Mass Effect: Massive Shock

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect or the BioShock franchises or any characters or property that BioWare or Irrational Games has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 and BioShock and BioShock Original Characters I come up with are MINE to use and distribute.

"It is hardly possible to build anything if frustration, bitterness and a mood of helplessness prevail."

~Lech Walesa~

A/N: Alright guys, this is it, the added content. This was literally added not… a month ago, so fine tuning is a little bull crap. So please excuse tiny errors. All around though, the 5 new chapters are pretty good, you guys will like them, I'm sure.

But anyways, down to the brass tax. Ok, here's the thing. I been getting a lot of reviews, a lot of… ideas, shall we say, in which people think it would be a damn good idea for Splicer to go after Miranda's sister. Now, I know what you're thinking: "Whoa, that's a great idea." Well it's not. Think about it a little. It's a self-insert, and no matter how much crap and genetic alterations I may go through in real life, I still don't think I would kidnap any innocent and ignorant people. Now let's put Miranda into consideration here: Do you really, honestly think that Miranda Lawson could possibly like me any less in this story? Well she definitely would if I kidnapped her sister and used her as leverage to get Cerberus to leave me alone. And don't you think that that's a little extreme too? Besides, kidnapping for the sole purpose of leverage is something Cerberus does, not Splicer AKA me. So to maintain an easier atmosphere in future sequels, I will not use Oriana Lawson as leverage against Miranda. Maybe I'll use her in some other way: Maybe go on a date with her, piss Miranda off, that'll teach her. For now though, I maintain a steady monogamous relationship with Alex… What was I talking about before?

In any case, I appreciate the input, and it is definitely welcome. So don't let my lengthy and smart assed rejection slow you down, we're just getting started.

Ch. 25: The Chain

Part 1: Behind the Blindfold

1:19 PM May 9, 2182

20… 21… 22… 23…

Beeping from my terminal makes me pause and interrupts my flow. I drop down from the pull-up bar and rub my sore arms as I walk up to it.

I lean over the chair and examine the new message I just received. Looks like another job offer.

From: Gilon Hark

To: Splicer

Hello.

I own a store down on the Teyseri Ward, Galactic Logistics. Recently a street gang has been vandalizing my establishment. They break in almost every night and smash the place up and I always have to clean it up. Thankfully they're always run off by C-Sec, but they still manage to do a lot of damage.

I need you and your team to come by at around 9 and stay overnight. When the gang comes to remodel, remodel them.

I will pay your average standing rate, and we can negotiate a bonus if nothing is damaged in my store.

That seems simple enough. I put my omni-tool on and forward the message to both Zero and Jada. It looks like we have a payday coming in.

9:02 PM May 10, 2182

Zero, Jada and I walk in a line toward the store. The lights are off inside. We stop outside of it and look around.

"So…" Jada starts. Zero and I look at her. "You sure this is where we're supposed to be?"

I nod. "Yeah. Or I'm pretty sure. I looked up the address of Galactic Logistics and it said it was here."

"There's no sign." Zero notes. "And… It seems to be kind of out of the way."

I look up and down the absolutely abandoned street.

"… It's creepy here." Jada mumbles glancing around.

I shiver. "Yeah, you're right."

"Should we just go?" She asks. "It doesn't look like anybody's home. And if this place hardly gets customers, you'd think the owner wouldn't mind a few visitors, even if they're gangsters who aren't there to buy something."

I smirk and look at her. "Are you getting soft on us Jada? A little creep factor going to turn you away?"

She scoffs. "Please! I only turn away from things that are a waste of my time! That's exactly why I turned down your friend, Vaga."

I burst out laughing.

Zero sighs. "Can we get on with this?"

I roll my shoulders and pop my neck. "Let's head on inside."

We walk up to the door together. I raise a fist and pound on the door. I can hear the sound echoing inside. No answer.

I nod at Jada.

She squats down and lifts the door up off the ground. Zero and I walk inside the pitch black interior, followed by Jada who lets the door crash down to the ground, bathing us in darkness.

"Lights on." I command turning on the light built into my helmet.

Zero and Jada do the same. We all take a quick second to scan the room.

Empty. There is absolutely nothing in the room. Oh, I'm sorry. That's a lie. There's dust.

There is also a door at the other end of the room.

"Is anybody else having a bad feeling about this?" Jada asks. Her voice echoes loudly in the room.

"I am." Zero mumbles.

"Okay… Good."

I shush them. "Keep it together you guys! We haven't even made it 5 steps into the store yet! Now let's check out that back room."

I walk towards it with Zero and Jada following. I walk up to the door and open it.

Really?

"That's odd." Zero mumbles running a hand over the brick, yes brick, wall on the other side of the door.

"How cliché." Jada comments, cocking her head to the side as she examines the wall curiously.

"Alright!" I announce loudly and frustrated, throwing my arms up. "What the hell's going on?"

I hear deep chuckling from behind me. We all whirl around, guns snapping up at the new arrival.

"Why don't I explain it to you, then?" A man with a clown mask on says. He sounds like Hannibal Lecter. "You see, you three, are worth a lot of money. And we…" He gestures to something behind us. "Like money."

I glance over my shoulder at the gun pointed at the back of my neck. Crap. How did that even happen?

The man raises his arms up above his head like a maestro. "Ready boys? Bring down the curtain!"

I feel a burning, stinging pain in the back of my neck, and in less than a second, I collapse, unconscious.

Meanwhile…

Alex enters Splicer's apartment, carrying a bag of groceries in her arms. She walks into the kitchen immediately to her left and sets them down on the counter.

"Splicer!" She calls out. After a few seconds in which there's no response she frowns. "Cloves, where's Splicer?"

"He and Zero and Jada went out together on a little outing." Cloves responds.

Alex frowns and enters Splicer's bedroom. A small note is on the desk. She picks it up and reads it.

Alex,

Gone out on a job with Zero and Jada. I won't be back until pretty late or even tomorrow morning. Don't wait up.

I love you,

Splicer

Alex sighs and drops the note on the desk without examining the doodles all over the note further. She sits down in his chair and rests her head down on her arms.

Sometimes, Alex wished that Splicer didn't do what he did. It's dangerous, nerve-wracking, and just plain stressful. Sometimes Splicer would come home and Alex would be waiting for him and he would just take his armor off and fall onto the bed and he would just be… sad. He wouldn't cry or anything but he wouldn't talk or listen or anything. He would just mumble something in a monotone and depressed voice that doesn't fit with him.

Wherever he is right now, Alex hopes that it isn't causing him too much stress.

Meanwhile…

I open my eyes blearily. A bright light above me makes me blink in discomfort. I feel so weak. I try to lift my arm to shield my eyes but it feels so heavy.

"Boss." I hear someone say. "He's waking up."

I see a dark shape above me. It blocks the light and after a second I can see who it is. And it doesn't help my confusion that I don't know who he is.

The man is round faced and stout looking, with dark hair combed back from his face. His face has an odd balance to it. Something in there makes you want to trust him but you know you can't. He smiles down at me, flashing pearly white teeth and making his face crease in a pleasant way.

"He's still under the drugs effect." The man says. I recognize his voice easily. He sounds like Anthony Hopkins with that Hannibal Lecter personality behind it. "You don't need to worry about him being a problem. Aw…" The man reaches down and strokes my cheek. "Look at him. Drooling like a baby."

The man starts to chuckle and he quickly straightens and throws his head back, laughing maniacally.

Another dark shapes moves in and leans over me. He starts strapping me down. I look around at where I am. I'm in some kind of… I don't know… metal coffin?

The other man finishes strapping me down. He smiles at me. "You and your friends are going to make us very rich."

He steps back and reaches across the coffin to the lid on the other side. He pulls it down and closes the coffin. Instantly it is silent and I can hear only my breathing. My face is still bathed in light from above due to a small window about where my face is. The inside of the coffin is also dully lit with a bluish light. At least it's comfy in here. I'm lying on some kind of… gel. It's firm but comfy.

Yep that's me. The glass is half full. Never mind the fact that I'm being held captive by a psychopath and I'm still super groggy from whatever they drugged me with. I look down at myself. It doesn't look like they put any tubes in me, which is good. Though they did strip me down and fit me in a pair of loose white pants. At least I'm not naked.

I then hear some sort of mechanical whirring and I feel the gravity slowly shifting towards my feet. Looks like their lifting me upright. I watch through my little window as I'm raised upright.

After I am straight I can get a good look at where I am. I'm in some sort of medical wing or something and I can see a group of people standing facing me, with two men standing opposite them. It's too dark to see their faces but the group of people is substantially larger than the other two. I then notice something to my left. A window.

Aw crap.

We're in space.

Meanwhile…

Zero jolts awake. His sits up quickly and finds himself in an 8X8X8 square foot room. The only furniture, if you could call it that, is a toilet.

Zero suddenly notices the pressure that constricts his body. He struggles against the straight jacket, trying to work his way out of it, to no avail. Other than the jacket, the only clothing he's wearing is a pair of loose fitting white linen pants.

Finally, realizing he won't be able to get out of the straight jacket, he sets about finding a way out of the cell.

Zero gets to his feet and walks around the cell, staying close to the walls in order to try and hear what may be going on outside.

Zero sighs in frustration, not only at not being able to hear anything that goes on outside, but also finding that his cell has no door.

Suddenly, on the other side of the room, one of the small square wall panels slides open and a tray of food is dropped into the cell from it.

Zero charges at the hole, sprinting as fast as he possibly can. But the panel closes before he reaches it. He doesn't stop and rams his shoulder into the panel. A loud metallic bang follows, but the panel appears undamaged.

Zero slides down to the floor with a tired sigh. He looks over at his tray of food. Doesn't look quite appetizing. But, if Zero had to guess, it'd be nutritious. His initial assumption is that he and his friends have been captured by slavers and he recalls somebody saying that they were worth money. And malnourished product is worth less.

So, in order to keep his strength up, Zero repositions himself so he's facing the panel and he leans over and takes his first bite of the yellow oily looking paste.

It's so disgusting he spits it out and starts to cough.

After Zero is done coughing, he leaps to his feet and growls at the room. "You bastards listen to me! Don't pretend you can't hear me because you know you can! My name is Zero! Remember it! And remember my face! I want it to be the last thing you see! And I want it to be the only thing in your mind when the life drains from you bodies! I am Zero! And I've fought worse people than you!"

4:50 PM October 4, 2171

"And… Burst!"

Zero roars and bursts his biotic barrier in a powerful wave in unison with his comrades. He feels pressure from all other directions, but his Iron-Horse stance remains unchanged.

"Zero! Excellent!" The Cabal commander yells enthusiastically. "Everyone around you staggered! Everyone else! Pick it up a notch!"

Zero can't help but smile with pride. That is until he feels an explosive force against his back, sending him flying forward into the person in front of him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The Cabal Commander roars.

Zero rolls off of the person in front of him and rubs his bleeding nose. Another turian soldier walks toward him, biotic aura alight.

Zero looks up at the Commander. "Sir? Permission to defend myself."

"Permission granted." The Commander says, narrowing his eyes.

Zero gets to his feet and charges at the ignorant piece of slag that attacked him. His target halts and prepares himself for Zero.

But he didn't prepare enough. Zero throws his arm back, his biotic aura glowing like the center of a blazing fire.

Zero waits until his target is within arm's reach, and then throws his fist forward into a punch, strengthened by biotic power.

The punch connects with the soldier's chest. The soldier collapses and slides some 30 feet into a wall. Everyone in the room starts to clap, but the applause dies down at the sight of the result of Zero's brutal attack.

The man's chest is collapsed and blood flows freely from his mouth. He was dead before he hit the wall.

The Commander looks at Zero. "Not your fault Zero. He attacked you. Do you have any idea why?"

Zero shakes his head. "No."

But he knew why. Zero took his energy drink this morning. He was thirsty.

Meanwhile…

Jada wakes, with her eyes still closed. Her head feels like it's been hitting a headboard all night.

She raises a hand to press against her forehead and groans. She opens her eyes slowly and stares up at the ceiling. But the ceiling is blocked by a bubble-like kinetic barrier.

Jada frowns and sits up. She is confused further at her state of clothing. Nothing but a pair of white linen trousers.

Jada scoffs. "I'll bet whoever handled me had a field day."

She stands and looks around the room. The room she's in is a small perfect. In each corner of the room are powerful shield pylons that are often used in prison ships to contain prisoners. These however create an impenetrable field around Jada…

"At least I can get to the toilet…" Jada mumbles walking over to it.

Jada then notices another person in the room with her. An asari guard. Jada scowls and covers herself with one arm. She walks over to the closest point to the guard in the bubble and pounds on the barrier with her free fist. The barrier flares with light as she strikes it.

"Hey! Let me out of here!" Jada screams at the asari.

"No. I like watching you in there." The asari responds with a wry smile.

Jada's scowl deepens. "I swear, that the first person I'm going kill when I get out of here is going to be you!"

"Good luck with that." The asari says standing from the chair she's sitting in. She walks up to the nearest pylon and points to it. "These pylons are some of the most powerful kinetic barrier generators on the market. One, by itself, can make a barrier capable of withstanding a small arms ballistic missile. Two linked together can withstand sustained fire from a Grizzly tank. Three linked together can withstand collective fire from 10 geth Armatures. And four can withstand orbital strikes from Turian frigates. And unless you have something that can match that then you're not getting out of there anytime soon."

Jada snarls at her and flexes her arms. "I have these."

The asari smiles wide. "Oh yeah! Those are definitely packing some kind of firepower!"

Jada covers herself again and growls at her. "Bitch…"

Now tired of occupying an arm, Jada walks over to the center of the bubble and sits cross-legged, facing away from the asari guard. She takes the leg of her pants and tears the pant leg off around mid-thigh on each leg. She then tears the pant legs until each one is a long strip of linen. She then wraps the strips of linen around and around her chest, creating a make-shift top.

"Aw." The asari calls loudly. "Way to make this job less fun, lady."

Jada just glares at her and begins the meditation rituals that her salarian mentor, Jallan, taught her. In a few moments, all sound becomes nothing to her, all physical sensation is dulled, all there is, is thought. She uses the new state of mind to her advantage, running scenario after scenario through her mind.

Hours pass.

And Jada can't think of one successful one.

Meanwhile…

"BORED!" I scream at nobody.

I sigh. To now fill the space, I start beatboxing.

However, in the middle of a beat something travels into my mouth from somewhere inside of me. Because I don't have hands free I try to figure out what it is with my tongue… Hm… Um… Oh! It's that microcommunicator I had surgically inserted in the back of my throat! Hm… those must have been some poor stitches. I had Zero and Jada get them too. Hopefully they remember they have them. If only I could get it into my ear. The microphone that picks up what I say is in my throat. All I need to do is turn the microcomm on then put it in my ear.

Suddenly the pod or coffin I'm in lowers back down into lying position and I hear it latch onto something low to the ground. I can see through my little window that we're moving. Looks like we're going somewhere.

After a long and not very scenic trip, my pod is again raised upright. Okay I'm in a totally different place now. This new room is small and square and I can see that the group of large people from before were batarians. They're wearing black armor painted with red chains.

If I had to guess? Slavers.

Suddenly I hear a hissing and the coffin lid opens with a pop and a whoosh.

Without a word a batarian walks up and puts a breathing mask over my mouth and nose and makes sure it's secure. He takes the tube at the other end and attaches it to the side of the pod.

He grabs the lid and swings it shut.

I'm confused.

Suddenly a quiet alarm sounds in the pod and the bluish lights flash red. I look around panicked.

And I feel something at my feet.

I look down at the gel slowly filling the pod. As it rises, the straps holding me down remove themselves and disappear into the pod. But also as it rises, the gel solidifies into its firm yet comfy state. I start to struggle against the straps and the gel.

Finally my arms are freed and I whip them up away from the gel. I remove my breathing mask and I reach into my mouth and take out the communicator. I turn it on and examine it for at least one of the two red lights to see if they're on. If there's one on that means someone else's is on. If they're both on that means everyone's is on. YES! Both of the lights are on!

I quickly jam the microcomm in my ear.

"Hello!" I yell out. "Zero! Jada! Something's happening! I don't know what's happening!"

The gel starts to crawl up my chest and it freezes my elbows in place so my hands are stuck next to my face.

"Zero! Jada! Someone please!"

There's no answer on my comm. Dear God… I'm alone. Tears start to slide down my face. And all I can think about is Alex. Suddenly I'm filled with a determination. I will see her again.

I start to struggle violently against the straps and gel.

"You might not want to do that." A deep gravelly voice says through an intercom. "If you struggle too much your breathing mask might come off… Oh… Please put that back on. You'll suffocate without it. Don't worry. It doesn't hurt. Stasis is actually quite pleasant."

STASIS?

I start screaming in rage and horror and struggle as the gel rises up my neck.

"Whoever's listening?" I say quickly as the gel touches my chin. I quickly replace the mask over my face with some difficulty. "They're putting me in stasis. I don't know what for, probably to sell me to someone who wants me dead." I pause and tears stream down my face into the gel that is covering the breathing mask over my face. "Please… I'm scared. I-I don't know how to get out of this. I've always had a plan, I… Please help me if you can find me. That's all I can do is beg now, I won't be able to do anything else. But if… if you can't find me, tell Alex that-" I am interrupted as I close my eyes and feel the gel solidify around my face, freezing my jaw in place. Suddenly I feel very numb and I fall into perpetual stasis.

Meanwhile…

Zero sits there shaking, in anger. At first he didn't know what he was listening to, or where it was coming from. But then he remembered the microcommunicators that Splicer had surgically implanted into the back of all of their throats. And then he was forced to listen to Splicer's desperate cry for help.

He was forced to sit there. And listen. While his friend, his brother-in-arms, is put into an endless sleep.

For whatever reason, Zero's microcomm was on, but his mic wasn't on and he couldn't talk to him. Tell him that there was no way he was going to be left behind.

Zero stands slowly and kicks the empty tray of food aside. He walks backwards, facing the wall panel that opened, until his back touches the other wall. He then charges forward at it, his biotics powering.

He rams his shoulder into the panel and his biotics explode. No damage. Again.

Zero backpedals back and does it again. And again. And again. And again. Finally, Zero just stays next to the wall panel and rams his shoulder into it again and again, using his biotics to bring the force.

After what feels like hours, and an uncountable amount of attempts, Zero collapses back from the undamaged wall, in exhaustion.

He rolls over onto his front and sits up slowly. He feels tired, like he has never felt tired before. But he will keep fighting. And he silently swears to himself: That every slaver on this ship will die, whether Splicer dies or not and no matter the cost.

He swears this because he is Zero, and he has no mercy.

Meanwhile…

Alex squats there in front of the trashcan, shaking in fear. Her cheeks are soaked with tears and she is holding the small ear-bud-like communicator in her shaking hands.

She didn't know what it was at first, but she knew who was talking. She tried to talk back, to tell him that she'll find him.

She will find him. Because she loved him.

She will find him. But she didn't know how.

A/N: Well there it is. This is what this chapter and the next 4 chapters are about. They aren't about me at all. I'm not even going to be in it. That's a first for a self insert, right? These chapters are all about the OC's of my story.

Well thanks for reading. Have a nice night.

Anyways, I'll give you a few options here: You can enjoy the chapter; you may leave a review telling me that I'm an ass; And you can tune in next Tuesday for another chapter. Or, you can do all of the above.

With Love,

Mockingbird79