[video] the road that ended

[sassguard]

[ For those familiar with his face, Shepard seems ... younger, somehow. Not by much, but there are fewer lines creasing his forehead and the corners of his eyes. His posture's slightly different, too, shoulders squared and spine straight even as he almost hums with alertness. ]

I'm Commander Shepard. I've been told I've been here before, but apparently I'm missing a few things. I don't recognize most of the faces on this network.

[ His voice is scratchy, hoarse from use -- or lack of it? He's had the time to go through his communicator record -- lucky it wasn't locked -- and what he's seen has mostly added to his growing confusion. Although he conceals it well, the frustration with the inability to understand what's happening grates on him. ]

Am I the only one having issues with memory loss? Is this something that happens a lot here?

Comments

[incogneto]

Let's focus on your memories first.

[sassguard]

I can multi-task.

[ He shrugs, though. The man probably has a point. ]

You deal with this often?

[incogneto]

More often than I'd like.

I've apparently got some memories that will never come back. But the important ones, they're still there.

[sassguard]

Which memories are those?

[incogneto]

A few people I've met, once or twice before.

[sassguard]

I meant -- the important ones. [ A wry smile. ] If you don't remember the rest, you can't really compare them, can you?

[incogneto]

[ He pauses, a bit. ]

The ones that remind me who I am. The people who matter the most.

Those are the strongest memories.

[sassguard]

Makes sense. People are the sum of their experiences, after all.

[ Which has disturbing implications, if you think about what happens when you're missing parts of that ... ]

Are they here too? The people that matter most to you?

[incogneto]

Some of them are, yes.

Maybe yours will find you.

[sassguard]

I heard ... there's a couple of my crew around. Seems like they've got a few years ahead of me, though.

[ He rubs at his neck. ]

Having familiar faces helps.

[incogneto]

If you can remember who to trust, that gives you an advantage.

[sassguard]

Is there something I'm going to need around here?

[incogneto]

Do you remember where you live? You probably have roommates.

[sassguard]

[ He coughs, slightly. ]

Woke up in an apartment, actually. One of my crew is here, so he's been making sure I catch up.

[incogneto]

[ Son at least you're getting laid. I think. ]

Then I wouldn't worry too much, if I were you.

[sassguard]

[ Well he's certainly not getting laid anytime soon. ]

Easier said than done. [ He snorts. ] Could you stop thinking about it?

[incogneto]

No. But the longer it went on, the more memories kept slipping.

How stable are yours?

[sassguard]

It feels like everything's there that's supposed to be. I mean, except for people telling me I'm missing time, I feel just like I did yesterday.

Do you know why your memories weren't stable?

[incogneto]

An explosion at one of the swear-ins.

Usually it's something minor. I think your friend would've alerted you to get medical attention if it wasn't.

[sassguard]

I've had a lot of experience with explosions, but nothing that induced memory loss. Guess this place is even stranger than I thought.

They seem pretty confident it's not permanent.

[incogneto]

Most things around here aren't.

How many years did you lose?

[sassguard]

Not counting the time I spent here, it sounds like I missed about three. With the time I spent here ... nearly five years.

Apparently I picked up a lot of pets along the way.

[ Also a relationship, but that's pretty awkward to talk about with a (relative) stranger. ]

[incogneto]

...How many pets?

[ It's ok. Erik did the same. Except he picked up kids instead. ]

[sassguard]

A dog and a hamster... and another, uh, some kind of salamander thing? I think that's Kaidan's, though.

[ A pause. ]

Apparently, back home, I started collecting fish.

[incogneto]

Fish... from the ocean?

Are you a sailor?