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Mass Effect is the property of Bioware and Electronic Arts
Welcome to the Future: Chapter 6
Imagine you are Kasumi Goto:
Professional Thief, if such a label could be applied to anyone. Quite possibly the best thief in the galaxy. If there's anyone better than you, you've certainly never heard of them. Of course, that's an unavoidable state of affairs, given your line of work.
After all, you've gone to great lengths yourself to ensure that your competitors have never heard of you.
Fame is no friend to thieves. Reputation is good. Reputation doesn't necessarily mean that many people know of you, but it does mean that those who do know of you also know what you are capable of. Reputation means confident buyers and plentiful clients. If managed well, a reputation can make you rich.
Fame is different. Fame means that you are known, and that you are known widely. Fame means attention. Fame means that people can connect your face to your name. For people like you, fame is death.
If nothing else, Keiji has taught you that much.
And still, here you are, riding around the galaxy with the single most famous member of your entire species, aboard a secret warship that's a secret only in the sense that it doesn't appear on any public listings.
But this is worth it, you tell yourself. You're here because you need resources, and the Normandy is the best place for you to find them. And if you're going to make an enemy out of one of the most dangerous men in the galaxy, it certainly can't hurt to make a friend out of one of its most dangerous women.
You need to be here, because you need to know what Keiji knew.
What was so important that he had to disappear.
Why couldn't you tell me?
What was so important that he had to run away, and leave everything behind.
I could have helped you. I could have come with you.
I would have come with you.
What was so important that he had to die?
Keiji, why did you leave me?
This is what you will do. You will find his Graybox, the last thing that is left of him. No matter the cost, you will find it and take it back. You will make whatever unsavory deals you have to make, work with anyone who can offer you what you need, and take whatever help you can find.
If you must, you will kill anyone who stands in your way.
Until you finally have what you want, until you have the Graybox in your hands, nothing else matters.
When that happens, you will be in great danger. You will have to leave everything behind. But it won't matter. Because, finally, you will know the answers to the questions that have plagued you.
Until that happens, nothing else matters.
For now, all you have to do is live long enough to see it through.
Shepard leaps into empty space, taking a tactical high ground that only she seems to see. Using a combination of her biotics and the thrusters in her suit, she comes to a halt 15 feet above you. Her voice comes in over the radio, cold as ice.
"Garrus, find a firing position and cover the deep end of the structure. Everyone else, head back to the shuttle. Now."
Without so much as a word of acknowledgement, Garrus half jumps, half flies to the wall directly over the tunnel you came in from. He lands, then slides upwards and across the wall to a dark corner where the upturned floor melts into the wall. Once there, he draws his rifle and wedges himself firmly into the corner. Every light on his suit goes dark, and only then do you hear his voice.
"In position."
The air is thin here, so you don't hear what's coming. You can feel it though, as the floor beneath your feet begins to vibrate.
Even as the adrenaline and panic in your blood fades away, you start to feel genuine, cold fear now- because this floor, like the rest of the structure you're in, is made of metal: strong, solid metal that is completely undamaged and unmarked, even where Shepard shot it through the creature that attacked you.
And then you realize it's not just the floor, but the entire room that's now shaking violently, but before you can wonder what is causing this, Mordin is at your shoulder and pulling you towards the exit. You follow him gladly.
A bright light flashes in the corner of your vision as Garrus starts to fire at whatever targets he sees behind you. There's no sound, just the blue-white flash of plasma blooming as each projectile leaves the barrel of his rifle.
And then you're in the tunnel, moving in the awkward half-jog that keeps at least one foot on the ground at any given time, trying desperately not to end up bouncing helplessly along in the artificially reduced gravity.
This isn't like you, to run from a fight. You think of violence as a last resort, but even the Best Thief in the Galaxy has to fight their way out when things go wrong. Or, as has been the case on Omega, on Korlus, and on Purgatory, when the people you're working with call violence Plan A.
But today you are deep inside an alien structure on an uncharted world, being attacked by creatures you don't recognize. The heavy armor you wear to protect yourself from the cold might lend comfort to some, but to you it's a cage. It slows you down, strips you of your most useful tools, it leaves you clumsy and half blind. Today, you are out of your depth.
More flashes of light, and a voice crackles over the radio.
"Grunt, fall back. That's an order. Garrus, you follow him, I'll provide cover fire. Grunt, get out of here right now."
"I'm not gonna back down from a bunch of overgrown squid, Shepard."
"Grunt, I am ordering you to- Crap! To your right! Watch out, th-"
Static crashes through your earpiece, and the voices are gone. Suddenly, something hits you in the back, hard. Your boots lose their grip on the floor, and you're sent tumbling down the tunnel. Before you can do anything to halt your uncontrolled flight, a wall looms large in your vision. For a brief moment, you see a bright light, and taste iron.
The light fades, and you see no more.
Author's Note:
No promises for when the next chapter will be up. I'm trying to play around with perspectives, as you will probably have guessed from this chapter.
As always, please leave a review.