Remember Me

CHAPTER ONE – THE DREAMER

I hovered silently, unmoving in the dark, hot ventilation shaft above the penthouse suite. I had reached this point in record time.

An asari woman stood behind a great desk, three eclipse guards stationed behind her, the pale glow of morning beginning to flood through the windows behind her. She was pouring over data displayed on her screen, muttering too herself... paranoid... and vulnerable. Target acquired.

As I waited for the moment to strike, the doors opened, and three people I'd come to recognise well in the last few hours, made their way into the office, guns drawn and pointed at the woman.

A turian and a krogan were led by a human female, it was an unusual but highly effective combination I'd found. The had arrived shortly after I had, unwittingly providing me with a useful distraction as they made their chaos. They were soldiers... not a shred of stealth in any of them, not that it seemed to matter. They were talented enough, the woman in particular.

It was because of her and her chaos that I had worked so fast.

The things I could do, the skills I possessed, had long been second nature to me. For the last ten years I'd been using them in my sleep, hardly paying any conscious thought to my actions, barely registering my day to day movements. I allowed my body to walk and talk, to lead me to my inevitable death by taking more and more contracts, each more demanding and more challenging than the last as I sought some semblance of an honourable death. I had been certain this job would finally give me that blessed relief... until this woman had interrupted.

I'd watched her carefully as I moved, taking note of her and her actions, her fighting style. She was a biotech with a penchant for close combat, using a charge to surprise and daze her enemies before ruthlessly shooting them a point blank range. If close combat truly was impossible or downright suicidal however, she would take a moment to clear the field some with well placed shots from an upmarket sniper rifle, her turian comrade and she appeared to have some kind of competition going, tallying up the number of head shots and kills they made in this manner while their krogan charged in regardless. Interesting woman, interesting enough that I'd taken something of a conscious interest in her. More so when it came to my attention that she was there not seeking revenge on Nassana as I'd first thought... but looking for me. I hadn't taken conscious interest in anything for almost ten years.

"Wait!" Nassana spoke. "Before you kill me, just tell me who hired you."

The woman put away her gun and, reaching up, undid the clasps on her helmet, lifting it away from her head. I found myself craning my neck a little, curiosity again getting the better of me. She'd not removed her helmet at all since she arrived... I wanted to see her face.

As she pulled the armour away, locks of unruly black hair that had escaped the knot at the back of her head fell in waves around her face. She had even, straight features, her nose long and sharp, her lips, shaped... but also sharp. She had a web of scars crossing over one side of her face, an unnatural orange glow seemingly emanating from them. It was her eyes that fixed my attention however, dark green, like her armour... and empty...no trace of emotion, no trace of care for the asari, or anyone else for that matter. The look was haunting in its familiarity, it was the same gaze I found whenever I looked into the mirror.

Nassana looked shocked. "Shepard! Ha! I suppose you find this all very ironic, first you kill my sister... now you're here for me... who hired you!" She demanded again.

Shepard crossed her arms over her chest and arched an elegant eyebrow. "Who do you think it was?"

The asari fixed her with a venemous gaze. "Screw you!"

"Charming." Shepard dead panned. She seemed completely uninterested in Nassana or her paranoia.

"Kill me then! I'm not playing your stupid games!" She turned away a moment to look over the rising sun... then she turned back to face her obvious intruder. "Well, you've made it this far, now what?"

Shepard rolled her emerald eyes and heaved an irritated sigh. "I wouldn't waste my time hunting you down Nassana." Her voice was icy cold.

The asari almost laughed. "What do you call this!" She exclaimed, raising her hands up to indicate around herself. "You practically destroyed my towers!"

"I wasn't looking for you."

Nassana began to pace, her nerves getting the better of her, making her more anxious... more paranoid. A window of opportunity was opening. Nassana was focused on Shepard, certain the solider was the only threat. "What the hell are you talking about?" She snapped. "Is it credits! Is that what you want? Just tell me your price and we can make this problem go away..."

Shepard shook her head a little and rolled her eyes at the floor. "All the credits in the world won't make this problem go away Nassana."

I shifted a little in the vent, preparing my move. I wasn't able to entirely silence my movements, one of the eclipse guards looked up and around wildly, catching the attention of her employer.

"What!" Nassana snapped.

"I heard something."

"Damn it! Check the other entrances! You..." She rounded on Shepard. "Stay put."

The merc moved away... one pace... two paces... I dropped from the shaft into the room behind the first of her guard. The human man didn't know I was there until he felt my fingers on his head, snapping his neck cleanly before moving to the second guard, breaking him with a heavy upwards punch to the chin. Both men had fallen before Nassana even finished her sentence. I drew my gun, shot the final guard, spinning round and kicking the pistol Nassana had drawn from her hand. I grabbed her wrist, pulled her close, my gun nestled against her abdomen and with a seconds prayer... I pulled the trigger.

Nassana gasped in shock, hardly having had time to register what had happened before realising that she was dying. Respectfully I took the back of her head and carefully laid her on her desk, folding her arms over her chest as the life finally left her eyes. She was dead.

I clasped my hands, bowing my head... and prayed.

"Impressive." I heard the turian say. "You certainly know how to make an entrance." I didn't answer, my prayer not finished.

There was a moment of quite before Shepard spoke. "I was hoping to talk to you."

She'd taken a few steps towards me... I heard her movement, felt it on the wind. "Forgive me... prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken."

"Do you really think she deserves it?"

I finished my homage and looked up at her, meeting her dead eyes with my own. "Not for her... for me." My words sparked some curiosity in her, it lit her eyes slightly... though... that might have been the dawn light behind me. I began to move around the desk. "The measure of an individual can be difficult to discern by actions alone. Take you for example, all this destruction, chaos... I was curious to know how far you would go to find me." I halted in front of her. "Well... here I am."

She arched her eyebrow again. "How did you know I was coming at all?"

"I didn't." I confessed as I moved passed her to carefully inspect her companions. I didn't flinch from their guns, I'd long lost any fear of them. "Not until you marched through the front doors and started shooting."

She shrugged. "Doors are the conventional way too enter a building."

I looked back at her, surprised by her words... more surprised by a flash of mischief that passed through her eyes... then... like a candle that had been blown out as soon as it was lit, it was gone. I looked away again, the cold emptiness haunting me still. "You disrupted my plan." I told her. "But you proved a valuable distraction."

"You used me to kill her?" She didn't sound angry that I had killed Nassana, more that I had dared to use her for my own ends.

I shrugged slightly. "I needed a distraction, you needed to speak with me." I paused as she motioned for her men to holster their guns. "You certainly fulfilled your end of the bargain. What would you like to discuss?"

She heaved a heavy sigh, "There's a race called the collectors. They're been abducting entire human colonies. I'm going to teach them why that's a bad idea." Her voice dropped a note, became darker and a little husky. She was furious.

I turned to face her. "Attacking the collectors requires passing through the Omega four relay... no ship has ever returned from doing so."

Her lips curved into a slight smile that didn't reach her eyes. "They told me it was impossible to get to Ilos too."

I matched her smile. "True. You have built a career on performing the impossible." I looked back at the corpse on the table, frowning a little. "This was to be my last mission." I paused a moment, thinking how best to explain. In truth, I saw no easy or gentle way to put it. "I'm dying." I said bluntly. "Low survival odds don't concern me. The abduction of your colonists does."

Shepard moved to stand next to me, leaning on the edge of the desk. Again she folded her arms over her chest. She was frowning. "I hadn't heard that. Is there anything I can do?"

Her question was not what I'd expected from a woman I'd witnessed killing so ruthlessly only moments before. I looked up in surprise and saw genuine concern on her face... which only served to surprise me more. "Giving me this opportunity is enough." I assured her. "The universe is a dark place. I am trying to make it brighter before I die." I turned to face her properly. "Many innocents died today, I wasn't fast enough and they suffered. I must atone for that." She didn't seem to understand what I meant and I didn't feel like explaining... not now. So I gave her what she wanted. "I will work for you Shepard. No charge."

The Normandy was what I expected from a group such as Cerberus. Well built, well supplied and worked by crewmen distrustful of me. Admittedly it seemed they distrusted me not for my race but for my occupation, which was understandable. The man who greeted me in the CIC, Mr Taylor, seemed particularly distrustful. Shepard however, paid no heed to the mans warnings, dismissing what he said with barely contained boredom. She gave me leave to stay in the life support area of her ship, where she felt I would be most comfortable. It was barely an hour before she stopped by to see if I had settled in.

"Do you have everything you need?" She asked me as I stored my guns in the case on the wall.

I looked round at her as she asked. "Yes thank you."

She gave a short nod and looked over the sparse furnishings. She was a relatively quite woman for a commander I decided. Though she was always blunt about her mission, she never said or revealed anymore than was necessary about herself. She stood in the gangway just forward of the door, her arms crossed over her chest, her customary stance when not in combat... defensive, though she didn't seem paranoid. If anything she bordered on fearless.

"About this... condition of yours..." She said after a moments thought.

"Yes. I thought you'd want to know more." I finished putting away my guns and moved to sit at the table, offering the opposite seat to her. She declined with a wave of her hand. "It's called keprals syndrome." I told her. "You needn't worry, it's not communicable... even to other drell."

She shook her head. "That's not what I meant."

I raised my brow ridges in her direction. "Oh?"

"Normandy has a state of the art medical bay... not to mention a mad salerian scientist in the CIC... maybe we could help."

Again she was being genuine. I weaved my fingers together in front of me. "No thank you. It's being attended too."

She frowned, displeased with my response. "Seriously?"

I smiled a little. "Seriously. The hanar are funding research into the condition, though by the time the find anything I doubt my body will still draw breath."

"What does it do?" She asked as she strode across the room, arms still crossed over herself, to stare out of the window at the drive core.

"Excuse me?"

"Keprals syndrome? What does it do exactly?"

I shifted a little in my chair. This was more the question I'd expected to have to answer for her. "My people are native to an arid world." I explained. "The hanar rescued some of us from extinction. Kaje however, is a humid planet and our people are not adapting fast enough to the new climate. The moisture in the air damages our lungs, preventing them from absorbing oxygen... eventually... we suffocate."

I saw her reflection in the glass frown deeply, wrinkles appearing on her head and between her eyes. "How long have you got?"

I shrugged a little. "Between eight to twelve months. The longer I spend in humid environments the faster the illness progresses."

"Noted." She heaved a sigh, her breath fogging the glass for a moment.

"By the time I am incapacitated we will be victorious or dead. I will not be a burden to you... this will not affect my work."

She turned to face me, those cold eyes looking over my face before fixing me with an empty glare. "You're at peace with this."

It wasn't a question. But I confirmed it anyway. "I have accepted my body's death."

She nodded. "Alright Mr. Krios." She pushed herself away from the wall and finally dropped her arms from around herself. She was wearing a short black dress made out of a leathery material that clung to her body like a second skin, giving me a second to admire that though she was human, she was well formed... and very beautiful. The outfit seemed at odds with what I'd learned about her persona however... it made me wonder why she wore it.

She turned to leave and my eyes followed her... I noticed a mark on her shoulder blade, partially concealed by the dress. The mark was mirrored on the opposite side and I realised she had a full back tattoo. What the design was exactly, I couldn't see. Before I could think to ask, she had left, the life support doors closing after her.

AN: OMG, do you guys have any idea how hard it is to get into Thanes head! Bah... hope I did ok all things considered. Honestly I've tried writing this fic over and over again and this is the best I've managed to come up with for a beginning, what I've learned from my efforts is that no one character seems able to tell the full story, so my plan is to alternate POV, one chapter from Thane, one from Shepard... then back to Thane and so on. Wish me luck! ^^