A Woman and Her Wolf
So I have just been sitting at the cockpit for an hour, trying my best to ignore the horrifying shit Joker has been looking at. Sadly, I have perfect recall of everything I see, being a robot will do that, so I cannot forget what I saw, no matter how hard I try. We are currently running on a ghost crew too, everyone is messing about on the Citadel; Ashley has been taken to an actual hospital, so I can't even watch over her or something. I'm thinking about praying to any greater power that will listen to get me out of this.
As if on some kind of cue, Shepard and crew enter the ship and boy, do they look collectively pissed. I mean, most of them are aliens, and I can't even see Tali's face, but you can tell they are currently really goddamned angry.
"Hey Shepard, what happened?" Now may not be the best time, Joker.
"They grounded us, Joker." Shepard snapped "We are not going after Saren"
"Damn Shepard, whose cornflakes did we piss in?"
"Now is not the time for jokes." Shepard's acting a lot harsher than usual, but it's not exactly unwarranted.
"So what, who are they sending then? A whole fleet or something?"
"Nobody." Shepard looks down as she says that, practically simmering with anger. "They are not sending anyone after Saren. They refuse to go after him."
"Wait, why? Are they stupid or something? They just gonna let him complete his evil plans in peace?"
"Saren is in the Terminus systems, if they send anyone after him, it could be seen as an act of war" Shepard seems to just be repeating what the council told her, the energy in her voice has faded away.
"But isn't that exactly what Spectres are for? Deniable operations, all that cloak and dagger stuff?"
"I know what you're trying to do Joker, but the Council are too stubborn. We have done all we could, I would recommend getting ready to pack up your stuff" Jesus, Shepard just looks so defeated. I haven't seen her look this bad before.
"Well, they can ground the ship, but I'm not going anywhere till they physically drag me out!" Joker says this with surprising determination, something I wasn't expecting from the usually sarcastic pilot.
Shepard just gives a weak smile at that comment, and without saying anything else, just walks further into the ship, while the rest of the group disperses. I guess it's my obligation to follow her, even though it's not like I can do anything for her. I suppose this won't last at least, but it's still quite disheartening, and I don't even have a heart.
She moves down to the main floor, and goes towards her locker. Currently there isn't anyone else around, just me and her. The ship is practically dead silent, a far cry from the noise I'm usually used to. Shepard opens her locker, allowing me to see inside.
Within the futuristic locker is a spare hardsuit, as well as a few weapons. On closer inspection, she has a few random knick-knacks that probably hold some kind of sentimental value to her, and a photo of herself standing next to this older looking woman, whom I am guessing is her mother, due to the obvious resemblance.
Shepard's hand moves inside the locker, starting to take things out, packing up and readying to leave. As she goes to take out the picture though, she stops and visibly slumps, clearly unable to bring herself to finish this. Placing the photo back where she left it, Shepard turns around and sits with her back against the locker, knees tucked against her chest and arms crossed over her knees.
I guess I can't just leave her like this. I pad over to where she is sitting, and bark to gain her attention. Shepard looks over to me and gives a weak smile, which I suppose is a start. I sit down next to her, trying to make her feel a little less alone and upset. To my surprise, Shepard embraces me in a tight hug, which I imagine isn't very comfortable for her, with all the sharp and pointy edges I have all over my body.
Shepard speaks in a quiet whisper "I did the best I could, right?" Fuck I feel awkward here, she is in a bad state of mind, and is clearly sharing feelings with me that she wouldn't if she knew I actually understood her. What a stupid question though, of course she did the best she could, and I really want to tell her that, but she doesn't need that on her plate right now.
After staying like this for five and a half minutes, Joker interjects over the ships speakers "Sorry to interrupt, Commander. Got a message from Captain Anderson." This makes Shepard release me and get up off the floor, her face gaining what I imagine is what hope looks like.
"Go ahead Joker" Shepard states, the power in her voice having returned somewhat.
"The captain said to meet him at Flux. That one down in the wards."
"Thanks Joker, I will go straight there." She really does look a bit better now, seeing some sort of way out of this situation. And with that, Shepard gets going, moving back up to the top of the ship, and towards the airlock. I follow her the whole way, if only for a sort of moral support.
As she opens the airlock door, she turns to face me, and says "I want you to stay here, alright?" and pats me on the head. I sit down to show that I understood, which she gives a smile at, and then leaves. Which just leaves me with Joker again.
"I can't believe they took my ship away from me, what a bunch of assholes." Joker grumbles this as he angrily stares at the information on the ships screen; almost as if he stares hard enough it will give him back control. I can't really be bothered with his shit right now, so I lie down and go into my 'sleep' mode.
Time seems to fly by for me, as I watch the airlock, waiting for Shepard return. I get excited when the door opens, but quickly loose interest when I see it's just one of the random staff members aboard the ship. It continues like this for a while, the ship's crew trickling back aboard the Normandy, some of them looking around conspiratorially as they do so, as if they are doing something wrong. It's likely because they are getting ready to illegally go after Saren, because nobody else will.
It's not too long that the ground crew come rushing aboard the ship. A far cry from just a few hours ago, the anger and melancholy replaced by excitement, manic grins evident on many of their faces, even Wrex had something resembling a smile going on.
Shepard looked to Joker. "Somebody fill you in?"
"Yeah. Hell, if you didn't do this I would of tried it myself, but I don't think people need to see that." Joker says over his shoulder, eyes staring intently at the monitor, waiting for the lockdown to lift, no doubt.
The rest of the ground crew leave, going to their individual stations aboard the Normandy, leaving Shepard, Joker and I at the cockpit, waiting with baited breath for the red lights to go green. There is an uneasy silence going about at the moment, nobody willing to say anything and break it.
The lights transition softly from red to green in a rather anti-climactic matter, the slow change a stark contrast with the rapid movements made by Joker and Shepard.
"Take us away from here Joker." Shepard orders, then walks away, now content knowing that the plan is working. I follow, not willing to spend any more time with Joker than I absolutely have to. I walk along, not with any particular goal in mind at the moment. I notice two of the command deck technicians talking to each other, while eyeing me for some reason.
"Hey, check it out, its Shepard's robo-dog" One of them points to the other, who for some reason pulls a face.
"Yeah, I see it. Why is this worth mentioning?" Oh man, fuck you. I will have you know I am the best.
"Why isn't it? Doesn't he look super cool?" I like this one.
"No. It creeps me out." What have I ever done to this guy? Don't think I have ever done anything worth being creeped out.
"Seriously dude? This again?"
"Look alright, I told you before, VI's creep me out, ones with bodies even more." He pauses, takes a deep breath, and continues, "They could snap at any point. I feel like it's just going to turn around and cut my head off." Is this actually happening? Holy shit random guy, if only you knew.
"I think you been watching too many of those horror-vids about AI uprisings." I'm surprised they even have those; it seems like a bit of a touchy subject, considering that has actually happened.
"You mock me now, but when it eventually happens, don't come crawling to me. It will be the geth all over again, just you wait."
"You might be on to something here, actually." Come on man, I liked you, and you betray my trust? For shame.
"Really? You mean that?" The VI fearing technician looks at the other one, eyes full of hope and happiness.
"Yeah. In fact, I think it's already started." Where are you going with this?
"What? Where?" He pauses, fumbling over himself before calming down slightly. "What happened?"
"Well you see, I was using the coffee machine, when it kept going slightly too long and I got burned a bit." He pauses, smug smile etched on his face. "Rise of the machines man."
"Fuck you." Damn, the other guy may have got sizzled by a coffee machine, but this one is the true burn victim here.
"Seriously, you need to get over this. I'm surprised you of all people think this, you work with machines all day."
"That's different."
"Sure it is." He chuckles at him, much to the others chagrin. "I'm gonna call him over."
"Please don't."
"I will show you that nothing bad will happen, trust me." He then looks over to me, puts his hands on his knees, and attempts to look welcoming. "Come over here doggie. Come on, come on."
I mean, usually, I would ignore something like that, being too degrading even for me, but this whole situation is just too amusing for me, so I think playing along isn't too bad. I move myself right in front of the two, sitting down upright and try my hardest to look 'cute'
"See! Look, he's fine."
"Yeah, no, just get him away from me." Jesus, he is visibly flinching.
"Let's ask the dog then." What?
"What?" I feel kind of unclean for sharing the same thought as this guy, but I guess it can't be helped.
"Check it." He gets down on one knee, to be at about my face height, and speaks in this slow babying voice, "Alright doggie, help me out here. Are you a murderous AI here to kill us all? One bark no, two barks yes." I just can't resist the urge. I know I shouldn't, but it's too good of an opportunity to pass up.
"He's not gonna do I-"
*Bark Bark*
"Well I guess you were right, who knew?" He gets up and turns back to his colleague, who has now completely still and pale as a ghost. "Fucks sake man. Get a grip." Looking over at me again, he speaks seemingly to me "You did well though. I would give you a treat if I knew what robo-dogs liked." That's actually a good question. What do I like now? Am I even able to derive some kind of satisfaction from something like that? Can't say I'm a big fan of all these unknowns about myself. I guess it's not really worth thinking about, and besides, I'm a robo-wolf, not a robo-dog.
Momentary distraction completed, I move down onto the second floor of the ship, where hopefully Shepard is, and we can finally get to Ilos and stop Saren's stupid face from doing anything stupid. Like attacking the Citadel.
Huh. A lot of people are going to die, aren't they?
Author's Notes
Well. Uh. How do you guys like this TOTALLY ON TIME UPDATE I SWEAR. I have no schedule for uploading this stuff, but It's still kind of a dick move for making people wait this long for an update. And I'm surprised that people have actually waited, too. I still get follows and favourites and reviews for this, even with the huge hiatus. But anyways, I'm back for now, and hopefully the next chapter won't take me too long to actually get around to finishing.
As for the content of this chapter, I was originally planning this to be one big chapter going all the way to the end of the Saren fight, but I realised that would make the chapter fuck-huge, and I know a lot of people don't really like really big chapters, preferring it to be split up a bit. So prepare for action and fights next chapter, but for now you get talking and random fun stuff, to concrete Bladewolf/Andrew into the narrative a little.
Also, did you know I'm writing something else at the moment? Check out Trouble with Transdimensional Travel, another OCI/SI fic that I am co-writing with LeShyWolf (Who you should follow if you enjoy that fic, only fair). Don't worry though, A Woman and her Wolf isn't going anywhere.
Now for review replies. (If you want to ask questions not really pertaining to the fic that much, you can ask me through the Private Messaging system, as you will get a reply much faster than you would otherwise.)
Squadpunk 2.0- Yeah, I'm kind of a fan of running jokes. As for the second one, wouldn't you like to know?
Aquos Dragon- But can you wait seven months? This fic is actually a secret test to measure peoples patience. Don't tell nobody.
WomanSlayer- Dude. I feel your shitposting. I feel it deeply. And so far, no shipping paring for Andrew, but who knows?
Toothless is best- HERE YOU GO
LordGhostStriker- Quite possibly yes, but thing is, that leaves more capability for fucking up or making a mistake, and Andrew want's to play it safe.
Goldspark1- It's no big deal responding to reviews. I like doing that. It's just that it's annoying that I can only respond through a new update, or through PM, which not everyone can see. Glad you like all this though.
Okiro Benihime- Bladewolf is able to speak, both in the games and in this fic, he does so in the first chapter, and it gets him attacked. He is doing it so he doesn't get ousted as an AI. Thanks for all the positive comments, though I can't say I would agree with being unable to ask for more, you can always ask for more stuff.
Leonard Church814- Yeah, I can't say I'm a big fan of the fics where the characters get overly anal about keeping the status quo.
Spiritstrike- The guy is called Andrew, but I imagine you eventually checked that anyway. Other than that, with armour upgrades, I need to be really careful with that, because removing to one of his main weaknesses, being durability, would make him really powerful. But having a slower but tougher frame might be a possibility.
CristalDePhoenix- I'm happy you got that from this. The fact that I got someone else to feel that way makes me feel pretty good. As for your question, it really depends. If you want actual good advice, there are many tutorials on how to write a good story all over the internet, written by actual authors as opposed to someone like me, the equivalent of finger-painting to their Mona Lisa. But if you just want to know what I do, or what I think, then I suppose I ask myself with every combat scene, what can I do here that hasn't been done in this story so far, and what new information will that give about the characters? Also, I would recommend just going with what going with what you think is best, because that's gone well for me so far, according to the amount of favourites and such.
ww1990ww- He might. Possibly. Yes.
JOOP-ROLL - The demand for more robo-wolf shall hopefully be sated. As for the canon thing, I haven't really changed the conversations that are within the canon yet, as kind of an indication that nothing has 'changed' yet to deviate from it, and that Bladewolf isn't really part of the group yet, more a spectator.
Agastopia- You love it baby. You love it.
umbra firewing- Do it, seriously. I have no idea why there are so few AI/Mech OCI fics out there. It's such a interesting thing to write about.
Ghost the Fox- Yeah, I know I can direct reply, but a lot of the things I want to reply to other people may want to know too, like questions about the characters and such.
Ahumblereader- I mean, there will be a lot of monologue for now, it's not like he can talk to anyone. But as we go on it should drop away from that.
WindBear47- Yeah, the pet angle is a fun thing to write, mostly due to how odd and abnormal it is. It's gonna be really awkward when he is found out, that's for sure.
Teliken- I HAVE ASCENDED FROM MERE CYCLES OF LIFE AND DEATH MORTAL. WATCH MY UNDEAD FORM RISE FROM IT'S GRAVE.
Blaze1992- No pairing is planned, but stuff can change. Turret? Quite possibly, there were wolf mechs in the game that had a rail gun turret on their back. Can't answer the third one. If I was planning on it, it would be too much of a spoiler.
Omnicron223- Yes it would. It would indeed. *MENACINGGGG*
Ulsindhe- Him being too detached is kind of the point of this fic. Your not really supposed to properly sympathise with him either, as some of his actions are quite self-serving or cowardly. Stuff will happen with Ashley, but I don't blame you if you drop this fic if it's not your kinda thing.
Saberfox- Yeah, him being OP is a problem. I'm trying to stay loyal to the source, and he can really tear shit up. That being said, this is the intro to the fic proper, so he is being shown right now to be so cool and unstoppable, but he might find that eventually he can't rely on just cutting up everything in sight.
ShadowAngel23- I wouldn't call this a book. To me, calling a fanfic a book is a big no-no, it feels... presumptuous. But thanks for the kind comment.
Everyone who I didn't really have a comment for (Or I missed by accident, sorry)- Thanks for your support, and I'm glad that your enjoying yourself with this so far. (Or if you didn't enjoy it, thanks for at least giving it a shot)