[INC NERD RAGE]
This is a work of angry nerd rage. You have been forewarned. It is excessively long, it is excessively happy, and it is excessively, bitterly written not out of love but out of protest. My mind and heart expected such great things from the team at Bioware and expected them to live up to their billing – ME being the greatest sci fi trilogy of our time. It wasn't, isn't, can't be anymore. The cracks had begun to show and the once beloved Canadian company is now another rush 'em out, sub par, going through the motions kind of game factory. It is a sad day for video game fans everywhere when a company simply stops caring like it used to. I don't know whether to blame them, EA or the cruel fates but one thing is certain: no matter what they do to try to fix it (if that even happens), nothing can erase the deep anger and sadness that followed the end of ME3 instead of the joy and impact the other two made. Hopefully this will help erase some of that for you as it did for me.
[END OF NERD RAGE]
Even as the Catalyst speaks I'm trying to make sense of everything it is trying to tell me. Broken, injured, bleeding, exhausted I can barely stand but here I am trying to decide the fate of a galaxy.
"I know you've thought about destroying us-" it was saying and that snapped me out of it.
"Thought about it?" I trembled. "I've dreamed of nothing else. Look around us. My soldiers are dying every second we keep talking and you're telling me what I already know."
"Your anger is understandable-"
"Who the hell do you think you are!" I said with as much strength as I could summon. "You understand nothing, you machine ghost. How many trillions have you taken – just to proclaim it in the name of order? Do you not understand your own nature and the nature of what you do? You're a misguided synthetic and your Reapers are harbingers of war, not order. No, worse than that. You're war itself."
"What does that make you then, Commander?" it challenged.
"Me?...I'm your end. The end of all cycles. The last thing a Reaper sees before it closes its eye."
"You must activate the change, Commander, because no one else can. You must either destroy all synthetics as you long to do, or give up your life to control us. You-"
"No. I'm not playing your game, machine." I shook my head. "I don't need you. I'll find another way."
Summoning my will to move I head away from the Catalyst back the way I came. "Wait! No! If you leave now everything will be lost!" it pleaded.
"With your options, we're lost already. Go to hell." I cursed at it.
"Wait! There is a third option!"
"Yeah? Tell me about it moving. I'm in need of medigel."
"Synthesis. The joining of organics and synthetics."
"Sounds like a bad idea." I said off the top of my head.
"It is the next step in evolution. With it the Reapers have no purpose. Everything across the galaxy will be in harmony."
"You think lumping everything together is the solution? Harvesting us for millions of years and you still don't understand." I said as I limped on. "Typical. Forcing your will on everything that moves isn't benevolence, it's tyranny. Take your options back to whatever dark space hell you came from."
"You're choosing annihilation, Shepard." it warned.
I stopped in my tracks. "Then at least we chose. And your Citadel will never be the gate to another civilization again."
"Perhaps...perhaps there is a fourth option."
"And?"
"Add your energy to the Crucible with mine. You will undergo Synthesis and will be able to direct the energy of the Crucible." it explained. "Only you will be changed and with it be able to communicate with the Reapers."
"What's the catch?"
"I will become part of you in every sense. You may not like the effects. And I'm not sure you will survive."
"But I can stop the Reapers without blowing up the relays and the geth and the Citadel and strand everyone at Earth?"
"I don't know. This is not a plan I have forseen."
I thought about it for all of a second. "Good. Let's do it then."
"You're sure?"
"No. But it sounds a lot better than your first three plans."
Heading down the ramp I find the strength to run. Jumping headlong into a beam that will almost certainly kill me I think not of Tali but of Liara. I see her slow blue smile and sparkling eyes flash before me as I hit the beam and feel my body turn to lead.
The sun rises over the rocky canyons and stubborn flora. An arid, dusty land with twisting plants stretches out below as wind whips around the small camp site. The plateau was almost solid rock except for the layer of sediment on top that supported sparse greenery. Construction wise it was a decent find; the thick stone would make for a good basement.
Alone I work against the sun's beating rays. All around me the tools and raw materials needed to accomplish my task litter the camp site. I've already excavated downward and shaped the outline of the foundation with high grade cement. It's taken a day to dry which has given me time to start cutting some of the lumber.
My sleeves are rolled back and when I sweat the moisture highlights the green nodes just under my skin. Of all the things that took getting used to it was being covered in the bio-circuitry all over my body and my eyes glowing green. It would be hard facing the people I knew best when I looked the way I did. Not that anyone had ever gotten a good look at me since I'd been fired back to Earth by the Crucible.
There were advantages though. The machine in my mind could cut, plan, adjust and piece together my project here effortlessly. I would never worry about eyeballing it because I now operated with inhuman precision. Machine precision, to be exact. I wondered often what it would be like to get into a battle with these new upgrades. The unpredictability of a savage biotic pugilist fused with the unerring calculations of a machine. I almost wanted to pick a fight with something just to find out.
I had built a shelter for sleeping and stocked it with rations but it wasn't wholly necessary. If I wanted to I could simply drain some of the self recharging batteries I'd brought with me. I didn't like using them in place of sleep and food though. While they were more efficient by far I could not bring myself to operate solely on electricity. It was...too synthetic.
I was in the middle of hammering a couple of joints together when I saw the shuttle approaching. A geth ship by design it hovered out of range a few moments before coming in closer. I pretended not to notice as it passed high overhead and landed backwards from my position. This was going to be interesting to say the least. I'd not yet interacted with geth or anyone since leaving Earth in clandestine fashion. Getting a reading on the geth consensus was going to be a new experience to say the least.
It takes the hulking Primes a few minutes to clear the top of the ridge behind me and to start coming down the slope. I continue to work as I hear their plodding steps draw closer. Then I hear something that I wasn't expecting at all. Much lighter, quicker steps that almost slap the ground as they went. It was a distinctive sound I wasn't quite prepared to hear just yet and was not properly set up for.
"Shepard!" Tali called from 33.5894 meters away. I turned in shock to her bounding down the hill towards me. Looking around for a helmet or some kind of obscuring clothing I realize now that it is too late to hide my appearance. She'd already seen this...new form of mine and not on my terms. I could not now cover up and pretend that I wasn't glowing green just a moment ago.
When she hits the plateau I realize that Tali is almost in a full sprint. I thought perhaps seeing what I'd become would dampen her eagerness to see me but in this case I had been quite wrong. As she approaches me apparently she didn't feel the need to slow down and the impact knocks both of us down in a heap of arms and legs. She crushes me around the ribs and doesn't say anything as she attempts to choke the life out of me. She doesn't speak as the dust settles and neither do I. Nothing need be said at the moment.
As the Primes make it down to us she relents and we get back to our feet. Contrary to what I thought I would see there is no revulsion under her face plate when we look at each other.
"Shepard..."
"Tali."
"I thought you were dead."
"Yeah...I get that a lot."
Freeing an arm she cuffs me with a fairly solid three fingered fist. My head snaps back unexpectedly and she massages her knuckles as I blink in sudden confusion.
"I thought you were dead, bosh'tet!" she shrieked.
"I know, I'm sorry." I said as I rubbed my jaw. "I had to get off Earth. Too many people there to see me like this."
"You could have sent me a message!" she raged. "Keelah, you inconsiderate human bastard! And what have you done to yourself? You look like a VI!"
"Yeah, that's kind of a long story." I scratched my head. "I'll tell you all about it...how did you find me anyway?"
"A geth drone scanning the planet for farmland spotted your camp from orbit." she explained. "I never dreamed I would find you here on Rannoch alive. Dammit Shepard! Do you know what I've been going through without you?"
"I know, it's just...I didn't want you to see me like this. I hoped to break the news...differently."
"Idiot!"
"I guess."
Thoroughly outraged she did a quick scan of my campsite. "What is this you're building anyway?"
"Tch, Isn't it obvious?"
"It looks like a giant stone hole." she commented.
"It is. I'm building a monument to the noble Reapers in the hope that they return."
"Pffffffff-what!"
"Kidding." I held up a hand.
"Oh keelah, not funny. I've had you back two minutes and you're already teasing me."
"Heh, yeah. Anywho, no, this is a foundation."
"For what?"
"Your house you silly quarian madwoman. What else would I be building?" I said since it should have been obvious.
"Oh Shepard...I can't believe all of this. You were just going to build a house from scratch before even letting me know you were alive?"
"Well I wanted to get it half done or so but yes. It's given me time to think as well." I explained.
"About what?"
"How I'm going to tell everyone what happened."
"Oh."
"Speaking of which...you there, Prime, come here." I called to the closest geth.
"We acknowledge your presence, Shepard-Commander." it said as it joined us.
"Yeah, I bet." I grinned. "You're going to love this."
Staring directly into its info beam I initiated the transmission. It was almost magical in that the conversation was over before it began. I could see where EDI didn't care for the speed of light conversation though. It was just so impersonal and information heavy. There was no savoring words or getting emotions involved. We were done before I had the time to think on what I was saying.
"We will wait for you at the shuttle, Creator Tali'Zorah." the prime said and the entire squad headed back up the cliff.
"What...just happened?" Tali asked.
I rubbed my forehead. "It's a machine thing baby, you wouldn't understand."
"Shepard, did you just-"
"Yeah."
"What made you like this?"
"Well...let's have a seat, my dear."
"So I jumped into the light beam and this happened." I gestured down at myself. "Not exactly what I was expecting." It was hard talking with Alliers' camera in my face recording my every movement and word but it had to be done.
"What exactly happened with the Reapers, Commander?" she asked.
"Well once I had merged with the Catalyst I understood how to stop them. I ordered them to deactivate using the Crucible."
"That was the white light seen across the galaxy?"
"Yes. It was a simple carrier signal. Using the full energy of the Catalyst to destroy them outright would have wiped out all synthetic life including the geth. That's not all it would have cost us though, the Citadel and the relays would have been taken out too. Instead I issued a...stand down I guess you could call it. Every Reaper had to be targeted."
"Why are there reports of active Reapers in some systems?"
"Ah, yes. Once I spoke to Sovereign and it told me 'we are each a nation unto ourselves'. This is quite literally true and while a vast majority of the Reapers accepted the stand down some did not. From what I understand they've mostly be annihilated by now anyway."
"Will we ever see the Reapers again, Commander?"
"No, never." I shook my head.
"Since announcing this interview I've received hundreds of millions of questions from our viewers. We've paired them down to the highest millions in frequency if you don't mind answering a few."
"I never mind, Diana. Go ahead."
"Thomas Anderson from Horizon asks, 'Hey Shepard, how's it feel to be glowing green?'"
"Heh. Weird, I'll be honest." I admitted. "It's useful though. Imagine having an omnitool in your head. Then give it thoughts of its own that are actually your thoughts too. Kinda like that."
"Interesting. Vol Koroth of the Citadel asks, 'Where have you been since the Battle of the Citadel?'"
"I'm sorry, Vol. That's classified." I held up a hand.
"Fair enough, Commander. Now this is a question we've received quite a bit. The public wants to hear you set the record straight on your involvement with Cerberus."
"Well, you might remember I released an interview a year ago talking about my involvement with Cerberus and their help with the Collectors. Since that vid and the attack on Earth the group went from questionable at best to actual indoctrinated pawns of the Reapers. They were making husks out of their own people by the end."
"Wasn't this the same group that allegedly brought you back from the dead?" Alliers pressed.
"Not allegedly Diana, that really happened. But yes, with their resources we could have fought back against the Reapers much more effectively. But when you desire power at all costs...well at least they're history along with their masters."
"Here's a question from Thessia. Aurna Tille asks, 'What unit or race were you most proud of during the Battle of London?'"
"I know it sounds like a cop out but listen." I began. "I've been a spacer my whole life, I've seen the best and worst from every species. Down there on Earth, with all of our backs against the wall, I saw the best from the men and women of every species. I saw a hanar choke out a husk. I saw a turian take a bullet for a krogan. Many times I saw people die for us, each one of us.
"As far as I'm concerned, every inch of London is holy ground for the people who gave their lives for the galaxy. Human, krogan, asari, Batarian, geth, elcor, rachni, it didn't matter down there. They were all my brothers and sisters no matter where they came from. I would have gladly died to save just a few more of them."
"Well said Commander! Now, I have a question from Earth..."
I spend the better part of two hours talking with Alliers. It's over too soon but when it is I'm glad. I could not stop thinking about seeing my friends and the southeast wing the of mansion I was building.