And it's snowing again here in England. Really what the? Anyway this gave me time to write another chapter. As always please review, I really do like hearing feedback.
Edited 31.05.2021 for grammatical, stylistic and logical errors.
09/01/2174 Serpent Nebula, Window, Citadel
As a testament to how truly exhausted I was after getting back to the hotel room after taking a long luxurious shower I fell asleep almost instantly and waking up the next morning found myself very surprised by several high priority messages on my omni-tool that failed to wake me up. Considering that I had set up a truly disgustingly loud and annoying set of sounds to play for cases like this I asked myself if I was actually quite drunk last night. I remembered everything perfectly and I was not feeling any after effects like a normal human should have after a night of hard drinking. Deciding to get a decent cup of coffee first I ordered room service which arrived six minutes later via a service bot, a cylindrical kart on wheels with several compartments to keep things hot or cold as needed. Taking a pot of coffee out and a plate with croissants, I turned my attention back to my omni-tool.
Going in chronological order the first message I saw was a reply from Ray Shepard, directing me to either pop in at any time at his apartment if it's after work hours or visit him in the clinic where he worked. Another message was an automatic receipt that billed my account for the docking fees, third message was another automatic response from Kal'leena's secretary VI. The fourth message however made my lazy morning attitude disappear. A message from the organisation. Inside there was nothing apart from an extranet link which I opened and after a few seconds was rewarded with my omnitool displaying a 5 inch tall blue holographic human woman. She proceeded to scan me using my own omni-tool. Ten seconds later she was satisfied with the scan and looked directly at me. "Sam Knight, identity confirmed. I am Tana, a VI that has been tasked to debrief you for the final time before your retirement." she said sounding awfully chipper
"Final time?" I asked not liking the implication
"Cerberus has gained information about you including several of your cover identities and past involvement in missions undertaken for the Organisation. This security breach is unfortunately making your further employment by the Organisation impossible. In the file that is currently downloading to your omni-tool you will find an appropriate retirement package as well as your new official identity. The organisation is grateful for your service. Be advised that no further contact will be possible with the organisation through electronic means or through anyone you are suspecting of working for organisation. Have a nice day." the VI explained and then it winked off leaving me a bit stunned.
I guessed that Cerberus knew who I was when I saw Miranda but getting fired for that seemed a little excessive. Forgetting about the rest of the messages I found the file and opened it. The first file there was my new official identity. Sam Knight, N5, a former staff lieutenant in the Alliance military, my service record reflecting exactly the type of service that a member of Alliance special forces would have. Highly classified and with barely a hint of what I had actually been doing for my years of service. No doubt that if If someone actually looked into it they would find all the right people who would swear that I trained with them or I served with them, maybe even a few stories to go along with that. Looking at the addendum I saw that it was true. There were several pages of people that I have met and served with as well as various stories that I should remember.
The second part of the file dealt with my retirement package. Apparently that involved a personal ship, property on Eden Prime and an extremely generous amount of credits deposited in one of the more secure volus banks. Looking at all of this I could easily retire and spend the rest of my days having a quiet life on Eden Prime, maybe even start a family. No doubt that was appealing, after all I never pretended to be a complicated man and before all this in my previous life that is indeed all I wanted, a woman who loved me, a good family. But I was here, I had been remade as much in my mind as in my body now. I knew that if I went after it my quiet life wouldn't even last a decade, it was 9 years before geth and Saren invade Eden Prime, it was 12 before Reapers arrive. Seems like a long time when looking at it but I knew that even if I had decades I would still need more. Thinking about this I looked into the third part of the file. And I must say that it surprised me more than the previous two together.
In the third part of the file there was a small info-cache about Cerberus, known agents, known front companies, location of several supply caches. All in all it was enough knowledge to cause Cerberus a lot of trouble. Much more than the file I compiled earlier which was filled mostly with good guesses because I knew where to look. Not enough to cripple it but the potential was there. I saw the writing on the wall as they say. Even "retiring" me the organisation clearly knew that I wouldn't sit on my ass on Eden Prime and grow space potatoes. Yes, space potatoes were a thing.
So they offered me a mission. Clever of them. After a while I lifted the cup to my lips and found that I had spent enough time reading through the file that my coffee has gone completely cold. Deciding that this was a good a time to stop as any I went through the rest of my messages. Only one was important. It simply said 'Same time, same place, M'. So Miranda decided to talk to me after all rather than sending in a Cerberus hit squad. Then again she still might decide to send one in or she might be luring me into a trap but I could only hope that it was not the case this time. If her portrayal in game was in any way similar to the real person here then she was still a decent person. No doubt she had to make hard decisions and do things she did not want to while working for Cerberus but underneath that ice queen persona was a person who cared deeply. Deciding against sending a reply I quickly cleaned myself up and after getting dressed I started the first day of my peaceful retired life. Ha.
The cab ride to the clinic where Ray worked made me doubt that the wording Rapid Transit actually applied to it. Was there some kind of asari conspiracy that made everything go slower once you were actually in it. Depositing me on the roof of the clinic the cab took off like it was trying to go supersonic. I did not have enough time to get any decent clothing so I was dressed in cargo pants, combat boots, grey t-shirt and a thin waterproof jacket which was a ridiculous thing to wear on a space station if not for the fact that it allowed me to remain armed without attracting attention. Fashion in 2170's was as always a very individual thing if not more so. So far apart from clear Alliance military all the humans I have seen have either been dressed in the way that would not have looked out of place in early 21st century or were dressed so outlandishly that I knew they looked out of place even here, on a space station full of aliens. Citadel really was a place of contrasts, officially it was not encouraged that people living here or even visiting here were armed however there were no specific laws that prevented you from carrying certain types of personal defense weapons as they were called as long as you filled in the right paperwork. But hospitals, C-sec offices and any other official areas had security screens in place. Going through them, they would scan you and simply lock any weapon you might have on you. An effective measure against the more traditional weapons produced from the standard templates by a wide variety of manufacturers. You could still override the lock but doing so would alert the security and C-Sec. Once through the doors I saw a large reception area with a rows of seats and an asari receptionist sitting behind a desk with a terminal and typing something on a holographic keyboard as another asari, a patient probably was speaking. I waited until the asari patient was done and then walked up to the receptionist.
"Hi, I am here to see Dr Shepard. My name is Sam Knight." I announced myself not knowing what name would Ray put me down as, or if he would put me down at all, after all he was the one that signed my death certificate.
"Do you have an appointment?" she said and then looked at me. I smiled. She smiled and then blushed. I was at a loss, this was the first time I saw a girl, alien or not, blush while looking at me and I wasn't even doing anything to make her blush. Just in case I checked myself discreetly to see if there is anything about me that would cause such a reaction but I was just a tall guy in some cheap clothes.
"No, I am a friend of Ray's. If you just inform him that I am here that should be fine." I said deciding that pressing ahead would probably be best.
"Yes, of course. A moment. My name is Alana by the way." she said with a slight stammer and quickly typed out a message and sent it. Then she looked at me intently and the blush only seemed to increase. It says something about me that I could handle a conversation with a kilometer long monster that was older than some stars who was in the process of trying to kill me but a blushing girl tied my tongue into knots and I was just standing there looking her in the eyes as she was looking into mine. We might have been slowly moving towards each other. I am not sure. I am not even sure how long we were like that.
"Ahem. Am I interrupting something?" Ray said and both mine and Alana's head turned in unison to look at him.
"No, eh. I was just coming to see you." I said repressing my own stammer and moved away from Alana a little bit too fast to be natural. Not that I didn't appreciate the attention but I wasn't used to this kind of attention and I was very much aware of my own hormones hammering inside. Taking a breath, I held it for a second and exhaled centering myself.
"Come on, let's talk in my office." Ray said and turning around gestured for me to follow. Walking through a set of doors Ray paused and looked at me with a glint of humour in his eyes.
"So how long has it been since you..." he said and he didn't need to specify what he was asking.
"Just asking as a medical professional." he added when I didn't answer
"If you start counting from the day you found me then, since the day you found me." I replied, it's not like it was a problem for me but it seems some people found it strange.
"It's been almost a year." Ray said flabbergasted and gestured for me to walk through another set of doors, this time opening into what I assumed was his office. A bit spartan but it is what I would have expected from an Alliance military doctor on a detached duty.
"Well, running around the galaxy shooting and getting shot at doesn't really land itself to a good dating life." I said and sat opposite his desk as he walked around it and sat behind it. A floor to ceiling window opened up into the ward showing mostly other buildings but with a soft glow of the nebula behind them.
"Sure but it's not like you are constantly doing that are you?" Ray noted
"No, but I am not a one night stand kind of guy. Anyway what is up with Alana's reaction to me? I might not know much about women but that seems unusual."I said keeping a tight control over my voice, Joan's loss still burned within me. I looked to the side. I know it really wasn't my fault but it wasn't just that I felt guilty about her injuries. She survived after all and considering I have managed to change bodies and yet retain my mind there was something to be said about existence of a soul. But my guilt was amplified by the shame I felt in my reaction of her survival. She survived but I could only think how much I had lost when I knew that coming out of the hospital would not be the woman I knew. It only lasted a split second but those few moments were enough for me to be ashamed of myself.
"Alana is young and impressionable and is currently going through a phase where she is attracted to dangerous guys. And you radiate danger. Doesn't help that Jackie and the rest of the kids have told everyone here how you rescued them from the evil clutches of Cerberus. And Erinna has regaled us with the story of how she met you. So to Alana you are basically a sex symbol." Ray said suppressing his laughter at my reaction to his words.
"Wait, what? Jackie? Erinna?" I asked confused
"Yeah, didn't she tell you? I thought she had a way to contact you. After you left those kids with us we had to get help from someone who knew more about biotics than us. So we asked asari that were with you. The kids were already comfortable with them. Kal'leena helped arrange it but since she is away on business quite often Erinna has been coming around to check on them. Most of the kids are fine now and have been discharged but we still have a few hard cases. And since you deposited them into my hands they sent me along. It's been hard and it's been a lot of work but we have learned so much on how to improve quality of life for biotics, even designed new implants. Even with asari help we still lost Mark, I don't know if you remember him but he was one of the older ones." Ray explained standing up and turning towards the window.
"Jack is a hard case too?" I asked, wondering if her difficulties were physical or mental.
"Jackie?" Ray said turning back towards me, "Goodness no. We adopted her. She is now officially Jacqueline Shepard."
"Wait, what? WHAT?" it seems today was a day for many surprises. Jack Shepard. That could be either the most awesome thing ever or the biggest disaster ever. The kind of trouble that SISTERS Shepard could get up to was just hard to imagine.
"Yeah, she is a good girl. Had a few rough months first and Hannah had to take some leave but we are good now. Hannah thought it wouldn't be a good idea to take a biotic teenager that was going through puberty and put her in a cruiser on an extended patrol so I have her here with me. She is going to the 12th Tayseri ward school, it's a mixed species school but they have asari teachers there so they can handle the biotics." Ray continued and my mind was boggling at the words Ray was using. Jack. Good girl. School. My mind conjured up an image of Jack, buzzcut, angry and in a traditional school uniform. I had to see this to believe it.
"I must say I did not expect to hear that. I expected her to be enrolled in Ascension project by now." I said not really focusing, the image of Jack Shepard in my mind, I mean I knew I had changed things by now but Jack ending up being a Shepard, that is something I couldn't have seen.
"What do you know about it?" Ray said his voice serious now
"Ascension project? Well the academy, I think Jon Grisson Academy it was called in orbit of Elysium. A school for gifted kids but after the mess with the BAaT a biotic program was added in. Why?" I said still preoccupied with the idea of what kind of trouble could Kate Shepard and Jack Shepard get into. Or out of. The possibilities were endless.
"Sam how do you know about it?" Ray asked and I finally noticed how serious he was
"What? It's not like it's a secret is it?" I asked and then I remembered, that it started in 2176. There was still two years before that.
"Actually it is. More precisely it's a draft proposal sitting on my terminal at home, a terminal that does not have network access. I haven't even told Hannah about it." Ray said looking at me for an explanation
"Look, if you are wondering if I or someone else have been spying on you then don't, you haven't been spied on, I checked. And no me checking doesn't count as spying. I just know things. Believe me you don't want to know the things I know, why or how I know them. Because explaining that would require to explain things that you shouldn't know. Things that no one should know. So can we drop it please?" I asked hoping that Ray was less curious about it than he seemed. Or that he knew that having certain answers was not always good.
"So what you are saying forget about you knowing something that you should have not known at all and just move on? Just like that." he said and I nodded in response. He looked at me, then turned his head to look at the holopicture frame where the Shepard family was shown and then he shrugged.
"You know, I wish I could say this was the strangest thing about you. But it's not. So ok, fine, I will drop it but promise me that if there is a time when you can tell me you will." Ray said exasperated
"Hopefully such a time won't arrive," I started saying but seeing the look in Ray's eyes I continued "but I promise. I will tell you when I can."
Ray seemed satisfied with that. A message flashed up on his omni-tool. "Sam, I am sorry to cut this short but I have a patient. You should come by around six and we shall have dinner together I am sure Jack would be glad to see you." Ray said heading out of the office.
"Sure, no problem. Something serious?" I asked standing up and following Ray.
"No, just another krogan who wanted to try fish from the lake on Presidium." he replied
"But it doesn't have any fish." I said remembering this conversation from the game
"I know that, but the krogan didn't and whoever sold him the fish didn't tell him it was dextro, meant for turians."
"But why bring him to this hospital, I would have thought that any half-decent clinic could deal with a krogan's upset stomach."
"Because a krogan with diarrhea is a biological hazard. And this hospital is the closest one they could find with appropriate facilities." Ray said as we emerged back on the rooftop. I heard the sirens before I saw the ambulance and decided I didn't want to stick around considering the face Ray was making.
"Ok, see you at six then." I said and jumped into a waiting cab and just before the door closed I heard him mutter something about another scrapped ambulance.