Mass Effect: The Forgotten Soul

Chapter Twenty-Three: End

The deafening silence slowly gave way to a buzzing ring in Martin's head, irritatingly waking him up from his slumber. He pushed himself slowly upright, aching and popping randomly as he shifted himself up. His body was stiff from the lack of action over the last few weeks spent recovering from his injuries. Spending so much time on the run, then suddenly not, seemed to have confused his body to think that rest was now torture. Nothing felt right; his head felt heavy, and his thoughts seemed to travel through a haze. His muscles ached and screamed for action, for the rush of blood. His joints burned and cracked with every movement. Pushing through this, he stood up, nearly losing his balance.
He stumbled around the apartment for a while before getting dressed and returning to the couch to sit down.   His eyes quickly darted around the room before becoming fixed on an odd dent in the wall just over the top of the fireplace. He couldn't break from it.   The background hum of the apartment began to fade as his mind seemed to focus on the dent. Within the silence, the ringing sound started returning, overtaking the hum. Unknown to him, his vision began to blur, and dent became unfocused.
His mind was devoid of any actual thoughts. If it weren't for his body's normal automated functions, he probably would have stopped breathing. For just a moment, he felt disconnected from his body; he could no longer feel the pressure of his body acting on the couch. His existence felt more of an afterthought than anything tangible at the moment.
Martin closed his eyes, and the immediate feeling of swaying sunk into his chest; the thumping sound of a helicopter's blades sounded from within. The ringing in his ears gave out to the sound of a whining engine, wind noise, and the cracking sounds of a radio headset. The old days.
He quickly snapped back to reality, pushing the memory out, and opened his eyes. The swaying stopped suddenly, forcing Martin to swallow the nausea that collected in his throat. 
Martin's mind shifted back to the present, reminding his shackled mind that there were other matters to attend to. He slowly rose back off the couch and moved towards the door. Picking up his pistols before heading out. He walked down the open hallway, squinting his eyes from the unforgiving sunlight from the massive floor-to-ceiling windows that flanked him. He made his way to the elevator and tiredly pressed the holographic interface. 

””””””””””””””””””””””

"So, are you in or out? This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance." The Turian in front of Velpia asked. "Of course! I can't say no to this!" Velpia was visibly excited, practically bouncing in her chair. "Good, report to bay 97c tonight."

Velpia's mood shifted as quickly as it started. "Tonight? Why the rush?"

The Turian shifted in his seat as if uncomfortable with the question. "The Colonel made it clear that this was a time-sensitive matter. All details will be given on arrival. This isn't a problem?"

Velpia quickly reset herself, pushing all other thoughts out of her mind. "No." She paused for a moment. A stiff feeling in her gut rose into her chest. "No, I just have some things to take care of."

"Good."

The Turian quickly finished his drink before leaving his seat and headed out of the bar. Velpia's mind began swirling with conflicting thoughts of every kind. But this is what she wanted. A place among her people again.

She stood up and headed back to the apartment. Her head was draped low and heavy as her mind played every outcome repeatedly. Before, a hand reached out to her shoulder and stopped her.

"Hey, you alright, Vee?"

She turned to see Martin behind her, standing with a slight smirk on his face. "Yeah," she breathly replied. "I'm alright. I mean - what are you doing up so early?"

Martin smiled softly, "Got Bored." He shrugged. She gently turned away and continued walking as Martin followed behind her. 

"So…" Martin coyly asked. "What did they want?" Velpia quietly debated whether or not she even wanted to answer. Her head dropped slightly as she walked. Her eyes were fixed down the walkway in front of her.