The Cryonic Man
Prologue Part 1: I Dream of Jeannie

A bit of foreword
This is my first story so please no flames.
I do not claim ownership to the rights to Mass Effect or its characters (sadly only Bioware and EA can claim that).
I do however claim ownership of the characters I create

Date: October 12, 2011

"Please just forget about me"

"I can't, I care about you"

"You deserve to be with someone who makes you happy, who you can touch and kiss whenever you want. I'm not good enough for you." She said with hints of tears in her eyes.

"Lia, I love you, you make me happy, the happiest man alive. You're brave, selfless and beautiful, and if anything I'm not good enough for you. But, I know one thing for sure: I don't want anyone else, I want you, and I don't care that I can't touch you whenever I feel like. I love you, and I'm willing to do anything to be with you."

"Oh John, I love you too."

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

"Gaah," said John followed by a sigh and the hitting of the snooze button on his alarm clock a few seconds later

"Man, third week in a row," said John.

He then proceeded to get up and begin his morning routine of showering, shaving, and eating breakfast to prep for his day in the city of New York. All the while thinking about the dream he had, the same dream for the past three weeks. He never saw faces, only heard voices, but what stumped him truly was the fact that in some way, hearing that woman, Lia's, voice made his heart sing and feel sorrow at the same time.

What is going on with me, why does this dream keep recurring, who is this Lia?

All of these questions kept running through John Desmond's mind ever since the dreams first started. The 19 year old bike courier couldn't believe how real the dreams felt, like he was actually there, listening as events unfolded. But he decided that he shouldn't dwell on them for now, he had to get moving. After finishing his breakfast he decided to stop by Starbucks on the way to work to grab a coffee and have a talk with Zevran, his best friend.

Heading out of his apartment, he saw Mrs. Windsboro, his neighbor.

"Good morning Johnny boy," said the woman

"Morning Mrs. W.," replied John

Ever since he had moved into to the building Mrs. Windsboro had always acted as sort of a grandmother figure to John, talking to him, chatting with him, sometimes she would make him a lunch for when he went on break at work. John cared about her greatly, almost like the grandmother he had never had. Only there was one small problem.

"So how did your date go last night," she asked.

She insisted so much on John finding a girl and settling down that she set him up with every one of her bingo buddies' granddaughters. "You never know when you could die, and you certainly don't want to die alone," she would always say, which always made John wonder how such a sweet old woman could think so morbidly.

"It didn't really go so well," John said, which was a bit of a lie. Truth was, it had been a total disaster, namely because his blind date was 100% insane.

"Oh well, we'll just have to try again eh?" said Mrs. Windsboro.

"Guess so," said John followed by a sigh. "Well I got to head out. Bye Mrs. W."

He then made a beeline out the door and didn't look back.

After getting off the green-line train and heading off into 82nd Street, he ran to the local Starbucks or at least to the one of 100's in the same vicinity. In the coffee shop, he ordered just a plain cup of coffee and waited for the inevitable….

"HEY, D-MAN"

Well, that.

"Hey Zevran," said John.

Zevran was two years older than John. He was also 4 inches shorter, was a little bit overweight, had tan skin, and blond hair. The two had been best friends ever since John first moved to the NYC.

"What's up man, how did your date go last night, was she hot, did you steal home plate," asked Zevran all at the same time.

"Everything's OK I guess, yes she was hot, and it went terrible," answered John.

"Oh come on it couldn't have been that bad," though secretly he knew that it probably was.

"She tried to stab me in the eye with a salad fork," countered John.

"Well you've been through worse; remember the one who was so crazy about her fear of germs that when you tried to hold her hand she broke your arm," Replied Zevran.

John shuddered at the memory; he just couldn't figure out women. He was a mostly good-looking guy with short, brown hair, blue eyes, white teeth, and a fair bit of muscle. Zevran joked sometimes about wondering why he wasn't beating off girls with a stick. Truth was, he just didn't have the time for a relationship, what with working long hours on his job.

Nevertheless he chuckled a bit, "Yeah maybe I should start inviting the NYPD to my dates just to save time on calling them when something goes horribly wrong."

They both laughed at this though both of them secretly wondered if maybe it would be a good idea.

"Well man, I'm guessing you're not here to gossip," said Zevran after they both wiped the tears from their eyes after laughing so hard.

"I had the dream again last night." Said John after a pause.

"Man, third week in a row?" John had told his friend about the dreams after the third day he had been having them. Then he was teased by Zevran who repeatedly made fun of him saying, "I guess the only non-crazy women in your life are in your dreams." However after the second week, he became concerned, suggesting John should see a psychologist about it.

"With the paycheck I'm living on, I'd be lucky to hire some random person on the street," John had replied to the idea, half-joking and half-serious.

Returning to the present

"Yep, and they don't seem to want to stop," said John.

"Well man, I don't know what to tell ya, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I just wish I knew why these dreams are happening man," replied John.

"Well, you know I'm always here if you need to talk man," said Zevran

"Thanks Zevran, well I gotta go before the boss yells at me for being late," said John.

They both said goodbye and John headed off to work at PlanetTech Deliveries.