Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 29

Prompt 29: What made you first want to play Mass Effect?

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 2

History

Normandy SR-2, En route to the Citadel from Omega, 2185 2CE

"Commander," Joker said as Kara Shepard sat down at the empty console next to his in the cockpit. "Having trouble sleeping again?"

"Some things never change," Shepard said, leaning back in the chair and watching the rush of stars through the viewing port. "I might have died, but I'm still me."

"Even the parts of you that sucked?" Joker asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, don't you wish they'd fixed the part in your brain where you never sleep?"

Shepard laughed. "Hell no," she said. "I mean, it'd be nice to sleep every now and then, but if I got a regular eight hours every day cycle, I just wouldn't be me anymore, you know what I'm saying?"

Joker nodded. "Small price to pay for being brought back to life, right?"

Shepard nodded back, gently massaging the side of her jaw. Her cheek still glowed a dull red through the scars that remained from the surgery to implant her cybernetics. Joker didn't want to admit it, but they were pretty creepy. "How are things going up here?"

"Nothing new," he replied, glaring over at EDI, who had remained silent during their conversation. "Using the mute button. It's nice to only hear the sound of my own voice for a change."

"Just make sure you let her talk when there's something important to do," Shepard replied.

"It's only important if we're being chased down by Collectors or shooting things," Joker said irritably. "This little pleasure cruise? Not a chance."

Shepard smiled and shook her head. "How far out's the citadel?" she asked.

"Another four hours I think," Joker said, checking his monitors. "Plenty of time to watch a couple old vids and beat myself at solitaire again."

"Old vids?" Shepard asked, intrigued. "What're you watching?"

Joker's cheeks coloured a little. "Well…" he said. "Today's the anniversary of the day I decided to be a pilot, so I'm rewatching the old movie that made me want to be a pilot."

"Sounds cool," Shepard said, her curiosity piqued. "What's the movie?"

Joker scratched the back of his head and looked everywhere but at Shepard before speaking again. "Promise you won't laugh?" He asked.

"Joker," Shepard gave him a look. "I promise it can't be worse than the vids I watched growing up."

Joker sighed. "Okay," he said. "Well… on my anniversary, I always watch Star Wars."

Shepard's face broke into a smile. "That old vid from the twentieth century?"

"You promised you wouldn't laugh!" Joker scowled.

"Calm down, I'm not laughing," Shepard held out a hand. "It's just funny. That's the movie I watch on my enlistment anniversary."

Joker leaned back and scrutinized her. "Seriously?" he said. "Didn't think you were much for hokey old sci fi, Commander."

"Hey," Shepard said. "It's hokey old sci fi that got humans to where they are today. My parents got me to watch that, all the Star Trek vids, 2001: A Space Odyssey, all of them. Just because they're fiction doesn't mean they weren't part of our history."

Joker nodded and leaned back. "Guess so," he said. He sighed again. "I don't know, growing up the kid with the messed up legs, I just loved stories like that. Snarky pilots, space princesses, fighting bad guys. It gave me some hope, kept me up when things were down."

"That's what stories are there for," Shepard said, smiling. "To pull us up when we're feeling down. So," she pressed an icon on her keyboard to turn on the screen. "We can get through at least one Star Wars before it's time to dock on the Citadel. You mind some company?"

Joker gave Shepard a guilty grin. "That sounds like a damned good time Commander," he said. "Hope you don't mind starting with Episode IV."

"You kidding?" she said, her smile widening. "I'd kick your ass if you watched them in the wrong order."

Joker's smile also widened. He flicked a few icons on his screen and he and Shepard leaned back, silent and content, as their terminals went dark and the iconic words swam into view.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

Answer: A love of science fiction

This is a little drabble, but it covers my reasoning for wanting to play Mass Effect. I love Star Wars so much I have two tattoos related to it, and so the love of good science fiction has kept me going all my life. I admit, I finally got up off my ass to play Mass Effect after all the ending controversy last March, but originally? It was just about the sci fi. I'll never stop loving it as a genre.