Spacer

“Spacer” had been produced in record time, only two months and a week after the end of the Reaper War, and it was released immediately. It was a way of keeping minds off of the pain, looking toward the bright side- that the galaxy still had a future to look to. And that was all thanks to Shepard.

Liara T'Soni had donated a surprisingly thorough account of Shepard’s missions to the producers of the film, and, according to Alliance officers who had seen it and more-or-less knew the story, the movie was pretty accurate… at least as accurate as any film “based on a true story” tended to be. All the characters at least remained the correct races, and a lot of famous actors signed on- including a quarian who rose to fame in “Fleet and Flotilla.”

Anyone who served on the Normandy since it was put under Shepard’s command received a complimentary copy well before it was released out of theaters, but nobody watched it. Tali and Liara downloaded it to their omni-tools, but refused to watch it. Garrus and Kaidan stared at the boxes left on their tables, but wouldn’t open it. Urdnot Wrex and Grunt simultaneously decided the damn things would do them better crushed under armored feet; Urdnot Bakara, usually intolerant of unnecessary destruction, didn’t try to stop them. Kelly Chambers- no longer Felicia Hannigan- set the box carefully on a shelf, keeping the unopened case pristine.

Shepard was gone- sacrificed herself to end the Reaper War- and none of her squad could bear to relive it. The movie was supposed to be in tribute to the galaxy’s savior- 60% of proceeds donated to various reconstruction funds- but those closest to Shepard only felt burdened by it. Five months after the end of the Reaper War, everyone was talking about Spacer- everyone, that is, except for the scattered survivors of Shepard’s final push.

Seven months, three weeks, and two days after the end of the Reaper War, Shepard came back. Nobody knew what to think- she’d cheated death again, but how?

“Synthesis beam,” she said, and that’s all she would say about it. No one cared to question her. She’d shown up on the still-rebuilding Citadel, battered and bloodied just as she had been when she’d thrust herself into the beam all those months ago. She recovered quickly, but well before she was out of the hospital, her old crew members were there. They had to make sure it was really her- and it was, it was Shepard, no doubt about it.

Once she was cleared to leave the hospital- by Chakwas, of course- she was quick to go back to the company of her old teammates. It was weird… with the Reapers gone, she didn’t quite know what to do. None of them did, really. But the family was together again.

“We should watch it!” Garrus exclaimed one day while the crew was gathered in Shepard’s apartment, arguing over what to do.

Liara and Tali burst into giggles. Kaidan groaned. Kelly squealed in an excited agreement, sitting up so that she was looking at Garrus and no longer completely leaning against Gwen as they sat on the couch.

The commander was absolutely confused as to why everyone else seemed to know what “it” was.

“Watch what?” she asked, brow creasing in confusion.

Liara and Tali simply giggled harder, some of the other crew members joining in, apparently amused by Shepard’s ignorance.

“I left my disk at home. Anyone bring it?” Garrus asked, still not answering Gwen.

“I have it downloaded. Projecting it now,” EDI responded, taking only a moment to interface with the entertainment system and project “it” onto Shepard’s flatscreen.

“Spacer” was far from the worst movie Gwen had seen. (Especially considering Kelly had made her watch Blasto IX: Never Say Enkindle Again as soon as the doctors officially allowed visitors for more than a few minutes at a time.) It was kind of endearing; some parts tugged a little too close to home, and others they’d changed or gotten so wrong that the entire company couldn’t help but to laugh. It was still bizarre, after everything that had happened. But she was glad to be here, with her crew- her family. It felt right, and it was only because of them that she couldn’t feel too bad for cheating death twice.

There was a silence once the credits began; eventually, Joker spoke up. “Okay, now who wants to play ‘Spacer: Galaxy at War’? I hear it’s the hottest game of the season!”