Chapter 1

Something Impossible

Staring at the floor wasn't helping nearly as much as I had hoped it would. The sense of someone's eyes on me was unnerving. I bit my lip as I rubbed my palms together, trying to do anything to keep from shaking, to keep from shouting out. Why wouldn't he just say something? Anything.

"Please," I begged, "Please, just say something!"

"What do you want me to say?" He asked.

I looked up at him and found green eyes staring back at me, searchingly darting over my features, trying to find some grain of dishonesty. But I couldn't be dishonest, not about this, not with my mind in such a panicked state. I was frightened of all of this. Terrified. And he just kept staring at me, making it worse with every passing second. When I didn't answer I heard him sigh, and then the shuffling of movement as he stood and walked over to the window and looked out into the void.

"I've looked into what you told me," He said, drawing my attention. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his head turned to glance back at me. "I haven't had the time to fully sort it all out, but that's why I had you write it down for me."

"What will you do?" I asked.

He turned to face me fully, "I will act. I believe you... or at least, I'm willing to for the moment. Your story is certainly outlandish, but so were the circumstances in which we found you. Whatever the truth is, I suppose we'll find out in three days time, won't we?"

I let out a sigh of relief, thankful that I had at least that much for now. But then my thoughts swirled around and I was back to worrying again. What would happen now? What would actually change? Where do I go from here?

"We're approaching the Relay," He said, turning back around, "Once we've docked you'll come with me. I haven't had time to sort everything out, but I've had enough to start acting on. Our first course of action will be to check your health. I'm not sure what the effects will be like, but I'm certain there will be something. As far as I know, no one has ever been exposed to so much eezo before. That you're alive at all is a miracle in itself. Not only that but you've yet to show any symptoms of complications, something that shouldn't be possible." I nodded as he began walking to the door, "When you're ready meet me on the bridge."

I waited until the door had shut behind him and then slumped forward, putting my face in my hands. I could hardly comprehend my situation. This was the sort of thing that you daydreamed about, not the sort of thing that actually happened. When daydreaming it always seemed like it would be so cool, so exciting. Reality was a lot harsher. I was terrified and couldn't think straight. I wanted to hide, to close my eyes and wake up to find it was all just a really vivid dream. I tried thinking back, but the last thing I could remember from before several hours ago was walking into my house, and then... nothing. I had a few images and sounds in my mind, but nothing solid enough or clear enough to identify. I looked at the door and repeated his name in my head again, as though to cement in my mind the reality of it.

Nihlus.

"Why have we stopped?" Nihlus asked as he stepped onto the ships bridge.

"Uh, well, sir," the Turian sitting in the pilots seat said, "We're getting some odd readings from the relay, and the exteriors cameras show..."

"Show what?" Nihlus pressed.

"Well, we could be wrong sir," the Salarian in the co-pilots seat said as he turned to face the Spectre, "But... it looks like a body."

"A body?" Nihlus asked in disbelief.

"Yes, sir," the Salarian said as he tapped his console and brought up a screen that showed a close up of the Relay's core. Nihlus leaned in to look at it and furrowed his brow as a small black splotch appeared near it's bottom and began to drift upwards. The Salarian tapped something else and the image changed to show a line spiraling around the core, originating from its center. "We've tracked the revolutions and came up with this model. From the looks of it, the body actually came out of the center of the core and has been orbiting it for several hours. The orbit has been getting wider and wider at a constant rate and should break free in about thirty-seven minutes, at which point..." The Salarian tapped at the console again and the image changed to a single curved line moving away from the relay, "The body will be expelled along this trajectory."

Nihlus stared at the screen as his mind raced. This was too odd, and too unlikely to just leave it be. He turned to the pilot, "Set us along that trajectory with the airlock right in the center of it."

The Turian blinked at Nihlus as he realized what was being asked before quickly turning to the controls, "Yes sir. Adjusting position now... the body should reach us in the next forty minutes."

Nihlus nodded his approval and stayed on the bridge, patiently waiting while the pilot and co-pilot quietly spoke to each other about the absurdity of the situation. They waited until the body was to finally break free, and looked on in awe as it was flung towards them, seemingly encased in a cloud of raw eezo that was gradually fading. As the body neared, the outer airlocks doors were opened, and as soon as it had passed through them, it shut and began the decontamination process before the inner doors opened, and they found a young human unconscious but somehow, beyond reason, alive.

When Nihlus received word several hours later that the human had woken, he went to see him. The human's reaction to his arrival was unexpected, and disconcerting. Nihlus had been expecting a barely aware man with a very addled mind. What he encountered instead was an alert, terrified young man who looked as though...what was the human saying? Seen a ghost? When Nihlus had approached, the human flinched away before seeming to realize what he'd done and forcing himself to relax as much as he could. "What's your name?" Nihlus asked.

The human frowned at him and shook his head, "I can't understand you."

Nihlus looked to the human doctor standing near by with a chart, "He doesn't seem to have a single implant, not even the basic translators, or even haptic feedback nodules." The doctor turned to the human, "He asked what your name was."

The human looked from the doctor to Nihlus and shakily spoke, "Dazac. My name is Dazac. Dazac Praeletum."