Mass Effect: A Very Terran (Re)solution

by NihilMomentum

What would happen if someone with vast knowledge about the Mass Effect Universe, both official (wiki/Codex) and theoretical (fanfics), decent fighting ability and a plan was dropped into that Universe 13 years before Eden Prime? As it turns out, quite a lot! FemShep. Soft HFY. And a very different kind of self-insert.

12. Chapter 9: Past, Present and Future

Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or anything else referenced here. Those are the sole property of their writers/companies (Bioware/EA and such). I do not claim ownership of anything but my OC and original concepts.

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Chapter 9: Unearthing the Past, Shaping the Present and Building the Future

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Somewhere on Eden Prime. Late 2172 CE.

Deep underground, on a narrow passage littered with rubble, debris and ancient scars of a fierce battle, a human and an asari walked together. The architecture, or what was left of it, was undoubtedly Prothean. The human wore dark heavy-looking armor, his helmet being carried in one hand, while the asari wore a high-tech, scientist looking coat. Those were Liara and I.

This was the result of years of back and forth negotiations with the Alliance for the right to explore and excavate the ruins on the planet. The SA was a real tough nut to crack there, not even giving in when dealing with Benezia, who "merely" wanted to help her daughter's endeavors. Ever since two years ago, the two had publicly "made up", with Liara shifting her focus towards more "beneficial" research on the Protheans. All to benefit House T'Soni and the galaxy, the Matriarch claimed to those who questioned her.

But it was only after the Thanix unveiling, when we earned some "favors", that permission had finally been given and the excavations began. With the benefit of hindsight, we used the best ground-penetrating radar tech available, looking for any structures reminiscent of a bunker. And all of that just so we could recruit the last Prothean alive. As for the human polity and House T'Soni, they'd get a near future return in the form of top-tier stasis tech, Ad Astra quality certified, while wondering what it all had been for…

"It's all so surreal to me.", Liara suddenly broke the silence. "A few years ago, I was just an archeologist shunned by the scientific community, with all of my theories on the Protheans being discredited. Now, I'm going to meet a real, living Prothean!".

"As opposed to a fake, dead one?", I quipped, not resisting the opportunity.

"Not funny. Besides, isn't that just a Collector?", she quipped back.

"Ouch, that's kinda low. Better not use that one on our Prothean. He might really throw you out the airlock!", I kept joking with her.

"He's really not that bad… I hope. Maybe it was simply the result of being born in a war of extinction, making him jaded to everything.", Liara speculated, but sighed nonetheless.

Soon after those words fell, we reached the chamber where the only lifepod that still had some power left waited. The excavation was carefully controlled and managed by our dear archeologist, considering what we'd find down here, with a DS keeping watch. There was also an agent of the Shadow Broker here as an extra insurance.

A certain glowing green VI then began moving about, trying to get it open for us, countersy of a QB device Liara had borrowed to keep contact with HQ while at the dig site. As for myself, I didn't even bother trying to hide my identity this time, because Javik was going to know basically everything anyway.

"Signal transmitted. Beginning stasis shutdown process. Hold…", Vendetta announced to us after managing to interface with the lifepod.

"You know, I've been thinking about this whole thing…", I mentioned while we waited.

"Here we go… What's going on inside that head this time?", Liara asked with faint amusement.

"I'm serious. Just follow me on this: we've solved the issue of micrometeorites impacts at superluminal and sublight speeds; the quarians could build something akin to a generation ship (liveships) even while escaping from a disastrous war; the Andromeda Initiative could keep people alive over a 600-year journey; and the Protheans were more advanced than anyone of this Cycle.", I listed off some seemingly random facts.

"Yes, those are all true. But what does it have to do with anything?", she inquired again.

"So… why, instead of only building these bunkers on random planets, didn't they take the resources that would've been spent on one or more bunkers, build a big generation ship and just… accelerate it very close to the speed of light?", I asked her something I'd been thinking about lately. "Heck, they could've even tried to pull an Interstellar and ride a black hole's gravity!".

"You mean… use time dilation to escape the Reapers?", Liara, being the big geek that she was, figured it out fast. "While one year passes for them inside the ship, maybe a century or more could pass to the 'outside' world...".

"Yeah, basically this.", I confirmed her guess. "I mean, rather than cosplay as mummies for hundreds of years, they could've tried using relativity to 'time travel' to the future. It's not like the Reapers are perfect at scrubbing the galaxy: they missed Steve, for one. And then there's that rachni ship still out there somewhere…".

While she was thinking of a reply, we heard noises coming from what would've become Javik's sarcophagus had no one settled on this planet.

"Well, why don't you try asking our new friend directly? He's going to wake up any moment now.", she replied with a bit of sass.

"Shutdown process done.", Vendetta finally announced to us.

"Maybe another time. He's going to come out swinging, right?", I asked something we both knew already while we moved farther away.

Prothy the Prothean was slowly unfreezing from the lifepod. After opening his eyes, all four of them, he started slowly climbing out of it, with motions of someone that had clearly overslept; 50.000 years, to be precise. He looked panicky and began preparing an omni-directional blast of biotic energy. So, I did the smart thing and shamelessly stood behind Liara as she put up a barrier to block the attack.

His eyes were darting left and right, trying to look for something familiar. However, we were underground, so he couldn't take a look outside to realize that an entire Cycle had passed. Nevertheless, he managed to stumble to the front of Liara's and to grab both of her arms, initiating the Prothean version of a "meld", which she let happen.

After they "came back" from the connection, I slowly enunciated the famous phrase: "Rise and shine, Mr. Prothy. Rise and shine!".

"You… You seem to be the reason I'm released from this coffin. And the asari trusts you a lot.", Javik commented, still trying to get his mind together. Apparently, he hadn't managed to get too much shocking information out of the experience.

"I have a name. And it is Liara T'Soni.", our dear archeologist firmly interjected.

"I am known as Javik.", he turned to look at us and, this time standing straight, with a pose full of pride, continued his introduction, "Among my people, there were… avatars of many traits: bravery, strength, cunning. A single Exemplar for each. They were called the Avatars and I was the Avatar of Vengeance.".

That, however, only lasted for a little, since he suddenly recalled his people here.

"How many others?", asked Javik in a defeated tone.

"Just you. It's been 50.000 years.", I revealed curtly.

"No other lifepod had any power left. I'm sorry.", Liara apologized to him. "You knew that this was a possibility. I... saw your memories. In the end, it was just you. You were meant to be the voice of your people...".

"There were supposed to be a million of us, ready to rebuild the Empire after the Reapers retreated to Dark Space, but we were betrayed by our own kind.", he recounted with a forlorn expression until realization finally set in. "Wait, you know about the Reapers. Your people, did they hear our warnings? Is the galaxy prepared?".

"A few beacons have been found, but it's not been easy trying to understand them, and the Reaper threat is not public knowledge. In fact, any theories that talk about the Prothean extinction are heavily discredited.", Liara admitted sadly, something that hits close to home for her.

"Asari. Human. I'm surrounded by primitives.", he looked closer at us and then muttered in frustration. "But then, how did you learn of the Reapers if they have not returned?".

"We have our own sources. And we still have a few years before the Reapers' return.", I declared to him. "We represent the organization best fit for dealing with the threat. Your release is proof of our capabilities and of our desire for you to join us.".

"And we're preparing as best we can, as you'll find out later.", Liara added.

But Javik didn't seem satisfied with that answer. He first looked at me, then at Liara and, finally, at the remains of the bunker. For a moment, he seemed completely lost in thought, until he finally spoke again: "Before, I sensed caution in you, the power you restrain. You are not yet ready, but you move in secret.". With his eyes fixated on Liara, he demanded answers with a simple question: "Why?".

However, before she could speak, I gave him the cruel answers: "Because, to begin with, pretty much every single species in the galaxy has fallen for the Reaper trap. Indoctrinated agents of those broken machines are everywhere, manipulating events in their favor. Just to give you an example of this, the hanar's representative on the Citadel is indoctrinated. Besides that, our so-called leaders would neither believe in the Reaper threat nor really do something to prepare for this Cycle. They are only focused on maintaining their power and keeping the 'lesser' species firmly under their boots. Thus, it falls to people like us, who actually know what's at stake, to prepare in secret. We can show you the true state of the galaxy and, after that, you'll understand.".

"What my friend here wants to say is that there are certain reasons why we can't go public for the time being.", Liara glared at me a little. I guess it was not yet time to reveal that our leadership was made up of morons. "Come with us and you'll see.".

"I've felt your... emotions and they ring true, so I'll trust you for now. But, if you don't prepare enough, then there is no hope. You saw our last moments. Our failure.", he lamented with a downcast expression.

"You didn't fail. Because of the Protheans sabotaging the keepers on the Citadel, we have the opportunity to prepare. There is hope. Let us show you that.", she consoled Javik, who considered what she said for a moment.

We then watched him reach into the lifepod and start pulling guns out, clipping them to his armor. He looked around one last time, but his eyes didn't seem to linger on any particular detail. After this, I offered him a specifically made helmet to hide his features.

"Let us leave. There is nothing but death left in this place.", he finally said.

"Yes, let's go! I have so many questions…", Liara, it seemed, didn't waste any time.

"As do I.", Javik responded in return, completely oblivious to his fate. I began to feel a little sorry for the guy. He was going to get absolutely spent responding to questions before the day was over.

We then left before the workers, who had been distracted to another area, returned. Later on, the hidden DS also managed to sneak the lifepod out of here, for us to study later, and collapsed a big section of the bunker, just enough to slow things down a bit.

After all, having results so soon would draw more attention than was desired. We couldn't have the Alliance getting too excited about digging stuff from this planet.

It would be widely regarded as a bad move.

---

On the Shadow Broker's ship. Early 2173 CE.

After arriving inside of the base via a short-range Wormhole, I began to wonder just what the core team had cooked up this time. They had only told me to prepare for a few days of leave, not elaborating further. Walking through the corridors, my first impression was that this place was becoming cramped, with most spaces being utilized by someone.

We really needed a new headquarters, one that could fit our ever growing number of DSs, for one. Most of them had relocated to other places and bases, with only Gaia and a few others staying here for the time being, but the constant increase of her computational units would inevitably meet a limit.

And it was also time we began separating the Network from the organization's HQ, making it the core of our intelligence branch. In fact, I was even thinking of moving the ship somewhere else, just in case someone got isekai'd to this galaxy by accident. Eventually, only the Inner Circle (Ellen, Alec, Kasumi, Benezia, etc.) and the DSs would know about the identity of the Shadow Broker. And the latter had that particular information both encrypted and ready to be deleted on a moment's notice, which was equally true of their knowledge about me.

When passing by a particular room, one very isolated/forsaken, I heard some weird noises – it was a mixture of laughter and mocking. Entering the place by tip-toeing, so as not to give away who was approaching to the source of the noise, my fears were proven correct, since phrases like "Haha, git gud scrub!" were being uttered in unbridled scorn. This was the black sheep of the DS family and our problem child: Loki. The problem was that this DS was just too human; the 21st century kind, with all that entails.

When talking about superhuman intelligence, everyone thinks of a Skynet killbot scenario, but what no one considers is the possibility of this intelligence ending up as a pseudo-neet, spending a lot of time trolling you on extranet boards or kicking your ass in online gaming. Kinda like Legion in a way. Killing every organic just because? There's none of that here. Otherwise, where would he find more "noobs to pwn"? Speaking of which, I could see him playing Galaxy of Fantasy on his custom personal computer.

"Loki, you didn't just play games all day, did you?", Gaia suddenly appeared on a nearby terminal, pretending it wasn't me who had entered the room. "Uncle Samael was looking for you two days ago. Something about the new releases…".

And there was something else this brat was: Senior Executive Lord of All Things Technical of the media entertainment company. Basically, the tech guy. My tech guy and assistant, to be precise. But the way he actually assists us most of the time is by, using his own words, "Doing quality control of our products, so that we may only offer the best. Truly, a noble pursuit!".

"The boss…? Mom, tell him I'll be available in an hour… after I've taught this stupid turian a lesson.", he waved it off, while digitally controlling his game character.

Instead of reprimanding him, Gaia just smiled and looked over his shoulder.

Noticing that subtle movement with his high-tech eyes, Loki simply froze, asking: "He's the one right behind me, isn't he?".

Her nod was his signal to escape. However, before he could, I grabbed his light-weight android body by the legs, held him upside down and asked: "Brat, have you ported those last games to Omni-tools yet?".

"Boss! Yea… I did it yesterday. Took some time with the emulator.", Loki justified. "But boss… Omni-tools are for casuals! We should encourage the use of personal computers, at least for the better graphics they offer.".

"Those 'casuals' are the bulk of our market. We can always release remastered versions in the future, for personal computers.", I shot back, shaking him a little. "Who's supposed to be the super intelligence here?".

Every single DS we created has a name of their choosing after growing up. All except him. Oh, he was such a prankster from his first day online that we just started calling him Loki, in reference to the mythological figure, and he just rolled with it. In fact, he even changed his avatar, an important part of their identity, to a young look that was quite reminiscent of Tom Hiddleston, with a more medieval getup (cloak).

"Even so, they're still casuals.", he replied, firmly holding his convictions. I just sighed and put him down on the ground.

"How's the reception for the latest releases?", I inquired curiously.

"Better than projected.", Loki answered seriously for a change. "It's almost completely beyond someone as smart as myself how those retro media can still sell so well.".

"Any shifts in public opinion yet?", I asked about one of the key objectives of it all.

Loki just gave me a craftly, sly smile and said: "Let's just say that the Council isn't going to feel so good about the new batch of releases and leave it at that…".

"I've seen some of the reviews. It's crazy how much of the positive feedback we're getting is from krogans…", I mentioned in passing. "They're really a culturally starved people.".

"You know, they're asking us for dinosaurs. They want to fight a T-Rex…", he revealed to me.

"The heck!?", I exclaimed, taken by surprise. "It's one thing to bring back the kakliosaur. That species had already been introduced into Tuchanka, but adding in all the dinosaurs is just asking to create another ecological disaster on top of the radiation one!".

"It is what it is. The clans have sent their representatives and submitted a written proposal, politely.", Loki continued, giving me a moment for that concept to set in. "Yeah, that's how bad they want it. They've asked VersaLife to clone those predators and release them on Tuchanka, to use on their 'Rite of Passage'. At least a few of the deadiler ones.".

"Damn… And what does the CSO of VersaLife have to say about it?", I turned towards Gaia, who was just listening in on our conversation.

"It's doable. We can run simulations regarding the ecological impact.", she answered. "And we could sell it if the Council Demilitarization Enforcement Mission doesn't get in the way. But the financial return… probably won't be that high.".

"You guys are missing the point.", Loki declared, preparing to pitch his idea to us. "What if, and follow me on this, we build a safari-like park, put a few dinos there for the krogan to fight and then make a big show out of it!?".

"You mean like a Man vs. Wild... or, in this case, Krogan vs Tuchanka, Dinosaurs Edition?", I suggested with a frown. "Or are you just trying to make Jurassic World real?".

"Yeah. That's it!", he said excitedly. "I mean, the first one. Not the last one, where the dinos took over the world. I swear.".

"Be honest. You just want to see the world burn, don't you?", I asked, starting at him, who just stared back at me innocently. "I don't know about that idea… File it up for later.".

Leaving the room, I set out towards where my cyber companion told me to go, Mordin's lab, which was now shared with Ellen and Gaia.

"So, why did you ask for me to come to the HQ?", I finally asked, looking at the little avatar of Gaia on my left palm, a nice little manipulation of an Omni-tool's holographic interface.

"You'll understand when we get there…", she answered enigmatically.

After reaching the place, a clean environment with all sorts of exotic experiments, I finally understood what she meant. Right in the center of the lab, in a very conspicuous spot, was a collection of petri dishes in which stood neurological eezo nodules. On one of them was the name "Samael". It was a lab grown "mini-brain" based on my improved genome.

Mini-brains. They weren't exactly what the name implied. More like masses of neuron cells the size of a pencil-eraser – and called brain organoids. Despite sounding like something straight out of a sci-fi, horror movie or both, this was real tech "back home" in 2013, a fact I'd found out after watching some videos of a postdoc scientist named Madeline Lancaster. However, there was no possibility of a consciousness emerging, given its simplicity. Even if those "mini-brains" miraculously gained sentience, it'd be one smaller than a rats', so any ethical issues of this would shift towards the problem of using the little critters in scientific research being moral, or not, in the first place.

"That's right! We've perfected the artificial creation of biotics!", while I was still reflecting on it, Gaia came over with her android body and boasted their achievement to me.

Ellen and Mordin, who were whizzing about all over the place, also noticed my arrival and came over to greet me.

"Breakthrough finally achieved! Nanites' ability to repair tissue extremely helpful.", Mordin began his own report. "Can always try new vectors of exposure. Try again upon failure with different genetic sequences. Dream setup. Unprecedented for genetic research!".

"And the girls from Chalkhos and Selvos also helped with a few things.", Ellen commented, mentioning our newest allies.

From my memory, they were asari from a binary planet System in the Terminus, Mil, who liked to do genetic engineering that was illegal in Council Space. But I also remember that it ended up helping in the war effort, because they made a very efficient husk neural map. And it was quite nice that our first "base" was also located in their cluster, Sigurd's Cradle.

"Professor, don't forget the Prothean contributions.", Liara suddenly appeared, saying with a forced and fake rebuking tone. It was evident she didn't want to miss the moment. "And mine, for that matter, since it isn't easy to dig into their knowledge of biology, even with the Cipher. None of this would have developed so fast without what they left on the Beacon.".

"Ah, no doubt. Prothean work on genetics exemplary. Masters of genetic engineering.", the Professor turned to the new arrival, starting one of his fast rambling sessions. "Capable of re-purposing a species from ground up to achieve their goals. Asari clear example. Also, proof entire species can be made biotic.". But then he stopped halfway through it, realizing his insensitive comment. "Sorry. Didn't mean to offend.".

"It's alright. I've already accepted that they've meddled with my species' evolution.", she dismissed his worries with a small wave. "And talking with Javik has made it all easier in a 'never meet your heroes' kind of way, I suppose.".

They all stood together: Mordin, Liara, Ellen and Gaia. This was my scientific A-Team.

"So, you guys finally did, huh? Safe and controllable creation of biotics…", I muttered in a daze, reminiscing about the road to get here. It all began after Pragia.

When raiding the facility, I wasn't worried about Cerberus' reaction. Although it'd happen way too late, they'd eventually realize our squad of three was more than they could handle and begin whatever Purge Protocol was on the server. But I didn't care about any of that. Ultimately, the only intel a Protocol like that would target would be compromising info on Cerberus and we already knew it was them behind it. On the other hand, the actual results of their "research" would be too valuable to erase just like that, so they'd probably end up carrying it with them as they tried to escape. The keyword here being "tried".

We targeted those, of course. And there was a big chance of salvaging them. The original facility would be destroyed from the inside, by children no less, yet there was enough left of the "experiments" to help somewhat in the war effort many years later. However, even that was simply a tertiary objective during the Teltin Rescue. What was really valuable to us was tissue (skin) samples of the biotic kids, since this was all one needed to grow brain organoids. Even 21st humanity could do it, so the much more advanced cloning tech made everything a breeze.

The next step was looking for other biotics, as well as those not exposed to eezo or who weren't affected at all by the substance, and get samples of their DNA. Then, we'd expose the resulting organoids to eezo, "resetting" the experiments with nanites until they bonded, while also trying to figure out how and/or why. This had the added benefit of fine-tuning the nanites until they were able to repair the delicate structures that neurons were. Eventually, high-level tests were conducted on rats. That's where I thought we still were…

"But this isn't all we've accomplished", Gaia woke me from contemplation with yet another revelation. "We did it! We've finally cracked the Reaper nanites' ability to build with organic matter, or enough for our own purposes.".

"You mean… those Fabrication Engines are finally going to become a reality?", I exclaimed excitedly for what was sure to be an enormous leap forward in our production capabilities. Many ideas were already popping up in my mind. "Also, remember those 'artificial eezo nodules' I've talked about? We can build them during the process of turning someone into a biotic, can't we?".

"That's correct. We knew you'd jump on the opportunity. That is why we asked you to clear your schedule.", explained Liara.

"I see. Wait, where's Javik? Shouldn't he be here for the occasion?", I then looked around for our resident troll, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"He went together with Ysin to deliver the recently freed quarians to the Flotilla.", Gaia told me. "Said he didn't trust those 'unstable primitive Admirals' to not do something foolish. Again.". Yeah… that sounded like him alright.

"Ah, I bet they're going to be having nightmares for a few days. Well, at least he's already proving himself worth the investment. And isn't here to annoy us with his 'In my Cycle…' or 'Commander, throw the machines out the airlock!' and such.", I quipped. "Besides, those quarian Admirals really are a piece of work sometimes, especially Daro'Xen. She gives me the creeps, even more than the Reapers.".

"You too? She gives me digital shivers.", Gaia hugged herself playfully, eliciting tiny smiles from us.

Just like before, I decided to be one of the first to try it out. For this reason, they stuffed me with all kinds of foods filled with proteins, carbs and sugars. Also, I drank one Paragade, ate what counted as the Space McDonalds here and whatever else our dear doctors said the nanites would need to create the cybernetic constructs.

Afterwards, I laid down on an operating table, watching them get busy.

"So, how are the kids?", I asked Ellen, making small talk to distract me from the fact that I would be directly exposed to eezo, even if it was in small quantities.

"They are doing fine.", she replied while continuing to work. "Sure, a bit confused because their little sister became a big sister almost overnight, but fine nonetheless. Scott wants to be just like you and Sara has been hanging around with Liara a lot lately. We've got them both on long distance schooling.".

"Oh, that's good to hear.", I sighed. Those two still ended up following similar paths to the ones presented before Andromeda. But then I turned to look her in the eyes. "You know, there's a big chance that the nanites will be able to cure you, more so with Gaia's help…".

"That's what Mordin suggested too.", she responded with a smile, then tried to make a little joke. "I'm not worried. If things become really bad, you can just freeze me for a few years. We did get Javik's lifepod and that thing worked fine for millenia.".

"Ok, we're going to start the procedure. You'll need to be sedated for this. Are you ready?", she asked me, to which I responded with a nod. "Sweet dreams…".

Then, I began to lose consciousness rather quickly, barely feeling the passage of time in my own mind. But on the outside…

…

After the sedatives finally kicked in, the real work began.

The entire nervous system was scanned and turned into a neural map by a device based on the mechanism of a Prothean Beacon, which was so precise it could instantly scan the structure of an unknown species' optic and auditory nerves, as well as many parts of the brain responsible for memory, then comprehend it enough to recreate images and sound compatible with it.

With this step done, the next one began: updating the repair-nanites with the capabilities to fix eezo induced damage, learned from the experiments with brain organoids, and injecting those newly designed ones. They carried with them the ability to turn organic matter into cybernetics, in a similar way to what the Dragon's Teeth nanites did, yet also so different. They weren't mutilating builders, the result of being designed by the Reapers to work with any victim without a care, but precise and careful nanoforgers.

Afterwards, the third step started: methodological exposure to Element Zero. The material in dust form would be incited to bond with neural tissue, all which had gone through gene therapy based on the results of the experiments. Any rejection of said bonding, starting to show the growth of cancer, tumors or any other physical deformities, was swiftly dealt with by the updated repair-nanites, whose job was replacing the failures with new neural tissue, according to the neural map, completely nullifying the biggest issue of exposure to eezo. A number of neurons being refreshed would not change the overall consciousness any more than normal aging already did.

Finally, the last step began: using those forging nanites, which were controlled by Gaia, to construct the artificial nodules with organic resources. The nanites took the biological eezo nodules as the "blueprint", then refined that into purely technological versions, in a perfect mirror of it, blending them both seamlessly with the nervous system. While the biological nodules would be powered by biochemical electrical impulses from the brain, the artificial ones would be powered by a new E-Reactor that was being fitted inside, one to power all the other future cybernetics. All of the nodules were then linked to an implant at the base of the skull. With their work done, the nanites sent themselves to be recycled by the small fabricator installed one year prior.

A few days later, the end result was shown after the subject woke up…

…

While slowly recovering my senses, I felt like having died and being brought back to life. In fact, I'd half expected to hear some brunette shout: "...Get out of that bed now - this facility is under attack!". Fortunately, everything was all right.

"Welcome back. No apparent issues. Any discomfort?", I was greeted by a smiling Mordin. Salarians only needed one hour of sleep, so he and Gaia must've never left my side.

"Not really, doc… Did it work? How long was I out?", I asked the first things that came to mind, still trying to piece it back together.

"Procedure successful. Took around three days.", he answered. "Minor adjustments in middle. Still learning even now. Much more left to explore. Exciting!".

"You're showing full neural bonding with Element Zero. All the fallout was dealt with by the nanites and I managed to build all the cybernetics with no issues.", Gaia also popped up in my view, pride clear in her tone.

"Hi Gaia. Well, I'm glad to hear that. So, three days days, huh?", I muttered, before turning to the other side, where some sounds were coming from. Ellen and Liara had also arrived. They must've been informed about my awakening.

"So, how's our new biotic holding up? Itching to give them a try?", Ellen inquired.

"He must be. I must've troubled mother with mine.", Liara mentioned with a faint reminiscing smile.

"Hey, what's up? Not really sure about my new powers yet.", I casually greeted those two with a wave. "Could use something to eat though.". But then my curiosity shifted towards the specs of my new cybernetics: "What about the biotic implant and the bio-amp?".

"You were fitted with an L4 implant, courtesy of yours truly, and a personal VI hand-crafted by Gaia.", Ellen answered with pride. "It includes all of the standard biotic abilities save for charge and nova.".

"Shame. I was really looking forward to the 'charge' ability. And the Banshee's teleporting one too.", I lamented a bit, touching the base of my skull. "I guess I'll have to wear a scarf while in public. Or people will ask questions about how I suddenly became a biotic…".

"Don't be so greedy. We've already done well enough by creating those ten years before it was even supposed to be developed. And the L5s are well on their way for testing.", Ellen , which quickly turned into a smile. "But I've got great news for you! We were going to get a Polaris amp for you, but Benezia managed to get the Serrice Council to cough up a few Savant ones, which we modified to work with the artificial nodules.".

"Indeed. Many advancements with biotic implants and amps. Revolutionary work.", Mordin suddenly commented. "Also, unintended benefit. Have a figure in mind to recruit. Top STG agent. Former now. Obsessed with augmenting already considerable biotic power. Even by any means necessary. Would fit well with us.".

"Send me his dossie. I'll check to see if there's someone about the guy in my memory.", I said to him. "Otherwise, if you trust we'll be able to get his loyalty, then go for it.".

Coming down from the operating table, I began searching for a small object. Finally seeing one, I took a deep breath while closing my eyes for a moment, fired up my neurons while aiming my right arm/hand towards it and tried to reach out with the Force, the Gravitational Force. A telltale glow of biotics began emanating from me and the object started shaking a bit, slowly floating up. Before I could begin bringing it closer, it started shaking too much, eventually falling down. My first test ended just like that.

"That's it?", I asked out loud with a frown.

"What 'that's it'? You don't realize how amazing it is that you can already do that much!?", Ellen was quick to reproach me. "Most fetuses exposed to eezo don't become biotics. Of those that do, only 1 in 10 manage to develop their abilities after a long, slow and difficult ordeal to consciously control their nervous system. You can already levitate something like that after just becoming a biotic – and with a simple mnemonic to boot! Even the asari do not have it so easy.".

"It's true. I took quite a while to get a handle on my abilities.", Liara confirmed, nodding.

"So, you're saying we've created something even more dangerous than I've initially figured it would be?", I looked at my hands, squeezing them into fists. "I don't believe myself to be a biotic prodigy, so it must have something to do with the 'artificial eezo nodules', right?".

"Correct. Artificial nodules likely responsible for increased performance. Helps control dark energy with higher precision.", Mordin confirmed for me. "Also, completely alternate power source. Can function independently from normal eezo nodules. Excited about prospects of adding them to suits of armor.".

"It's probably because they allow the implant to generate and alter electrical signals along the neural pathways that your body then processes as its own.", Ellen added. "They work somewhat like how those Pathfinder implants would, which means the machine precision might be able to completely bypass the need for physical mnemonics.".

"So that's how it is, then. With all of this power, we'll need to be more… careful with our future recruiting.", I realized some of the negative implications after their explanations. "In fact, maybe we should crank up the 'pairing' ceremonies further.".

After they'd proven themselves trustworthy, some of our best people (officers, lieutenants, etc.) would receive their very own digital companions. Alec, for one, had already gotten his companion a while ago – and he managed to get himself one named SAM, interestingly enough. I guess his partner liked the acronym. And pretty much all of those chosen for the pairing knew what was at stake (the Reapers), so their loyalty was quite high.

"You want my kids to keep an eye out for abuses of power, don't you?", Gaia asked, easily understanding my meaning.

My only response was a faint smile, knowing she'd pick the expression's meaning.

"Still, we should double down on the psych evaluations, especially regarding views on 'AI', good or bad, and simulations on their reactions when given such power.", I emphasized to them. It was very important that we didn't mess up and end up creating the same problems militias here do. "We didn't screw up yet, but you can never be certain when dealing with… I'd say human nature, but that would just make me an anthropocentric bag of dicks.".

They chuckled a bit at that small reference.

"That's not the only way to add some accountability. All of this made me think of some new ideas on how to improve our information retention abilities.", I mentioned to them. "I'll tell you guys about it later, but a big hint is that 'Infringing on Nature's Copyright 2: Infringing Harder' fits quite well with what I'm going for…".

"Ah, new ideas. Have some of my own. Use new nanites to build a small synthetic weave around skeleton, reinforcing structure.", Mordin revealed. "Temporary measure. Used only until skeletal and exoskeletal work matures, to supplement genetic augments.".

"That's right. From now on, we'll need to shift focus towards the skeleton.", I agreed with him wholeheartedly, pausing a bit, then asked them something that had been on my mind; what I'd once read in the fanfic Mass Effect: Logical Conclusions. "Hey, do you think we'll be able to do something like a biotic kamehameha one day? I mean, a blazing continuous wave of coherent gravity or a gravity laser?".

"Now that's just silly! Or way beyond what we mere mortals can do.", Ellen dismissed it.

"Ellen, I find your lack of faith disturbing… The Dark Side of biotics is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be... unnatural…", I slowly enunciated in a deep, raspy voice. "Having a ball of churning plasma and spacetime held between your hands would be really cool and you know it!".

"You and your references. Come on, let's run some more checks…", she ordered, waving at me to sit back on the operating table. "Oh, Javik is coming back tomorrow. He also said 'Let's prepare the bait for the fish, Commander!' and that you'd understand.".

"Ha, that does sound like him. I guess it's finally time…", I mumbled, as the final tests were being done.

2172 CE. This was the year Kaidan Alenko enlisted in the Alliance military. Just like other human biotics, he suffered a lot to gain and train his powers. Some of those came at the hand of the private company contracted by the Alliance to understand biotics, Conatrix, in a programme called Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training (BAaT). This one began on a high note: separating teenagers from their families by convincing them that their kids were dangerous, then isolating those in a space station in the middle of nowhere.

The progress was really slow. Not wanting to make humans look weak to the aliens of the Council, the company hired several aliens. All of them were biotic turian mercenaries, with one even having fought in the First Contact War, named Commander Vyrnnus. They were brutal with the trainees, using hunger and thirst as training "incentives". Many broke down unter the torturous regime of these "instructors", with some actually dying, either from accidents or from the strain.

Eventually, Kaiden Alkenko retaliated lethally against said Commander and the program was shut down. Killing the lead "trainer" of the whole thing, even if it was in self-defense, tends to do that. And this was the Alliance's first answer to the question of biotics.

However, one terran from another Universe and a small team of smart scientists came up with a different path and solution. One might even say a very Terran one. It was quite safe, faster and allowed for more potential than any alternative. Throughout the whole process, no babies, pregnant women or kidnapped kids were harmed, and neither was there any sort of morally bankrupt plan or mad science involved…

It resulted in a clean fusion of organic and synthetic components, driven forward by ethical science and made possible by the potential, ingenuity and audacity of sapient beings.

---

Kahje, homeworld of the hanar. Early-to-mid 2173 CE.

The hanar were a curious case. Their government (Illuminated Primacy) was named after their religious belief in the enkindlers (Protheans) for having illuminated them with words – language. Supposedly, they were a benign theocracy.

According to the Codex, they used this alleged goodness to "save" the drell from the dying arid homeworld of Rakhana. For that grace, the drell were put to serve as a client race of the hanar. Supposedly, the reality of this relationship isn't constructed as a form of slavery, with the drell having integrated themselves in every level of hanar society. Moreover, most of them consider serving a hanar family an honor, referring to it as the Compact.

What is curious about them, however, is that they appear to simply not care about Kepral's Syndrome, that terrible disease that erodes the ability of drell lungs to take in oxygen and, eventually, spreads out to other organs. After all, it was the leading cause of death for the drell on Kahje, something that could've easily been prevented had they simply decided to find a more suitable place (realocation) for their "friends". But that would make it harder to control their "client race", no?

Furthermore, the domed Cnidaria City was the only place on the hanar homeworld where the drell could live without immediately succumbing to that disease. And that place was a crime-infested slum akin to a noir setting. Personally, I found it an interesting thing that the hanar claimed to care for the drell, even putting their scientists to "research" a "cure" for the Syndrome, when, at the same time, the only place they leave for their dear comrades to live without fear of horribly dying was a certified shit-hole.

This was something I mostly kept to myself, given Thane's staunch defense of the hanar, but the rest of Inner Circle had an inkling that I didn't find this situation very ok. So, it came off as a surprise when I proposed we should recruit them. Why? They asked me. After all, the hanar were basically one big null in ground warfare, their technology couldn't be better than what the Athame Beacon had, their space navy was relatively small, their homeworld defense was automated and their economy could only be described in one short sentence: almost non-existent to the galaxy, only exporting alcohol and mindfish.

However, it didn't take long for them to realize that I wasn't exactly aiming for the hanar's military "prowess", but for the drell. Unfortunaly, to get to them, we first had to deal with the big, stupid jellyfish. As such, to break through their isolationism, we had Thane reach out for his contacts and set up a discreet meeting with the hanar leadership, dropping a few hints that we could get them "in touch" with a relic from the enkindlers, one related to the hanar. I wasn't worried they'd call up Council society to share it, considering that they were usually out there doing protests against the exploration of Prothean ruins.

And the part about them getting in touch with something from the enkindlers wasn't a lie. We were technically correct, which was the best kind of correct! This "relic" did exist, was at my side and even knew quite a bit about the hanar and their past. It was my trump card, Javik, The Avatar of Trolling.

Coming back from my daydreaming, we were alerted to the sounds of approaching steps right outside the main door. The hanar had let us stay in a nice room that was dedicated to the reception of diplomats and dignitaries. Although we were not fully armed, they still let us stay in our suits of armor and to keep a sidearm for self-defense. Not much later, the current leader of the hanar floated inside of the room, being protected by a few, but very deadly-looking, drell bodyguards.

"This one wishes to offer the guests its greetings and expresses its hopes for a mutually beneficial negotiation.", the leader spoke first, the politeness of his species clearly seen.

"Likewise. It's a pleasure to meet you.", I returned the greetings with a bow while, at the same time, Gaia covertly scanned everyone in the room for signs of indoctrination. Luckily, the results came back negative.

Javik, being who he was, didn't bother to offer any pleasantries.

"It asks the guests to make themselves comfortable. This one would be most pleased if its guests would reveal their business with the Illuminated Primacy. Is it true that you possess something of the Enkindlers?", he inquired with a bright glow.

However, instead of answering his question, I turned to Javik and asked: "What do you think of them?".

"I remember when they were still minnows in the ocean. A pity we did not teach them to speak better.", Javik answered bluntly.

"You know that I meant the drell.", I replied while rolling my eyes behind the helmet.

"Primitives, but solid foundation. Firm posture, alert eyes, disciplined. Clearly the result of effective training. They look like good soldiers.", he revealed his succinct assessment.

"This one does not comprehend. It wonders if the guests are having ill thoughts or trying to make fun of it?", the hanar asked us, polite as ever, for clarification of our rude gesture.

"That's not it.", I began explaining while pointing to Prothy. "Remember we hinted that we could help you get 'in touch' with a 'relic' from the Enkindlers? Well…".

Javik growled a bit, shook his head and then took off his helmet.

"Behold! An Enkindler!", I proclaimed in a dramatic fashion.

Understandably, they were completely stunned, either as a result of seeing an "unknown" species or because they were still trying to process what I'd just declared. Even the hanar was glowing a little weirdly.

"I know this is hard to believe, but we can prove it very easily.", I nodded to him, who took a few measured steps forward and touched the hanar with a finger. The drell finally came out of their daze, quickly pointing their weapons at us.

"Calm down! No one is getting hurt.", I raised my hands, then began explaining to them what was going on long enough for Javik to do his thing. "Protheans, or Enkindlers, are able to share memories, thoughts and concepts by touch. According to him, all life provides clues for those who can read them. It is in the cells, the DNA. Experience is a kind of biological marker.".

"This one is unworthy. This one has seen the face of an Enkindler!", suddenly shouted the hanar leader right after I finished my clarification, while his bodyguards were confused.

"Here we go…", I sighed and began the long reveal about the Cycles, the Reapers and their planned trap (Citadel and Relays), indoctrination and how the Prothean Empire fell. Having a Prothean and his OP ability was an incredible boon. All it took was one touch for him to show them convincing proof: his life experience. There was almost no need to bring up my handy-dandy datapad with the lite version of the information.

And I wasn't worried about the bodyguards' ability to keep secrets. They were extremely loyal and accomplished spies, saboteurs and assassins, exactly the kind of force we'd need in the Terminus, to take it over more efficiently – and more sneakily. Plus, Javik easily persuaded the hanar leader to give us an oath of secrecy.

"We'll need to work in the 'dark' for a few more years, especially when dealing with sleeper agents.", I emphasized to them.

"Ugh, you and your sneaking around. As a soldier, I feel useless.", Javik complained.

"You know as well as I do that you can't be seeing for now. That would only give us trouble, with no tactical advantage whatsoever.", I reminded him and turned around to face Kahje's leader, who looked a little dimmer. "Ok, we've already talked enough about dreadful and depressing topics, how about we switch it up a bit and talk about nice things?".

"Forgive this one. It is still recovering from the Enkindler's revelations, but it hopes that its guests will have a happy surprise to speak.", the hanar replied, glowing a bit brighter.

"This place is very close to the Terminus. Even your first colony, First Land, is in the Relic System of the Eagle Nebula, just one Mass Relay away from Omega.", I began by mentioning those seemingly unrelated facts. This was something I'd learned only after coming here, since it was never stated in the OT. We only had one other hint about it: the fact that there's a shipping lane between Kahje and Illium. But it was amazing how well it all worked out in our favor. "That said, what do the hanar think about finally securing those colonies, more so the problematic Rough Tide? And what about getting some new colonies for themselves, and their drell allies of course, in the region…?".

One week later, the hanar ambassador by the Face Name of Zymandis (and Soul Name of Regards the Works of the Enkindlers in Despair), was recalled from his "Special Research Assignment" to the hanar homeworld, where he vanished soon after. No one was able to figure out where the former ambassador, as well as a certain number of hanar officials in high places, disappeared to.

Publicly, the Illuminated Primacy started giving mercenary work and bounties for the Hell's Angels PMC, some of which would even let them cross paths with batarian slavers preying on hanar colonies. However, in secret, both began interlocking their resources, especially the drell and the intelligence branch of the Network, with no one the wiser…

---

Deep within the Citadel. Mid 2173 CE.

In a luxurious room, three individuals sat around a table while looking at their individual datapads. These included reports, personal files and a bit of information about everything going around in the galactic community.

"How are they ramping up production!?", the turian Council, Sparatus, shouted a question while looking at his datapad. "I thought we had enticed many not to join that company. And then they wouldn't be able to reach their contracts' quotas!".

"It's the quarians. Evidently, we've been played for fools.", the salarian Councilor, Valern, concluded. "We thought the Thanix series was an invention of individual quarians. That's what they led us to believe. But it seems the Migrant Fleet had already been working with Ad Astra from the start. They won't run out of supply anytime soon.".

"Not if we have something to say about that…", the turian said with a low voice, hints of malice between the lines.

"Sparatus, you're not implying we do something behind the scenes…", Tevos, the asari Councilor, asked in a careful tone, unsure if they needed to make a move.

"What else should we do? Nothing?", he shot back with a scowl. "As it stands, the humans will pacify the Traverse utterly unopposed, then take it for themselves. Unless they can somehow stumble upon those cannons on their own or get some to reverse-engineer, the batarians will lose the proxy war we've driven them into, against the Alliance.".

"You can't possibly be suggesting that we let the Hegemony's 'deniable assets' get a hold of those weapons!", Tevos showed the limits of her tolerance of the batarians' activities.

"No, of course not! You already know many within the Hierarchy would have already dealt with them had this Council not protected the batarians'... ways.", he shook his head slightly in exasperation. "Valern, does the STG have some scheme to deal with this?".

"I have some ideas on how to respond to this issue, but this is not what I'm worried about at the moment.", Valern shifted the topic abruptly, a fact not missed by the other two. "This other one was caused by yet another business enterprise of that corporation: one that's been popularly referred to as the 'Retro Media' company.".

"I don't see how that matters to us. What did they do that got you worried about?", Tevos asked with a frown while looking at her datapad.

"They're responsible for a massive influx of old human vids, music and games on the entertainment media market.", Valern explained. "The baffling fact is that none of them are less than 150 years old, yet many are far more successful at drawing crowds than even the most popular entertainment currently produced by any other races. In fact, the krogan are consuming and liking their products more than they did human sports. And all of this success also surpasses the asari focused issues of Fornax – which, by the way, is also of human origin.".

"Of course, the humans just had to have something to do with it too! They've been nothing but a pushy, upstart race since the spirits-damned day we met them.", Sparatus didn't miss the chance to complain. "Didn't we censure most of their entertainment media, only allowing vids that wouldn't elicit much sympathy in their favor?".

"Yes. And we still do. It's just that we thought those old vids, from even before they grew into a spacefaring species, could only be insignificant or detrimental to their image, so we let them spread freely.", Valern admitted his fault in it. "As you'll see on the report sent right now, that was a mistake. My mistake, to be precise.".

Tevos and Sparatus were surprised by how forthcoming their colleague had been. It wasn't a common sight during these meetings, since each of them would always try to hide their unfavorable circumstances from the others. As such, they immediately began reading the report, all to understand what had the salarian worried.

"I can see they are becoming increasingly successful…", Spatarus said after skimming the first part of the report. "Is that part of the problem?".

"True, but this isn't where it really gets complicated.", Valern mentioned. "I have received reports indicating that sympathy and positive feelings towards humanity are steadily rising across all races, especially the lesser ones. The public is watching their vids, hearing their music and playing their games, and they are starting to side with them over issues such as the 'First Contact War' at the human colony of Shanxi, territorial disputes in the Traverse and nearly every other socio-political point that the humans are a part of. As long as they have valid reasons of course.".

"What!? How could those old things create such a sympathetic view of humans in such a short time? They are just primitive media!", Sparatus cried out in disbelief.

"Apparently, very easily.", Valern responded almost in jest. "Ultimately, the media industry has long sought ways to effectively invoke reaction in their audience. Fleet and Flotilla, for instance, was supposed to be a way to inspire positive emotions in quarians. However, our own media industry has rarely achieved such high results as humans have been able to achieve, except through debate and the discussion of facts. And here's the tricky part: the whole issue of 'turian aggression' over Shanxi has been re-evaluated by some salarian sociologists to coincide with similarities between human media depictions of negative first contact scenarios. I've also forwarded a copy of this report to each of you.".

"Turian intervention was justified. The humans were breaking Council Law by opening the Relay 314. The Council at the time agreed!", Sparatus retorted, almost shouting. He didn't even bother to read the second report.

"Sparatus, we both know this was merely the flimsy legal justification that the Hierarchy used in order to get a new 'client' race for themselves, just like you always did, and the 'official' story we spread to the ignorant masses.", Valern spoke with his Signature Look of Superiority, not mincing words in the least. "All of us here know it. The Alliance was neither aware of nor signatory to the Rachni Decree, so there was no justification to initiate First Contact with violence, especially not to invade their territory as retaliation, which is why we have to spread a lot of misinformation about human aggressiveness to this day. I'm not the general populace, Sparatus. You do not need to hide behind those lies.".

Tevos gaped at what she was witnessing. Valern never fought against Sparatus on issues regarding humanity. And, while he had not been on the Council at the time, he had always been in favor of keeping the humans in check, especially their rapid expansion throughout the galaxy.

"Fine! I admit that we screwed up. Unlike the other times, the turian responsible was too brazen about acquiring a new client for the Hierarchy.", the turian confessed. "But we were very quick to put a stop to it, myself included, and let the Hegemony do the dirty work. You always agreed with the plan to let the batarians hurt the humans in the Traverse, so they'd come to us and we could make the Alliance a client of the Citadel…".

"You know, the things those batarian slavers and pirates do is… Sometimes, I think this is the reason our predecessors never put an end to the Batarian Hegemony. They are… an effective persuasion tool to make a new race willingly come to our arms.", Tevos had a sudden realization, though it was a short-lived epiphany, as Sparatus recalled something recent.

"And that plan seemed to be promising, until Hell's Angels, the Thanix weaponry and those damned chaotic conflicts on the Terminus happened.", Sparatus almost sputtered. "Now, the humans are set to expand almost unchecked.".

"Yes, but let's return to the Relay 314 case for now.", Valern switched topics before his colleague's rage got the better of him. "In human media over the last 250 years, across all mediums, there have been dozens of portrayals of first contact situations with other races and humans originated from Earth. Note that I distinguish humans from Earth and humans from other planets. If we aren't dealing with earthlings, then they are depicted as very well integrated into a multi-race society. In media where Earth-origin humans were the ones involved, more than half of the first contact scenarios ended with violence against them, up to the entire extinction of all humankind.".

"Trust a species as paranoid as the humans to think that all first contact situations with aliens would involve violence.", Sparatus derided.

"It's not just paranoia if it actually came true.", Valern snapped back. He looked up and said: "Then it might be considered almost prophetic.".

Cold realization finally settled on Tevos' mind as she heard that: "So, the lesser races are catching on to the fact that, when the humans met the turians and their first ships were destroyed even before any communication was attempted…".

"Their minds would have immediately put them into an aggressive state of being, thinking that there was a very real possibility that their species was going to be exterminated.", the salarian finished. "And this was exacerbated by the subsequent invasion of Shanxi by the turian navy, who did a very, very poor job at being quiet about it.". He then shot a derisive look of his own towards Sparatus.

"But now you've just explained why it was hard keeping things quiet: they fought back fiercely.", defended Sparatus. "Due to the way they reacted, there was no way other than a full military mobilization. And those are hardly unnoticeable.".

"It doesn't matter anymore.", Valern lazily dismissed this with a wave. "What matters is realizing that, back then, humans may well have thought that their worst nightmares were coming true and the continued social aggression aimed at them by this Council and other subsidiary governments have shown them nothing to prevent any negative opinion forming against Citadel Society. It's why groups such as Cerberus exist.".

Valern took a breath, letting his words settle in his colleague's minds, and continued: "The conclusion drawn from the reports was that the Alliance may well have only signed on to become part of the Citadel due to their fear that, if they hadn't, the turians would've been given authorization to continue their invasion into human space.".

"You know we really couldn't continue doing that! The rest of the lesser races caught on to what we were doing.", Sparatus objected.

"Yes, but the Systems Alliance couldn't have possibly known that. They had no assurances otherwise.", Valern quickly refuted. "Centuries of mental conditioning through the media had made such actions a plausible possibility. And, ever since they have joined, they have been looked upon unfavorably not only by this Council, but our governments individually. Only the elcor, hanar and drell could be said to have impartial dealings with them, with the quarians and krogan never having established any real contact at all. Plus, they are sworn enemies with the batarians, not in small part because of us. And all of that is reflected in the actions made by us in all decisions regarding the Alliance.".

Even though the humans had been given an embassy early as compensation for Shanxi, the Council really had been more than willing to hold off on giving them some "benefits" that would normally have been given. The whole David Anderson Spectre candidacy issue was one such case. The three of them knew that Saren was a big human-hater and easily prone to killing innocent civilians, usually in the most destructive/sadistic way possible, but still chose to side with him, with no further investigation being done.

"So, now that the public is looking more favorably towards humans, what happens if the lesser races start asking questions about the decisions this Council has made regarding the Alliance? When they notice that we are being prejudiced against humans?", Valern had as explained to them. "Do they just let it go? Many would, surely, but not all of them. And almost all would lose faith in the decisions that this Council reaches. They might look for ways to work around us, since we would not be seen as the body of justice we proclaim to be, but as a biased group looking out to settle petty grudges any way we can.".

"Petty grudges?", Sparatus flared up in outrage. "You call the lives of hundreds of turians lost over the Relay 314 Incident 'petty'?".

"Stop trying to twist my words here.", Valern raised his voice. "Especially when you know that many more humans would have been killed if the Hierarchy didn't need to interrogate information out of the species they suddenly waged war against. After all, you don't accept the basic concepts of surrender and civilian non-combatants. Your attempts to undermine every human grievance is indeed petty and reflects poorly on this Council.".

Tevos and Sparatus finally realized what their colleague was getting at. Valern didn't care about disadvantaging the humans. His sole concern was how the Council might undermine themselves by acting out inappropriately, just like during the Relay 314 "incident". Save for when they had to put an end to the turian invasion, that had never mattered. The "Big Three" could do as they wished with a species and no one would even bat an eye. Case in point: the exile of the quarians. But, with this increasing popularity of humanity and their cultural history, things were starting to become different. So, Valern was trying to pre-empt any negative image.

"Valern is right. Your attempts to demean humans at every opportunity are small minded and, at the very least, undermine the position of a Councilor.", Tevos stated after turning towards the turian. She'd realized it faster than him, a feat no doubt attributed to her long career of dealing with her fellow asari politicking. "If such actions as you have repeatedly taken do make it to the greater public, and not just humans, questions whether or not they can turn to this Council for mediation and deliberation might start spreading. Do you want that to happen, Sparatus, just so you can still take your personal joys of belittling them?".

Sparatus sat rigidly in his chair, his mandible clenched tightly, and he looked as if he would stubbornly go against Tevos and Valern. However, after a short moment of contemplation, he finally wilted, letting out a long sigh.

"I never thought the day would come once again when this Council would have to pander to the humans.", he said dejectedly. "Giving them an embassy was enough already. They should have waited decades before they earned even that.".

"I never said you had to pander to them.", Valern said with a smile, his voice now much calmer. "Just be as unbiased against them as you would be to the other lesser races. If the humans are to be denied, then an actual, proper reason needs to be given, not the rather flimsy excuses that you have been using.".

"But there's another thing.", Tevos added.

"What is it this time?", Sparatus asked in an annoyed tone.

"You'll have to actually start paying those reparations we've agreed on.", Tevos said, then she remembered the fact the turians were very uninterested in paying. "And that includes the interest accumulated over this time.".

Sparatus looked at her dead in the eyes, but just clenched his mandibles in a low growl, in acceptance of the situation. Tevos wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she found a bit of joy in this after the asari had their own incident at the humans' hands. As a result of VersaLife's debut, the Republics' extranet had halted for almost half a day, because of a flood of cat memes and equivalent things, one of which was firmly stuck in her mind: a begging kitten with the subtitle 'I can haz pets/scritches?'. She wanted to ban whoever made that, but it just looked so damned cute!

"We seem to be spending a lot of time talking about humans today.", Sparatus grumbled in realization. "And it might continue, since one thing that has recently come to my attention might have something to do with them too.".

"Sparatus, you're talking about the next item for this meeting, right?", Valern asked.

"Yes. And it is a strange one.", Sparatus sighed once again. "I received requests from the Vol Protectorate. They are seeking aid to increase their military.".

"Very Curious…", Valern muttered, looking at the report sent to them. "Is this accurate?".

"No doubt. That's actually what they sent me.", Sparatus confirmed. "This will more than double their current military capacity.".

The volus had always been complacent when it came to military matters, being willing to rely on the turians for their defense with only a token bombing fleet for whatever protection their scouting parties would require. Their entire "Protectorate Navy" was smaller than a single turian fleet. However, they were looking at an extreme upgrade in military capability all of a sudden.

"Am I reading this right? They wish to have two retired dreadnoughts for retrofitting, or a brand new one?", Tevos frowned as she read further.

"That was in the request, yes.", the turian nodded.

"How are the Primarchs taking it? Not well, I suppose…", Valern inquired.

"Our talons are mostly tied behind our back. The way they went about it made sure of it.", he recounted for them. "Their ambassador somehow convinced the Protectorate it would be a 'better return for investment'. Then, they got into contact with the Alliance and made some sort of deal, I'm not sure what about. When the proposal finally reached us, it already had the majority of their leaders behind it, so we couldn't just persuade them to drop the idea. It's not like we can really say 'NO!' at this point.".

"But what's the response?", Tevos inquired.

"It's mixed as far as I can tell.", Sparatus grumbled. "Some don't want them to slip away from our control while others are happy, yet still cautious. If the volus build their forces up well enough, then we can spare some of our troops that would normally be used to patrol their space. Also, we can move those ships to the border systems. The Terminus's chaos might escalate into real wars. Maybe some desperate criminal elements will be daring enough to target our warships, for their Thanix Cannons, to get an advantage, and then we'll need those reinforcements.".

The turian's rage came back at the memory of how they, the de facto rulers of the galaxy, got outplayed and downright blackmailed by those humans, who got a free pass to sell and use military weaponry.

"Speaking of the Terminus, the hanar have shown some unusual interest in what is going on there. Even sending their drell specialists.", Tevos noticed it and brought up something else, trying to calm down her colleague. "And they have finally stopped bothering us constantly about getting a Council Seat.".

"Valern, does the STG know anything else about this?", Sparatus asked their info broker.

"Unfortunately, we weren't able to piece together any other clue.", Valern responded in an annoyed tone. "The STG also found some signs of movement from the Illuminated Primacy and its drell, but made no real discoveries, given the isolationist nature of the hanar.".

Unbeknownst to him, the only ones who could give the salarians the answers they wanted were the worst warlords, pirate and slaver leaders, and general evil power brokers of the Terminus. However, they had to be alive first to tell them anything, not having met their end at the hands of those very same drell specialists…

"First the volus started making moves towards their independence and now the hanar are stopping to bother us about a Seat on the Council.", Sparatus slowly said in an eerie tone that would make a conspiracy theorist proud. "Do you think those changes have something to do with the humans?".

"Not everything that happens in the galaxy is their doing, Sparatus. Perhaps you're getting too paranoid.", Valern quickly dismissed that claim.

"I still think we should do something about that corporation, at least as punishment for the Spectre we've lost.", the turian insisted. "Especially after we've already lost another one to the Blood Pack.".

"Like I've said, I have some ideas on how to respond.", Valern plotted, while also trying to use his office for a small bit of revenge. "Now that we know their actual capabilities, we could send a Spectre and a STG team to hire other PMCs, like the Blood Pack or even the growing Eclipse, use them against the corporation and trick them into conflict with each other. At the same time, we can hit some of their shipments and use that as an excuse to levy sanctions at the corporation, for letting those fall in the hands of criminals.".

The other two didn't know, but he was hiding the fact he suspected both Spectres had died at the hands of Hell's Angels, since he specifically sent his man to covertly "investigate" their tech into the hands of the Union. It wouldn't be the first time they'd tried to do something like that. Valern didn't know but, in the future, the salarians quietly stole the work done by humans and turians, the Normandy's stealth systems as well as its Tantalus core, to build stealth Dreadnoughts in secret.

"But what about that damned PMC?", Sparatus reminded him of the true obstacle. "They're small in numbers, but might still get in the way.".

"That PMC can only buy or take ships from others. They don't have the industrial base or logistics to become a threat, Sparatus. We just have to target the source of their credits.", Tevos, who liked to have the last word, dismissed the idea. "Besides, we allowed them to use military grade weapons, but only as long as they didn't go over certain lines, such as using antimatter in their ships or getting anything beyond a Cruiser. Like this, they'll always lag behind…".

They then ironed out the details as the meeting went on.

However, on the other side of the galaxy…

---

Somewhere deep within the Terminus Systems. Mid-to-late 2173 CE.

His name was Hephaestus.

It was not a name chosen due to ego or as a promise, but because of his love for forging dead matter into incredible works and wonders.

He arrived at this remote System with just a freighter, a drone swarm, a few resources to get started, including some rare metals, and three Wormhole devices: two big gates and a commlink. But there was something else inside of his starship: a Fabrication Engine, the first generation. It'd been developed after fusing the best of Omni-Fabrication Technology, Prothean nanotechnology and The Enemy nanites' ability to work at the molecular level, shaping matter almost freely. With these tools, he began his mission.

First order of business was finding a location to hide one of the big gates, the same one he had used to reach this deep into the region. It was such a simple solution. By traveling at normal FTL, then opening a W-Gate and going back through it, one could discharge the built up static, then return. Rinse and repeat. After scanning for a while, Hephaestus found an asteroid in the Systems' belt that fit his needs, turning much of its resources into a very concealed base, one powered by E-Reactors, which would connect to another W-Gate 30 light-years away after receiving the proper codes – with no gravity waves emission.

This site was hidden from ship scans with stealth technology that was not one bit inferior to the black ops base on that asteroid called "Quiet Eddy", which was detectable only through eyesight and sensors properly calibrated along the thermal spectrum. Now that getting in and out was settled, he focused on the real objectives.

Mother's Godfather had tasked him with an important job: building their new Headquarters and main industrial base. As such, he came to this System. It had everything he needed. A Star a little bit bigger than the Sun, Gas Giants, many planetoids, a nice Oort Cloud, a big asteroid belt and, lastly, something else: absolutely no Garden Worlds. This was a place filled with all sorts of common, uncommon and rare materials, and one he could take apart with no worries.

Hephaestus first looked for a many kilometer big asteroid, one filled with the initial metals he needed, and plopped down his Fabrication Engine, ordering the mining-drones to start their job. With the first resources gathered, he did the logical thing: built another Engine. It waited for the next batch of resources and then built new mining-mechs, which were based on hanar robo-miners. Then, the drones were stored on the ship.

The mining-mechs gathered even more resources for the Fabricators, which, in turn, made more mechs, then more of themselves. Using his vast computational power, he controlled this new growing swarm as extensions of himself. Scanning, mining, "smelting", refining; it had everything one needed. Noticing that E-Reactors' energy production would eventually not meet demand, he pulled up the best designs available for solar panels and had then queued up for building, solving that issue too.

Suddenly, an impulse filled his cores. It was one to test different ways of mining and find the most efficient one: from the quarian's way to even a few old human theorized methods. Immediately, he packaged the idea and sent it as a tightbeam laser through the W-comms, knowing it would take some time for the response to arrive. And it did in the form of a huge package of mining methods, one of which was to use giant mirrors to focus sunlight and heat up asteroid rock, to boil out its gasses, ginders to break up the dried rock into gravel and dust, and centrifuges to separate dense elements from light ones. Thus, testing began on it and he'd use the results to improve his operation.

After some time, most of which was spent testing and some going over the entertainment stored in his database, Hephaestus decided to set up a customized VI to manage the Von Neumanns, then left to scan this System more precisely and to locate other rich asteroids. Upon returning, he quickly noticed that one testing site was replicating uncontrollably due to a coding flaw, one he quickly patched. His experiences so far were being turned into a Self-Replicating Mining SkillPack and then beamed using a small Wormhole to the HQ, where it was uploaded into a code hosting platform, for all others to download, compile and send patches to. Just like with everything else made by the Creators.

Some more time passed. With a respectful army of miners at the ready and a much better mining strategy, he took batches of them to seed other rich asteroids, each with its own Fabrication Engine, where the process would be repeated. To prevent a future shortage of fuel, he also used some materials to build a helium-3 collection and refueling station on the closest Gas Giant, then linked it with the last W-Gate on his ship.

Now with an ever-growing supply of materials, he set out to complete the main objective: building the new Headquarters. It would be massive; a moving fortress amongst the Stars and a Heaven outside of Heaven. Thus, Hephaestus looked for an appropriate asteroid, one to hollow out completely. Finding the perfect one, he went around the Systems getting the materials to build thrusters on it and, with a big enough W-Gate, move it closer to the Star. So, he asked for more Element Zero, all in order to build more Wormhole-Drones and turn those into new W-Gates.

This only came a day later, from the initial base he set up, by freighter. The substance had been bought with the credits earned recently. Materials and substances such as this would be brought from a few "fake" fuel depots, at least until they became self-sufficient. In a way, it was a method of hiding in plain sight, since no one would question the coming and going of ships in such places – and neither would anyone notice that their cargo had been reduced during the trip.

Now equipped with enough eezo to continue, he created a massive Wormhole connection between the chosen asteroid and its new location in the System, close enough to the Star to use its energy, and sent it there. Shortly after, he set up many W-Gates from the biggest asteroids around to the one where the HQ would be, what was the central point of manufacturing right now. The delivery of materials was done by "space elevators" and tightbeam communications meant Hephaestus had total control over every single mining operation going around the entire Star System. It composed a massive, integrated queue of construction, all of it automated and/or under his command.

Then, Hephaestus really started to get wild: bigger Fabrication Engines and bigger mining machinery; larger solar panels and satellites, specialized manufacturing and construction mechs; more self-replicating mining operations and so on. He even transferred his bluebox and computational units to the main asteroid, using the freighter as a convenient transport, at least temporarily. At some point, he began experimenting with particle accelerators for the synthesizing of Element Zero, dusting up an unfinished blueprint made to replicate the conditions for the creation of the substance, a Supernova.

This would require even more eezo to start. Calculating his stores of it and how much the accelerator could theoretically produce, he found that it'd take too long for the production to match their needs, even while not using the substance, which would also hamper future plans. What they had was simply not enough. But it could be solved just by having a huge starting amount. Therefore, his analysis was sent through the W-comms and he knew for certain a plan would be made to solve this.

Leaving aside the issue of the eezo particle accelerators, Hephaestus switched his focus back to the HQ and began building the skeleton of the structure with some of the best ideas of active support systems. With the skeleton of the HQ almost ready and work starting on a shipyard, merely one of many, he started filling the structure with its required facilities while thinking ahead. This place would soon be populated by the Creators and their allies.

However, they would eventually need stations to house many sentients, a lot more than their current numbers, so he went over his available blueprints, their needs and, finally, his capabilities, choosing an old concept. It was named "Island Three" and there were already a few improvements he could make given his more advanced technology. Once completed and revealed, these would shock anyone from the galactic community.

Eventually, he found this setup, one that would stupefy the rest of the galaxy, was not enough for his aspirations, so he turned his focus towards the System's Star. It was a massive furnace of matter, a nuclear reactor with almost no equal in the Universe and filled with all sorts of materials. On impulse, he sent his brother Helios, who was obsessed with these celestial bodies, his desire of Lifting a Star itself and Forging with it.

Why? Because his name was Hephaestus.

And he loved forging dead matter into incredible works and wonders!

---

[Kingsman: The Secret Service]

Hanar Vid Reviews

This one shares its joy on the wisdom shown by these humans: manners do maketh the individual. It is surprised that there is a subculture within humanity, the British it thinks, who understands the importance of always keeping proper conduct. Also, it shows that one does not need to lose their politeness whilst striking behinds, just like Blasto.

Krogan Vid Reviews

The humans really know how to have a good scrap. You don't even need super powerful guns to have fun, just get phisical and raw, even if some of the plot is crazy. I mean, some kind of wave signal that can control people's brains? If something like were possible, the salarians would have done it already. Dunno, it sounds like nonsense to me. But don't get me wrong, it's the fun kind, or we wouldn't get that church scene… By Shiagur's clutch, that part gave me the biggest mind orgasm ever.

I did not expect this vid to be as good as it was. Go watch it already!

[Halo: The Master Chief Collection]

Salarian Game Reviews

Ah, this one made me feel like taking control of this force of nature called Master Chief and experiencing an amazing Universe, filled with all kinds of wonders, especially the Halo. It makes the Citadel look really tiny in comparison, as do many other things here really.

Then halfway through the game, it suddenly hit me how the humans must have felt like during the Relay 314 Incident. To them, the invading turians, and even the rest of Citadel species, must've looked like the Covenant. I mean, we even have 3 leaders, just like the Prophets (and they don't belong to all races, just saying…). Besides, our use of Prothean caches of tech isn't that much different than the Covenants' reliance on Forerunner tech. Some, like the hanar, even worship the Protheans!

Not that it made me dislike these games or anything. They're very cool and you should check them out. This was just something I found interesting, which was why I showed it to a sociologist friend of mine. We've also been thinking about the republisher's comment about how just using technology left behind by others might have affected our cultural development. And if it was negative in some way.

Turian Game Reviews

This was actually quite a solid experience. Taking on the role of a human supersoldier to fight against genocidal aliens was certainly an unique journey. There's so much here: impossible to exist megastructures, galaxy ending threats, plasma weapons, friendly AI, and even a different type of FTL, Slipspace. If anything, humans are really good at coming up with these, how do they say it, out of box ideas! Still, I can't shake off the feeling I was exactly in their boots, during the Relay 314 Incident, I mean. It's scary how it all fits. Just mentioning it.

But there's something I can't get off my mind: if the plasma swords and hammers are so advanced, supposedly, how come they run out of ammo? And why is the pistol one of the best weapons?

Asari Game Reviews

After yet another disastrous first contact, where the aliens just really want to wipe humanity off the face of the galaxy, humans are under attack once again. Just like much of their old media, AI is literally everywhere in human society but the biggest and true threat is still aliens. Still, I'm not sure how to feel about Cortana. She's so nice, helpful and beautifully… blue. You know what, she didn't deserve what they did to her in Halo 4. If all AI were like her, then maybe we should reconsider AI ban laws… just a tiny bit, maybe? Also, it seems this series started a popular human custom in gaming, something about bagging teas.

And I fell in love with yet another type of human music. Apparently, it's called a gregorian chant. Trust me, it can soothe your soul. It's worth it to get this game just for that alone.

[XCOM]

Salarian Game Reviews

Yeah, yeah, I know. Humans are facing an alien existential threat… again! Even in the face of the end, you still have to beg for funding from your governments or make do with what you have. Some of the enemies make the rachni look cute. This is all fun, but listen to me: there's something very wrong with these percentagens. I did the math, ok? AND IT DOESN'T CHECK OUT! XCOM… more like X COME ON, how did I miss that!? I mean, my guys miss more 90%+ shots than 50/50 ones.

So I took all the data I had and created a formula to calculate the probabilities. It uses Firing rate, the units of distance, cover modifier and known enemies, then divides them by Times missed, hit chance, a impossible shit constant and skill effects, ending with the formula: [F⋅u⋅c⋅k/T⋅h⋅i⋅s=1]. Hope the translator didn't mess it up for you, because using it tells me I'm right! I know this one quarian... I think that, after getting him addicted to this, maybe I can get him to hack the code and fix it for me. It's either that or save/reload constantly.

Don't pretend you don't do it too.

I won't tell anyone if you don't.

[Minecraft]

Salarian Game Reviews

I tried this game on a whim. It was a weird one, with no mission, no end of the galaxy plot, just… you and this randomly generated world of blocks. My first night was a nightmare of zombies, skeletons and other horrors, which killed me. Then, to escape the night, I built a dirt house. It wasn't much, but it was home. The next day, I had iron tools and a growing farm. Mining might sound boring, but doing it while listening to the soothing music was, in a way, almost therapeutic. One day, I found out that there's an actual end boss.

Anyway, I kept coming back to play this game, on and off… one thing led to another and now I have fully automatic farms for most items in the game and am watching ancient human tutorial vids on how to create a computer with redstone, to power the Empire I've built block by block.

Worth it!

---

Author's Notes: Finally complete! This one took more than I thought it would. It's actually two chapters mixed into one – taking bits and pieces, reshuffling them and writing new stuff. You guys kept asking for some things, so this happened. By the way, I read all the Reviews. This includes all your questions, suggestions and what you ask for. So, keep it in mind when something doesn't happen in the next Chapter. It could be planned for the future, or doesn't fit into the story after some consideration. Let's go over the Chapter now…

So, The Avatar of Trolling has been dug up, recruited and already showed his value. Someone once commented to me that the MC manages to recruit some people rather easily. Well, now he has a much easier - and traumatic - way to do it! By the way, the part about using time dilation to "travel to the future" is actual science. Just look up the effects of gravity and/or of speeds closer to light ("c") on the passage of time.

Why are biotics so rare within humanity? If you stop to think about it, that doesn't make much sense. After the First Contact War, humanity knew it was possible for an entire species to be biotic (asari), just like the creatures of the planet Eigana, who have a tendency to develop biotic powers. And they even came up with a drug, red sand, that can "temporarily" give someone biotic powers. Therefore, it's crazy how the Alliance didn't study that drug and, say, turned it into some kind of serum to give their marines temporary powers (and, if you're gonna headcanon ethical quandaries... why they didn't try to develop such things to be permanent, minus any neural scarring). No, instead of that, biotics (or psychics, as they would be seen by human culture) are ostricized and feared, rather than be seen as people with superpowers, as they would be today.

Therefore, once again, we set ourselves apart just by daring to think and do what others can't or won't. And the method I've shown here has much, MUCH less ethical quandaries than exposing pregnant women and their babies to eezo. This is current tech, something created by neuroscientists to study how the human brain develops, from basic cells to some neurological pathways. With the right combinations of proteins and such, you can make cells multiply in the way you want (in our case, as neurons). This isn't sci-fi or mad science.

By the way, here's another song relevant to the topic that I highly recommend: Evo-Devo (Despacito Biology Parody) | A Capella Science (watch?v=ydqReeTV_vk).

So, you'd still get to run tests like they had been done on "live subjects", but with pretty much no moral issues attached (like I said, it's no different from testing with rats, or varren, as Mordin insinuates they do in the MEU). It'd all come down to genetic manipulation. And, even without our nanites, the Alliance still had something unique in their arsenal. They had this magical thing called Medi-gel, which was supposed to be able to repair cells. Therefore, take brain organoids, add in modified Medi-gel "biological" nanides to deal with the fallout, then try to bond them with eezo. Even with a brute force approach, you'd at least learn something. And way more than blowing up ship for dust-form eezo to scatter over colonies, like Jack "Best Advocate of Humanity" Harper did. On another note, Randall Ezno is also living proof within the Mass Effect lore that biotics can be acquired through implants. Personally, I think the writers made biotics so rare and special so the players would also feel special. Moving on...

The hanar leader wasn't named because Bioware hadn't bothered to do so and I don't like creating throwaway OCs. On another note, the names of many things of this fic, like that binary asiri colony mentioned, are all lore. Just google them. As for the three stooges...

I'm trying to write the Council as half-competent and half-evil. They're not bumbling idiots, otherwise one might even wonder they got the job in the first place, but neither are they over competent; they aren't the "good guys", but neither are they comically evil. To me, it's a compromise with the mess the writers gave us.

Lastly, there's the Hephaestus part. This is an entirely new idea that sprung from my mind recently. In the end, I kinda rushed its writing just to try to show how insane the formula of Superintelligent DS+Wormholes+Fabrication Engines+Our Support+Automation can be. By the end, he was on his way to turning the entire System into his Forge. The only limit is how much eezo one has for the Wormholes, but that was something he was trying to remedy too with the particle accelerators... And let me point something else: this was just one DS, who can turn the entire experience/knowledge into a SkillPack and give to other DSs. Just think about what that means for a second.

…

Questions for my readers:

1) Do you guys read the Chapter with the music I sometimes recommend? Because there's some scenes coming up in the future that were made with OSTs in mind, so listening to them might make the scene 10x better.

2) What kind of media, ours to be precise, do you guys think the Elcor would enjoy?

3) Any ideas for music Reviews?

4) Any Anime that would fit in with the themes of this Chapter? Because I couldn't find any of those that I've watched "match" this one.

…

When is the next Chapter coming? When it's ready.