I slowly come to my senses. The first thing I feel aware of is a dull, throbbing pain in my skull, enveloping most of my prefrontal lobe and face. My eyes are closed, and - apart from the pain - I don't feel any different from before. Not much else I can think about… not with the anesthesia still not fully worn off.

A shrill, monotonous voice buzzes next to me:

-Doctor Thaal, the patient is displaying signs of consciousness. Advise application of analgesic to counter pain.

Hearing faint footsteps to the left of me, I turn my head and open my eyes - only to find that they are covered with some sort of fabric, obstructing my vision. Despite this, however, i can see splotches of colour - violet, yellow and green, like after looking at a bright lamp, - floating before my eyes and changing, swirling into spirals and odd shapes. This acid trip-like display is brought to an end when the fabric is lifted by a three-fingered hand, and i'm blinded by bright lights.

My eyes snap shut, because damn does that light burn!

-Ah, Alex, you're awake, good. How do you feel? - asks Zear'Thaal.

-Uhm… like i'm tripping balls?

-What?

-I mean… whatever. Frankly, my head is about to explode through my eye sockets. Or so it feels.

-Oh, I see. One moment.. - Zear slides a needle into my exposed forearm, holding it still with his other hand when I instinctively jerk. - This should soothe the pain.

- Hey doc, am I supposed to be seeing all sorts of weird stuff?

- I believe you're brain is adapting to the new form of input. I understand this is your first implantation?

- Apart from a dental filament or two, yes. C'mon I'm from 21-st century Earth!

- Of course, yes. Then the visual hallucinations you are experiencing must be your brain forming new neural patterns to adapt to the ocular implants… Don't worry, they'll go away in an hour or two. for now, you should sleep some, your body needs rest to heal. I'll switch off the lights for now.

And so he does, leaving me in the pleasantly dark room. I soon fall fast asleep.

Man, my throat is really patched.. Oh, I'm awake, I guess.

I open my eyes. Woah.

The room is pitch black, and yet The panel near the door and the turned off lights emanate a faint glow, not enough to identify any colour, but just enough to let itself be seen. I get up, stretch my legs and arms.

*Crack, pop*

What time is it? where is Zear'Thaal? All I can hear is the buzz of the air vents, the low, steady hum of the engines and a distant hubbub of voices. I look around for a switch or something, something to activate the lights, or somehow call for the doctor.

Actually, I should probably re-seal my suit in case someone opens the door or something.

I find the missing elements of my suit - the rebreather system and helmet - and put them on, a faint *Click!* signifying a tight seal.

Doctor? Tali? Hello?

A rustling comes from behind me as a door - that I failed to notice - slides open, and Doctor Zear'Thaal, formerly known as Green Blob, walks in. Now that I can see - very well, in fact - I study his enviro-suit in detail: It's fairly standard - looking Quarian attire, with the exception of also sporting rubber gloves and… an apron of sorts.

-One moment, let me get the lights, - he flips a switch by the door and the room is illuminated by an orange glow - There we are.

What's with the apron? - I ask.

- Haven't had the time to take it off; I was running a whole plethora of diagnostics and tests on your new wetware. Feeling well, I hope?

-Meh. Tell me, do these oculars support a wider range of light waves? 'Cause I think i can see shades of ultraviolet - or infrared… Not entirely sure.

-How insightful! as a matter of fact, they do; it started as a design flaw in the early stages of the implant's development. When they saw the benefits that it provided, however, the techies quickly incorporated it into the complete design.

- Another case of "It's a feature, not a bug! I swear!", huh.

- Maybe. Let's sterilize the room and go find Miss Zorah. Last I heard, she was being briefed on a new assignment. She's probably in the meeting room on deck three.

We head for the door, and Zear presses a few buttons on the door panel.

Sterilisation in progress. Please stand by.

The opposite end of the room is cut off by a wall of bright blue, almost white light, which swiftly crosses the room and disappears.

- we exit, leaving the surgery room and start down another on of the ship's endless halls. This time,I can make out a lot more detail - and it looks kind of shabby. The walls have long since lost their polish and the brown paint is discolored in a lot of places. The low ceiling is made even lower because of the net after net of cargo crates and boxes stored in them. Quarians walk in and out of rooms, hurrying to wherever they are going. Something is missing…

- Where are the red guys with the guns? Am I even allowed to be wandering around by myself?

Entering an elevator, Zear turns to me, shrugging his shoulders:

You're not by yourself: you have a trained military doctor accompanying you. Now hurry up unless you want the elevator to leave without you.

I pop inside just before the door closes and feel my gut lurch down as we begin ascending up the shaft.

After a few minutes of walking through more corridors, Zear'Thaal halts in front of a set of double doors, a single armed quarian standing guard next to it.

- Identification, please.

Zear loads up his omni-tool, presses a few buttons and the guard checks his own.

- Wery well. Is the human going in with you? - he nods his head towards me.

- Yes. I have permission to accompany him from admiral Zorah.

The quarian nods again and steps to the side, allowing us to enter. The doors open, and we walk in.

- ...Veetor has never been out of contact for so long. The fact of the matter is, the entire colony hasn't sent any transmissions in the last two days.

-Maybe they are having trouble with their communication array, or were hit by an electromagnetic pulse. - I hear Tali say.

-That's up to you to find out. You already know about his... condition, don't you?

The room we're in is a conference hall of sorts; a large oval table in the middle of the room with a projection of a planet in it's center. Around it stand three Quarians: Tali, who I recognise immediately, and a couple other males. The discussion ends abruptly as Zear and I walk in.

- Admiral Gerrel, miss Zorah. - the doctor says with a curt nod.

- Doctor Thaal. And this must be your latest patient, Mr. *******. - says the taller male.

Dearest readers, Here is where i shall leave the story for now. I've been trying to force myself to keep writing for the past few months, but my initial enthusiasm has long since evaporated and the fumes i've been running on are gone too. Maybe in a month or three, once I'm done with my finals and replayed Mass Effect 2, I'll pick it up, fresh of new ideas. Or i'll just guilt - trip myself into forcing on in a few days, but that's unlikely. This has been my first foray into the wonderful world of writing fanfiction, and boy has it been great. On this note I depart, bidding you farewell - and don't forget me!