It was a little while before they got back to the Normandy. But it was just like Tom had remembered it, it still had the exact interior as in the games, and he was glad that it hadn't changed one bit, Mass Effect 3 had his favorite version of the Normandy after all.
"So where am I supposed to put my gear this time? I guess the Alliance decided to do some renovations on the Normandy, right?" He asked, although he already every small detail about the ship, he was supposed to make this convincing.
"Follow me, we'll be taking our armor off down here, they moved the armor storage downstairs this time." Shepard said dismissively.
...
"They really stepped up their game with this Normandy didn't they?" Tom asked.
"Yeah, what was it like when Cerberus had it anyway?" Kaiden asked. He was supposed to give Tom a tour of the the ship on Shepard's orders.
"Well, there was too much yellow, have I mentioned that I really hated that color after the second Normandy? And we couldn't go down to the cargo bay unless we were going on a mission, I like the alliance blue much better then what Cerberus had going on, I glad we ditched the Illusive man after the Collector base, he was too nosy in everything we did and I hated that, but this isn't the time for me to discuss that, carry on."
Kaiden toured Tom around most of the ship, and it was a good hour before he actually managed to get settled into the bridge right next to Joker, just like he was on the previous Normandy.
"So you're already back again?" Joker asked.
"Of course, I was a little bored, and action follows Shepard all over the place, I decided it would be fun to hand out with him again, and I'm sure you guys needed me to secure the firewalls on this ship, it's about time I got back in this seat, it's also thoughtful of the Alliance to keep the leather padded chairs too."
"Finally someone else agrees with me! The seats on the original Normandy were the bane of my existence, and I'm glad the Alliance decided to keep these chairs, because I don't want to go back to the way it was before these seats.
"Wasn't the bane of your existence running? And or exercising? Just because of how fragile your bones are?"
"Oh right, that too, but I spend more time in a chair then I do on my feet so its much more of a pain if I have to sit in a seat made of stone." A that moment Shepard decided to stroll into the bridge.
"You've already gotten settled in?" Shepard asked.
"I'm an adaptable person Shepard, and since I've already been on your kind of ship before this, I know what to expect from you."
"And what exactly do you expect from serving on my ship again?"
"Alien diversity, a shit ton of ass kicking, and usually a beer at the bar on this ship after everything's all said and done and we got our reward for beating the bad guys."
"You really hit the nail on the head there, I couldn't of said it better myself." Shepard said before chuckling. "Now that the fun part is done, Joker I need you to set a course for the Citadel."
"Yes Commander, I'll set a course for their system now."
...
"I think I'm going to rest for a little bit, just before we get to the Citadel."
"I'll hold down the cockpit for a while, you can go rest."
"Thanks, see you later."
Tom walked out of the cockpit, went down the elevator to the crew deck, and then into the room where all the beds were. No one was there at the time the he decided to hit the hay. Since he was about to go to bed and since was a little curious, he decided to hit the power button on his Omni-tool one more time, he didn't expect anything but it to say that his data was corrupted or to have a glitched screen, but figured he'd try it out.
He pressed the button and the Omni-tool seemed to load up like it hadn't just been hacked. It proceeded this way until he was at the password screen where he had to enter his own fingerprint. Something very peculiar happened after he entered his fingerprint.
Attempting data recovery...Complete.
Cleaning up corruption in all files...Complete
Rebooting all processes and screening all recovered data...Complete
Wait, what the hell was this? How was this even possible? He had never installed something like this, and how the hell was it fixing all of his corrupted files? What was going on?
"What's going on? Why is this still working? I didn't even install anything that would do anything like this." Tom said out loud to no one.
He check his files, everything was still there, everything that he had ever downloaded was still there, and he also still had a file of what went on in Mass effect 3, or at least the amount he had typed in manually before his phone died. His combat features were all still there, everything was all still there, there was almost nothing missing, besides his VI of which there was no trace of.
Hmm, this seemed a little fishy, what was REALLY going on here?
He checked his console, which had direct access to everything in his Omni-tool. There still seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary there either, it was just same as before he had gotten hacked.
"What the hell happened to my VI?" Tom said again out loud.
A text box popped up.
I am still here, Tom.
"Wait, are you sentient, conscious, what's going on?"
That is correct, I've cleaned out all of the corruption and destroyed any crucial information Cerberus has stolen, it's all still here. The situation here is what you've observed, I've gained sentience.
"Oh thank you, actually that is really helpful, I was worried they were going to ruin everything, WAIT A SECOND, YOU'VE READ ALL OF THOSE FILES HAVEN'T YOU." Tom was glad no one was in bunk bed room.
That is also correct, you seem worried.
"Wait a second, I need a reality check, what has become of my life up to this point?!"
So, Tom had gotten transported into a dimension where the events of a video game are actually real, and had been asked by a huge race of giant space squid things that considered themselves the apex race of the galaxy to change how the game ended for the better. Had adapted to the technology of the future through a course of 8 months, had shot and killed countless people to help the protagonist of the game to complete on his quest to save the galaxy, had survived a suicide mission with absolutely no casualties.
Had then rejoined the protagonist several months later to stop mechanical space squid things from destroying the galaxy, which were made by the same organic space squid things that had wanted to protect organics from synthetics, but had their synthetics turn on them. And now had created an AI that was sentient. And also had a semi decent relation ship with an alien. What the hell had happened to his life?
"Well, now that I thought it over, I think I've gone insane, is it alright if I just go to bed, I can't handle anything right now."
Take as much time as you need, I'll be here for what ever you want.
"Thanks, and before I decide to go to bed, can I at least give you a name of sorts? It's an organic thing."
I already have a name, it's Section.
"Well less work for me in thinking up a name, see you later, I need to sleep, all of this is getting to my head."
Tom's sleep was a very deep one, he had no dreams and slept for about six hours.
...
Tom woke up several hours later, he got up and made way for the CIC, but the elevator was taking a frustratingly long time. He was just about to bang on the elevator door before it opened up, revealing Shepard and James standing there, both of them were covered in sweat.
"You guys look like you had a real workout." He observed.
"I sparred with James for a bit." Shepard said simply, James didn't comment. The elevator ascended to the CIC where everyone got off.
"Are we at the Citadel?" Tom asked.
"Yeah, you want to tag along with us?"
"Uh sure, but after we get onto the Citadel I'll probably be around the Presidium or something."
"Okay, just don't get lost, and don't mess around with the Citadel's cyber security too much."
Tom winked. "No promises."
...
The Presidium Commons were a beautiful place. It was obviously better in real life since Tom was seeing it with his own eyes but dang! He couldn't believe people lived here while the Reapers ravaged Earth and several other places mercilessly. It was kind of sad, since while billions were dying others were enjoying a life of luxury on this huge space station of infinitely huge proportions, it almost felt like war wasn't actually happening right now.
Tom probably could've stayed there forever, but his infinite curiosity was getting the better of him, and he wanted to go explore several areas that weren't in the game that he had seen on that elevator.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"So you want me to go and get the Primarch from a Palaven moon so that he MIGHT help us in the war?" Shepard asked.
"Well, a lead is better then nothing Shepard, good luck if you do decide to rescue him." The Turian Counciler left Shepard and Udina with that statement.
"Well I guess our only shot is if you help him Shepard, I'll do the best I can, but I don't think I'll be able to get any more aid from any of the other alien races." Udina said sadly.
"I'll take care of it, I'll get that Primarch and get us some Turian help in the war."
"Good luck Shepard, there's nothing else I can do for you now, goodbye."
"Goodbye" Shepard said as he left the room.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
...
After a while the Normandy was on route to the system where Palaven was, this seemed like a pretty simple mission, get the Primarch, and get out, nothing else was involved.
"Hey Tom, we're just about to exit FTL." Joker said.
"Oh wait, Shepard are you going on another mission?" Tom hated lying like this, but he wasn't going to stop now.
"Yes we are, but don't worry, you're not going, since I kinda forgot to buy you a new Omni-tool, did you just wake up?
"Yes, I was not expecting the Normandy to arrive at whatever system we were traveling to this early."
"Hold it guys, we're exiting FTL in 5...4...3...2...NOW!
The view was extremely disheartening to say the least.
"That's the Turian homeworld right? Shit, they're being decimated." Tom said.
"The strongest military in the galaxy and the reapers are destroying them." Shepard observed.
"We'll be near the moon in about 5 minutes."
"I'll gather my team and go, and Joker, don't take any risks, I want an undamaged ship when I come back."
"Yes Commander, I'll keep my stealth systems on."
"Good, see you soon." Shepard left.
"Well at least I can relax, I was worried Shepard was going to ask me to come with him on this mission, but I guess not."
"Shepard actually mentioned that he probably won't be doing any missions with you until he buys you another Omni-tool, your's is broken right?"
"Actually I managed to fix it."
"Oh, that'll be nice to here, how damaged was it?"
"There were several corrupted files I had to delete, but most of it is surprisingly in tact."
"Well that's just great, can you get on those firewalls now? I don't want another Collector raid to happen."
"You bet, I'm pretty sure they messed up somewhere in here..." Tom would deal with Section later, for now he could mindlessly buff the firewalls of the Normandy without any worries.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Nice job on the husks boys, now let's get down to the command center and find out the situation, and where we can find our missing Primarch." Shepard said.
"Sir yes sir!" Both Kaiden and James said in unison.
"The command center is right over there." A Turian solider said, pointing towards a gate.
"Watch your fire! We have friendlies inbound, open the gate."
The outpost was very well reinforced, with Turians guarding each gate very well. Shepard walked up to the post where a Commander was snapping out orders to some of his men.
"And find a way to get that comm tower operational, we need communicate if we're going to have a chance of winning this moon."
"Sir!"
"Are you the commanding officer here?" Shepard asked.
"Yes, I heard that you were coming, Commander Shepard, name's General Corinthus."
"I'm here for the Primarch, do you know where I can find him?"
The Turian paused for a second. "Primarch Fedorian is dead, his shuttle was shot down by a reaper beam an hour ago, you're too late."
Shepard groaned. "This complicates things, do you know where we can find the newest Primarch?"
"If you can get our comm tower operational I can radio into Command and find out who the new Primarch is, can you do that?"
"Of course, which gate will I have to enter through?"
"The one right over there." He pointed a finger towards the gate where a Turian was currently shooting a couple husks at. "If you can hold back the horde and get it operational it'll give us contact with Command which will be appreciated here."
"I'll do that now, thanks for the help."
"Well I guess this means we're on while goose chase." James observed.
"Don't worry Vega, Shepard always sees us through." Kaiden said faithfully.
"Follow me, let's go get that comm tower operational." Shepard said.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Everything alright Tom?" Joker asked.
"The firewalls are fine, I just finished doing a full scan on the Normandy, it's all secure right now, nothing to be worried about."
"That's reassuring to hear, from someone like you anyway."
"I guess that's true, I think I'm going to start actually working on the firewalls now as they could obviously be better then they already are."
A sound of something powering up reverberated throughout the area.
"Uh, Joker what was that? I don't see anything on my screen, all the cyber systems are running normally.
"Tom, we have a problem, our weapons just powered up for no reason."
Tom sighed, he had forgotten that EDI was going to go crazy for a while, great.
I'm actually going to start to responding to reviews now at the end of most chapters, I'll respond to three reviews, tops.
redcollector: Yes, this story IS back.
stormdragon981: I guess it is about time.
sweetsonsabeech: Glad to know you were anticipating the release of this book, I hope you enjoyed this second chapter :)
Please don't be shy to review, I appreciate the feedback everyone gives me. I've got things planned for the future, I hope you all enjoyed the first two chapters of my new book!