ME: Lost

Kill

A blue world glowed around him as he opened his eyes. Every nerve, every piece of him burned with a fire-like intensity. Clawed hands reached out, searching for familiarity. Was that his hand? That blackened, criss-crossed shell? The fingers bumped against smooth glass. He was in a cage, a glass tube. Claws curled into fists as panic rose in his throat. Thunk. Both hands impacted the wall, beating against the glass. No pain, no pressure, his hands had no feeling. The only sensation touching his brain was the fire within him, hot and sharp; his entire body burned.

Dark. Hot. Destroy. Death. Pain. Slave. Numb. KILL.

His eyes refocused and though he'd only blacked out for a minute, he panted from exertion. Fists continued to pound against the glass, though he couldn't remember willing them to do so.

Noise sounded to the right. Muffled footsteps. A woman stepped into view. Dark armor, bright hair. She cocked her head slightly, frowning.

"Over here! This one's awake," the woman called over her shoulder.

Two figures appeared behind her, a man and a women of blue. He thought he'd seen that color skin before but as he tried to remember, his brain burned hot - shooting streaks of pain through his temple.

"Uuungh-" he groaned weakly, grabbing his head in both hands as he hunched low, wrapping his body down over his knees.

A second female voice spoke up, her words mixed with the sounds of a console she was accessing, "the power shut off before this tank could finish the transformation cycle."

"He's not a husk?" a deeper voice this time.

"Not completely."

"Can we help him?" the first voice spoke up again.

"I do not think so."

"So we leave him behind to die in that cage?"

"He is much too dangerous, Shepard. We do not know how much of his mind has been destroyed."

The voices quieted, leaving his world in eery silence again.

He lifted his head from his knee, peering out through the glass. The woman stood alone, forehead creased, her lips pulled down into a frown. He met her gaze carefully, and long seconds passed as they stared at each other. After what seemed an eternity, she sighed, shaking her head slightly as she came to a decision and stepped towards the console. Soft tones chimed and the glass inched aside slowly, leaving an opening barely two feet wide.

He hesitated, staring at the door then back at the woman.

He crawled forward.

Searing fire burned up each leg, but he persisted, squeezing through the glass panes.

The woman smiled hesitantly as he straightened slowly to his feet, suddenly unsure of himself.

Gunfire reverberated across the room, and several voices called out at once.

"Shepard!"

"Banshee!"

The woman turned to look.

High pitched screeching clawed at his ears, blinding his senses with hot white light. Pain stabbed at his brain, drilling one continuous word.

Kill. Kill. Kill.

<><><>

Kaidan winced as the haunting scream filled the room. He felt a slight movement touch his shoulder and knew that Liara had crouched down next to him. Despite the mind-numbing cry, his heightened senses registered her ragged breathing and the triple-click of her pistol as she jammed a fresh thermal clip into the side. The room quieted for a second and he twisted partially out of cover, sending several rounds hurtling towards the advancing asari mutant.

"Where's Shepard?" he muttered in frustration as he ducked back behind the desk.

A subtle pop vibrated around them as the banshee disappeared, and Liara anxiously strained her neck to scan the room. "I don't know," she mumbled distractedly.

With a flash and a screech the hulking figure reappeared ten feet closer and the asari hurled a bolt of blue energy towards it, "check behind us, I can handle this."

Kaidan rolled to the side, hunching below the row of desks as he doubled back.

<><><>

Shepard sprawled on her back, blood streaming down her face as she struggled against the deformed creature that clawed at her. Sharp grayish fingernails slashed towards her forehead a second time and she cried out in pain, slamming a fist into the side of the husk's neck. He screeched in anger, blue eyes glowing maniacally, and she slammed a second blow along the side of his head. The mutant reared back, raising a withered arm just as a bullet impacted his chest, hurling him off her prone form.

Black sludge exploded in all directions, splattering across Shepard's armor.

She rolled carefully onto her hands and knees and glanced up as Kaidan stepped forward into view, rifle aimed at the smoking remains beside her.

"Alright?" he asked cautiously, eyes narrowing at the amount of blood dripping down her neck.

"Fine."

She swiped at the deep cut above her eye, smearing blood and sludge across her face.

A blue explosion rocked the room and the mind-numbing scream cut off mid shriek, leaving a terrifying silence in its wake. Kaidan held out a hand and heaved Shepard to her feet just as Liara jogged around the corner, a proud grin stretched across her face.