Adam wasn't sure what had woken him up; by all rights, he certainly shouldn't have been awake at all. He was so.... Comfortable. Maybe that's what it was? The beds at the academy weren't exactly first rate, and right at this moment he felt as if he was floating on top of a cloud.

Something wasn't right about that.

He probably should have fallen back to sleep instead of thinking about it, but the more time he spent thinking the more awake he became, until he noticed something else, and that was the quiet humming of some sort of distant generator.

That wasn't right either, the academy didn't have a generator anywhere near the barracks. He might have expected to hear the distant roaring of engines, or even the sound of marching footsteps, but not a generator.

He could feel it vibrating below him, a soft thrumm that rolled up from the floor and into his body.

He cracked an eye, and was immediately confused at what he saw.

It was like staring into an abstract painting where the brain fights to find something familiar, and seems to only just fail.

He lurched upright, staring around the room in confusion.

It took a few minutes, but eventually the room coalesced around him.

And what he saw didn't make any sense. The bed he sat in was.... Large queen if not king size, with soft grey sheets and a blanket.... Something he would never have been allowed at the academy. There was a TV and plenty of his things scattered miscellaneously around the room.

Turning to the left, he froze eyes wide.... On the massive window and the star field beyond.

What was that!

It had to be some sort of projection! Because the only other option was that he was in space!

But no, that wasn't right.

He had never been to space, not yet anyway. He wasn't skilled enough at flying to take one of the darkfires, and even if that was the case, it didn't make sense.... This was a large ship.

He turned himself sideways on the bed and went to stand slowly. It was only too late that he realized something was wrong, and he went crashing to the floor. The sudden fall was jarring, and unexpected, but what was worse....

Looking back at his body he realised, from about mid thigh down, he was missing a leg!

Sudden panic.

He crawled gasping back against the wall staring down at the missing limb, his hands trembling over the stump of where his right leg should have been..

WHere was he!

WHat had happened to him!

WHere was his leg!

Movement across the room, and he jerked violently back as a shape came trotting around the side of the bed, only relaxing when he realised it was a dog. The German shepherd walked up to him without hesitation sitting down at his side before pressing her head against his chest.

Voice still shaky he reached out and rubbed his hands through her fur, "h...hi.....I.... what's your name?" He held out his hand to look down at her collar, but the tags didn't have the name on them.

She lifted her head to look him in the face licking at him with her squishy pink tongue.

He smiled despite his inner panic.

Instead of walking away though, she pressed closer, forcing him to pet her until the panic slowly died away. As if on cue, she stepped back and trotted away, returning a moment later with something in her mouth dragging over the floor, dropping it into his lap.

He stared at it in confusion for a moment.

It looked like a prosthetic leg..... but .... wrong .

He tapped his finger against the blue outer layer, which felt like..... Nothing he had ever touched. And then the two toes at the end of the foot.... Like no animal he had ever seen.

"What is this?"

His own voice startled him, and he rested a hand against his chest.

Had his voice gotten... deeper?

The dog nosed his hand, and with a little fiddling, he was able to reach down and socket the leg into place. Not seconds after it had happened, he heard a soft whirring noise, and a blast of sensation rolled up from the fake leg.

He could feel....

Everything.

It was honestly a relief, and he was finally able to wobble to his feet, looking around the room with wide eyes reaching out his fingers to touch the viewing screen. He assumed it was some sort of projection on glass, but still it looked pretty convincing, and pretty cool.

It would have been better if he knew where he was, whose bed that was, and whose dog this belonged to.

He limped awkwardly over to the mirror on the other side of the room. The leg felt weird, and he couldn't help but walk funny on it.

When he reached the mirror, he nearly staggered back in shock.

That wasn't his face!

Or more accurately, it WAS his face, but..... older .

And then he got a good look at his right eye..... A robotic eye.

He yelped and scrambled back his hand to his face. He could feel the eye inside his head as he bumped into the foot of the bed and pitched backwards into a sitting position. For one horrible moment he wondered if his entire body had been replaced with robotic parts, but a test of his right arm proved that was not the case.

He sighed in relief still a bit wobbly.

He took another good look at the room. All this stuff looked like things he would own. Some of it he even recognized, but other bits of it, not so much.

He walked over to the wardrobe, and when he opened it, he found a pristine grey..... Admiral's uniform.

He stepped back.

Yes this was certainly not his.

Somehow he had woken up in an Admiral's room!

He was so screwed.

He looked down at himself. Sneaking out in a T shirt and boxers was not going to do it though, so he quickly shuffled through the closet coming up with a pair of grey BDUs pulling off the little velcro star on the shoulder. It's a good thing this Admiral guy was almost exactly his size.

Hopefully no one would notice and he would be able to sneak out.

He turned around and patted the admiral's dog on the head, "Good girl" He said before standing up and reaching for the door.

It opened with a hiss, and he stepped out into the hallway rather sneakily. Closing the door quietly.

"Good morning, Admiral!"

He nearly leaped out of his boots and went blasting into the ceiling. He turned around hand to his chest in shock and surprise, breathing hard. The sharp

British accent belonged to a tall woman with dark hair pulled up into a tight bun, and a pristine grey uniform, holding a clipboard.

She didn't seem surprised to see him.

He straightened himself up.

Just act natural, "Good morning....you....person."

She blinked at him, "is everything alright, Admiral?"

Uh.... what?

He was a cadet, not an admiral. How was it that this person seemed to recognize him.

And how did he end up in an Admiral's quarters.

There were a few options, most of them too outlandish to consider, one of them involving the random chance of hooking up with a superior officer who happened to look exactly like him, and being so drunk he lost all his memories about the encounter form the night before.

That didn't seem right.

Even drunk he couldn't imagine that scenario.

And if it was what had happened, than this admiral apparently had a thing for people who looked exactly like him.... Which was weird.... No, there had to be another explanation.

He just had to act.... Natural.

He straightened himself up, "Yes uh.... Of course... everything is alright."

He just had to act more.... admiral -ish.

The lieutenant tilted her head at him, eyes narrowing in confusion. She suspected him already?

Great.

But if she did suspect him, she didn't say anything and let him out down the hallway. Teeth gritted, he followed after her back straight walking how he thought admirals should walk, though the weird feel of the prosthetic leg surely wasn't helping.

They began to pass others in the hallway, and he assumed he would be recognized immediately, but they just waved and saluted.

"Morning Admiral."

"Morning Adam."

"Morning Sir."

Adam?

They knew his name?

He just smiled vaguely. The men frowned, but he passed y feeling their eyes on him as he made his way down the hall.

WHat was this place?"

He wanted to ask but knew that would be a dead give away.

He turned the corner as he was led into an elevator and took a short ride up into.... Something awesome.

It was like star trek.... Or or star wars or something. Or like walking onto the command deck at NASA: a massive circular room with dozens of seats, all manned by a uniformed officer, speaking to each other quickly and passing holo projections back and forth, all under the light of a massive star field, which could be seen out the front viewing screen.

And then, the quintessential captain's chair in the center, sitting on a pedestal high above the rest.

He stood with his mouth open.

The lieutenant waited.

He looked at her, and she looked at him.

What now?

"Sir, morning diagnostics?" she motioned towards the chair.

He was about to motion to himself in surprise, but then stopped, "Oh... yeah yes of course.... Diagnostics, how could I forget." He smiled awkwardly earning another strange look from the lieutenant as he walked over, and paused before the chair.

How could he say no to an opportunity like this.

He slid into place and took a deep breath.

This was so cool!

Now for.... diagnostics ?

He stared at the controls.

And recognized.... nothing .

Awkwardly, he reached out a hand to make it look like maybe he was doing something, but he wasn't. He had had dreams like this before, but this was way way worse.

He had to get out of here.

He stood.

"I just remembered I forgot.... To do a thing."

The Lieutenant stared at him in consternation as he walked past her and back into the elevator, closing the door quickly before she could follow him. The elevator began its descent.

Ok, what did he know? He was missing a leg and an eye, everyone here thought he was an admiral.... And he was.... Where?

The door before him opened up and he stepped out into the hall. Okay, he just had to find a door out of here.

He took one more step.

"Hey Adam, have you seen Sunny."

"Er, no I." he turned and froze on the spot like a block of ice, as the massive alien leaned its head down to look at him.

Frozen, hands out to his sides, he stared up at the creature mouth open at the massive, hulking shape.

Two toed feet, bipedal, with four pairs of arms, a bird-ish head and bright golden eyes.

An ALIEN!

That was an alien!

One of his legs began to tremble, either in excitement or fear he did not know.

This was it, this all made sense now! He had been abducted by aliens, and thrown into the matrix into a scenario that would keep him complacent while they used his body for probing and scientific purposes.

The alien tilted its head, "Adam, are you ok.

"Fine." he squeaked "I have to go!"

And then he turned and ran. It wasn't a graceful run, and it certainly wasn't being nonchalant, but to be fair, he was panicking! He had been abducted by aliens, he was sure of it, there was no other explanation for what was going on.

He skidded around a corner and pitched himself right into a wall, falling flat on his side, not used to the prosthetic leg. People stared at him as he scrambled to his feet and continued running, trying to find the best nearest hiding spot.

He eventually found something down in a dark maintenance tunnel, shoving himself into a vent or crevice next to a pipe where he could hyperventilate in peace.

Was that alien really cool, yes.

Was he scared out of his mind, yes.

Did he know what to do, no.

Was hiding here especially manly?... that could be debated at a later date.

He sat there brooding in the dark for a long moment until he heard footsteps coming up the hallway.

"Adam.... Adam are you in here."

He threw a hand over his mouth, eyes wide, breathing softly.

"Adam, hey is everything alright, I brought waffles." He frowned. What the hello did that mean.

He figured it out with the wet snout poked it's way into his hole and prodded him with her nose.

Shit

The german shepherd, of course. No wonder they had found him.

"Adam, are you ok."

He scooted further into the hole as she shadow passed over his hiding spot, not that it was much of one any more. A foot stepped into place before him.... Bright blue, and with two toes.

Just like his prosthetic leg.

He yelped, then placed a hand over his mouth watching as the alien knelt before the little opening, staring in at him.

He wanted to say she looked....

Concerned.

Something about her was almost.

Familiar.

"Adam, what's wrong."

The dog scooted up next to him and rested her head against his chest.

More footsteps up the hall, and the alien stepped back. He sat there in the darkness, arms around the dog. What was happening! He had been found.

"What's going on, Sunny."

"I don't know. I think he might be having an attack. Someone get Conn."

Footsteps faded into the distance.

An attack?"

The alien knelt before the door again, reaching inside with her four fingered hand.

He stared at it.

She rested a hand on his leg, sending a strange burst of tingling bubbles up into his body, and for a moment he felt...

He recoiled from her in shock at himself.

She moved back.

"Krill, Dr Adric, thank spirits you're here?"

"Whats wrong?'

"I think he's having some sort of episode."

"Well I am a medical doctor, there is not much that I can do here. Dr. Adric, this might be your area of expertise."

The voices continued, "I'd suggest everyone step back then. Crowding is only going to make it worse.

He heard the shuffling of feet, and then another person kneeled in front of his hiding spot. A dark skinned man in a blue suit. He looked very distinguished, trustworthy.

"Adam," His voice was soft, "Are you with us."

He was caught, might as well talk with it, see what he could find, "Who are you, and where am I."

The man seemed surprised, "I am doctor Adric, and you are on the UNSC Omen."

"What is that."

Though the man seemed surprised his voice was still and calming, "The UNSC omen is your ship."

Adam stared at him, laughed and then shook his head, "If you want to trick me, you have to do better than that."

The man stared at him, "Why do you think i'm trying to trick you."

"Because I'm not an admiral. I'm a cadet. I haven't finished training yet."

Dr. Adric pulled back for a moment, and he listened to the voices as suddenly, a cold tingling sensation entered his mind.

"Oh dear, admiral, what have you been doing in here, everything is very jumbled."

He flinched and cried out, grabbing at his ears, though the voice continued inside his head.

"Where did you put those memories.... Didn't get rid of them did you, that would be unfortunate.... No.... here they are. Going to have to fix this."

"Who are you! Get out of my head."

"That has never worked before."

Voices in the real world this time.

"He's still in there, though it seems he cannot access his most recent memories."

"SO he just woke up this morning and had no idea where he was."

An annoyed voice, "Dr. Adric, no one told me this could happen to humans."

"It is.... rare . A fugue state or partial retrograde amnesia usually doens happen without a.... Reason. Hold on, that flower on the planet we were exploring yesterday, it got pollen all over him. Perhaps that had something to do with it."

He didn't understand what they were talking about."

Dr. Adric knelt down back in front of the door, "Adam, it seems as if you have an acute case of partial retrograde amnesia."

He laughed, "Sure thats what the matrix would say."

Dr Adric sighed and tapped his fingers against his chin for a moment, "Adam, if we were the matrix, we would be much better at integrating your memories with your new reality. The whole point of the matrix is to make sure you don't find out you are in the matrix. Otherwise we would have metal rebellion on our hands."

That was a... good point he supposed.

"So.... you think I just forgot everything."

"Yes."

"How could I forget ALIENS!" He pointed a finger at the blue alien peering at him from the side of the hole.

"The mind is a strange thing, Adam, now please come out of there, so we can try and help ou remember."

Should he do it?

Well... he had always wanted to meet aliens.

If this WAS the matrix, he might as well enjoy it for a while.

The group of them looked relieved when he crawled out of his hole and stood, and immediately stepped back in shock.

Three aliens.

He stared at the tiny insect like alien with its wide orange eyes for prisms.

"Woah.... And what are you."

"A vrul, and the acting physician on this ship. The person who TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH THE FLOWER!"

He stepped back i surprise at the little creature's hostility.

The blue alien rested a hand on his shoulder, "Ignore him, hes just a bit grumpy."

He stared at her hand and then looked up at her. Another shot of fizzing tingles ran through his skin and he.... His heart hammered in his chest. He fought back the sensation confused and a bit distrurbed, 'Who are you?"

She seemed, almost hurt by his words, but didn't say anything other than ,"Sunny. I am the ship's weapons specialist. I am a Drev."

"Cool."

And then he turned towards the last alien, ethereal and billowing like a fish in water, with its white skin and wide dark eyes.

The voice prickled inside his mind again, "I am starborn, conn, and I enjoy annoying you."
"Ok, thanks for being honest, I guess."

Dr Adric rested a hand on his shoulder, "Perhaps a walk around the ship will help."

He nodded and was led up the hall wide eyed as he stared.

A spaceship.

HIS spaceship.

"So you're telling me this is all mine? I fly this ship. I'm like the Captain of this ship."

"More than that." Sunny said, "You are the acting fleet Admiral of the UNSC and the GA."

"What is the GA."

"The Galactic Assembly. The intergalactic government of planets run by all sentient species in the galaxy."

He couldn't help the smile that passed over his face, "Like the senate in star wars?"

"Yes, pretty much."

"So cool!"

The group laughed, "Still the same Adam in there."

They walked out into the hall, and he stared wide eyed as a troop of small fluffy round aliens walked past up the hall.

"Aw they're so-" A hand clamped over his mouth, holding him until they passed.

"You don't want to do that Adam, those are the Celzex, and while they may be adorable to humans they have nasty tempered and a heightened sense of honor. If you insult them they will not hesitate to turn their weapons on us."

"Oh, whoopse."

The blue alien grabbed him by the hand and hauled him down the corridor, the group of them showing him everything he should remember.

It all seemed.... Oddly familiar.

But he just couldn't access the memories.

Either way this was so cool!

It wasn't long before they were having trouble controlling him as he raced around the ship with wide eyes to look at all the strange new things he was seeing, pointing them out, saying hi to people asking them what they did. THey looked confused at first until someone told them what was going on, and then they gladly told him.

He was led into the rec room at some point where he met a group of marines that claimed to be his good friend.

A short blond woman who gave him the sneaking suspicion that she could kick his ass, a tanned marine, with a bright white smile and looks that were way too good for him to be a marine.

A dark skinned engineer, who was probably the sun goddess reincarnated.

He opened his mouth to ask her a question and she held up a hand.

"No, before you ask. I cannot make a lightsaber."

He frowned, "Some future this is."

She rolled her eyes.

The others laughed.

"Didn't change much even without your memories.

The blond one, named maverick leaned forward a bit in her seat grinning wolfishly, "You know, what about smells. I hear they are connected closely to memories."

Dr Adric nodded, "Not a bad Idea Maverick."

Adam sniffed at the air, "but I don't smell anything."

"Just wait here a second and we will see if we can find anything. ramirez , watch him for a minute will you." The marine nodded giving an easy smile.

The others left and he stared at the two marines, "So, how do we know each other."

"Well i'm your best friend, your best human friend anyway. We met on the Enterprise, discovered aliens together."

His eyes were wide, woah."

"Hmmm, an associated smell."

He tapped his chin for a moment before grinning and reaching down to pull off his boot.

Maverick recoiled, "Anything but that."

"Oh come on, its the strongest smell I have."

Adam backed away, "I am not curtesy sniffing your feet"

The man held out a boot, "Oh come on, you want your memories back, don't you." he took the boot hesitantly.

"I, guess.... I doubt this is going to work though."

"Won't kill you."

"You sure about that?" Either way, he took a tentative sniff at the boot.

He shouldn't have worried, he could smell it from here and sweet lord above, he was almost knocked off his feet. Yes partially from the stench and partially from a wave of memories, not related to the horrible smell, but a strange undertone. A smell associated with this specific marine. It was like.... The desert, warm concrete and sunlight on leather.

He staggered back, remembering snippets of laughter, space suits, the sound of blades on ice, cold washing over his skin, and warm laughter. He fell onto the ground head spinning, and felt the dog press up against him. He clasped her around the neck and buried his face in her fur breathing in deeply. Another wave hit him.

Fear.

Trembling

The sound of gunfire. Being curled up in a room somewhere rocking back and forth as memories assaulted him. A room full of bodies, a shambling corpse in the dark, a flooding of traumatic memories that made him want to scream, but all with another undertone. Something warm, and something understanding.

When he came out of it, he was gasping.

The two marines were standing over him.

"Angel.... Maverick?"

They grinned, "Damn straight, you remembered."

"I don't remember.... Everything."

He was still sitting there when the others made their way into the room holding various items.

Dr. Krill walked over first handing him a little container of rubbing alcohol. Sniffing at it, he remembered nothing at first, that was until he was flooded again with memories. An alien hospital, his missing eye, the little doctor that had taken care of him. Taking krill aboard the ship, thousands of missions they had been on together.

He gasped a bit.

"Its working."

Dr. katie moved forward, handing him a space suit helmet, which still smelled of space, a slight burnt smell, and the fabric interior.

Another wave crashed over him. Flying the F-90 for the first time, meeting aliens, spacewalks, nebulas and stars whirlin around him. His head was still spinning as they dragged him to his feet, walking him around a ship that was becoming more and more familiar as he walked. He knew where things were without being entirely sure where he had learned it.

Until he walked into the cargo bay and was hit by a wave of smells, that had him nearly toppled over. He remembered the ship, his old ship, he remembered the battles and stepping to her for the first time. He remembered the burg war and all that had happened during that time.

It was all coming back to him.

And when he finally straightened up he remembered who he was.

It was such a relief.

He looked around at his ship and took a deep breath. Everyone stared at him, "Remember, Admiral."

He nodded, "I remember..... That was.... Wow." he shook himself.

"That was strange. Poor simon must have been so confused I-"

He turned his head surprised to catch sight of the blue Drev vanishing out of sight behind a corner. That was when he realized she was the only one he didn't remember.

He looked over at Ramirez who stared back at him.

"Ramirez, Sunny.... Who is she."

The other man stepped back in shock and consternation so profound that he realized he must have forgotten something horribly important. Ramirez took him by the shoulder and walked him away from the others.

"Did I offend her somehow."

Ramirez looked at him with an expression of pity, "Adam." He said quietly, "I.... i mean yeah..... Your dating her."

That revelation hit him like a slap in the face, and his mouth opened and closed for a moment.

"I what!"

"You heard what I said. You love her."

He shook his head in confusion, "I think I would remember something that important wouldn't I.... but I can't be dating her...."

"Because shes an alien?" Ramirez snapped.

He held up his hands, "No! Because i'm to much of a chicken to date ANYONE."

Ramirez poked him in the chest, "Well you better go after her and FIND a way to remember."

He was surprised at his friend's hostility towards him, looking over his shoulder to where she had vanished, "ok, ok."

He followed after her, moving down the hall. That couldn't be right, just thinking about dating someone made his skin all tingly and send blood rushing up into his neck and face in embarrassment.

And an alien.

That was.... So strange.

He turned a corner following where his memories were vague, knowing he would likely find her there.

He was right, he found her in engineering sitting quietly on a workbench staring at her hands.

He paused in the doorway.

"Sunny?"

She looked up at him, and the expression in her eyes was.... heartbreaking . He had no idea why it hit him so hard, but the pain was almost physical like a kick in the stomach.

He grimaced, "I.... Ramirez told me that.... We."

His ears flushed red, his heart hammered in his chest. His hands were shaking. This all seemed so strange.

She turned her head, 'Its alright....."

She didn' say it, but he knew what she should be saying. If she was the last thing he remembered, than clearly she wasn't that important. Even thinking that made him feel horrible, and he knew that wasn't right either.

He stepped a bit closer, and as he did the small workshop send a gust of wind into his face. The smell of oil and grease, the burnt smell of plastic and paper and metal together.

Then the smell of.

Moss.

He nearly fell over as the weight of the new memories hit him. A battle under an ashen sky, the pain in his leg, fear, and then following that, something else. A feeling he couldn't describe and didn't want to try. Memories rolled in front of his eyes and as they flooded in they seemed to glue all of his other memories back into place, pulling him together as a whole person once more.

The last piece that held the puzzle together.

He staggered forward.

And she caught him, supporting him with all four hands. And when his eyes opened he remembered.

He smiled resting a hand against the side of her face. Her relief and his relief together was obvious, "Gotta save the best for last, right."