Disclaimer: I do not own the Mass Effect universe, or anything related to it.

Displaced

Chapter 1

Silence is not something that I personally enjoy waking up to. Nor was it something I was used to. Usually I could hear the door opening, and slamming shut in the rat race that was a working mom's daily routine. Usually I would wake up to the gentle hum of the fan that I kept on simply for the comfort the familiar noise brought to me. Usually I would wake to the feeling of the soft blankets surrounding my body, the smell of coffee drifting into my room. Now; however, I was waking up to complete silence and the familiar smells of a hospital room. Bright lights flooded into my vision as I returned to the conscious world and slowly cracked my eyes open. I clamped my eye lids shut almost immediately. That wasn't right. My room was always as dark as could be, to the point where it was blinding. I enjoyed waking up that way.

Now fully conscious I lay completely still and willed my chaotic mind to slow down and think. Whatever I was laying on was not the warm softness of my bed, but rather a cold, unyielding metal that sent chills up my spine, raising goose bumps all over my body. I knew something was wrong. I was always a calm person, hardly ever letting anything shake my calm demeanor but this was pushing my ability to its very limits. I was not in the safety of my home; I was completely vulnerable, with no recollection of how or when I managed to arrive here. Wherever here was that is. I took a chance and slowly opened my eyes once again, letting my pupils adjust to the bright white light that was coming from several lamps hanging above me. As the environment around me began to come into focus I recognized it immediately. I had seen it enough times to remember what an operation room looked like from the viewpoint of a patient.

By now my heart was threatening to beat out of my chest. My eyes darted around the room, taking note that it was completely empty aside from the operating table I was laying on. Sitting up I looked around some more, before looking down at my body. What I saw made me narrow my eyes in focus.

At five foot eleven weighing in at around 150 pounds of pure muscle, I wasn't the biggest guy out there, but I certainly wasn't the smallest. I was intimately familiar with every detail of my body, the strength of each muscle, what sort of effort it took to perform certain tasks, etc. The body I was looking at was not what I had become accustomed to after 20 years of living. The body I was looking at looked like the body that belonged to a seasoned and highly trained soldier. The thickness of every part of my body had thickened considerably, the once subtle traces of muscle where instead replaced by thick, corded strands and bunches of muscle. Looking over the bod- my new body in awe I clenched my hands into fists repeatedly, admiring the way the muscles contracted visibly. If I had to guess I would have put my new body at around 230 pounds, and considerably taller than my previous body at around six foot three inches tall.

New body. Check. Great and all… But where the fuck am I? I questioned to myself. I remembered falling asleep reading Fanfiction the night before, having just finished catching up on a long 400k word Mass Effect SI. My last thought before I fell asleep had been along the lines of: Would be pretty neat to end up in the Mass Effect world. I almost slapped myself as I came back to reality, my eyes widening considerably in alarm.

"No fucking way." I growled out, my deep voice vibrating throughout the small white room. I hauled myself up off of the table, landing lightly on my bare feet. I was wearing a pair of lose fitting boxers, nothing more.

Standing I took a moment to notice that I felt considerably lighter, despite my obvious increase in mass. I was always extremely light on my feet and agile, so that was definitely saying something. Let's find out what's going on, shall we? I thought to myself as I spun around slowly, taking in every small detail of the room. There was the metallic operating table in the center of the room, along with two fluorescent lights held by moveable arms that descended from the otherwise smooth ceiling. The floors and walls were a light grey, and didn't seem to have the annoying light reflection that most hospital floors seemed to have. I then noticed a medium sized metallic sliding door behind the table, a double take confirmed that it was indeed a door, and looked alarmingly similar to the doors found in the Mass Effect games. This door in particular donned a symbol I was hoping I wouldn't see. Cerberus, the 'pro-human' terrorist organization ran by the illusive man. Timmy. I thought to myself and almost laughed as I recalled the nickname players had given The Illusive Man. I shook my head, focusing on figuring out what was going on. I clenched my fists, knuckles popping as I narrowed my eyes and squared my shoulders, moving forward with long, quiet strides towards the door. Before I could reach the familiar green panel the door slid open with a quiet 'whoosh' of air revealing a man and a woman, both decked out in white and grey lab coats, The Cerberus insignia on each of their coats marking them as Cerberus doctors. They looked startled to see me standing there glaring at them. Looking behind them as they stopped, I noticed a guard with a hand on his pistol watching me intently from across the narrow hallway outside the small room.

"Well I see you're awake at least." The Doctor deadpanned, effectively drawing my attention back to him.

I shifted my weight and leveled my piercing grey eyes on the man before me. Taking a moment to let the unspoken threat hang in the air, I asked the obvious question. "Where am I?"

The doctor looked at me and gulped before activating what I recognized as an omni-tool that glowed the same yellow that Cerberus was known for sporting. I must have come across more threatening than I was accustomed to being. I realized then that I was actually towering over the average sized man, easily more than a head taller than him. I focused once again as the man's omni-tool beeped, a screen appearing revealing a familiar face surrounded by long black hair.

Miranda Lawson. Of course she would be involved if this is a Cerberus facility. I reasoned to myself.

"What is it?" Miranda's icy voice cut through the tense silence. Her eyes narrowed at the doctor before her.

"The patient, he is awake, Ma'am." The doctor stuttered out, quickly glancing up at me then back down at the image of Miranda. Meanwhile the Nurse took a step forward drawing my attention and spoke up, "E-excuse me sir, but if you could please take a seat on the table. All will be answered in a moment." To her credit she seemed to be mostly unafraid, as if she was used to this sort of thing. It wouldn't surprise me. I chuckled to myself in my head. Now that I know I'm in the mass effect universe I wonder what year it is. I nodded slowly at the nurse before taking a step back, returning my attention to the doctor and Miranda. I saw her get up from what I assumed was her desk and closed the vid call. I figured she was on her way here now. Wouldn't surprise me either. Wonder if she's as hot as she was in the game. Probably more so now that I think about it. I shook my head, clearing it of the line of thought before sitting heavily on the table.

The doctor came up to me and offered his hand, which I took out of habit more than anything, and gave a rather firm handshake, considering I was used to much weaker hands. I saw the doctor cringe slightly before speaking up. "My name is Dr. Caine, I was overseeing your recovery and will be overseeing your rehabilitation."

"Recovery? Rehabilitation? What do you mean?" I wondered aloud. The doctor tilted his head slightly before typing something into the data pad he was holding, as if making a note. "If you would but wait a moment sir, my boss will be here shortly to explain."

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. I thought as the door opened once again, revealing the one and only Miranda Lawson in all her glory. Or she, in this case. I muttered darkly.

The doctor stepped aside as Miranda approached and I took the opportunity to take in her appearance. She was clad in the trademark white and black cat. Her heels clicked along the floor as she moved, her movements graceful and deadly. I hadn't expected her to live up to the hype, but she did without question. The perfect female body, engineered from the genetic level up by her father. My eyes narrowed slightly, meeting her piercing blue eyes with my own hardened gaze.

She looked me over slowly before finally speaking, "You caused quite a stir around here, showing up out of nowhere in one of our reactor rooms in a massive surge of Radioactive energy." She states matter-of-fact like, raising a perfectly curved eyebrow, as if questioning me. I knew she was.

My gaze narrowed as I zoned out, my mind working in overdrive to process the information she had just revealed to me. Massive surge of radioactive energy… element zero reactor… Could have likely caused a core meltdown and or explosion. I was putting together the pieces of the puzzle quickly, based on what I knew of the Mass Effect universe and reactors in general. Ignoring her unspoken question looked back up at her, "Let me guess, the energy surge caused the reactor to destabilize."

She nodded, seeming slightly impressed with my deductive reasoning. "Yes, and by all account you should be dead. The amount of radiation you were exposed to should have killed you, not even to consider the amount of Element Zero you were exposed to."

My eyes widened slightly, "Eezo exposure…" I mumbled to myself, becoming lost in the depths of my own mind once again as my thoughts raced, I knew that even small amounts of Element Zero exposure could result in biotic abilities manifesting in an individual. I lightly shook my head again, focusing on reality once more. "Alright, so I should have died. Why am I still alive?" I asked. I had a hunch, but didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"We saved you, and reconstructed your body, enhancing it in many ways, as you have without a doubt noticed already." She stated, folding her arms across her midsection and shifting her weight mostly to one leg.

"Why save me?" I questioned her. "I am not normally one to question a good thing, but I am aware you had no reason to save me, much less reason to enhance my body using cybernetics." I'm assuming it was with cybernetics anyways. It would explain a lot. I thought to myself.

"You catch on quick, don't you?" She grins slightly before continuing, "My employer tasked us with saving and enhancing you was he wanted information from you. He wishes to speak with you directly."

"The-" I cut myself off quickly, realizing that I shouldn't give away how much I know without reason. It could end up saving my life. "Your employer you say? Alright, I'll speak with him, but first could I get some clothes to wear?" I had never been someone that was ashamed of my own body, much less now, but going to meet the illusive man wearing nothing but a pair of lose fitting boxers was not something I wanted to do. Certainly not at the top of my bucket list, despite how funny it might be.

Miranda, "Alright Mister…?" She trailed off, obviously fishing for a name to call me by. I stared hard at her as I thought about how to answer her. I could simply giver her my real name, as I likely don't exist in the registry at all, Or I could give her an alias. I mulled it over in my head for a moment before deciding. "My name is Taylor, Miss…?" I settled on my middle name while feigning ignorance about her name. I know a hell of a lot more than just your name, Lawson.

"Miranda Lawson." She stated, eyeing me critically. I got the feeling she was trying to decide if I was telling the truth or not but I didn't get to dwell on it long before a man carrying some folded up clothes with a pair of black combat style boots resting on top came through the door. He handed to me and I nodded in thanks. I dropped the boots on the floor, and pulled on the dark grey fatigues and tight white t-shirt. The shirt had a Cerberus logo stamped on the shoulder, something I wasn't entirely pleased with but it would do for now. I pulled the boots onto my feet and nodded to Miranda. I followed her out of the door and into the long white hallway.

"Always disliked hospitals." I said aloud as I looked around. I got the feeling this was a space station, given the size of the hallways and the lack of windows. Miranda didn't respond, keeping true to the ice queen personality she was famous for. I took a moment to look at her back, trailing my eyes down her body. The suit did wonders to compliment her figure. Not the time or the place, idiot. I mentally berated myself, shaking my head once more. Guess it was going to become a regular occurrence.

We stopped a minute or so later, a large door opened after Miranda swiped her omni-tool over the red holo panel. The room beyond was completely dark save a glowing circle in the center. From memory I knew what it was. "A Quantum entanglement communicator, neat." I said mostly to myself.

"Well Mr. Taylor, you seem to know quite a few things, don't you?" Miranda said, looking over her shoulder at me. I only shrugged in non-commitment. Her gaze hardened slightly, "Anyways, He will want to speak with you alone. I will be waiting outside." She strode out of the room, leaving me alone as the door shut behind her.

I nodded, rolling my large shoulders casually. "Sure thing, Lawson." I knew I was likely going to get under her skin with my overall attitude, but that was something to worry about later. I was about to meet the illusive man. Jack mother fucking Harper of all people.

I stepped into the circle on the floor, grunting as the QEC fired up, encompassing me with the familiar yellow grids before the darkness of the room fled, revealing The Illusive man, puffing away at a cigarette as usual. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

"Greetings Mr. Taylor, I have been expecting you. How are you finding your new body?" The man said, followed up by a long drag on his cigarette.

I looked down at my hands, clenching my fists before nodding in approval. "I like it. Cybernetics are in play no doubt. There's also the chance That I have developed Biotic powers due to the Element Zero exposure. Question is, how did I end up in that situation in the first place?" I thought aloud.

"So you don't know." He said, taking yet another drag on his cigarette. "Interesting." He said simply, looking over me with a pair of unnerving eyes. I shrugged, "No, I don't actually know how I ended up tumbling into that reactor room, and I'll be damned if I know why you spent so many resources giving me a new body. I know it must have not been a cheap undertaking." I replied, mostly fishing for answers.

The Illusive Man regarded me for a long moment before finally responding, "When you appeared in one of our reactor rooms, the radiation surge from your arrival set off a chain reaction, causing the reactor to melt down and explode, exposing you to deadly levels of Element Zero and, as you seem to already know, even a small amount of exposure can cause biotic abilities to manifest in an individual, Mr. Taylor. When Miss Lawson's team was rebuilding your body, they discovered that your immune system was mostly non-existent in comparison to the average human, and that you had never been exposed to eezo before, meaning you had never traveled by way of FTL. These two facts combined led the remaining portions of your body to adapt quickly to the eezo and accept it rather than purging it from your system. An anomaly if you will. You can likely put together why this leaves me curious, Mr. Taylor." He concluded before flicking his cigarette and taking another long drag. It seemed he needed the cigarette like one would need air, or water.

I nodded after a moment, understanding completely. So I have eezo nodes inside my body, awesome! I wonder how long it will take me to use my biotic powers. I thought to myself. "Yes, I think that is a valid reason for being curious, sir." I had decided that I would play ignorant and see if I could take advantage of Cerberus's resources to learn how to best utilize my new body, learn how to use my biotic powers, and catch up on the happenings of the universe. Which reminded me, "How long was I unconscious, and what is the current date?" I assumed that the reconstruction of my body would have taken quite a while, as it was not an exact science, especially if it was before Shepard was rebuilt.

"Interesting question, Mr. Taylor." Timmy regarded me for a moment before answering, "You have been unconscious for roughly 6 months, and the current date is May 20th, 2185." Taking another draw from his cigarette, the illusive man waited patiently for a response.

6 months. Meaning I arrived in December, 2184. Shepard has been under reconstruction for over a year now. I have about 5 months until he/she should be waking up. Shit I don't know I it's a he or a she. I sighed, rubbing my face. "6 months is a long time to be under. So what all did you folks here at Cerberus do to me?" I asked, almost casually, my steel grey eyes boring into the man before me.

"We enhanced your body, rebuilt it to be stronger, tougher, faster. Created more room for the large Eezo nodes deposited all over inside your body. You have an L-5n implant to help with controlling your biotic powers, along with other cybernetic enhancements." He puffed on his cigarette before snuffing it, and lighting another before finishing. "We took a few liberties."

L-5n implants. awesome I will be able to biotically charge. I mentally cheered before calming myself. Cybernetics and increased overall body mass and size to help deal with the large amount of Eezo in my system. An extremely deadly combination, but at what cost I wonder… I trailed off inside my own head, picking up with my voice. "So what's the catch?" I knew that Cerberus wouldn't go through so much trouble or expend so many resources if they didn't have an ulterior motive. I have a bad feeling about this.

To his credit, if the Illusive man was surprised he didn't show it, merely regarded me for a moment before bringing up a screen, and what I saw surprised me to say the least. Shepard's reconstruction progress. Project Lazarus. I managed to contain myself and kept a mostly blank expression, I didn't want The Illusive Man to know that I knew a lot more than I was letting on. "So who's the vegetable?" I chirped.

"Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy. We are in the process of reconstructing her." A long drag from his cigarette, "When we get her back up and running, she will be assigned to investigate mysterious disappearances occurring all across the terminus system, whole human colonies going dark." A puff of smoke, "I want you to accompany her on her mission. If you chose to accept we will provide the necessary training to have you as prepared as you can be for the coming events." He concluded, eyeing me for a reaction.

Holy shit, he's giving me everything I need to do what I need and want to do, and with no reason. He has to know more than he's letting on, but then again it's Jack Harper, he always knows more than he's letting on. "Deal." It didn't take a genius to realize that this was exactly the opportunity I needed to help Shepard, practically handed to me on a silver platter. It wasn't even a question of yes or no.

Harper nodded, "Miss Lawson will get you situated, I'll be in touch, Mr. Taylor." With that he cut the call to an abrupt end. The darkness of the QEC room returned, and the door slid open revealing Miranda, hand on a hip, eyeing me for any sort of indication of how the meeting went. I crossed my arms, grinning at her. "Guess you get to show me to my room."

She nodded, "So I take it you accepted his offer. Good. We will be getting to know each other much better in the coming months, Mr. Taylor." She said before walking off, with me following.

"I'm looking forward to it, Miss Lawson." I replied, genuinely meaning what I said. I was practically living a gamer's wet dream right now. Cybernetics, Biotic powers, Military training, ridiculous body, hot guide. Definitely nothing to complain about, but I knew that all this did was tie me to Cerberus. I had to be careful. Jack Harper may have not questioned me much on my origins, but I knew that it was coming, and soon. I would have to fabricate a background story before I was questioned further.

I thought of all the events that were going to unfold around Shepard, and hopefully me in the near future. The collectors and the reapers, Christ I was going to be facing them in reality. That was a scary thought to say the least. I set my jaw and narrowed my eyes slightly, resolving to become the best possible version of myself so that I could help Shepard save as many lives as possible in the coming struggle. I don't know how I got here, but I am going to make the best of it.

I'm back with a new story and a new fandom, folks! I've been reading so many SI stories lately that I just had to start writing my own, and it seems to be flowing pretty easily. I'll be doing my best to keep to the storyline of Mass Effect 2 without altering the events too drastically. There will be multiple pairings in this story, though between who I have yet to decide. My OC will obviously be pairing up with someone, but aside from that there will be other pairings between canon characters. My OC will try his best to use his knowledge of what is to come in a subtle way. Hence why he did not just burst out with tons of information in front of ol' Timmy. I'm really looking forward to writing this story, however with my A&P class weighing heavily on my time, I will only be able to update every now and then, but I will do my best, that's all I can promise.

Please review, it means a whole lot.

Slaud