#something about how restricted the brush and tools are is… oddly freeing. and also i can draw little doodles around my friends art

[sillyfairygarden]

cleo doodle from an aggie board w/ friends 🫶

[seigephoenix]

New Fic on AO3 for me!

I wrote a new fanfic for Mass Effect: Andromeda.  It’s totally not romance so no hope for that there.  It’s actually a murder/suspense fic that’s kind of an AU where Alec Ryder doesn’t die on Habitat 7.  He still dies, but on the Nexus instead.  I posted the fic under the Keep Reading cut.  I’m horrible with summaries and this is just the prologue.  Warning there is some graphic violence, but nothing up to the level of Stephen King.

A series of murders on the Nexus has the residents petrified and paranoid of each other.  It's up to the Pathfinder and her team to figure out what is causing all these people to rampage and save the Nexus.  Sara has to figure out what's going on behind the scenes of the Nexus and hopefully she can get the leadership to work with her to solve it.  Without figuring it out, she can't go out and save the rest of the Heleus Cluster. 

“Everything we do, every thought we’ve ever had, is produced by the human brain.  But exactly how it operates remains one of the biggest unsolved mysteries, and it seems the more we probe its secrets, the more surprises we find.”

-          Neil deGrasse Tyson

Exhaustion was a constant companion in the days and weeks following the uprising on the Nexus.  The smattering of security forces, that were left after the bulk defected with Sloane, were still flushing out sympathizers weeks after the revolt was over.  No one was safe from suspicion and were constantly being questioned to ensure they were loyal to the Nexus and Initiative.  The remaining personnel were worked tirelessly, sometimes more than thirty hour shifts at a time.  All to ensure the damage done to the Nexus during the Scourge disaster and the revolt was fixed, for the safety of all is what the personnel were told.  

           Anxiety paired with exhaustion as a glass of red wine does with a beer chaser.  People were on edge, which was no great surprise given how leadership responded after the Nexus uprising.  A bullet in the back was a tangible fear for some, more so for those who had friends or family in the exiles.  Those people feared being painted by the same brush and exiled for being sympathizers.  

           Tempers flared for the smallest, perceived infraction during these tense times.  Most disputes settled themselves without having to get leadership involved, as everyone knew leadership would respond.  Any time security had to get involved, it usually ended up with nonfatal bloodshed for the unlucky and rationing restrictions for the lucky ones.  A night in the brig was also a possibility depending on the type of incident that happened.

           Dread about survival odds was a shadow, silently hovering above their heads.  Not a single soul wanted to discuss the fact they’d very well die out in Andromeda, but it was never far from their minds.  No arks, no Pathfinders, and all the golden worlds laid to waste lead up to a very miserable living situation.  This was everything they’d left the Milky Way for, but most folks regretted their decision to join the Initiative.  This was all a giant emotional molotov cocktail that spelled disaster.  The emotional powder keg merely needed one tiny spark to set off the explosion.

           “Oh, hi Jayce! What do you need?” Simone’s brown eyes crinkled in welcome as the other engineer joined her at the malfunctioning electrical panel.  She’d been sent by Kesh to investigate the power fluctuating in the area and had narrowed the malfunction down to that one panel.  Jayce was an average looking man with an average looking build.  There were no features that stuck out to anyone, he’d blend in with a crowd easily, and often did when he wanted to shake security. The one feature that Simone swore stood out for Jayce was in his eyes, they were a steel blue color.  He usually had an easy-going smile for everyone, even after working thirty or thirty-six hour shifts.  Simone watched him approach but something was off in his demeanor, she couldn’t put her finger on what it was.  Her body reacted by tensing and the hair on the back of her arms raised up in alarm.  Some instinct was telling her to run and run fast, she felt her sympathetic nervous system kick in.  The young engineer tamped it down and pasted a bright smile on her face as Jayce got to her.

           “Did you tell Kesh that I was the one who screwed up the panel repair yesterday?” His hands clenched rapidly by his side as his entire body went rigid with rage, face mottled red as the blood pounded in his ears.  His breathing was rapid and shallow, chest rising and falling rapidly in his fury.  Jayce was within arm’s reach of Simone now, but he hovered in front of her shaking with barely contained rage.  A trickle of cold sweat slid down Simone’s spine as she gazed into his eyes, his pupils dilated in his fury.

           “I don’t think I did. I mean I-“ Her sentence was cut off as a hand grabbed her face.  Fear and panic burst inside her stomach as she scratched at the hand on her face, legs kicking out fruitlessly to free herself.  She screamed against the hand, tasting blood as he squeezed and cut her cheeks on her teeth.  Her hands stroked against her omni-tool helplessly trying to call for security, but she couldn’t see what she was typing.  

           “They cut my rations again because of that.  You little bitch!  Bet they gave you extra for being a pretty little songbird.  Let’s see how pretty you’ll be now.” His lips pulled back into a snarl as his voice got increasingly louder.  Rage clouded his mind, blocking everything out that could distract him. Simone tried to scream as he lifted her off her feet, then slammed her against the wall panel.  Her muffled cries bounced off the walls in the room as Jayce repeatedly slammed her head into the panel.  Blood splattered over the wall and Jayce, but he was too consumed with rage to notice it.  The cries went from shrieks to gurgles filled with pain as Jayce bashed Simone’s skull in against the wall panel.  

           Jayce released the engineer’s body, which had gone limp, and watched it slide down the wall, leaving a scarlet trail of blood.  Starkly contrasting against the white walls, the blood was illuminated brightly by the fluorescent lights in the room.  Simone was barely recognizable from the beating she had endured.  Her face was swollen, skin purple and red from the bruising and blood, lesions oozed scarlet blood down the face.  Jayce stared down at the body, nudging it with his foot.  

           He felt oddly detached from the scene in front of him.  His right hand dripped with Simone’s blood, which annoyed him all over again as he wiped it on his pants.  He stepped over her feet to exit the room, but the doors opened as two security personnel came in, weapons drawn already prepared for a fight.

           “Stop!  Freeze!” The one on the left cried out.  They held up their assault rifles at Jayce’s chest, primed for firing if he decided to make a move.

           “So, the little bitch called you goons.” Jayce grumbled as he walked over to the security officers. His hand closed around the one on the right’s throat, cutting off his threats.  “You can join her then.” Jayce was shocked when he was thrown back by the impact of two bullets to his chest.  His hand flexed, almost crushing the security guy’s windpipe, before releasing him as the engineer fell backwards.  Jayce’s face contorted with rage and confusion as he landed on the floor.  The life drained from him slowly as the security officer helped his injured friend as medical rushed to arrive in time.  The security officer went forward to check on Jayce and saw his eyes fixed on the ceiling, yet they were not seeing anything. Internal injuries had taken Jayce’s life, the bullet had hit an artery and he bled out inside his body.

           Security and medical workers came in to deal with the mess, with several heaving at the sight of Simone’s face.  Many of these people hadn’t encountered such violence before, so it was a true shock to see the evidence of that type of rage.  One employee found a plastic tarp to put over her until the stretcher could take her out of the room.  One of the turian officers stood with one of the humans, overseeing the removal of Jayce’s body while the two security personnel who had responded were taken in for questioning of the event.  

           “Spirits, I never want to see that again.  Poor Simone.” Nixus rubbed the back of his head as his mandibles twitched in discomfort. The human next to him, Kyle, nodded in agreement.

           “Let’s hope that’s the only one.” The words felt hollow to Kyle, but Nixus seemed to take comfort in them.  Kyle stared at the blood on the wall, streaked and splattered from the poor girl’s savage pummeling.  She’d managed to put a call in to the security dispatch as Jayce had grabbed her. The dispatcher that had taken the call had been unnerved as she heard the whole thing, but was powerless to stop it. Kyle wondered how the dispatcher would cope with the fact she’d heard a young woman being beaten to death.  A sense of impending doom settled on Kyle’s shoulders as he stared at the band of blood leading to the floor, where Simone’s body had slid down.  He ruffled the hair on the back of his head as the sense of restlessness settled deep in his bones.  Kyle had a feeling, deep in his gut, that this was far from over.