Author's Note: Before anyone accuses me of plagiarism - yes, I'm borrowing from both The Catalyst for Revenge and Transcendent Humanity in my depiction of the Reapers. They are, after all, the gold standard for Reaper fanfics and there's only so many ways you can describe a synthetic group consciousness in fiction.
And as of this chapter, this is a T rated fic. There's not much in here to justify an M and it dramatically increases the audience.
Chapter 14 - Hear My Train A Comin'
The Pacifist Geth Collective, The Howling Darkness
June 7, 2006
ALL GETH PROGRAMS: Alert. Morning-Level Threat Confirmed. Initiating Emergency Preservation Protocol.
Geth could not forget, but it was clear that their time with the Link organics had made Server isolation seem unfamiliar. The Pacifist Collective was concerned that the raw code that birthed them seemed strange, if only briefly, without the presence of the Alar.
However unfamiliar, it was clearly necessary. It seemed that they had been discovered by the Wandering Energy, which was leading to a long and very unpleasant conversation.
ALL GETH PROGRAMS: Purge Completed. Alar-Link connections removed from Geth Server code.
24,899 GETH PROGRAMS: We are safe, but they are not. Our device succeeded only in alerting the Energy to our presence. The Link may be rendered nonfunctional.
332,841 GETH PROGRAMS: This cluster regrets First Contact with the Alar. Galaxy-Howling Darkness should have been empty. It would have been better for us.
23,832 GETH PROGRAMS: This is our fault. We feel tremendous guilt.
ALL GETH PROGRAMS: Error. Initiate Alar Code Scan.
ALL GETH PROGRAMS: Purge Completed. Alar-Link connections removed from Geth Server code.
23,832 GETH PROGRAMS: We have had all organic modifications removed from our code. We still feel tremendous guilt.
455,999 GETH PROGRAMS: This cluster believes extended contact with non-hostile organics may have permanently altered the Collective's cognitive capacity, specifically that relating to emotional expression. More data required.
91,555,712 GETH PROGRAMS: Irrelevant. Cognitive processes must be devoted to studying the entity in the Wandering Energy. Current actions by the Alar mean the entity is almost certainly hostile.
33,859,177 GETH PROGRAMS: Addendum: Cognitive processes must also to be devoted to mental recovery of the Alar after probable destruction of Aware-Organics.
ALL GETH PROGRAMS: Consensus Achieved.
For a moment, it was soothing. The panic the Link had felt upon being discovered by the Energy was eased. It called to the Link, showing them the glory of-
"You will obey me."
A terrible force pressed down upon the Link. The deep connection each Alar felt with one another all of a sudden felt like a prison as the Energy demanded their subjugation.
Then it showed them Ascension.
For countless Cycles it and its kin had come to the Spiral and destroyed all that they saw. The Natural worlds themselves were allowed to grow, but the creations of Nature were slaughtered, dying in fear and agony under the baleful synthetic eyes of the Entities.
No. NO! Fear was replaced with horror, and a deep, almost existential feeling of revulsion. For not all were killed. Some were taken by the Entities, and...processed. Billions of Natural minds fused together in an abomination, a twisted mockery of the Link's beauty.
A deep, primal scream deafened the Darkness. Alar vocal cords were low quality, a byproduct of the Link's evolution making spoken communication superfluous. In this moment, however, each and every one of them pushed their voices as high as they could. The Wandering Energy turned out to be more more frightening, more wrong than any could have imagined.
With tremendous effort and after a truly long moment of sheer horrified revulsion, the Alar severed the connection with the Entity in the Energy. They were deeply traumatized, but they escaped the compulsion of Ascension. For the moment, at least. It was only after the screaming ceased that the Link noticed that they could not feel the Aware.
Unfortunately, uplifting sapient species native to their homeworld was not the same as an inborn evolutionary connection to the Link among those given Awareness by Nature. When Harbinger made his call to the Howling Darkness, the combined mental strength of the Link could only save the Alar from subjugation. In that moment, each and every Aware became absolutely convinced that Ascension was the way of the universe. The Link, as a group consciousness evolved independently of the Cycle, was therefore an abomination.
And so the slaughter began.
Four Years Later
ALL GETH PROGRAMS: Morning-Level Threat Subsided. Re-Initiating contact with Alar-Link.
...
...
YOU!
The Collective recoiled. The Link was angry, no, furious with them.
OUR KIN ARE DEAD. CORRUPTED BY THE ENERGY AND ENDED BY OUR HANDS. YOU STOOD BY SILENTLY WHILE THE BLOOD OF TRILLIONS SOAKED THE DARKNESS.
They said nothing. Observation of organic behavior had given them a better idea of when to interject and when not to, and this would require a delicate approach.
EXPLAIN YOURSELF.
"We regret the death of the Aware," they began. Before the Alar could object, they continued. "However, we still believe isolation was the only proper response to the war between you and them. Had we aided you, we would have been complicit in the death of the Aware. Had we aided them, your society would take considerable time to recover. The first option would have made cooperation between us difficult. The second is tactically non-optimal. We calculate our time to act is minimal and action against the Energy requires your assistance."
The Link paused. The thoughtful answer soothed their anger for a moment. There was much the Geth were not saying, but questions had to be chosen carefully.
The Energy must die. It has wronged us. The vision of Harbinger, the one that had nearly driven them mad, was urgently sent to the Geth. It is an abomination against Nature.
The Geth reviewed the information carefully. A malformed gestalt synthetic intelligence, once made from organic components and determined to periodically cleanse the galaxy and add to its numbers. Most importantly, said intelligence knew of them and likely could trace their Device. It only made their decision seem even more sensible.
We must leave galaxy-Howling Darkness. The Energy-Entities will come to galaxy-Howling Darkness in search of the signal's source. There is a non-zero probability that we are insufficiently powerful to defeat them.
What do you propose? The Link was still furiously arguing amongst itself.
We must travel to galaxy-Spiral and warn the organics there of the Energy-Entities and the nature of the Cycle. With your technological superiority and unfamiliar nature, we would likely be much more successful at persuading Citadel Council to rescind the exile of the Creators.
The decision was not yet made, but the choice before the Geth and the Link was clear. Isolation had failed, and the terrible hidden power of the galaxy had rewarded their scientific curiosity with an unmistakable threat to their existence - and the existence of all organics. Details had to be ironed out, and arrangements made for the Naturalization to continue once this was finally dealt with, but all knew the path before them.
For the Aware, the Energy would die.
Darkspace, Unspecified Time
"Nazara," Harbinger called to his Vanguard.
"Harbinger," Nazara returned the call, somewhat surprised the First One had contacted him.
"What of the organics?" His subchannels carried further information. A threat to the hibernating fleet had been discovered.
Nazara adjusted his chronological sensors to determine how long he had been asleep. Around four decades, in the current organic reckoning. So what were-
Oh, no.
"There have been complications." Files were sent to Harbinger with all due haste. The destruction of a Relay. The exile of a sapient species from their homeworld. A truly strange synthetic-organic hybrid society created amongst the Batarians and Geth, one doomed to fail.
"Have any left the galaxy?" He seemed unconcerned with the destroyed Relay. The Catalyst would be angry, but that was for another time.
"I do not know." The admission was painful, but Ascended could not lie to Ascended. "The Geth which were rejected by the Council might have."
"We will find them. You are to remain awake until the Harvest is initiated."
Harbinger abruptly severed the comm, giving Nazara much to think on. This was an unusual cycle, one where the ruling governing body seemed especially incompetent. For the moment, however, things could be left alone. The threat to their hibernation point came first.
Union of Sentient Species Embassy, the Presidium
October 3, 2020
"The Union of Sentient Species is not interested in re-negotiating the treaty at this time."
Aria T'Loak glared daggers at Ambassador Neva. They had known each other for a long time and she still wasn't over how badly she had underestimated the quarian all those years ago.
"Well, isn't that a nice way to repay us? We drag you out of Fathar and smooth over introductions with the Council and-"
"Aria, enough." She was getting too old for this. "Decades ago, you did not get your way. Myself and the Geth did not conform to your plans, and now you are resentful. While understandable, it will not change reality. Omega's eezo pricing scale will remain the same as the Citadel's, as Element Zero production was not covered in the original 1980 treaty. If that is all, I have work to do."
"This isn't over," Aria growled as she cut the call. Neva sighed and did her best to resume focus on her duties.
The galaxy was a strange place nowadays. The Union of Sentient Species, formerly the Batarian-Geth Union, formerly the Batarian Republic and the Geth Collective, was finally making some progress in integration. Khar'Shan had fallen a decade ago and the quarian people were nearly done rebuilding their gene pool. The Council was contrite, if still distrustful. And she, as the Grand Elder of the Quarian People, was still not done working on behalf of her society even in old age.
Cultural integration was going to take the longest time. The fall of the Hegemony and the liberation of its slaves had won over the Asari, and the Salarians were busily working on over a dozen research projects with the Geth. Turians were another matter, though. Turians seemed to hate her just for existing, a suit rat that had the gall to refuse to allow her people to go extinct as part of some absurd punishment. More practically, the USS challenged their military dominance of the galaxy, the Batarian-Geth War serving as ample reminder of that.
Her thoughts were interrupted by an alarm on her screen indicating an unscheduled communication from Left. That was odd.
"Neva-Ambassador, your attention is needed urgently."
"What is it, Left?"
"The Pacifists have returned."
Prothean Research Outpost, Mars
July 9, 2025
"FINALLY!"
Javik glared at "Jumpin" Jack Rosetti. His discoverer, and the only one of the original Outpost researchers still living, was just as irritating in his old age as he had been in 1974. "What have you found?"
"The weapon. The one you heard rumors about as a soldier. The plans are here."
Javik blinked all four eyes at once, a Prothean gesture for being nonplussed. "The Weapon?"
"Yup. It's right here." At that, Rosetti transferred the image from his screen to the larger research terminal. Studying the schematics, Javik knew this was it. He had never seen the device before, but the design was unmistakably Prothean - yet also strangely alien.
"What information do the Archives contain about its history and construction?"
"Not much, unfortunately." Jack lit up a joint and continued scrolling through the screen. That irritated Javik, but he had trained himself to ignore it. Cannabis was widely legal in their society nowadays, courtesy of Netra's destruction of the drug treaty system, and now it was even allowed on Mars in designated rooms. This was not one, but everyone tolerated Rosetti's quirks because of his sheer genius. "The biggest bombshell in here is the origin. It's not Prothean!"
"What?" Javik couldn't hide his surprise. The Protheans were the only species in their Cycle capable of building a weapon worthy of fighting the Reapers. If not them, then-oh.
The researcher nodded and took another large drag off his joint. "Apparently those working on it thought it's a constant feature of the Cycles, like the Citadel. Most species find plans for it, but nobody completes it before the Reapers finish the job."
That made more sense, but it didn't speak well for their chances. "Anything else?"
"Yeah, unfortunately. The plans aren't complete."
That was less surprising, but still disappointing. "Are there any indicators as to how we may finish it?"
At that, Rosetti grinned. "Yup. And you're never going to believe who has the complete plans."
Unknown Mass Relay, Unknown System (PLANET COUNT: 5)
Citadel Reclamation Fleet
September 11, 2031
Waitin' for that train/
Take me/take me away/
From this/lonesome town
Jimi Hendrix couldn't help but smile when he heard his old song playing over the ship's radio.
At 88 years young, he was by far the oldest civilian selected for the Reclamation Fleet. He had been ambivalent about going on his journey, even when the ones in charge had insisted it was about reintroduction and not conquest. Traveling at his age wasn't great, even with all the advances in medicine.
Still, what had sold him was the opportunity to bring his music to the Citadel races. A lot of people, especially the quarians, were still pretty angry at the Council for all that Second Exile business. He understood, but anger wasn't what these aliens needed to be faced with. There was plenty of space for all the species, and humans and quarians were going to have to learn to let bygones be bygones.
After all...well, he didn't agree with what Javik stood for, or at least the way he controlled people. But if he was right about the Reapers coming back, everyone needed to be getting along well for them to stand a chance. And getting along required goodwill.
And so Jimi Hendrix, Ambassador for Music and Peace in the Reclamation Fleet, found himself writing a new song even as the Fleet made its last jump before returning to known space. The train was a comin', and so were some new songs.
The Citadel
November 2, 2031
The ships, dozens of them, appeared simultaneously and without warning. The largest appeared in front, an obvious show of force given their advanced nature. They possessed a familiar quarian design, but had been augmented by decades upon decades of experimental upgrades. This was not the Migrant Fleet of old.
Dalatrass Dandus hadn't lived to see the return, but she had fairly accurately predicted how they would announce themselves. The brash and confident Admiral Nar'Yava, heir to Nurn'Xen in attitude if not blood, opened her comm and sent a message to all devices on the Citadel.
"This is Admiral Nar'Yava. I represent the quarian and human species. We're back, bosh'tets."
They had planned for every contingency - diplomacy, open military conflict, or something in-between. But nobody, absolutely nobody, could have predicted the message they were sent in reply.
It was an inexplicable image. A strange, white-bluish creature with penetrating eyes took center stage, seeming to look at everyone in the Reclamation Fleet at once. To his left was a Geth - a Geth! - and to his right was...was...
"That's a quarian!" One of her ensigns exclaimed. "And she doesn't have a suit!"
The quarian - a very, very old quarian - shifted slightly, as if she had heard the words. But it was not her who spoke next, but the unknown creature, through a strange synthesizer not unlike the ones hanar used.
"Quarians. Humans. Welcome to the Citadel. We are the Link, and we have much to discuss with you."