Mass Effect: The Forgotten Soul

Chapter One, Memento Mori

"You have power over your mind-Not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength."

Cold... pain... His body convulsed to life, gasping for air. The pain of tens of thousands of needles ripped through every nerve, every muscle. He could feel his voice in his dry throat and chest as he choked down air, gagging and coughing along the way.

His hearing failed him. His vision was slowly being liberated from the darkness, but blindingly so.

His hands bound in steel shackles attempted to push himself up away from the panic but failed. Through the needles, his skin felt numb, the pressure of his body against the floor; it felt like loose meat between bone and plate.

At every pressure point, his skin made contact with, the needles intensified. His mind was panicked and scrambled with thoughts of hell and torment.

Every sense had betrayed him, screaming in chaos. His ears now added to the cacophony of his agony as it rang violently loud and cut out, only to hear the muffled internal sounds of his distressed heart pumping frantically. All he could do was wait until he perished.

The needles retreated, only reappearing when moving, and the deafening pumping of his heart turned into voices, A language he couldn't recognize from a deep demon-like voice.

Shattered thoughts began swimming in his mind now that the pain had become tolerable. His vision began to return ever so slightly. He could feel the cold air wash over him, and with almost careless relief, he thought death had taken him.

Martin looked up from his position on the concrete floor, shivering from the cold. A... man?

His sight must still be lost to him as this man had four eyes and sharp teeth, death, "I'm dead." He thought.

He looked away from the creature as the blurred sight of it made his heart race. He could hear more talking, this time something that sounded like orders were being given. One of the figures stepped over him, grabbed him by his damp shirt with both hands, and pulled him to his feet.

He quickly grabbed its forearms in a lazy refusal; another assisted the first and placed him against the room's wall, his legs barely able to stand.

The two demons left him there on display to the rest of the room. The blur from his eyes finally cleared away after wiping his eyes; he saw these four-eyed freaks standing before him. One, who seemed to be a leader dressed in a black uniform or suit with brown highlights, approached him. He pressed himself against the wall away from the thing coming to him.

The Demon stopped just inches from his face, a small scar above his left upper eye. The smell of it caught his nose and made Martin wince. The Demon examined him. He moved his face from side to side as if examining a cut of meat. His fear of seeing this repulsive creature soon turned to anger. His only thought was that these things must have caused his pain; hell wasn't too far now.

The Demon stepped away as he issued an order to the other two, and they aggressively grabbed Martin and pulled him away from the wall. One of them nudged him forward, then hit him with his rifle after Martin didn't move on the nudge.

"Kaf, Birajuu!" The one commanded.

Martin decided to play along as he was still recovering from whatever condition led him to this point.

As he began to walk towards the doorway, he could finally peek around the room; there was some kind of Pod near where he had been lying on the ground just a few moments earlier. Some computer-like devices looked plugged into the Pod and a pool of what appeared to be water.

He exited the room with the two demons in tow behind him. He was forced to use his chained hands to hold up his pants which were still heavy with water.