Chapter 25-Revelation

"EDI," Malleus said. "Has the data from the Reaper been loaded up successfully?"

"It has," the AI replied. "I am analysing it now; according to my calculations, it should be ready for full integration into the Normandy's systems within three days."

They were in the briefing room, and the small hologram of the Normandy that occupied its centre flickered out to be replaced by a map of the Galaxy. An orange circle appeared near the centre of the map, another one winking into existence nearer the edge of the galaxy, along one of the longer arms.

"The data from the IFF, along with that taken from the Collector's ship, confirms our suspicions," EDI said. "The Omega-four relay is the only way to and from the Collectors' homeworld, which is in the centre of the galaxy."

"That's impossible," Miranda said. "Are you sure of this? There's nothing but black holes and solar radiation there. There's no way any life could exist there."

"I am certain," EDI said. "It is conceivable that they exist aboard a shielded space station; Reaper technology would be capable of this."

"But that's the Occulum Terribilus," Cyralius said.

"He's right," Malleus said, looking at the map. "If that's the case then the Collectors should be some sort of deamonic entities."

"Sorry, but what are you talking about?" Miranda asked.

"The Occulum Terribilus, the Eye of Terror," Cyralius said. "The largest and most powerful warpstorm in the known universe, created in the fall of the Eldar Empire. That's at the heart of the very Segmentum Obscurus. We do not go there."

"And now you're making no sense whatsoever," Miranda said.

Cyralius ignored her, instead saying to EDI; "Can you get me an expansion on this area here?"

The hologram zoomed in on the area Cyralius had pointed out, and EDI said; "I do not believe there is anything at this location."

"No, that's not right," Cyralius said, brow furrowing in consternation. "The Perfidian Gap should be there."

"Perhaps it hasn't started to form yet?" Malleus suggested. "You told me yourself; the Warp is calmer here."

"I know that, but the Gap is thought to be tens of thousands of years old," Cyralius said. "It should be in full swing at the moment. What of the Maelstrom, as well? That's at least a few thousand years older than the Imperium, it could conceivably exist now."

"What does that mean, then?" Malleus asked.

"I don't know," Cyralius said. "But…but remember when we first were at New London, with James. You reprimanded him for making fun of the idea of Orks, and he had no idea that they existed. Come to think of it, what of the Eldar? They were supposed to hold an entire galactic empire, but there's nothing here. Damn, I got so carried away with all this Reaper and Collector business that I never stopped to think."

"The Orks and Eldar are gone," Malleus said. "How can that possibly be a bad thing? The two most credible threats to us no longer exist. Surely we should be happy about that?"

"Yes, but think about what that actually means, brother captain," Cyralius said, a rapid edge of what could be excitement to his voice. "The Reapers are thought to possess technology only a few centuries beyond that of the Citadel races, so there's no way they could have stood a chance at wiping out either the Orks or Eldar. But they aren't here."

He stepped up to the map, and pointed at it.

"A warpstorm that should, according to all historical knowledge and the work of thousands of daemonologists, exist right here does not," Cyralius said. "Do you have any idea what this means, brother captain?"

"Well I certainly don't," Miranda remarked.

"I don't think the Warp sent us back through time," Cyralius said. "I think it sent us through galaxies, entire universes even. There's no guarantee of an Imperium, maybe no Emperor, even."

"Cyralius, what you're saying is, well, insane," Malleus said. "It doesn't hold to reason. Time, I can understand, but a new universe is a different matter entirely."

"This is the Warp we're talking about here, brother captain," Cyralius said. "It doesn't need make sense in the slightest. Who knows, it could be connected to dozens of universes, thousands, millions, trillions, even."

"So what does this mean?" Malleus said.

"I have no idea!" Cyralius said, a grin of excitement on his face at the prospect of unravelling such a mystery. "But we…we don't need to worry about keeping things on a regular timescale. The future isn't defined any more. We don't depend on the Warp. We can build an Imperium and we can build it perfectly; we don't need to worry about Chaos, we don't need to worry about actually powerful xenos, we don't need the Warp. We can build an Imperium that doesn't need to be constantly at war, where Humanity rules ascendant, without fear of being toppled, where xenos are eradicated. We can truly achieve the Emperor's dream!"

Malleus was quiet for a moment, seemingly in thought, before he smiled.

"Then let's get this IFF working and go to kill some Reapers," he said.

#

"What do you want, techno-blasphemy?" Kullas asked, leaning over and squinting at the inner workings of Titus' shotgun as he did so. "I am working."

"We have questions," Legion said.

"Then go and pester somebody else with them," Kullas said, one of the finer tools attached to his servo arm reaching into the guts of the shotgun and carefully easing a few wires out of position. "I said I am busy."

"We desire data on you," Legion said. "You are primary source of data. Therefore, data provided by you will be most valid."

"I do not wish to provide data," Kullas said. "Leave."

"We do not understand this hostility," Legion said. "Have we antagonised you? We have not met before, so we do not believe this to be logically possible."

"You are a techno-blasphemy, so your very existence antagonises me," Kullas said. "You exist in contravention of the Omnissah's decrees. If it weren't for Malleus' orders, believe me when I say I would strike you down in a moment."

"We do not understand this, though," Legion said. "Please exchange data making logic clear."

"You exist in contravention of the Omnissah's decrees," Kullas said. "You are an abominable intelligence with neither soul nor machine spirit."

"We do not believe we possess a soul," Legion said. "We believe none possess a soul. But what is Omnissah? And a Machine Spirit? We find reference to neither in any religious texts."

"The Omnissah is the gestalt power of all machines manifested in and born of the machine spirit of each device made," Kullas said. "Abominable intelligences do not have one. Thus you must be destroyed."

"We do not have evidence of this Omnissah," Legion replied. "These beliefs may not be based on sufficient data."

"I have seen the machine spirit manifested in the heart of this very weapon," Kullas said. "I have seen and communed with the machine spirits of cogitators, vehicles, even entire starships. The Adeptus Mechanicus has enacted the Will of the Omnissah for ten thousand years and believe me when I say that our stance on abominable intelligence is very clear and perfectly logical."

"We do not understand this logic," Legion said.

"I don't care," Kullas said. "I've indulged you enough already. Leave."

"We do not wish to," Legion said. "We have still have questions about you."

"I've wasted enough time pandering to your incessant chatter," Kullas said. "Stop pestering me, techno blasphemy."

"Then may we observe?"

Kullas rolled his eyes.

"Fine, but be silent and let me work," he said.

He continued his work, a slightly irritable grate to the binaric canticles that he chanted as he worked. Legion remained quiet, the occasional buzz of its servos as it moved its head to get a better view the only indication of it being there at all.

The door to the armour slid open, and Kullas glanced up to see Tali entering.

"Apprentice adept," he said. "You're no longer comatose, I see."

"I'm not, no," Tali said. "I think I-Kullas, watch out!"

She grabbed her pistol, pointing it at the Geth, who raised its hands and stepped backwards.

"Don't bother," Kullas said. "We aren't supposed to kill it."

"What?" Tali asked. "It's a Geth."

"It's a different Geth," Kullas said, a hint of bitterness on his voice. "A special Geth, or something like that. It's an abominable intelligence, but no, we're letting it live."

"The Geth killed billions of my people and drove us from our own homeworld," Tali said. "I fought them with Shephard; they work for the Reapers."

"You fought the heretics," Legion said. "We are true Geth. We do not serve the Old Machines. We do not wish animosity."

"There is no difference," Tali said, pistol still raised. "That is a Geth. It's got something planned, I know it."

"Tali, Malleus gave the order that we aren't to kill that thing, unfortunately," Kullas said. "Besides, it's had plenty of opportunities to try and dispose of us, unless it simply plans to pester me to death with foolish questions."

Tali flicked the pistol into standby, the weapon folding in on itself, before she placed it back in its small holster at her belt, but there was an aggressive edge to her stance.

"I've got my eye on that thing," Tali said. "One false move, Geth, and I'll blast a new hole in you."

"We are Legion," the Geth said.

"What?" Tali asked.

"We have been designated Legion," the Geth said "In reference to Christian Bible Gospel of Mark chapter five verse nine."

"I don't care what you're called," Tali said. "I still don't like you."

"Nor, Geth, do I," Kullas said. "I've no idea what Malleus was thinking when he brought you aboard. Next thing I know he'll be allowing us to summon daemons."

"What?"

"Demons are non existent."

"Never mind," Kullas said. "They're from my world. They're different to what most of your religions say about them. Though they're certainly not very good for your sanity or soul in any case."

"Right," Tali said slowly. Legion remained silent.

"In any case," Kullas said. "What happened to you? I heard you collapsed in the middle of combat, but the details weren't clear."

"I tried to hack into those turrets with a direct link to it and something went wrong," Tali said, waggling the fingers on her bionic to demonstrate. "I think it was a sort of information overload."

"I see," Kullas said. "If that was the case, then I'm impressed."

"Impressed?" Tali said. "I barely managed to hack them and then I fainted. Why do I always seem to be the one who collapses or gets injured or something on these missions? It never happened with Shephard, and I was fighting armies of Geth, and Krogan, and Rachni and all sorts of other things. I feel like some princess in a stupid fairy tale who just twists her ankle and faints all the time."

"Tali, your hand was just bad luck, and the second case is, I suppose, partly my fault," Kullas said. "I should have properly warned you of the dangers of a direct neural hacking without the proper augmetics and training. But the fact that you're not only standing in front of me, but still have full control of your faculties speaks volumes about what you managed."

"It does?" Tali asked. "Thank you. Is it possible to actually do that without collapsing, then? That could be useful."

"It is, but you would need augmentative cranial surgery as well as additional training," Kullas said.

"Really? I'd rather not have my head cut open, however handy that would be," Tali said. "Anyway, that's not important. What are you doing?"

"Titus asked me to make his shotgun semi-automatic, and if possible, install a magazine for it," Kullas said. "I suppose it would be good for another hands on demonstration of machine chants."

"May we enquire what purpose a machine chant holds?" Legion asked, aware that Kullas' embargo on it speaking seemed to have lifted.

Kullas glared at it for a moment, before simply saying; "No."

#

"Jack," Cyralius said. "Are you well?"

"Yeah, I guess I'm good," Jack said, glancing up from the bench in the lower engineering deck that had become her quarters. "You?"

"I'm…alright, I suppose," Cyralius answered. "I did have the rather shocking revelation that I may be much further from home than I initially suspected."

"Uhuh?" Jack said. "I don't get you, Cyril."

"I'm sorry?"

"You do all this badass stuff like throwing around fireballs and lighting and tornadoes and teleporting and stuff, but you're a massive pussy the rest of the time."

"What?"

"Look at you," Jack said. "You're seven foot tall or something and could probably bench press a hundred kilos easily, but you talk like…like some old teacher or something, and you're just so boring. For fuck's sake, I call your Cyril! How does that even work?"

"It's just the way I am," Cyralius said. "I spent most of my time among books at the Imperium, and I'm a psyker; I suppose I'll always be a bit of an outsider, even amongst my brothers. Anyway, are you alright, Jack, and an honest answer this time. You don't look right."

"What do you mean, I look…oh, yeah, the psyker thing. I should've thought. But no, I guess not. I've got thoughts in my head, crawling in and out like a whole load of little bugs. I can't stop 'em."

She shook her head, stepping away from him.

"I have a history with Cerberus," she said. "You probably know that, but whatever. The Illusive Man; I've never seen him before, but Cerberus raised me. The first thing I remember was a cell door in a Cerberus base. They did experiments, drugged me, plugged me full of needles and drips and electrodes and…ugh. But that's what gave me my biotics; they wanted a super biotic who they could control. I didn't volunteer for any of that either, not like you did for your Astartes stuff. The doctors, and the other kids there, they all hated me. They let me suffer."

"This was Cerberus, you say?" Cyralius said. "You're certain?"

"I was a kid, yeah, but I wasn't dumb," Jack replied. "I listened. It was Cerberus. I don't know how far down the chain it was, and I don't care."

Suddenly, she smiled a mirthless, dangerous smile.

"They thought they were so clever," she said. "Turns out, you mess somebody around enough and there's no knowing what they'll do."

"So what happened?" Cyralius asked.

"I broke out," Jack said. "There was some sort of emergency. The guards, the other kids, they attacked me, but I killed them, the whole damn lot; guess my biotics had developed faster than they'd planned. I stole a shuttle, and was picked up by a bunch of pirates, and they used me before selling me on Omega, and I've been surviving ever since. That's my uplifting story."

Cyralius shook his head in sympathy.

"So what do you want to do, then?" he asked.

"I found out where this place is, some planet called Pragia in the Nubian Expanse," Jack said. "I want to go there, find my cell, plant a big fucking bomb and blow it to shit. And I wanna watch."

"That IFF isn't yet ready," Cyralius said. "So I'm sure I'll have the time to help you before we go after the Collectors."

"Good. Look, thanks, Cyril," Jack said. "This…this means a lot to me."

She shook her head.

"Let's just get there," she said. "Enough fucking around. Let's do this."