CLONE EFFECT

CHAPTER TWO:Blue

"So blue!" His mind repeated as it ran in circles.

He caught glimpses of her face hovering above his, her voice only a wisp away. It caused deep wells to form in the unlit hollows of his core. He found himself reaching, almost searching for it.

Cerberus had seeded their distrust of aliens into him, embedding this belief into his very essence. They had their purposes, not as allies but as tools to elevate the human race. He was to be the defender of mankind where his predecessor failed, hence the Illusive Man gifting him the name, Alec Shepard. He was without the faults his predecessor carried. The doubts, the scars and the baggage, he knew his objective, and he was to keep to it, despite all the obstacles that may be spread across his path. However, there was her face, her touch and her warmth, stretching into these deep and dark pits of his soul. Somehow lighting her path, he despised it, especially an Asari of all beings.

He cursed himself as his thoughts would return to the image of her plump, white-lined lips, the quirk of her cheeks, and the shimmer in her eyes as she smirked towards him. How he instantly missed her presence after her body had been pressed firmly against his own, only to be removed. The vision of the woman was brutal, torture in itself. The more he tried to pull himself away from her, the harder she drew back in.

Time began to pass as his thoughts continued to drift in the blank vacuum. How long exactly, he was unsure. All he knew was the whisper of her voice.

Somewhere passed the dark void, something would speak to him. He'd catch a sentence or two before his body found it too overwhelming to listen. It would thrust him back into his own dark space.

"Of course, he has his own replica. First a VI, and now you! Spirits! I pray you have less sinister intentions than Udina claimed. Two Shepards is that even safe for the galaxy, do we have insurance on that?"

"Even the shadow broker had no idea of your existence. Goddess, I don't know if the universe could handle two Shepards"

His duplicated voice echoed. "You look like me, sound like me, are you me? Why did Cerberus create you? Did you exist before, or after the collectors? After I died? Hell. Shit. Not sure how I'm supposed to process this, other than, please don't be some evil… Evil thing! Mom's gonna freak. Hell, even Anderson is unhinged and Hackett, don't get me started on him!"

He recognised the turian voice, the councillor, Sparatus, "Cerberus has done a wonderful job on you, had us fooled. Spirits, if you truly are on their side, then we are in trouble. I did think about ending it, right here, for the greater good, Messana of course disagreed. Said we should give you a chance, you did save us after all. Hmmm, maybe that is common among you Shepards and Councillors. I'll pray she's right in defending you. Must have been some rescue attempt. Whatever it was, she sees something of value in you. Hell, she did with the real Commander 3 years ago. Was her dam influence that had Nihlus evaluating the real you in the first place? Her judgement was correct then, hopefully, it will be again now!"

Then the familiar and welcomed velvety voice hit his ears, "goddess be with you, Shepard. I don't know if you can hear me in there, but if you can, please pull through. We lost a lot of good people to that coup, I pray, I won't need to add your name to that list. So please come back…"

Her voice alone gave his body a desire to pull past his never-ending night and awaken to the land of the living…

"Shep… Shepard!" the welcomed voice exclaimed, as his eyes fluttered open.

Like a rocket, his torso shot up. His heart raced, matching the reps of his breath. His eyes darted around the room in a panic. His head was dazed. He felt his arms unable to move, he struggled against the restraints as his ears rang.

Then suddenly he felt small but firm hands pushing lightly against his shoulders, followed by the familiar and wanted voice, "It's okay, Shepard. You're in a safe place, calm…"

His eyes closed to the voice as he re-centred himself. Once he regained control of his breathing, he relaxed them open. He exhaled deeply as his gaze fell into the hazel-coloured eyes and blue porcelain-like skin of the Councillor. "Tevos?" he croaked from dry lips.

She gave a half smile, and he noted her soft hands still pressing against his bare shoulders.

Looking towards her hands that had now merged to the centre of his chest, he remarked with a witty grin, "Councillor, it appears you cannot keep your hands off of me".

Her face dropped, immediately transitioning to a darker shade of purple as she retracted her hands. Again, he found himself missing the contact.

She swiftly retreated to the large window overlooking the presidium lake, covering her mouth with her hands, which he presumed to hide her more than obvious blush, she apologised.

He didn't let her suffer in embarrassment too long, "It's ok Councillor", he assured, "I'm just teasing. Truthfully, if I was going to wake up with anyone's hands wrapped around me, I'd rather it be yours, than my own, so to speak". He cleared his throat.

She nodded as she glanced out towards the window, still unable to look him in the eye, "I'll keep that in mind". After a brief pause, she continued, "I hope you can forgive us for the restraints. You're an unknown it was…"

"Necessary!" he finished, "I understand. I do. It's better than being dead".

"Ah", she exhaled as she glanced back towards him, "you heard all that. Sparatus was just being cautious, understandably so. You can see how a Cerberus replica of the Commander would look, especially during a Cerberus attack. I hope there are no hard feelings".

He collapsed back into his pillow, "no I see how it appears, in his position, I would have thought the same, however," he positioned his arms across his lap, "I do recall you advocating for me, why?"

"Call it intuition", she responded as she closed the distance between the pair.

He almost felt guilty, if she knew the truth… He didn't want his thoughts to linger too long down that track.

He felt his chest tighten as the Councillor stopped in front of him. A whiff of her floral perfume swept up and into his nostrils, the scent bliss.

He relaxed his muscles as his head cock and tilted up towards her, "thank you", was all he could offer for the mercy she showed towards him. However, his stomach churned at the reminder of his true objective.

"That does beg the question?" she started as she half-rested herself on the edge of his bed, her head turned to face the view. "What are you, why are you here?"

He noticed the asari licking her upper lip. He sighed heavily, biting his lower lip, and he responded, all a fib of course, "it's a long story, maybe dinner first?"

She grinned, shaking her head he notice a light escape of breath leaving her lips, a chuckle maybe. Crossing her arms, she commented, "I'll have them bring you something to eat".

He tilted his exposed torso forward as the councillor relaxed her arms against her chest. She gazed down towards him.

He licked his lips before offering, "would you care to join me, Councillor Tevos".

The asari tilted backwards, her facial muscle relaxed. She paused, before meeting his direct gaze, "I'm sure dinner with you would be a dozen more times interesting than with the dignitaries I must attend to. So sadly, Shepard".

"Please call me Alec", he interjected.

She responded with a courteous incline of the head, "Alec, I will have to make my leave".

He nodded in agreement, "that is sad indeed".

He didn't miss the small upward quirk of her marked lips before she diverted her gaze.

Internally he felt dissatisfied as the Councillor made her leave. Suddenly, he no longer felt hungry and the world appeared a little sadder.

He blew out a puff of hot air in frustration. He knew he should not have these feelings, especially towards an asari of all beings. His chest pulled in two separate directions. He despised feeling conflicted.

He threw himself back into the padded bed as he groaned in frustration.