Mass Effect: Bermuda

by WackoRelyk

The Bermuda Triangle is a fairly mysterious place, and many anomalies occur in that region. No one knows about what happens when someone enters the Bermuda Triangle, but one man decides to answer that question. What he finds will ultimately change his life, forever. Self/OC insert. There are many changes to the plot of Mass Effect, as well as many OCs.

21. Chapter 21: Paranoia

Chapter 21:

Date: January 4th, 2095. Four days after melding with Lyna.

During the journey to the Inusannon system, I was becoming increasingly worried, for reasons that I couldn't even comprehend. I knew that Lyna had been worried as well, but we couldn't stop now, as we had already covered hundreds of light years. Little contact was made with the URG exploration fleet that were traveling alongside the Bermuda, but there was very little need to. The only contact from those fleets that I received were from Daro'Xen vas Moreh.

From some of the messages that Daro'Xen had sent to me, I knew that the URG exploration vessels were performing quite well. Older vessels had a harder time switching between the EMDrive and the Vonya, but they were still functioning.

Meanwhile, Sirius was working on some of the Bermuda's systems. As an Inusynthetic, an advanced sort of Inusannon AI, Sirius was much more useful than any other sort of technology. On this trip to the Lidera Kop'ye cluster, where Sirius's creators were thought to be located, he was proving his worth as he had done many times before.

Date: January 8th, 2095.

Xen had sent me a few messages, some of them were just casual updates on the progression of the exploration fleet, however one message stood out to me. It was different from the others.

-Concerns About the Lidera Kop'ye Cluster-

'[I'll keep this as short as possible, Kyle,

The Admirals and the Consensus have been worried about what exactly is located in the Lidera Kop'ye cluster. I got word from someone operating a signal station located on the surface of Rannoch that they continue to receive faint signals coming from the far reaches of the galaxy. These signals are coming from the sector that the Lidera Kop'ye cluster is located inside of. Most of these signals weren't able to be translated with the United Rannoch Government's current technology, but there were a few occasions where they were able to break down some transmissions from that region.

You will find the audio clips attached to this message. My father made sure that I also transfer the untranslatable audio clips to you, since he presumed that the AI that we met on Aite would be able to translate it. I recommend listening to these as soon as you can, they contain some very interesting information.

For now, I must get back to my captain. We need to speak after this.

Daro'Xen vas Moreh.]'

I raised my brow at this, staring at my Nexus IV with a somewhat confused expression on my face. Below Xen's message, I was able to spot the audio files on my omni-tool's display. I swiped across one of the files, forcing it to play immediately.

[-]

"I've started the recording, ma'am," a highly synthetic voice spoke. It sounded similar to Sirius and Rigel, but with a pitch that wasn't as deep. The voice was presumably male, but I wasn't sure.

"I noticed. Sirius Veskalam-928A contacted us recently, saying that the Protheans have failed their task of defeating the Reapers. How unfortunate," another voice replied, having much more of an organic tone, but with traces of a synthetic speech following it.

"Yes, he stated that the Prothean Empire was over-run, and the locations of our caches had been corrupted by Rigel. The Protheans did their best against Harbinger and his pawns, but even they couldn't stop them."

"Kamen, transfer Sirius's report of the species that the Protheans were studying onto my databases. I believe they were called Asari, Quarian, Salarian, Hanar, Human, and Turian."

"If you don't mind me asking, Calevona, what do you need these reports for?"

"I wish to learn, Kamen. If they have enough potential, we may intervene during their cycle."

"Intervene? We're not ready!"

"We'll be ready. I'm already sending out orders for our fleets to expand to a tenth system. Trivon is over-populated, so we must divide the populations equally."

"We hardly have enough people to put up a fight against the Reapers again."

"No, we don't, not yet. But we do have 45,000 years until the next cycle begins, and that will be enough time to expand our population to where it makes the numbers of the Reapers look like a primitive army."

"The Reapers are hardly primitive, ma'am. To add onto that, I can't even count how many Reapers that were documented in our encounters with their forces."

"It was a comparison, Kamen. You are still young to this galaxy, and you have a lot to learn. Since you are a part of the Inusynthetics, you will learn quickly."

[-]

Suddenly, the audio clip cut out, just like that. I didn't know exactly what to think of it, a conversation between an Inusynthetic and an Inusannon. However, I moved on, swiping over the second clip after a few seconds had passed.

The Inusannon were an odd species, at least in my opinion. While I was closing my omni-tool, a secondary screen popped up next to the window that I was closing. I stared at it for a good few seconds, and noticed that it contained a file that was labeled with only two words, 'Final Offer.'

Without another thought, I clicked on the file, which immediately opened up another window. A large display of text was suddenly on my screen, and just like any other message, I started to read over the text.

-Final Offer-

'[Kyle Jonathan Terrah,

As a fellow Human, I'm messaging you. No, this isn't Vodnik. I highly doubt that adrenaline-fueled barbarian could figure out how to use an omni-tool. Besides, he doesn't even have access to an Inusynthetic.

But I didn't contact you to speak badly about your slavic friend. Instead, I'd like to offer a proposal. You can accept this offer, like a sensible person would, or you can choose to spend the rest of your life in undeniable agony. I say this because the beginning of the cycle is nearing us, and you're on the wrong side of it all.

The Reapers are coming, and they are Humanity's savior. In your rotten and indoctrinated mind, you must think that you're doing the galaxy a favor by uniting the Geth and the Quarians to end the ascension cycle, but I assure you, what you're doing is a mistake. I have seen the full power of the Reapers, and now that I know what they are capable of, the only option for survival is to join them.

You better make the right decision, Terrah. Unless you want the weight of a trillion dead people on your shoulders.

Sincerely,

Tiryn.]'

I scoffed at the message and closed the tab quite quickly. I decided that I would analyze it with Sirius and Lyna at a later date.

Date: January 12th, 2095.

While I was reading over one of the many messages that Xen had sent me, Sirius connected to my thoughts.

'Kyle, I hope you don't mind if I interject for a moment.'

Well, it's not like I was reading up on an update from Xen, but go right ahead.

'Do you remember that message you received from Tiryn a few days ago? If she is truly working with Rigel, then we have bigger problems than ever before. In case you were wondering why I've only just brought this up now, I didn't exactly have the time to catch a break.'

Okay? You and I both know that we can't do anything about it right now. Even if we started to plan for a retaliation, it would be futile. We can't exactly tell the United Rannoch Government that we have to turn around in the middle of our journey for an indoctrinated Human and her Corrupted Inusynthetic. Besides, once we meet with the Inusannon, we'll have a much easier time with our tasks.

'My people will not immediately agree to help us, if they agree at all. They're a very isolated people. It may be years, or even decades before they agree to come out of hiding.'

And if you're wrong? They must want revenge against the race that nearly pushed them to extinction. If the Reapers invaded right now, I'd be surprised if the Inusannon didn't decide to help the younger races out. Actually, I imagine that they'd want to fit the current cycle with their tech as soon as possible. The URG is the only government that has accessed the potential of Inusannon technology, and look at how far they've advanced in the last two decades.

'You assume that they'd want to start revenge-fueled war with the Reapers. Terrah. I know my people better than you do. I'm certain that they will refuse to immediately send their fleets out to gift the galaxy with all of their wondrous tech. I can tell you that the Inusannon and their synthetic counterparts might send a few scouting vessels out. This is possible, but it's a stretch. All of this is just speculation.'

Sirius. I know you didn't interrupt my reading just to talk about Tiryn and what the Inusannon may do when we find them. What did you really need from me?

'I was simply striking up a conversation, Kyle.'

It really didn't sound like it, considering that you started off with that message that I received from Tiryn.

Suddenly, the connection was cut. I let out a long sigh, and I simply continued to scroll through the messages that I had been reading before.

Date: January 16th, 2095.

"You're just paranoid, Lyna," I spoke in a light tone. I was sitting on a fine leather sofa, with my ankle resting on top of my lower thigh. Lyna sat across from me, her palms were clasped together, and her fingers were intertwined. Her elbows were touching both of her knees, and the Asari's chin was lying upon her knuckles.

She blinked a few times, then shook her head from side to side, disagreeing with me for the fifth time today. "It's not paranoia, Kyle! I can't shake this feeling, no matter how hard I try. I don't know if it's the Protheans that we found on The Wrath of Emperor Ikaali, the Quarians, or the Geth, but the United Rannoch Government is facing major corruption, and we are being kept in the dark from it all!" Lyna exclaimed in a frustrated tone. She shifted in her desk chair a small bit, and unclasped her hands. The Asari moved her fingers up to her temples, and lightly rubbed them.

I sighed, then pulled up my Nexus IV omni-tool. I tapped on the holographic screen, pulling up one of the emails that Xen had sent me earlier in the day. "Okay, if you think the URG is plotting to kill us all and take over the galaxy, let me read out an update that I received from our good friend, Daro'Xen vas Moreh," I paused, waiting for Lyna to respond. I moved my leg onto the ground, and stared at her blue face intensely.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go on and read it, I want to see your pitiful attempt at proving me wrong."

"That was rude," I meekly commented, rolling my eyes at the Asari. "Here it is: January 16th, 2095, 20th Update. 'Hello Kyle, I understand that this may be an informal extranet message as compared to the last few that I have sent to you, but I just want to make this message as short as possible. If you remember the Inusannon DNA vial that you found in that facility back on Aite, some of the scientific branches of the URG began experimenting with it. They needed female Quarian DNA, which I happily provided for them back in 2077. To give you a refresher, Project Genesis, as the Protheans call it… Well, it was a success. Teval'Rithari nar Cevoli is a living organism. She was officially born, or rather completed in June of 2081. However, I received word from one of the leading Protheans, Delaki or Korlib, told me and Captain Seehra'Valihal vas Moreh that Project Genesis must have more resources to insure the survival of the 'Inuquarian.' They requested various cybernetic prototypes that the crew of the Moreh had been working on. It was an odd question that I couldn't exactly answer, and so the researchers working on the project decided to transfer Teval'Rithari onto the Moreh for the journey to the Lidera Kop'ye cluster. I'm assuming that they plan to obtain Inusannon technologies when we finally get to that system. Anyways, I don't have any more time to write the rest of this update. I apologize if I was vague. Sincerely, Daro'Xen vas Moreh.'"

Lyna stared at me blankly, an annoyed expression now present on her face. "Teval'Rithari, for some reason, that name just makes me feel uneasy. The full truth isn't being presented to us, not by Xen, and not by the Quarians," she spoke in a frustrated tone.

I gazed into Lyna's eyes and powered down my omni-tool. Leaning back on the cushions of the couch, I sighed. "Okay, tell me this, Lyna. What do you think the Council is keeping from us? Every species, every government, every single form of life in this galaxy has their secrets. The United Rannoch Government is no different. Sure, I helped the Migrant Fleet and the Consensus become allies, but that doesn't give them reason to tell us every single thing that they're doing. I know exactly what your people are hiding from the galaxy, and what the Salarians have done to the Krogan."

The Asari before me summoned her biotics with visible rage displayed on her face. "What in the name of Athame are you talking about?" Lyna slowly questioned, seething at the very thought that I had just put into her mind.

"Calm the hell down, Nithil. You're overreacting. I'm not attacking you, or the Asari Republics, I'm saying that we all have our secrets, and two of the top governments in the galaxy hold some that could destabilize the peace that is so sacred to our interstellar communities," I calmly responded, crossing my arms beneath my chest. I had used Lyna's middle name in an attempt to get her to calm down.

Lyna narrowed her eyes at me and let out a growl. "What do you suppose that my people are hiding from the rest of the galaxy? Tell me what your little conspiracy is, or I will take it upon myself to extract it from your mind," the Asari spoke in a threatening manner. Her voice was incredibly low pitched, and her biotics were glowing intensely, lighting up the dim room that we were in.

I stood up to my full height, being slightly taller than Lyna. I slit my eyes at her, and started a connection up with Sirius. It would take less than a second for me and my Inusynthetic to converse, I knew that much.

Lyna was now standing only a few centimeters away from me, the rage still present in her eyes. "Lay off with the threats, Lyna. If you really want to know what is being hidden from us all, I'll tell you when you calm the fuck down."

The Asari before me backed away. She whisked away her biotics, and then looked into my eyes. The rage wasn't gone, but at least I wasn't being threatened anymore. "Go on," Lyna angrily hissed.

"Alright, let's start it off with your people, the Asari are hiding a Prothean VI somewhere on Thessia. The Batarians own thousands, maybe even millions of slaves from various species and cultures. As for the Turians, Manae is one of the biggest mysteries of their hierarchy. For the Salarian Union, everyone knows that they're not the most innocent group out there. I'm not sure what the others have kept secret from the public, but I assure you, every government has its secrets, and some are darker than others."

She shook her head at me, retreating back towards her desk. Lyna pressed both of her palms down onto the metal desk where many kinds of papers, datapads, and reports were laying. She calmed down much more than I had expected, even from the shocking truth that had just exited my mouth. "Kyle. My people haven't kept any sort of technology secret from the galaxy, especially if that tech was made by the Protheans. Unless you can provide specific proof of this claim, I'm going to scratch it off as an accusation."

I stifled a laugh at Lyna, covering most of my face with one of my hands. "You still don't get it, do you? I dropped hints upon hints, but you didn't pick a single one up!" I loudly exclaimed. Lyna glared daggers at me, pursing her lips together, before making a motion with one of her hands for me to continue. "On Thessia, there is the Temple of Athame, correct?"

"Yes, what about it?" Lyna fumingly asked.

"Right, you're not going to believe me on this, but inside of the temple, there is a Prothean beacon. Wait, no," I paused, striding across the room with a small smirk on my expression. Turning back to Lyna, I had an even wider grin plastered on my face. She was still fuming with rage, gazing at me with her brows furrowed. "Forgive me for my mistake, Lyna, but it's not just in the temple itself, the beacon is hidden inside of the statue."

Lyna only became angrier with what I had said. She closed her eyes and shook her head from side to side. "You're right. I don't believe you. In fact, I think what you just said is complete varren-shit," she intimidatingly snarled, slowly walking towards me.

"Hear me out, Lyna. If we went to Thessia right now, I could prove everything to you. Unfortunately, we're on a search for an ancient species right now, so that task will have to wait a few years." I monotoned. I planned on keeping my ground for the time being.

"When I see it, I'll believe it. For now, I consider it to be completely and utterly false." Lyna hissed into my face. She was only a few inches away from me at this point.

I squinted my eyes at my Asari companion, only to sigh moments later. "To change the topic, let me ask you this, why do you care about what the URG is doing? Why do you place so much concern in the activities of our closest allies?"

"Our closest allies? Kyle, not even thirty years ago, the Geth were hostile and the URG didn't even exist. When you came here in 2076, all of that changed. You managed to convince the Geth and Quarians to make peace in less than a week. In doing so, you ended the exile of the Quarians, and the looming threat of the Geth. If you don't expect me to hold some sort of mistrust against the two races, then you are wrong. Perhaps in the future, these ideas will vacate my mind, but not today. Leave me alone, I need to think," Lyna quietly finished, waving towards the open door that called for my exit.

'Don't agitate her anymore, just leave the Asari be.'

I closed my eyes, then thought over what Sirius had suggested. Slowly backing away from the Asari before me, I turned around and walked straight to the bridge of the ship. I shook my head from side to side, and then put both of my palms onto the shoulders of the empty pilot's seat. "Why does she have to be so stubborn, Sirius? Why must she question every single thing that the URG does?"

'Throughout her life, she learned that synthetics were only bad news, that they were always our enemies. She was taught that the Quarians made such a mistake, that they should live forever in exile. Now Lyna sees the two races working together, and she just can't accept that the peace achieved by the URG will last for long.'

How do you know this, Sirius?

'I'm synthetic as well. I complete tasks at a much faster rate than an organic could ever hope to achieve. I've spent 20 years learning the behavior patterns of you and Ms. Rilac. From what I have observed, and from what I suspect of your close friend, she believes that the Quarians and Geth are bound to go to war again. Her mind operates in fear of synthetics such as myself or the Geth.'

So what? Can't she see that they are our allies? That they trust us, and we should trust them?

'She is blind in that way, but I have to agree with her in some aspects. What you and I did with the alliance shouldn't have been so easy, but it happened anyways. When dealing with the URG, I suggest that you be cautious. You don't want to know what happened with the Inuquarian.'

Okay, seriously, what is so special about the Inuquarian?

'It would be best to put a hold on this conversation until we're done with the Inusannon.'

Then I will be waiting. You know that I don't like being kept in the dark, Sirius.

'You're the most informed person outside of the URG. You're only being kept in the dark on a few things, and I promise you, the URG has good judgement in keeping those secrets from you, Lyna, and their own people.'

How do you know all of this? I'm fully aware that you're an AI, but I'm not sure if you would actually attempt to break into a highly secure URG database in an attempt to see what they're hiding.

'Did you forget that I have access to your omni-tool? When Daro'Xen sends you a 20-30 minute video or audio clip, I process the file before it even appears on your omni-tool. Before you freak out, I'm not leaving out anything important. In fact, I only trim long periods of pure silence. I hear everything before and after your clips.'

You know, this information would have been nice to know when I first met you.

'It would have been counter-productive. All of the messages that come through your omni-tool are seen by me first. I can't stop it, even if you wanted me to.'

Okay, look. In the future, I want you to tell me when you do something like this. I'm not all too fond of someone looking through my messages, even if it is an automated process.

'I'll just send an alert to your omni-tool, but I'll be editing before you even get the alert.'

Right... Can you send me some documents to read over on the Inusannon before I rest?

'What sort of documents?'

I don't know, like a general description on them or something?

'They're generally peaceful until someone attacks them. They don't discriminate against race, species, or anything else. Before you get all snappy with me, I only have documents on what happened before, and during the Reaper Wars.'

A lot can change in 100,000 years. I need documents that can tell me how I can handle diplomatic situations with the Inusannon, because I imagine that what I am going to be experiencing in a couple of weeks will be much different from when I dealt with the Quarians. What you have is going to be some use to me, but I'm not sure how prepared I will be without current-date documents.

'You will be talking to Inusynthetics as well.'

I know that, but I just need to know how this will play out.

'It will play out peacefully if you are peaceful. In the case that you are hostile, you will not survive.'

What about the Quarians and the Geth? What will happen then?

'I trust that the United Rannoch Government will be able to handle things on their end. Other than that, I'm as clueless as you are in terms of what will happen. Even though I'm synthetic, that does not mean that I know everything, and it certainly doesn't mean that I can predict the future.'

I'm not asking you to predict the future. I'm asking you for your input.

'My input on the Geth and Quarians? They've been working well together, especially when developing new technologies for their people.'

How about their military?

'They're formidable, but they couldn't afford to participate in a full-scale war, especially not against the Reapers. While the URG is comprised of both Geth and Quarians alike, some of the Quarians don't have enough experience in combat. The Geth would be the best suited for a military encounter, since they remember almost every encounter with their enemies. Similar to my people and my creators, the URG is making a grave mistake by relying heavily on their technology. In order to succeed in a war, you must have a large population. The Geth can reproduce quickly, since they are machines. I don't think I need to explain to you how Quarians reproduce. Even if you outclass your enemy in the field of tech, you will eventually fall.'

From messages that I've received from Xen in the past, the Geth are producing more and more platforms every day. The Quarian population has also been steadily rising ever since their immune systems were somewhat bolstered by Geth suit-links.

'Yes, one year ago, in 2094, the estimated Quarian population was around 38.2 million, whereas the Geth platforms had reached numbers up into the billions. In my opinion, the Quarians need to repopulate faster.'

The Quarian population has increased by 21 million people over the last twenty years. That is a major improvement from what it was good to say the least. Could you estimate what the Quarian population would be by… Hmm, 2121?

'If I based this around how much time a similar species like the Turians take to reproduce… I think that the Quarian population would expand up to 85 million people. I am not entirely sure about how fast Quarians reproduce. I haven't exactly had the time or the motivation to research that.'

Erm, okay then. Moving on, what could you tell me about the Inusynthetic Long Rifle? I haven't exactly reached the point where Lyna will allow me to train with that. As you well know, she only lets me train with the Phaeston IV.

'Well, you already know what the ISYLR fires; a beam of magnetohydrodynamic energy hot enough to turn a person into ash.'

Yes, I recall that time that you forced me to it shoot back on Illium. To say the least, I still don't approve of what you did back there. Nonetheless, I still don't know all of the details of it.

'What, do you want me to give you a codex on every piece of technology that you find?'

No, but I want something to read while we're en route to the Lidera Kop'ye cluster.

'Very well, but be advised, the ISYLR was made to counter the attacks of the Thoi'han during the war for Eingana. It is quite different from what the Inusannon usually used.'

[][-][]

ISYLR: Inusynthetic Long Rifle: An ISYLR is a scoped rifle that fires a purple beam of magnetohydrodynamic energy. It is powered by an internal liquid-based battery that refuels itself overtime by collecting small particles of moisture out of the space around it. The ISYLR has a range of two kilometers before the beam loses its heat and dissolves. It is a highly powerful weapon, capable of dissolving most armor-types with a single well-placed shot. When used against element zero barriers, the beam generated by the battery will most likely blast through them, while losing half of its heat in the process. This weapon is only able to be fired once every fifteen seconds, due to the immense heat generated from the batteries inside of it. The velocity of the beam on average is 9,245.8 M/S, 20,682.2 MPH, or 33,284.8 KPH. In the case that the Inusynthetic Long Rifle fired before it ended its fifteen second cooldown, the temperatures produced from the internal batteries could leave its operator with severe burns and tissue damage. In some cases, the effects were observed to be fatal. The damage done to the operator of the ISYLR would vary based on how long it took to cool down, but it would still be unfavorable if it was fired every thirteen seconds as compared to the recommended fifteen seconds. The temperature of the magnetohydrodynamic beam has been recorded to reach up to 2200°C, or 4000°F, while the beam hits with a force of 454 tons of TNT. As for the ISYLR's origins, it was built by the Inusynthetics during the ISF's war with the Thoi'han.

C-ISYLR: Corrupted Inusynthetic Long Rifle: The C-ISYLR is a much more destructive version of the ISYLR. While it still fires a magnetohydrodynamic beam, it is heavily upgraded with Reaper technology. In its first firing mode, instead of shooting a single beam, it shoots two with half of the power of the original ISYLR, hitting their targets with the power of 227 tons of TNT. There is only one Corrupted Inusynthetic Long Rifle that has been made in galactic history. It was first documented to be used when Rigel fell under the control of the Reapers during The Battle of Vozaan II. However, instead of completely vaporizing its target like a regular ISYLR does, it has two very specific modes. One being exactly the same to the ISYLR, and another that shows the true power of the Reapers. The secondary firing option makes sure that its subject can fight under the Reapers, instead of being totally vaporized like anything else that comes into contact with it. When the C-ISYLR is put into its secondary firing mode, it switches to a kinetic bullet of sorts. The bullets are each laced with 30mg doses of Poragurix, which is a paralyzing poison created by the Reapers. The targets could be unconscious for many hours or even days while the user decides what to do with their victim. If this weapon ever fell out of the hands of the Reapers, or the Corrupted Inusynthetic that was holding onto it, the results would be catastrophic for Reaper ground forces.

[][-][]

I sat back in my seat as I took in all of this new information. A weapon that I had in my possession, and a heavily modified one in the hands of a Corrupted Inusynthetic. One that was created by the Inusannon Federation, the other originating from the Reapers and Rigel. For the time being, I wouldn't dare to ask Sirius about Rigel, as I felt that I had taken up enough of his time.

A/N: For the wondering about Vodnik and Samara, they are still alive, and they will come back into play soon enough. It'll probably be a few chapters before the both of them are in the main story of ME: B, but they will return, that is certain.