The Cryonic Man
Chapter 3: Orientation and Council
A bit of foreword
This is my first story so please no flames.
I do not claim ownership to the rights to Mass Effect or its characters (sadly only Bioware and EA can claim that).
I do however claim ownership of the characters I create
Italics stand for thoughts and voices over an intercom
One week after his introduction, John still found himself amazed at all the changes to his life. After dinner that day Shepard assigned him a small room on Deck 3. It was a small room with a bed, an alarm clock, a small dresser containing a couple shirts and blue jeans, and an unexpected present. Just like Shepard said, he found a small device, "what was it called oh yeah, an Omni-tool," thought John.
A holographic orange display lit up the small room like a lamp, with John tinkering with it to see how it worked. He found out how to look up information on the extranet, which was strangely similar to the internet of his time, how to use the various interfaces as tools, he even looked up how to use it in combat situations, such as A.I. Hacking and Combat Drones, which he resolved to build one himself if he could get the components.
The next day he was up early so he could be ready for work. He took a shower at the crew deck men's showers, dried off, put on one of the shirts and a pair of jeans; he had resolved to not wear a Cerberus uniform after seeing them, which Miranda complained about but Shepard was completely fine with; had a bit of breakfast, said hello to Mess Sergeant Gardner, and set off for the elevator to the engineering deck.
After arriving he walked into the drive core room, and found it strangely empty. He sat down and waited for about an hour, during which he was still working to transfer the files from his MP3 player to his Omni-tool, when Kenneth walked in looking a little disheveled and a smile big enough to be seen from space.
"Rough night," John said in a joking tone. He picked up on what Kenneth's body language had said and it said that he spent his night with some company. (Anyone else get it yet?)
Kenneth looked at John with some surprise which turned into embarrassment.
"Oh John, umm ahh err," Kenneth said trying to come up with an excuse.
"It's okay man, I know what you did, I can tell from your look," John said, and after seeing fear appear in Kenneth's eyes, "Don't worry, your secret is safe," he said in a soothing tone.
"Anyways, John Desmond ready to receive orders sir," said John.
"It's alright lad, no need for all that formal crap. Just call me Kenneth, and how long have you been here anyway," replied Kenneth.
"About an hour, I was busy transferring some files to my new Omni-tool. Why do you ask," replied John.
"Wow, only in this century for 1 ½ days and you already know how to program one of those blasted things. Well lad, you're about 3 hours early," said Kenneth.
"Well I don't really have much else to do, so I just decided to get an early start," said John. It was the truth, but not the whole truth. He was still having the dreams he had back in the 21st century, only they had grown in intensity and length somewhat.
"Well anyways, today me and Gabby are just going to help you get acquainted with the Normandy's systems. You won't be doing anything major yet, but you will be helping with calibrations and routine maintenance, just to start out with to get used to the new technology of the 22nd century. But from what I heard that shouldn't take too long," said Kenneth.
"Sounds good Kenneth, should we wait a bit for Gabby or should we just get started now," said John.
Kenneth turned red again and said, "Umm, Gabby won't be down for a while so if you're ready now we can get started."
Just then, the door opened to reveal a disheveled Gabby wiping sleep from her eyes.
"Last night was amazing Kenneth but did you have to be so roooooo," she finished after noticing John was in the room with a mischievous grin on his face.
"Oh um John, umm this umm, I didn't mean err," Gabby said.
John gave a light chuckle and said, "Kenneth walked in looking like he had a rough night and had a smile that could be seen from space. I can pretty much guess what happened mam."
Gabby turned red and was about to say something until John continued, "Don't worry, I won't tell," Gabby breathed a sigh of relief, "but you guys have to do something for me," both Kenneth and Gabby paled.
"Don't worry, it's nothing major, I just need to know if you guys have any spare parts lying around. I like tinkering and building things when I have some spare time and I need some components," finished John.
The two lovers both breathed another sigh of relief and Gabby replied, "Thanks John."
"Alright let's get started," said John.
For the next 3 days, Kenneth and Donnelly taught John the ins and outs of the Normandy while John told them what they wanted to know about the 21st century. Kenneth was especially fascinated with John's MP3 Player and John frequently found him humming The Beatles and Elton John (Don't be hating). True to what Kenneth said, John had learned the systems fast. Between keeping the Normandy maintained and his side projects of building mods for weapons for Jacob, helping Dr. Chakwas in the med center as thanks for keeping him alive, and building contraptions, the crew was surprised he had any free time at all. Yet he still ate meals with the rest of the crew and generally chatted with everyone, making friends with everyone, well except for Miranda who generally acted cold towards him. She hated the fact that he had become such good friends with Shepard, who viewed John almost like the little brother he never had, and constantly thwarted her plots to seduce Shepard.
Regardless, John was happy to meet so many new people. The only problem was that the dreams he was having had begun to cause him to lose sleep. He tried to shrug it off and it mostly worked at least until one week later.
"Hey John, are you alright? You don't look so good," Gabby said.
"Don't worry Gabby, I'm fine," replied John with a yawn.
"She's right lad, I think you need to lie down," said Kenneth.
"It's alright, I just haven't slept very well in a while," John said.
John tried to stay on his feet but all of a sudden he blacked out and fell to the floor.
"Oh god, Kenneth, go get Doctor Chakwas," yelled Gabby in a concerned and shocked tone.
"On it lass," replied Kenneth with the same sense of urgency.
8 hours later
John opened his eyes slowly and felt a small haze appear in his vision. He got up slowly and rubbed his eyes.
"Back again are you?"
John turned and saw Doctor Chakwas sitting in a chair.
"You gave us all a scare you know," said Doctor Chakwas.
"What happened," asked John.
"What happened was you became so sleep deprived that you collapsed from exhaustion," explained Doctor Chakwas.
"Well I've had some trouble sleeping the past few days," replied John.
"The dreams you had back in 2011 are still persisting," Chakwas asked. She had known about the dreams after John had told her his story. "Didn't the Commander tell you to see Miss Chambers?"
"Yeah well, I haven't had much time lately," John replied.
"Well you march right to the CIC and ask her for an appointment young man," said Chakwas in a stern tone.
"Yes mom," John replied.
Later on Deck 2
"Umm Miss Chambers, do you have a second," John asked.
"Sure John, and please call me Kelly," replied Kelly.
"I was wondering, the Commander said you were a psychologist and I was wondering if I could talk to you about a few things," John said.
"Sure, how bout we had to the starboard observation deck on Deck 3 and talk," replied Kelly.
Later on Deck 3 (wow this chapter jumps around a lot huh)
John met Kelly at the starboard observation, where he began telling her about the dreams.
"So in these dreams you only hear voices, yours and this mysterious woman, Lia you say," said Kelly after John finished his tale.
"Yeah, and all I hear is just a conversation. It feels so real though, even more real than before, like I'm watching a memory," replied John.
"And you're sure you don't know this girl," Kelly asked.
"Positive, which is weird because my heart flutters for some reason when I hear her voice, but hearing the sadness in her voice, it breaks my heart," replied John.
"I need some time to think this over, in the meantime try not to do any strenuous work for the next couple days," said Kelly.
She then walked out and walked over to Commander Shepard standing near the door.
"How is he Kelly," Shepard asked.
"I've never heard of dreams like these before, he truly believes they've actually happened. My advice is to have him off the ship for just a short while. You said you were going to the Citadel to see the council, right," said Kelly.
"Right," replied Shepard.
"Well, take John with you, it might help clear his head to be off the ship for a while," said Kelly.
Shepard thought this over and realized that it might be a good idea. John had only been on the Normandy for a week, but it was probably a good idea for him to actually see the changes that had happened in the last almost two centuries than have people tell him about them, plus he would rather his new friend not burn out from sleep deprivation.
"Alright sounds good," said Shepard.
Shepard left to think, and Kelly went off to find Garrus.
"Hey sexy, doing some calibrations," said Kelly.
"Yeah, but it can wait," said Garrus, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend.
The Next Day
John was sitting in his room fiddling with the drone he was building after Kenneth and Gabby told him to take the day off after the incident yesterday. He had managed to get a pretty good nap in, and after that he ate lunch, where everyone constantly asked him if he was alright. He calibrated the modifications for the weapons that he had built for Jacob after lunch, and was now working on his drone
He activated it with his Omni-tool only for it to short out and die again.
"Come on you fricken bastard, work," John said with frustration in his voice.
"Working hard or hardly working," said a voice from behind.
"Oh ah Commander, um I was just on my way back to engineering," John stammered out.
"It's alright, Gabby and Kenneth told me they gave you the day off," replied Shepard.
Seeing the fear in his eyes from the thought that he might have gotten his mentors in trouble, "Don't worry, I was the one who told them to do it in the first place," said Shepard.
John breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Anyways, what's up Shepard?"
"Kelly told me about the problem you've been having," said Shepard.
"Man, hasn't that woman ever heard of doctor-patient confidentiality," John said.
They both shared a laugh and Shepard continued, "She suggested to me an idea which I found interesting. I have a meeting with the Galactic Council in a couple days to talk about my resurrection. She suggested I take you with me and give you a chance to get off the ship and explore the Citadel."
"Hmm, I have been going a little stir crazy, and it might give me an opportunity to find some parts for my drone. Sure Shepard, I'll come along," answered John.
"Fantastic, I'll give you some credits after the meeting is over and then we'll hit the Zakera Ward," said Shepard.
"Cool, see you later Shepard," said John who went back to work on his drone.
It quickly shorted out again when he tried to turn it on.
"DAMMIT," he cried.
After his day off, John quickly got back to work in engineering the next day, despite the concerns from Kenneth and Gabby. Yet when it came clear that John wasn't going to take no for an answer, they told him to be careful and got back to work.
John spent the next few days working, fixing hydraulics, calibrating systems, and general tinkering until the day came when the Normandy docked at the Citadel. He then put on a formal uniform that Shepard had lent him, and met Shepard and Garrus at the airlock. After the incident, Shepard told Garrus about his plan which Garrus agreed to wholeheartedly.
"Well you clean up good Desmond," Garrus joked.
"Well if I'm going to be there for your guys' meeting, I can't dress in a shirt and jeans can I," replied John.
The two men shared a laugh and the group set off for the council office.
They first stopped and recruited Kasumi (more with her later). And then moved on to the C-Sec security checkpoint.
A short time later
After a short debacle with security, the group had taken a taxi to the Presidium, where Shepard was meeting the council.
As they travelled, John looked at the marvel known as the Citadel. Even though parts of it were still being rebuilt, John still marveled at the technological marvel of this space station.
They docked at the Presidium, which John found himself amazed at the amazing garden and houses, and walked into Councilor Anderson's office.
"This meeting would be more productive if Udina were to join us," the asari councilor said.
"My advisor is unavailable. As Councilor, I represent the voice of humanity," said Anderson, "Shepard will be here any – oh Commander. We were just talking about you."
"It's been a long time Anderson. I hope the last couple years have treated you right," said Shepard.
"There've been some rough spots. Good to have you back," said Anderson, "And Vakarian, nice to see you too."
"Good to be back sir," replied Garrus.
"This must be the man you found in the old 21st century shuttle. Councilor David Anderson," Anderson said holding out his hand.
"John Desmond, nice to meet you Councilor," John said shaking his hand.
"Ah yes, the 21st century. A period of time which took place between the year 2000 and 2099. I thought we dismissed that claim," said the turian councilor.
"Anyways, the council has heard a lot about you through Anderson, Mr. Desmond, it is good to see you are unharmed," said the asari councilor.
"Glad to finally meet the governing body of the galaxy ever since my cryogenic freezing," John said, bowing slightly as a show of respect.
"Ahem, getting back to the reason why we called this meeting," said the salarian councilor, "Commander, we have heard many rumors about you're unexpected return. Some of them are…. unsettling."
"We have called this meeting so you could explain your actions Shepard. We owe you that much. After all, you saved our lives in the battle against Saren and the geth," the asari continued.
"The Collectors are abducting human colonists in the Terminus Systems. Worse, we think they're working with the Reapers," said Shepard.
"The Terminus System is beyond our jurisdiction. Your colonists knew that when they left Council space," said the turian councilor.
"Hundreds of thousands of humans are kidnapped by a race of insect-like beings for who knows what, and you aren't going to do anything about it," John said with a bit of anger in his voice.
"They are outside of our jurisdiction," the turian councilor with a bit of annoyance in his tone.
"Does it matter, these people could be dead for all we know. How can you be so….," said John with more anger rising in him that the governing body of most of the galaxy was doing nothing to save hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, and possibly more, that might be facing something more terrible than death. They only thing that stopped him was Garrus putting his hand on John's shoulder and shaking his head with a look that said "It's not worth it."
"Sorry, I lost my temper. I humbly apologize to all of you," said John with a calm tone.
"This council accepts your apology Mr. Desmond," said the salarian councilor.
"You're missing the point Councilors. The Reapers are involved," said Anderson.
"Ah yes, Reapers. The immortal race of sentient starships allegedly waiting in dark space. We have dismissed that claim," said the turian councilor.
John turned to Garrus and said, "Is that all he does?"
"Yep, real credit to my race right there," replied Garrus.
Anderson turned to Shepard and said, "Shepard, no one else encountered the hologram on Ilos that told you the truth about the Reapers. Only you and your crew ever spoke with Sovereign."
"I believe you," continued Anderson.
"As do I," said John.
"But without evidence from another source, the others think Saren was behind the geth attacks," finished Anderson.
"Saren was an organic. The geth would never accept him as their leader. They only followed him because he was Sovereign's agent," said Shepard to the Council.
"Saren was a compelling and charismatic individual. He convinced the geth the Reapers were real… just as he convinced you," said the Asari councilor.
"It was part of his plan to attack the Citadel. The Reapers are a myth. One you insist on perpetuating," said the turian councilor.
"With all due respect Councilors," John started, "I've seen how these geth work by studying their systems. No amount of charisma could convince them of something unless there was logic and truth behind it. The geth are not simple machines, they have complex ways of making decisions, ways we can't even imagine, technology which could tell if he was lying, and intelligence beyond most sentient life. They couldn't have believed him if he was not telling the truth."
"Ah yes, we are going to mobilize our military based on the findings of a human child who hasn't been in our century for longer than two weeks," said the turian councilor, "We aren't fools Desmond and we are not going to do anything based on the findings of a 19 year old.
John felt his anger rise again but said nothing.
"That's enough, you can insult me all you want but you're not going to insult my friend, who probably has almost as much technological knowledge as most quarians. I won't let you white-wash this, especially after I kept this Council alive by sacrificing human lives to save you from Saren," said Shepard
"We are in a difficult position Shepard. You are working for Cerberus – an avowed enemy of the Council. This is treason, a capital offense," said the asari councilor.
"That's too far. Shepard is a hero. I'm on this Council too, and I won't let this whitewash continue," said Anderson.
"Maybe there is a compromise. Not a public acknowledgement, given your ties, but something to show our peripheral support," said the asari councilor.
"Shepard, if you keep a low profile and restrict your operations to the Terminus Systems, the Council is willing to offer your reinstatement as a Spectre," said the turian councilor, with a bit of annoyance that said he was never for it.
"What does that mean? Will I have to start filing reports again," said Shepard.
"That won't be necessary. This is simply a show of good faith, on our part," said the salarian councilor, hoping to not incite anything more. Unlike his other two brethren the salarian councilor secretly believed and respected Shepard. Yet, he could not support him openly due to the fact none of the other councilors listened to him.
"We cannot become involved in an investigation regarding the missing colonies in the Terminus Systems, but Spectre reinstatement shows our support of you personally," said the asari councilor.
Shepard looked at Anderson, who nodded, and said, "I accept your offer. It's good to have the Council on my side."
"Good luck with your investigation Shepard. We hope for a quick resolution… and a quick end to your relationship with Cerberus," finished the asari councilor.
"Well that went better than expected," said Anderson, "You do realize that the Council's offer is purely symbolic. They won't actually do anything."
"Even if they don't help, I might as well stay on good terms," said Shepard.
"True enough. Don't worry about the Council or the Alliance. I'll find some way to keep them off your back," said Anderson.
"I'm sorry I lost my temper Shepard, I just became so angry that I just," John started.
"It's alright John, that turian pisses me off as well," said Shepard.
All 4 men shared a laugh until Ambassador Udina walked in.
"Anderson, we need to talk about – Shepard! What are you doing here?"
"Stopped by to see how Anderson is doing," replied Shepard.
"You don't have to cover for me," said Anderson, "I invited Shepard here to speak with the Council. We just finished our meeting."
"You what? Councilor, do the words political-s&*#storm mean anything to you," said Udina.
"The Council just reinstated my Spectre status. They're just happy I'm staying out in the Terminus systems," said Shepard.
"Yes… I could see how that arrangement works best for both sides," said Udina, "But you really shouldn't have taken a step like this without consulting with me first Councilor."
"I don't answer to you, Udina. Why don't you go to your office and think about that for a while," said Anderson.
"Of course, Councilor. Good day to all of you," Udina said with frustration.
"Come on John, let's let the Commander and Councilor chat for a while while we head to Zakera Ward," said Garrus.
"Sure Garrus, see you later Shepard," said John, and he and Garrus left Shepard and Anderson to talk about recent events.
Author's Note
Thanks to all who reviewed my first story as well as favoriting my story and me as an author. And also thanks to Thousand Tailed Holy Flashfang for welcoming me to the holy order of Awesome writers.
Hope to see more reviews. The next chapter will introduce some more characters, as well as build relationships. Miranda will be bitchier than Jack at some points so some characters will be a little OOC.
Possible pairings
You know who John will be with
Shepard/Tali
Jacob/Kasumi
Kelly/Garrus
Kenneth/Gabby
Joker/EDI (just for fun)
More TBD
HUGE WARNING! The story will probably be upgraded to M-rated due to sexual themes, lemons, and foul language since I will be introducing Jack soon.