Images start to flutter the Commanders mind as he gasps for the last bits of oxygen available while floating in space. The images consisted of his parents, playing in a field with friends, seeing the golden brown eyes and brown hair of a girl he was sweet on, kissing that same girl, homes on fire, people being murdered, people being taken, the cold dead stare of his parents, his hands squeezing the throat of a Batarian, waking up in Grissom Academy, enlisting with the Alliance Military, fighting in the Skyllian Blitz, joining the Normandy, meeting Kaiden, the beacon, meeting Ash, Garrus, Wrex…Tali…Liara, watching an explosion that killed Kaiden, his night with Ash, fighting Saren and Sovereign, saving the council, fighting Geth, taking a picture with Garrus and…Tali…saving…Tali…the Normandy exploding.
"Well...there's one re…"
The lack of oxygen makes the last word a mystery. He sees an explosion of light in front of him. For a moment, he tries to fight it but realizes it's impossible. Then there is only darkness.
Suddenly the images return, this time ending with an image of a chair…a long metal chair. The sound of his painful screams breaks the silence…
Gabriel Shepard sits up in a bed, gasping for air. He's met with a headache, a loud, high pitched beeping sound, and lungs full of oxygen. Confused by the sudden intake of what was restricted to him moments ago, he looks around at his surroundings.
The room was all white. He looks down to see he's wearing a pair of white hospital scrubs but bear chested. Beside him to his left was a computer that had cords going into his arm and chest and seemed to be the direction the high pitched beeping sound was coming from. On a desk to his right was a computer. He then looks straight in front of him to see a long mirror that takes up most of the wall.
Looking in the mirror he notices changes to his looks. His short brown hair now reached his shoulders. Hair covered his chin and jaw. His scar on the right side of his face was still there but other scars had joined it. An orange light could be seen coming from the open spaces of them. He looked hard at his green eyes, happy to see he is who he felt he was.
Gabriel takes a deep breath and slowly pulls the cords out of his arm. He then grabs the cords in his chest and pulls them out. The computer was still beeping and wasn't helping the headache, so he grabs it and throws it against a wall. The beeping stops.
He then looks over to the desk. Shepard puts one foot down on the ground and puts weight on it. He instantly falls. His legs are numb. He grunts loudly as he reaches for the bed. He pulls himself up before, to his surprise, he finds renewed strength in his legs. He stands up and though it's still hard for him, he walks to the desk and sits in the chair.
On the computer is an image Shepard had never seen before. It was a white oval with an orange line on both sides that come to a point at the bottom. He presses a button and the image appears again but with icons on it. One of the icons says "Video Journal 20". Shepard opens it and a woman with long black hair and blue eyes appears…
"After two years and massive spending, I have accomplished what The Illusive Man has set me out to do. The Lazarus Project is a success. Cerberus…"
"Cerberus…" Gabriel thinks to himself as the video continues in the background. Then the memories start to come back.
Cerberus…A former black op with the Alliance Military that went rogue…Terrorists…did experiments on Thorian Creepers and Rachni…and the reason for Admiral Kahokus death.
"And now I'm in one of their labs..." Shepard thinks as he gets out of the chair. He looks around…"No windows…" He sees a door beside the mirror. He goes over to it and attempts to open it. The red light in the middle of it beeps at him. "Must be locked." He slams his fist on the door before the same voice that was talking on the video journal enters the room but the face is no where to be seen.
"Commander Shepard, my name is Miranda Lawson. I would like to ask you to stay calm and lie back down on the bed so we can replace your equipment."
Shepard looks around and sees no cameras. He then looks at the mirror…
"I wake up here…in a Cerberus lab…and you expect me to remain calm?" Shepard yells at the mirror.
"Shepard...Listen to me…"
"No you listen! Open this door now! You don't want me to find my own exit." Shepard exclaims.
"There is no need for violence Shepard. No one here is trying to hurt you…" Miranda says before another voice joins in.
"The doors locked Miranda. He has no way to get out."
"Shut up Wilson! He has an L5n implant." Miranda tries to say quietly but can still be heard in the room.
"Not trying to hurt me? Did Cerberus say that to Admiral Kahoku before they killed him? You have five seconds…" Shepard demands.
"You haven't fully healed from the work we have done on you Shepard…"
"FIVE!"
"Kahoku was an unfortunate…"
"FOUR!"
"Hit the alarm Wilson!"
"Three…Two…ONE!"
Shepard starts to run towards the mirror before he yells and is shot forward at massive speed in a blue laser like light, smashing through the mirror and into the room beyond.
The room looks similar to the one he was in except for the black and red stropping lights. He looks back to see the mirror he went through was now a window. "Two way mirror."
"Stay back!"
Shepard looks to his side to see a bald man wearing a black, grey, and white jumpsuit, with the same image he saw on the computer on the chest, pointing a gun at him.
"Put the gun down Wilson! The Illusive Man wants him alive!"
Shepard looks back to see a woman on the floor looking towards Wilson. She's wearing a white, skin tight, outfit with black boots and black gloves. She had the same face as the woman on the computer. A gunshot is heard…
Shepard is holding out his arm and a blue aura surrounds his body. He has no wounds from the bullet Wilson just shot. Blue energy then surrounds Wilsons gun. Shepard moves his arm to the side and the gun goes flying out of Wilsons hands. Shepard then stretches out his other arm towards Wilson. Wilson is now covered with the blue energy. Shepard raises his arm and Wilsons body follows it in to the air. Shepard then swiftly brings his arm down and Wilson falls at massive speed, head first. His face smashes into the ground, followed by the rest of his body, breaking his neck.
Miranda, with a frightened look on her face, attempts to run to a door on the right side of the room.
"Not so fast." Shepard says before stretching his arm out towards Miranda. She stops as the biotic energy surrounds her. Shepard raises his arm, lifting Miranda in the air. He moves her towards a wall and roughly pushes her against it. He then bioticly charges in front of her and wraps his hand around her neck, holding her against the wall. "It's time to answer some questions, Miranda. First off, where am I and what system am I in?"
"Horsehead Nebula…You're on a station made for the Lazarus Project…" she says between gasped breaths.
"What is the Lazarus Project? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?"
"This station…this project…was created to bring you back to life." Miranda answers.
"Was it Cerberus that destroyed the Normandy?"
"No…"
"Then who was it?" Shepard asks.
"I don't kn…"
Shepard pulls back his arm. His hand starts to gather the blue biotic energy. He then punches through the wall right beside Mirandas head. He pulls his hand out of the wall and starts gathering the energy again. "I suggest you really believe your next try, Miranda."
"I really don't know Shepard." Miranda says with a panicked voice. "If I did, I would tell you."
Shepard brings her face closer to his, staring right in her eyes.
"I believe you…So I guess I need to find someone who does know."
Shepard releases his grip on Mirandas throat and she falls to her knees, choking. Shepard looks towards the door Miranda ran for. He goes through.
Shepard runs through the station for a few moments before noticing a layout of the station on one of the walls. He sees an area that's labeled "Shuttle Bay". He realizes he's going the right way before Mirandas voice is heard through the atrium.
"We are at code red. I repeat…we are at code red. Gabriel Shepard has escaped. He is unarmed but still extremely dangerous and should be approached with caution. The Illusive Man wants the Commander alive, so no live ammunition and no mechs. Stun guns and stun prods only. We have trained for this so go by the book. He's currently in the atrium."
The door that leads to the Shuttle Bay opens and guards wearing white armor enter the room. Ten men stand in front of the door before one wearing black enters. "Locking the door." The one in black says as he brings up his omni-tool. The once green light in the middle of the door now turns red.
"Commander Shepard…surrender now and you won't be harmed." One of the guards says.
"Sure."
"Really?" The guard says in a confused voice.
"Why not? Let me just put my hands up…" Gabriel says as he stretches his arm towards the vocal guard. Biotic energy surrounds the man before Gabriel swings his arm to the side making the guard fly and slam against a wall with massive force, knocking him out. The other men look at Gabriel as biotic energy gathers around his hands. A smirk shows on his face…"Next…"
The guards pull out their stun guns and prods and charge towards Gabriel. He yells and throws his arm out towards the guards coming towards him. Four of them are thrown to the sides. Gabriel stretches his arm out towards one of the guards who was hit by the shockwave while they're still in the air, and throws him at the two guards on the left. The three guards on the right run up to Gabriel. Two have prods…one has a gun. Gabriel grabs one of the prods with his mind, and throws it at the guard with the stun guns neck. The man spasms as electric currents run through his body.
The one that had the prod tries to punch Gabriel. He swiftly ducks under the arm before gathering energy into his hand and punches the guard in the chest, making him fly to the other side of the atrium. The last of the three guards tries to hit Gabriel with a prod. Gabriel biotically charges a foot to the side to dodge it before gathering biotic energy in his leg. He kicks the guard in the midsection, making him fly as well.
One of the guards hit by the thrown body gets up and pulls out his stun gun. He aims at Gabriel and pulls the trigger. Gabriel notices and biotically charges to the side. The shot misses before Gabriel grabs the guard with his mind, lifts the guard into the air, and slams the guard down in front of him. The guard is on his stomach in pain before Gabriel jumps with his biotically charged fist in the air and slams it down on the guards back. Gabriels hand goes through the armor and the sound of the guard's spine snapping is heard throughout the atrium.
Gabriel looks around to see nobody moving, except for the guard in black by the door, whose shaking while pointing a pistol at Gabriel. Gabriel walks toward him. The guard shoots the gun but the bullet is deflected by Gabriels barriers. Gabriel grabs the gun with his mind, turns the gun around, and points it at the engineer. The gun jabs the engineer a couple of times in the chest and fires off a warning shot before the engineer puts his back against the wall by the door. The gun stays in place right in front of the engineers face while Gabriel walks up to him. Gabriel lifts up his arm and starts pressing buttons on his omni-tool. When done, Gabriel pushes the omni-tool against the door where the red light is. After a few moments, the red light turns green and Gabriel releases the engineers arm.
"Didn't Miranda say not to bring live ammunition?" Gabriel asks the engineer as the door opens. "I think that's grounds for termination."
Gabriel walks through the door before a gun shot is heard. The sounds of dead weight and a pistol falling to the floor come shortly after.
After running towards the direction of the Shuttle Bay for a few minutes, Shepard comes to a long hallway and finds a large door with the words "Shuttle Bay" above it. He runs towards the door until he feels something coming from behind him. He gathers energy into his hand and turns around. A white table is flying right at him. It hits him and he falls to the ground with the table on top of him. He pushes the table off of him and sits up.
On the other side of the hallway is a black man wearing a black set of light armor. He has short black hair, brown eyes, and a black mustache. He's holding an M-21 Predator and the blue biotic energy is seen surrounding him, but not because of Gabriel.
"Nice move there. How about you try it when your opponent is actually looking at you?" Gabriel says to the man.
"Sorry Shepard. I can't let you go through that door." The man says
"Well, you have some guts. Is there a name that goes along with them or should I call you "Dead Guard Number Four" after we're done here?"
"Jacob Taylor, Cerberus security and former Alliance Military, and nobody here is trying to hurt you Shepard."
"So evident from the pistol you're holding…"
"Disruptor rounds…a prototype that some of the lab rats here were experimenting with. One gives you a nice little jolt. More than one will put you down but it won't kill you. Of course it was a side project. The real reason for this place was to bring you back to life Shepard. Do you not understand that? If Cerberus wanted you dead, they wouldn't have used up so many resources to bring you back."
"Yeah I get it. Cerberus wanted me back, but for what reason?" Shepard asks.
"Stop fighting us and you'll find out."
"Sorry Jacob. I've seen what Cerberus has done and I don't trust them. Now you seem like a good kid so I'm going to give you some advice. Stay out of my way and get away from Cerberus while you can."
Shepard turns to walk towards the door until a gun shot is heard. Shepard looks at the door in front of him. There is a bullet hole with electricity coming from it.
"I mean it Shepard…don't take another step."
"Try to stop me…I dare you."
Shepard starts walking again before another gunshot is heard. This one connects hits Shepards shoulder. He feels the tiny amount of electricity course through his arm. Shepard shakes his arm out and starts gathering energy to his hand. He turns around towards Jacob.
"That was a mistake Jacob."
Shepard starts running towards Jacob and his entire body is covered with biotic energy. Shepard lets out a primal scream when he's halfway and starts to use his biotic charge…
"NOW MIRANDA!" Jacob yells out.
Shepard slams into a wall that's right in front of Jacob. Confused, Shepard turns around and sees the Shuttle Bay door. He goes to run for it before another wall comes up that he runs into. Then two walls appear on both sides of him. The only way out is above him, in which is taken away when the roof slides across the top. Shepard then hears Jacob say something on the other side…
"Release the gas."
A grey smoke starts spraying from the ground below Shepard and starts filling the small room created around him. Shepard starts coughing and feels the numbness spread throughout his body. He falls to the ground…unable to move. The walls slide back down into the floor from where they came. He is able to see and hear, he just can't move or talk. Jacob comes into his limited view and squats down beside him.
"Don't worry Shepard. Everything is going to be fine." Jacob says in a muffled voice as Miranda also appears.
"Get him ready for transport. The Illusive Man is ready to talk."