Mass Effect: Denied
Shepard was battered and beaten, she could barely feel her own body, but she had made it through, she had lost a few good teammates, but she knew the others were safe. Jane had to go on this last mission alone, to face the threat of the Reapers, and end it once and for all. "Here we go Jane, it's been a good ride... the best," Shepard muttered to herself, and in a instance, she felt herself vanish from existence.
The next thing Jane knew, was that she was on the Citadel, in a part never before accessed, Shepard looked about, empty, deserted, not a single body in sight. It was just her, just her and her thoughts. Shepard felt at ease, now, Jane could pull the trigger, initiate the weapon, and save the-
"Greetings,"
A voice, Jane went on high alert and turned, faced with something that had haunted her, thoughts creeping into her mind, it was the kid who got lost in the vent, then another conclusion came, one that only served to anger her, it was the Reapers, it was the AI that the Leviathan had made.
"We are the Catalyst," it stated calmly, "We have taken this form as something you can recognize, you can relax, our proxies will not cause any further damage beyond defending themselves. We do not wish to give you any reason to create a rash decision."
"Ending the war by destroying the Reapers is a rash decision?" Shepard asked, almost disgusted that she needed to even bother, this is what she had been building up for the few years, the Reapers had killed many people, good friends she knew. The Galaxy would never be the same, and she had to end this now.
"We can sense your thoughts, and we sympathize with your plight. But keep in mind, you have a few options, you need not just destroy the Reapers," The Catalyst responded.
Jane took a deep breath, options, she could work with this, hear the Catalyst out first, she may be a soldier, but she had solved a lot of problems simply by talking about the issues on hand. But here, Shepard had her doubts.
"The war between Synthetics and Organics is inevitable, that our solution was the only one, but with you here, we have come to a new conclusion," The catalyst said, with almost a hint of remorse in it's voice, "Then what is this "New conclusion" of yours?" Shepard asked.
"The Crucible was built to destroy the Reapers by the Cycles before it's completion, but with a modification it can merge all synthetic life and organic life together, bringing a singularity of peace and linking everyone together."
Jane was left to ponder that, while it would possibly bring about Galactic peace by uniting everyone, there would still be the husks, and all those casualties, the ones still conscious. It wouldn't work, too much pain and suffering made eternal, and everyone could feel it, the Reapers were efficient, if they wanted you alive to do menial work, you were alive.
"Or alternatively you could sacrifice your shell and become the new Catalyst, you would control the Reapers and you would draw your own ideals," The Catalyst offered, "It would be better than simple destruction, All synthetic life would be wiped out."
Shepard didn't like the idea of becoming some immortal AI forever controlling the reapers, she had friends left, her crew, Jane had no intention in watching them fade into the abyss. But the destruction didn't sound much better, Sure the Reapers would be gone, but the Geth, EDI... No... she would not become her own harbinger of another genocide.
"If you do not choose any of our stated options, the cycle will continue, take as long as you want, the Reapers are currently stationary."
Jane looked at the Catalyst, at the AI, this faulty program made by forces too high and mighty to realize their folly, the almighty idiots themselves, "I deny," Shepard stated.
"SO BE IT! THE CYCLE SHALL-" "WAIT!" The Catalyst looked at the interruption, Shepard, ever the enigma, the Reaper killer, the only one the Reapers had ever worried about.
"You claim that the war between Synthetics and Organics is inevitable correct?" The catalyst was puzzled by this response, "Based on what evidence?" Jane finished.
"It has been shown that all Organics go to war with synthetics, we step in when that is about to happen or has happened," "Then you have solved nothing, your logic is flawed," And just for a moment, Shepard could swear she saw a tinge of anger on the face of the Catalyst.
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The Ground forces of Earth were in complete confusion, Reapers everywhere, but they remained still, just letting out their threatening groan, one of the soldiers even said "They sound like Tripods. Look like em too."
That's when something caught them off guard, one of the Reapers seemed to groan, it appeared to twitch, as if it had discovered some horrible truth of the universe and was going mad, whatever this meant, the military did not take it as a good sign.
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"Explain your reasoning," The Catalyst demanded, trying to keep it's calm demeanor, Shepard seemed to smile.
"The Geth and the Quarians, they solved their war, I got them to talk it out, solve the issues, the Geth hold no ill will and wish to help the Quarians re-adapt to their homeworld," Jane answered, a satisified tone in her voice.
"The Geth were a servant design, it makes sense that they would-" "But aren't all synthetics that go to war with their creators originally designed as servants?" That one question made the Catalyst freeze. Shepard had them now, the Leviathans admitted they had not programmed the AI properly, Shepard was going to use that to her advantage.
"You could have made your presence known, make it so that the races of all the cycles could avoid the bloodshed. Your preservation is not a justification for your genocide, it is an excuse, it is your power source,"
The Catalyst's avatar had started to glitch, it was breaking down, Shepard had only needed to say a few words, break it's illusion, and it had begun.
Jane smiled, "In fact that AI synthetic war you go on about wishing to prevent, you propagate it, you create machines to harvest organics, after having harvested your creators. To stop the war you make the war to stop the war, but to stop that war you start the war,"
"W-W-W-We are Absolute-ute-ute, We are flawless. Our solution has no flaws-aws-aws-aws," it desperately tried to claim, but it was no use, the Catalyst was dumbfounded, it's logic was exposed, and only now was it realizing it's folly.
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The Citadel races were preparing for the Reapers to move again, to commit the final act and end it all. But to their surprise, the Reapers started to twitch, and seemed to break.
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The earth forces were amazed as the Reapers began to collapse, one by one they fell, sparks emanating from the shells. Had Shepard done it? Had she fired the crucible?
Whatever had happened, it seemed the war was finally over.
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The Asari looked over their worlds that burned, and saw the Reapers, slowly one by one they began to fall, what had Shepard done? Was the galaxy free?"
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Across the Galaxy the Reapers themselves began to twitch and fail, cycles of misery ending, the dead races ever preserved inside the thick shells finally free, it was over, one by one the minds of those before came to peace.
The Reapers were dying, no control for them, The Catalyst was broken, in a stuck loop of logic it had affected them all, their time, was over.
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The avatar collapsed, it's holographic form still breaking as it glitched, "Answer us one thing Shepard... I-I-I-If you are so-o-o-o cer-ta-ta-tain that the Organic Synthetic wars are in fact evitable, what shall you do if you turn out to be wrong-ong-ong?"
Shepard sat down against a wall and smiled, "Well, we'll work it out, I've fixed a lot, and there will be more people like me," Jane answered, "The Galaxy may be broken, but we can fix it, you just gotta try hard enough to find a solution that works for everyone."
The Catalyst seemed confused by this answer, but it's expression changed, Shepard saw it smile, as it finally, broke down, and vanished.
The cycle was over, the Reapers were dying, and Shepard could tell that those trapped for eternity in a metal shell against their will, would welcome the peace that came next, Jane just had to wait. Her friends would find her, the Normandy would return, and the galaxy would be fixed, once the Citadel moved back to it's proper spot of course. Until then, she was going to sit down, and play some music.
This dawned on her that it was time for the Galaxy to move forward, still a lot more to discover.