I found the nearest waste bin and put my old clothes in it, obscured them with garbage, and then leaned up against a wall. I was uncertain as to what my next move should be. Getting information was the next-highest thing on my list, but I was still very reluctant to actually talk to someone. I wiggled my toes in my ill-begotten boots idly. I supposed I'd have to do it eventually, so I mustered up my courage and headed back towards the place I appeared in. Maybe that asari I saw at the store would be kind enough to answer.

I wandered back the way I came, but I lost track and briefly became lost in the maze of dark alleyways. I couldn't recognize the graffiti here or the particular shape of the intersection I had stopped at. I felt panic creeping up on me, but quickly capped it and pushed it down. If I couldn't get back to where I was, I would just have to follow the sound of voices.

I located a group of people in a main alley nearby, but as I got close enough to understand what they were saying I stopped myself from walking out into their view.

"Now, you're gonna give us everything you have or my friend is going to shoot you, understand?" The voice that was speaking had a strange extra tone to it. Sub-harmonics. A turian, then.

The person who replied sounded male, but otherwise I couldn't hear anything different about him."I-I-I don't have anything, I swear!"

"The damn pyjak is lying, I saw him buy something!" The deep baritone of the other mugger was unmistakably a krogan.

"I'm not lying! Please, just leave me alone!"

I was sorely tempted to turn and walk away, but something stopped me. There was logically no way I could help this person, I had no weapon, no armor, no backup, but I didn't want to just leave. Curiosity and my own lack of experience with muggings stayed my feet.

Against my better judgment, I poked my head slowly around the corner.

There was indeed a turian and krogan standing a few yards away. The turian had green and brown dappled armor that was reminiscent of the human military camo pattern I was familiar with. The krogan wore black and red armor, and had a deep green head crest. The krogan had a shotgun pointed at a quivering salarian, who was a light grey color and was dressed in clothes that seemed of higher quality than mine.

"You're making this worse on yourself," the turian said. "If you'd just give us what we want we'd let you live. But you know how temperamental krogan can be, the longer we're standing here waiting, the more likely he'll just lose his temper and… BOOM."

The salarian flinched at the turian's onomatopoeia. "I told you! I don't have any more credits, I spent them all!"

You expect us to believe that, you little shit stain?" The krogan growled and pressed the shotgun closer to the salarian's head. "Give it up or I'm blowing your head off!"

The poor salarian, who was shaking and twitching horribly at this point, suddenly shrieked, "I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING YOU STUPID BRUTES!"

There was suddenly an unbelievably loud nose and the salarian's head wasn't there anymore. His neck, which was now just a stump, gushed out green blood.

I honestly couldn't help it. I let out a small scream behind my tightly closed lips.

The salarian's corpse dropped to the ground. Two excruciatingly long seconds passed as the muggers turned to look at me.

Fuuuuuuuck.

I turned and ran.

I am not fit. I couldn't outrun those two on the best of days, and I knew it, but I had to try anyways. My self-preservation instinct demanded it.

I heard a gunshot and felt something small fly past me, just barely missing my legs.

FUCK!

I heard another gunshot, this one coming close to my head.

Attempting to throw off their aim, I began running in a zig-zag pattern. The bullets kept coming, some terrifyingly close to hitting me but others going wide. I was coming up on a turn, pushing myself to go faster than I had thought myself capable of, when I felt an odd sensation like I was being pulled or pinched somehow on my left shoulder. A heartbeat later my shoulder was nothing but pain.

Oh God, that was a shot, I was shot! Fuck!

I stumbled, but quickly got back up and kept running. I didn't stop running for a while. Finally, my legs were just about to give out when I saw a garbage dumpster. I hesitated for a second, but the sound of my pursuers just around the corner made me climb in and bury myself to my waist in things I didn't want to think about. I ducked down, pressing my face against a discarded aluminum box, and held my breath.

I heard the heavy steps of the krogan and the lighter feet of the turian run up to the dumper, go past it and turn off in another direction.

I stayed down for three minutes, listening.

The footsteps came back, slower this time like they were walking, and they were speaking.

"Damn human. What the hell was it doing, anyways?"

"I dunno, humans are stupid. Why the hell are they showing up here, on Omega of all places? Why can't they just stay in their space? I swear, it like they think they own the whole damn galaxy!"

"Ya know, I think it was a female. I heard they have longer head fur than the males."

"What does it matter? It's still dumb, poking it's head where it doesn't belong."

"Well, I'm pretty sure I hit its arm. That'll show it what happens when it goes where it's not wanted."

The pair walked past the waste bin, their footsteps and voices growing quieter. Finally, I couldn't hear them anymore. I climbed out of the garbage and fell to the ground, my legs shaking from the effort it took. The adrenalin was beginning to wear off, and my shoulder burned. I clamped my right hand against the wound, feeling the wet stickiness of blood. I just laid there for a while, breathing heavily and shaking.

How on God's green earth did I manage that?! I seriously got away by hiding in a garbage bin?! I just, I don't even…

…they killed that guy. Just blew off his head. They probably would have done the same to me without thinking about it. God. How did I get away? I'm sure they could have outrun me. Maybe they had to slow down to fire at me?

Goddamn my shoulder hurts. It burns. I should probably look at it.

I sat up and pulled my hand away, a fair amount of blood sticking to it. I'd never seen a gunshot wound before, but I could tell that this was a graze and not an actual bullet hole. There was a long, shallow groove in the flesh of my shoulder. I had bled a fair amount, but it seemed to be slowing down. It didn't look like the bullet had hit anything other than flesh; there was no white bone or anything else. I pressed my hand back down on the wound and laid down again.

Well, I'm not a doctor, but I think I'll live. If I don't get an infection, which is a possibility. I think the turian said that this was Omega. I was starting to suspect, but it's good to get confirmation. At least this wasn't totally pointless.

Omega… I'm in deep shit. Omega's really dangerous. That boy and the salarian can attest to that. Hell, my shoulder's enough proof. I'm in the heart of the lawless Terminus Systems. Fuck, I guess I should be glad I ran into a couple of lazy muggers and not mercenaries, drug dealers or slavers.

…Fuck me, this is bad. This is really bad. I'm completely alone. If someone decided they'd like to rape me, kill me, enslave me, or whatever, no one would give a damn. I don't have money. I don't have any weapons. I don't even have a home.

I was deeply, overwhelmingly lost.

I eventually got up from the ground and started walking in the direction opposite where I'd met the muggers. A brief check on my shoulder showed that the bleeding has stopped completely. I shifted my coat so the wound wasn't immediately visible and wandered for a while until I finally found myself on an actual street. The area seemed mostly residential, with what appeared to be apartment complexes lining the street. There were people of many different races walking, standing, sitting, leaning and chatting everywhere. I forced myself not to stare; instead I scanned the area for information.

The translation device apparently did not help me read different languages, seeing as I still couldn't understand the signs. It was unfortunate, but I couldn't see most of them anyways without my glasses. I noticed that batarians seemed to make up a fourth of the local population. Next up were krogan. There was a good amount of turians too. I saw a dozen asari, and only five salarians. There was a single volus among the crowd. I was the only human present. A few of the passing aliens looked at me, but most just made a face and continued on with their business. A batarian made a gesture at me as he passed. I had no idea what it was, but I was willing to bet it was rude.

I overheard bits of ongoing conversation.

"Can you believe it? He was-"

"-and I told them, 'Hey, maybe we could-'"

"-humans coming here recently, it's like they're invading!"

I withdrew back into the alley and sat down, still looking at the crowd.

Humans appeared to be a rarity on Omega. The way that the muggers and the crowd acted indicated a fair amount of racism too.

That was just dandy.

I knew I wasn't going to get the information I wanted just sitting here, but the thought of stepping out into the crowd of hostile strangers was deeply discomforting.

I need to do this. Don't be a wimp.

I looked over the bustling crowd again, and noticed that one of the salarians was leaning against the wall and using what looked like a datapad. He was alone, and right across from the alley opening.

Okay, calm down, deep breaths.

I got up and navigated the stream of people as delicately as I could. I stopped in front of the salarian, who didn't notice me until I waved at him.

He stared at me, then narrowed his eyes. "…yes, human?"

I felt my voice begin to stick in my throat and I tried to force it out, resulting in awkward stammering. "Uhmm, Hi. Sorry to… disturb you, and I know this is an… odd question, but, ahh, what year is it?"

The salarian's face contorted oddly. Obviously what little I knew about human communication wasn't going to do me any good here. Eventually, he answered, "2180. Now, if that is all, could you please leave?"

"Thank you", I muttered as I quickly retreated to the alley entrance.

2180. Three years until the events of Mass Effect, and six until the Reapers invade if everything goes according to canon.

I found a quiet spot where the people in the street couldn't see me and sat down, head in my hands.

What in the hell am I going to do for the next three years?

[Edited 10/7/2016]