He took a large intake of breath as he woke up. His eyes fluttered and instead of seeing a tint of light blue, he was blinded by how brightly white it was in the room. That's when he first noticed that his visor was missing.
Where am I?
He possessed several moments to readjust and reorient himself. He sat up and felt the cool air upon his skin. That's when he noticed his suit was missing, also. The only thing he had to cover his body was a small pair of white underwear.
Am I in a clean room? Why? The last thing I remember is...He searched his memory. It was filled with screams and shots of gunfire, with the occasional roar of screeching robots. But most of all, his failure...his fault.
How am I alive?
He searched his bare skin to find many scars, but what frightened him most was the fact that these scars were glowing. Only a little, but they were definitely glowing a bright orange color.
What the? What happened to me?
He tried to clear his head to make sure he wasn't seeing things, but the scars were still there. He scratched the hair on his head, which seemed like had gotten a lot longer the last time he noticed. He then felt the skin on his face, which was also growing a small amount of hair into a beard.
How long have I been outside of my suit?
He looked around the room. It was very white. It hurt his eyes. On the wall across from him was a stall with a silver toilet with a plastic seat, next to the stall on the left was a silver sink with a mirror, the basic cleaning needs like a toothbrush was provided there. On the right of the stall carved into the corner of the room was a shower. It had a blurry glass window with a white curtain to go along with it. Directly to his right was a table with a simple, small chip with a note. "Watch This."
What the hell? What's going on?
He closed his eyes and tried to clear his head again.
"No," his voice cracked hoarsely. It felt like he hasn't spoken in years. "No," he tested again. Still hoarse and quiet. He grunted roughly. "No." He cleared his throat. "No...no...no, no, and no," his voice edging back to normality. Satisfied, he looked to his left, where on the far side of the room was a large screen and a black couch. To the right of the screen in the corner was a door.
Well, at least there's a way to get out of here.
But more interestingly, in the wall left of the screen where his head was facing, was a large aquarium with different kinds of fish inside.
What kind of ship am I on?
He decided to figure that out after he cleaned and washed himself up. A simple shower would help him focus and think. He got off of his white, queen-sized bed, undressed, and walked shakily towards the shower. He turned the silver knob and allowed only lukewarm water to crash down on him. It may be only lukewarm, but it felt heavenly to him. Keeping his mind on scarce resources, he only allowed himself a less than three minute shower.
He washed his hair and face, redressed, brushed his teeth, and shaved. He would have to get his hair cut later. He would normally have his lifemate do that, but, she has been gone for years now. The thought pained him. He missed her greatly. But it also stirred him a little.
Didn't I see her recently? Then he remembered that he was asleep. Must've been a dream. Weird, it was so vivid.
Feeling clean, he walked back towards his bed to find a box hiding underneath the table with something wrapped on top of it. He picked up the wrapped thing to find a plate with food on it. It looked like it was made just recently. On the wrapping was a small note on paper that said, "Don't worry, it's sterilized."
This angered him. What the hell kind of ship is this? Why are we serving this rather than nutrient paste? All he could see in this was a waste of resources. He looked at the box and found it to be a microwave. He felt disgusted. But that was before his stomach let out the largest growl he's ever known.
He had a battle of wills, telling himself no but ultimately giving into temptation. When I find the Captain of this ship, I'm going to have a few words with them. He then ripped off the clear wrapping and stuck the food in the microwave, which instantly heated up. He pulled it out and again noticed the chip on top of the table with the other note. He held it in one hand and held the food in the other and walked to the large screen on the wall.
With one swift movement he plugged the chip into the side of the screen and sat on the couch with his plate of food. The food consisted of a pastry with some sort of yellow cream swirled on top of it in a fancy fashion, next to it was some unknown cooked meat, and next to that was something orange and cubed with a soft texture topped with some green plant food.
He picked up the eating utensils that were also provided and began to eat. After a few heavenly bites, he signed for the screen to play the chip. It was here that he noticed the lack of his omni-tool.
Makes sense if I'm a prisoner, he thought pessimistically. I bet the door is actually locked. He thought of whom he could possibly be imprisoned to. Could be to my own people. After all, I put them at risk.
The screen started to light up with the vid. It was black but phased out to show the interior of an unknown ship. It looked like the camera was rested on top of a desk. Someone was there, for the chair was rolled back and wheels could be heard, then a door opening. There were two voices in the background, both male. One voice was warped by a speaker, quarian? The other was different, it had the unmistakable internal rumbled echo, which only one species was known for, turians.
"Thanks," said the quarian voice.
"Just don't break it," laughed the turian. The door then closed and the footsteps returned to the desk where the camera laid. Then...human hands? The hands rested some odd blue holographic eyeglasses in the camera's view. The hands then connected it to an unseen terminal and rolled into view. Shockingly, this quarian was not a quarian at all, but a human in a modified quarian suit.
This is getting very interesting.
"Hello. I'm sorry this is a little rushed. As of making this, I only have a short time before I need to tend to something. So I'll make this brief. I know you are probably confused as to where you are, and why you're glowing orange. But first, let me catch you up on some events you should know about."
The quarian-human hybrid fiddled with the eyeglasses until a video showed up on the camera's screen. It showed a hulking metal creature with a blaring red eye aiming down on a speck of black on some desert planet.
What in the hell is that?
The video zoomed up faster and faster, it took him a moment to realize the video was on a ship, and the ship dropped fire down on the metal monster. "The first thing you should know is that the reapers came, but luckily, we survived."
The video switched over to another planet with high buildings and even more metal monsters. Reapers. He looked on in awe as humans were either slain brutally by zombie-like creatures or vaporized by huge beams of light coming from the metal beasts themselves. It was a horror show, he couldn't possibly imagine such a hell could even exist.
"The galaxy-ending bastards are the reason why I had to adopt one of your quarian suits," said the man.
The video again switched over to a ground fight. In it were two distinct figures charging straight towards an especially large reaper with orange eyes. One of them was a man. He couldn't see his face, but the tenseness revealed that this man was angry, full of fury and ready to take an ending in the fight. Behind him was a very recognizable quarian woman clad in battle gear.
No! She was there, too?!
His heart nearly stopped when a large beam of light threw a human vehicle into the air towards them. The screen was temporarily clouded with smoke. When it cleared, the person recording had the quarian woman, weak and bloodied, leaning on them.
"I need an evac, now!" Said the human onscreen. The screen cut again on the ship where the same human ran back out into battle with the quarian woman reaching out to him. A split second thought crossed his mind.
What importance did he hold to her? Who is he?
"As I said, we survived, but here's the real kicker. Your people and the geth have made peace, and are working together. Shocking, right?"
What the actual hell? But sure enough, the video cut to geth and quarians working together on a desert planet...Rannoch?
He couldn't believe this for a single moment...he wouldn't. This had to be faked, it must be a sick prank. Or was he still asleep? Was this just a dream?
"I know it's hard to believe since you spent your life trying to fight them. But these geth had their own struggles against the reapers. We managed to free them, thankfully. Now your people and them live in harmony."
"Ancestors..." He whispered.
"Now...I have a surprise for you. You aren't on a ship, right now...you're on Rannoch."
At that moment, the door opened. He almost had a heart attack and choked on his food when a simple dust colored geth walked in, his metal sparkling clean. It closed the door and faced him.
His flight or fight responses started kicking in, assessing on how he could possibly take down this potential threat in just a pair of underpants. He ducked behind the black couch and focused on just staying alive and steadying his breathing. I'm being executed! That's what this is!
His blood ran cold, and his fingers went numb. He couldn't find hope in defeating this metal monster. Even if he could, there was no way that he would be walking away in one piece. His ears ran muffled in fear, as if he was underwater. His forehead was already sweating and his mind ran a thousand miles per hour. His spine shook as he imagined the potential mix of flesh and metal. Get a grip! I'm not going out without a fight!
"Creator? I've brought you some clothes."
The hell did I just hear? He must be losing it. There's no way a damned geth would be talking...and not like that!
"Creator?" It spoke again.
With somewhat trembling hands, he lifted himself over the arm of the couch, just enough to get a look at the geth. There it stood, with a mix of white and red clothing resting in its relaxed metal hands. An uneasy silence filled the room. His eyebrow was raised and his mouth was agape. The geth itself also looked uneasy, as it turned it's head like it was glancing from the door to him, it also raised itself on it's toes. Up, and down, over and over.
"I uh...apologize if I interrupted your study of that couch, Creator. Um...I brought you some comfortable attire, if you're interested."
He said nothing.
"Eh, okay...I'll just leave it here on your couch."
He remained silent with his mouth still open as the geth set down the clothes. It then turned and walked towards a wall. Putting it's metal hands upon it, the geth pushed against it towards one side. Part of the wall moved, and collapsed inside itself towards one side, revealing a large window.
The geth then walked towards the door, but before it left, it stated awkwardly, "I...uh...advise you to enjoy the scenery, Creator. Perhaps it will help you relax."
It opened the door, and took one last look at the quarian man in underpants huddled behind the couch like a child. "Please, clothes wouldn't be a bad idea, either," it said, and closed the door behind itself.
His mouth finally closed, and the only thought in his head was, What the hell?
He cautiously raised himself from the couch arm and walked towards the clothes, as if it was a bomb ready to go off. He noticed a pair of black pants made of some odd material, and a light, white, long-sleeved shirt. On top of that was his familiar patterned red cloth wrappings for his suit, accompanied by his blue visor. His helmet, however, was replaced with a light, spongy rubber head casing. It's sole purpose seemed to only be to hold the visor.
It was then that he noticed the video of the human-quarian hybrid was still going. "...your immune system boost. But Randy will still provide you with a mask if it makes you feel comfortable."
Randy?
Without thinking, he grabbed the clothes and started putting it on.
Screw it, questions will be answered. I'm freezing my ass off. Although perhaps the reason why he was cold was due to fear rather than the room temperature.
This is when he also noticed the window again, and the utter shock of what laid on the other side took his breath away. He struggled to put his shirt on while still holding his visor as he looked outside.
Instead of the stars that he was so used to seeing, there was large desert land with a few sparse trees growing in the distance. There was a sandstone fountain just outside as well, marked with beautiful carvings and designs.
He knocked and looked at the window in different angles to make sure it wasn't a video screen he was looking at. There's no way this is Rannoch.
He couldn't handle the flow of information that was coming to him, so he focused on putting on his head casing and visor. He was happy with it's familiarity, but it must have been awhile since he has had it on, because it felt slightly suffocating. He then continued to take his red cloth and wrapped it around himself. He tied knots in places where there were buckles, but it was still fairly loose without his armor.
He felt too casual, it was unsettling. But he had bigger things to focus on. Like what the hell in general was going on and why. The quarian-human hybrid grabbed his attention again.
"That about wraps up the major things going on. By the time you see this, I'm actually on my way to see you. So expect me very soon."
Oh. Okay, it'll be great to have some clarity...finally. But because of the geth scare, he felt like he missed out on some very important information in the vid. So he searched for the remote and started rewinding it to the point where he lost focus. His nerves somewhat more relaxed, he sat down on the couch.
But before he could hit the play button, the door opened once again, and in came the black armored quarian-human hybrid in a wheelchair.
"Good morning Admiral Rael'Zorah, it's good to finally meet you."