Important: A kind member of Critics United has let me know that a similar fic of mine breaks the site's Guidelines (of the "non-story" type of violation). I mistakenly thought that, since my work was a "fan fiction" (that is, it was fiction based on a story that I don't own) it was within the Guidelines. I had figured that the "non-story" rule simply meant that a fic had to be materially related to a story. That said, a rule is a rule and I appreciate the chance to save my stuff. This author's note is here to let everyone know I will be fixing this and my other work to be in compliance as soon as I get a chance.
To those of you who have added this to your favorites or are following it, don't worry! This fic isn't disappearing forever, I promise! It will simply be moved to a different place so that it doesn't violate the rules. Once I've got something to replace the non-story chapters of my works, I'll let you know where to find the originals.
To our friends in the Alliance:
Thank you for sharing your information with us. Due to the inherent dangers, we have done most of our research on Reaper artifacts and indoctrination via remote probe, severely reducing our researchers' capacity to experiment. However, with the secret Cerberus documents Aria T'Loak has given you regarding the forced indoctrination of 'Paul Grayson', we have been able to confirm many of our hypotheses. While current diplomatic relations between the Systems Alliance and the Salarian Union are tense, we at the STG are committed to protecting the salarian people regardless of the shortsightedness of its political leaders. We value your partnership in this matter and pledge to help defeat the Reaper menace however we can.
The following is taken from an STG report, unclassified and edited for your convenience.
- The Salarian Special Task Group
Known Reaper Indoctrination Methods:
Reaper Horn:
The first acknowledged mention of the Reaper horn, attributed to colonists in Cmdr. Shepard's 2183 Eden Prime report, reportedly sounded like "the shriek of the damned."
The Reaper horn blare creates instinctive fear responses in organics by extremely loud blasts of audible sound (which can cause fear by itself if done suddenly and intermittently) mixed with infra- and ultrasounds.
The volume of the horn blare also causes unpleasant sensations of extreme bodily pressure within nearby organics, similar in concept to standing near a speaker at a loud concert, but magnified several times. While organics cannot 'hear' infra- or ultrasounds, prolonged and repeated exposure causes adverse reactions within the body.
Not a form of indoctrination in itself, the Reaper horn blare is a form of sonic weaponry. It serves as a psychological de-motivator, breaking the will to resist by creating an overwhelming aura of fear and hopelessness. This lends to easier indoctrination by other methods.
"Dragon's Teeth" Spikes:
Named by the humans who first discovered them in reference to an ancient human myth of near-invincible warriors sown from the teeth of a fictional reptile, these Reaper created transformation spikes appear to work like Omni-tool mini-facturing devices. Our scientists, not being familiar with human myths, simply refer to them as 'transformation spikes.'
When an organic body is impaled, nanites are injected from within the shaft of the spike through microscopic nanotubes into the body. These nanites use the spikes to break down and convert organic materials into synthetic ones or energy as needed. The nanites use the synthetic materials to construct advanced cybernetics within the body, following a predetermined set of instructions to create virtually identical husks in hours.
While the nanites can transform dead flesh, Cmdr. Shepard's 2183 Eden Prime report noted the geth preference for live victims. The STG has confirmed Shepard's report by covert observation of Reaper creations harvesting organics. The increase in adrenaline (or similar hormones in other species) caused by pain and fear boosts heart rate, speeding the flow of blood through the body. The nanites use the body's own natural processes to speed the transformation and allow the nanites to use resources more effectively.
By the end of the transformation, there is little to no organic material left in the body. Our scientists speculate the excess material is stored within the spikes to create more nanites. It is highly likely there is a latency period after a successful transformation, while the transformation spike converts the raw materials into nanites.
Of note is the nanites' construction: each nanite appears to have half of a pair of quantum-entangled particles. Their exact mechanism of control is unknown, as the nanites appear inactive prior to injection into an organic body. Those exposed to organic material quickly self-destruct on the 'death' of the husk. While highly unethical, the reports salvaged from Cerberus scientist Henry Lawson's Sanctuary experiments may uncover the method of control. While the STG does not support such experimentation, our scientists may be able to use the information to prevent further atrocities. Analysis is ongoing at this time.
Contact with Reaper artifacts:
Direct study of Reaper artifacts is inadvisable due to the extreme danger inherent in prolonged contact. However, we have conducted limited field-testing using varren as test subjects. After approximately two weeks, the varren begin to show subtle effects similar to those in indoctrinated subjects.
Reaper artifacts create a continuous stream of infrasound waves along with magnetic pulses and weak, low frequency, non-thermal electromagnetic fields. The prolonged use of infrasound lowers the victim's stress threshold and creates feelings of fear, uneasiness, anxiety, paranoia, nervousness and awe. The magnetic pulses are believed to create a positive feedback loop of synaptic responses in the brain, the repetition creating initially small, subtle changes in the brain that eventually cascade. It is unknown if the EMFs are part of the Reaper indoctrination or a result of producing the other effects. We hypothesize the fields may be part of a mechanism to create brain stimulation rewards for inducing behavioral conditioning in subjects.
Headaches, tension, muscle cramps and nausea are common sympthoms of exposure, as is insomnia alternated by long stretches of blackout sleep. This is typically the beginning stage of Reaper indoctrination. The victim will start to feel tired, sluggish and have muddled thoughts. Nightmares, feelings of being watched and hearing unintelligible 'whispering' are the prime indicators of indoctrination. This phase can be subtle and slow or very fast, depending on the method used and the need of the Reaper.
Prolonged exposure conditions the victim to want close proximity to the artifact. Eventually, the victim will want to touch the artifact to increase the reward. At this point, the second stage of indoctrination begins. Much like the transformation spikes, Reaper artifacts appear to have nanites. However, artifacts seem to have fewer nanites and work less efficiently at transforming organics. STG scientists speculate that the artifacts contain a different type of nanite than the spikes, or perhaps that the nanites have a different set of coded instructions on how to transform the subject.
In either case, without the spikes' mini-facturing capabilities, cybernetic transformation can take weeks, months or years. Artifacts have the compensating advantage of long-term, covert indoctrination.
Rana Thanoptis, an asari researcher who once worked for rogue Spectre Saren Arterius, was believed to undergo this kind of indoctrination in 2183. We believe the slow build of nanites in her system was subtle enough to let her indoctrination pass undetected until the Reapers invaded in 2186. Proximity to the Reapers allowed them to take control, forcing her to commit a suicide attack on the Thessian military officials who gave her refuge.
Autopsies of indoctrinated subjects show changes to all parts of the brain. In many cases, it appears the brain has been 're-wired' in substantial ways, with neural pathways rewritten or completely absent in some places and new neural pathways in places where none were before.
STG scientists have also discovered what can only be termed as 'biocybernetics' within most of the bodies, created as biological material shaped in ways more reminiscent of actual cybernetics. Their biological construction would allow them to escape most forms of medical scans. These biocybernetics are often connected to nodes with cell structures somewhat similar to cancerous tumors. These 'nodes' are not naturally occurring, and are too complex to be anything but designed. Many of these biocybernetics are devoted to hormone production, presumably to allow the Reapers further influence on behavior, even while not taking active control.
Indirect Reaper Contact:
There is some evidence to support the existence of proximal indoctrination. There have been a number of reports of mild indoctrination-like effects when near an indoctrinated subject. The mechanism is not well understood at this time, but sufficiently worrisome that our scientists are proceeding cautiously. STG scientists hypothesize these weaker effects may be caused by a similar mechanism to Reaper artifacts, created by cybernetics within the body of the indoctrinated. Though these proximal indoctrination effects appear temporary, STG scientists are wary of direct testing.
Direct Reaper Contact:
We know little about direct Reaper contact. Because of the impossibility of testing, STG scientists can only hypothesize its effects on an organic mind. It is reasonable to assume a Reaper can duplicate the effects of their artifacts. STG sources also report findings of strange secondary effects, such as victims sharing memories.
We also assume Reapers would have a much finer degree of control over the subject's indoctrination, able to choose the speed and intensity of effects. We know, for example, that husks and other Reaper creations act in highly predictable ways. As little more than expendable shock troops, they would not need a high degree of finesse. Indoctrinated subjects, however, are much harder to detect and seem to retain a sense of identity.
Saren Arterius and Matriarch Benezia T'Soni likely experienced this kind of indoctrination. Both individuals seemed to retain their sense of identity until their respective deaths. In the case of Saren Arterius, he was able to deceive the Council while indoctrinated, suggesting he was not showing any signs of unusual overt behavior. He was able to function as a covert Reaper agent while apparently keeping his personality and mannerisms intact.
-End Report-
If you find any more information, we would be pleased if you would share it with us. In return, the STG will forward any new findings we receive back to the Alliance. We look forward to working with you.
A.N.: While I was working on an upcoming fic, I realized I had absolutely no clue how indoctrination actually works. Normally this wouldn't be a problem. If I can accept biotics, which is basically telepathic space magic, why not indoctrination? But, since I was trying to write it realistically, I needed some guideline to how it works so I could write without violating canon (a particular pet peeve of mine).
So off to the wikia I went, only to discover that there wasn't much info about it. Horrified, I poured over every source of canon I could get my grubby, little hands on and found relatively little. I also looked in some less-than-canon places and found zilch. Thus I found myself in the sad predicament of being forced to do research in my attempt to make up some (hopefully) semi-plausible explanations. This is mostly my head-canon, given a science-y sounding bent so it seems legit. Realizing my attempt may help others in a similar predicament, and being a sucker for academic treatises, I decided to pretty it up a bit and release some of the potentially more useful stuff I came up with that wasn't quite specific to the fic I was working on. If you want to use this as inspiration, please credit me and let me know! It'll give me all the warm-fuzzies to know I helped in whatever way.
If you're a physicist, neurologist, biochemist or some other -ist in a hard-science field, you may well find some errors. You may scoff and say "what kind of idiot wrote this? That's not how X works!" If so, please remember that most people are idiots outside their field of study and this is very far out of mine. (I'm a soft-science major!) It's hard to figure these things out from reading wikipedia. If you see an error, I would be highly appreciative if you could tell me the 'for dummies' version of what's wrong and how to fix it. Please share your learnin's!
Shout out to Matobar for his assistance with Mass Effect: Revelations canon. It was highly instrumental to helping me Make Stuff Up. =)