Chapter 2

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
Hosea 4:6, Christian Bible

5 months before the Reaper invasion

Shepard's trial flip-flopped between painfully boring and frustratingly painful. They were now in a long period of witness reviews Shepard wasn't allowed to interact or interfere with, so she was confined to quarters with nothing to do.

There was a TV with all the channels, but as had been noted for years, the more channels, the less was on the air.

*kzzt*

"World-wide blood donations are up to record highs this year, as corporate tax incentives prove even the most heartless companies can open up a vein if there's profit…"

*kzzt*

"Next on Paranormal Activity, we investigate ghost sightings in Missouri as-"

*kzzt*

"The 217th annual Full Contact Karate Open Championships are set to begin next week, with martial artists from around the world gathering to compete…"

*kzzt*

"Repent! Armageddon is upon us! Open your eyes and see! Awaken! Feel the hand of God within-"

*kzzt*

*kzzt*

*kzzt*

Shepard turned the TV off, and flopped back on the couch. If only humanity knew what was coming. If only people would listen. If only there was more time to prepare…


In the months before the Reapers attacked, a new meme swept Terra. 'Humanity, fuck yeah' or HFY as it commonly referred to appeared in various mediums across the globe. Some newscasters brought it up as reactionary xenophobic paranoia in the ongoing media frenzy of Commander Shepard's tribunal and the batarian demands that the earth repatriate her to face batarian justice, but the main thrust of the HFY message was humans sticking up for each other. The most famous vid of HFY was security footage taken outside of Hilcorp Energy. Jason Hildebrand, CEO, was accosted by an infamous street gang, the 10th street reds as he was entering his air car.

Camera footage showed Jason and his bodyguard enter the parking lot. It was night, but the lot was brightly lit. As they neared their air car, the lot lights flickered out. When they came back on a few moments later, a dozen 10th street red gang members had appeared and surrounded Jason and his guard during the brief blackout.

Everyone stood still. The gang members held a variety of guns and melee weapons, while Jason's bodyguard has his own pistol drawn. Hand gripped weapons tightly. Potential violence simmered in the air. The leader of the Reds slowly walked up to Jason, and looked him in the eyes. The lot microphones picked up their short conversation.

"Humans?"

Jason Hildebrand stood for a moment, and then nodded seriously.

"Fuck yes."

Then they shook hands, and the 10th Street Reds walked away into the night.

Animated gifs and derivative homages of their conversation and handshake flooded the extranet, reaching over 1 billion views collectively in less than a week.

Corporate public relations and charitable donations soared.

Terrorism attacks suddenly stopped.

New Yorkers started holding subway doors for last minute passengers.

Ancient grudges were being forgiven.

There was peace in the Middle East.

The Red Sox won again.

It truly was the end of the world.


30 minutes before reaper presence in Sol system

"Psst!"

Shepard looked around. There was nobody nearby.

"Psst! Up here!"

Shepard looked up at the ceiling. A grinning face was pressed against the ventilation grid. A kid?

"Commander Shepard, hi! I'm here to help you get out of here."

Shepard frowned.

"Who are you, and who are you working for? I'm not going anywhere. I turned myself over to the Alliance, I'm not going to run out now."

The kid frowned and then smiled again. "Huh? No, no. I just mean that I'm here to drop off some supplies so when you do escape, you'll have an easy go of it. 'Obviating challenges via BS preparation' is our motto. I could have just had this delivered, but I wanted to say hello in person."

With that, he pried open the ventilation grille, dropped a small letter onto the table below, gave Shepard a jaunty wave, then squeezed his way back up the ventilation shaft, closing the grille behind him.

Shepard blinked. What just happened here? She made her way over to the table and looked at the letter.

It was a pale red, with her name on the front. Shrugging, she gently ripped it open. Inside was a card. She pulled it out.

On the front, in large letters were the words "Congratulations on getting out of jail!"

Shepard frowned as she turned the card over, still unopened. She blinked, and looked at the small logo on the back. "Hallmark?"

She opened the card. Inside, the card said, "We missed you!" Handwritten notes below the printed text continued, "We all knew you were right! Try not to rub it in too badly."

Inside the card was a security keycard, and a folded up piece of paper.

Unfolding the paper revealed a cartoon map showing a Shepard stick figure and a path of arrows leading to another smiling stick figure labeled 'Admiral Anderson'

"What."

That's when the wailing alarms started sounding.

Shepard looked at the keycard in her hand, at the locked door to her room, then back at the card. She shrugged, then map in hand strode to the door. With a swipe, the door opened, and Shepard followed the simple directions to her mentor.

The panicking crowds stampeding through the halls didn't even notice her leave.

AN: I have so many snips to add to this story.