The Dream of Orion

Orion stalks his prey outside of her window. Patient as ever, the hunter barely ever moves. He must be still; his prey is the Big Bear. A worthy adversary and a worthwhile hunt, but she knows she won't see the end of it. The hunter and the bear have been locked in this feud for millions of years and will continue it long after she is gone. And the feud will last them until they are something else other than a hunter and a bear. LUCIA OLIVIER, early 20s, sits on her small cot in her spartan cell with her knees to her chest, arms wrapped around her shins. She seemingly finds comfort in the stillness. No matter how much she endures, no matter how far they take her, she will always have the stars. And they cannot be [[taken away->Taken Away]].

The red lock display on the door shifts to green. The locks disengage and the door opens. A female nurse, ISA, 30s, stands on the other side holding a hospital gown and a pair of socks. Lucia turns back to the star field. ISA Come, Lucia. It's [[time->Time]].

Begrudgingly, Lucia disrobes. Isa sets down the gown and socks and helps Lucia. She unzips the top. ISA Everything but the underwear. Lucia's clothes drop to the floor. She kicks them to the side of her cell. LUCIA I want to go there. Isa holds open the gown. ISA Arms through. (curious) Go where? LUCIA To Orion. Lucia slithers her arms through the holes in the gown. She turns around. Isa ties it in the back. ISA It's mighty big. Which part? Lucia shrugs. ISA I'd say, if you are going, the [[Horsehead Nebula]] would be great.

In the hazy stellar cradle of the Horsehead Nebula are several young proto-stars on the cusp of becoming actual stars. The accretion disks surrounding them swirl in a violent maelstrom calmed by time and distance. ISA I've always wanted to see a star being born. It'll be like witnessing [[Creation->Creation]].

Isa crouches at Lucia's feet and puts the socks on Lucia. She looks through her porthole. The rest of the galaxy is reflected in the glass. LUCIA The birth of a star? ISA Star birth is violent, much like giving birth yourself. So much pain, but in the end, it's warm and gives us hope. LUCIA Is this the last time I'll see the stars? Isa stands up. She straightens out her uniform. ISA I promise you that it won't be the last time. Lucia looks away from the window. She gets up and walks out of her room. Isa [[follows->Follows]].

The examination room is blindingly white. The overhead lights buzz with power. The exam table is positioned in the center of the room. It looks like a massage table with a face rest at one end and a suite of tools and readouts at the other. Straps hang from the side and barely touch the floor. The walls are all barren except for one that has a two-way mirror. Isa leads Lucia to the table. She sits down on it. Her fingers move across the coarse leather with deep familiarity, almost nostalgic. She looks at the mirror. It stares back. Isa guides her down onto the table, facedown. Isa runs the straps through the loops and pulls them tight. She checks the straps and lays a concerned hand on Lucia's back. ISA Comfortable? Lucia nods in the face rest. Isa looks at the mirror and gives it a nod. A DOCTOR enters the exam room, masked, gloved up and sanitized. He goes to Lucia's head. She can only see his nice shoes. DOCTOR Doing fine? LUCIA (wary) Yessir DOCTOR That's my girl. A part of the ceiling opens up and an arm of surgical tools descends. Isa rubs the back of Lucia's neck with an alcohol pad. She's cautious around the LX implant. The VI, CANSEN, appears in the room in electric blue splendor. CANSEN Beginning operation two one seven one dash eight four: the removal of the LX biotic amp [[implant->Implant]].

Electricity discharges from Lucia's body. The robotic arm above her twists and shakes. LUCIA (panicked) Removal? What are you removing? What's happening? DOCTOR Nurse! Sedate her! Isa grabs a needle. LUCIA No! No! NURSE Grab her leg! The doctor rushes over to hold down Lucia's leg. With all of his strength he stills her leg. Isa taps the needle. It's ready. DOCTOR Do it! Isa pushes the needle through the skin. The doctor reaches up to feel the hypodermic needle in his neck. He looks at Isa, stunned. Isa presses down on the plunger, injecting him with the sedative. CANSEN Nurse Isa, I advise against that. ISA Shut up, VI. Isa scrambles to loosen the straps on Lucia. CANSEN Per policy, I must advise your superior. Doctor, your nurse has assaulted another employee. LUCIA Why? What's happening? ISA I couldn't-- I can't stand by and watch them throw you away. Isa helps her off of the table. LUCIA Throw me away? ISA They want your implant. Word came down and this program is being shut down. They're sending an operative here to collect all of the research and technology. LUCIA But if they remove the implant... ISA Then you'd die. I'm sorry. LUCIA It can't be just for my implant. They trained me in combat and-and piloting and-- ISA That's their one mistake. It's hard to discard something that can fight back. Go to the hangar and get on a ship. It doesn't matter what. ''Remember'' your training. You can do this. LUCIA Where should I go? ISA That's up to you. Go! Lucia hesitates for a moment. Then she gives Isa a big hug. LUCIA Thank you! She runs out of the door. Isa calmly stands up and heads out of the door. Already, Lucia has left a wake of [[destruction->Destruction]].

Lucia leaves behind a swath of destruction as she comes into the sparse hangar. Bots amass in the hangar, ready to meet her. Lucia display her exquisite biotic abilities as she cuts through them. Bots shoot at her in the hangar, but her shield deflects the bullets. She lifts them up with a field and throws them out into space. BOOM! An explosion throws her into the wall. Her shield barely holds up. She gets back up and sees a security mech marching on the hangar floor. It aims at her with a rocket launcher. She leaps off of the walkway, falling to the mech. The mech fires another rocket. It zips though the air, but it slows down to a crawl just before reaching her. Lucia is incandescent as biotic energy flows throughout her body. Lucia LAUNCHES straight at the mech at an incredible speed. She phases through the rocket and slams through the mech. Time speeds back up to normal right as the rocket detonates against the far wall. Lucia skids along the hangar floor. Debris and shrapnel from the mech follow her. She turns to see the mech still standing. After a second, it topples over. Without any more obstacles, Lucia goes to the [[ship->Vessel]].

It's a small ship built for two or three; unmarked, but definitely military. A single chair in the cockpit, surrounded by instrument panels and monitors that display an array of information and external camera views. The ceiling hangs low; Lucia has just a few inches of clearance. Lucia sits down and takes control of the helm. Her training comes to her intuitively as she flips the appropriate switches. The engine hums to life. The ship pulls away from the dock. Unhooked cables snap away. The ship crosses the mass effect barrier keeping the air within the hangar. Some of the bots are still floating outside being smashed by debris from Saturn's rings. LUCIA Wherever I choose to go, huh. Lucia inputs the coordinates for the Charon relay. The engine whines. The thrusters roar. The skiff shoots off to the edge of the solar [[system->Contact]].

Lucia is upon the Charon relay. It is as bright as the Sun, though it's light is intermittent. The relay's rings revolve around the bright element zero core. Lucia flies near it, taking in the relay's massive size. She flies close to the core to get a better look. A tendril of energy appears between the ship and the core. Lucia leaps back, afraid. The ship shudders. Energy flows around the ship, distorting her view. And then it all stops. Her ship floats near a relay. The ship's computer analyses the stars. She looks at the readout. LUCIA The Pax system? A smile grows on her. She looks out through monitor at these unfamiliar stars and [[constellations->Constellations]].

Uranus is in the distance, spinning in its odd direction. Lucia can barely make out the the planet's thin rings. The ship's console beeps. The button for the communications array lights up. Lucia stares at it, unsure of what to do. After a moment, she presses it. The air on the line is empty until... CARY (RADIO) Hello? It's the voice of CARY MCDOUGAL, early 20s. He has a jovial tone about him. Lucia waits. Maybe it's the wrong number. CARY (RADIO) Ms. Olivier? Lucia eyes the ''END TRANSMISSION'' button on the console. Her finger hovers near it, daring herself to [[press->End Transmission]] it. But her voice also catches in her throat, waiting to [[talk->Talk]].

Lucia pulls back her finger. LUCIA Who am I talking to? CARY (RADIO) Of course! My manners sometimes slip me. I'm Major Cary McDougal with the Alliance. And you're the infamous Lucia Oliver. LUCIA What do you want? CARY (RADIO) Come back and we'll sort this all out. Lucia raps her fingers on the console, eyeing the ''End Transmission'' button. She licks her lips. [[End Transmission]] [[Keep Talking]]

Lucia paces around the small cockpit. LUCIA Sort it out? By killing me? CASEY (RADIO) Whoa, whoa! I don't know the particulars of your situation. All I know is that they want me to retrieve you. Alive. LUCIA Just to cut this thing out! CASEY (RADIO) What did they do to you? [[End Transmission]] [[What They Did]]

The line goes dead. Lucia sits in silence for a few moments. The sounds of the ship and its computer systems bleed into her mind. The [[relay->Relay Neg]] is in the distance.

LUCIA They... put this thing in my head. The LX implant. Makes my biotics more potent. I was tested every day. I was made to destroy things every day. Sometimes, they would shoot me to see what was the highest caliber I could deflect using a biotic shield. Pressed the fucking gun right up to my head. (a relieved laugh) I flattened the bullet. CARY (RADIO) Potent indeed. LUCIA And now, they want their implant back, but they can't take it without killing me. I've already given them the best years of my life. They are not taking anymore! [[End Transmission]] [[Temperance]]

CARY (RADIO) You must be an incredible biotic to make it out of there. Were you at Jump Zero before all of this? LUCIA Yeah, but I was only there a few months before it got shut down. CARY (RADIO) Figures. I left a year before the thing with Alenko happened. Don't really blame him, though. Those turians were assholes. I got pummeled so much that I thought I was spitting up eezo. It made N7 a cakewalk. Only slightly. Barely. (Remorseful) I'm sorry to hear that these jerks took you after BAaT got shuttered. LUCIA What's an N7? CARY (RADIO) It's special forces. Ship skirmishes, zero-G combat, learning alien languages and their biology... it was all a hassle. My biotics only gave me a slight edge. When it came to alien biology, I was a mess. I almost gave a quarian a dextro IV once. The dude yelled at me for hours after I apologized. LUCIA Dextro? CARY (RADIO) It's kinda hard to explain... LUCIA I'm just kidding. I know. One thing they let me do while at the station was read. I read a lot of books. Physical ones, though. I couldn't access the net. CARY (RADIO) Leave any favorites around? I can bring them to you. LUCIA I won't need them where I'm going. CARY (RADIO) And where is that? [[End Transmission->End Transmission Neutral]] [[Give Location]]

Lucia curls up in the chair. LUCIA You ever been to the Horsehead Nebula? CARY (RADIO) (cautious) That's on the edge of salarian territory. LUCIA Might be. Don't know. But that's where I'm going. CARY (RADIO) Why? LUCIA The birth of a star has to be the most magnificent thing in the entire universe, right? CARY (RADIO) The death of one is similarly spectacular. LUCIA Maybe so. But I don't know of any stars going supernova anytime soon. CARY (RADIO) We can find one together, if you come back. LUCIA I'm not going back. Goodbye, Major McDougal. Lucia ends the transmission. She looks out into the void of space. The Kuiper belt glitters with light from the [[Charon Relay->Relay]].

Lucia matches speed with Cary. The umbilical bridge pushes through the void and connects the two ships together. Cary emerges from the bridge. He's a young, good looking guy. Despite this, Lucia keeps her distance as Cary moves through her ship. CARY Is that it? Cary looks through the monitor, shrugs. CARY Not much. Here. He presses a button and the monitor slides away to reveal a wide window. The protostar is unfiltered through the glass. It's bright and intense. Lucia shields her eyes from the light. CARY You intend to stay here and watch that thing grow? It's going to tapdance all over your systems. Navigation, the net, and the helm will all fail once that star goes nuclear. Probably knock out life support, too. You want that? You can come back with me. I can make sure that no one else will hurt you. I can keep you safe on Eden Prime. None of them would think to look for you there. This is your last chance. He holds out his hand. [[Stay->Perspective]] [[Leave->13 Years Later]]

Lucia guns it. Her ship complains using alarms and notifications about the undue strain on the engines and spaceframe. She cuts through the accretion disk. Cary's ship does not follow. CARY (RADIO) Goodbye, [[Lucia]].

Lucia stands in front of the window. Eyes open wide. LUCIA This is ''MY'' star, Cary. Every day and night, I would look at Orion from my room. I could see this nebula nursing newborn stars. But from this angle, it doesn't look like the Hunter. It's something else now. CARY A different perspective. Lucia turns to face him. LUCIA My time in the program has given me a different perspective. Compared to a star, we're nothing, but I want to be something, I want my life to mean something, so... CARY (knowingly) Ashes to ashes. LUCIA Dust to dust. Cary holds his hand out. She reaches out and shakes it. CARY Although it was short, it was a pleasure meeting you. Cary heads back to the umbilical bridge, but Lucia stops him. LUCIA What are you going to tell them? Cary smiles CARY Does it matter? He boards his [[ship->Accretion]].

Cary's ship detaches from Lucia's. Then it shoots off back to the relay. Lucia's ship gets closer to the protostar. Her ship is enveloped in the accretion disk. It glows hot. It rises above the disk. The protostar is held in the cradle of wispy tendrils from the disk. It feeds on the interstellar medium ravenously until... The protostar grows more luminous. Other stars in the background dim in response; regal curtsies for the new star. Lucia sits in front of the window. The ship applauds with electrical discharges. Computer consoles sparks for encores. Lucia opens her eyes. The ship is torn apart by the torrential stellar wind. Its explosion and heat is joined to the accretion disk, becoming a part of the newly born star. The End.

Metal into earth. Dirt scraped away. Soil moistened by sweat. Lucia looks up at the sky of Eden Prime. She wipes her forehead. Other farmers rush around aimlessly. Lucia watches them with a modicum of curiosity. Then she sees a couple of scientists milling about. She spots Powell jogging up to her. POWELL Lucia! Lucia buries the hoe into the dirt with one good strike. She leans against it. LUCIA What's going on? POWELL I don't know. They said the eggheads found something. Wanna come look? Lucia takes off her gloves. LUCIA Nah, I'm gonna take a break. Want to join-- A supersonic boom interrupts them. Lucia looks back up at the sky. An object tears through the blue sky and crashes down into her field. Lucia throws up a wide biotic field to protect herself and Powell. A mechanical whir emanates from the object as four legs stretch out. LUCIA Go hide! Powell runs as fast as he is able out of the area. A head raises above the machine beast. It gazes on Lucia with a single light. Its oversized mass accelerator glows. It fires with a deafening boom that slows to a low rumble. The accelerated mass slows down to a crawl. Biotic energy sweeps Lucia up. She launches at the colossus. She's frozen centimeters away from the massive creature, fist cocked back. The End.

Lucia flies into the Horsehead nebula. A fuel warning beeps at her, but she ignores it. Her ship picks up intermittent spikes of radiation, but she ignores them as well. She is finally at her destination. CARY (RADIO) (menacingly) Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your fair hair. Lucia looks at her monitor. No sign of a ship. Her ship thrashes around. The ship screams at her about a hull breach. Lucia tries to locate it through the computer, but the low hum of a mass accelerator stops her. CARY Hands in the air, please. Lucia's hands reach up to the ceiling of the cockpit. Her fingernails scratch at the metal. She glances over her shoulder. LUCIA How...? CARY Don't think about it. Focus on your next move. Will you come with me [[peacefully->Surrender]]? Or are you going to [[resist->Resist]]? Please resist. It's fun.

Lucia lowers her hands just a few centimeters. CARY Slow, fast, don't matter to me none. Do. Not. Move. Lucia freezes. LUCIA How did you know where I was going? CARY Your accomplice sang quite prettily. LUCIA Did you hurt her? CARY Depends on the perspective. LUCIA Perspective, huh? Things always look different from another perspective. From my window, Orion was this massive man patiently hunting the other constellations. But from here, Orion is just an unremarkable clump of stars. Back at Sol, you might be a hotshot N7 operative compared to the others. They lack perspective. I wonder how unremarkable you are. Cary grins knowingly. His finger pulls the trigger. The bullet races out of the barrel. It shoots right at the bulb of Lucia's head. Quickly, she catches the bullet in a mass effect field and whips it around her body. Cary glimmers with energy. Too late. Lucia threads the bullet through the arteries in his neck. Blood flows freely from the wound. CARY (gurgling) Lucia... His hand tries to catch the blood, but it just slips through his fingers. He collapses in front of her. Lucia waits a moment, looking for a sign of life from him. There is none. She turns to the [[monitor->Accretion Neg]].

With a push of a button, the monitor on Lucia's ship moves away to reveal the splendor of the protostar before her. Her ship moves in, just above the accretion disk. Her ship is enveloped by the incandescent clouds. It glows hot. It rises above the disk. The protostar is held in the cradle of wispy tendrils from the disk. It feeds on the interstellar medium ravenously until... The protostar grows more luminous. Other stars in the background dim in response; regal curtsies for the new star. Lucia sits in front of the window. The ship applauds with electrical discharges. Computer consoles sparks for encores. Lucia opens her eyes. The ship is torn apart by the torrential stellar wind. Its explosion and heat is joined to the accretion disk, becoming a part of the newly born star. The End.

The line goes dead. Lucia sits in silence for a few moments. The sounds of the ship and its computer systems bleed into her mind. The [[relay->Relay Neutral]] is in the distance.

Lucia is upon the Charon Relay. It is as bright as the Sun, though it's light is intermittent. The relay's rings revolve around the bright element zero core. Lucia flies near it, taking in the relay's massive size. She flies close to the core to get a better look. A tendril of energy appears between the ship and the core. Lucia leaps back, afraid. The ship shudders. Energy flows around the ship, distorting her view. And then it all stops. Her ship floats near a relay. The ship's computer analyses the stars. She looks at the readout. LUCIA The Pax system? A smile grows on her. She looks out through monitor at these unfamiliar stars and [[constellations->Constellations Neutral]].

Lucia guns it. Her ship complains using alarms and notifications about the undue strain on the engines and spaceframe. She cuts through the accretion disk. Cary follows her. His ship fires two well-placed blasts that rips her engine apart. Her speed is maintained, but she's caught in the gravity well of the protostar. Cary matches speed with Lucia's ship. CARY Ship, stay close to the ship. I'm gonna take a little trip. Cary puts on his helmet. He opens the airlock and dives through the abyss to Lucia's [[ship->Surrender Neg]].

Lucia's ship gets closer to the protostar. Her ship is enveloped in the accretion disk. It glows hot. It rises above the disk. The protostar is held in the cradle of wispy tendrils from the disk. It feeds on the interstellar medium ravenously until... The protostar grows more luminous. Other stars in the background dim in response; regal curtsies for the new star. Lucia sits in front of the window. The ship applauds with electrical discharges. Computer consoles sparks for encores. Lucia opens her eyes. The ship is torn apart by the torrential stellar wind. Its explosion and heat is joined to the accretion disk, becoming a part of the newly born star. The End.

Lucia matches speed with Cary. The umbilical bridge pushes through the void and connects the two ships together. Cary emerges from the bridge, gun trained on Lucia. CARY Keep your hands up. Lucia's hands go high. Her fingernails scratch the metal on the ceiling. LUCIA How did you know I was coming here? CARY Your nurse friend told me. LUCIA Did you...? CARY No, I didn't hurt her. She was pretty forthcoming. She thinks I might be able to help you. LUCIA Help me? CARY Yeah, but I have my orders. This is your last chance. Come [[with me->Surrender]]. Or we can do it the [[hard way->Hard Way]].

Cary's words are a blur to her as he restrains her. She doesn't offer much resistance, even when he pokes her in the neck with a needle. Everything bleeds to everything else, images imposed on more images, muddling into black. Bloody fingers hold up the LX implant. Filaments hangs from it. They glitter in the computer light. Cary examines it before placing it into a plastic bag. He looks down at Lucia's mutilated body, shakes his head. Cary leaves the carcass on the ship. His ship detaches from hers and shoots off back to the relay. The End.

Lucia looks at the protostar forming in front of her. LUCIA I'm finally here. I can't just let you take me away. CARY I was afraid you might say that. Forgive me. Cary's finger pulls the trigger. The bullet races out of the barrel. It shoots right at the bulb of Lucia's head. Quickly, she catches the bullet in a mass effect field and whips it around her body. Cary glimmers with energy and tries to catch the bullet. The projectile stops short. The tip presses against his carotid, but doesn't break the skin. Lucia darkens. The bullet falls to the floor. Cary powers down as well. LUCIA Please. Just let me stay. Cary holsters his gun. He gives Lucia a weak smile. CARY Lucia Olivier died while I was in pursuit. She flew too close to the protostar forming in the Horsehead Nebula. I could not follow, therefore retrieval of the technology is impossible as it has been destroyed by the stellar crucible. A possible diplomatic situation with the Salarians has also been averted. Cary heads back to the bridge. He stops. CARY Goodbye, [[Lucia->Accretion Neutral]].

Cary sneaks through the small ship. He sees Lucia hunched over the helm trying to make heads or tails of the multitude of alarms screaming at her. He aims his gun at her. CARY Don't move. Lucia glances over her shoulder. She glimmers with biotic energy. She pushes him biotically, but he squeezes off a round. A bloodless hole appears in her forehead from the tunneling bullet. It fractures her skull and churns her brain. Then it explodes out of the back. Cary hits the wall, but once he sees that Lucia has collapsed, he scrambles back up. He moves to her, gun trained on her. No signs of life from her. He kneels down and begins his work. Bloody fingers hold up the LX implant. Filaments hangs from it. They glitter in the computer light. Cary examines it before placing it into a plastic bag. He looks down at Lucia's mutilated body, shakes his head. Cary leaves the carcass on the ship. His ship detaches from hers and shoots off back to the relay. The End.