Cole, Brynn.
Shepard always seemed to cast this shadow, you know?
Of course you do, everyone does.
But I don't think I ever really appreciated that fully, during the war, and the time before. I was muddled up in all my work, tracking over everything that we – that Cerberus managed to scrounge from the Collectors. And all along, Shepard's prints were all over it. It was weird, and I guess now I kind of owe the bulk of the work I did back in those days to… the Commander.
I even met Shepard, one time, in the thick of the war when I'd finally come to my senses. Realised that no wealth of opportunity could ever outway the horror that Cerberus was racing towards.
But I'm not going to talk about that, that's just self-pity.
When I met Shepard, that was weird too. In spite of – no, because of – Jacob. Shepard had left this mark, this shadow, over Jacob, been this huge presence in his life, and that, that's when I first realised, I think.
All that stuff with his father, with embracing what he was. Which was what opened the door for him and me, and eventually, for our child. Shepard opened that up for Jacob.
And of course my first thought, my reaction as a scientist? That this person is a danger, is a threat to my work and now my husband.
God, how idiotic is that! Seriously I just laugh to think about it now.
That meeting, in all of that chaos, that's what opened the door up for me. To understand a little better.
Because everything about my work with Cerberus, on the Collectors and the Reapers, that was all always trained on the bigger picture, on the manifest destiny.
It only took a war and Commander Shepard to make me think small.
Think family. And heck – we nearly ended up with a little "Shepard" of our own, before Jacob talked me down.
That's why… this stuff, this whole "cult" of Shepard, it bothers me.
Because – and alright I only had the one chance meeting – that's not what Shepard was ever about. Not really.
The small picture, the individuals.
Not some messianic master plan.
Not that I didn't enjoy meeting Brynn, but this was one of the harder installments to write. I'm hoping that this captured her character well enough, and that any fans of Jacob's baby momma enjoy finally reading her appearance here.
My hope is to have another chapter uploaded by the end of the weekend, but I don't have anything in reserve that I can/want to post currently. I expect to be able to write something new to a point at which I'm happy to upload it soon, but if I'm honest I'm drawing a blank on who to do.
Post your suggestions in the comments, and I'll see what I can do - this way I should be able to properly address some of the suggested characters that have been neglected so far.
Thanks for reading, as always, let me know what you think.
- Nevery
