Rebirth: The Mass Effect. Book 1

A dull irritation arose.

It was necessary to get into the carcass of a girl with such good mental problems because of an incredibly wonderful childhood on the street, tender youth and service in the army full of kindness and understanding of her neighbors. Have a nice rebirth, Imrir Shepard, and a quiet next life. You deserve it. Well, I'll live this extremely... um, interesting life instead of you.

A wry smile barely curved the corners of his lips.

What was it that my reborn colleague Estus used to say about a hundred-something life? I give this reality a chance to survive, and I will work for the benefit of others only in conditions that are comfortable for me. I will use his advice and example. I will create comfortable conditions for myself, using all the possibilities of a highly developed space civilization. It's worth refreshing my memory of the canon, since I decided not to immediately leave for rebirth and give this reality a chance to develop into a full-fledged self-sufficient universe.

Until my mentalism is restored, I do not have access to the Citadel of Memory and the information stored in it, but I have retained some common memory, despite the passage of time and the shocks I have experienced. My attempts to recall the plot of the game were partially successful: I only remembered the first part of the trilogy well, the second part was rather fragmentary, but the third one was safely blurred in my memory into a hodgepodge of fragmentary frames containing only the most vivid plot twists. However, this is enough for the first time. In a month, the aura deployment will be completed, and I will have access to my database of known egregors, which I have so carefully collected from my own memories.

Well, to hell with them, with my memories. Right now, the recipient's memory is more important to me. Judging by what I was displeased to learn, I was VERY lucky, and I got to the very beginning of the Branching of Reality, before the beginning of the canonical events.

Good. What do I have at the moment? And I have an experimental trough of exorbitant value and dubious value, released on the first autonomous flight with Spectr on board, which suddenly joined this poorhouse at the last moment. Why the poorhouse? And what can you call the process of rolling over a new ship if it has only a normal engineering crew on board, and the crew is recruited by a captain from * young and promising military personnel*, in other words, youngsters recently graduated from the Academy? Of the experienced officers on board, only XO Pressley and Dr. Chakwas. Well, Captain Anderson, whose professional aptitude I personally have reasonable doubts about: if memory serves, the brave captain, like my recipient, graduated from the N7 Academy and, before the fateful meeting with Saren, served as commander of an amphibious unit on the frigate Gatling. How Anderson became a captain is the mystery of the chimerologist's journal.

The engineering section of *Normandy* does not cause any complaints: all the specialists are there, recruited personally by chief engineer Adams, thanks to whom this prototype is still flying at all.

The pilot of the prototype is indeed the notorious Jeff "Joker" Moreau. In fact, he is a disabled person with a rare and virtually fatal genetic disease. I can't help but note that he is a really brilliant pilot, but he has a character...

To make matters worse, there is no co-pilot on board! If something happens to the Joker, and this is quite likely, you will have to row with oars. The entire crew.

An outside thought flashed by: I wonder if he was really taken on board the ship thanks to the intercession of the Turian general after he HIJACKED Normandy?

The situation is to hug and cry! But such is the peculiarity of embodied reality, which ALWAYS coincides with the canon of the egregore according to which it was embodied, sometimes even in the strangest and stupidest little things, from which one can only quietly marvel or swear loudly. The question is different. What are the differences in what is not covered by the canon? And what can these differences give me?

The first difference is already pleasing: there is a normal combat landing group of ten snouts on board the Normandy, commanded by my recipient, Commander Imrir Shepard, a twenty-eight-year-old orphan who miraculously escaped from Earth.

I can't say what *Normandy* itself is, because my technical knowledge is lame: rebirths into underdeveloped or magical worlds take their toll. Yes, and Chaos with her, with * Normandy*. Flying is fine. Something else is worse. There was no important information about the Citadel Space and other races in my recipient's red head. Only publicly available information. The interests of this lovely person in relation to other species had only one, extremely narrow side — how they could be most effectively killed.

It's annoying. You will have to fill in the information gaps yourself.

Can I really die before it's too late?

The thought of actually running away flashed and disappeared, crushed by burning curiosity. When else will I have the opportunity to go to space? Who knows? And here... here... Well, yes...

I have only three years to live, and I'm guaranteed to die at the end of the story, and more than one. Maybe if you can rock reality properly, you can live longer? No, actually, I was already so sick of these worlds of sword and sorcery with all the dubious charms of the Dark Ages and rampant religiosity that the desire to live at least a little in a civilized society outweighed the risks and future problems. Moreover, this reality can be pushed off the beaten track extremely easily: just do NOTHING and let the unforgettable Saren Arterius begin the Harvest. And what? For me, as a reborn person, the option is the simplest and most convenient. Reality will continue to evolve, and I'll get the buns I'm supposed to get, though not as much as I got for saving this Cycle. But without unnecessary hassle, which, often, is not covered at all by the bonuses received.

We'll see. Will I try to save this Cycle or will I join the main antagonist aboard the Lord, this will show the near future and communication with the local population and key personalities.

My lazy thoughts about the meaning of my current life were interrupted by the rustle of opening doors and barely audible footsteps. Stop lying around, Imrir, it's time to get to know a new world. Fortunately, the upcoming meeting with the Protean lighthouse will allow us to write off many oddities and extensive memory lapses on him, and the status of the Spectrum will allow us to escape from the watchful eye of our superiors.

A smile curved her lips against her will. Imrir! The name was definitely given by people with humor! It's necessary... The Light of Darkness!

And what? I like. I'll keep him, since his real name has not been preserved in memory after the collapse of the first personality.

Blinking in the bright light, I opened my eyes. A soft cry, the rustle of clothes. I carefully propped myself up on my elbows, peering at the ash-haired woman who came up to me. Whatever her name is... Karin Chakvas, trauma surgeon, staff physician in Normandy.

"Commander Shepard!" Karin's voice turned out to be very pleasant, low and full of sincere concern.

"Doctor? What happened? Why am I in the infirmary?"

"Is unknown." The doctor stared intently into my face with intelligent gray eyes. Darg and Dylan brought you to the infirmary after they couldn't wake you up. I found no injuries or abnormalities, as well as traces of sleeping pills.

"That's how..." I nodded slowly. The agony of death, as always, ricocheted through the body. Things happen. "But?"

"But I couldn't wake you up until you woke up yourself."

"Strangely, I feel quite well. Where are we?"

The doctor understood my question quite correctly:

"We've just come out of the repeater and are heading to Eden Prime."

Eden Prime. The key, one might say, the basic point of this reality, which gave rise to the whole story.

At least I was lucky here: I got to the beginning of the canonical events and you can make changes from the very beginning, avoiding unnecessary losses. If she had moved in at the beginning of the third part, she would have immediately gone into rebirth, because it would have been impossible to change anything, since even the Harvest that began on time is the canonical conclusion of the history of the egregor and leads to the collapse of the universe.

As practice has shown, the first distortion is always extremely difficult. Reality does not want to deviate from the *canon*, from the matrix according to which it was embodied. For the first time, I can only change ONE THING, and that's without much chance of success. But just what? WHAT will give me the greatest advantage in the future, regardless of my choice?

If you squeeze out minor and unimportant events, the entire chain consists of only two key points: meeting with the lighthouse and obtaining Spectr status. It's pointless to change it — it won't work anyway. Strangely, proving Saren's betrayal is not an immutable condition, I feel it very clearly.

Is it strange? Maybe... Or maybe not.

Meeting with the lighthouse is clear, it guarantees to attract the attention of Saren Arterius and further hunt for me. After Eden Prime, I'll be his number one enemy.

By the way, why?

Is it really just because of the lighthouse? The information in it is completely useless, and Saren knows it perfectly well. Is there any other reason? Most likely, yes. But which one? What could possibly drive this cold-blooded and practical creature into such a rage and generate such hatred for me? To clarify: to me PERSONALLY.

What's going to happen on Eden Prime?

The death of Jenkins? Saren doesn't care about people. The death of Nihlus? So he'll shoot him himself. Will information about his involvement in the attack come to light? Doubtful. He is a Spectr. In fact, he is a living legend. They'll believe him sooner than they'll believe us, and there won't be any hard evidence. Well, really, don't count the testimony of an amateur smuggler, a psychotic scientist, and a dubious audio recording presented by a Quarian, given that she was boarded up at the embassy, if I remember this moment correctly?

What will ACTUALLY convince the Council of the betrayal of the legendary Spectr?

Good questions, but I don't have the answers.

I'm NOT sure what's really going to happen at Eden Prime. What will make us enemies?

The Lord? Doubtful. To the Reaper, I am nothing at all, and my name is *rudimentary*, one of the countless bugs he has encountered during his existence.

Or is it the death of Nihlus?

Yes, Saren would kill him himself. But... but. A slippery moment. It all depends on whether he shoots of his own free will or under the influence of the Lord. If the first is Kraik's death, it means nothing to him. But if it's the latter... Then I can understand his hatred: Nihlus ended up on Eden Prime because of me. It's a good point of focus. Especially if the Overlord redirects the attention and emotions of the constantly bucking Turian to her.

It is a pity that the canon does not provide answers to these questions.

Farther.

Getting Spectr status as a key point can also be understood: it will give me some autonomy and allow me to direct all my efforts to hunt the antagonist without the command of the Alliance MCF hanging behind my back.

Well yeah.. autonomy. Remember. Shepard, fly over there, Shepard, fly over here, and don't forget your underwear from the laundry and bring a cup of coffee so it doesn't get cold on the way. And bring a bucket of vaseline with a pack of condoms: we'll be there for you... to remember and to remember again. The whole state.

I got carried away again.

Let's return to the analysis of the situation.

Why is it not important to prove Saren's betrayal?

Do they know about him yet? Possible, but doubtful.

Will the information come up in other ways? More than likely. Vakarian conducted the investigation until the protagonist's arrival at the Citadel. This investigation provoked something. He hadn't spent it in a couple of days, which had passed since the attack on the colony and before the ship arrived at the Citadel. Or is it just one of the game world's shoals? I don't know. There's also Tali from that ill-fated recording. Questionable evidence, it should be noted.

Let's go in from the other side.

What does this very proof of Saren's betrayal give me?

After this process, Garrus Vakarian, Tali'Zora and Urdnot Rex can appear in the team, and I get the status of a Spectr, a ship and a dangerous enemy. The status is a fixed point. Am I going to get it under any circumstances? Oddly enough, yes. I'll get an enemy anyway, too.

A ship? I'll get it too.

The team? Op-pa... but they are just an optional result.

If you remember the canon, I can do all the tasks based only on people. In the embodied reality, the same principles apply, only in case of failure, there simply won't be a single alien on board the ship, and they are EXTREMELY important for many plot twists.

Branching reality.

I can go two ways: provoke the Harvest, or follow the canonical path and destroy Saren and the Overlord. This is ACCEPTABLE. And I can also die before the nodal point of reality — the Lazarus project, which is also acceptable, and then another hero will take my place and lead this reality along the beaten path to death from disintegration, and I will go to rebirth without a rollback, but also without the buns that I can get if I fulfill my mission a job.

This is, of course, entertaining, but the answer to the question is *What is so important going to happen on Eden Prime?* does not give.

We must think. And quickly!

"Thank you, Dr. Chakwas. Can I go now?"

"Your condition is stable now." Chakwas replied. "Yes, you can go. But you will come for an examination in the evening."

"Yes, ma'am."

I stood up. I need to get myself in order and report to my immediate superiors that I'm alive and ready to work.

However, I was not given much time, as the intercom informed me that I was expected in the briefing room. Then I'll crawl around the ship, poke my curious nose everywhere, but for now... In the meantime, I'm going to get acquainted with one ambiguous person who died so quickly in the canon. At the same time, I'll decide whether I should fight for his life or not.

I hadn't even reached the stairs when a body bursting with enthusiasm flew up to me and gave me away:

"Commander Shepard! I am so glad to work under your leadership..."

What?

I stared in complete shock at the young soldier with the stripes of a corporal.