ME ANDROMEDA: HOLLOW WORLDS

CHAPTER 1

0300 HOURS January, 2185

Feeling the strap on her pack dangle off her shoulder, Torvi wiggled until she was able to put it back in place. Her brother, Haldor, was taking longer than normal to answer his apartment's door and her impatience was starting to get to her. Activating the chime once more, she groaned. "Come on. Open up." She called to him with annoyance bleeding into her voice.

Seconds later, the welcoming sound of the door whishing open allowed her to see her brother standing there on the other side. His appearance to be haphazard and it looked like he didn't sleep since the last twenty-four hours. "What's up with you?" Torvi walked past him without allowing him to move aside to enter the apartment. She rolled her deep ocean blue eyes when she saw his pack was still empty on the edge of his bed. The bed was not even made and his personal terminal was still active. "Uh, why have you not packed yet? You do realize what time it is, right?"

"I see that you had your coffee already this morning," Haldor ignored her observation as he unwillingly moved to the task at hand. Picking up the pack and slamming it back down, he ran his fingers through the top part of his blonde hair in frustration as his light brown eyes skimmed around to locate what he intended to take with them on their assignment. His eyes paused at his terminal and a frown creased over his lips.

Torvi noted this and rolled her eyes again. "One cup only. Seriously, Haldor. We have to go." She moved to select his outfits for him. "Why do you always do this? You never get moving."

"And you are always like dad." Haldor stopped her and moved to get his own clothing.

"Someone has to be," Torvi snapped defensively as she placed her hands on her hips. "How can you not be excited about this?"

"I don't know…" He sighed in exasperation, holding his clothing in his hand as he glanced over at his empty sack again. "I mean I should…I guess, I'm just attached to this place. I like to keep my feet planted on the ground."

Crossing her arms, Torvi replied, "Technically, we are not on the ground. We are on the Citadel and we are in space. Nothing will change in Andromeda."

"Some things will…" Her brother sadly bowed his head. "At least it's stable here and safe."

"This place was attacked by the Geth nearly two years ago." She stopped herself when she saw the sadness in his eyes. "Is it Elizabeth?" Torvi asked gently. The no response was confirmation to her question. "Look, Haldor, I know it's tough, but we all have our own lives. I'm sure you will find someone in Andromeda. We have 20,000 colonists on the Hyperion, not too much the staff on the Nexus."

"It seems like you have thought about this," He played on this. "Have a list?"

"I have a few that I have kept my eyes on during orientation," Torvi smirked, not feeling guilty at all regarding her multiple flings that she had since she turned seventeen. The first was a man in his mid-twenty's that was part of the same gang that she joined up with in the lower wards. In fact, he was the whole reason that she joined. She got into some trouble with the authorities and her father, but eventually, he was able to get her turned around. Looking back, she believed that part of her life was a natural rebellious response to her mother's condition. Her diagnosis of the terminal uncurable disease known as AEND. Caused by her constant work with element zero to develop new implants for biotics. Due to her exposure during pregnancy, Haldor, was also biotic, but Torvi didn't develop that trait. For years, she was jealous of the attention he was getting. The training, the implant, the power to manipulate dark energy. The constant headaches were bothersome and concerning and one of the driving factors for Ellen to continue her research. Torvi, on the other hand, took a lot of her traits from her father: the dreamer, explorer, and very tech savvy. This saving grace got her the position as a recon specialist for the Andromeda Initiative and the few years with the Alliance when she turned eighteen. Even after serving a year on a star cruiser, under the Fifth Fleet for the famed, Admiral Hackett himself, Torvi felt bored. She needed more in her life. Her dad always blamed this for their mother's choice of names for the twins: Torvi and Haldor. They were Old Norse. Somewhere in Alec's lineage, there was Viking blood. This fascinated Ellen since she grew up studying up on all the old religions of human kind along with their ancient civilizations. Alec didn't prefer the names, but he knew he couldn't stop a hormonal pregnant woman and Ellen was always set in her ways. Haldor, at first, hated the choosing, and often argued about wanting to change his name when he was of age. However, after their mother's failing health, he embraced the selection and often regretted the hostility he had towards her. Torvi, on the other hand, fully accepted her heritage and found the Viking culture to be fascinating. Their desire to travel to other countries and explore was one trait they had in common. She took it even further by shaving most of her hair off and leaving just enough to braid from the top of her head to the base of her neck. She dyed it to be a light Earth sky blue and even used eyeliner to create lines down from each eyelid that tampered off as they went down the row. Her "battle markings" she would call it. She often wore light foundation, but not full-fledged makeup like most women. She wore just enough to try to cover the scar on the left side of her face. Three slash marks from a turian's talons that barely got the corner of her eye. Luckily for her, there was no permanent damage to her eye sight or eye itself. However, it did earn her a few nights in the brig for starting a fight with the turian at one of the clubs on the Citadel.

She remembered that night when her dad finally came to get her out. She never seen him so disappointed in her. Drunk and disorderly with aggravated assault is what C-Sec told him the charges were. He agreed to pay the fees to avoid court costs and she was released. He never spoke to her that night nor the three other days that followed. She realized then that she needed to get her act together. She enlisted into the Alliance a few months later and told him afterwards. He was surprised in the change, but honored that she chose to follow Haldor's footsteps who enrolled a few weeks before she did. She announced that she wanted to be N7 like him. This amused him, but he knew how fierce she could be to achieve her goals. Haldor would often tease during bootcamp that he would be selected way before her since he was biotic. He was already leading his class and was targeted to be part of their vanguard profile training. Alec disagreed and told him that anyone non-biotic could be a candidate for the elite program, for he was not biotic at all.

"I hope you don't wear that makeup when we get out there." Haldor teased as he tossed his clothes in his pack.

"What's wrong with it?" Torvi smiled proudly. She knew he was referring on how she often wore her lipstick. It was a style like most asari donned: top lip fully covered in lipstick while bottom lip only had a wide line down the center. "It's fashionable."

"Yeah…right," Haldor chuckled as he went to grab a few personal items from the bathroom. He came out and paused in his step with his eyes flashing back to his terminal. He had that look in his eyes. Torvi had seen the same look. "Sis, - "

"Fine," Torvi threw up her hands in defeat. "I'll give you a few minutes to say your goodbyes to Elizabeth on vid con. I'll meet you down at the shuttle pickup."

"Thanks," He smiled at her appreciatively. "I'll be just five minutes, I promise."

"Hey, the shuttle leaves for Earth in forty minutes. If you're not on there, I'm not the one that will be telling dad." She called to him as she exited the apartment with the door closing behind her. Checking her watch, she quickened her steps to head to the local café that she stopped by outside her own apartment. "One more coffee should do it. This is it. I'm doing this for you, mom."