Darkness... It was all that Alex knew. Before now, all he had done was fight. But now that he was alone... He didnt know what to do; and it scared him more than anything else.

Zeus, the one who defeated entire armies, day after day. Zeus, the one who had taken countless lives; even reveling in the feeling of the wholesale slaughter he had brought upon his enemies. Zeus, the viral abomination that could evolve almost at will...

Was scared of not having a purpose.

He had killed many people, many monsters, hell, even an animal or two...thousand. But he had always had a purpose; destroy blackwatch and everyone affiliated. But now... he was trapped, with no way out. Well, he had many a way out, but not many that he was sure he would survive. Not even Zeus was so arrogant to think he would survive floating in the cold of space for millenia. And that was assuming he didn't encounter some spacial anomaly. Or even a sun or planet. While Alex was sure that he could survive a fall from orbit, he wasn't sure what would happen if he was deep-frozen, then subjected to the extreme temperatures that entailed falling toward a planet. He might survive. But then again, he might not. In the end, he didnt try it.

Instead; he slept. Not the kind of sleep that we humans experience; no, this was more acurately described as stasis. While in this sleep-like state alex conserved a massive amount of biomass. During this process, he expended a small amount of a web-like liquid from himself; yet another power he had gained from his time eliminating blackwatch. He surrounded himself with the substance, creating an air-tight space in which he expelled yet another layer, ensuring the airtightness of the man-sized cocoon he had formed, and continued to add layers until he was as compact as his large amount of biomass would allow him to be, which was the size of a large-ish box.

He then slowed his metabolism, the rate at which his virus detiriorated without fresh biomass, and waited. He waited. And waited, and waited, and waited. Had he been cognitive, he would have noticed the years slipping by, but he knew better than to allow himself to remain concious. Years by yourself can be bad, but when you are a viral monstrosity with thousands upon thousands of voices pounding on the inside of your skull, he would be absolutely insane.

0o0o0o (I saw this used a couple of times in different stories, does it symbolize anything but a change in scenery or time?)

In his unthinking state, he did not move. He didnt see, he didnt hear. He didnt even quiver when he felt the shuttle start to shake. It was only when he felt a jarring thud, that the un-hearing, un-seeing being that was Alex Mercer, truly began to stir. He first broke out of the hardened shell of dead biomass that had formed around him. As he did, he devolved into a mass of wriggling black and red tentacles. Eventually re-gaining a semblance of his old self, minus the clothes, he had simply lost to much mass to worry about such things.

instead, he crawled out of the webs he had created, only to find himself in the darkness once again. Though he had his own biological version of nightvision now, there werent any cracks in the seamless (albeit extremely dented) box-ship, for even the smallest amount of light to seep through. Alex then walked forward, in what he-himself called "primal mode" in this "mode" alex could think of nothing but feeding, and recovering his biomass.

The viral abomination then began to charge the closest wall, which just so happened to be the lid of the containment ship; and began beating against it with all of his savage might. Though his strength was extremely diminished, courtesy of being locked in an airtight box for who-knows how long; the being began to make headway. As it launched itself at the now badly dented lid, the being that was, and yet wasn't Alex Mercer, heard a ripping, tearing noise. But he payed it no attention to it, as he continued to throw himself against the door. Alex built up all of his not-inconsiderable strength into his legs, and jumped at the door. Hardening as much of himself as possible, as he crashed against the wall for a final time.

Fresh air, he could taste it. He could feel the wind against his partially-transformed "skin" and had this been the "concious" Alex, he might have reveled in the feeling. But it wasn't. It was his viral counterpart. His wild-side, his animal side. And for the next hour, Alex did the one thing that he was-by nature-supposed to do. He hunted, he killed, and he consumed.

0o0o0o

Alex Mercer slowly regained his senses, sight first, then feeling, then hearing. It took him a while to comprehend the information though, as his mind felt extremely sluggish. Though what he saw when he finally awoke shocked him a bit. His arm was wrist-deep in some poor creature. But it wasnt the fact that he had impaled it that shocked him. It was the fact that the creature-itself looked like some strange mix between snake and dog.

Alex nearly ripped his hand out of the unfortunate creature, before realizing that he was dangerously low on biomass. Alex thought 'What the hell is this thing?' He observed the strange creature, his hand still sticking out of its rib cage. It was white in color, had scales covering the entirety of its body, and had a series of long spines running down its back, as well as two on either side of its jaw. Contained within this jaw, were a set of razor-sharp teeth.

It was then that Alex remembered the shuttle, being launched into space, and even the first few weeks he had remained awake. Did this mean he was on a foreign planet? Had he just discovered an alien? How would he get back to earth? Alex then made another realization "wait, I was launched from earth, it would take at least nine years to reach pluto... Just how long was I asleep!?" There was a scowl on Alexs' face, as there was normally.

He then looked back to the Alien before him 'Is it even safe to eat?' the mistrusting monstosity asked himself. 'only one way to find out' and with that, hundreds of tendrils erupted from all over his body, ripping the creature to pieces. But to his continued confusion, it felt like he hadnt gained anything from it. It added to his reserves of biomass, but other than that, nothing. It felt like he had done this before, and that was disconcerting.

He then peered at his surroundings. Where the hell was he? It looked like no-one had been here for a very long time. There were thick vines covering the broken down walls, as well as scorch marks across much of the metal floor. He was in some sort of abandoned military facility, if the many rusted, decrepit firearms littering the floor were anything to go on.

He appeared to be in the armory, and what he saw of the firearms confused him. They were much smaller than those that he knew of, and as he cautiously pressed a button on one of the less broken down fire arms, it looked like the thing unfolded into what seemed like a shotgun. Alex pulled the trigger on the weapon, only to be dissapointed by the things weak splutter of energy. but this made Alex curious, the scientist that he had once been, coming to the forefront of his mind.

What could this thing run on? He didn't see a cartrige anywhere on the strange weapon, and as far as he could tell using his thermal vision, it was ran by a now depleted energy source, that still glowed a constantly fading yellow. "Without the use of a hammer to set the gunpowder off... if there even is any gunpowder" he looked suspiciously at the fading yellow core. "Perhaps magnetic fields? If not that, then there must be a foreign propellant im not familiar with.

(I need more detailed information about the more technical, and biological aspects of mass effect, pm me a link? or perhaps you could tell me yourself? While i played all three games, i do not know every little aspect of mass effect, or the way things in that universe works)

Alex's ruminations were interrupted as someone called out to him "Hey! You!" Alex turned, hand on his chin, something he had taken up doing shortly after the nuke. As he was nearly done turning towards the distinctly feminine voice, he heard a quickly uttered "stop!" and stop he did, though he had no real reason to do so, he didnt want to make a bad impression on whoever had called out to him. After all, they could be his way off this rock. 'Wait, what the hell!? There are people out here? just how long was i asleep!?' Alex questioned internally, masking his scowl with a look calmess.

It was then that three more questions were spewed from the persons mouth "First of all, who are you? second, why are you here, And third... Why the fuck are you naked!?" Alex actually blinked at that last statement, confused as to what she meant. He examined himself, and as he did, he realized she was right, he was completely naked.

The woman was getting quite angry now, "Answer me Damnit!" And Alex did just that, his perfect acting skills coming into play "I-I D-don't kn-know" Mercer purposely stuttered, projecting the aura of a scared middle-aged man. It seemed to work, as he heard a small, almost inaudible (to humans) click originate from behind him. "Here" she said, presumably tossing something at him. Whatever it was hit his shoulder, and he examined it. It was, to his shock, a large-ish pair of what seemed to be boxers.

"Put it on, id rather not see your... ahem, anyway, come with me, and we'll get you sorted out. I would call in a transport for you, but as it is, something is messing with our long range communications." The woman said, as he put the extremely uncomfortable boxers on 'I've always hated wearing clothing' Alex grimaced to himself, as the virus writhed in discomfort; he was used to being free-form. Something like clothing constraining him, if even a little, made him uncomfortable. He would have to replicate the boxers when she wasnt looking, didnt want to freak her out, after all.

Plus he didn't know what type of technologies they might have developed during his... abscense. It may seem prepostrous, but he really didn't feel like getting vaporized today. He finally turned around, the irritating boxers set firmly in place.

0o0o0o

'Why was he naked!?' Sabrina Shepard mentally shouted, "Hey g-" The words died in her throat, as she saw perhaps the most handsome man alive. A blush that did not go unnoticed by Alex, lit up her face. "Wh-whats your name?" It was shepards turn to stutter, as Alex smiled, further adding to her blush. "Alex, Alex Mercer" the man responded, his voice was silky, and that combined with the smile that still alit upon his face, nearly brought Sabrina to her knees.

"Okay... Alex, m-my name is Commander Sabrina Shepard, I'm a spectre" When Alex presented no reaction, Sabrina adopted a puzzled look "Haven't you ever heard of the spectres?" Alex shook his head "I... Dont remember" 'Amnesia?' shepard questioned inwardly. "Do you remember anything?" Alex once again shook his head 'Great, just great, I just had to find the one guy in the milky way with memory loss' Sabrina thought. "Do you remember anything else?" Shepard questioned the amnesiac man.

"Unfortunately, no. Not anything that makes sense anyway" Shepard sighed, this was gonna be a long day.

(Hi everyone! I know its benn, like, a week since i have updated, but that was because i was having to deal wit "life n' stuff" anyway, here is the third chapter, I hope anyone that reads this enjoys, and i will try to update more frequently. Also, I tried to make this chapter longer in this one, How did I do? Leave a comment!)

P.S: I will try to make a reference to at least one movie, anime, book, Etc. every chapter. I would be surprised anyone got the one in this chapter, its kinda subtle (or at least i think it is, lol) WEll TTFN, Ta ta for now!