The next half hour to three hours, (Ellis was never sure exactly how long it took), were a blur.

Orange and blue holographic drones whirled around him in a fever-dream tornado of bright light, deep vital scans, and bumping his suit around.

Ellis' painkiller shot three times in two minutes, far beyond the ordinary LD50 for the chemical. Ellis dreamed.

[b]An asari held him while he suffocated, removed from his shell, exposed, naked, on the surface of a lush planet. Unclothed, possibly feral krogan stood around them. [i]Tuchanka?[/i] Ellis thought. [i]Pre-Nuke?[/i] The asari comforted him. She was familiar, but only vaguely. The rifle next to her. Her armor. It was as though the memory were clouded somehow.

[i][color=00aeef]You're gonna be okay. Everything's gonna be o-[/color][/i][/b]

[color=fff79a][h1][b]FLASH[/b][/h1][/color]

[b]A neon light roared across the sky, the glory of a god, laying waste to all in sight. In the white light, three figures stood, silhouettes against the nothingness of nuclear war.

A turian. Ellis cried out but to her he had no voice. He fought to stand, but had no limbs. He choked and flailed- his skin was gone, burned away. 

The Asari screamed and faded into the light. The turian was now male. He was tall, strong, commanding. [i][color=ed1c24]You're lucky we traced you, or I'd have shot you on sight.[/color][/i]

The turian became the Illusive Man. He ashed his cigarette into Ellis' screaming mouth. 

Everything went black.

Swallowed in the dark.[/b]

Ellis awoke, gasping for breath, a cold sweat stinging his pseudoskin, icy burning in every nerve. He lay on a forklift, a makeshift stretcher, apparently, judging by the paramedics scanning him. He glanced down. They'd repaired his knee, but only barely, likely using resized schematics from a YMIR or some similar mech.

A sudden [i][b]ZZZZZZZZZZZZZHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH![/b][/i] startled him from the right. A technician with a drill of some sort. A new arm! White and glossy and new! A little orange loading bar popped up in Ellis' visor, signaling the pairing of the new appendage. It completed quickly.

The new arm was slightly smaller, a tad slower, a little weak. And it was white. "NERO, system check." 

A distorted male voice answered. 

[i]"Damage to central components have limited my capabilities. Suit has been fitted with modified LOKI mech arm. Professional opinion: it will suffice. NOTIFY: Unable to connect to Cerberus Information Server."[/i]

"When in Rome." He could feel another headache coming on.

Naturally, his painkillers shot again. 

"Tell Vella. She's... good. Gotta go- Metro Pee Dee... NERO, go to... Scotland Yard for me."

His last words before blacking out again.

He awoke, once more, still laying on the forklift. Except now, the forklift sat in grass, by a tree. The tracks showed that someone had driven it up and simply left it there. Ellis looked around, still stationary. It was getting dark. "NERO! It's dark. Did we miss it?" The sign read 'Metropolitan Police'.

"[i]Allies have not arrived. Seasonal changes account for early evening. "[/i]

Ellis groaned. "How long until they get here?"

[i]At least you're not late.[/i]

"[i]Undetermined. Unable to connect to Cerberus Information Server."[/i]

He stood, stretched his back, relishing the little [i]pop[/i]s that come from stress relieved, and tried out his new arm, leaving a big Ellis-handprint in the tree, finger-grooves running deep. He smiled.

He didn't know London well, and was not particularly inclined to explore. Deciding he'd better rest, he sat and waited on the forklift.