…

"Living in the past is a luxury none of us can afford. We must learn from it, but we cannot live there. It is impossible to plan for the [now]-the present is ever fleeting. [The future] is where we must live-[the future] is what we must plan for."

(Filial Devotion)

…

MFV Explorer, October 15th, 2:12 PM, 2184

…

Once again I was sat next to Dan, staring at his immobile form with what I could only assume was the blankest expression possible. He was still using an assisted breathing device, chest moving up and down very softly. I wanted so badly for him to wake up just so we could have another one of our dumb, Seinfeldian conversations. Nothing more than a normal, non-political interaction with a familiar human being.

After what had happened in the holding facilities, preparations were quickly being thrown together to have the survivors moved before the end of the day. After hearing the terrible news, Hackett had sent me a personal message offering his condolences. It did nothing but make me more tired. Due to our time constraints, he was going to have our requested supplies delivered by another ship later in the month.

"You know, staring at him like that isn't going to help him heal faster." Lydia commented with spite from the nearby projector, arms crossed over her chest.

"Is there something I can help you with?" I asked under my breath, giving her a side glance.

"Yeah, how about you get away from my brother before you cause him any more harm?" She exploded, out at me as I stood up to face her. "You think I didn't hear about what happened? Two of those scientist dead?"

"That wasn't my fucking fault, and you sure as hell know it!" I yelled back at her, jabbing my finger in her direction. "Don't you dare try to pin this on me!"

"Everywhere you go, someone either ends up hurt, shot, or dead! You're like a misery magnet!" She yelled even louder, turning up the volume of the speakers in the room to make herself sound louder. "When's it going to stop?!"

"I'll tell you when it's going to stop. It's going to stop when every one of these bastards is hanging from a noose! Not a single survivor!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, feeling my face getting redder as I went on. "If you want someone to blame, blame them! I'm not the problem here."

She glared at me for a few seconds, looking off for a moment before locking back on me with an ashamed expression. She held it for a minute, trying to figure out the correct thing to say next.

"I'm so sorry… I'm just…" She tried to get out before she got down to the "ground" and tucked her legs up to her chest, holding them together as she buried her head in between. "I just feel so powerless. In here, I can't be out there, helping make a difference like I used to."

I sighed, letting myself relax as I walked over and sat down next to the projector. I put my head against the wall with a clunk, turning slightly to look up at her.

"Lydia, all I've ever wanted to do is sit back and work on the things I love." I explained, gesturing lazily with my hand as I spoke. "I never wanted to be in charge, I never wanted to be a leader, but it's what I have to be. I can't control any of this more than you can."

She nodded, closing her eyes for a few moments before speaking up again.

"You know, after you two disappeared back in 2023, it took years for me to accept you were gone. Losing my brother, losing one of my best friends." She said, eyes raised above her knees. "Do you want to know the reason why I chose to be put on ice all those years ago?"

"You had inoperable cancer." I answered, remembering all the conversations we've had. "Colorectal cancer. Right?"

"I admit, it was only a half truth." She remarked, causing my eyes to widen slightly in surprise. "The cancer was only the excuse. The real reason why I volunteered was so there would be a chance I could see you two again."

She closed her eyes again, bowing her head slightly as her lower lip trembled.

"When I awoke inside of that holotank and saw your faces again, I wanted nothing more than to cry." She went on, her form visibly shaking as she spoke. "But I couldn't. I couldn't cry, breathe, sleep, or feel my own heartbeat anymore. All I was, and all I am now is a chunk of code that barely exists."

Her hologram began to flicker and distort as her voice got shakier, casing me to feel intensely worried.

"Don't say that, you aren't just some program created on a computer. You are Lydia Nemo, an individual with all the same rights as any other sentient being." I shot back, never realizing she felt like this until now. "An individual who is loved by their brother, and valued as a good friend by me and others."

"How would you know? How would I know?" She fired back, not yelling but with enough force to be noticeable. "All I know was that I was conceived of November 14th, 2180 at 8:39 AM. How am I really supposed to know if I'm who they said I was?"

"Because only you have those memories, Lydia. Memories are what shape us, form us, and define us. No one else will ever have the same memories as you." I argued, looking up at her with a sterner expression. "You remember going up to see the fireworks at Catonsville High School back in 2014? The bright flashes of color, the deafening bangs, the cool summer air?"

She stared into the distance, her expression softening as she allowed herself to smile.

"I do remember." She reminisced, her lip beginning to tremble again. "I remember the smell of the food trucks, the din of the crowds around us… the feeling of awe as we stared at the sky."

She stared into space as she shook, hands clasped together for the longest time before her gaze met mine again.

"Thank you." She nodded to me, standing back up as her hologram started to flicker out of existence. "I… appreciate you talking to me."

I nodded in response, getting back to my feet and walking towards the door. I was about to open it before her voice rang out again through the room speakers.

"Oh, and Sean?" She called out, causing me to freeze in my tracks. "You may not want to be a leader, but you sure seem to make a good one."

I allowed myself to crack a smile before exiting the room, wanting to oversee the movement of our new guests.

I needed to be there to set a good example.

…

Twenty Minutes Later

…

I stood in the crew deck, watching our surviving four defectors move into the bunk room on the other side of the ship while two medics moved Miranda into the medbay. They were still very much shaken after what had happened. Mineko was in particularly bad shape on the emotional side of things. Her eyes were still bloodshot from crying. I stood in the doorway watching them each take a bunk before walking towards them.

"I'll speak to the Admirals later, see if I can't get you guys a proper residence planetside." I reassured, looking at each one of them.

"Thank you, Captain." Watterson spoke, both for himself and the others.

"Please, just call me Sean." I urged, holding up one of my hands. "Let me know if you guys need anything at all, I'm usually on the bridge."

With that, I left them to their own devices as I turned the corner into the medbay where two Alliance medical personnel were just finishing up with her move.

"So, what were her exact injuries?" I asked, looking at the two of them as one set up an IV line.

"She received a compound fracture in her left radius, and a single stab wound to the abdomen. She also has various superficial bruises." One of the medics explained, pointing out each region on her half naked body. "The arm is in a cast, she's received a transfusion, and the stab wound has been treated and stitched."

"She's very lucky. The blade she was stabbed with barely missed her aorta." The other medic quipped, putting the IV into her arm before looking over at Dan. "What happened to him?"

"Concussion." I answered quickly, crossing my arms and staring down at Miranda. Her chest was covered with a simple tank top, stab wound clearly visible on her stomach.

As the medics walked off back up the stairs to leave, Greg hit our floor in the elevator, carrying a small case with him. The moment he saw me, he quickly set it down, making a beeline for me.

"I hope you're right about all of this." He quickly said in grim tone, head tilted slightly to the side. "We've only done basic vetting on them, there's no way of knowing for sure if they're all trustworthy."

"Unfortunately, we don't have much of a choice considering what's happened." I shot back, hands folded neatly behind me. "I wouldn't worry too much. Once we get to Reach, we'll have ankle bracelets put on them, set up a monitoring suite, and make sure they're given plenty of hot food."

Greg understandably shook his head, looking back at the case.

"Oh, I know you didn't get everything you wanted yet, but Hackett did have your one big request ready for you." He said, gesturing towards the case.

My eyes immediately lit up as I ran over to the case, looking inside to see two Labrador Retrievers, one yellow, and the other black. The both looked up at me with their tiny faces, melting my heart.

"Two purebred Labrador Retrievers. Born three weeks ago." Greg explained as I opened the case and picked up the yellow one. "He's the male, the black one is the female."

I could only let out a small huff before I nearly broke into tears, holding the little confused puffball in my arms.

"Thank you." I said through my sudden fit of emotion, looking up at him. "I haven't had pets, let alone dogs, in nearly a decade."

"Labs are good dogs, my father used to have three when I was growing up in Texas." He smiled, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. "They'll be the first dogs on the planet. Planning on breeding them?"

"Maybe, I don't know." I said quickly without looking at him, putting the yellow lab down and picking up the black one. "I haven't really given it much thought."

"Well in that case, I'm off. I should be with Dimitri if you need me." He finished, going back to the elevator as I kept myself focused on the puppies.

I stared into their little eyes, unable to stop smiling as I put the black one into the box and closed the top.

Despite everything I had gone through the last two days, something this simple managed to make me feel twenty times better.

I carefully lifted the crate and walked up to the bridge, knowing I wouldn't let the pups anywhere out of my sight for a while.

…

MFV Explorer, October 15th, 5:49 PM, 2184

…

I sat quietly on the bridge, once again all by myself. Ever since what had happened, everyone had been keeping their distance from one another. It wasn't a deliberate decision on anyone's part, we all just tended to deal with the stress around us in their own private ways.

The ship was in "autopilot", about two hours away from Reach. We had departed from Arcturus quickly after everyone was aboard, making sure to check all the cargo that we had received for possible bugs. After my experience aboard that tram, seeing that man, I was properly paranoid once more.

Typically, I dealt with stress by playing lots of music. In the past I used to play video games, but I hadn't played a real video game in years. I was toying with the idea of building my own FM radio station on Reach, running it as my new hobby. There existed no laws against running a radio station, meaning I could play whatever I wanted on it.

This wouldn't be just any radio station, either. It would be a real, honest-to-god station with its own dedicated transmitter, antenna, and UPS. I toyed with the idea of making it an all 80's station, playing the likes of Billy Joel, George Michael, and Cyndi Lauper, but part of me felt like it would be too limiting.

I leaned back in my chair, thinking back to the old stations my parents and I used to listen to back home. There were three big ones, 100.7 The Bay, 101.9 Lite FM, and 102.7 Jack FM. The Bay was all classic rock, playing songs that came out in the 1970's and 1980's. Lite FM played adult contemporary hits during the day and love songs at night. Jack FM played a little bit of everything, and had a charismatic DJ that would often tell jokes about his sponsors or Maryland itself between tracks.

I had no idea if any of these stations were still up and running, but in the end… it didn't matter. I smiled, looking at the passing stars as I remembered some of the old broadcasts.

"102.7 Jack FM. Broadcasting live from our secret bunker under the Patterson Pagoda, *beep*." I recalled word for word, remembering the mashup musical bit they would play in the middle. "Playing what we want for Baltimore."

Thinking back to it would remind me of the long car trips my parents would take me on through the state. The passing trees, the rolling fields, and the occasional barn in Westminster were the standouts in my memory.

My thoughts were interrupted as the communications console began beeping, getting me out of my seat to answer it. The moment I saw who it was, I let out a small sigh of relief. It was Admiral Koris.

"Hello Admiral." I greeted, turning on the video feed as I threw myself into the communications seat. "I hope all is well back home."

"Well, if something isn't working properly on one of the Liveships, I'll be sure to direct you to it." He joked, nodding his head before crossing his arms. "I've spoken with the others regarding your request, and they are reluctantly going along with it. Another housing unit is being moved over to your homestead as we speak."

"Good. How did they initially react?" I asked, leaning back slightly in the chair.

"Zadie and Raan reacted with minor annoyance, but you would have thought we were forfeiting several hundred of our ships to the Alliance from how Gerrel and Rael reacted." He replied with obvious annoyance in his voice. "The two of them are the biggest bosh'tets I've ever known."

"To be fair, I didn't give them much warning." I admitted, shaking my head. "Let me guess… he thinks we're trying to start a human colony on Reach, doesn't he?"

"When doesn't he make that comment?" He shot back in a slightly lower, more grumbly tone. "Anyways, it'll be ready for your new guests when the time comes."

"Thank you, sir." I said quickly, straightening myself back up as I leaned forward. "How are they doing?"

"Powell, Dr. Ford, and the little one are all doing quite well." He answered, letting his arms hand back to his sides. "I spoke at length with Powell a few hours ago. He's a good speaker, considering he's an A.I."

"Powell can be quite the conversationalist when he wants to be." I smiled, allowing myself to chuckle before my omni-tool began beeping again.

"I'll see you when you get back, Captain." Koris cut off, knowing I was receiving a call on my end. I closed the connection on my end, quickly answering my omni-tool.

"Get down here, he's woken up." Sira announced in a deadpan, cutting off the connection before I could even properly react.

Without even thinking, I quickly leapt out of the chair, running past my sleeping dogs in the crate before dashing through the CIC into the stairway. It took less than eight seconds for me to traverse the entire thing before bursting into the med bay.

Inside, I saw Dan sitting upwards, slowly drinking from a cup of water as Sira, Dimitri, and Richard stood around and watched him.

"Hey Sean." Dan greeted with tired eyes, bandage still wrapped tightly around his head. "I heard I missed a few things."

"Well, that's one way of putting it." I said, cracking a big smile as I walked up to him. "How do you feel?"

"I have one hell of a h-headache, that's for sure." He answered, pointing to the side of his head.

"I was just telling Dan of fight we fought against Cerberus." Dimitri explained, arms crossed against the wall as he spoke. "He says he cannot remember being in Mako."

"I couldn't even re…remember having one." Dan commented with a mixed expression of confusion and concern. "I hope I didn't forget anything important."

"I hope not. I'd hate it if I had to do all the math myself." I joked, getting a good rise out of him.

"Ugh…" Could be heard behind us as we all turned to face Miranda Lawson, who was stirring with all the noise. She narrowed her eyes, wincing in pain as she leaned up. She looked at her arm in the cast and scarred abdomen before locking eyes with us. "Where am I?"

"You're back on our ship, heading to Reach." I explained with no nonsense, arms crossed. "How do you feel?"

'I feel like I lost a fight." She said, clearly in pain as she grit her teeth and threw her legs over the edge of the bed.

"I think you need to rest." Richard insisted with sudden urgency in his normally lethargic voice, walking closer before she held out her hand.

"I'm fine." She insisted, standing up straighter before focusing back on me. Reluctance filled her face before she spoke, disappearing the moment the words began to leave her mouth. "Are the others alright?"

"They're safe, here aboard the ship, though they are badly shaken from what happened on Arcturus." I answered truthfully, looking towards the door before focusing back on them. "What happened in there? The cameras had been disabled."

"One of Cerberus' assassins entered the holding areas on Arcturus with what only could have been orders to eliminate the defectors." She recalled, face still hardened despite the pain. "I couldn't tell who it was, he was wearing a face mask during the attack."

"Was it a man with longer black hair?" I asked, getting some surprise from her.

"Yes, it was." She agreed, nodding with a confused look. "How did you know?"

"While I was on the tram, I spotted a man on the train that rubbed me the wrong way." I explained, beginning to pace back and forth as I recalled those tense moments. "He looked to be of Asian descent, long black hair and cold, dead eyes. The moment I saw him, I knew something was seriously wrong."

"Asian…" She repeated, staring into space before looking back at me. "It must have been Kai Leng. He's one of the Illusive Man's top agents… I'm lucky to be alive if that really was him."

I nodded, staying silent for a few moments before speaking up again.

"Listen, once we get to Reach you and the others will be given a new residence to share, curtesy of the Admiralty Board." I began to explain, sitting down on the bed across from her. "After a few days of rest, we'll start giving you all some work to do. Work that'll be used to fight Cerberus."

The look on her face said everything I needed to know. Her eyes looked sunken, as if she had been hit with a ton of bricks.

It was one-hundred percent genuine.

"OK." She nodded with resignation in her voice, locking her eyes with mine. "Once I've had time to… absorb all of this, I'll tell you anything you want to know. About Cerberus and Project Lazarus."

"Take your time." I urged, getting back up and looking at Richard, who nodded curtly.

"You, uh… should both be good to walk, just make sure to take it slowly." He said, grabbing two sets of medical scrubs and handing them to her and Dan. "Try not to make any sudden movements, Miss Lawson, those stitches are less than twelve hours old."

"I know." She nodded, wincing as she bent over slightly. "Thank you."

I gave each of them of them one look before walking off, leaving the two of them alone.

These next few days would be interesting. That much was for certain. In the end, the only thing I truly wanted was to be with my wife and little girl again.

…

Serenity Valley, October 19th, 8:33 AM, 2184

…

"Here you go, you little fluffballs." I said quickly, filling up the two small food bowls with kibble before getting down on one knee and rubbing each behind the ears. "I swear, you two eat more in your own body weight."

"They're bundles of energy, I tell you." Mara said, a wide smile on her face as she sat down with her cup of coffee.

Mara had been ecstatic to not only see me again, but to see that I had brought dogs with me. Elle was already having a ball with them too, rolling around on the floor with them as they licked her face. After thinking it, we had decided to call the yellow one Finnie and the black one Darcy. Both Irish names.

I waved to my wife as I walked out the door, closing it with a solid hiss.

I stretched my arms in the air, leaning side to side as several sharp pops resounded through the moist morning air. It was a Wednesday, the day where I went out on my long run. I was dressed in a simple pair of shorts, a grey tank top, and some old tenner shoes. While I understood that the proper term was "tennis shoes", I had decided long ago to embrace my broken, ass-backwards Maryland accent to the fullest.

As I stretched my legs and started my run to the sound of Foreigner's "Juke Box Hero", I started thinking about everything that had happened the last few days.

Despite everything, it had been surprisingly quiet. Once we had landed we quickly got everything situated, our five new compatriots were all given ankle trackers that would keep tabs on them. Their new bunk house was located about 140 meters away from our main unit. It had no boundary of any kind, but did feature a sensor suite that could tell us what they were doing if we so desired it.

Looking at how much our little chunk of the world had developed as I ran past brought a smile to my face. The primary part of our homestead of course consisted of the housing units, old colony prefabs that had been given to us as a thank you for all the work we had done for the quarians. There were three of them in groups of two, one on top of the other. On top of Mara and I's unit, I hung a flagpole that flew the American flag.

Since getting our bearings, we've built other structures in our spare time as well. The biggest and most obvious were the green houses, three long sections capable of holding various types of plants. We used them after cultivating enough seeds using CASTLE Base's hydroponics lab. They were fully self-contained, able to run no matter what season it was via an automated heating and watering system. Currently, we were mostly growing fruits because it was spring, but the one constant item we always growing were potatoes.

The second, oldest addition was the shuttle pad, which had a pretty self-explanatory use. There were two shuttles, one that we used and the one that belonged to Greg. Next to it however was our garage, which held our snowcat, a motorbike, and now the Mako the Alliance had given to us. We also kept most of our tools in there, neatly sorted and locked away behind several heavy-duty lockers.

On the edge of our property was also the Explorer's landing site. It was a large, flat space of exposed mountain bedrock that water flow had stripped all topsoil from over the years. It was solid, and fit our ship's profile perfectly. Even after everything we had done, nature had done for us what would have taken hundreds of men days to clear.

Outside of our property was still mostly forest, especially to the south where development had remained quite limited. The large trees, native to Reach, I had decided to call Polocks. While the term polock was derogatory in Europe towards the Polish, back in Baltimore's Polish communities it was considered a term of endearment.

There were plenty of times my mother poked fun at us, calling us "big dumb polocks" whenever we did something that particularly annoyed her. I saw my naming for the tree as another funny little tribute to my parents.

As I ran through the forest, I stopped and took a moment to admire the sunbeams moving between the trees, shifting calmly in the wind. Around this area was where I first expressed my feelings for Mara. Like a lot of things around here, it held a lot of sentimental value.

After making my way to the top of the steep hill and coming back, I returned to see Mineko and Gastwirt sitting outside of their unit talking to one another. I walked over, wanting to better establish myself with them.

"Hey folks, what's happening?" I asked, walking down the straight gravel path that led to their dwelling.

"Hello Dr. Michaels." Mineko greeted, still very meek. "I was just discussing the applications of military-grade muscle enhancements if reworked to quarian physiology."

"The problem is that while mapping out quarian DNA would be a simple prospect, adapting our existing therapies to a whole other species could have… consequences down the line." Gastwirt explained, his German accent obvious.

Gastwirt was strange to me. Deep inside of me I felt like I had heard his voice before, but it seemed more like it had been in a dream from the way I remembered it. I couldn't understand it for the life of me.

"Sounds interesting. Did you try bringing it up with Richard?" I asked, tilting my head slightly.

"His friend Powell is a bit… intimidating." She chuckled nervously, rubbing the bottom of her neckline. "I've never seen a Geth before, let alone such a big one."

"Powell is an experimental Alliance A.I. created back in 2179." I explained, getting down on one knee. "His "body", or "platform" or whatever you choose to call it was gifted to him by the Geth Collective."

"Gifted?" Gastwirt questioned out loud, looking quite confused.

"It's a long story. Let's just say they've been places very few others have." I held off, not wanting to give away too much information. "I'll see you two later."

I walked around to the back of the unit, seeing Miranda was back here doing push-ups with a set of workout clothes. Her hair was tied back in its usual ponytail, hanging over her shoulder as she grunted up and down.

"For someone who got stabbed a few days ago, you don't seem to be that fazed." I joked, leaning against the housing unit.

"I may be able to do push-ups, but I still can't do crunches." She corrected, rolling over onto her back as she let out a deep sigh. "I saw you out there running earlier, figured I might as well try doing something with this free time."

"Running is something I enjoyed doing, especially as someone who used to be overweight growing up." I said, watching her as she got back up on her feet. "So… you ready to head up there today and explain to us how you had planned to bring Shepard back to life?"

Even after seeing everything that Cerberus had in that lab, saying that still felt very outlandish. I imagined she felt a lot differently about it.

"I'm looking forward to getting back to work, if that's what you're asking." She shot back, walking up to me with an unamused look on her face. "Who did you say I'd be working with again?"

"Dr. Richard Karpyshyn and his friend, Powell." I answered quickly, crossing my arms. "He's a good guy. Stays focused, determined, talented with all things medical in nature."

She simply pursed her lips, not seeming at all convinced.

"Trust me, he's probably smarter than those crones you were working with before." I remarked with a slightly less friendly face. "We'll leave at twelve hundred hours. Be ready, because I'm bringing the other four along too."

"What? Why?" She questioned quickly, not looking at all happy with what I had told her.

"What's the matter, Miss Lawson? I thought the time for secrets was over." I answered in a sly tone, narrowing my eyes.

All she did was glare at me for a few seconds before walking back off into the housing unit. I shook my head, letting out a small sigh as I walked back off.

This was going to be a very difficult relationship.

…

A/N: A bit of character building this time around. Now that we have defectors joining the group, things could begin changing for everyone in the group. Is Miranda honest about her intentions? Is anyone a defector, or could it be a lie? Those are the risks that must be taken.

Unfortunately, it's looking like ME: Andromeda is indeed as bad as I predicted it would be. The characters look awful, the story looks bland, and most of the original Mass Effect developers are gone anyways. I promised myself that I would never buy another Bioware game after Mass Effect 3, and it's not looking difficult at all to keep my promise.

Also, I'm curious… how many of you actually look up the music I mention in my story and play it? I'm curious to see if it's something people appreciate regarding Sean and his age. Let me know in a review!

As always, I'd love to read any reviews, I'm always up for suggestions or constructive criticism! Stay tuned!