001◢ AUDIO;

[galacticheroine]

[Leave it to Shepard to not actually check the network out fully before diving in and using it. The feed clicks on, and there's a moment before Shepard's voice comes through, her Commander Mode switched to full-on]

This is Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy, Alliance Navy. I'm requesting any information available on the current status and location of my ship and crew. Barring that, the name and affiliation of this vessel.

[There's a pause as Shepard lets out a breath, giving the comm device a dubious look, as she pulls it away from her face]

I swear if I'm missing another two years of my life I'm going to - [and you don't get to know what Shepard would do as she cuts the feed and the audio clicks off.]

Comments

[ironnanny]

[ A mild British tone reports the information dutifully: ]

The vessel's name is Tranquility, purposed for colonization. The affiliation is unknown and it's Captain is Dominic Ward.

[galacticheroine]

[Not a name she's familiar with, and the affiliation being unknown is troubling, to put it mildly, but a colonization ship?

Okay, that's a start. Any clue on destination?

[ironnanny]

None. The Captain withholds the information.

[ Such is what he's gathered from skimming the network. ]

[galacticheroine]

Of course he does.

audio;

[unruly]

Alliance Navy? [Dean doesn't know what that is and it makes him instantly suspicious. Military types he can deal with - he was raised by one - but this introduction has caught his attention. Militarized and authoritative without coming across as a total douche? He's faintly curious.]

You're gonna be waitin' a while for answers. Nobody knows why they're here or how they got here. If you're missin' people report 'em in.

audio;

[galacticheroine]

Right. The Human Alliance, I guess some aliens might still call it that. [Not that she knows any of them. And this guy doesn't sound like a batarian.]

So, no clues on why I woke up in a mineral bath on a ship with no known affiliation but it's a "colonization" ship. That's great.

audio;

[unruly]

[ Nope, Dean's not even close to trying to work out why it feels a lot like the conversation they're having is slightly different on either side. Point is she's got the basics nailed and beyond that? The people who don't start freaking out are Dean's favorites. ]

You woke up in a gravcouch 'cause if you don't get in one of those when we jump? Ain't pretty. We jump around the same time every month but past the year we don't know what date it is. Too many people here have come from too many places for us to know for sure when we are now.

audio;

[galacticheroine]

People from different times? So. This ship is, what, abducting people randomly out of time and space and bringing them along for a field trip? [dubious tone of voice is dubious]

TEXT

[purepazaak]

[Someone is suffering the mild effects of fear gas, but something in there catches his eye. Two years?]

What did they do to you.

TEXT

[galacticheroine]

Nothing physically. I'm just not a huge fan of being in one place and then waking up somewhere else.

[She's just assuming he means the immediate and incorporeal "they" who obviously abducted them and whose skulls she will crack open as soon as she finds some skulls to crack because you do not mess with Shepard when she's in the middle of a mission :| ]

TEXT

[purepazaak]

But it's not exactly the first time it's happened?

TEXT

[galacticheroine]

The liquid-filled tube was new.

[gofortheoptics]

Shepard!

[Okay, so she's extremely pleased about this development. Really, she is.]

This isn't Cerberus, at least as far as the rest of us can tell.

[galacticheroine]

Tali! [The relief at hearing a familiar voice is obvious in her voice, as is the smile]

Yeah this seems a little over budget for recent Cerberus operations, but the sentiment is there. Any of the other crew on-board?

[gofortheoptics]

The only ones I've seen since coming back are Alenko and Joker.

[Kasumi could be around, knowing her -- but she's sure that if Garrus had still been around he'd have shown his face by now.]

There's plenty of competent people aboard, though, I can tell you that much.

[galacticheroine]

That's good to-

Wait, you've been here before?

[allucinator]

Another two years? What the hell happened to you that you missed the first set?

[galacticheroine]

I died. [Said as casually as "I went on a vacation to Omega."]

[allucinator]

Oh. Well. I can see how that kinda thin' might set you back some.

[galacticheroine]

Yeah, just a bit.

[Video]

[vanguard_charge]

[It's downright eerie to hear his own no-nonsense tone spoken with another voice, nevermind the content of the message.

There are several silent minutes of deep thought before Shepard actually opens up a video feed to reply. He wishes he had an explanation for this one, but being blunt about it seems like the only sensible path.]

This is going to sound crazy, but I'm you. Apparently.

[He's holding the comms device far enough away from himself that the red and white stripe on his right arm is visible. Shepard knows that wouldn't be enough to convince him, however - he's not the only N7 graduate out there - so he holds up his dog tags. They've seen better days, scuffed and scratched as they are, but it's still possible to make out the name punched into the surface: John Shepard.]

[Video]

[galacticheroine]

[She stares dubiously at the feed until he pulls out those tags. Aside from the name, obviously not her first name, they look identical to hers, which she digs out from under her collar, holding them up for comparison. Aside from the name, Jane Shepard, every scuff and scratch is identical. Hers are just a little cleaner, due to Anderson having had them in his care while she'd been decommissioned.]

...I guess waking up on a strange ship isn't going to be the weirdest thing to happen today.

[Video]

[vanguard_charge]

[Although bumping into Joker had put the idea that there was a female clone of himself running around out there somewhere, it's not until he sees those tags of hers that he begins to truly accept the notion. An alternate reality version of himself. Well, if he'd managed to swallow the existence of the Reapers, he could deal with this reality, too, couldn't he?]

I'd say it could be worse, but that would probably involve one of us being a Cerberus-controlled reconstruction. I'd rather not jinx it.

Unfortunately I can't tell you anything about the Normandy that you don't already know. Either of them, I guess. I know Kaidan and Joker are here too; the former remembers me, the latter doesn't. That's about all I've got.

voice.

[majormigraine]

[uh... huh. at least his migraine went down considerably, so it's more managable, and he's better fit to deal with this than he was immediately after arrival, still though. the hell--]

Shepard? [. . .] How is that even possible?

[unfortunately, he wasn't lucky enough yet to have the alternative timelines explained yet. different points in time he more or less figured out by now, but this? this is the most bizarre.]

voice.

[galacticheroine]

Kaidan. Tali told me you were here but-

...I'm guessing you're familiar with that- Other. Shepard.

[Yeah she's having issues wrapping her mind around this too.]