I regained consciousness a few seconds after impact and was immediately assailed by pain. My whole body screamed at me and I cringed as I tried to tough it out and concentrate. I had broken through the floor, and into some kind of liquid. One of the vats I had scanned earlier most likely, my visor was cracked and it was pouring into my helmet threatening to drown me. That snapped my attention away from the pain and I went from disoriented panic to survival mode.

I was only able to grab a half breath before my helmet was completely filled with the liquid, I clawed out, blind feeling for anything to grab onto.

Less movement is more time, calm and cool keeps you around longer. I thought to myself.

I stopped struggling for a hold and stopped moving for a minute. I waiting to get a sense of direction from how I was sinking. Completely still, with my lungs protesting at me for holding my breath and my mind racing about drowning I held completely still, waiting. I felt it after a moment, that subtle inertia, and I felt the blood in my body flow to my head.

I was upside down.

Just like Shepard showed me, kick and push, simple.

With my arms I pulled out at oozing nothingness and tried to orient myself right side up. My lungs were starting to scream and I was starting to shake from the shock. I pushed the intense pain behind me and just concentrated on one thing.

Swimming up.

Unlike the water of the beaches back on earth, this stuff was thicker, and I was able to pull myself up what felt like half my body length each pull and kick. As time passed the convulsions of my lungs started to fade and I could see shapes in front of my closed eyes. I starting to go lightheaded and the panic began to subside, everything was starting to go calm, i could no longer hear myself, or the liquid as I swam upwards, everything just phased out. I kept pushing I knew i was only seconds away from drowning, but even that didn't seem to phase me. I moved almost autonomously through the sludge, and thought about dying; what hurt more then the thought of dying, was that I would have failed her. That despite all I do to try and keep her safe, she'd be killed, or tortured, or something unimaginable, in a place no one can find and with nothing I could do to stop it.

Because I couldn't swim.

I pressed even harder for the top, fury of ANYONE trying to touch her driving me even faster. I could feel myself waking up and I opened my eyes, blind and enraged. I didn't even think I had any breath left, but it no longer felt like it mattered. I felt almost past the need for air, the need to breath, my focus came back, and my fury was double that. Mere moments later my hand slammed onto the metal roof of the large vat and I pressed my face up close to it, desperate for some air. There was none to be had and unless I found the whole I punched through I would die.

Rrrrraaahhhhhh! "Rrraaaaaahhhhh!" I screamed slamming my arm against the metal roof losing precious breath; the last of my air escaping and sliding up past my face, rubbing upwards across my cheek like the last touch of life moving away. In a reflex to breath I involuntarily inhaled the liquid, taste making me gag as i pulled into convulsions and final moments.

My beating against the ceiling slowed and I reached out one last time with the last bit of life left in me.

And I grabbed onto an edge.

I blacked out for a moment, but the next thing I remember is falling onto dry cold metal ground after I must have hauled myself out with strength I didn't have. It was in my eyes and in my lungs and I spent several very unpleasant moments coughing it up. Taste in my mouth like poison, with every fibre of my being refusing it. From coughing it up to throwing up, to only getting just enough air with each struggling breath to keep coughing. With a wheeze I finally took in a clean breath, lungs still shouting in pain. Then I let myself fall to my side and I just lay there, feeling weaker than I can ever remember feeling.

A few moments passed before I was taking in fuller breath and I noticed the right side of my chest was still screaming in pain, I had cast my helmet off to the side right after I woke from that blackout, and I just looked down and I saw my armour was heavily dented inwards, with a long crack in the middle. The armour was crushing the right side of my chest and that's when i also realized part of it had splintered and punctured through my chest and into my right lung.

Huh... Fantastic.

Still a little dazed I tapped at my omni-tool and the clamps to my upper suit came loose and the left side fell off and clamoured onto the ground. On the right side I could see the metal piercing through my shirt and into my chest. I was on my knees and cringed as it started to gouge further downwards as it was no longer supported by anything. Before it could do anymore I pulled it out slowly, wincing and flinching in pain as it came free. It fell to the ground and I saw saw that along with the piece of metal piercing my lung, there was also an oxygen tube from within the suit. It used to feed to the plasma cutter on my omni-tool but by sheer dumb luck it had punctured into my lung and kept me from drowning for a few moments longer, and I needed every moment I had. The pain was incredible and I wheezed as my lung collapsed. I grimaced as the feeling of choking returned.

Feeling really broken, really damn old, and in a lot of pain, I pulled medi-gel from the suit and applied it to the puncture wound, which sealed it. I took in a breath and felt as my lung filled itself again. The medi-gel numbed the pain and the delirium from the events that just happened began to subside; and I just... sat there, as if I forgot why I was even here in the first place, or like it was already too late. That thought hit me like a dagger, and I had no sedative for sorrow on me, but I guess the pain was a welcome reminder. I was still alive. I could still fight.

With a pained heave I hauled my thrashed armour over and layed it against a wall. With my omni-tool's mini-fabricator I got to work. Removing the bloody sliver of metal that pierced my lung, and then using mass effect fields from the suit's shields to apply enough force to bend the armour back into place. I then took the block out of my gun and used some it along with the mini-fabricator to replace the piece of armour that splintered. It was pretty patchwork but 5 minutes and I was done, and my suit was good to go.

I rebooted the suit computer and I could feel as it reapplied a more effective seal on my wound.

Spirits I hope that holds.

The numbing feeling was like an answered prayer, but it wasn't enough to entirely block out the pain.

Putting the suit back on wasn't the greatest feeling, my bones began to ache, the impact from the fall began weighing in. And along with that my puncture wound protested the snug fit even through the numbing. Regardless I was good to go and I walked over to my helmet and picked it up. It was cracked in half in the front, the visor split in two and the internal computer was dead. I had gotten this helmet from EDI who requisitioned it from Sur'kesh's special projects division. It was a prototype, able to see through walls, track multiple targets and provide optimum firing solutions and a much better sound system than what my visor feeds through my headset. It was my best chance of spotting Shepard, or EDI through the walls of this place.

Shit.

With no knowledge of where I was, when a keeper would round a corner, or where they took EDI and Shepard. My chances of getting out of here were quickly becoming nothing but a dream. I took a deep breath, which didn't hurt too much, and let it out in a long sigh. My nose complained about that horrible stench and I looked over to the me-sized hole in the floor. Gathering in information about my surroundings I looked at the liquid. It reminded me of the smell on the streets of Palaven right after the war. So many dead... in which you how many were buried in rubble. That's what this liquid smelled like, death, and rot. I had fallen into a vat of countless people who had been reduced to a simple paste, perhaps to be sent off elsewhere, maybe even the collector base, to be used in the construction of a reaper.

Damn am I glad we shut that down.

I had already gotten most of it off of me, but there was still enough on me to make me want to pull off my armour again and get it all off. I swallowed that thought, there just wasn't any time for that, there were more important things to do. I looked around, it was a rather large room, like a giant warehouse thousands of feet long to house multiple vats. This place must be bigger than i first thought.

It had several large round tanks in rows which carried down all the way to the end, with floor a little higher than the covers, creating large round circles in it's floor. It would probably take the entire population of all the council home worlds to fill not even half of this place. I shuttered to think how many times the reapers were able to fill these tanks through the millennia.

Why the hell do they want to take Shepard? Why alive? What is this place?

From where I first came in through the relay, there were only a couple floors above me, with this giant room below, I would still place-myself near the top of the building. There was gravity everywhere, about that of Earths, or Palaven. But whether or not I was on a planet, in some hidden system, or in a massive station between systems I had no idea. That lack of information was incredibly frustrating; with each passing moment potentially meaning they could be doing something to Shepard, or EDI. Torturing them, killing them, I had to find them and fast, this whole place was another nightmare and they were knee deep into it and I had no way of knowing how I would get them out. The only detail that made me they believe were still alive was how they were taken. If the keepers wanted her dead, they could of just killed her back on the Citadel. They lost of lot of keepers swarming us and taking them alive. Had those been husks, or marauders, we'd be dead.

Well... after a more than reasonable kill count of course.

So spirits be with me she's still alive and I can still get to her, kicking keeper ass on the way there and on the way out. Maybe even blow up a few things, we'll see.

I didn't see anything in the floors above me back when I first came here. So I guessed that in order to find anything, I would have to head downwards. Though, maybe a little less direct than falling 80 feet. With my heading decided I headed for the first available exit out of the massive vats room. It only took a few minutes for the puncture in my lung to become uncomfortable. Felt like someone stuck a pen in my chest that moved every time I inhaled or exhaled.

Damn it... This medi-gel isnt gonna hold if I keep moving. But I need to keep going.

If I kept walking without addressing it, I would eventually drop dead. Something that felt like a strong possibility at any moment.

Regardless of the cheerful possibilities I pressed on. There were no stairs in this entire building, everything was ramped for the keepers. This was annoying because that means in order to go down all the way down to whatever would be in the lower parts of this place, I would have to travel almost three times as far. Nine or ten flights down breathing became really uncomfortable. A couple times I would start wheezing with each breath until I felt my suit apply more medi-gel to my wound. Once it sealed again I would start breathing normally. If I kept this up I would run out of medi-gel, and that would be bad. On the bright side, no keepers yet. On the downside, no keepers probably means Shepard and EDI aren't very close. I wouldn't last much longer unless I dealt with my wound in a more permanent manner.

I remembered there was a small med-kit hidden in the but-stock of my rifle, something the turian military instills in you to keep around on the good chance you'll stop getting actual medical supplies.

This was going to be in no way pleasant. But I had to do it.

Sewing needle.

1 foot of stitches.

Half shot of turian brandy, cheap kind.

Knife.

I found a room on one of the lower floors, filled with miscellaneous furniture from the Citadel; with no time to questions the implications I moved stuff around and set up a little work area. I dreaded what I had to do, but I also knew it was the only long-term fix. Right now it was my only chance; I started by removing my suit, placing it to the side. I pulled off my shirt exposing the wound for the first time. It was soaked in dark-blue medi-gel paste, my blood discolouring the seal. It looked a hell of a lot worse than it felt, and it hurt a lot, nothing compared to how much it was about to hurt.

Any other time and I would be checking into the med-bay. There was a mirror in the room that I found and I set it up opposite me. I cleaned away the medi-gel-blood combo leaving the wound fully exposed. Through the mirror I could see my lung -still sealed with fresh medi-gel- expanding and contracting with each breath. It was a little unsettling and I had more than one thought to just re-patch it and keep going, but i knew that wouldn't work. I knew what I had to do.

Inhale... Exhale... Inhale... Exhale... inhale...

As quick as I could and using the mirror I took the needle with the stitches and pushed into the puncture wound, anaesthetized by the medi-gel or not digging into the wound was met was an almost unbearable pain. It was so intense I felt like I could pass out, getting shot was far less painful than this. A pained groan escaped me and I was trying to hold as steady as possible so I could stitch it cleanly. I had to work through the wound, and stop my lung from twitching inwards in an attempt to escape the needle by holding my breath. Working between my ribs didn't give me a whole lot of space and I had to really dig through the wound.

I was practically delirious. Pierce, through, pull.

I was writhing in pain. Pierce, through, pull.

The needle fell from my hand, which was shaking really hard; I was shaking really hard. I took my other hand, popped the shot of brandy, tossed the bottle then got back to work. Hands were still shaking, did my best to steady them.

Pierce, through, pull. I let out a long wheeze, able to hold my breath no longer, it pulled the stitch in through my chest then popped back out, but it held.

Pierce, through, pull. I was almost done.

Pierce, through, pull. Almost... pierce, through, pull.

Done... Pierce, through, pull.

Exhausted, I tied it off and cut the end of the stitch, then applied medi-gel over top sealing it again. I took a few cautious breaths and the pain on my lungs subsided. The stitch had worked.

Good, I'm half done.

Now the skin.

My lung was patched, my skin was now freshly patched and I was more or less good to go. I didn't sit still long, no more sitting dazed, no more feeling lost, or hopeless. I'm getting them back even if it kills me and I'm damn hard to kill.

After that experience im damn sure of it

Just a few meters into walking again and I knew all that pain was worth it; as excruciating as it was, walking was almost normal again. Instead of every step sending pain through, it now just felt like a really weird scab; all tight around the edges. It was comforting in an uncomfortable way and I was able to move at a faster pace.

I got to a hallway that led away from the ramp, which kept going downwards even farther. I must of have already gone down a few hundred feet but something about this hallway told me this is where I needed to go. Like some kind of instinct, I quickly decided this was my floor, I had already passed several other almost identical hallways but this was the one.

I could feel it.

Still there were no keepers, and I had been moving through for a while; that feeling of something is wrong started seriously creeping up my spine again. Moving past the doors I was wound up, ready to strike at anything. I was feeling fairly paranoid to the point where I could hear my ears ring.. The further I went the more seemingly paranoid I became. I couldn't quite make it out, but there was some kind of hum that was getting louder the farther down this hall I went; and with each step I felt I had to start moving faster.

I became so blindly focused on this, I wasn't even concerned about the lack of any keepers anymore. I actually felt like I just... understood. I turned around a corner and the feeling was even stronger at the far end of the hall were an old set of doors. Really old ones, before they all became automated Emanating through the cracks between these doors was light, Lots of light. My visor wasn't picking up anything. But the visor was wrong, it had to be. She was behind this door. It's what I just knew. She was behind this door. I need to open the door.

We can go home now, everything will be OK.

Damn this ringing in my ears, I can't hear where that hum is coming from.

I woke up to the sun shining right into my eyes, the blinds were open, which means Shepard was up. She always sleeps in the dark. Outside you could see the tree's under the balcony and the ocean touch the horizon just beyond them. The sun was just above that and it shined all the way through and into the windows. I thought it kind of odd that Shepard was up before me, but I guess there will always be days where i'll just sleep in past my normal. Guess that's just what happens to old soldiers like me after a war. Sleep stops being so light, and it takes just a bit more to wake you up each day.

I got out of bed, still wearing my pants, but no shirt. I walked over to the chair where I always toss it; but it wasn't there. It was over in the closet. I don't remember putting it there, and it's not usually Shepard's thing to pick up after me like that. Unless it's in her way, but we're good at avoiding that.

I know! There must be something special happening today. Today must be a special day.

I racked my mind for what it could be, my birthday was still a few weeks away, it wasn't even close to her birthday. Our anniversary is on the same day we hit the collector base, and we decided that it's also on that day we went to shoot bottles. That way we can celebrate twice a year. But when people ask how long we've been together we always go for the longer date. It's funny how much you can communicate without words when you've been together as long as we have. Sure, it's not as long as most other people, but we're special.

I walked over to the kitchen, which was also connected to the living room. Shepard wasn't here either. If she was going somewhere, she would leave a message on her data pad. I walked over to the counter it was lying on and i picked it up.

" i am aWay for Awhile, i'll be bacK later on. if you're hungry i made somE food. I probably bUrnt it though. i'll probably bring back some supPer or something, see you then!" - shep

huh, odd message, it was riddled with errors, and Shepard triple checks her emails before sending the.. I'll have to ask about it when she gets back. I can't wait to see her, feels like it's been awhile, which is silly. Im just glad I don't have to worry... well, as much. I took the datapad and looked it. Some notes, calendar – which was blank. Last I saw it, it was filled outside of our holiday. Guess she just decided to clear it.

Wait.

Like waking up over again I switched back to the note and looked at all the bolded letters.

WAKE UP

What the hell does that mean? I was up, i AM up. My vision got blurry and light started shining through the front door. It was an old door, one you had to open by hand. I was starting to get some kind of oily tunnel vision that worsened when i looked at the source of light. I felt this powerful desire to stay where I was a singular thought and it wanted me to wait here. But something else, something deeper inside me told me not to listen, and told me the door was the way out.

But I should just head back to bed, or wait for Shepard. But I need to open that door.

I need to open that door.

I walked up to the door and grabbed the handle, it was cold, I don't remember the last time I had to use a door like this. I tried pushing it, and it wouldn't budge. Then I gave it one good pull and it yanked open and I was blinded by a light, I couldn't see where it was coming from and the whispers started screaming like a crowd of familiar voices all at once. Saying things like:

"...wake up..."

"...just come home..."

"...i'll be looking down..."

"...never be alone..."

"...you always say that G, but you know you never can..."

then they all stopped for a split second then returned joined by hundreds of voices both organic and synthetic all at once:

"SHE IS MINE!"

Next thing I knew I was on my knees, one hand on the floor, the other to my head. A sudden and intense migraine threatening to split my head in half. Each throb was like glass shifting back and forth. I grimaced and forced myself to stand up. I was in a lit room, lights seemingly through the walls, with no obvious source. I turned to look behind me, that old door I remembered was now an automated bulkhead, dark and the only thing other than the floor not producing light. I took deep breaths, fighting through the pain. I staggered over to a wall and placed a hand on it. The light reacted to my touch and the light under my hand faded. Under it was old and rusted metal, an older part of the structure. I turned to watch as it spread around the whole room, swallowing the light and revealing the room behind it. Rusted rivets were holding the walls up and the room gave the feeling that whoever used this room existed long ago. That it's been a long time since any keeper has been here to maintain the place. As the last of the light faded away I found myself facing the bulkhead door again. The migraine and the shadows dissipated quickly after the light disappeared. There was still enough light in the room to cast my shadow onto the door. To the left of my shadow was another. A very familiar shadow that stood just past shoulder height to mine. The curves of it's body elongated by the awkward cast of the light. I've seen this shadow many times before, I would recognize who it belonged to any day.

It was Shepard's.

I spun around to find the wall opposite the door was actually a window. I turned around again and her shadow was gone. Looking back at the window it was a glass pane into another room. This room was lit by the same lights that lit the way in every hallway I've been through since the relay. It cast down on her figure shining light to the restraints that kept her in place. I walked up to the glass and without a word pressed my hands on the window, looking into the room. She was lying on the floor and she was motionless.

How the hell did I see her shadow?

I walked up and bumped on the window with my right hand and said "Shepard!" she didn't move, I continued to hit the window and call out her name, each time louder and harder than the next. I became frantic I couldn't see her breathing, she wasn't moving. She almost seemed lifeless. I began to scream out, long, drawn out and furious screams; trying my hardest to break through the window. Then, the doors in the room opened and keepers walked in. They ignored my screams and my attempts to get into the room. The two keepers simply walked on either side and dragged her lifeless body along the floor. My visor could barely pick up a heart beat; It was faint but there as I watched her disappear from view, head, body, legs, feet. The door closed and the light in the room turned off. I stopped yelling and headed for the door as fast as I could.

Out into the hall I took the first turn and tried to get to the other side where they left as fast as I could. But this place quickly turned into a maze it wasn't long before I knew I had lost them again. Seconds turned into minutes and time past a point where my heart stopped racing and each hallway or corner became more hopeless. Still I kept moving and what felt like hours later –though likely no longer than an hour- I finally found a door that looked like the same one they took Shepard through. A quick hack later the door opened and revealed something entirely different.

There was no light in this room, the only light shined from the halls and my shadow cast a veil over a slumped metallic body. It just lay there carelessly tossed onto a pile of other stuff I couldn't make out. It was EDI, her lifeless corpse sent my mind racing again. I hesitated for a second, it was EDI, but Shepard was also getting farther away. Any time I spent dealing with EDI was time they could be doing something to Shepard. I had a mind to just try and remember this spot and try and come back to it later after I find Shepard again. But I also knew that I know where EDI is now, and I had no idea where Shepard was anymore; and I could really use some help.

I picked her up and carried her in my arms back out into the hall. I layed her against the wall and ran diagnostics on my omni-tool. She had dents and scratches all over her but there wasn't any obvious damage that would... render her offline. EDI was still in the Normandy mainly and it was hard to remember that sometimes. Far as I knew her bot was controlled remotely and right now the Normandy is still at the Citadel. Maybe she shut the bot shut off after going through the relay. She was able to restart the bot after Shepard's clone shut her off. But she must have still been able to send a signal to automatically activate it. She must not of had the chance to do that, or perhaps the keepers disabled her when she shut off before she could reactivate herself.

It didn't matter, this seemed simple enough. Except I have no idea how to re-activate her bot. All my work re-activating her was in the AI core and when she finally started to work again she turned on the bot herself. Yea, she attacked me afterwards and almost killed everyone, but her body was her doing.

Damn I wish I had a manual or something right now.

Puzzled, I just kept staring at her, kneeling on one knee beside her and thinking...

If her bots off it means She can't reach it. Which means we could be entire systems away from the Normandy. Even if I got her bot turned on she wouldn't be able to contact...herself. Contact.. she uses tightbeam signals to be in control of her bot...

Tight beam signal. That's it!

I took off my visor and connected it to my omni-tool. My visor uses a form of tight-beams to gather some information about my surroundings. If I could just plug it in, and reverse it and send the right signal her body should turn on. A few taps later I let it run through all the various frequencies. You could hear it buzzing in my earpiece as white noise for awhile then it stopped. The frequency moved out of the range of the radio-piece and into what I could only guess as what she uses to communicate data to the bot. Finally after several eerily silent moments she jolted to life and her orange visor flickered to life. Right afterwards her eyes opened and she quickly pushed herself upright and looked around rapidly scanning the area for enemies, letting out a surprised "ah!" as she did.

It was as if the last thing she must of been doing before she was shut off by the keepers. She turned to look at me her face adjusting into multiple expressions as she most likely was running a systems check on herself. A moment later she said "Where is Shepard?".

My shoulders dropped and my mandibles twitched with regret. "...I don't know yet... but she's still alive and were gonna find her and get her out." I said.

EDI had a really scrunched look like she was really uncomfortable about something. "We are not near the Normandy. I don't... Feel... as much, I do NOT like it. And I cannot locate or communicate with the crew. Though... I am still functional."

"So.. your... you on the Normandy and in the bot?" I asked. Raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. It would be safe to assume I am active in this bot and on the Normandy separately. Though like when I was de-activated by Shepard's clone, being limited to this bot severely affects my abilities to perform." she said that with a dry tone, as if she was severely annoyed at her situation.

"so... you're not in contact with the Normandy?" my hopes fading.

"No I am not, and I don't know what to expect when I reconnect with... myself. I have never been active in two places at once without contact." She said.

"hmm. Im sure it will be no different than when you reconnected with yourself last time." I offered.

"No, last time I could still maintain connection with myself even though all primary functions were placed offline, I was blind, not separate. This is different. I am effectively in two places at once."

"Right... before we figure it out there's someone we need to save." I offered my arm and she took it as I hauled her onto her feet she replied "yes, there are more important things right now. We must retrieve Shepard from the keepers."

I looked down for a moment, silent. Then I replaced my visor back onto my head while I looked up again, right at EDI. Cold fury burning behind my eyes. "And were gonna make each and everyone of those little bastards pay."