Rain: And I am back with a brand new chapter. This one was a bastard to get out but I did it! So sit back, relax and enjoy the show!
Mario: Here we go!
Mass Effect: Sins of the Future
Chapter Fourteen: Worry and Thanks
"Shepard-Commander…Does this Unit have a soul?"
"They changed a scared little girl to an all-powerful bitch."
"Must counteract sabotage….Stop me if you must."
"I am Grunt…If you worthy of your command…Prove your strength and try to destroy me…"
Shepard's head began to whip back and forth, sweat dripping down his face.
"I don't know who you are, not since they got their hands on you…"
"I should've been this way back on Vimire but I made the mistake of trusting you and believing you were my friend…I was a fool!"
"Belay that, go back and go get Williams…It's the right choice and you know that, Ash…"
Shepard's eyes clenched tightly as his hands bunched up the sheets beneath him.
"It is reminded me of what is truly important…Why I swore I would lay down my life…I'm sorry Shepard, by the Justicar's code, there is only one way to save her…"
"I'll march into any hell you want but not with a fake smile on my face. Nothing positive about grinning like an idiot."
"You were warned about the Reapers! Why did you not prepare?!"
Shepard's breathing began to quicken as his eyes clenched tighter than before, his fists gripping the sheets tighter.
"Won't do any good…Hell of a fight…Shepard…You should've seen it…"
"I'm still human Shepard…I make mistakes like everyone else…I don't have what you do…That fire that makes someone willing to follow you into hell itself…"
"…None of them are an excuse to make yourself an Island…"
Shepard gasped out as the pain in his head intensified, his fist clenching the sheets so hard, blood began to seep through it.
"It feels like years since I just…Sat down…"
"I've lived a full life…No regrets. I'd like to see the crew get the same opportunity…"
"I'm the best thief in the business…Not the most famous…Need to watch my step to keep it that way."
"S-Stop," He murmured pitifully in his sleep, groaning in pain.
"And when I gave you to Cerberus…I told myself I was doing it for you…For a chance to bring you back…"
"It's so much easier to see the world in black and white…Grey. I don't know what to do with grey…"
"I beg you…Do not do this…Please…I loved you…"
"You cannot defeat us…Coming back will not change anything… Your failure has already been written in stone!"
With a gasp, Shepard rose up from his prone position in his bedroom and slowly laid back down, his hair sticking to his face due to the sweat that caked it.
'Damn…I went to sleep…' Shepard thought to himself with a heavy sigh that was filled with annoyance before he turned his head to the clock.
Thirty minutes.
He had taken a thirty minute rest and yet that dream felt as if it was an eternity. Despite the promise he made, he decided that he needed no more rest. He needed to get out of this place before it drove him insane.
Shepard swung his legs to the side of the bed and raised off of it and gave a small stretch before he walked out from his room and after a brief ride in the elevator, he found himself sitting in the mess hall, chowing down on some food.
The Normandy - Mess Hall
Commander Rock Shepard
After grabbing his food from the chef, Shepard was in the middle of eating a Sloppy Joe when he felt someone sit by his side with a heavy sigh accompanying the person beside him. When Shepard turned his head, he saw that it was Lizbeth that had joined his side but she looked exhausted.
"Hey Commander," The female whispered with an exhausted smile on her face.
"Hello Lizbeth. How are you feeling aboard the Normandy?" Shepard asked, a little bit concerned about how she was faring on the ship.
Out of everything in this alternate world, Lizbeth was one of the new faces he had aboard his ship and at the time, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
In his timeline, he didn't talk to her too much since she was someone he would never encounter again but since he was impressed by the grenades she had created, he wanted to give her a shot aboard the Normandy to see what she could really do.
"Honestly, I'm having a blast. Everyone on the ship is very nice to me and you guys rock!" Lizbeth said with an excited smile but before Shepard knew it, that smile changed into an exhausted frown. "It's just...I know that you bought me on the ship due to me being a scientist that could help but I'm drawing blanks on how to test some of my creations…"
"Well…" Shepard said with an unsure tone before he asked "What type of creations are they?"
"Since we are dealing with Geth, I decided to work on creating a grenade that once thrown at a large group of Geth, it can shut them down with an EMP and for the Geth that are away from the blast zone, shards of electrified metal can pierce through them and destroy them as well."
"Interesting…Very interesting," Shepard said with a nod, his tone showing that he was truly invested in the idea.
'Not to mention with Noveria and Virmire being Geth heavy, this grenade of hers might come in handy,' Shepard thought with an inward grin before he asked "And I'm sure that this device will work on humans, right?"
Lizbeth nodded with a smile and replied "Yeah. The shard would be able to go through humans like tissue paper. I will also say that it can heavily damage a Krogan as well but I am also working on a few new things as well when it comes to everyone's armor along with their weapons which should help everyone as well."
Lizbeth then tilted her head and said "Not to mention the potions and med-gel upgrades and I'm pretty much super busy," Lizbeth concluded but then let out another sigh and added "But I need some help testing them out. I had Kaidan test out the potions..."
"Potions?" Shepard asked. "Like…Straight out of the fairytale books potions?"
"Well that's my name for them. I mean, it is a liquid that can boost up the normal properties that we have in our body by tenfold," Lizbeth said with a small pout, defending the name of her invention.
"For example, one of the potions I created was the "Haste" potion. Basically, it's supposed to replenish lost energy. Not only physical and mental, but even biotic energy from those that can use it. It worked too! But the after effects caused Kaidan to pretty much be uncontrollable before he crashed hard."
Shepard was amused as the image of a super amped of Kaidan running around the Normandy but that got him thinking. As much as he questioned the name of this creation, she somehow managed to make it work and succeeded, though the after effects caused certain issues.
"I see…Is the "Haste" potion the only one so far?" Shepard asked.
Lizbeth nodded and mumbled "Yeah. The others are still a work in progress sadly until I get them tested."
Shepard let a small grin appear on his face as he stood up from his spot and said "I'll test them out for you."
Lizbeth looked at Shepard in shock as she stammered out "A-Are you serious Commander?" Shepard laughed at replied "I'm very serious. You are creating things that can help us out there on the field. I want to make sure that they do as intended. Worst case scenario, they all wind up killing me."
'And I've already died twice now,' Shepard thought with a wry chuckle. "So let's get to testing." Just as Shepard said those words, his Omni-Tool chirped. Shepard looked at Lizbeth with an apologetic smile before he looked down and said "This is Shepard."
"Shepard, this is Joker. I just picked up the ground team. The mission was success. However, Jasmine was wounded in the final push of the mission. We just got her to Med-Bay," Joker said with a serious tone in his voice.
Shepard felt his heart stop at this news.
Jasmine was injured…How severe was it?
Was she going to live?
Would another coffin rest on his shoulders?
And the most telling question he had was why hadn't he just gone?
If he had gone, no one would have gotten injured on this mission, especially since he knew how it would go…He should've broken his promise to the women…And now because he hadn't…Jasmine was hurt…
"I need to go. Let everyone know to meet up in the meeting room to discuss our next plans and when the meeting is done, we'll meet up later for the test drive," Shepard told her before he quickly ran off before he could even hear her response.
The Normandy - Medical Bay
Commander Rock Shepard
Shepard walked into the Med-Bay but they were shocked to see Wrex standing in the corner as Chakwas just finished working her magic on the unconscious Jasmine. "Shepard," Wrex mumbled, his eyes looking at Shepard briefly before they returned to Jasmine's form.
"How is she Chakwas?" Shepard asked the doctor, who was now wiping the sweat from her forehead.
"She's doing fine. It's actually remarkable she was able to survive a full powered punch from a Krogan."
"What?!" Shepard exclaimed in shock, ignoring the guffaw that Wrex gave due to the shout.
"Yes. In fact, she'll make a full recovery. It is strange though…She should be scarred up but the minute I wiped away all the blood, I could see the many cuts but they started to glow an electric blue before fading away, leaving her virtually unmarked…It is strange…."
Shepard's eyes narrowed at this but then his eyes widened.
It couldn't have been…
Shepard shook his head and thought 'No…It couldn't have been possible she was indoctrinated…It must be something else…But what?' Shepard thought to himself.
Unknown Location
Jasmine Shepard
The air was crisp as a gentle snowfall fell down around Jasmine as she looked on in wonder at the area around her.
The entire place looked honestly beautiful with the sky reflecting from the water with tiny rainbow colored crystal shards floating from the water and into the sky towards the glowing moon above.
And by her left was a large area of water with a waterfall on the other side of the body of water. In the clear water, she could see that her face was filled with both confusion and awe at the beauty that was currently around her.
It was then that she noticed a small ethereal child standing beside her, its face curious, which caused Jasmine to instantly jump back in surprise as she raised her fist, an alarmed yell leaving her mouth.
"The hell are you?!" Jasmine exclaimed, her fists instantly in front of her air to attack. The ethereal child chuckled, seemingly amused by this action.
"Have no fear, I am not here to harm you," The child spoke but its voice seemed emotionally detached. "I am merely here to provide some assistance to Rock Shepard."
Jasmine's left eyebrow quirked at this, her eyes still locked on the child before here.
Was she dreaming?
She had to have been dreaming.
Otherwise, how could this thing know the name of her brother?
Then she realized what he had just said.
"Assistance? What do you mean by that?" Jasmine asked, her guard lowering just a tad, signified by her arms lowering somewhat.
This time, the child merely smiled, albeit strained, and replied "In answering my question."
The Normandy - Medical Bay
Commander Rock Shepard
'Whatever it is…I'll find out when she wakes up…' Shepard thought to himself before he turned to Wrex and asked "What happened down there that lead up to her getting punched in the face by a Krogan?"
It was now just Shepard and Wrex in the room with the unconscious Jasmine due to Chakwas needing to take lunch break.
Wrex smirked tiredly at Shepard and told him everything that happened during the mission and ended with "Jasmine decided to fight a Krogan head on and paid the price. Has a quad on her to do so too. It was even the same Krogan she worked with back in the day. Luckily, Tali, Ashley and myself were there. If we weren't…Who knows what could have happened."
Shepard nodded and muttered "I should have gone with Wrex…"
"Shepard, I get that you're the leader of our rag tag bunch but even you need a break and Jasmine was a good leader," Wrex stated. "Besides, seeing you in action, you would have met the same fate."
Shepard chuckled, knowing full well that in his own time, he did fight that Krogan head on and nearly wound up getting killed doing so but he still felt guilty. "But that's the point…It should have been on this table…Not her…"
"I know the guilt you hold all too well Shepard…But in the end, it was her own actions that led her to this state. Other than this, the mission was a success. We managed to save the Asari and now that's one more ally for us."
Shepard nodded and looked to Wrex and said "Thank you for the pep-talk Wrex…" with a genuine smile on his face. "Who knew you of all of us can give them," Shepard then joked, which made Wrex crack a grin of his own and chuckled.
"Don't get used to it, Shepard," Wrex responded with another chuckle before he looked to Jasmine's prone form and said "I hope she wakes up soon."
It was faint but Shepard could hear the worry in Wrex's voice and thought 'Hm…I've never heard his voice like that before…'
He was worried about Jasmine.
Shepard bit back a grin and then thought 'Seems my team exercise is working after all…But I'll worry about that later. Right now, we need to rest,' Shepard then placed a hand on Wrex's shoulder and said "We need to get to the meeting room and discuss our next plan."
Wrex nodded and pushed himself from the wall and gave one last look at Jasmine before he fully left the room, leaving Shepard to say to the unconscious Jasmine "Wake up soon…" Before walking out as well.
The Normandy – Sleeping Quarters
Garrus Vakarian
"What an exhausting mission…" Garrus said to himself with a small sigh as he laid in his bed, his dress attire being a simple Turian made tank top with loose fitting pants, both articles of clothing being dark blue in color.
He knew that he should be calibrating a few things that needed it but he was so worn out from the mission that he just wanted to sleep for a little while but something was stopping him from fully resting.
And it was the form of Ashley Williams, staring at him in the doorway with a blank look on her face. "Why did you stay?" Ashley asked.
"Why did I stay? Stay for what?" Garrus asked in return, genuinely confused at her question. What in the world was she talking about?
Ashley stepped further into the room and said "You and I don't like each other. We don't see eye to eye on a lot of things…Tali being one of them but during the mission, I practically begged you to stay, knowing that you would still leave but you stayed…"
Ashley now stood in front of his bed with a confused look on her face as she asked "Why did you stay?"
'Ah…So that's why she's so confused…' Garrus thought with an inward chuckle before he leaned up off his bed and explained "I just couldn't leave you behind. You were right. You would have been killed had I left. I couldn't leave you behind, despite how much we don't get along."
"I see," Ashley responded softly before she gave him a smile and for a moment, Garrus felt his heart skip a beat.
He had only seen her frown, scowl and smirk but she never smiled until now…She was actually very beautiful with a smile on her face.
"Thank you for staying with me. We may not get along but at least I know I can depend on you to watch my back…" Ashley then turned around and walked towards the door before she paused and looked back at Garrus and said "Get to the meeting room, Shepard requests all of us," before fulling walking out.
Garrus stared at the door for a moment before he shook his head and quickly grabbed a dark blue jacket before leaving his room as well.
Rain: And that is the end of this chapter. I am so sorry for the long wait but I have finally gotten it out. The next few chapters will be more light compared to the action heavy ones that have occurred so until next time!
Mario: See you next time!