So, fan-fictions. Ever since a good friend of mine in middle school asked me to read her Digimon fan-fiction, and subsequently making the mistake of asking me for my opinion, I have steered clear of the shady world that is fan-fiction. Not to off-put any of my prospective audience, but that is where I stand and it might help to know this before reading further. The Mass Effect universe, however, has prompted me to revisit that dark place. I am a huge sucker for science fiction and I have a flare for dramatics, so ever since my introduction to the Mass Effect universe I have been intrigued by the lore.

And then came Mass Effect 3's dubious conclusion.

I've imagined more than a few very colorful situations that could have given birth to that sack, but it does nothing to change the fact that Bioware fucked up. So what's a girl with an overactive imagination and way too much free time at her cozy desk job to do? Write a new ending, perhaps? Setting aside my aversion to fan-fiction, that is what I have done. I hope you enjoy.

This work is currently in-progress; all feedback is encouraged and appreciated. It takes a village to raise a novel, right?

Disclaimers

Everything Mass Effect belongs to EA and Bioware; copyright infringement is not intended (read: don't sue me, Bioware; I ain't got nothin' anyway).

Original characters are of my own conception. Take that for what it's worth.

There are probably spoilers in here somewhere, so this is a cursory advertisement to read no further if you have not played the trilogy in its entirety (or at least don't mind spoilers).

This work is based on a rated-M game. If you've played the games, I hope you're mature enough to handle violence, language, and adult themes. If not, well, this counts as fair warning.

This work assumes the Indoctrination Theory. If you are unfamiliar with the concept, please open a new tab and let Google explain it for me.

**In re-reading this to post it here on Deviantart, I realize there are SO many errors. Please, PLEASE provide feedback. I want this to be awesome. I will be working on correcting the issues I see, as well as any subsequent errors addressed, but for now I'm going to focus on getting the next chapters up. My process is this: get the messy up, get feedback, polish it later.