Death was not supposed to be uncomfortable. She had always been under the impression that dying would be a reprieve from the physical form and yet she felt like she had been snapped in half. The surface beneath her was cold and unforgiving and she flexed her fingers, brushing them against the icy steel. Her eyes opened slowly, but she shut them immediately as a blinding white light flooded beneath her eyelids. A shadow passed above her face and she steeled herself for whatever awaited her once she woke fully. She muddled through the fog of her subconscious mind to bring herself back to reality and sucked in a deep breath in spite of the tension in her chest.
Her first reaction was to sit up despite the white hot pain that shot from her shoulder and down into her fingertips. Her other arm did not move as willingly and she groaned as black dots exploded behind her eyelids from the effort. What the hell had happened to her?
Footsteps echoed around her and Niali lifted her head to squint through the light towards the silhouette that moved just out of sight. The hydraulics of the door released, signaling a new arrival into the room and Niali braced herself. This was not her ship, she knew that without question. Had pirates picked her up? No, pirates didn't smell like antiseptic and peppermint. At least not the batarian ones.
"Where am I?" Her voice hardly sounded like her own and she tucked her arm against her side as she shifted on the steel table, closing her eyes as she tried to reorient herself.
"Welcome to the Normandy," the new voice was distinctly male and Niali tensed. "Commander sent me down here to check on you, see if you were up and about yet. How's she holding up, Doc?"
The woman shrugged as she leaned casually against her desk, studying the asari from a distance. "Vitals are fine. Everything seems to be fully functioning. You were lucky we found you when we did. I still recommend getting checked more thoroughly once we dock at the Citadel."
"The Normandy?" Niali furrowed her brow in confusion, feeling the contusions on her face pull uncomfortably. "The Normandy went out of commission decades ago," she explained, shaking her head. "Is this... a joke?"
The man and the woman exchanged a glance that went unnoticed by the asari. "The original Normandy was blown to bits, yeah. But this one is Cerberus built with a few Alliance modifications. You were only out for a few days, not years," he clarified as she opened her eyes to turned her head to squint at him. His broad shoulders strained against the thin fabric of his Alliance shirt and she noted the tattoos peeking out from beneath his sleeves and collar while thick bands of muscle wrapped around his torso and biceps. He looked military and the glint of light on the tags around his neck confirmed as much.
"Look, if you have questions, the commander can answer them for you. I'm just the messenger," he held up his hands and shrugged, taking a step back towards the door. Niali glanced at the woman, just now seeing her for the first time. Gray hair framed the kind face of a matron, but her eyes were calculating and suspicious.
"Come back down here when you've finished and I'll wrap up my evaluation," the woman said with a thin lipped smile and a nod.
It took her several minutes to coax her limbs into motion and she had to double over with her head between her knees to keep from throwing up as the med bay spun. Once she was confident that her legs would carry her without buckling, she slid gingerly from the examination table with a wince. Limping after the muscled man, her mind began to wander. What had she done to herself and where had her crew gone? If she had survived, surely they had as well. There was something very wrong about this ship and the uncomfortable knot in her stomach only tightened as they stepped into the elevator.
She stood against the wall, her dark eyes never leaving the man that stood whistling just two feet away. He never made a move to speak to her or so much as look at her, and she finally forced herself to look away as the elevator carried them up to the bridge. "This is our stop," he said finally, ushering her out of the elevator and around the corner.
The bridge was bustling and she marveled at how easily they moved around one another; like the working cogs of a well-oiled machine. This was how a ship was supposed to operate, she told herself. Swallowing the bitterness, she followed after him, loosening up the muscles in her legs and allowing herself to fall back into an easy gait.
"Hey, Commander, look what I found. Doc said she should be fine but she wants to see her again when you're done," her escort's booming voice carried across the bridge as a woman stepped sideways through the door, speaking in a hushed whisper to a soldier who nodded before saluting and turning on his heel. The woman turned slowly and Niali felt her heart sink into the pit of her stomach.
"Thanks, James," the voice washed over her like a tidal wave and her eyes widened. "How are you feeling?"
"W-What?" The asari sputtered, unsure if she had heard the woman correctly. She was dreaming, she had to be. But it felt so real and she almost reached out to touch the phantom or pinch herself.
The commander blinked and tried again, "Are you feeling any—"
"This can't be real," Her voice trembled at the question and the woman stopped in mid-sentence, her mouth hanging open for just a brief second before she composed herself. Niali noticed the bruise-like circles beneath her eyes and the pale pallor to her skin. Flyaway hairs had worked themselves loose from her tightly wound bun to frame her thin face.
"I can assure you that this is very real. Let's try something else. I'm Commander Jane Shepard of the Normandy," she introduced herself slowly and Niali straightened her spine and set her jaw.
"No, you aren't. Jane Shepard is dead," her voice was low and full of uncertainty and the woman tried to mask her annoyance, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "This is all just... in my head. Right? Right..."
"Technically, I did die. But—"
"Cerberus brought you back?" Niali finished, arching an eyebrow. Jane nodded, looking to James as she folded her arms across her chest.
"That's right. Mind telling me who you are?" Niali balked and took a small step back. Everything looked so real. The sounds, the smells... she really could have been aboard the Normandy, but she wasn't and she had to remind herself that this was either some elaborate trick or a terrible nightmare. Or, she was dead and this was the punishment that had been reserved just for her.
Niali opened her mouth to respond as another voice interrupted. "Shepard, Dr. T'Soni would like a word with you when you have a moment," the message was followed by a soft click and the asari glanced up.
"Thanks, EDI," Jane responded, uncrossing her arms and throwing James a look. "Take her to—"
"The Dr. Liara T'Soni?" Niali questioned, her voice breaking. "She's here?"
"Yes," Jane answered carefully, drawing out the word. "Do you know her?"
Niali hesitated and the first response that came to mind was a hastily murmured, "No." Something strange was afoot and Niali curbed her alarm by swallowing the thick lump in her throat.
"Right. Well, as I was saying... James would you please take her back down to the med bay? I'll stop down to talk to Dr. Chakwas when I'm finished," she cast the asari a wary glance before stepping around them and heading for a door to the right of the elevator. Niali stared after her, ignoring the uneasy look from the bulky man beside her. He thought she was insane — completely mental — and at that point, she would not have disagreed with him. She was on a ghost ship and it made her skin crawl.
It was a stretch, but the question was out before logic could catch up. "Hey, James?" She questioned, addressing him by name as if they were old acquaintances. "Can I ask you something?"
He hesitated, but nodded and she looked around slowly, trying to digest it all as she parted her lips and tried to remember how to breathe. "What year is it?"
Another moment of silence he cleared his throat, "Twenty-one-eighty-six," he rubbed curiously at his chin and she sucked in a deep breath. 2186? That was impossible.
"And this is the Normandy?" She continued to press him and he continued to nod as he inched back towards the elevator after the commander. "And... where did you find me, exactly?"
"Maybe I should let Doc explain that one. Her retelling is probably better than mine," he offered her a sheepish smile as he ushered her back onto the elevator and she swallowed down the growing lump of anxiety in her throat.