948Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or anything else referenced here. Those are the sole property of their writers/companies (Bioware/EA and such). I do not claim ownership of anything but my OC and original concepts.
List of track(s) used (you can copy+paste them in your PC by temporarily switching to the mobile version):
[1] – Recommended Track: Mass Effect 2 - New Worlds - 1 hour (part of the YT link: /watch?v=jqvcqe9KOW0).
Chapter 1: One Does Not Simply Save the Galaxy Without First Gathering an Awesome Team
Somewhere on the Presidium, close to the Citadel Embassies. Early 2170 CE.
After the bright flash of light shimmered down, I opened my eyes and, while looking at my arms, noticed that my clothing had changed entirely. No longer was I wearing 21st century clothes, but a human outfit that was quite common for the fashion sense of the ME Universe. Heaving a sigh of relief, I figured that the being which brought me here wouldn't want me to be the center of attention right after arriving. Nice! The last thing I needed right now is to stand out too much here. Speaking of which…
The surroundings finally caught my attention. I was standing on the little bridge you might walk across for the first time when playing ME1. I stood by the railing and, for a good minute, just took in the sights and all the aliens going about their business, to get used to everything new. This would my reality from now on. Not very far, a krogan statue was standing proudly – exactly the one erected in honor of their participation during the rachni war and the very same Wrex mentioned when bantering with Garrus.
The Citadel appeared to be bigger than in the games. It was very beautiful, especially with the artificial nebula in the background, and quite high-tech, though I wasn't that impressed. If the species of the galaxy decided to work together, they could probably build more impressive megastructures. If this was a Niven-Ringworld, then that would really be something to be impressed about!
Only now did the realization hit that all I'd experienced so far had been real. I closed my eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, and began planning. There were many possible avenues of action to consider, both short and long term. Someone in my situation could try to steadily build connections, maybe even get a job, and waste the already relatively short time available or gamble a bit, securing the help of some influential individual, and get a lot of support from the very start.
Me? I was planning on being a little reckless in the beginning… Not much, though. It was more of a "calculated risk". Well, back in high-school, I used to be quite good at math! Jokes aside, there was some rather complicated thought process put into it.
One thing to note, which even the actual writers seem to have sidelined or forgotten, was that the asari can transfer thoughts, memories and feelings through melding, even with a mere "shallow" meld. This, to anyone with their basic faculties still working, presents an incredibly easy way to make allies. You'd only need to share a few of your memories, how you really feel about them and clearly explain your cause to gain a trustworthy asari ally. Why Shepard didn't just transfer his/her experiences to asari in "high places" just baffles the mind (no, melding isn't just an "intimate" act, but it's something that, going by the wiki, can be done "for the sole purpose of transferring thoughts, without reproduction", the examples being Liara and Shiala).
Anyway, going from the ones we get to know in the trilogy, there's a decent list of asari that one can "recruit". The first that might come into mind would be Liara. She's a Paragon Girl Scout, very capable and someone that would definitely join the cause of not dying to giant squid. And you could probably find her at the University of Serrice or just call asking for her. However, her connections were pretty sparse. After all, at this time, she's just an unpopular archeologist. Therefore, even after recruiting her, you'd need to depend on her parents' connections. Which brought me to the next one on the list…
Matriarch Benezia was complicated. She had everything you needed: personal power and powerful followers, money, influence and connections to make a great many things happen. Before her indoctrination, she had even been described as "nice" and "kind", and someone that sought to forge alliances with the other species. Therefore, one could try to "piggyback" a meeting with her through Liara, but it'd still mean putting yourself completely in her hands. What if she decided you were better off as just an intel source, locking you up somewhere?
As for Matriarch Aethyta, despite being one of the best asari ever (btw), not only was her location unknown at this time (she only appeared on Illium's Eternity to keep an eye on Liara), but she herself claimed to not be as capable as a commando (only knowing how to fight dirty), whereas our dear archeologist can hold her own just fine against such a foe. Moreover, her support would come in the form of "some Eclipse girls" and that would complicate things, because secrecy was paramount for now.
Lastly, others were either not people you can just meet, were in unknown places or just didn't have the required capabilities. Samara's location, for example, was unknown. I'm certainly not betting my life on someone like Tela Vasir not being the villain she was shown to be. And the Asari Councilor, Tevos, would be extremely hard to meet – plus, you'd end up risking a lot by revealing things to her. What if she decided to make you "disappear" in order to hide the Beacon's existence?
There was, however, one asari that fits most of my requirements very, very close to my location. That was my current destination.
After a short walk over the bridge, I reached the entrance to the Consort's Chambers. Yup, my initial gamble was with Sha'ira. I was looking for her many connections. She was always described as a very compassionate being. Not someone you'd expect to stab you in the back, especially when the fate of the galaxy was at stake. And those connections included generals, diplomats and so on, meaning you could, for instance, get easy entry to Thessia, the general location of an ex-STG badass, a meeting with a certain freelance assassin…
Sure enough, after reaching the place, a familiar asari was ready to greet me.
"Hello, I'm Nelyna.", said the cheerful attendant while looking at her datapad. "I don't recognize you as one of our expected clients today. Would you like me to see when the Consort will be able to meet with you?".
"Hi, Nelyna. That would be unnecessary.", I greeted her back with a smile and raised my right hand. "I'm neither a client nor do I wish to use any services.".
"Oh, are you new here in the Citadel?", she asked spontaneously, swiftly noticing my species. "That's right! You're human. If you've gotten lost, I can help you find directions to a few places…".
"No, that's not it. Let's say I've got this friend…", I began narrating in a low voice, so no one else could hear. "He has information, the sensitive kind, that could save the lives of countless innocents and is very paranoid about who to pass it over to.".
"Hm, a friend, right?", Nelyna decided to play along with me. "And why would he seek the Consort? Wouldn't this kind of thing be better off being resolved at C-Sec?".
"That's just the problem: he doesn't trust anyone on this station, not even the people at his own embassy, with the chance of a leak being big.", I said resolutely. "However, my friend has heard a lot of good things about this amazing asari, with connections, remarkable compassion and a generous spirit, that could resolve the problem. All he needs is but one minute to pass over some memories to her.".
"Oh, did he? He's right about the Consort. There's no one else like her!", she smiled resplendently at the compliment. "But is there no other way to do this?".
"No, it has to be this way.", I told her decisively. "This friend of mine doesn't trust any other means of passing the information. After all, C-SEC is notoriously incompetent, especially when dealing with a new race, and anything electronic can be hacked…".
"Now, this is really not something I see every day.", Nelyna replied, reluctance clearly shown in face. "But I don't think I could help you with that, sorry. Maybe I can set up a meeting for your friend in a few months…".
"Just tell your mistress what I've said – and that, if she finds the information lacking, this one 'little' minute of her time wasted can be compensated.", I stated firmly before offering my right arm to her. "Moreover, we can do a 'shallow' melding so you can see that I speak the truth and hold no evil thoughts.".
Suddenly, before she could answer, Nelyna put her hand in what I believe should've been her right 'ear'. Someone was talking to her, it seemed. I could barely hear some of it: "Send him through. I'm interested in what this human has to show.".
"Yes, Mistress!", she turned to me and started with some incredulity. "You are in luck. The Consort will see you.".
"Thank you.", I replied back and nodded.
The short walk to the Consort Chambers wasn't much different from what I remember from the first game. There was, nonetheless, much more 'clutter' along the way and no human acolyte present yet. At the end of the path, I spotted the Consort, Sha'ira. She was attractive even for an asari. However, before I could say anything to her, she cut right to the chase.
"I've heard of your friend's 'proposition' and I'm intrigued, especially why he wouldn't just go to his embassy for help. Come, sit down.", she said in a soothing voice and gestured towards the lounging sofa in the room. "Don't worry, I'm always interested in meeting someone from the newest member of the galactic community. But, for your sake, I hope you didn't lie. If this is a prank, know that the compensation promised will not be light…".
"I know. It will only take a moment, or as long as you wish to take to receive all of the information with me.", I nodded to assure her and walked over, sinking into the sofa. A moment later, Sha'ira joined me, sitting close enough for us to reach our hands.
"Are you ready?", she asked.
"Yes. Let's do it.", I responded confidently, focusing on the memories I'd pass over to her. This was a small gamble, but one that could pay off a lot.
Sha'ira put her palms flat against the sides of my face, brought her forehead to touch mine and looked straight into my eyes.
"Calm yourself, free your thoughts and mind, recall the memories you wish to share with me and… Embrace Eternity!", she said as her eyes turned black.
Her breath mingled with mine as our minds connected. For a moment there, I could feel the tug and, then, we were there together, in a shared mind space. It felt surreal, unlike anything I've ever experienced. I felt myself standing in the void of space once again, with the light coming fron distant galaxies and the presence of nebulae as the only reminder that it wasn't empty.
Wow, is this how my mind is? I thought and, at the same moment, her reply came equally in the form of thought: It's how I see your mind. The tempest of emotions and memories that are held back by your will. It's quite unique among all the ones I've seen.
It was a very orderly meld. Our communication was instant and it was both intention as well as language. I knew exactly what she meant and she knew exactly what I meant. No possibility of a lie or misunderstanding. And I knew just what to show her first. It started with Thessia's fall to the Reapers, with all the destruction and rubble shown in ME3, then the Battle of the Citadel, followed by Vigil's explanation of how the Prothean Empire fell, the creation of Banshees and the effects of indoctrination. A minute had long passed, but I felt that Sha'ira had ignored that fact, because she was very interested in what I was showing. To finalize the presentation, I decided to play out Sovereign's speech on Virmire, which has iconic lines such as:
"Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die."
"We are eternal. The pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything."
"My kind transcends your very understanding. We are each a nation. Independent, free of all weaknesses. You cannot even grasp the nature of our existence."
"The cycle cannot be broken. The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance and, at the apex of their glory, they are extinguished. The protheans were not the first. They did not create the Citadel. They did not forge the Mass Relays. They merely found them, the legacy of my kind."
"Your civilization is based on the technology of the Mass Relays, our technology. By using it, your society develops along the paths we desire. We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it."
"I am the vanguard of your destruction. This exchange is over."
The more Sovereign yammered – and I could hardly believe I had it all so clear in my head, clearer than I remember –, the more nervous I felt Sha'ira become. I didn't blame her. At the end of his "exchange", I felt a shift in the meld coming and then the connection terminating.
"WHAT WAS THAT!?", demanded Sha'ira with an expression of both fear and horror. The former was probably caused by the Reapers. Thessia's fall and the asari's husks, the banshees, might be responsible for the latter.
Instead of answering her, I made the universal gesture for silence, then whispered: "Shallow meld.", offering my right hand to her, which took with reservation. This might've been just paranoia, but I wasn't going to take any chances talking about Reapers while in the home of the Catalyst. After connecting once again, albeit in a weaker way, I declared unquestionably to her in my mind: The truth of our predecessor's downfall, what our community is truly built upon and our probable future. That is, IF we don't do something about it, which is why I was sent here. Sha'ira, I need your help.
Sha'ira looked straight into my eyes, probably trying to find any hint of deceit, but only finding calm sincerity and determination.
"Nelyna, cancel my appointments for the day.", she put her right hand in the side or her head and said. "I don't know, dear. Tell them I got sick or something. And you've never met an interesting human today, understand?".
You must be wondering how I know these things, right? You can say I'm something of an oracle myself… I said playfully, as much as one could by sending only thoughts. Just joking. The truth is… I'm not from around 'here'. And, by that, I mean this Universe.
She widened her eyes a bit.
I was given those 'visions', in that form, and sent here by a powerful entity in order to put an end to this 'Cycle of Extinction'. The way I phrased that made it sound like it was the 'powerful entity' that gave me the memories of the games, since I couldn't just reveal everything about me yet – at the very least, not until there was mutual trust between us. If you want, I can show you our meeting.
"Maybe… some other time.", Sha'ira waved her right hand in denial, uncertainty clearly shown in her beautiful, blue face.
"So, can we continue?", I inquired. "There's much more to show you. It might take quite a while…".
She nodded her head. Then, I started showing her the events of the trilogy in order, minus the gameplay parts and the Shadow Broker DLC (also, no subtitles), beginning at Eden Prime. She saw the husks and Dragon's Teeth, Sovereign already landed in the colony, the Beacon, her own participation in the story, the chase against Saren and the Geth, the revelations at Noveria and Ilos, the way the Citadel Council dismissed everything, the Conduit and, finally, the Battle of the Citadel.
I also showed her the events of Mass Effect 2 and 3, like the Collectors, the Derelict Reaper, the Reaper forces attacking Earth, Thessia and Palaven, Reaper troops and ships, the liquefaction of people to build a new one, the enormity of the time between their creation and our cycle and, finally, the Leviathans hiding from their own creation in the deep, their booming voices so similar to Reapers and yet so different. The only thing I changed were the endings. I showed her the original ones.
That was it. I felt the meld untangling; slowly, gently. Then, with a deep breath, I felt myself almost dropping back in my body.
"Are you okay?", as cliché as that was, I had to ask her that.
"I'll be.", she responded briefly, shaking her head. "It was all too intense. Too much all at once. Don't worry, it's not your fault.", Sha'ira said and flopped back onto the sofa, slowly rubbing her head. "Each memory is intertwined with more aspects: emotions, connections, understandings… Normal memories are loose. Pull them and you can see the parts; understand them; take them piece by piece. Yours are… dense, like Stars. It takes more effort to understand. Look at one of them and it weighs you down. And your mind is full of these. It's like swimming with weights attached to your legs into a hurricane.".
"That's not normal for humans, is it?", I asked her, thinking about how the Goddess might've affected my memories, considering that I was still looking at my character from behind a screen.
"No. Human memories are just like asari, turian or quarian ones. The drell have 'perfect' memories, but they're still similar enough.", Sha'ira explained, while still laying down on the sofa, but breathing normally now. "However, uniquely, humans seem to have an instinctual resistance to mind joining. You are even more extreme. It's just that, as a 'mind healer', I should've been able to look without being affected.".
"I see. Then, do you believe me now?", I asked the million-credits question. "And will you help me?".
"At least… I can't think, at this moment, of a good reason for why you know about my Prothean trinket.", she mentioned, raising what should've been an eyebrow. "IF what you claim is true, and I know you truly believe those visions to be true, why me?".
"You are a healer and an advisor to many, and an oracle to others. Someone with powerful connections, that can make a difference and who cares. And someone that wouldn't flee in desperate times.", I promptly answered, with a small smile. "Besides, I wouldn't want a good soul like yours to be unprepared.".
"I see…", she returned a smile. "Then, what should we do for now?".
"Ultimately, unlike how things are supposed to happen normally, we need to get the galaxy prepared.", I set down this long-term goal in no uncertain terms. "However, for now, I need to build a team. The best of the best and the most trustworthy.".
"Sorry, how much time is left?", switching topics a bit, she asked.
"Around 13 'Earth' years. It's not much, but I think it's enough.", I assured her with an easygoing gesture. "I have a few names to start with for the team. Firstly, let's go with the salarian ex-STG, the drell assassin and the asari archeologist from the 'visions'. That's where you come in, Sha'ira. We need to find their current locations and set up meetings.".
"I'll arrange all that. No need to worry.", she promised with a nod. "But it'll take some time to prepare everything. You're asking a lot of things all at once. Also, there are a few things I've got to confirm…".
"As you really should.", I agreed with her caution. "And know this: I've got your back as much as you've got mine.". She looked lost at the expression. "Sorry, my fault. It's a human expression that means I'm on your side fully and will help you. For instance, in the 'future', 'some scoundrel with a video camera' might try to tarnish your reputation. I would plan on preventing that.".
"Oh, that'd be nice for a change…", Sha'ira commented and, dragging her words with a playful look, said: "We've been with each other for hours now and you've not yet told me your name…".
"Call me Sam. Sam Skywalker.", I responded.
"Is that your real name?", she inquired curiously.
"Who knows?", I shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. It is my 'public' name from now on. Sam, just some guy from the Terminus, where identification isn't strict.".
We talked a little bit more afterwards, ironing out some of the details. She gave me a few more credits and the digital "key" to a private apartment she didn't use very often, where I could crash today. I also looked for a cheap place to eat something. Finding the apartament wasn't hard. It had all I needed for the time being.
The next day, after a full night of sleep, I took a nice shower, ate some random stuff in the "refrigerator" equivalent of this place and went back to the Consort's Chambers after she called me on my Omni-tool's contact list. This time around, our conversation was much shorter. She got straight to the point.
"I've arranged everything you requested.", she announced proudly. "You'll be on a tight schedule. Dr. Solus left the STG recently and is currently on Earth – more specifically, Rome. According to my client's contacts, he has a return shuttle booked three days from now.". Rome? Maybe he's at the Vatican? I know he had a crisis of faith at some point and studied most main religions, looking for answers. Although, if I remembered it right…
"I didn't find Thane Krios per se, but there was one drell freelance assassin named Tannor Nuara operating near Kahje.", Sha'ira continued, interrupting my thoughts. "It wasn't easy, but I was able to convince one of my old clients, a hanar priest, to set up a meeting here in the Citadel, saying that another client of mine wanted to hire him.". That's right. We were never given the exact date of Irikah's death, only one off-hand comment from Captain Bailey about "a bunch of bad people" being killed, with the prime suspect being a drell, "about ten years back", which would mean around 2175 (ME2 is set in the year 2185), so Thane was still just a freelance assassin at this time, and not a widow looking to make the galaxy a better place before joining his wife in death.
"This is yet another tragedy we can prevent.", I muttered.
"Sorry, did you say something?", she asked. I responded just by shaking my head.
"Lastly, Dr. Liara T'Soni will be having a talk at the University of Serrice in Thessia in less than a week.", she continued. "I've set up meetings between the first two and you. The last one can be approached at the campus.".
"You've worked fast.", I smiled brightly for a bit. "I was not wrong in trusting you.".
"It's not like that. I just knew where to look and who to talk to…", Sha'ira gave a small smile to my compliment before starting to rub the back of her neck in hesitation. "I've also… checked some of the things you showed me. Unfortunately, they all match your 'visions'. I even found out that there really is government funding towards the Temple of Atham. It still isn't easy to believe the Matriarchs hid a Beacon… but you have my full support! Oh, the only exception was about The Shepard. There's no such family name that 'fits' in the Alliance's Navy, such as Hannah Shepard. By luck, I've got a… contact within the human government. There's a family with a Hannah and that surname living on a little farming colony out in the Attican Traverse, called Mindoir.".
"Mindoir!? Oh, shit!", I exclaimed, shocking her a bit. "Did it get attacked?".
"W-What? Did I do something wrong?", she asked with a worried tone. "Nothing has ever happened in that colony.".
"No, sorry for scaring you…", I quickly apologized, holding her hands for a moment. "The Massacre at Mindoir… This year, I don't know exactly when, a bunch of damned batarian slavers will commit an atrocity there. Shepard will probably survive, but most of the people will either be brutally killed or suffer a terrible fate as slaves…".
"By the Goddess! We have to do something…", Sha'ira immediately said. "Wait, you were truthful when saying that your information could save countless lives…".
"Yea, I meant what I said.", I told her, having calmed down by now. "By the way, you were careful not to draw much attention, right?". She nodded in response.
"After all, secrecy is one of their main weapons.", I stated, preparing to leave. "It can, and should, be one of ours too.".
"Wait…", she stopped with a soft grab of my shirt. "Before you go, would you like a gift of words?".
"I guess… there's no need. My presence here, by itself, has already thrown fate in disarray. Cause and effect are all out of whack. Anything can happen.", I answered her with a smile, which morphed into a grin. "Who knows, maybe you'll actually end up being revered as an oracle someday…".
Whilst waiting for the cab called by rapid transit to arrive, I spent some time getting used to the Omni-tool, the extranet and chatting with Avina. Something interesting was that talking with the VI as if it was a sentient being, or even with just politeness, got some stares from the aliens around. I guess they didn't have that quirk we humans had, or used to have, of anthropomorphizing anything that could interact with us, even if it wasn't sentient. Besides, I might have some plans for this poor VI that is treated like air.
The bad news, however, was that Shepard was a colony kid. I already had the whole saving Mindoir to deal with, now I also had to make sure it wouldn't screw with her future while at it. And no, there was no way in hell I wasn't interfering, under some bogus assumption that this might make Shepard not join the Alliance. She does anyway in the other two origins, no crazy tragedy required.
With things finished in the Citadel, at least for the time being, I took a shuttle and left for Earth.
It was time to recruit the Very Model of a Scientist Salarian.
Space, the final frontier.
At least, that's what I believed before finding out that the true "final frontier" was the barrier between Universes.
[1]
Still, looking at all that nothingness filled just with a background of myriad stars, their starlight being the only thing reminding me that the Universe wasn't just some empty and cold vacuum with a few sprinkles of star dust here and there, I couldn't help but think of the place I was arriving at in a shuttle, Earth. Would my people back 'home' ever get their shit together and become a truly interstellar civilization? Or will they just Fallout themselves into the stone age with nuclear hellfire?
The truth was that, "back home", every civilization had a certain "fault-tolerant value" in their development process, which was determined by factors such as their home resource reserves, the species' ability to develop their own technology and their homeland environment (resources around their Star System). The more resources a civilization had to develop into the Interstellar Age, the higher the "fault-tolerant value" would be and vice-versa. In some cases, it might even be negative. The drell were an example of a species that did not manage their "fault-tolerant value" correctly.
Because of this, one must learn to protect the environment to reduce wastage, invest in space technology heavily and, most importantly, try to avoid waste due to "internal depletion". We were born in a fertile place, where the planet itself was rich in resources and surrounded by abundant materials and springboards.
So, what do we do? We waste our resources wantonly, use them in civil wars, turn them into garbage to litter nature and so on. Maybe one day we'd wake up to realize that we couldn't even build a proper spaceship to the neighboring planet. After all, we didn't have 'Space Magic' like Element Zero, which allows a civilization to "sidestep" proper technological advancement into the Space Age. And, make no mistake, from a purely human standpoint, any conflict between different nations should be rightfully considered a "civil war".
In the end, "nationalism" and, more broadly, "factionalism" only caused unnecessary depletion. The resources of the homeworld and the surrounding environment were fixed. The only thing the people could decide on, could change, was themselves.
If you think about it, earthlings are a little bit like prodigal sons squandering the family fortune. Our Solar System had various springboards like Mars and the moon, there were giant resource stations such as Saturn and Jupiter, every planet around Earth was filled with fuel and materials, the Oort Cloud was filled with asteroids to mine and the planets were close enough to reach even with spaceships using the most primitive chemical fuel. However, humans were too busy throwing more bombs at each other.
As I mulled over these sad thoughts, the shuttle arrived at some space station above Earth, from where I took another one to Rome. About an hour later, I was in Vatican City, trying to find the cafe Sha'ira set up for the meeting with Mordin Solus. It wasn't that hard to find it with my Omni-tool's 'GPS', especially since this place was not that big of a tourist spot anymore.
I finally spotted the Professor, slowly moved closer and quickly thought of an opening line: "So, what brings a salarian to Rome?".
He looked at me for a good few moments, probably trying to gauge me, or just trying to find out if I was the individual that wanted to talk to him.
"Personal Matter. Looking into human religions. Searching for answers. 'Testing the waters', as you humans say.", he replied swiftly.
"Crisis of faith, huh?", I asked. He turned to me, with something of glare.
"Correct. How did you surmise that?", he asked. I thought I had caught his suspicion.
"Well…", I sat in the chair opposite of him and asked: "Do you mind if I sit here?". He just shook his head in response. The waiter wanted to come over but I waved him off, since I wasn't thirsty. "You can easily look into human religions from the extranet, but you decided to come to the most important place in Roman Catholicism, so I doubt it's for the sights…".
"Yes. Very astute.", he replied, looking into my eyes. "Not whole answer, I suppose.".
"True.", I stated. "It's because of that and because I know modifying the Genophage since the krogan were evolving past it could really put a damper on one's outlook on life.". Now, I had his full, undivided attention. He was about to say something, but I spoke first.
"How do I know this? Well, I know a lot of things about you, Dr. Solus. I'm not judging you. I know it was necessary in your eyes at the time. And, quite frankly, the krogan are not ready for a 'cure' any time soon. They are not culturally apt for it after all the 'love' the Council has shown them ever since their fake 'uplift'.", I revealed some of my thoughts on the issue. "But that doesn't really matter. You must be interested in how I supposedly got my hands on classified STG information, right? Are you considering killing me?", I asked him with a smile.
"No. Considering interrogation. Finding out source of information leak.", he admitted rather cold heartedly. "Then silencing you.".
"Well… there's no need for that, especially since there was no leak of information to begin with.", I confessed. "Besides, in due time, I'll tell you everything anyway. Once you can fully trust me and, equally important, I can fully trust you.".
"Reasonable.", he agreed for now. "Would still like to know how it was uncovered.".
"Just keep in mind that I know things. Things no one should know.", I held up my right hand towards him, thinking of an example. "For instance, I know that it only took you a week to come up with the modified Genophage. I know that, while on Tuchanka, you faced a female Krogan who gave you your new scars and sowed doubts about the ethics of that bioweapon. And even more after seeing the piles of dead children.".
"Indeed, you know… a lot of things.", he acknowledged, taking a deep breath. "Some of them almost impossible to know.".
"I also know that's why you've turned to religion.", I pointed to the Basilica. "By the way, it's not going to help you; religion, that is. It's too varied and contradicting. In the end, it will just make your situation worse.".
"You must be my 'contact'.", Mordin concluded. "Knew where to find me. Holds a lot of Information about me. Not armed, I assume. Unclear motive for conversation. Not for blackmail, hopefully.".
"No. Far from that, Professor. What I want is to recruit you.", I said with a grin. "I'm here to talk about the Avenger Initiative…". That reference just flew over his head. An awkward silence set in for a few seconds.
"Just kidding with the name…", I held up my hands in playful surrender. "Although we really would be working in a direction to avenge thousands of civilizations destroyed and quadrillions of lives taken…". Now that got his attention even more than talking about the genophage.
"Mordin. Can I call you Mordin?", he nodded. "I'm building a team of the best of the best. Our objective is to defeat a Precursor race of sentient synth-organic starships that is much more advanced than anything we have today and more numerous than all the military fleets of the Citadel Races combined. A monster that is relentless, will never tire out, will subvert our own people against us, has no remorse, conscience or mercy to spare and will never, ever stop until all sufficiently advanced sentient life in our known galaxy is either dead or harvested.", I dramatically revealed to him without stopping, but in a measured voice. "They went by many names over their billion years of existence and are responsible for a 'Cycle of Extinction' every 50.000 years. The Protheans labeled them as 'Reapers' and they were the architects of our predecessor's end, just like the Inusannon before them and all others before that.".
Mordin was wide-eyed by the end of my speech.
"Improbable! No evidence of such theory.", he denied it almost instinctively. "Would have signs all over. Why so sure?".
"You know, I'm a little disappointed. I imagined you of all people would be able to see some logic behind it…", I complained, sighing. "But it does not matter right now. Let's start slowly, step-by-step. Tell me, have you ever heard of the Fermi Paradox?".
"Old human paradox. Deals with probability of meeting aliens considering predictions about rarity of sapient life and exponential curve of technological development.", said Mordin. "Contrasts with lack of evidence for it. Conflict apparent. Forgotten after first contact war.".
"Correct, but not quite complete.", I said. "The paradox considers the vast age of this Universe (13 billion years at least), the exponential curve of scientific advancement possible, the fact that escaping the gravity well of a possibility is a possibility even with just fuel propelled rockets, that FTL could be a thing and some predictions about the probability of sentient life surfacing on an alien planet, resulting in the illogical situation of the lack of sentient alien life everywhere. More so when FTL was proven to be, in fact, possible. Ergo, the question: 'Where is everyone?'.".
The Professor almost completely forgot about the genophage reveal, despite having a photographic memory, such was his interest in the topic.
"Even without any form of FTL whatsoever, a million year old Precursor civilization could still expand to cover all of the Milky Way Galaxy, so the existence of just the few of our species roughly around the same development 'Cycle' should, by all rights, set off some warning bells.", I delivered one of the oddities of the ME Universe. "The truth is that the Fermi Paradox should have never been abandoned, nor was it turned obsolete after First Contact. The question just had to be changed from 'Where is everyone?' to 'Where are all the Old Ones/Precursors?'.".
"Interesting thought.", replied Mordin. "However, can't see relevance to your claim.".
"I'll get there eventually.", I waved dismissively. "That's just the first thing you have to keep in mind: the Precursors, who should be everywhere, have dissapeared. The second thing is that all the races found by the Citadel are developing basically at the same time. There is no big enough time difference between the progress of all civilizations we know of. To humans, 2500 years of spacefaring might sound like a lot, so I can see how people view the asari as an old race, but that is just a 'candle flicker in the storm' on a cosmological scale. Old human writers would say that, if we met alien life, it would either be 'Apes' or 'Angels', meaning too primitive or too advanced when compared to us. After all, how unlikely is it that all life sprouted at the 'same time' on a cosmic scale?".
"Not at all.", Mordin answered. "Can see how… improbable our situation is.".
"Exactly! Our galaxy has experienced some kind of 'reset'. So, we can assume that there was a cataclysmic event that wiped out all sentient life, a Great Filter of the Fermi Paradox, if you will.", I concluded for him. "And it must be periodic, considering the timescale we are working with. Since there was no way life just came about just a few thousand years ago with the Protheans, it's unlikely that the 'reset' just occured before us – and there would be many more ruins of other established Civilizations if the 'cataclysm' occurred just once. After all, we have explored less than 1% of the galaxy and already at least a couple dozen sentient species have been found, so life is not that rare.".
These facts are so basic, so evident and "in-your-face" that, even without knowing about the Reapers, I find it incredible that no one questioned why it was so. No one noticed that there was something wrong with the big picture. Maybe there was the handiwork of those broken machines somewhere, always making sure everyone that got close to the truth was discredited, like Liara.
"The third thing you have to keep in mind is very close to us: the Protheans.", I said, bringing the topic to a controversial subject. "Most conjectures about their… what's word used… 'vanishing', are just a bunch of nonsense.".
For a few minutes, I took down most arguments used to justify why it wasn't alright to just keep calm and carry on when talking about the Prothean fall. A galaxy spanning Empire does not simply die from a plague. Their estimated number of population, colonies and spread guarantees that any plague would be detected, quarantined and cured promptly. A pathogen that is so deadly that a space-faring species would have no time to respond could not emerge naturally, so it would once again return to the hypothesis of genocide/massacre.
Civil war also couldn't be the reason for the disappearance. Even the most apocalyptic of wars, nuclear armageddon caused by a planetary civilization, still leaves room for a comeback. The krogan were an example of this.
Some kind of 'ascendency' was also nonsensical, because they would still leave behind something: either to boast about their achievements or to guide those that come after. Besides, all those hypotheses would still leave some evidence.
"Tell me, Mordin: where are the space stations, the satellites, the traces of civilization that would be left out even if all Protheans just dropped dead one day?", I asked him without expecting a response. "The answer is that they were removed by those that came before, the ones that harvested all others before like wheat.".
I could feel that Mordin was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. However, I didn't let him take a break before adding the 'finishing touches' of my explanation…
"All of those pieces put together, allied with the fact that the Mass Relays and the Citadel are millions, if not billions of years old, paints a grim picture: we are part of a 'Circle of Extinction' that could only be done by something ancient, like a Precursor race.", I finished by revealing the true age of the Relays, even though the fact that they pre-dated the Protheans wasn't yet proven by Amanda Kenson. "And don't give me the crap about how those things were built by the Protheans. Without going on about how the construction of those structures is curiously absent from any leftover cache of tech, a proper billion year old civilization would be able to create much more insane feats of engineering. Just look at what ideas humans came up with before we even became a proper space-faring civilization: Dyson Spheres and Swarms, O'Neill Cylinders, Niven-Ringworlds, Matrioshka Brains, Shkadov Thrusters, Halo Rings, Ecumenopolises, Shell Worlds, Hollow Planets and so on. Compared to those, the Citadel is just a fancy toy.".
"You propose Prothean disappearance as work of Precursors. Still hard to believe.", claimed the Professor. "Difficult to stay hidden. No reason to waste so much time wiping all sentient life. Just occupy all life bearing planets. Consume the resources in peace. No need to let new life sprout.".
"Really? You, of all people, would assume the mindset of aliens? They are, well, alien to us. Completely different.", I pointed out. "Besides, it's not like there isn't more, let's say, substantial evidence. You know about Feros, right? How there are cities tens of thousands of years old. If the Protheans can construct something that solid, imagine the race that had wiped them out almost completely, with little to no evidence left behind. They could easily be much more advanced, like any precursor should be, and with the patience to get rid of all evidence and the means to stay hibernating in, let's say, Dark Space or just any of the 99% of the Galaxy we haven't explored yet. Plus, they had something else: the advantage of surprise, just like they do right now, because they are hidden and, even if we tried to warn everyone, the so-called 'rulers' of the galaxy would do everything in their power to deny their existence… to dismiss those 'claims'.", I almost spat that last line. "And you're forgetting one important factor: depending on the circumstances, lack of evidence is also a kind of evidence, especially when there should be lots of tell signs, like the Fermi Paradox adapted by our present reality would propose.".
"Still, if the Protheans were really wiped out, there would be more signs.", Mordin tried to counter, but I could feel he was just acting as the devil's advocate. "Would have found evidence by now. Warnings… in what they left behind.".
"That's just the thing! They actually did leave warnings! And it's all been hidden or not found yet.", I disclosed to him. "For example, the Mars Archives has the blueprints for a 'superweapon' theorized by all prior civilizations that, supposedly, would put an end to the Cycles. It has not been 'dug out' yet. The asari, for another, have a hidden Prothean Beacon on Thessia's Athame Temple, with an accompanying Prothean VI. The problem is that the Protheans were kind of morons by thinking that every other species that would come after them would develop the same way, being able to transmit thoughts, ideas, concepts and emotions through simple touch, which didn't happen, evidently…".
He immediately put his right hand to his chin and looked down thoughtfully.
"So that's how it is! Makes sense now.", suddenly exclaiming, the Professor went into his nonstop thinking mode. "Asari technological superiority attributed to long lifespan, space-faring time advantage and competitive pressure. Truth much simpler. Hidden cache of Prothean tech. Just have to grab bits every now and then. Galaxy based on such technologies. Dependent on it. Can stay ahead of everyone else easily. Proponents of laws that force sharing of such caches to complement any lacks on their own. Connotations… unpleasant.", Mordin deduced and switched the topic. "All of this makes sense. Won't argue for now. However, no explanation on how you know these things and why you approached me. Why me?".
I genuinely smiled at that question and simply 'quoted': "Had to be you. Someone else might have gotten it wrong.". He seemed to mull over what I just said. "By the way, would you like to see one? A dead Reaper, I mean…".
"You have one!? How did you get it? How big? Where is it hidden?", he 'rapidly-fired' some questions.
"Calm down, Professor. I don't have one, but I know where to find the corpse of one.". He seemed very excited about the prospect. "However, there must be some rules to be followed: we will not board the ship under any circumstance and stay a few kilometers away. The kinetic barriers might activate and trap us; you will not let anyone know about this, especially the STG. This Derelict Reaper will be one of the foundations of our fight. We can't afford it falling into the wrong hands. The Leviathan of Dis is one example of that happening. The Batarians found a Reaper corpse and snatched it away. Those bastards still deny its existence today.".
"Heard about that… Leviathan. Another STG team was responsible for securing it. Batarians got to it first. There were even recordings taken.", Mordin told me, although it was more or less public knowledge. "Like you claim, its existence was denied. If you are right… maybe should have been more direct with them.".
"Yes, you should have.", I agreed vehemently. "And in more ways than one, millenia ago, in fact… But that's not something important for the time being.".
"Understand need for secrecy.", he conceded on that point. "No reason given not to board, though. Why?".
"Because of something called indoctrination.", I began explaining in more depth. "The Reapers are able to subvert the minds of organics with a signal and/or an energy field which surrounds them. They use an electromagnetic field, waves of infrasound and ultrasound, or both, in order to stimulate areas of a victim's brain and limbic system. Perhaps nanotech too. It's one of the most insidious and troublesome things about them. You never know when someone you meet might be a 'sleeper agent' of the enemy, just waiting to stab you in the back!".
"Disconcerting, assuming it's true.", that surely left him unsettled. "Any way to detect or avoid it?".
"Yes, there are ways to detect it. Some are better than others.", I promptly answered, calming him down. "We don't have the technology right now, but I have a plan to get it. We'll snatch for ourselves a Prothean VI that can do it and learn how it does that. However, I don't know if it can be avoided. At least, I don't have any intel regarding that. It's something we need to look into.". Sighing and turning to look at pedestrians, I pointed out our more immediate problem: "In order to show you the Reaper, we'll need access to a private ship, but I don't have one in hand.".
"Not a problem.", Mordin gave me that mischievous, wily smile of his. "Can get us a good ship. With good stealth capabilities too.".
"How come?", I inquired briefly. "Stuff like that doesn't grow on trees.". Unless you're Cerberus…
"After genophage… work was completed, would return to Tuchanka to check results. Yearly recon missions. Water, tissue samples. Ensure no mistakes.", his smile turned much sadder. "Superiors offered to carry it on. Refused. Needed to see it in person. Needed to look. Use that as excuse. Can 'borrow' a ship.".
"Well… that's settled then.", I sighed in relief.
"One thing not yet settled.", the Professor stopped and stared at my eyes. "Still not told me your name.".
"Ah, my bad.", I said and offered my hand. "You can call me Sam Skywalker. It's a pleasure to be working with you, Mordin.".
"Likewise.", he returned the gesture and we shook hands.
"Small doubt still…", Mordin narrowed his eyes. "Assuming a Reaper can subvert minds, how can this do it one if it's dead?".
"Even a dead God can dream…", I 'quoted' the crazy Cerberus scientist from ME2 in a somber tone. "Although we are going to create weapons fit for Deicide…".
Truer still when they are not actually True Gods. I'm one to know. Never heard of a Reaper breaking the barrier between Universes.
Hawking Eta, Chandrasekhar System. On a ship named Veshok-16.
"So, where exactly are we heading?", Mordin finally asked now that we came out of the System's Mass Relay.
We were flying through space on a ship he managed to appropriate from the STG. Mordin had already dug out all the surveillance installed on it, just as he did when arriving on the SR-2 Normandy. It was a 25 meters long scout vessel. In exchange for light armor and weapons, it had a lot of advanced scanning and stealth equipment, just the stuff we needed. This was one of the reasons I went to recruit Mordin first. Liara, and even Benezia, might have had difficulty getting her blue hands on stuff like this.
"Thorne System, to a brown dwarf named Mnemosyne.", I immediately informed him of our true destination. "Remember to wipe our logs after going there. The derelict is floating around the failed star, only being held up by its mass effect fields.".
"It'll take about 10 hours to reach the destination.", he did some calculations and told me of our travel time. It was to be expected, since we needed to go by normal FTL.
The voyage was uneventful, with me spending most of the time either messing with the Omni-tool or having small talk with Mordin. He was, without a shred of a doubt, very perplexed at why I seemed to be new to everything, including what could easily be considered "common sense".
Many hours later, after disengaging FTL travel, at the brown dwarf…
"Detecting minor gravitic anomaly in northern hemisphere. Rather easy to find…", the Professor commented out loud and showed confusion. "How was it missed?".
"That's just the funny thing… It wasn't.", I replied, chuckling. "There was a planned investigation by the Besaral Institute of Planetary Science, but the school ended up going on an expedition to study the 'Jupiter Brain' of the gas giant Ploba instead.".
"Hang on! Wind's gusting at 500 kph…", Mordin shouted as we approached.
"Keep going, nice and easy…", I shouted back. "There's a region of space protected by mass effect fields, which are also keeping the Derelict from falling. Reach there, but don't go any further or we might trigger the kinetic barriers and get trapped.".
After a few moments of very crazy "turbulence", our ship finally stopped shaking, due to the fact that we passed through the mass effect fields' envelope. Keeping in mind my warnings, Mordin started decelerating Veshok-16 and went over to the scanners. It didn't take long for us to see the kilometer long Derelict Reaper.
Looking over sleeping beauty right there, I couldn't help but remember a text joke someone on the internet once made about this situation…
...
Shepard, it's a matter of common archeological knowledge that Klendagon's Great Rift Valley is a Mass Accelerator impact. In 2.600 years of asari cultural curiosity, 2.500 years of salarian inquisitiveness, 1.400 years of turian interest in advanced weapons and, at the very least, 37.000.000 years of Reaper interest in keeping themselves a secret, no one has thought of tracking the path of the impactor before.
I, TIM, being the casual genius that I am, sent a team to do just that and, regardless of how unlikely that was, they found it! It was a surprise given that planets and stars move and rotate, and it would be impossible to know the time of impact down to the nanosecond while also figuring out how the galaxy's stars were arranged 37 million years ago. Damn, humans are too awesome!
Seeing that it was a dead Reaper and its mere existence could force the Council into action, I made everyone keep their mouths shut and told no one. Better yet, I, being the morally gray mastermind that I am, decided to send a science team inside of it, with no protection at all, just to grab an IFF, even when we should've expected some defense mechanisms and the effects of indoctrination were pretty well established.
Now, go there, retrieve a plot device and drop the single greatest opportunity to study Reaper weapons, tech, weakness... everything that we could ever learn into a brown dwarf. It may have been the key factor that could have turned the tide of Galactic Civilization, but, at least, we stopped that one Collector ship and its little base.
...
Mordin was ecstatic, like a child in a candy/toy store. He was literally jumping from station to station, going over all the ship's equipment. That brought a smile to my face. Outside, one could barely see the Old One hanging in space. It was around 2 kilometers long, unmistakably a giant space cuttlefish, cough, I meant Reaper.
"Amazing! Massive eezo core. Multiple weapon systems. Beyond even Protheans. Nothing like it in galaxy.", he looked over at me. "Incredible. And highly disturbing. Safe to say must believe you.", Mordin admitted. "Where do we move from here? What is the plan?".
"I have some ideas and a rough outline.", I spoke. "To begin with, we'll need a strong foundation. If we were to start from scratch, it would take too long. So, it's better for us to do a 'hostile takeover' of some already established and powerful faction.".
"Something on required scale… not just lying around, but waiting to be conquered…", he pointed out. "How would presume to accomplish such a feat?".
"It's simple: we, uh… kill the Shadow Broker!", I couldn't resist making the reference, showing him a big smile as the suggested idea wasn't ludicrous. "And take over his Network and resources of course.".
"Nothing simple about that!", the Professor immediately flared up. "Would have been done already if was.".
"Except, unlike everyone else, I know where the guy is hiding. So, we can take him out anytime.", I casually revealed this important information. "Besides, he's a bastard that doesn't mind working for the Collectors, which are Protheans turned into husks by the Reapers to act as their agents.".
"Collectors. Group with advanced technology. Unclear motivations.", he started his thinking routine. "Exclusive access to the Omega-4 Relay. Mass Relays alleged work of Reapers. Agents left behind to collect information. Theory fits evidence.".
After that, we started talking about some more plans. At first, it'd involve building a "core team" with trustworthy and capable people. Then, we'd use the resources of the Network and invest in research of very advanced technology, selling what we could to get back capital. Ultimately, we'd need to jump outside of the box that the Reapers had tricked everyone into following and I had a lot of ideas on how to do that.
Taking over some important companies, either through intermediaries, investments or by leveraging information would also be in the list of things to do. Moreover, we'd start our own Privite Military Company (PMC), our own little 'Shadow Empire', in order to deal with all sorts of issues, like hidden Reaper forces (artifacts and sleeper agents) and the problems our dear 'Council' let fester (slavery, for instance).
For a while, Mordin just had his classic thinking look, looking down with his right hand on his chin.
"Well, it seems you have thought about it extensively. Very ambitious. Hope you know what you're doing.", he took a deep breath. "Will need to evade most of the galaxy.".
"It will only be like that at the start. When the Reaper invasion starts, everyone that didn't take us seriously or went against us will be pretty much screwed.", I answered, shrugging. "Which means we'll also need to gather more evidence.".
"Evidence?", he questioned. "What kind exactly?".
"All kinds: traces of harvested civilizations, Reaper artifacts left behind to create new sleeper agents/husks, Prothean caches and VIs, and even a living Prothean, which I know where to look for.", I grinned at the last part. We were so going to dig out that glorious trollish bastard that just wanted to throw everything out the airlock! "At an appropriate moment, when we've prepared enough, all that evidence gathered will be revealed. It will be irrefutable. No one will be able to claim the Reapers are a myth!".
"Alright. How about yourself?", the Professor suddenly asked. "Know a lot about me. Didn't reveal anything besides name.".
"I'll tell you about myself, how I know those things and much more only after we've taken over the Broker's Network. Know that I'll never lie to you.", I promised with a nod. "Well… speaking of which, in order to get those resources, we'll need to recruit more people. Did you save the images, information and the sensor readings of this thing?". He nodded, showing to me a part of his work with a datapad.
"Good! We'll use them later whilst recruiting.", I commented before grinning from ear to ear. "As for whom we'll be recruiting first… Well, what do you think about drell assassins?".
[1]
Author's Notes: There it is, my first steps towards shifting fate, piggybacking off of Shepard's rather good "luck" with meeting amazing people and one of the few things ME2 did right, the team. Perhaps it would've better to go with Liara, but I took this opportunity to already introduce this character, Sha'ira, which will have an important role during the ME1 period. My hope is that I've already broken the usual mold by doing things such as the whole chat with Mordin and the showing of the Derelict Reaper. An interesting thing about two parts of this Chapter is that I both thought about doing them myself, yet was also inspired by other fanfic writers in how to do them: meeting Mordin (Through the Cosmos, by zzchase) and the Consort (The Only Right Choice, by guubear). A small part of the interaction with Sha'ira was inspired by a fanfic I'd read a long time ago, but I've forgotten the name...
As for the SI, I'd appreciate it if you guys gave me suggestions for a better name. For now, I've changed the placeholder last name to Skywalker. After all, everyone seem to be one these days... Ideas for what to do in those 13 years are also welcome.