4 1 – Once Again (1)

EARTH, 2158

Humanity, since discovering the hidden alien technology from the Protheans , a race/ species that was extinct since a few thousands of years ago, in a ruin on Mars a few years ago, had a boom in the science field, and some people called this boom as Mass Effect. They managed to better their space travel, found something called Mass Relays, that allowed interspace travel at a much faster rate than their current one, and started to colonize other planets at a rapid pace.

It was, honestly, one of the best eras in human history, as their expansion began and more and more humans were born. Colonies were made, and progress in various fields was skyrocketing by the minute.

But, in their many travels across the galaxy, humanity soon found out they weren't the only intelligent species in the galaxy still alive. They knew, thanks to the ruin of the ancient civilization, that there EXISTED intelligent life out there, but, in their naivety or arrogance, they thought they were the only ones in this period still alive. So, humanity, without knowing that other races existed out there, broke a few intergalactic rules without intention, and an alien race called Turians, who looked humanoid but with a very blatantly different appearance from the humans, took upon themselves to teach humanity a lesson, as their viewed their action as something 'primitive' and offensive.

The Turians, seeing the 'mess' the humans made, decided to take a colony from the humans as a lesson and a warming, and thought that was the end of it, as humanity looked like a newbie species in their eyes, with no strength to retaliate. But, to their surprise, humanity fought back, expulsing the Turians from the planet and regaining the colony. But, as every action has consequences, the Turians didn't like the fact they lost a fight and decided to fight more seriously, eventually starting a war, which was called The First Contact War.

And in this war, a lot of people died for no reason. If both races just stopped and tried to communicate, things would've ended peacefully. Well, maybe not, but they didn't even try that;

Anyway, just as the war was going to ramp up in scale, as both humans and Turians prepared to fight until one of the races was extinct, the Citadel Council, a group composed of the leaders of the main species of the galaxy, that generally took decisions with the greater good of the galaxy in mind, intervened.

But, don't be so naive as to trust the Council, as they all had their agendas. The races that oversee the Council were the Asari, blue-skinned aliens with an extensive lifespan alongside a few other perks, Salarians, a very VERY intelligent race but 'cursed' with a limited lifespan, and last, the Turians, who acted as the shield and sword of the council.All of them had humanoid appearances, with characteristics that differentiated each race.

The Asari were known for only having a female body, as with the characteristic of their race, they didn't need a male one. They could still have babies with other females, and other races if they so desired, but how they managed that is a story for another time. The Salarian also looked humanoid, but had eyes like fish and only 3 fingers on their hands, so you could differentiate them from other races. The Turians, as mentioned before, were humanoid but their apparency was very distinct, as they looked like a hybrid of birds and humans. A fun fact about them: they had a cloacla.

So, with the intervention of the Council, humans and Turians made peace, even though reluctantly, and life moved on. The Council, who also only now noticed the human's existence, started to teach them the rules of the galaxy and introduce the race to the many species within.

Humanity once more was surprised by the scale of it all, but learned quickly, and while still a newbie in pretty much every other race eyes, as they were the last one to be 'discovered', their status within the galaxy was slowly rising, as humans continued to prove themselves formidable allies and enemies, as exemplified by the war with the Turians.

While both races fought, humanity was behind in every aspect, but they still fought to a stalemate against one of the most war-orientated races. The Turians only lost in the war aspect to the Krogans, a race that the majority thought only existed to fight and kill.

And, while The First Contact War was over, to the families that lost their loved ones to this stupid war, things changed a lot.

This brings us to today. It was like any normal day on Earth. People were going about their normal routines and in the middle of it all, in the slums of a city, a mother was giving birth to a baby. The father of said baby was a soldier who died in the war. To the mother's surprise, almost no help from the government came, but she still persevered and managed to find a house. It was in a slum, but it was still a house.

'' Just a little bit more! PUSH!'' The doctor/midwife was doing her best to help the mother to give birth, as she passed instructions left and right. It was only her helping, as the mother didn't have that much money, and going to the hospital was a no-go.

It didn't take long for the baby to be born. However, to the horror of the 'doctor' present, the baby didn't cry or make a sound. Which usually isn't a good thing.

Fearing the worst, the 'doctor'/ midwife went to check the baby more closely, but when they looked at the baby's eyes, they were open and in focus, which meant that he was, at least until that moment, alive.

Of course, this small sign of life didn't mean much, so the 'doctor'/ midwife slapped the child on the butt to see if it would start crying and to calm the mother, who began to notice the strange atmosphere in the room.

"What's wrong? Is something wrong with my baby?!'' The woman, who appeared to be no more than 30 years old, said with tears in her eyes and growing despair, as she didn't hear a cry.

The 'doctor' / midwife tried to calm her down, all the while patting the baby's butt, who still hadn't cried, ''Don't worry! He's fine, it's just that some babies don't cry right after they are born.''

The mother sighed in relief and visibly relaxed a little. What the doctor/midwife didn't mention was that usually, babies who don't cry have some kind of problem, whether it's physical or mental, 'Let's hope it's nothing serious and that this baby has a good, long life. His father will watch over him.'

The doctor/midwife here was a 'friend' of the baby's father, who died in the war. The man had helped her in a very dangerous situation, and she vowed to help him in any form she could. She was sad when she heard he died, and when the widow called her and asked if she could her with the delivery, as she didn't have anyone else to call, she dropped everything and came to help.

Hoping for the best and expecting the worst, the doctor raised her hand to give it a harder slap when out of nowhere, the baby changed his face almost imperceptible, and began to cry. Faintly, but it was a cry.

With a look of relief on her face, the 'doctor' / midwife sighed in relief, covered the baby with a cloth, and handed it to the mother, "Congratulations, it's a boy. He's very big and ... strong. And everything is fine with him.''

The baby was so fat that the doctor/midwife had some doubts as to how he got out of his mother. 'Ahhh, human anatomy is a beauty.'

The mother, who had finally calmed down after hearing the baby cry, even if only a little, hugged him tightly. "I thought I was going to lose you too...''

After a few moments like this, the midwife was afraid that the baby would suffocate and coughed a little, grabbing the mother's attention. '' Have you thought of his name?''

The young mother smiled a little, ''My ... husband and I agreed that we would call him Samael if he was a boy and Samara if he was a girl. I'm going to honor my late husband's wishes.''

'' Good. Now, my work here is over. I don't see any major problems with you and your body, but I recommend resting for a few days. If you have any kind of pain or strange bleeding, call me and I'll come and check on you.'' The doctor/midwife was glad that everything went ok. She passed a few prescriptions of cheap drugs to the mother, to deal with the pain.

The mother was grateful, ''Thank you. I can't afford to pay you right now, but-''

The doctor waved his hand, ''Valery, don't mention it. What your husband has done for me is more than enough... If you wish, I can-''

'' Thank you, but no. I know it going to be even more difficult from now on, with this big guy.'' Valery pointed at Samael, and the doctor smiled, '' But I can manage. I think... I will give you a call if things get out of control.''

'' Please do. Don't hesitate to call me.'' After that, the midwife left, leaving the mother and the baby, who had now calmed down, but his gaze was strange.

The mother didn't notice this, as she was in a state of happiness, where her only focus was on the baby's well-being. When she looked at this little thing in her arms, even though just a little, she saw a copy of her dead husband, and was overcome with emotions,'' You and I are going to be very happy...''

'' But now that everything has worked out and you're well, it's time to prepare for the future. Clothes, diapers, schools... well, I'm quite screwed. Maybe I should've accepted the doctor's help... Oh well, she said I could call her if needed.''

The woman returned her full attention to the baby and smiled as she cuddled him, ''But it was and will be worth it.''

What the woman, Valery, didn't know was that the baby in her arms was ... different.

---

Samael, the baby in question, was having a hard time right now. ' It happened again...'

Samael was a reicarnator from Earth. The one where Mass Effect was a game. He wasn't a god gamer or anything like that, but he did, however, play a LOT of Mass Effect when he was a teenager and an adult. Even the Andromeda one, and the only reason he didn't play Mass Effect 4 was that at the time of his death, it wasn't released yet. He even liked Mass Effect 3...

Anyway, he was 28 years old when he suddenly died. He stopped a robbery but was stabbed and bled to death. He had a few regrets, but overall, he thought he lived a good life, with good morals. And, just as darkness consumed him, he was a baby again. He soon found out he was in the Mass Effect universe and he was a little surprised and afraid. Afraid because of the threat within this Universe, the most problematic being the Reapers.

The Reapers are a 'species' made entirely of war machines. They existed for a long time, and every 50.000 years, they killed ALL species that they deemed too advanced. Their motive wasn't explained that well in the game, but it was supposed to bring balance to the galaxy.

It was difficult to accept it at first but he soon managed to calm down and planned things to follow the plot of the game and get the best ending, where the Reapers were killed after Shepard rallied the entire galaxy against them. But, with the game knowledge, he was going to change the fate of the one who died unnecessarily.

So, in the first life, he followed the logic and went with the RED or Destroy ending, where Jane Shepard killed all the Reapers once and for all. They won and some people that were supposed to die, survived, even Shepard, but some new ones died.

War never ends well.

But, to his surprise, one year later after the fight, after he had finally settled down and was watching as the galaxy went into a new era, he went back to when he was a baby as soon as he turned 28. He didn't even have the time to watch the changes that would happen, as he only 'enjoyed' one year of post-war;

Samael was confused, but as he had already experienced reincarnation he soon calmed down. He thought the universe didn't like the RED or Destroy ending, as it killed the Reapers alongside ALL non-organic life, like the GETH, an 'android' like civilization that allied with the humans against the Reapers, and the AIs.

So, in the second life, he followed the Control or Blue ending, where Shepard supposedly took control of the Reapers and sent them away, but with the same results. 

Samael then decided to try the other ending, the Green ending or Systesys ending, where organic ( humans) and synthetic ( machines) merged and created a whole new species, but the result was the same. He returned to when he was a baby as soon as he hit 28.

After that, he finally had to accept that he was trapped in a time loop. Nothing he did changed the outcome, as he always returned in time. And, he had just returned from his 9 life. Same pattern, just as he hit 28 years of age, he was brought back in time, to the moment he was born.

Still, some people might think, well, isn't that a good thing, to be able to live a lot of time? Samael thought so too at the beginning, as he enjoyed life to the fullest with the time limit he had, but after a few loops, he started to lose his mind a little, as he would notice that literally nothing that he did matter, as it would all turn to dust in 28 years.

The loop was cruel in Samael's opinion, as it made him relieve his WHOLE life from the beginning. Just imagine, you lived 28 years, had friends, lovers, and your adventures, just to suddenly have to go back where none of what experienced or did mattered. Of course, you would remember everything, but your connection with others was nonexistent, and as the loops continued, it started to change Samael, little by little.

And, the last one was his ninth life. To say he did everything in those 9 lives would be an understatement. Master of calibrations, learning from Garus and others, check. Prothean expert, studying with Liara for YEARS, check. Gun expert, taught by none other than Wrex, 'King' of the Krogans, check. The deadliest assassin, being trained by so many people he lost count, check. Explorer of the unknown, going with Tali around the Galaxy, check. The list goes on and on.

Samael, who tried everything to stop the time loop, could only watch as it continued with no sign of stopping. So, without hope of stopping it, he started to do things differently, forgetting about Jane, the crew, and the Reapers. He knew he had a time limit of 28 years, so for the last 3 time loops, he did what was on his mind, forgetting his friends and family.

Partying, doing some shady stuff. He even let himself get indoctrinated by the Reapers, a process where they use their super advanced technology to make you into a slave to their will, to feel how it was, but was disappointed with it. He joined hands with the Elusive Man and brought humans to the top of the galaxy, etc. But, it changed nothing.

And, let me tell you, after 9-time loops, where you know almost every single thing that will happen, was nice in terms of getting rich. Save for the first life, where he struggled a LOT with money and getting to help Shepard, the rest of them were a breeze in terms of money. But, again, all meaningless in the eyes of Samael.

But now, let's go to the end of the last cycle, to see how that time loop went.

? CYCLE

The year is 2187, one year after the war which united the entire Galaxy against the Reapers. They had won, but as always, Samael felt that life was meaningless, since nothing he did mattered anyway. He, who had woken up some time ago, was sitting in bed and looking at the clock, which was approaching 00:00, with eyes that seemed unfocused.

After some noise, the blanket on the other side of the bed was lifted and one female asari, who still seemed to be asleep, asked, ''Samael, what's wrong?''

Samael made a pained expression. He knew that, within a few minutes, his entire love life, and all his commitments here would turn to dust, and he would have to start all over again. ''It's nothing, don't worry about me and go back to sleep.''

The asari knew it was a lie, she knew him too well to realize that, but there was nothing she could do. After all, Samael was a difficult person. The only person in the universe she couldn't read, not even with melding.

'' Okay, but come and lie down quickly. I'm getting cold in here.''

Samael smiled sadly, as he knew that this would most likely be the last interaction he would have with this particular asari. Well, at least in this life as in a few minutes, he would wake up as a baby again and would've to live everything once more.

He got out of bed, kissed the sleeping Asari's forehead, and went into the kitchen. It was 11:48 p.m., and he still had 12 minutes left. He grabbed a beer and some leftover pizza and went out onto the balcony of his skyscraper in the middle of London.

You might ask, won't that place cost a lot of money? Well, yes, but as already mentioned, he was rich. Besides, after the Reapers were defeated, London was devastated, and Samael helped rebuild it and in the process, he got a lot of land for him to use. In the end, it was useless, but he did everything he could to help.

On the balcony, Samael turned around and looked inside the things in his apartment. His armor, a few pieces of a nameless Reaper, and a few reminders of the people he had lost in this life.

Don't get me wrong, Samael was strong, probably the strongest in the universe when it came to experience and combat skill since he was at least 250 years old and more experienced than everyone else, but even so, the Reapers were still a threat and he still lost a few loved ones in this life.

By the way, with 'only' 250 years of experience, Samael considered himself stronger than most, but the puzzling thing to him was how come the Asari, who had 4x his lifespan, hadn't dominated the galaxy already? With their lifespan and the things they could do with it, the only reason they haven't done so must be pretty good... or stupid.

Anyway, the win count of Samael x Reapers was in Samael's favor, as he won against them more than half the time. It was hard to rally the galaxy around Shepard when he knew it wouldn't matter anyway. And, to be fair to him, the times he lost were when he no longer cared, as he was doing other things around the galaxy or when he joined the figth too late.

And as mentioned before, in war, you always lose a few loved ones.

Looking at Tali's shattered helmet, a small notebook from Mordin Solus, Wrex's shotgun, Grunt's burnt armor, and, last but not least, Jane Shepard's dog tags, Samael squirmed in pain.

Tali' Zorah was a female quarian, an alien race that needed suits to survive thanks to their weak immunity system. She died in the final fight against the Reapers.

Mordin Solus, a Salarian scientist who made a LOT of errors in his life but somehow managed to make it right at the end, died the same way he did in the games.

Wrex died in the Citadel at the end of the War, and Grunt died after being hit by a Reaper laser beam.

Samael was a little guilty because, in this cycle, he began to help a little late, as he was enjoying his life in Omega. So when he joined the fight, it was too late to help the fate of some. It wasn't the first time he had lost a friend, but every time it happened, it hurt as if it were the first time.

They were his family, and now they were gone. He knew he would see them again, as he would be going back in time in a few minutes, but it wasn't good to lose someone you loved, even if temporary.

Sipping his drink in honor of his lost family, Samael looked out over wasteland/recovered London. He smiled, knowing that he was the one who had helped the most.

Samael lost himself in thought as he recalled the good times he'd had during this life. He didn't have many regrets, save for not joining the fight earlier, but, at least for the time being, he wasn't living a perfect life, because you couldn't do that when you knew you were going to start again anyway.

He remembered the parties, the good times with Tali, Liara, and Shepard, the drinking competition with the two Krogans, and the discussion about the genophage and its cure with Mordin. He did this until the clock started ticking, indicating that he had one minute left.

Samael sighed and took one last look at London, then hurried back to his room. As the seconds began to tick away, he looked at Liara asleep in his bed.

In this life, they connected a little bit earlier and started a relationship. But, they never managed to 'marry' or have babies because Samael didn't want to compromise, as he knew his time here was temporary.

There were 10 seconds left and he kissed her once more.'' Goodbye, and I love you.''

Just in time, and as soon as the clock struck 00:00, darkness consumed Samael as he was thrown back in time.

He was already used to the process, so he just waited. He didn't have to wait long, because a few minutes later (or so he thought), he was born once again.

----

Now, back to the beginning, where baby Samael was looking at the place where he had been born, 'Okay, my memories of this time were sometimes fuzzy, but I remember this place.'

They were in the slums of San Francisco. You might think that the fact that he was reincarnated/born in the Mass Effect universe meant that bad places didn't exist, but you're wrong. The disparity between the poor and the rich was somehow even stronger than in his old universe.

Earth had a lot of troubles in this universe.

Samael then noticed the silence in the room, and the eyes of his mother and the doctor on him.

It was then that he remembered, 'Right, I was supposed to start crying...'

He was about to start crying, to satisfy everyone here when he suddenly felt a jolt deep in his soul.

His thoughts stopped for a moment as he felt something different from before. It was a feeling he had never felt before, deep in his soul. It was different from before like it was finally 'complete' or something along those lines.

Samael knew something was different and started to grow excited about its prospects,'' I - I've never felt this in the past cycles!... Does this feeling mean I can finally have a normal life?''

He was desperate to have a normal life, to finally start to grow old with his loved ones, to have his life have meaning, as after the moment he realized he was stuck in a time loop, things changed for the worse. But now, he had hope, as the feeling in his soul told him something was different.

There were other possible explanations, but once again, it was a feeling from the depths of his soul. He was confident, based on his instinct that was rarely wrong, that this was his last life.

''FINALLY!FINALLY!FINALLY!" Samael was so happy that he didn't even notice that the doctor had hit him at least a few dozen times.

The prospect of finally having the chance to live a life that had real meaning sent Samael to the moon with happiness, ' So many possibilities, so many things I can do with the things I know... this time, I will live a perfect life! No one I love and care about will have to die a meaningless death!'

Vowing to himself to do better than all his other cycles, Samael finally noticed the pain and started to cry a little. ' OUCH! THIS DAMN DOCTOR hit me so many times!'

After that, everything was a blur to Samael, as when he finally returned to himself, he was already in his small crib. He calmed himself more and started to think about the danger he would have to face in the future, ' The illusive man, or Jack Harper, one of the most lunatic men in the universe... I even worked with him in one of my lives. Let's just say he was legit crazy.'

In his life where he worked with the Illusive Man, while he did bring humanity to the top of the galaxy, we lost the war against the Reapers at that time, so it didn't matter.

'Beside him, there's the Collectors, the Reapers, the Leviathans who were BACKSTABBING bastards, the idiocy of the Council... But my most difficult problem now is that I need to deal with this BABY BODY!'

To a person who lived a long time as an adult, to return to a baby body was hell. Nothing worked the way he wanted, he would poop himself a lot, and he was sleeping all the time. Speaking of sleeping...

' ... I'm already tired. It wasn't even 30 minutes since I woke up... Well, those 5 to 10 years will be hell, as I will have to interact with children even though I have more than 250 years. But, for my perfect life, I can endure it!'

And, while thinking about what to do, Samael went to sleep.