[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

voice; also private bc I DO WHAT I WANT

[stealwithit]

Oh god, Kaidan... I'm sorry.

Do you have any idea what's going on?

voice; private

[kanadian]

No?

I mean... we woke up, and Shepard thought he was...dying -- and he was pretty mad I hadn't left him yet. [ He let off a somewhat bitter chuckle. ]

I guess he's from before the Lazarus project, would be my guess.

[stealwithit]

I figured sometime along those lines...

[ She sighs. ] For whatever it's worth, Kaidan, I'm sorry. And I hope we all figure out what the hell to do to fix things, soon.

[kanadian]

Me too, but it's ok, Kasumi. I promise, this is... A lot better than it could be, you know?

I mean, he's still here. This could be a hell of a lot worse. He's still the Commander. [these are his sins, he is full of shit. ]

[stealwithit]

[ You're so full of shit, Kaidan Alenko. ]

... it could be worse, but that doesn't mean what you did get stuck with is in any way easy.

Do you know how... widespread this is? Wait, you're still the same Kaidan, right?

[kanadian]

Uh, yeah? I mean, I didn't notice anything different. Not like... not like with Shepard.

He woke up thinking he was dying, Kasumi.

[stealwithit]

Just making sure.

Talk about a rude awakening... We should probably check to see if the others are okay, too.

[kanadian]

Tell me about it.

Ah, I guess we should. Sorry, I've been... preoccupied. I should've thought of that.

[stealwithit]

Hey, don't worry about it! Shepard comes first, always.

[ A beat, then. ] Do you mind checking on Jacob?

[kanadian]

[ A half-laugh. Mostly because... it's 100% true. ]

Yeah, we can check on Jacob. I'm trying to re-introduce Shepard to everyone, anyway.

[stealwithit]

Alright. I'd do it myself, but...

[kanadian]

It's okay, I know. Things are kind of...weird.

[stealwithit]

[ She manages a sad chuckle. Somehow. ]

No, I meant--if he is okay, and not weird at all, I'm the last person he wants checking up on him.

[kanadian]

Really?

[ A pause. ]

I'm sorry, Kasumi. I didn't realize things had gone so badly for you two.

[stealwithit]

It's--fine. It was my fault.

[ isn't it always. ]

But I'm sure he needs space, so...

[kanadian]

You know... relationships are a two-way street. I doubt it's just your fault.

[stealwithit]

True, but... Either way, it's over.

Let me know what you find when you check up on him?

[kanadian]

Yeah. I'll.... I'll let you know what we find out.