Mass Effect

Journal of an Adventure through Space

Kane Corr

Alliance Marine / Black Ops Division

Log: 3

Day Two

Armstrong Nebula

Hours have passed since my last entry. Not much has happened. Except for the fact that Alexa wanted to share a bunk with me. I know…she's nice to look at, obviously intelligent, can keep pace with O'Malley when it comes to drinking, and she can kick anyone's ass in hand to hand. But it was out of necessity.

At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

Okay, time for some backstory:

So…Alexa Brent. We just call her 'Lex' because it's catchy. She hates it, but who cares. She's 5'9," with brown hair that flows just below her shoulders, and she has the brightest blue eyes you'd ever seen. Like, I'm talking ocean blue. Vibrant, tropical, beachfront-home blue. I know that's not a color, but hear me out…it's really blue. And she knows it.

I just hope it isn't obvious I like her. I mean, that ship has probably sailed by now. But, well, I like to hold a bit of mystery with women. But this isn't about me. Back to Lex…

She's the kind of girl that'll slowly peel back the layers if she likes you in some form. Whether you're a friend, colleague, squad member, or something more to her…she kind of just… gradually opens up to you. I like that about her. Hell, I like that about people in general. It keeps things interesting.

Last night, after the whole problem with the civilian freighter, some of the crew from the cockpit came back to the bunks to take a power nap. It's really common for people to do. And honestly, we all share bunks. There's no privilege or priority. Especially with our crew. I don't know how other Black Ops squads run things, but we share everything with each other. Well, not everything, but I'm sure you get the picture.

Around 0400, Lex asked me if she could hop in because her usual bunk was taken. I told her sure, and I lifted up my blanket so that she could get under the covers with me. She was little spoon. It was…nice. But I obviously wasn't going to try anything. This isn't high school. And I'm not a prick. Besides, she'd kick my ass, or anyone's for that matter, if we tried to mess around with her.

We laid there for a while. Nothing too crazy happened. Maguire was up playing some kind of vid game on his pad below us. I think it was Galaxy of Fantasy or something. He's into that. Go figure. Across the room was Fenix on the bottom bunk, and Vasquez on the top. Ray (Vasquez) kind of looked over to me at first and winked. He actually goddamn winked! If it wasn't obvious enough before, then it definitely was in that moment. Fenix did the very opposite…I think. He just stared at me and her for a solid five seconds, and then he slowly closed his eyes. Creepy as hell.

I just…I don't know…it was weird.

Anyways, Ray wanted to make things awkward for me, so he tried talking to Lex. It didn't really work out like he planned. Ray's a bastard in the best possible way. He and I kind of have this little competition going on between us. It doesn't necessarily involve women—it's more along the lines of being the 'best.' The best soldier…best runner…best at lifting…best at talking to women and bedding them afterwards…

You know, typical stuff.

His plan was to talk to Lex from across the room with the intention of attracting her into his bunk, where they could spoon and who knows what else. Bottom line…it wasn't happening. I was gonna make sure of it.

"So what do you think?"

She asked me my opinion on humans joining the Spectres. Ray thought it was a terrible idea. He mentioned something about putting pressure on our race and having to impress a galactic community that collectively hated us. I kind of had to agree, but just for the hell of it, I thought positive.

"I think we should."

I said those words pretty confidently, hoping that she'd answer back with, "I agree," or "Wow, we think alike," or maybe with, "That's why I like you so much, Kane."

But of course, my imagination was getting the best of me.

She simply tilted her head back, just enough for me to see her blue eyes staring off at the wall, and she asked, "Why?"

Good question.

I had no clue.

I thought about it. Had to weigh the good and bad. There was definitely more bad circling within my head, but once I found the good, I had to reach down, grip it tight, and make sense of it.

"Because look at us. We were born to explore. Made for adventure. I don't know much about the other Council races. But I know humans. We fight each other, love each other, can't stand each other…but whatever we do in this galaxy…we should do it together."

The whole room went silent. After saying all of that, it felt like my heart was pounding ferociously. Like eighteen different drums going off on the eve of a tribal ceremony. Shit. It's like I was running for Ambassador and just dropped the greatest speech I'd ever give.

Suddenly, Lex shifted in place. She moved closer, rubbing her backside slightly up against me. It wasn't anything overtly sexual. Just kind of…a little nudge. It was nice, and quite literally brought us closer together. And, to go along with that, she positioned herself so that the top of her head was cupped perfectly beneath my chin. It was kind of awkward for me, because at times I felt like I couldn't even breathe without causing movement. But she was off to sleep fast, so no worries there.

I laid perfectly still next to her—the both of us wrapped in some kind of warm cocoon made of blankets and body heat. It was great. That is, until I started to think about everything that could go wrong.

It's not that I'm irrationally scared about the future. I can deal with shitty circumstances like being stranded on a planet, or running low on heat sinks in the midst of a firefight, or even having to face an overwhelming number of enemy combatants. But what I can't deal with…is losing any one of my squad mates.

That's the kind of loss that never truly goes away.

But here I am getting all dark and shit.

In reality—me laying with Lex in that bunk was perfect. I hope we can do it again sometime. For now, I'm logging off.

I just woke up starving for some breakfast. So…there's that whole situation. I'll try to update after we touch base with HQ.

Stay frosty.

Kane out…