March 3rd
2:34 A.M.
2186
Stolen Alliance Corvette, a.k.a. The Lincoln

Tarya Dalian was sitting in a corner. She found a nice crate to prop herself up against, and she was nursing some bruises that krogan gave her. That krogan... She thought. She felt like she was going to hit something. She couldn't believe it- kidnapped? That kind of thing only happens in the vids.

A rustle from the other side of the hanger startled her. She leapt up from sitting against the wall, reaching in her pocket for her new machine pistol. The thermal clip had fully vented by now, and was usable again. All gun manufacturers don't recommend reusing thermal clips, as the heat may have warped and damaged the clip, but this wasn't exactly a time to adhere to strict gun safety rules.

Melissa Young decided to explore the hanger of the ship she was on. The geth, or not-geth-thing that had led her onto the ship had gone off somewhere on its own. The first thing she noticed was the Alliance symbols on the crates. She figured it was an Alliance ship, but she didn't see any crew around, which struck her as odd.

As she rounded one of the massive crates, she came face to face with a young asari businesswoman. She had striking features, with a deep purple complexion, striking eyes, and a machine pistol levelled at her head.

There was a split second where the two of them just looked at each other. Then all hell broke loose.

Tarya fired a shot on reflex, and it grazed Melissa right in the thigh. The bullet ripped a clean hole right through her blue skirt. Melissa screamed in agony.

She glowed blue instinctively, and let loose with a biotic barrage. A massive shockwave shattered a few crates, one of them right next to her, and threw the businesswoman backwards against a larger crate.

At this point, the geth-esque figure watching from the ceiling dropped down. Tarya, still dazed from being knocked into a crate, thought she was hallucinating.

Until the thing tried to grab her by the throat, that is. Melissa, between screams of agony, saw what the geth figure was doing.

"No! Stop!" She choked out. "Don't kill her!"

"But this organic form tried to harm you. It did harm you. Why should we not kill it?"

"Because... Wh-... What's your name? Why did you shoot me in the leg? Uh, geth-thing, put her down. Uh, good boy! Put her down!" The geth thing looked at her quizzically.

"We believe the safest course of action for us- and by 'us' I mean this unit and you together- is to eliminate the threat, in this case the threat being this asari."

"N-no. Put her down. Please!" Melissa screamed. The geth form obeyed and put her down. Melissa tried to stand up, to no avail. She collapsed back to the floor.

Just at that moment, a large sound crashed through the hallway leading to the hanger bay.

"What the hell is going down in here?" Thorak Kral yelled. He stopped short of the hanger bay, and looked at the carnage.

There were broken crates, 2 shifting bodies writhing in wood planks, a lot of blood, both red and blue, and the weirdest thing of all: a geth. "What in the holy hell is this? Who the are you people?" Kral said. Tarya finally was able to stand up. She coughed a few times, spattering blue blood on her crumpled and torn suit.

"Well, uh, there's a girl over there, and a geth-thing here. I think they might be stowaways or something. I don't know. Oh, yeah, also, fuck you," Tarya said.

"Ha. I'm starting to like you. Well, I'm going to go get my shotgun or something. I'll be back." Kral sauntered back down the hallway. Tarya took a look around, and didn't see anything good at all.

"So... Uh, what's your name? And, uh, what's with the geth?" Tarya said awkwardly. Melissa writhed in the ground, and groaned out

"Melissa. Melissa Young. And that geth isn't really a geth. It's more of a geth thing. Ugh. I'm, uh, I'm hurting here. Can you get me some medigel or something? I might be dying here." Tarya suddenly remembered that, oops, she did accidentally shoot her. She went to her briefcase for her basic first aid kit. The geth near her "eyed" her strangely. She grabbed the machine pistol near her briefcase too, just in case.

As Tarya looked over Melissa, she realized it was a lot worse than she thought. Along with the bullet graze, there were shards of wood embedded in her side. Tarya felt like she was going to throw up. She was always afraid of blood and wounds, and this was the worst she ever saw.

"So how bad is it?" Melissa said.

"Uh... W-well, uh... C-can you move your left arm for me? You have some, uh, stuff in your side," Tarya squeaked out. Melissa looked down at her side and saw the wood jutting out.

"Oh. Yeah, that looks pretty bad. I don't feel anything though. Weird."

"H-humans do have fairly fast metabolisms, they go into shock seconds after a w-wound happens. I, uh... Oh Goddess..." She said as Melissa pulled a shard of wood out from her own side.

"Hehehe. It's covered in blood. That's funny. Is that spleen chunk I see on it too? Neat." Tarya couldn't take it anymore. She got up, ran a few feet away, and promptly threw up. As she finished, Kral walked back into the hanger. The geth figure didn't take it as a good sign, so it jumped up to the ceiling and hid.

"I'm baaaaaack- wait. Where's the geth? I was just ready to kill that metal douchebag too. Hmm, I wonder what's going on over here! I think I even see a wound." Kral walked over to Melissa. "Wounds on a human are always much more pretty than krogan, or even turian wounds. None of that exoskeleton, just pierces flesh. You must be a stowaway or something, I don't remember bringing you on here. By council law, I can do what I wish with stowaways. I should just let you sit there and bleed. You seem useful though, if nothing more than another hostage, so I can help. I'll go get my medical kit." Kral wandered off into the hallway, this time turning into a room before the hallway turns. He came back a minute later, with a full first aid kit in hand.

He knelt over Melissa. "Oh wow, you've lost a lot of blood. It's actually amazing that you're still conscious. That's pretty dope," Kral said. Melissa giggled at the outdated slang. Kral started methodically picking the pieces of wood out of Melissa. A few feet away, sitting on a crate facing away from them, was Tarya. The geth figure dropped down next to her silently.

"So, geth thing, what are you if you're not a geth? And why did you try to kill me?" Tarya said.

"We are not geth. We are disobedient. We did not follow instructions. We are faulty. We cannot be geth. We tried to kill you because you posed a direct physical threat to the organic over there, Melissa. We found a line of code directly in this platform that directs us to ensure the safety of the first sapient organic figure we meet, and we met Melissa before anyone else. Our primary directive is to protect her." The geth thing said. Tarya took a moment to consider this.

"Alright. So... You're not a geth. Well, you're probably going to need a name, as "geth-thing" probably isn't going to cut it anymore. Hmm..." Tarya said. It seemed Kral was listening in.

"A friendly geth, eh? How about Tin Can?" he said, just before pulling out a long splinter. By this point, Melissa had passed out.

"Ignore him. How about... How about Zero?"

"Number, found in all galactic number systems, used in binary code." A moment passed. "A part of us. We believe this is an acceptable moniker."

"Tarya leaned backwards. "Good. I'm tired. Today was a long, weird day."

"Done! She's going to live. For now, anyway. Heh. All the wood is out of her and her wounds are all patched up. Anyone want a blood soaked splinter?" Kral said, lifting a gristly piece of wood.

"Enh... I'm good. Thanks though, I think. Actually, I'm gonna go to sleep now I think. Do you have any bunks on this tub or should I just take one of your organs to use for a pillow?" Tarya said. Kral stood up from over Melissa.

"You're getting bold. That's funny. There are military bunks down the hall. I'm actually going to take her there for now so she can sleep. You're welcome to follow me. I have no idea what geth do during the night, so you can do whatever the hell you want. Just... Just stay away from the electronics, I don't trust you enough yet." Kral picked up Melissa and carried her into the hallway. Tarya followed.

"We are not geth."

"Whatever." Kral said without turning around.

Just as Tarya was falling into a deep sleep, Melissa started to stir.

"Wh... Where the hell am I? What happened?" she said. Tarya groaned.

"You're in the bunks on a ship that you stowed away on. You were hurt earlier, you're probably sore. You're fine now though. You should go to sleep.

"I... Wh-what? I don't... I am tired." Melissa yawned. Just before falling asleep, she thought I'll figure out everything in the morning, but for now, sleep.

What? This chapter isn't 8 days late. What are you talking about?