[Alt Text: Screenshot taken from Mass Effect Andromeda Cinematic depicts a young woman with brown skin, pixie cut curly hair styled to her left and dyed in lilac. She sits in a room with cold blue and darker tones, facing the camera but with slumped shoulders, as if the whole world’s responsibility was suddenly fall on her. A futuristic panel on the left depicts a spaceship with a text that is too small to read. Behind her, in a large glass tube like column a shimmery blue formation resides.]
Year 2819, Day 2 of Arrival to Andromeda Galaxy Aboard Ark Hyperion - Habitation Deck, Alec Ryder’s Personal Quarters
...fuck.
*deep sigh*
I... I think I need a drink.
SAM: There is a bottle in the cabinet under the coffee machine. Your father said it was for unwinding after a long day of work.
Did he now.
SAM: He consumed a very little amount of it from what I have observed.
<Walking and rummaging sounds followed by glass and liquid noises interrupts the recording.>
Oh, that burns.
SAM: Do you require medical aid?
No, no. This is a... good kind of burn.
SAM: That’s actually your own body temperature.
My what?
SAM: Alcohol lowers the tolerance of certain heat receptors in your mouth, causing them to activate at 34 degrees Celsius instead of 42 degrees Celsius, and thus dropping their activation threshold below your own body temperature.
<After a momentary silence followed by a set of noises indicating Mara taking another glass interrupts the recording.>
SAM: Apologies Mara, I wanted to provide a distraction.
*tired chuckle* Yeah, I guess you did. Thanks SAM.
SAM: You are welcome. I will let you continue you with your log. If you need anything, I’m here.
Thank you SAM.
<Few minutes of silence and a several deep sighing Mara’s voice continues.>
Alright, okay.
This is... wild. I guess there is no easy way to say this, right mom? You... you probably already know it.
Dad's dead, he is gone. Maybe he is with you now, I hope he is. He loved you so much.
He... he apparently told Cora that if he died he would want to go among the stars, I’m... I’m not surprised.
But... I never heard him say anything like that, I mean it does sound like dad, still... did you... did you know it, mom?
I wonder if Scott does...
*sigh*
He tried to save me, mom. I mean I died too, apparently... but I’m back, they... they brought me back.
First to Die — Alec and Mara Ryder
*bitter chuckle*
Scott better not one-up me on this one. I also got the first scars, he also better not one up me on this one too, I am the cool twin.
First Scars — Mara Ryder
*sicker followed by a sigh*
He is... he is in coma, technically. And dad... they said it was too late for him. I-- He... he made me his successor, I’m the new Pathfinder.
I don’t know what to do... it all feels like some bizarre nightmare that I can’t wake up.
It was supposed to be Cora, the new Pathfinder, if-if something happened to dad, it was supposed to be her, not me. I don’t even have half the training she had.
Nexus is a bust and none of the so called Golden Worlds are golden or habitable in any case.
*groans*
I may need more than two drinks.
Mom, I saw you. In dad's memories. He... he passed SAM to me, their connection was unlike anything I saw.
I wonder if you knew about this.
I can access some of dad's memories but there are blocks I need to unlock, in time.
I feel like dad was hiding something and he left bread crumbs for us.
*deep sigh*
We... we have arrived at Nexus, but it's a bust. It's not completed, there is news from other Arks and on top of everything none of the so called Golden Worlds are golden or habitable in any case.
600 years sure changes a lot, isn't it?
We knew there was a possibility of things not going the way we planned for them to be but did we really? Jien Garson is dead, dad's dead, all the Arks but the human one are missing-- I'm...
I am repeating myself.
They are giving me a ship, it is getting ready for departure. I'm... I'm going to stay at dad's quarters till that happens. I have some files and reports to go through.
He still has the coffee machine you got for him, I think that and the bottle in the cupboard under is going to be my new best friends.
The track I'm picking this time is for the sake of irony, I'm sure you'd appreciate it, mom.
Metric - Help, I'm Alive | Lyrics
SAM: Mara...
Yes, SAM?
SAM: May I ask you a question?
Sure, go ahead.
SAM: I noticed that in all your private logs you spoke as if you are talking to Ellen. Why is that?
It's... it's kind of tradition.
SAM: Tradition?
Yeah, when I was with the peacekeeping I would send mom voice or video logs regularly, and in return she did the same.
Like mails.
We would talk to each other about how our day went, what we did, how's everyone doing and so on.
I think... I think I kept doing it after she died because it helped me deal with my grief.
Losing her wasn’t easy... it never is. I haven’t even started to process that dad is gone as well.
*sigh*
Anyways, now even though I know she will never get these, it helps me calm down and assess things better. I guess I can say, at this point, they are for me more than they are for her.
But it also keeps her memory alive for me and I can imagine as if she is watching over me and Scott from wherever she is. With... dad now, I hope.
SAM: I see. Thank you for answering Mara.
Anytime SAM, anytime.
End of record.