Disclaimer: The story is purely fan fiction, I do not lay claim to the universe of Mass Effect, it is simply a tribute to Bioware's superb sc-fi series. Happy reading Mass Effect fans.
The year is 2346. The galaxies races have lived in relative peace since the reaper war 160 years ago. The galactic Council have rebuilt the citadel and most of the known mass relay network, rebuilding links even to the Terminus Systems. Despite that harmony in the past two decades serious crime has steadily risen and a serious threat to the lives of those living in peace is about to emerge…
Citadel investigations newest recruit Calren Navesa and the Asari Councilor Layris walked towards the back wall of the Presidium lab, a mirrored wall with desks and video screens along it, save for the far right of it where there was nothing. "Bring up the file we sent you earlier" the councilor requested.
The Turian brought up his omni-tool and activated the file. The blank part of the mirrored wall blinked into life. It had now a red circular locking pad that was an unmistakable centre of a door, and there was a new item on the left side of it; a numbered panel requiring a code. The councilor continued "The file contains a 5-digit code, every day you enter the lab for the first time you'll receive a new one. Enter it now."
The Turian Navesa entered the code, the door lock changed from red to green and they stepped into an L shaped corridor that ran the length of the lab, and headed in the opposite direction to a door which simply said WARNING! EXTREME DANGER.
The councilor spoke as they headed for the door "Very few know that it exists. And that's because it does a lot more than monitor relay traffic." The Turian's mind wandered, he'd been aware that the mass relay network was completely under Citadel control and there was a command centre somewhere, or at least, that's what everyone assumed. It was basically shrouded in secrecy, as it should be. This must be it, he thought when he digested the Councilor's words.
They approached the door and stood motionless as they were scanned for a few seconds. A computer generated voice informed them they were free to pass. "Authorisation confirmed" said the voice as their names and screenshots appeared at the top of the door. They entered a smaller room with two armed guards, one Turian, the other Salarian. There was a door on the right this time which seemed to have no locking pad in the centre. They stood next to it, and were scanned again. The locking pad appeared, the door opened, no VI voice announced their approved passage this time. There was a pitch black room in front of them where an Asari appeared to great them.
"Good morning Councilor."
"Good morning Programme Specialist. I'd like to introduce you to our new employee, Detective Navesa."
"Nice to meet you Detective, I'm Programme Specialist Aysea"
"It's nice to meet you too Aysea."
The Asari councilor spoke again "You can take it from here, Aysea."
The newly acquainted Asari led the way, heading for a door on the left of the room, stepping through it followed closely by the Turian, as the Councilor hung back and stood at the doorway. She looked ahead at Navesa and thought he'd be impressed with his department's conjunctive operation workspace.
The room was huge, and dark, save for the lights of the headsets and the glow of screens either side of the room. There were 3 rows of desks with omniscreens, each manned by an operative from the 4 council races. To the right of the room were four huge screens, each currently showing a different news channel from in and around council space.
Between the screens and the rows of desks was the brightest light, and the most eye-catching sight for any newcomer. Detective Navesa was no different as he was drawn towards it; A huge ball-shaped hologram of what quickly became apparent was the milky way galaxy, lit up in many locations with blue glowing objects, which with a closer look he could see were mass relays. Data streams sped out of them in a variety of colours, recording and downloading information to the manned terminals around the room. Aysea turned to the Turian, who was indeed impressed. "Detective Navesa, welcome to the SPHERE ."