Well, the inspiration of this fanfiction came from fan-made video clip explaining Lore of Elsword, and for some reason, Youtube's recommendation link turned out to be Velvet Room theme from Persona game and I somehow interested in it.

And the way of those hexagon rings revolving around Eve; well, let just say that her in-game 'Special Move Portrait' looks uncannily similar to Arpeggio of Blue Steel Mental Model (Anime version) and then add in Dr. Light theme from Megaman X to the mix and… you got this…

This's quite a very crazy idea, as you can see in the inspirations and by the story title, so I'm not quite sure how to follow up from here. Any suggestion will be helpful.

And by the by, Even you don't have knowledge of what Elsword is, this fanfic still readable as most of it'll be hinted, or explained, or show in the fanfic as the story progress.

Disclaimers: Elsword belongs to KOG Studios and Mass Effect belongs to Bioware respectively.

Journey of the Machine Architect

Beta Read by: Rosamanelle

Chapter 1: Strange Dream

High on the great metallic spire that stood amidst the center of civilization, a lone, slim, feminine figure stood on the highest balcony. Basking in shadows of the moonless night, she observed the prosperity of a civilization that grew so much in the past few years, slowly recovering from the catastrophe befalling the entire world in the form of selfish of men and demonic invasions decades ago. Seeing the city below, one would find it nigh impossible to imagine what kind of hardship, bloodshed and sacrifice these people had been through to make this peace reality.

That's what the figure couldn't get out of her mind; despite the fact that the quest she vowed to complete since she fell from grace was finally coming to close, she couldn't – in good conscience – be happy about it when the price they had to pay condemned everyone she had come to care about to a fate worse than death until the end of the World…

Her satisfaction was fleeting; in her moment of triumph, where she reclaimed what was rightfully hers, the satisfied grin she plastered on her face fell apart and was replaced with a sorrowful expression once she realized that she was alone. None of her friends were there to cheer for her, to greet her with sunny smiles that were so different from the carefully polite grins subordinates gave to their masters.

In other words, they sacrificed their futures so that she – and the rest of the world – could continue their lives and rebuild the world.

"You never know how precious something is until it's forever gone…" The figure muttered sadly, glancing at the starry sky. "I never realized the true meaning of that saying until now…"

"Perhaps focusing on your goal caused you to blindside everything else around you…"

The slightly metallic, sarcastic quip made the girl to whirl around, coming face-to-face with another figure that had appeared by the door. Darkness shrouded the newcomer from view, yet two golden lights shone from where the eyes should've been with two crystal blue orbs glinting gently and providing a rough outline of the newcomer.

The silence between the two didn't last for long, the woman on the balcony speaking first. "It seems I have become an unwanted guest already, haven't I?"

The golden eyes shook, as if the newcomer shook their head, before returning to stare at the woman. A quiet sigh escaped the newcomer. "Quite the contrary; it is good to see you again after all this time." She paused. "But… To see you mulling over the past like this… It feels a bit… how should I say this? Out of character? I guess that's what you humans would call such unusual behavior."

"The past, present, and future mean little to me, who has outlived everything…" The woman replied, before remarking solemnly. "Yet, our interaction over the past few years… my bonds, they shaped me from an ignorant overlord to what I am today, gaining the qualities that lead to my dethronement in the first place."

Both continued to observe the other, until the woman with the golden eyes broke the silence. "I guess fate has brought you here tonight… How convenient."

The first woman stared at her blankly. "What?"

The woman with golden eyes slowly stepped forwards until she was an arm's reach away, looking up at the stars. She spoke bluntly, something that she did whenever she was serious. "I'll be departing soon from this land… perhaps this realm as well."

The first woman blinked, her eyes glowing an eerie blue in the starlight as a strange feeling – the fear of losing yet another friend, one that could keep her company until the universe ended – surged through her. Closing her eyes, she spoke tiredly. "May I ask why?"

The following reply was half-expected, although she wished it wasn't the answer. "I am going to find a way to help our friends."

The scowl that had etched itself onto her face when she wasn't paying attention slowly turned into a sad smile as she acknowledged the other's resolve. She had never felt such a thing since her companions were continuously reduced until only she, her butler, and this woman were left. It pained her to think that there would be a day when she was all that was left of the legends they forged together during the darkest of times through fire, sweat, blood, and tears – and that that day was approaching quickly.

Ironically, she wasn't exactly heroic herself, as it was her dethronement and, subsequently, the fall of other peace-loving factions from power that caused the first dominoes to fall, the rest of the whole mess following.

A sin, albeit not wholly her fault, that would haunt her until the ends of the world and the end of her life.

As if knowing what she was thinking, her companion spoke. "What is done is done. I won't ignore their sacrifices, but I refuse to acknowledge that there is no other way, a way that doesn't require eternal suffering on their part."

The woman's words sounded arrogant, but the other woman knew that to dismiss something as impossible is just as good as admitting that you've lost. She hated losing; that much she could agree with her companion.

Still, as she was currently the eldest in their group – not including the Elven woman who also got the short end of the stick – she couldn't help but speak from experience, a sad expression hidden by the night. "As much as I loathe letting them be trapped there until the end of time, it will take too long to find a solution." Her shoulders slumped. "I don't want to leave them, but I don't want them to be free only to find that the world has moved on and death has claimed everyone they know. It'll only bring grief and suffering as bad, or worse than what they already know."

The golden-eyed woman seemed unfazed. "They would do the same… He would do the same."

Blue eyes widened, before the woman chuckled. "True, very true." She stopped laughing, her tone returning to its prior seriousness. "Can I join you on this quest? You know that I don't want them to be in there, just like you."

Although the glowing, golden eyes lacked expression, her voice did nothing to hide her stern tone. "No, you can't."

Anger flashed through blue eyes as she practically growled at the other. "And why is that?!"

Golden eyes, still unfazed by the threatening tone, spoke smoothly and flatly. "Your home and your people have been taught for generations by your usurpers – groomed into obedient war machines, neglecting everything else." The woman with gold eyes sighed, pity coloring her next words. "Most of them are more machine than a new generation Nasod from what I've seen, and that's saying something."

Unable to rebut the statement, she refused to be left out. Especially when the golden-eyed woman was a walking hypocrisy at its finest. "As if your position isn't the same as mine; you know, tugging on the leashes of the unruly children in our reforming civilizations."

Golden eyes blinked twice, before she answered. "There is a more fitting leader than I, one who survived the ancient war. And as a precaution," she added quickly when the blue-eyed woman tried to argue, "my servants will help her when it is needed."

The blue-eyed woman nodded slowly before speaking. "But they are your servants… wait, don't tell me… You're going to do this without their help?!" Seeing the other woman nod in confirmation, the blue-eyed one hissed. "Are you serious?! Don't make me laugh! As if those three –"

The golden-eyed woman cut her off. "They have lives of their own." She looked straight at the blue-eyed woman. "I cannot and will not force them to come with me for this personal matter. I promised them that they will have a live of their own – to be free of my command once the Nasod race is restored – and I intend to keep it that way."

Noticing the conviction in the owner's voice, the noblewoman couldn't help but drop the matter. It was no use trying to convince the woman, all of her reasoning was sound. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she had lost the argument.

As if noticing her worries, the other woman spoke once more. "I managed to reproduce one of that man's achievements when Elrios was still young. Chronos's Library." She continued slowly, allowing the other woman to absorb the information. "It was built in a separate dimension, sealing them in a place where the flow of time is different from here. I will have plenty of time there if it's maintained properly."

"And your supplies?"

"I have enough to rebuild this city thrice over. But I doubt I'll need that much… Besides, it's not like I can't gather what I find on other planes of existence." The seamless answer sparked the curiosity of the blue-eyed noble as she wondered how big this 'Library' really was, but it was neither the time nor place to discuss such frivolities.

"As long as I don't return to this plane, there will be time to explore. Even a single universe is large, so I may not be able to scour every nook and cranny, but even a few solar systems will do."

"You're not making sense again." The Noblesse did know what a solar system was, but she was more confused as to why her friend had to search through hundreds of alternate universes by herself.

The she couldn't help but snicker inwardly; as if those three would abandon their mistress because she asked them to. They weren't loyal because she promised them things, it was because she gave them life and care throughout all of their hardships. They were friends with those who were sealed away too; they would understand and never leave her alone.

The Noblesse would bet her entire treasury that those three would be waiting at the Library for her, taking off of Elrios whether their renounced mistress would allow it or not.

Shrugging, she settled for smiling mischievously, knowing that her friend would see it despite the darkness. "Being in a high position with no replacement sucks. I would've gone with you too, another adventure for me! Ah, freedom…" She spread her arms wide as if to encompass the sky.

The golden-eyed woman sighed. "It was the situation that forced your hand. I know how you feel."

The first woman huffed. "Yeah, yeah, no need to rub salt in my wounds." She paused, looking at her friend. "Come back safely, alright?"

Her friend turned to leave, but not before saying farewell. She had no doubt how long it would take her to complete her task. From the Noblesse's perspective, it would only be a few months, years at the most. But for her, she would face decades, perhaps centuries or millennium, of isolation.

As the golden-eyed woman disappeared, the Noblesse shook her head before disappearing in a flash of light.

The morning bell rang throughout the private quarters of the SSC Normandy's newest captain, waking the owner from his deep sleep. The man sat upright in his bed, dark-brown eyes blinking rapidly to drive away any lingering lethargy.

As the man got up, he looked at his reflection in the mirror, or rather, a blank monitor on the wall near his work desk. Nothing was out of the ordinary, from the plain uniform he wore to his neatly shaved head.

"What a dream…" He murmured, moving out of his quarter to pick up his grey armored space suit from the general storage next door. Despite the fact that he should be marveling at the new gear he was authorized to use just yesterday, or be ecstatic over his promotion like the crew members on the ship – both new and old – he simply couldn't, his thoughts occupied by his latest dream.

It seemed that since that ancient artifact from a long lost civilization was discovered, he just couldn't get a peaceful, dreamless night's sleep. Even though it was the 22nd century – the age of the spacecraft – John Shepard [3] couldn't help but wonder if occultism wasn't just some superstition, especially when practiced by ancient, extinct aliens.

Maybe he was so desperate to see something better than a jumbled mess of pictures and static visions of the apocalypse that befell the Prothean civilization fifty thousand years ago that the damn artifact decided to tell him to keep his nose out of it by sending him this dream, but he'd be more thankful if it stopped altogether.

Yet, the dream was so coherent, and his could recall even the smallest of details in better clarity than the Prothean's jumble. He put his armor on, checking the gear over. It still made no sense at all; what was with that vision of a city under a starry sky as two females – as far as he could tell – talking to each other under the shadows of a towering skyscraper? They spoke in a familiar language, one that he was quite certain was English, about a rescue mission. Maybe he was thinking about finding Dr. Tsoni too much, so much that it was integrated into his dreams.

Really, the sooner he found Liara Tsoni and had her sort out the mess in his head the better. Whether she's associated with her mother, Benezia, or not was going to take the backseat; after all, he couldn't be expected to fulfill his duty or save the galaxy from the treasonous SPECTREs if he was questioning his own sanity like this.

Once he adorned his usual armor and was prepared to leave the locker room, Shepard couldn't help but shake his head at the not-so-downcast expressions of the crew members that were changing shifts. He knew that no one on the ship was uncooperative or unfriendly towards him, they were simply unhappy because their mission – his mission, really – had to be postponed for a while.

Why Shepard didn't see this coming was beyond him. Then again, there was the disastrous mission on Eden Prime, then running around the Citadel in hopes of finding incriminating evidence of Saren's betrayal, and subsequently, running into Garrus and Krogan mercenaries that were also after such evidence – and, after that, being lucky enough to find and save the holder of the evidence who chose to came to this Citadel instead of being somewhere else in the vast galaxy, then the whole presenting-the-evidence-to-the-Council business, it's not a surprise he forget that anyone's ship would be seriously damaged after such an expedition, not to mention that the ship he was on was only a prototype. Of course she had to be examined for flaws and failing components before she could leave.

Running into unpredicted combat didn't help the situation, either. If anything, it pushed the engineers, human and Turian alike, to ground the ship for at least a week of checkups.

To be frank, even Shepard had to agree with them, for two main reasons. One, he didn't have enough money to purchase another ship and hire another crew, unless he wanted to be in massive debt. To his mild frustration, SPECTRE status didn't mean that the Council supplied him with the necessary equipment, and he had to buy things out of his salary instead. A darker part of his mind said that it was a way to spite him and humanity's ambitions, as he couldn't recall any secret agents in human history that had to purchase their own equipment like this at all.

Secondly, as much as he wanted to end Saren and his Reaper Geths (and hopefully, this stupid dream) as quickly as possible, he disliked the idea of his ship breaking down during a mission because of faulty equipment – which could waste a few hours fixing things up, or end up with them being shot down by a ground-based GARDIAN because the stealth field failed to work as they tried to land – with a prototype you never knew what would happen. And Shepard wasn't going to leave things up to chance if he could help it.

On the bright side, the checkup didn't require everyone to get out due to the advancement of the Omni-tool and all of the gadgets. Shepard couldn't imagine how much it would cost to host all of the crew in some hotel, as he doubted that Udina would be willing to find shelter for them given his attitude.

So, he decided that if he was going to be stuck here for a week, he might as well do something useful in the meantime.

After checking for his equipment in the main locker, Shepard heard the gunnery chief he had rescued on Eden Prime call out to him, her armor already worn and ready to go on a mission. "So skipper, what's our mission for today?"

Looking around the cabin, Shepard noticed that most of his newly assembled team was present. First were the two humans, the Gunnery Chief William and the Sentinel, or Biotic user, Kaidan, saluting him respectfully at their place next to the holographic table. The Turian C-Sec officer clad in his uniform battle armor, Garrus Vakarian, polished his rifle – bought with Shepard's money, because it was SPECTRE quality and the Council couldn't be bothered to pay for that – calmly next to the human duo. Wrex the Krogan Battlemaster-turned-Mercenary leaned against a wall, flashing reptilian teeth in a grin towards Shepard – a grin that looked like it expected to see someone's head roll soon. Shepard, with all of his experience and conviction, knew that the Krogan was probably right, as a 'peaceful' errand rarely remains peaceful.

Finally, his gaze settled on the last member, who also happened to be the hardest to read due to the helmet and opaque visor that hid her expression from view, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. She was fidgeting with her Omni-tool, no doubt excitedly calculating and planning out all the tinkering she could do to improve the Normandy. Everyone knew that she was ecstatic to get a chance to board the most advanced ship in the galaxy.

Shepard sighed, before answering the previous question, clapping to get the attention of his peers. "All right. For today, considering that our only spaceship is still undergoing maintenance, I'll be visiting Dr. Michel. After all, she only just got out of the frying pan thanks to… certain business."

The Turian C-Sec put down his rifle, responding almost immediately. "Please, Shepard. We know exactly what kinds of problems we've caused her."

The masked Quarian nodded, adding in her two cents as she rubbed the formerly wounded area that Dr. Michel had treated. "I want to ask you for shore leave so I can check on her as well. After all, it was my fault that she got caught in the crossfire. I was the one who was careless and got shot by those thugs."

Nodding to the two aliens, Shepard knew that everything had been decided. "So you two are coming with me." Tali and Garrus nodded in confirmation. Satisfied, Shepard turned to the remaining members. "Are you guys coming as well?"

Wrex spoke first. "I guess I'll be taking a stroll, then. There's no point in sitting around and doing nothing, and I don't think I'll be welcome in the Clinic, especially with my appearance." He grinned wryly. "I might end up scaring off the patients."

Shepard swore that he saw the Gunnery Chief's eyebrow twitch before she turned to him. "If you don't have any assignments for me, Skipper, I'll probably turn around with Wrex."

Shepard saw this one coming, what with her not-so-subtle xenophobic tendencies that were made clear the moment he accepted Garrus's help the other day – that and the expression she made when he let Wrex and Tali join their little band. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what she wanted to do with Wrex; she obviously wanted to keep an eye on him and keep him out of trouble. Shepard couldn't exactly vouch for the aged Battlemaster, either, since they had literally just met yesterday. Oh, joy.

But, in an attempt to prevent her from going overboard – Shepard wasn't naïve enough to think that Ashley would be able to stop Wrex by herself if she pushed him past her limits – he turned to another one of his squad mates. "Alenko, would you mind accompanying Wrex and William?"

At least he could trust Alenko to watch over both of them.

"If that's all, Tali, Garrus, check over your gear and meet me at the cargo bay in fifteen minutes."

"You sound like you're expecting something to happen," Garrus remarked, causing Shepard's eye to twitch. He sighed.

"Let's just say that after one fiasco after another, I don't want to leave anything up to chance."

'I totally jinxed myself, didn't I?' Shepard thought as he staggered tiredly back into the Normandy late that evening alongside the rest of his team. They passed by a pair of engineers that were checking the electronic doorframes, the rest of the cargo bay silent.

He had had enough. First they had to deal with a blackmailer trying to corner Dr. Michel. Then they ran into Volus at the C-Sec headquarters, who asked for help because a Salarian was threatening his life. Then, upon talking to the Salarian, he asked them to help him scan the Keeper of Citadel – something he couldn't do due to the gray areas of the law. They then barely avoided an armed confrontation, and then proceeded to run around the Ward and scanning those green bug things so they could leave in peace.

As if that wasn't enough, they then ran into a bartender who asked him to talk to C-Sec and relieve his sister of her duties as an undercover agent. In order for that to happen, they had to talk to the preacher Hanar and try to convince him to leave Presidium as a favor for C-Sec. All he really wanted right now was a hot dinner, a bath – hopefully the engineers didn't tamper with those too much – and a good night's sleep.

Although running around the Citadel was physically tiring, the intense negotiations – which could turning talking with your words into talking with your gun with one wrong word – were mentally draining. Shepard considered himself lucky that he hadn't collapsed from exhaustion, both physical and mental, yet and have Garrus drag him back to the Normandy.

Really, he preferred shooting the skin off of the bad guys instead of talking, but the people he met today weren't really evil. Some of them were just doing their job, so he couldn't turn them into beehives. Not only would he be seen as ruthless, but the reputation of humanity – and the faith Anderson had in him to uphold that goodness – would plummet as well.

Kaidan seemed to share his sentiments as well, as his mission wasn't exactly 'peaceful observation' either. They had ended up running into a cash funneling in the gambling center. Failing to keep his mouth shut, he ended up prompting a giant Lizard to get curious and 'convinced' him to go on a merry chase around the Citadel. Add in a rogue Artificial Intelligence that tried to suicide bomb over top of him, Wrex, Ashely, and other civilians, it wasn't hard to see why.

The results were hardly surprising; the crew sat at the table and ate their respective meals in silence. Predictably, the only one not in the mess hall was Tali. She had taken her share of food and fled, much to the disappointment of a few crew members who wanted to know what the Quarian looked like under the mask.

This sentiment was immediately frowned upon by Shepard. She may have followed them on this mission out of her own culture and sense of justice, but she had every right to her own basic privacy if she wanted it.

Once the engineers finished for the day and left the ship, Shepard returned to his own quarters after he dropped off all his gears for maintenance in the general locker room, the automatic doors closing behind him with a hiss. He quickly tapped his Omni-tool, locking the door. He turned towards his bed and literally dropped on it, completely ready for some shut eye…

…Only for him to notice a strange, purplish glow from the corner of his eye. Training kicking in, he quickly rolled down the bed and got into a combat stance as no sidearm was readily available for him to use. He observed the potential danger to his ship and himself warily, deciding that it could possibly be an intruder as his brain finally registered what he was looking at.

The wall where his monitor and work desk had been was replaced by some strange, lavender bubble covered in dark purple cracks. The entire thing pulsated as if it was alive, shuddering every now and then.

Shepard decided on the most sensible course of action: he sounded the emergency alarm. To his surprise, although the alarm worked, no one attempted to reach him. His attempts to reach others was met with silence, and the distinct lack of people rushing to his quarters was slightly alarming.

He patiently, albeit warily keeping his eyes on the… thing, waited for reinforcements, but after five minutes he concluded that whatever this thing was, it had disabled all of his crew. He would have to get reinforcements from the dock, then. Although it was ironic – he, as a SPECTRE, should be able to handle anything thrown at him! – safety came before anything, and being in the same room as the strange phenomena etched onto his wall definitely didn't seem safe to him.

Yet, as he opened the door to leave, Shepard realized that he wasn't looking at the crew quarters on the Normandy anymore. To be more accurate, he had no idea where he was at all. Was this a dream, or was this reality? It was hard to tell.

'This doesn't make any sense', thought Shepard as he gazed upon a long, dark hallway, a few blue lights glowing on the ceiling and floor to form a path of some sort. The hallway, which was unlike any Human or even Asari ship he had ever seen, looked, for a lack of a better word, advanced – and thanks to the rounded pillars that lined the sides of the hall, gave off an air similar to ancient ruins, like those of the Protheans. Except, unlike the Protheans, the pulsing, glowing lights in long lines that ran down the pillars and the hum of machines that came from everywhere, indicated that this place was still fully functioning. And well-kept, by the likes of it.

However, because of its ancient air, Shepard felt like he was in another dream that was influenced by that botched Prothean Beacon, but this time his Omni-tool was still functioning – as indicated by the yellow glow on his wrist.

Deciding to take advantage over the miraculous control he had over his dream body – he didn't think he would wake up from this dream anytime soon – Shepard turned around to look at the door he came through. It was still there, sticking out from the wall like bad wallpaper at the edge of the hallway, but it was closed and he couldn't pry it open. His only option left was to follow the hallway to wherever it led him.

"No use standing around, then," Shepard muttered, cautiously walking towards the end of the hallway. He hoped that he could get to the bottom of this, and that the mystery would be solved without having an Asari Archaeologist peek into his mind.

Soon the straight corridor curved, curves then turning into a downward slope. As Shepard walked down the corridor, the inner walls slowly disappeared, leaving only bare pillars and an unobstructed view of the admittedly impressive spiral he was currently walking down.

At the center of the spiral was a dark, spherical construct that was hundreds of meters wide, numerous pipelines arranged on its smooth surfaced. The pipes connected to something far above in the darkness and to the many pillars that lined the spiraling corridor. Shepard stepped towards the railing between a couple of pillars, leaning over to look at the structure better. By doing so, he saw the final circular platform. It housed a giant, glowing sphere, however he was too far away to see it clearly [1].

Shepard, in order to cut back on time, decided to climb down the pillar instead of walking the rest of the spiral corridor. There was nothing that prevented him from doing so; no sentry drones, no turret guns, no automatic defenses – something that Shepard half-expected to exist in such a strange facility – tried to gun him down, at least in his immediate vicinity. That, and the pillar had several places for him to grip, and a quick scan from his Omni-tool showed that it was sturdy and, most importantly, not booby-trapped.

Once he was a single level away from the bottom-most platform, he heard music. Its melody was melancholic, softly accompanied by the sound of a woman's wail. Looking for the source of the music, he spotted a lone figure standing on a small, raised platform that stood next to a walkway. The walkway led to the giant sphere that he saw earlier. Although his view was partially obscured by a pillar, Shepard could now see that the sphere was surrounded by several glowing, bright blue rings, and was almost painful to look at.

Silently, Shepard dropped onto the floor gently. A pillar blocked his line of sight of the figure from before, preventing it from noticing him too early in case it was hostile.

Slowly, Shepard peered around the pillar, taking a look at the only other being he'd seen in the strange place.

What greeted him was the sight of a humanoid woman surrounded by hexagonal holographic displays. They glowed an eerie blue, much like the rest of this place, instead of the yellow-orange of holographic technology the known Galaxy used. Her glowing, golden eyes were emphasized by blue streaks that looked like face paint under them, the object of their attention changing constantly as she looked at the seemingly ever-changing holographic displays, uncaring of her surroundings. But the features that stood out to him the most was her pale white skin that contrasted with the bright blue orb on her forehead. Even though it was partially obscured by her white bangs, it was clearly embedded into her forehead. Her ears also startled him – as opposed to organic ears, this woman sported a pair of black-and-gold cones, something that no organic being should have. He also took note of the small, silver tiara on her head. Some sort of royalty?

The woman was still, her pale hands decorated with loose-hanging, gold bracelets. Her arms were covered by elegant white arm sleeves, exposing her shoulders. The dress she wore was the same regal white, complete with black and pink trimming. A golden chest plate embedded with another blue crystal covered the bust of the dress, her feet bearing white, thigh-high boots. Although the combination was strange, it wouldn't look out of place in the Renaissance Era if Shepard's history lesson was correct.

Shepard observed the woman for a few more moments – it appeared that the only thing that she bothered to move was her eyes – as his mind began to flood with questions ranging from what this woman was to where he was and, dare he say it, was he really dreaming or was he insane?

His silent observation continued for a few more moments, before Shepard suddenly heard a mechanical whirring from behind him. Whipping around, fist raised, he prepared to punch the newcomer. Only for his fist to be grabbed by a… black-haired, humanoid robot in a white-and-pink 19th century maid uniform? Whose grip was quite literally a grip of steel? …What?

Its yellow eyes glowed fiercely from its pale, white face, glaring at him like one would glare at an unwanted visitor by a watchdog. Before Shepard could react, his other arm was grabbed. He sighed. There was no way to get his arm out of this vice grip with it still in one piece unless he does something to make this robot loosen its grip.

Out of instinct, Shepard immediately brought his foot up and smashed it into the robot's face, hoping that at the very least it would make it flinch and loosen its grip. But, in a manner reminiscent of an old, 1980s sci-fi film, all that accomplished was a dull, throbbing in his unfortunate unarmored foot, and an increase of the intensity of the robot maid's gaze. It stared at him disapprovingly, quickly twisting his arms behind his back to immobilize him. [2]

But, unlike the Terminator, the robotic maid merely restrained him instead of murdering him outright. A small comfort, really, even if this was just a dream. Or was it?

Then a melodic, yet oddly synthetic, female voice resounded in an equally odd language. The speaker was the woman whom he was previously observing; her words apparently prompted the maid to tie Shepard up carefully with a rope that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. The woman in white beckoned for him to be brought towards the platform.

Once Shepard reached the platform, herded the entire time by the robot maid, the woman in white gazed at him evenly with a straight, emotionless face. Her golden - clearly artificial - eyes scrutinized him carefully, a hand coming up to touch her chin as if mimicking those deep in thought.

Then she spoke again – her voice a bit less tinny this time, but still with a strange accent – in near-perfect English of all things. "Can you understand me?"

Seeing no reason to deny her question, Shepard nodded.

The woman clasped her hands together. Shepard could feel more than see that she was excited; her facial expression barely changed, just a slight upturn of her lips, and her voice was monotonous as it was before. "Wonderful! I never thought that humanity on another plane of existence would use the same language as ours. I thought I would run into a massive language barrier when attempting to communicate with you, but this speeds up the process. How curious."

Now it was Shepard's turn to look thoughtful. "What do you mean, 'different plane of existence?' And, pardon my rudeness, where exactly am I?"

The woman's expressionless eyes widened by the smallest degree, her head slightly tilting to the side. "My apologies. It appears I got too excited over the prospect of having someone to talk to after a millennia of solitude. I have forgotten to ask you: how did you get here?"

Shepard was unsure whether or not he should trust this woman. She had given off quite a few strange vibes since they began talking. But, seeing that the robot maid still held his ropes tight, he decided to try his luck. He frowned. "If I answer that question, can you order your maid to release me?"

It took a nod from the woman in white for the robotic maid to loosen her grip and her robe fell down disintegrate into nothing but mote of blue light before hitting the floor. He quickly checked his hands for injuries while the woman in white – who was apparently the robotic maid's master – spoke. "My apologies. Ophelia detected you sneaking around in a suspicious manner. It was her decision to detain you." Then she muttered, partially to herself, quietly. "It is quite the coincidence that Oberon and Ferdinand were in their maintenance pods, else we would have detected you long before now."

Shepard quirked an eyebrow at the woman's words. "You have two more robots serving you?"

His words seemed to trigger a switch in the woman. Her golden eyes narrowed slightly as she spoke coolly. "You may think of it that way, however we prefer the term 'mechanical life form.'" A soft chuckle escaped her lips. "As you can see, we are not mindless automatons, are we?"

Shepard's mind froze. "Did you just say that you're…?"

"Indeed." The woman curtsied, her head only dipping slightly in Shepard's direction. "My name is Eve. I am what you would call a 'robot' who resides in this Ancient Chronos Library."

The only human glanced around the vast… underground bunker? He wasn't sure. Then he spoke hesitantly. "It doesn't look Ancient at all."

The robot – Eve – chuckled. "Perhaps you are thinking of a library that is covered in books from ceiling to floor." She waved a hand around, motioning to the area. "Books filling every corridor, with dozens of desks on the ground level for visitors to enjoy whatever the texts may convey."

"We cannot find books made of materials like paper in the 22nd century, unless it's in an antique shop," Shepard explained, his arms crossed and eyes narrowed at Eve suspiciously. "So I can't help but think that you've been made recently. So: who made you?"

Eve subtly tilted her head, before avoiding the question altogether. Shepard couldn't decide if this was a good thing or not. "I believe that you fell into this place by accident, correct?"

After Shepard nodded, Eve walked down the platform. She faced him before gesturing towards said platform, her voice as serious as her monotonous voice allowed it to be. "Then we should talk as you lead us to where you came from. I am quite certain that a dimensional crack like this will not be stable for long. Unless you wish to be trapped here with us forever, I believe we should… get going."

Shepard stepped on the round platform, followed closely by Eve and the robot maid Ophelia. Once the three of them were on, strange, holographic rings made up by countless chains of hexagons appeared around them alongside a hexagonal monitor. Before Shepard could ask anything, the platform slowly floated up while Ophelia spoke for the first time. Her voice was, as expected, monotonous as well. "Where is the entrance you came in from?"

Shepard didn't waste any time in replying. "I think it's the uppermost lever, where the path is straight."

"The old gate on level C-13, then."

It took only a few seconds for the platform to reach the top lever, thanks to the lack of railings in the place. It floated next to the corridor and landed gently. Eve and Shepard stepped of, Eve turning back to speak to Ophelia. "Thank you, Ophelia. Would you like to come along and examine this anomaly?"

The maid's face remained stoic as she declined. "I'm sorry, Mistress, but I have to go back and wake up Oberon and Ferdinand. Considering that we have a glitch in our dimension pocket, I want to perform a full analysis of the library integrity as soon as possible."

"You sound heartless when you speak like that, you know." Eve remarked in a tone that Shepard could only describe as amused, despite the unnervingly calm glance she shot at him. "People may get the wrong idea about you."

"Oberon and I merely agreed that Mistress could use some company apart from us once in a while, especially since you have sealed yourself in this place for so long," The robotic maid replied emotionlessly, though her facial expression had already shifted to convey what she really felt – if a robot could feel. Shepard thought, as he looked at the smile that formed on the maid's lips. It looked a bit creepy, to be honest.

But, it seemed that the smile didn't disturb Eve in the slightest as she smiled back at her servant. Rather emotionlessly, mind you, but a smile nonetheless. "I appreciate you sentiment, Ophelia. However, all of you could enjoy some new company as well, no?" Then she added on to her thoughts. "Besides, we have to examine the crack in order to fix it, so we must accompany this man." She then turned to address him. "Speaking of which, what is your name?"

"Shepard," Shepard said with a slight smile. "John Shepard."

Eve nodded slightly. "A pleasure to meet you then, Mister Shepard." Then she turned back to her maid. "So, back to the question. Will you accompany us?"

Ophelia sighed. "As you wish, Mistress."

Eve shook her head, speaking in a way reminiscent of chiding an unruly child. "Ophelia…"

"No, Mistress. You deserve our respect, no matter how long ago the… incident occurred."

Eve, apparently seeing no reason to argue any further, gestured towards the corridor as the group started walking.

Shepard decided to start a conversation, hoping to gain as much information as possible. "If you don't mind, can you tell me where I am right now?"

Instead of getting a direct answer, which should have been typical for a synthetic being like her, Eve somehow interpreted the hidden meaning of his words. "I take it that you wish to know the nature of the place that you're in, not its name. Correct?"

As Shepard confirmed her question, she provided him with an answer – which was still confusing, to say the least. "This place exists between dimensional gaps. It does not connect to any normal plane of existence, those where normal beings are born in, live in, die in. My… servants… and I have all the time in the world here…"

As if she knew his thoughts, Eve spoke sagely. "From your reaction, I believe that this concept is a bit hard for you to wrap your head around in your… species, is it?"

Shepard corrected her through his next statement. "Not just my species, Eve; every known species in this galaxy believes that parallel dimensions and the like exist only in fiction."

That seemed to pique Eve's interest. She walked closer to him, her face coming almost uncomfortably close in her excitement. "So your people have reached the stars, and even met other life forms in the universe… That is an incredible achievement, Mister Shepard."

Somehow, the irony was not lost on Shepard, because in his – and the rest of the galaxy's – eyes, this synthetic just achieved an even more incredible feat that would make even the best Salarian scientist green with envy. Just her existence alone was a feat itself; the fact that she didn't try to kill him despite the fact that he was practically defenseless and intruding her home (he could only speculate, but he believed that this… facility was where she lived) was particularly impressive.

Wait.

Shepard's eyes widened as a thought crossed his mind. "If that's true, then where did you come from? Who is your creator? What is your purpose?"

Eve stared at him blankly, but did not reply. She continued to walk towards the end of the hallway, and forcibly dropped the subject when they arrived at the still-glowing door. The purplish glow had dimmed, but was still present.

Eve examined it quickly, holographic icons and rings springing to life around her. She gave it a final glance, before speaking quite seriously. "It seems that the door leading to your plane of existence is indeed unstable. There seems to be a glitch in the door's functions… Although that is nothing I cannot fix."

Shepard scratched the back of his head sheepishly, suddenly reminded of another problem. "Err, as much as I want to be optimistic, I have to say that my resting quarters are engulfed by this… phenomenon. I can't contact anyone in my own ship."

Eve's next words barely concealed her excitement, despite the fact that she was still concentrating on her equivalent of an Omni-tool. "Ah, so the other side of this door opens to your spaceship! I should have expected no less, as you claimed to have met many intergalactic species."

Shepard, who had gotten even more curious at this point, couldn't help but ask. "I don't mean to sound rude, but you make it seem like your own kind has yet to achieve space flight."

"No, we have not," came the reply from Ophelia, who had remained silent for the majority of the conversation. "Before we had sealed ourselves in this place, the outer world's technological development had yet to achieve space flight. Neither have we, for that matter."

Now that's interesting, Shepard mused. They have technology advanced enough to create such life-like synthetic being and this… pocket dimension? Yet they were – or claimed to be – unable to fly in space. If that was true, then the place he was dealing had no humans as he knew them – which was both relieving and worrying. Relieving, because he's not dealing with Nazi- err, Cerberus Super Science, and he was sure that the System Alliance didn't have this kind of fancy technology, either. Worrying, because he's not sure what to make of Eve's creators, and then the issue of Eve herself. Other than the fact that she was here for a long time and quite happy to have some company aside from her servants, he wasn't sure if she'd be friendly towards those outside of her domain.

Shepard's thoughts came to a halt as the doorframe let out a bright flash, dimming considerably. Hissing, the door opened to reveal his quarters. Eve turned to speak to him. "It is done. Please confirm that it leads to your plane of existence."

Stepping past the synthetic caretaker of the facility, he carefully surveyed the room on the other side of the door. Upon confirming that it was indeed his quarters on the Normandy he knew of, he turned back to Eve and smiled at the petite robot. "It's my quarters, all right."

Eve nodded, before elaborating. "Once you cross over to your plane of existence, the overlapping dimension barrier should drop and everything will return to normal on the other side." Then she paused, a slight smile gracing her pale lips. "In the process of fixing this glitch, you have the option to retain contact with this place via a door in your room. It is your choice to make, Mister Shepard. You may refuse this offer, if you would like."

Shepard quirked an eyebrow as he looked into those golden orbs. He realized what Eve was saying immediately; she was curious about his world and wanted to explore – or at least, get out of this place.

He knew that humanity's reputation would take a hit if he was found harboring a sentient synthetic being. Shepard also knew that since she would come out from the Normandy, there's literally no way to explain it otherwise. And, considering that he was made the first human SPECTRE just days ago, this wouldn't bode well for his position.

Yet, those weren't the most of Shepard's concerns: He was worried about Eve for many different reasons. She was essentially asking for permission to install a backdoor on his ship, and he couldn't help but be suspicious.

"Why are you helping me?"

Ophelia silently glanced between Eve and him, seemingly confused. Her mistress tilted her head, a hand touching her cheek before replying in a questioning manner. "Do I need a reason to help another, especially since their trouble came from a mistake on my part?"

Shepard partly expected for her to have some sort of ulterior motive, but another part of him told him she was telling the truth.

It seems that his poker face wasn't as good as he thought, as Eve looked at him with widened eyes and straight-to-the-point words. "Am I really so untrustworthy?"

Shepard, momentarily unhinged, quickly regained his composure. "Sorry… It's just that we don't have a very good impression of sentient synthetics, not since the day we discovered faster-than-light space travel. There's even an intergalactic law that allows anyone to terminate a synthetic that's attained sentience on sight. Anyone found researching this subject will be punished as well."

"Does my kin inhibiting your galaxy behave that badly?"

Shepard expected the question, and gave her a straight answer. "Every sentient synthetic we have met thus far has tried to kill all organic life forms. The law was passed and has been in practice for centuries now, which is why I am quite surprised that you are going against every expectation of a synthetic being we have here."

Eve's eyes narrowed slightly as her lip curled into a frown, deep in thought. It only lasted for a moment, thought, before she nodded in understanding. "I see. You are some sort of law enforcer, are you not?" A look of surprise etched itself onto Shepard's face before he could control it, causing Eve to chuckle lightly. "Your posture and the way you carry yourself positively reeks of such a profession, Mister Shepard. Is it so strange that I could make a logical guess?"

Shepard nodded tersely. "Yes, I'm part of the law enforcement."

His muscles tensed further as he noted Ophelia's sudden defensive stance, but Eve quickly defused the heated situation. "Ophelia, please stand down."

Although she looked unwilling, the robot maid quietly backed down, still taking a good position behind her charge in case she needed to act on a moment's notice. Shepard nodded gratefully to Eve, still remembering Ophelia's vice-like grip. Or perhaps her hands were equipped with actual vices? "Thank you."

Eve's small smile returned. "Trust has to start somewhere. If no one gives any, how can one receive such trust?"

Shepard could agree with her logic just fine. As he moved into his quarters, he quickly looked around and found that the 'door' was connected the right side of the wall. Strategic, as it was a blind spot for people looking in from the main hall.

Still, he didn't want anyone to find out about Eve as it could put her in danger. It had dawned on him a while back that she wasn't a synthetic designed for combat purposes, and if her Renaissance era get-up was any indication, she might very well be a diplomatic synthetic that was locked up because of contact with the galactic community. Who knows what the robotics research department did with their creations after the First Contact War?

Yet, looking at the curious little synthetic staring out at him from her domain, he couldn't help but pity her. She had to live in that place for god knows how long by herself with only a few servants for company. Even if her story about coming to that place voluntarily was true, the thought still left a bad taste in his mouth.

Shepard thought for a moment, before walking quickly over to his desk. He picked up his old Omni-tool – after becoming a SPECTRE he bought a new one, but hadn't had the time to get rid of his old one – and held it out towards Eve.

Predictably, at least in Eve's case, the white-haired synthetic took the object with interest. "What is this contraption, Mister Shepard?"

Suddenly Shepard began to feel tired again. Shaking away the feeling, he spoke quickly. "This is what is called an 'Omni-tool;' it's used as a personal computer, a micro-diagnostic and manufacturing tool, even for data storage…" He tapped the activate button, watching as the familiar yellow wireframe flared up. Then he proceeded to teach Eve the basics on how to use it, which seemed to keep her interested enough to stay quiet until he had finished.

But, once he had finished, Eve once again caught him off guard as she gave him a deadpan look. "You would like me to avoid contacting or entering the outside world."

"Umm…" Shepard grinned sheepishly. It was true; the Omni-tool he had given her didn't have any sensitive knowledge or military secret on it, only Codex and common knowledge on the galaxy. There was no real threat if he gave it to her and she turned hostile later on.

"I am not angry, Mister Shepard. Quite the opposite." Eve dismissed the notion with a knowing smile, toying with the Omni-tool carefully. "Actually, I must thank you for this… Omni-tool, and the fair warning of the danger ahead despite the fact that you are under orders to terminate me. For that I am grateful. Thank you."

As she stepped back into her domain, the glowing door slid shut silently. A blink later, the wall was once again normal.

Shepard pinched the bridge of his nose, a hand touching the wall where the door had been. Feeling nothing out of the ordinary, he dropped onto his bed, tiredness setting in so quickly that his eyes closed in sleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

"What a dream…" He murmured, his consciousness fading as the darkness embraced him.

Author's Note

[1] As you know, Most of our Battle Bravah is Station in... oops, I mean; the design of this place modeled after Nasod Core Stage 4-6 in the game.

[2] I know you want Shepard to be a badass who beat robot with bare hand, heck, I wish the same too. But the problem is; 1) This's Mass Effect 1 where he's still a normal human, not cybernetic enchanted super soldier from 2 onward, and 2) Even if the armor he worn is some sort of powered armor, but he's not in his armor, so do you expect it to went differently from when Kyle Reese (or was it Sarah Corner?) trying to punch T-800 in the first Terminator film? I don't think so…

[3] The default name the game gave you (the first one at least) when you're incredibly lazy and continuously pressing "next" or "ok" buttons to finish creating character and jump to the game as soon as possible. In case of FemShep, I think its default name is Jane or something like that.