"Lt. Commander Elen B. Shepard, N7."

Elen leaned back on her couch and looked down at the missive she was sending. Did it even mean anything to sign it that way? It meant something on Earth, she knew.

But did Earth even still exist?

Did Kaidan still exist?

Kaidan...

A quiet sadness enveloped Elen as she looked at the photoframe on the coffee table, then looked at the empty right half of the couch.

Why did I have to take the mission, Elen thought to herself for the thousandth time. But she knew the answer: because I always take the mission. The words came to mind, familiar through repetition. Because when the wormhole opened, when the Citadel decided to send a Spectre through it to establish relations with the other side, they'd sent the best. They'd sent her.

And then the wormhole had closed, trapping her in an unfamiliar world. Which meant she had a mission of her own.

Stay alive.
Keep looking.
And find a way home.

A way home to Kaidan.