The next morning, Shepard and Edwards got an early start heading south along the shore. "Just so you know, I'm not hopeful we're going to find anything out here," Edwards said. "We have to try, I get that, but I'd be surprised if we find something. There's just something off about this whole thing."
"I agree that something is wrong, but I don't think we should jump to any conclusions. There is an explanation for this, we just have to find it and we went through the house and didn't find anything. The shoreline is the next logical place to look. Plus, this is better than sitting around waiting for the food to run out or an answer to fall from the skies. Besides, it's another pretty day and I could use and excuse to stretch my legs. Never really got to do this much while living on a ship."
They talked while they hiked south along the shore. Edwards was interested in Shepard's time with the Cerberus and what she had learned about the group. He also asked about going through the Omega 4 relay and fighting the collectors. When she had finished, he was shaking his head. "I generally never go anywhere without a good understanding of what I'm going to find. The Citadel was an exception and I only did that because staying in the areas I knew would have gotten me killed. You jumped through a relay without knowing much about what was on the other side. How do you do that?"
Shepard shrugged, "You didn't see what the Collectors were doing and my description doesn't paint a gruesome enough picture. I didn't have to go to save myself, but the team had to go if we were going to save others. The Collectors had to be stopped and the relay was the only choice."
"Like holding the line at the Skyllian Blitz was your only choice, too, I guess. It's not that simple for most of us Commander. Knowing what's right and doing what's right are two different things."
"I'm not saying the choice was an easy one. Going through the relay worked out and we all came back safely, but they don't all turn out that way. When they don't," she was quiet for a moment, "let's just say you're not the only one with wounds that haven't healed yet."
A short time after they lost sight of the house behind them, Bobby spied another building in front of them. "There. Looks like you were right, Commander, it's another house." He looked at her expecting to see excitement. Instead he saw, what? Bewilderment?
"Look again," she said. He did and saw what she had seen. It wasn't another house; it was their house.
"No," he said, "not possible. The sun has stayed to our left the entire time. We can't be walking up on the other side of the same house. Maybe it's just a duplicate."
"I don't think so," Shepard said. "But there's one way to find out." She started to jog toward the house and Edwards fell in with her. "We mark the house somehow. We probably should have done so before we left." When they got to the deck, Edwards used his omni-tool and wrote, "So was Red," in the wood.
"What's that?" Shepard asked.
"Line from an old vid. In the vid it was carved into the wood by a man who felt like he was out of place so it seemed appropriate," Edwards answered.
They then began to retrace their steps, going back along the shoreline to the north. The trip took roughly the same amount of time until they returned to the house. "This is the moment of truth," Edwards said as they approached the deck. Neither were surprised to see the quote carved into the wood of the deck.
"Commander, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."
Shepard looked at him with something that was not a smile. "You have to know that one," Edwards said. "Dorothy? The Wizard of Oz? A tornado sends a little girl into another world, or maybe she just dreams she's in another world."
"You're worse than Tali," Shepard said.
"It's a classic," Edwards pleaded. "Anyway, I don't see a yellow brick road," Shepard glowered at him and Edwards smiled back, "so I don't know where we go next. I get the feeling that every direction leads right back here."
Edwards was right. They could walk away from the house and the water until neither were visible. Then, over the next crest they would see the house again, with the water beyond. As soon as they saw they house, the sun seemed to re-position itself in the sky. They tried this in several different directions away from the house but always with the same result. SAI was no help. It indicated that they were indeed moving in a straight line and had no explanation as to why the sun would move.
When the sun was getting low in the sky, Edwards, ready to give up for the day, said, "I could use a drink."
"Tonight, I think I'll join you," Shepard replied.