"...Don't you dare switch off that machine, Thaal! He will survive, just give it some time!"

"Ma'am, The recompression chamber has been working for hours. If he does come out of it, there's no telling what the oxygen starvation has done to his brain. It's highly likely he'll stay comatose for time indefinite, even if he does survive."

"I gave him an oxygen mask as soon as we got him on board."

"I know that, ma'am, I was there. As I recall, he was also asari blue. It's rather amazing that he was still breathing and his heart was still pumping blood, in fact. The only thing he has going for him is that he's human - they might be more resistant to such trauma than quarians."

I am... alive. That much I know. I'm having a hard time thinking of anything else. Thinking in general, in fact. I think I'll just lay here a little more... I open my eyes, but my vision is a cloudy and blurry. I turn my head.

Pop-pop-pop.

Ow! Another thing I'm aware of is that my phone and my earpiece are on me.. I stir, but all my joints hurt like hell from the slightest movement. I can't stay like this; I sit up, and realise I'm laying in a confined space when my head hits a metal ceiling. Oh-ow! That hurt way more that it should. I lay back down.

"Did you hear that? I think it came from the recompression chamber!"

"Open it!"

I hear a hiss, and a few moments later, the whoosh of a door opening. I prop myself up on my elbows, making sure not to hit my head on the low ceiling. I think my vision is getting a little better... I see two shapes move around in the room. "He's awake." - comes from the green splosh. A black-and-purple blur moves toward me rapidly, and stops by my side. "Alex? Can you hear me?" - comes Tali's familiar voice. I turn my head to face the blur, wincing as my neck complains loudly. I speak weakly: "Tali? That you? Where am I?" She chuckles, turning to the green splosh: "I told you he would be alright." She turns back to me. "You're on the frigate "Sur'tan", they responded to the distress signal sent out by my ship before it disintegrated. I was in my pod when you appeared… I manipulated the pod's mass effect field to pull you in, had to depressurise the passenger compartment in order to get you in there. I thought you…" The (still extremely blurry) shape turns away - "I got you so sick-bay as soon as I could. Most quarian ships are fitted with a recompression chamber, what with all the maintenance that has to be done on the old ships and the ensuing accidents."

I smile: "Well, tell the doctor - Thaal, was it?- that i'm grateful for all he's done to help… I can't see worth a crap though." The green blur approaches, and the doctor speaks: "Yes, that's… problematic, and I'm not entirely sure how to treat it: your vision may have suffered from the decompression in your suit. Now that you're out of immediate danger - and stable, I'll have to report to the captain - he's been stressing out over this matter ever since miss Zorah brought you onboard." And with that, he leaves.

"So how did you end up here? I thought you were high - tailing it out of there as soon as I went through." Tali asks. "Well… There was a complication. In the face of a few angry looking hulks intent on getting me. It tends to piss people off when someone - a kid, no less - almost causes a cross-dimensional crisis by using their super-duper new particle collider. It was an accident, i swear - one moment i was wrestling away from an Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonator, and then -Bam!- I'm in space with a suit rupture. That escalated quickly. by the way, where is all my stuff?" Tali responds: "It's being scanned and decontaminated now. The captain was a little apprehensive about taking you on board - it was, after all, supposed to be a covert mission only the Migrant Fleet Marines and a few top scientists were aware of. After I told him your story, however, he agreed to allow you on. I - we - owe him a favor. He will want to speak with you later, though. For now, you need to get some rest." I chuckle and lay back down: "I will. I guess we've settled that debt you owed me, eh?" "Tali walks to the door: "I guess we have. I'll see you later." And walks out.

Now I have some time to think, which is much easier than it was a few minutes ago. I'm in the Mass Effect universe, and in a short while, shit is about to go down. Right about now, Cerberus is putting it's final touch on Shepard's rebuilt body. Getting spaced sucks. Badly. I barely survived, and I was only out there for a few minutes. Shepard, though, also made a non scheduled atmospheric reentry, and only remained intact (physically) thanks to his hardsuit.

But at the moment, the more important matter is that I am here. I mean, yeah, Being here would have been a dream come true a week ago, but now that I'm here... I have no family, no money, not even an identification. The quarians will probably hand me over to the Alliance and I'll get put in an orphanage for the next two-three years, and the galaxy doesn't have that long - especially Earth. I am from a parallel universe, and the past no less. What if they'll want to run experiments on me, or if they won't, Cerberus will - I don't expect any less from the Illusive Man. I should sleep now - my head still feels like it was split open with an axe.

"Alex'*******? The captain requests your presence in the comm room. I'll show you the way when you're ready."

Ah, and I was having such a nice dream involving a new PS4... I open my eyes; my head is much , but still throbbed with a slight migraine. I sit up. Before me I see a green blob, it being doctor Thaal. Looks like my vision hasn't improved. "Alright, I'm ready. Where to, doc?" - I ask. "Not so fast: you'll have to put on your "suit" (I think he made air quotes), we can't have you walking around the ship contaminating everything you touch and breathe on. No offence." I get off the bunk and grab a hold of it, because as soon as I stood, I got very dizzy and lightheaded. I frown: "Uh-huh. Just tell me where it is." "Over on the table there. Here, let me help." The green blur walks over to me, and I feel a three-digit hand on my shoulder. He guides my unsteady steps to the other end of the room, where the familiar orange-and-green suit. I frown again: "Did you guys fix it? It would be pretty pointless otherwise." Thaal hands me the sleeve and stands back while i pull it on, mostly by touch. I secure the seals, and breathe in the dry air, drawing a low, reassuring hiss. "We fixed it, and also added one important thing - instead of only drawing air from the tanks, in a stable atmosphere it will filter the air to use instead of wasting reserves." - finally replied the doctor. I turn to face him. "Thanks. Where do I go?"

Dr. Thaal motioned (I think) with his hand, and started towards the door. I followed him out, where, to my surprise, stood two red blurs with what looked like M8 rifles. What the hell? I look over to the doctor. "Sorry for this, but you ARE aboard a quarian military vessel, you must understand…" Oh, fine, not like I planned to mess your stuff up. "Whatever." I follow him through some halls, a slow elevator and another hall, the marines following suit. Many other shapes move around, stopping and staring at me. Finally, Thaal comes to a halt before a door. "Though here." He presses a button on the glowing orange holo-panel, and the door slides upwards, out of view. I walk in, and hear the door close behind me just as quickly as it opened.

The room i'm in is large and dimly lit. On the opposite wall is a large window, Before which stands a dark silhouette. The gray-clad figure shifts. "So you are the human miss Zorah brought on board. As I heard, you're a lucky man to survive being spaced, and although your vision is damaged, you came out pretty much unscathed. That in it's own is rather puzzling. But what perplexes me the most, is how a young human in a derelict suit appears out of nowhere, deep in Geth space." He turns to face me: "Care to explain?" I sigh, and walk over to the window. Man do I wish my eyesight was alright; the view must be spectacular. I speak to the captain, still squinting out into the void. "Well sir, i'm not entirely sure of it myself, from a purely physical standpoint. I take it, Tali'Zorah already filled you out on her side of the story? - I turn to him. "Yes, and a bit of yours, too. As I understand it, The ship that was originally sent here was destroyed, miss Zorah barely escaped on an escape pod, and was… "teleported" to your dimension."

I nod, and continue the story: "That's right sir. She appeared in my living quarters, and I decided to help her get back. I wouldn't call it a different dimension - rather a alternate universe, though. We made it to a research facility on Earth that studied dark energy, and used their particle collider to generate dark energy, sending Tali back here. I fell into the anomaly by accident, as a result of trying to escape the security forces. That's also when i got my suit rupture, just before getting zapped… here." The captain remains silent for a while, and says, with a hint of surprise: "So you risked both your freedom and life to assist a member of the Migrant Fleet, a woman you have never met before, in returning home. That is quite admirable." His tone shifts back to neutral: "I'll be honest with you; I don't trust humans. Your race is new on the galactic arena, but has already gained prejudice about my people. But you have shown that maybe humanity isn't just like the Turians, Asari, and those damned Volus: among them, I've only ever felt out of place, barely tolerated by them. They view us as a race of thieves and scavengers, a blight on galactic society they would rather forget, but never forgive. But the real question is -what do we do with you?"

Darn, I was wishing that I wouldn't have to discuss this before I speak with Tali. Apart from an Alliance orphanage, I don't have that many options... but maybe I can stay with the Flotilla for now? No, that's absurd. I could try to get Tali to let me stick around until Shepard rolls in, but, alas, i am here and she is not. "I don't really have anywhere to go, sir."

The captain thinks for a while, and I could almost see the yellow decision circle in his mind. "I'll give it some thought. You should go back to med bay now, get some rest; you haven't recovered entirely yet. Speak with miss Zorah, she may come up with something." I nod. Well, at least he gave me some time. I turn around and head back to the door. is slides open, and once more I am escorted down many corridors until I arrive at the now-familiar sick bay.