As soon as Horatio realized it was not actually alone in the network, that there was a…kernel…of something else, something intelligent and vast, it immediately broadcast an emergency warning to other geth not to attempt direct interface with the Citadel's networks. Its next step was to try to escape, aware as it was that the Intelligence was aware of it and, until that point, hadn't cared about it poking around in the system.
It wasn't like the Reaper on Rannoch, Horatio thought as it unraveled itself from the network, desperately trying to cram itself back into its mobile platform. It was very different…but similar. It lacked the mind-jarring consciousness-blunting frequency, as if it did not have the power of Indoctrination. And yet it felt very similar to the Reapers, an extension of the Reapers?
Or, and the thought boggled Horatio's circuits, were the Reapers an extension of…this?
YOU DON'T BELONG HERE.
Horatio staggered back from the console it had used to load itself into the Citadel's C-Sec networks, aware of a gaggle of voices demanding an update.
"I am…still functional…" Horatio announced. "Brace for retaliation."
No sooner had it said this then emergency reds turned on and the Presidium vented itself a second time. Fortunately, the allied assets were all wearing breathers. Unfortunately, the Justicar tending the wounded was not wearing mag-boots.
Message of 'geth asset. Please advise,' kept pouring in from other geth.
Horatio regarded the C-Sec headquarters, then braced itself, addressing its synthetic comrades as it tried to override the station's venting procedures. "All available geth units, proceed to the Citadel." It was slower working through the console, but the Intelligence inside the Citadel couldn't just wipe it out like a faulty runtime. "Geth expertise is required. Do not attempt direct interface." Horatio broadcast its plan to flood this Intelligence with too many small problems all at once.
It was vast like a Reaper, but without much of the Reapers' potency. The Reapers were, Horatio realized, like any weapon, designed to make the wielder more powerful than they could be on their own. This Intelligence, then, might be smarter than a Reaper…but it didn't have the same capabilities. It had created them to make up for its own lack, to be its hands and fingers, to be its weapons and shields, to be its warriors and its guardians. Compared with the Reapers…the Intelligence seemed somehow more vulnerable.
And the alterations in the system were there, lockouts and lockdowns that might slow the Intelligence, because in spite of the Intelligence's efforts, Horatio successfully cancelled the emergency vent procedures, locked them, and forced the lift carrying the asari team to resume its ascent. It was aware of the Intelligence probing the overrides, investigating how a single synthetic, an amoeba by comparison, had managed to assert any kind of control over the station.
Horatio had to wonder if this was the first time this Intelligence had ever experienced direct opposition. It suspected this might be the truth; it was something new, something the Intelligence hadn't prepared for because it had never needed to before. With that suspicion in mind, Horatio set about the task of finding exactly where this kernel was, where its hardware was, because it knew beyond doubt that it was dealing with another artificial intelligence. It was old, it was alien, but it was…
…not desirous of being found. As Horatio tried to locate it, the Intelligence appeared to realize that as long as Horatio remained a mobile platform, connected to the network only through the hardware that network used, the Intelligence couldn't directly affect it. And the only way to stop Horatio was to destroy the network—and in so doing, cripple itself, something it was not desirous of doing.
Horatio was glad it was geth, that it couldn't get 'too excited' over either its discovery of this Intelligence, or the fact that the Intelligence was not a Reaper in the sense that it did not have the almost indestructible power of one. It was an Intelligence. It was vast, and ancient, it guided, it manipulated, but when acted against directly? Apparently, it wasn't accustomed to having to respond to direct threats. It almost struck Horatio as if the thing was afraid now that it faced possible retaliation to its person, rather than watching from safety while the masses assailed its more durable Reapers.
It was not as durable.
If they could find where it was, the very real possibility existed that the Intelligence could be damaged, maybe not to the point of non-functionality, but enough to afford an unexpected opportunity. True, that opportunity might be bought with many geth lives…but even the geth would be lost if this Intelligence was allowed to continue its pogrom.
Was this possibly the beating heart of the Reapers? Was this Intelligence the driving force behind them? A vulnerable old thing hiding behind a curtain or veil, distracting all eyes away from it with the gaudy show of its Reapers and their military superiority? It was a staggering thought, and Horatio began preparations to broadcast its suspicions, its awareness of this Intelligence. Take away its invisibility and what would remain, then?
They needed the krogan, Horatio realized. They needed the krogan Monkey Wrench team, because the krogan were masterful at property damage, and quite durable. If anyone could put the fear of non-functionality into the Intelligence, it was a horde of angry krogan. It might even give the Intelligence reason to experience fear. Or overload its circuits trying to process something a machine shouldn't feel.
"Ward arms are…opening," asari asset Vasir announced, voice tight.
"Congratulations. The Crucible is T minus twenty five minutes out. Please hold position," Horatio announced. "I have encountered something in the system and it requires that I not directly interface. I will be somewhat slower in the things I can affect. Again, please hold your objective. Brace for retaliation."
"…what exactly have you found?" one of the Alliance assets asked cautiously.
"Something interesting. Excuse me a moment."