why not? Sure, I accept your terms," I agree with a small grin. I really do need the money, since armor and weapons are not cheap, and I need to buy a new set for myself eventually. Better be sooner than later.
"Great!" Snyder says with a grin. "Now, I don't think I introduced you to the others yet!" he first points at the two human guys. "The young one is Nick Roder, who you've probably seen in 'Code Purple' last year, Grumpy here is Stanley Cooper, who is sort of a veteran in the acting industry since he started ages ago and was in classics such as 'The Courier' and 'The Dead Zone'," he introduces them, Nick is both generic yet memorable. Short black hair, square jaw, brown eyes. He was undoubtedly handsome, which probably helped him in his career. He gives me a friendly wave while Stanley just nods. Stanley has brown hair, though gray hairs are showing here and there and some wrinkles on his face. There are a few scars here and there, just small scratches but they give him the impression of some hardcore soldier with his strong-looking physique and worn appearance, and if what Snyder said is true, he actually was a soldier at one point. I think I'll stay quiet about hearing for the first time about those movies they've been in. He calls them classics, but classic for me is something from two centuries ago.
Now he turns to the very attractive woman. Beautiful curly brown hair, capturing green eyes and a heart shaped face. "This beauty here is Anna Loginovsky, been all over the place the past three years, now finally entering the action genre," the only reaction I get is a couple of blink and a raise eyebrow.
Now it's the asari's turn. Now that I get a good look at her I can tell that she's young. It's pretty easy to tell if the asari is young or not once you know what to look for. Younger asari are more... laid back, I guess? They just carry themselves differently than mature ones. The one sitting in front of me is giving me a cheerful wave and a bright smile. "The equally attractive Valenna D'Tias, an aspiring actress from the Republics."
"And last, but no least..." he turns to the turian, "Lavius Krosaros, one of the best turian actors of this day!" with that said, he takes his own seat at the head of the table, watching me closely. "Now, since you're already here... let's start today. Unless you're busy of course," he added as an afterthought, looking at me hopefully.
Huh, by the way he's talking about them... I guess I'm standing in front of one of the best actors in Citadel space. Wow. My lack of reaction might be weird for them but it's even more awkward for me, because I have no idea who the hell these people are. "Uh, sure. Let's start today," I didn't have any plans for today, and I am getting paid, so it sounds as good as any time to begin. However, only one problem remains. Where to begin?
I mull over the fact for almost a minute until I finally give up and start from the beginning.
The week passed a lot quicker than I expected it would. Despite how useless I still believe the whole thing was, I told them everything I could and somehow most of it eventually devolved into me telling them about my adventures with the Shepard and the squad. They insisted, and I complied. Of course, I couldn't tell them everything, either because it was personal information or because the Council classified it, so I told them what I could.
Apparently Snyder was a huge Shepard fan and his current goal in life was to film a movie about her chase after the rogue Spectre Saren... that is, a movie about us. All of us. Me included. I am both flattered and excited at the possibility. Sadly, such a thing wouldn't happen anytime soon. The Council kinda forbid it for the time being, wanting things to calm down first before – in my opinion – making her likable again and since Snyder wanted the thing to be as accurate as possible, he needed some of her mission files and since he needed to go through the Council to get them... he wasn't going to be filming it anytime soon.
"What got you to look so depressed?" Valenna asked me, stepping up to stand next to me while I was mixing a drink for myself. Since today was my last day on my job, Snyder saw fit to arrange a small mini-bar in the meeting room that we frequented for the past week. I was, of course, taking advantage of the fact to the max.
"Nah, just thinking about the last week," I reply, finishing mixing my drink. It's an asari drink, basically a cocktail. I somewhat fell in love with the drinks. "I still think it was all useless for you," I point out.
Valenna laughs at that. "And you'd be right!" she agrees with me, much to my surprise. "We're professional actors. We're trained to become someone else when needed to. He needs us to become untrained civilians, we'll do just that," she explains to me nonchalantly, "honestly, I think it's more about curiosity and publicity than actually something practical."
"What do you mean?" I find myself asking as I sip my drink, momentarily enjoying the sweet apple-like taste.
"Well, as you probably noticed already, he's a pretty big fan of Commander Shepard and knowing Snyder he might have just paid you to hear you tell us what you could. Then comes the fact that he'll probably spread word that one of the heroes of the Citadel is helping him to make this movie, which will definitely score him some publicity points and in the end, more money for all of us," she explains to me, quite bluntly at that.
Oddly enough... I'm not even angry at him. In the week I had to get to know him, I'm not even surprised at what Valenna told me. Snyder was someone who was at times ridiculously childish, selfish and would usually try to get a benefit out of every situation. That's so like him, which is why I just shrug at her words. "Good for him. I still got paid," I add with a small grin. I got paid a lot. More than enough to get my gear.
"Alex!" speaking about Snyder, here he is. He came from behind me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, nearly making me spill my drink in the process. I send him a half-assed glare for that. "So, tell me. What are you going to do now that your adventure with us comes to a close?" he asks with that silly grin of his, ignoring my glare entirely.
"I don't know really. I'll probably go back to being a bouncer, or something," I say. This question has been plaguing me to no end for the past month, so I'm not going to dwell on it now. Especially now.
Snyder crinkles his nose at that. "A bouncer? Going back to your old life just like that?"
"Well... yeah. I'm not exactly keen on joining the army or anything. I don't really have any other useful skills, if you know what I mean," I say, referring to my ability to kills stuff.
"Bah, being a bouncer is unbecoming for someone as you!" he dismisses my reasoning as if it's something nasty, along with the corresponding face expression. I spot Valenna nodding to his words. "Hmm... how about..." he trails off, humming in thought.
Oh great. Johann Snyder is coming up with a career path for me. I am honestly unsure whether it's a good or bad thing. He's a bit wacky.
After a full minute, his eyes finally light up with an idea. "Ooh, I found just the thing for you. Instead of being a boring bouncer in some shady club... be a bodyguard! I know at least of a dozen people who would pay a lot to have one of the heroes of the Citadel keeping them safe. It's perfect for you! Instead of beating up people who get too close to half-naked dancers, you beat up people who get too close to your client."
I open my mouth to reply... and immediately close it. Holy shit, he's right. Why the hell didn't I think of it by now? It's like... a more paying version than my old job. It also removes the option of crawling back to Jorrun, asking him to take me back, which would just be too annoying to do. "Wow. You're actually right..." I say, somewhat amazed at his logic. "it does sound perfect for me."
I can undoubtedly pick up some useful skills in that line of work. I can also accumulate some finances to afford myself better gear for the day Shepard comes back. All in all it looks like a more profitable venture.
"Hah, I'm always right. Let me tell you what. Since you helped us out so much, I'll spend some of my precious time and make some calls, see who might be looking for a bodyguard or something along those lines, and then I'll call you back and tell you who to speak with. How does that sound?"
I can only gape at him. Even Valenna gapes at him. I did not expect this. Snyder does things only if there's something in it for him. This deal has nothing in it for him."Whoa, that's... that would be amazing," I finally say and then narrow my eyes. "but what's the catch?"
"Whoa there! There's no catch!" he says, holding up his hands in defense. "I just get to say that I'm the one who got you a job, and that's it. More than enough for me."
Huh. Sounds too good to be true. Doubtlessly there will be some publicity stunt involved in this. Still, it's a genuinely amazing offer, that I can't pass. Considering the people Snyder hangs out with, they're all loaded. If they hire me, I'm going to be paid a lot more than what I would get if I try to get a job by myself. "Alright then. Make those calls," I say, managing to put up a small grin.
"Great! I already know who to call. Now, let's make your final day here memorable. Lavi! Stan! Put on some music will ya?"
"Come on," Valenna says, grabbing me by the hand and proceeds to drag me after her. "It's not every day that Snyder decides to have a mini-party. Usually he's too busy with work."
With a mental shrug I don't resist and follow the asari. As weird as it seems, I haven't gotten into trouble in a long time, which is pretty unusual considering I've been regularly getting into firefights, exploding buildings and so on ever since I arrived to this place. It's almost worrying that nothing happened yet. Then again... I guess I can ignore it, even if only for the time being.
Things are finally looking up.
And that's it! Yeah. I know. It's pretty short. Either way, I hope the next chapter will be done soon. We're finally getting somewhere! I hope to see the story advance further through the next two chapters, so be sure that soon enough stuff will get interesting. I promise you!
Yeah, and now we're talking about trying to update this frequently. From today to the next week... impossible. I doubt I'll be writing, let alone doing anything. My first week of Uni is starting! (Studying Tourism by the way) and I'll be leaving home at 6 am and coming back at 11pm. Yeah, basically I'll be home only for sleeping. Depressing as hell, but thankfully that will last only a single week, and after that I will be kinda busy job-hunting and quitting my current shitty job. I guess I could squeeze some writing time into it.
So yeah. Alex found his 'perfect job' and next time things should start getting interesting. Be on the lookout for the next chapter. It might be here sooner if I get an inspiration spree. Until then... try to be patient! Thank you all for reading and sorry for the long delays. Be sure to leave a comment to tell me what you thought of the story, or just to point out any flaws you might have spotted. I always appreciate constructive criticism so I'll be glad to see it too. Hell, just say 'Hi' or something, I'd be glad to read it too. I love you all! Until next time, Delvaro out.