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.

List of track(s) used (you can copy+paste them in your PC by temporarily switching to the mobile version):

[1] –) Recommended track: The Hobbit - Lord of the Rings Sound of The Shire - 1hour (part of the YT link: /watch?v=ue0vS0WR31I).

Chapter 16: A Sweet Note's Taste

In the Headquarters' Star System, renamed Arcadia. Early 2178 CE.

At this moment, I was hanging on a narrow ledge between life and death. That's because I was really, really hungry. After all, just like any other life-form, regardless of makeup, I required energy to do work; to create change; to be alive.

[1]

Using an analogy, being alive is like being a slinky that's falling down an escalator which is moving upwards endlessly. While the slinky's fall represents the energy keeping one alive, the escalator is the Universe's physical laws, always trying to make life stop. If it reaches the top of the Universe's escalator, even for just a few minutes, that's it. End of the Line.

From a nihilist's point of view, it could be said that to be alive is to be in motion, but never arriving anywhere. Fortunately, I was arriving at the best restaurant of this place – a space habitat we'd recently finished constructing – to sate my hunger and climb that ledge, if only for today.

While walking along the path, I couldn't help but marvel at the beautiful layout of this place, which was heavily inspired by arcology designs. Moreover, I could breathe in the fresh air of nature and, just by looking up a bit, also see a lush forest. Green and golden fields dotted the landscape as well. Still, due to how sparsely populated this space habitat still was, my impression of it was closer to a nature preserve. For now.

But those whimsical thoughts came to an abrupt halt, as I'd reached the entrance, only to face down its stalwart guard, Max. He was a Labrador Retriever and one of the first batch of puppers cloned by VersaLife. But, to me, he was also something else…

"Who's a good boy?", I asked with a big smile as he got up and approached me, wagging his tail excitedly. "It's you, Max. Yes, you are!".

While I was giving him the scritches, he kept trying to show affection in the most common way dogs do, which resulted in the biggest challenge I'd faced so far this year: preventing him from licking my face. I didn't mind it at all. In fact, I appreciated it wholeheartedly, since these moments of relaxation were becoming quite rare. This one was earned only after the Hegemony-backed criminals suffered that major blow on Torfan. I guessed they were still reeling from it – and probably rethinking their life somewhere.

Anyway, after defeating my destination's staunch guard with all of the scritches, I went inside at last. This particular restaurant was the self-service kind and had a bit of everything from all over the galaxy. The interior was beautifully decorated with a marble floor, comfortable leather seats, smooth wood tables and bits of nature sprinkled everywhere. I often came to this place because, at least to me, its Chef cooked the best dishes. So, after washing my hands, I took a food tray and browsed its rich selection…

As one would expect, there was the usual variety of fruits and salads, rice, beans, beef… And, of course, I couldn't forget the Mammoth steaks, Saber Tooth filets and dino servings, such as kentucky-fried Velociraptor. Because of course we had that! It was simply a matter of cloning and/or synthesizing the meat, technology VersaLife always invested heavily into, due to my influence.

After all, meat is mostly proteins, one of the basic building blocks of life, even though it has some fats and a negligible amount of carbohydrates as well, two other basic blocks. Plants all have those three, only in different variations and quantities. Thus, all one needs to do is take a look at the specifics of the meat he/she wants to "create", find some plants close to it and break them apart biochemically or synthesize them in a lab, then use something like a 3D printer to add individual proteins and fats layer by layer – as the meat is built up. That's one way.

A good portion of those plants comes from hydroponics spread around this habitat. Those farms were based on designs used by the quarians on their liveships, but had been further genetically modified for efficiency, taste, yield… Moreover, we also sought to make serums that create their own ideal cocktail of sugars, salts and amino acids in giant bioreactors. All in all, there are different paths to achieve these things.

And those we used were quite ethical, for another way was to clone "livestock". Not clones of baseline animals, but of those with mutations added to their DNA that cause a condition called "microcephaly" (otherwise known as tiny head), resulting in beings with small brains. In some cases, the animal will be born with nothing but a brain-stem (i.e. having no actual cognitive function). Basically, the result of that is cloned cows, pigs, chickens… and so on that are nothing more than living meat in the shape of an animal. No actual living being is killed or suffers.

Furthermore, all of that was completely free for the people living here, this simply being yet another benefit our employees enjoyed, though I intend on making it common for anyone who's associated with us. Ultimately, the goal was to reach what I believed, given the level of scientific advancement, should have been achieved long ago: post-scarcity. To me, that was merely the natural result of proper automation. However, according to asari "futurists", this was something only possible with "cornucopia technology".

Really, for all their technological advancements in many aspects, the people of this galaxy, as I'd learned, were woefully undeveloped in various areas, such as agriculture. Proof of that could be extrapolated from the mere existence of colonies like Eden Prime or Mindoir, which were heavily based and relied on farming. If food scarcity had already been "solved" by technology, then agrarian planets like those would be rare – while the few that cropped up would have a hard time selling its produce to the galaxy.

So, like everything else, we'd set out to fix that. In the future, our supply lines would never lack foodstuffs; our War Machine would never run out of energy.

But all of those were merely copies from what already existed in nature. We also had a few scientists looking into genetically engineering, for instance, trees that grow bacon. Exactly, Bacon Trees! It wasn't… impossible. And that's all those guys needed to know. Some would even say this is what technology should be for!

Nevertheless, even if we could easily "conjure" food – and were quickly moving towards a future where we could "create" any kind of food with "the press of a button" –, cooking was still an art. Which was why places like this restaurant existed.

While those contemplations swam in the back of my mind, I was going over and trying to decide what to get from that rich selection. However, before I could really do so, my playfull superintelligence companion nudged me mentally, asking for a Connection.

Wait, can you get mammoth steaks this time? Gaia asked me. You wouldn't deny this little request from your dear niece, right?

Eh, where did that come from? I inquired, sending her my bewilderment. I thought dino steak, with a side of fried raptor, was your favorite. What changed?

Used to. Until I realized it basically tastes like chicken! She complained and I immediately pictured her pouting in my head. Well, I'd say it pretty much does – at least from the data you send through our connection… Huh? Why are you amused?

Ha! Almost everything tastes like chicken, my dear. I quipped in response. You didn't know about it? We organics learned that one truth a long ago.

From the feedback I was receiving, she wasn't particularly amused by that.

But then our conversation was interrupted by a beep coming from my Omni-tool. Bringing up the device, I found a priority message in my mailbox:

From: LawBringer

Subject: Lingering doubts

I know we've discussed this already, but I can't help but bring it up again. Is it really alright to leave my sister under Cerberus' protection? After discovering a few more things lately, I don't feel safe leaving her protection in the hands of "TIM".

He might even have some sort of understanding with my father!

Ah, that's why it was sent directly to my Omni-tool. It seems her fears were serious enough to use the secure channel I'd given her last year. So, I put down my food tray and sent her a reassuring reply, knowing it'd arrive without much delay, given the presence of a large QB in Atlas' Citadel Branch.

Moreover, my Omni-tool was very opaque, rather than the normal transparent, see-through look that most of them have. This was, in fact, one of the first changes I'd made after being sent here.

And no one would dare take a peek at my conversations.

Citadel, Kithoi Ward, Edroki Plaza. Around the same time.

In a high-class cafeteria, Miranda sat down alone while looking pensively at her Omni-tool. Only the elite and the rich met in this place to socialize, something she had to do from time to time, but she wasn't interested in any of that today.

Ever since that fateful meeting, her views on many things had changed a lot. Surprisingly, learning about the people she worked for, what they were actually like, didn't make her run away from them desperately. In the end, she'd agreed to stay in Cerberus, continue doing what she was doing and climb up the ranks. As it turned out, that wasn't so difficult when one gets results without having entire teams/cells die. And her benefactor had given her a few ideas to "offload" to the clandestine organization, which she could pitch in and use the results as her accomplishments, thereby climbing the ranks faster.

With high enough access/clearance to the organization's structure and important facilities, such as the Minuteman Station, a WORM virus would be set loose on Cerberus' network, quietly and sneakily replicating itself all over it while installing backdoors. It was crafted by an "unshackled" AI (or a DS – Digital Sentience) that was, quite frankly, not at all what she had been expecting. Which was her evaluation after the initial shock, of course, and the subsequent "getting to know each" other part. Getting to know Gaia turned out to be quite the pleasant surprise.

Regardless, when the virus settled down on the network, it'd routinely send back intel and research data to its programmer and Miranda. Ironic, given that so much of what TIM had built was based on stolen technology from the Alliance. However, getting a few snippets of intel from Cerberus made her fears grow once again, which was why she couldn't hold back on sending a message to her benefactor…

"Ma'am, here's your drink.", said the asari waitress, interrupting her thoughts and putting a small cup on the table.

"Thank you.", replied Miranda, swiftly taking a small sip from the glowing drink and slightly closing her eyes in delight. It was quite expensive, but worth the quality.

It didn't take long for her to receive a reply, as the beep coming from her Omni-tool was a testament to that:

From: NihilMomentum

Subject: RE: Lingering doubts

On the contrary. Moving her somewhere else or even merely "securing" her is what might get your sister in danger, as that would alert them.

Trust me, TIM and Henry won't be interested in breaking this status quo that's been set for years already. As things are, she'll be safe.

Besides, should anything still happen…

Well, you must've received intel about Torfan, no?

P.S.: You know what, why are we still using email? Maybe I'll do something about it…

Miranda felt a lot better after reading the response. It made sense logically. Besides, from the files on Torfan's raid that they'd taken from the Alliance, she couldn't picture a scenario where her father's hired goons, or even Cerberus' military division, faced Hell's Angels and came out on top. Thus, Miranda chalked it up to it just being an instance of her letting her emotions get the better of her, scarring herself in the process.

As for his postscript, she couldn't help but think he had a point. Why do we still use email in this age? She asked herself, then wondered if "Mr. Representative" would come up with anything new…

Maybe something like an instant messenger, like one from a chat room?

Back in Arcadia. A few minutes later.

While waiting for Miranda to reply, I finished picking up my food and also an orange juice. Her response came soon after, was quite short and on point, consisting of the closest thing to a "thanks" that she could give and a reassurance of her determination to see our plans through.

With that resolved, I set out to find a place to sit, only to catch sight of a peculiar group, immediately noticing it was made up of employees from all of our Companies. They were talking in somewhat hushed tones; and the presence of a particular human amongst them, one with the disheveled hair to go along with his beard, told me they were also some of our best minds.

Then, I approached them with a smile that was more of a smirk, imagining the surprise I'd give. When I'd finally reached the table, their conversation stopped abruptly, as they all turned to face me.

"You guys wouldn't mind if I joined, right?", I asked calmly, causing them to be even more lost on what to say, considering the lack of response as well as the blank looks present on their faces. "Or is having lunch with the 'Big Boss' just that horrible?".

"No, no, no. That's not it, boss.", said the guy with the messy hair, waving hastily before tapping the chair on his side. "Come, sit with us. It's just… you caught us by surprise, is all. We don't see you quite often these days, sir.".

"Duty calls, Eli. I've been entangled in some rather… aggressive negotiations recently.", I said to him, our top designer of eezo-based weaponry, Eli Wegner, while sitting down. "But it's over for the time being. Besides, I'd say you guys all being together here is the real surprise. Tell me, what are you conspiring?".

"Ah, that. Nothing of the sort, boss.", explained Maelon Heplorn, Mordin's best student and one of our lead geneticists. "We're only trying to figure out the real reason why all the head scientists and engineers were recalled today. And also who authorized it.".

"If you're curious about that, then I'll solve part of the mystery: I did.", I revealed in a casual tone. "I called you guys from your labs to show something special; and top secret for now. As to why… it's because you guys have earned my and Atlas' trust. Shocking, right? That we believe your loyalty should be rewarded with our trust…".

"Shocking? Really boss?", replied Eli Wegner in a very dramatic fashion, if not somewhat eccentric. "For the life of me, I can't imagine why we'd be so loyal, what with the paradise for development you've given us and the literal paradise outside, no?".

"And it's not as if the fate of the galaxy rests on our shoulders or anything.", added Zevin Raeka, a salarian originally groomed to be Dalatrass, who's responsible for the restoration of Erinle's biodiversity and part of the amazing ecological project outside. "Can't imagine a higher calling than that for anyone who wants to protect their home.".

"And please; ignoring the chance to put things right, it's not like the lifespan benefits would ever tempt anyone.", Maelon stated in a forced baffled tone. "I mean, what salarian would wish to trade less than two decades of life doing intensely gratifying scientific research for what's basically biological immortality? And then having to deal with eons of life to look forward to…!".

"Yes, *breath* all those things *breath* while also getting *breath* the recognition *breath* one rightfully deserves *breath* for their contributions?", sharply stated Ora Thubb, a volus that was responsible for many of our medical applications. "Just ask the Hierarchy *breath* what they would think of that!".

"Or the best odds of getting the homeworld back, besides everything else we had already gained…", added a quarian, Senna'Nir, one of our best programmers, with a talent for VIs. "I'd really love to see the expression of those bosh'tet Admirals' faces, who only know how to bicker with each other, if they got to interact with friendly 'AI' like we do everyday…".

"Alright, alright… I get it. Consider me ambushed, overwhelmed and routed.", I said in jest, while playfully raising my hands as if to surrender. "Just trying to say that I appreciate you cheeky bastards. Also, besides showing that we're on the right path, it's meant to prepare yourselves mentally, as you'll probably be working with them in the future.".

I shook my head slowly in faked exasperation, but held a barely noticeable smile of pride. These people had come a long way to reach this point. From joining us at the HQ back in Illium or the Citadel Branch, to rising in the "ranks", always going to ever more important facilities, and finally reaching the end of the road here. Additionally, some even had their potential unleashed way before it'd happen.

Take Senna, for instance. In the original turn of events, he would end up as one of the final two candidates for the quarian Pathfinder, but not make it due to his pro-AI sympathies. He was an unusual quarian, who thought his race's bad parenting was to blame for their exile – and that didn't earn him any favors with the war-hawk faction of the Flotilla. However, he met us. And, through us, he was able to put his talents to work, and even revealed that he had an intact (and highly illegal) ancestor VI of Liat'Nir, his great-grandmother many times removed.

It was just a matter of time before things like these would really be known by his people. The limited (albeit monitored by our DSs) communication with the "outside world" was an unavoidable downside, yet an acceptable one. It was normal here for employees to be told that this kind of isolation was necessary to protect company secrets. In our case, it wasn't a complete lie, as we did a lot of stuff that couldn't be revealed willy-nilly. However, most negative aspects of that were offset by us, since we'd get everything they bought with their pay for them, or deposit their salaries to wherever or whoever they wanted to.

And then there was something else they had, and one that elevated them above any peer.

While Alec's implementation of the neural-interface would allow things such as a lightning quick scanner, direct communication to the HQ and the "profiles" feature, my idea of a real two-way connection, a technological form of meld in its most basic sense, allowed for so much more. For one, it lets two different minds share information at the speed of thought. This had already proven its worth in so many battles, when just the enhanced awareness saved many lives, myself included, on top of the increased tactical advantage.

But then I asked one simple question, regarding an idea that simply flew over the heads of the Andromeda Initiative folk: why limit that to military applications?

Way back in the drawing board, I imagined a few scenarios: 1) a physicist messing around with theorems, while his DS partner did the calculations and simulations, and both of them exchange ideas "on the fly"; 2) an engineer coming up a design for something on his mind and sending it to his partner to "draw" it computationally; or, even better, to have the DS do some modifications of his/her/its own, which would then returned at the speed of thought; 3) a weapon designer having quick access to simulations of whatever crazy things he came up with; and 4) likewise, a superintelligence connecting with those organic minds so that their thoughts add variety to its thinking, discovering possibilities that it either wouldn't reach or take too much trial and error.

The results were bastards like these ones here, who might have not been that much better than average scientists at one time, yet now stood as some of the best in the galaxy. And the connection was just one aspect of it. For another, the ever-improving memory implant meant we could almost "mass-produce" engineers and specialists. Exceptional individuals would always shine brighter, but "talent" itself was becoming less and less valuable, while character was increasing in importance. Speaking of character…

"But do I have to participate too?", Eli questioned, grumbling shortly after. "Those arrogant asari from Thessia have been getting very uppity after they've released Silaris Armor, the 'answer to Thanix, coming from the very best!', bleh! Boss, could you picture their stupid faces if we showed our graphene composite armor?".

"Instead of daydreaming about that, you should focus on getting those forearms-mounted, twin Warp Blades working.", I reproached lightly, pointing at him with the tip of my fork.

"I'm almost there, boss, I can feel it. But it's been a royal pain in the ass to get all the eezo circuitry behaving in the gauntlet while also accounting for the gravity pattern…", he said in a vexed tone. "And then there's the issue of it taking the Arc Gauntlets' space. We might end up being forced to choose one or the other…".

"Maybe not. The downsized Arc Projector's mechanism could be moved to the lower part of the forearm…", I pointed out, but then stopped myself, even as Eli continued mumbling to himself about how "it could work".

Everyone one else in the table was somewhat confused about what we were discussing, so I explained it to them in my own way: "I've pitched Eli the idea of taking the Warp Blade from the 'handle' device and putting it directly into a gauntlet, kinda like an Omni-blade. If you're still wondering how these would look, just imagine a grayish-blue dude charging at you while shouting 'My life for Aiur!' and you'd probably get very close to it.".

Senna, who was leisurely drinking with a straw, almost spat his drink at my last words. He had been involved with a good portion of the work porting old games' to our newer systems, so knew a lot about what I was referencing. The others, however, only had mild expressions of comprehension, meaning they'd grasped the idea.

Our lunch then went on in relative calm. Not much time later, one of the biggest reasons everyone sitting here truly believed in our cause walked himself towards us. Of course, it was Javik – The Avatar of Trolling.

"So this is where you were. I'm sitting here, if that's acceptable to you?", he asked us.

"There is *breath* an available seat *breath* here by my side *breath*, if you want.", Ora Thubb offered him.

"I'll take it, though I wished your speech was less bothersome.", Javik responded as he sat down. "It is already a pain having to deal with those hanar. This one is getting really tired of the way they speak…".

For obvious reasons, our resident troll couldn't show himself publicly. So, besides teaching combat in the HQ, he spends much of his time dealing with the Illuminated Primacy, mostly to appease the hanar leaders while also trying to keep them from doing something stupid. It wasn't an enviable job.

Moreover, not many people outside of the combatants liked to interact with him. Reason: because he's Javik. Yeah, he didn't have the most lovable of personalities. And that was after everything we'd been through, such as me convincing him to let go of the memory crystal. But he did have a point regarding the volus…

"Maybe we should do something about that…", I muttered loud enough for all to hear.

"About the hanar?", he tried to guess, to which I shook my head in denial. "What then?". I put down my cutlery, drawing everyone's attention.

"Here's what I'm thinking: we create a tiny neural-interface device, could even be made as an add-on to sub-dermal translators, that picks up any deliberate speech brainwaves and, then, send them to a speaker on the volus' evo suit.", I pitched the basic concept that had been in my mind for a while. The only problem was my own worry about releasing this kind of tech, given the Council's limits on cybernetic implants and the real possibility of using it for harm. "For the volus, this could mean never having their sentences being interrupted in the middle ever again!".

"That… We could *breath* make billions of credits *breath* with it! Every Vol-clan *breath* will want one. Heck, I *breath* want one now!", Ora commented jokingly, causing a small wave of laughter to wash over our table. "But wait *breath*, boss! How would we *breath* match the voice *breath* of the individual Vol-clan?".

"That's easy, actually.", Senna replied in my place. "We could maybe sell an accompanying Omni-tool program, a very stripped down one of course, to sample their voice and then link the resulting synthesized voice with their suit's speaker. Oh, we make that program 'lite' to prevent people from using it to scam others.".

"That's quite good. I can already picture the publicity guys going wild: Tired of getting your sentences interrupted all the time? Then speak with style; speak with your mind!", I spoke in the tone of a snake oil salesman. In fact, I wouldn't even be surprised if they wanted to sell it as a form of psionic power.

"If anything *breath*, this could make *breath* the Vol-clan to be *breath* more respected *breath* around the galaxy *breath*. Maybe I'll even *breath* become a hero *breath* for my people…", Ora began laying his palms flat on the table, getting himself overexcited.

"Hey, hey… calm down, Ora.", I stopped the guy before he excited himself too much, then gave him a smirk. "Be careful not to choke on your aspirations.".

My pun was almost as unnecessary as some would say its origin was, but it still got me a few chuckles. We then focused on eating for a few minutes, before the quiet was broken by Maelon, after he had hesitated for a bit…

"Boss, there's something that's been on my mind for a long time now. And I think it's also a common question of colleagues here.", he said reservedly, measuring my reaction, so I gestured for him to continue. "How did you manage to, um, get around the Council? My experiences back in my previous… profession says that they really don't like it when the status quo is shaken.".

"Ah, that... There are a lot of complicated reasons, some which I can't say – company secrets, you understand. But I can use an old apologue, or moral fable, to explain part of it.", I declared, pausing a bit to gather my thoughts. "It goes like this: if you take a frog and suddenly put it in boiling water, it'll jump out; however, if the frog is put in tepid water, which is then slowly boiled, it won't perceive the danger and end up being cooked alive. Although scientifically incorrect, it still serves as a metaphor for the idea that major change can be accepted as normal and acceptable if it happens slowly through small, often unnoticeable, increments of change. Creeping normality, it's called.".

They stood in silent contemplation for a few seconds, carefully mulling over the metaphor I'd told them. As time passed, I could see that they had achieved understandings of their own about it.

"I know you don't mean anything bad by it, boss, but that still doesn't stop me from feeling offended.", Raeka concluded, which earned her a smile from everyone.

"Speaking of boiling frogs… the food variety is almost as good as in my Cycle, but when are you going to add salarian liver to the menu?", Javik asked out of nowhere, apparently not satisfied with the relaxed atmosphere. Everyone turned to look at the troll and Maelon gave him a death glare with a deep frown. "At this point, I wouldn't even mind even if it still lacked the special spice that is fear.".

Maelon looked ready to give a response, but it was an old krogan who came to his rescue, tapping him on his shoulder.

"Only when we can have Javik-flavored filets on the menu, laddie.", spoke Gorkon Korten, the main Chef of this fine establishment. If he had a Hell's Angels codename, it'd probably be "Gourmet" or something to that effect. While most krogan just wanted to kill stuff, he did that to turn them into delicacies. "Can't speak for you lot, but I'd personally like to know what overgrown lobster tastes like, hahaha!". We then laugheed with him.

"Admit it Javik, he got you with that one.", I said, while enjoying the schadenfreude, as the Prothean soldier sulked in silence, then I turned to the newcomer. "What's up, Gorkon? Why did you abandon your battlefield to join us?".

"Are you kidding? How could I not come here when there's so many distinguished visitors gathered.", he replied with a raucous laughter. "But can you confirm something to me…? You ain't gonna add those to our menu for real, right boss?".

I shook my head slowly and declared: "I've said it before and will say it again: no organs from any intelligent species, or those capable of calculus, will be no synthesized or cloned for consumption. That's a can of worms I'm not opening any time soon.". Then and there, I'd also confirmed that Javik was definitely not going to accompany us.

"What a shame. Hey Ora, how's the wife and the kid doing?", loudly inquired the old krogan while sitting down with us and breaking the awkwardness.

"They have *breath* moved in *breath* last week.", Ora replied. "Ah, it's funny *breath*. My youngest *breath* asked me if *breath* he would fall if *breath* he jumped. I said *breath* only if he *breath* jumped really high *breath*, like a biotic deity!". That story got him a few smiles, considering that the others had similar experiences with their families.

Those with higher contributions, like all these guys here, had priority in the "line" to get their families living in this or its twin habitat. Eventually, everyone would live in places like this regardless of anything. It's just that we needed to have some criteria at the start, so as to have a solid foundation.

After Gorkon had joined us, they resumed talking merily again, almost completely ignoring the resident troll. Any other scientist would be a living Prothean, but these guys were so used to over-the-top things that they didn't even give a shit.

[1]

An hour or two later, we were informed by our DS partners that it was almost ready and we could go. So, our merry group left the restaurant together and went to another system, one also belonging to this cluster, by using one of the permanent, interstellar W-Gates.

In another Star System disconnected from the Mass Relay Network, close to the HQ. One hour later.

We walked on a habitat just like the one we'd set out from, our steps taking us to where an ancient wrong would be finally righted. The only noticeable difference was that this habitat was still under construction, with parts of it still barren. Off in the distance, my enhanced vision allowed me to see a shuttle of asari make, and definitely high-class, flying itself to park in a closeby location.

I quickly identified it as the one belonging to a certain Matriarch and moved to meet it, but not before addressing this little group of thinkers and builders.

"You guys go on ahead.", I gestured for them to keep going without me, as I turned to the new arrivals. "There's someone I gotta greet.".

After reaching the shuttle, it was only a short wait for its door to open. When it did, out of it came an asari with quite the villainous appearance, though that didn't bother me in the least, as that had been a common sight for a while now.

"Benezia! Long time n-", I approached, preparing to give a hug, but was interrupted by her words and a stare that screamed of something being wrong.

"Do not fool yourself into thinking you can change anything, for I have witnessed the truth of Saren's words. Your feats here pale in the face of the Reapers' power!", Benezia said in a cold and monotonous voice, with eyes that seemed dead/listless, and a stony expression under her headdress.

My spine went cold too. Almost reflexively, I had brought up my Omni-tool and began scanning her with the latest version of our "Indoctrination Detection App".

Once the scan returned negative, Benezia broke her facade, dropping that eerie tone of voice, and gave me the cheeky smile of a successful prank: "Ha, got you!".

"Yo-, you were just messing with me.", I let out a long breath I didn't even realize I'd been holding in, then it finally registered in my mind that she'd probably not make it this far if our countermeasures had detected anything wrong. "Damn, don't scare me like that! Especially about something so serious…".

"Serves you right, for that one time…", she countered, giving me a vindicated look.

"Hey, that was just an icebreaker back then.", I swiftly figured out what she was referring to and said in my defense.

"To you, perhaps. But it was quite serious to me, young man.", she declared, not backing down. "You don't play with a mother's feelings like that and simply get away from it!".

Looking at the smug and confident Benezia before me, I couldn't help but reminisce about our first meeting…

Many years ago (flashback).

"So you are the one who beguiled my silly daughter and even made an asari Matriarch do your bidding…", Benezia's first words to me, said in a reproaching tone, were as such. She had quite the regal look while doing it, which was emphasized by the beautiful yellow dress she wore. "What do you have to say for yourself, young man?".

Back then, I imagined she might've been trying to assert some form of dominance or grab it back from a perceived position of weakness. After all, older asari were known for their mind games and power plays, the same kind that wouldn't be worth even a single credit when kilometer long sentient warships were tearing their homeworld apart. Looking back now, I think she was simply teasing me. Regardless, I really didn't want to deal with any of that. So, I did the one thing I knew she wasn't expecting.

Stepping forward confidently while only armed with a big, silly smile, I gave her a bear hug and exclaimed loudly: "Mother-in-Law! It's so good to finally meet you!".

Her majestic and imposing aura deflated instantly, while she almost turned purple. Her acolytes certainly did. And the then very flustered Liara almost dug a hole in the ground to hide/bury herself into.

Ultimately, it was the Matriarch who ended up teased. Nevertheless, after being disarmed by my antics, we finally introduced ourselves properly, talking for hours about a little bit of everything.

Afterwards, Liara spent around a week explaining to her mother that there wasn't anything between us and the entire following month being somewhat embarrassed, blushing every time we met, before things went back to normal.

Still, totally worth it!

Oh, how the turntables.

After our little greetings, I noticed Benezia's little entourage. Behind her was the only asari who could possibly be green – and also whose importance, as one of the only two people with a complete Prothean Cipher, was simply forgotten by the galaxy. She left her Mistress' shadow, moving closer to us. There were also two other asari accompanying the Matriarch as her bodyguards, both commandos from House T'Soni.

I recognized them as part of those helpers sent to Hell's Angels when we had just started our business, merely having a few bought or scraped together ships, before going back to their Mistress' service. They didn't recognize me though. Moreover, I figured they'd be two of the commandos who met their ends in Noveria – who also usually got forgotten by those who find themselves in this Universe, like me.

Putting those thoughts aside, I greeted the acolyte with a respectful nod: "Hi Shiala. I'm glad to see you're doing fine. And still not green!".

"I'd say the same, Sam.", she matched my nod, then added with a bit of sass. "And I can see that you're still the same you. On that note, do you happen to have any ancient alien lifeform lying around that you plan to sacrifice me to?".

"No, not this time. Today, it's going to be your Mistress' turn to be the sacrifice!", I declared in a cheerful tone, to which she didn't know how to reply.

"Sam, I'm beginning to think you actually enjoy playing the villain.", Benezia interjected in her acolyte's place, then she opened her arms, offering me a small hug. "As if that 'corridor scene' wasn't telling enough. Regardless, I'm happy to see you're doing well.".

"Likewise. It's good to see you too, Benezia.", I wholeheartedly said while reciprocating her hug, considering the danger she was in every time she'd interact with a specific turian Spectre. "And I'd say you have a knack for it too. Even fooled me for a sec with your acting. Speaking of which, how's our deluded Spectre doing?".

"Not very well. He's at a complete loss on where to find a working Prothean Beacon. And completely oblivious to our ruse; as is his master, surprisingly or not.", she made fun of the pair, shaking her head slowly. "He is not as stupid as you make him out to be, but not even close to as smart as he thinks he is. All I need to do is to say the right words here and there, give him some leads that look promising on the surface, and he's playing right in the palm of my hands. This… device that Little Wing's group has created has also been very useful.".

As she spoke that last part, she removed her headdress, which was reminiscent of the one used during the events of ME1, and lent it to Shaila. However, this time, it wasn't just an ornament. Inside of it, there was something akin to a "receptor" that the Reapers used to control their husks/forces by sending a signal to it, as one would a mech - amongst other bits of tech. Of course, this "receptor" was completely innocuous, since the same headdress prevented those "signals" from reaching her brain. It was, ironically, a protection against indoctrination fields.

Such was the result of years of very careful work on Steve, always with the mindset that it had some safety measures active. Ultimately, indoctrination wasn't some "dark science" or witchcraft, but an application of tech that functions according to the Universe's rules. The real terror of indoctrination is that it's already too late when one realizes what's happening. But if one knows it exists, that it's related to the use of electromagnetic fields, infrasonic and ultrasonic noise (or other subliminal methods), and even has a big "sample" to experiment on, then it's not that hard to create countermeasures for it. And we also had (safely kept in a hidden base) a direct line to the Lovecraft rejects.

Thus, all that was left was Benezia's own acting, in order to fool Nazara into thinking she'd found an artifact like the Arca Monolith, ending up like Desolas Arterius. Saren was tricked, eventually. When Nazara would direct any "signals" to her and she would pretend to be in "pain", it too was convinced she could hear/feel its "dark whispers". Add to this a routine of regular neurological scans with repair-nanites and Benezia would be relatively safe. After all, anything smart enough to understand it's being observed will also be smart enough to alter the results.

I was just glad her act of "disgusting" Nazara with deep worship worked so well; otherwise, we might've needed to remove most of her memories relating to, well, everything about us and store them – to be returned only when the ruse was over.

"But let's not talk about these dreadful things today.", Benezia stated, then gestured for us to move on. "For today we have the opportunity to undo a mistake made long ago; and to prevent a new one from being made during this Cycle. And I'm not letting it go. We should get going, right?".

I nodded in response and we began walking, making some small-talk during the journey. Our target wasn't very far from where we set off, so we'd reached it merely a few minutes later. It was a rather large garden, somewhat open to the rest of this station, and near the edge of it, with a spectacular view of space. A small crowd was gathering here, all talking about what was at the center of it. The first person I saw and approached was Liara, giving her a tight hug. Benezia raised an eyebrow at that, but otherwise said nothing.

"Mother.", the young asari turned her head, greeting with a calm expression.

"Liara.", replied the Matriarch, moving closer and touching Liara's cheek with her hand.

Then, they both closed their eyes and stayed like that, in peaceful silence. I figured straight away that they were melding deeply, likely in order to have a private conversation. All right then; keep your secrets, I thought, yet smiling internally. Afterwards, upon disengaging, both had light smiles on their faces. Benezia then went away to greet the others, while I turned to Liara.

"Why are you here and not there, with them?", I asked, pointing at Gaia, who was fiddling with some machines while Mordin had a heated discussion with her, doing his trademark hamster on coffee routine.

"Come on, my field is Prothean studies and archeology, and you know that very well.", she said in a sassy tone. "I'm happy enough as it is with the things I've helped everyone make, while doing what I do best: digging through what the Protheans left behind.".

"You've done much more than that, Liara. Never doubt your accomplishments.", I stated in a moment of rare seriousness, then frowned slightly as I scanned the crowd. "Kasumi and Keiji didn't come?".

"She… would rather not be involved. That pair went on a small trip.", she informed me.

"A trip? Wait, they didn't go to a rich human colony where a crooked weapons dealer lives, did they…?", I questioned, a tinge of worry seeping into my voice.

"Goddess no! As if I-, we would ever let them.", Liara stated firmly, correcting herself along the way. "I mean, not by themselves only. They're actually in Kahje, visiting Thane and his family. Oh, and Samara is training Jenny, I think, with the assistance of some pirates. Not of their own volition, of course.". She then gave me a cheeky smile.

I raised an eyebrow. "You've been keeping tabs on everyone…".

"It's my turn to be the Broker.", she said to me, almost whispering.

Then, we both turned to where all the excitement was actually happening and noticed that Ellen had joined Gaia's group, since she'd need to gather data for a future implant that we would need to create. The Ryder kids were all gathered here, but Alec had to remain in the "outside" world while I was gone. Still, many Hell's Angels were making up for his absence, such as Ysin, for the same reason as the scientists/engineers and for protection, though a few were outside of their power armor.

That just went to illustrate the importance of this event, as many from the core group were present today. And I couldn't have any other way, because we'd actually done it. We had found the rachni derelict ship and secured the only egg still preserved, which now quietly laid in the centermost place of the garden. Despite it being a mission that was worse than finding a needle in a haystack, we actually managed to pull it off. And we did it way before Noveria caught the geth's interest. If not in a perfect time, it was definitely in an adequate one.

Now, we would work towards undoing the Prothean act of "breeding" (enslaving) the rachni only for war. Rather than let the rachni queen hide somewhere in solitude, running the risk of being indoctrinated again, we would have her grow up with us, in harmony. Rather than being born in a cold laboratory, its walls reminiscent of a prison, we'd have the first sights she saw be these marvels all around us. And a warm welcome.

We hadn't yet perfected a communication method that worked with the rachni's synesthetic perception (of sound as color). It always took time to do it for a new species, just as it once did for the hanar's way of speaking (bioluminescence). Nevertheless, because of the asari cheat called melding, we could take a shortcut.

But that meant running the risk of causing distress on the newborn, given the history likely present in her memories. That's why we tried to keep the presence of old "Council Races" (asari and salarians) light around here. Most of the "welcoming committee" was made up of humans like Eli, Ellen and I, and Digital Sentiences, like Gaia and Hephaestus, while the rest hid nearby.

Gaia looked at the large egg that she had been carefully monitoring for a few weeks. Even for a superintelligence and with the help of Mordin and Prothean knowledge on cryostasis, ensuring that the rachni queen would survive after such a long time of cryogenic sleep had taken longer than she'd like to admit.

Suddenly, the egg began to wobble, with a small crack forming on its shell.

"She's waking up!", Gaia exclaimed. Everyone quieted down, while those responsible for taking care of the newborn tensed.

Then, yet another crack formed and a multi-pronged beak broke through the shell.

She was the last echo of those who came from the Singing Planet.

Once, her dreams were filled with Mother's cries. At the start, that dreadful tone came from space, forcing the Singers to resonate with its own sour yellow note and hushing one voice after another. Then, came the egg smashers, with their gray and violet songs, consigning her people to the Great Silence.

But now the sky was quiet and colorless. She didn't hear the discordant songs the color of oily shadows anymore. Yet, as it dawned on the tiny rachni queen, Mother's song was lost too, consigned to the Great Silence. Her people's fate depended on her. With that resolve, she began pecking her way into the unknown world that awaited outside the safety of her egg, yet already knowing she wasn't alone.

The newborn rachni queen could feel the minds gathered around. Some of them were soft and calm, but not weak. Many were cold and firm, with a few being grander than anything she'd ever heard the ancient queens whisper of in the soft songs of knowledge that they sang to their clutch. Would her people be consigned to the silence of memory? She sang to herself in sadness, while fearfully "recalling" those her people had sung gray and violet songs to, worrying it was them who'd found her. Or was this a chance to compose anew? Came a hopeful note amidst her deep sadness. Maybe they weren't the song stealers or egg smashers, but new ones.

Stopping for a moment, the little queen wondered if the beings around sang like her people did. Focusing, she felt no connections between those surrounding her. Only soft vibrations traveling through air. Nothing else could be heard by her. Their musics were colorless and flat. The young queen felt her hopes drop, but continued her struggle nevertheless. Soon after, she finally broke free from her egg and began to observe her surroundings.

The first thing she saw was that there were new ones here. The second was that the old ones were present too, and that scared the young queen. Driven by ancestral memories, knowledge she barely understood, she wanted to run away from the Singers of the egg smashers. So, she frantically searched for any escape route, looking around the garden, then at the open areas surrounding it, looking up and at the… Stunned!

The newborn rachni queen had heard songs of great burrowed palaces, of vast caves cut from marble and decorated by the artisans of her people. Because of their gift, she had also listened to epics about the beauty of space and the finely crafted homeworld cities, in the time before the song stealers had begun to poison the ancient queens. And, of course, she had heard of the Citadel's beauty, its form always hanging serenely among neverding clouds.

But none of that was like what she now saw. The Star was swarmed by innumerable spots, all dark and tiny, yet capable of catching the starlight and reflecting it in brilliant patterns. In order to process that, the queen called upon all of her ancestral memories, tilting her head unconsciously, but it still didn't make much sense. And then there was the place where she stood. Or… spun?

For a fleeting moment, she thought her egg had hatched in the Citadel. But no. This place looked wrong. Incomplete. Both this one and the Citadel in her memories, yet for different reasons. The Citadel now looked to be missing parts when compared to this orbital space station, while it was clearly still under construction. Too many drones, all small and orderly, flitted about the structure with purpose, not unlike the swarms of her ancestral knowledge. They didn't sing, but formed a beautiful Ensemble regardless.

So enraptured was the rachni queen that she had even momentarily forgotten all the eyes silently watching over her actions. Yet that didn't last. Remembering her predicament, she turned to what the minds gathered, finally noticing that very few of them were the Singers of the egg smashers. Then, one of those tried to get closer, prompting the young rachni to recoil, though with much less fear.

In response, one of the new ones moved and conjured up an image in the air. At first, the newborn was confused, tilting her head again, but she quickly understood the meaning of the scenes shown. They spoke of different people having difficulty singing to each other in harmony, until one of them, a blue one, just like the one who tried to approach the young queen, touched the mind of the one who didn't understand the others.

Therefore, not recoiling this time, the queen allowed that blue one to come closer. That one did and, upon reaching her, softly put a hand on her head with closed eyes. Then, so did the young rachni, as both of them reached harmony instantly.

Thus, she sang new knowledge to the young queen, starting from the way they composed their musics. With that accomplished, she sang to the queen the story of her rescue; of understanding that the songs of her people were soured by the song stealers; of mercy and forgiveness. Most impacting of it all were the melodies of acceptance, of welcoming into this safe home and of the desire to join voices with theirs, to build together and weave melodies of trust and respect.

Afterwards, their singing ceased and, shortly after, some of the new ones levitated in a lot of things to the garden. It was a large selection of foods, for her to pick and choose at her whims. As such, her eyes and head darted left and right, taking in everything with child-like curiosity, before promptly eating her fill of... everything.

When the young queen was almost stuffed, a new one, a human, approached her. He had been observing her from the side all this time. On his… hand was a small cone, with white and black colors mixed together at its top, which he offered to her.

Now much more trusting, she decided to give it a try as well. And it was… Cold! So cold! So chilling! And also… so good! Bringing up her new knowledge, she found out it was called ice cream. She decided that she liked ice cream. Really, really liked it! For it made her think of and remember something…

That she was the last echo of those who came from the Singing Planet.

However, from now on, she believed that would change.

Because she might've found a Chorus to compose with.

And what sweet notes it had!

[Lord of the Rings Trilogy]

Krogan Vid Reviews

Gotta be honest here, I got bored real quick watching these vids. Like, a big chunk of them is just walking… talking… strolling… and even more walking, while talking. And then those trees walk even slower! Nah, if it wasn't for the start, I would've thought it was too boring. I mean, the main bad guy is an eye on a tower. Yeah, it's made up of fire and that's metal as fuck, but so what? What's he really going to do? Stare me to death?

Then there's the fact his main territory/base is called Mount Doom. Seriously? That's the best name the humans could come up with? You know, I half-expected The Slayer to show up out of nowhere and start blasting some orcs.

Well, I decided to give these vids a try anyways and just skipped the boring parts. Let me tell you it was definately the right call, 'cause I can't deny it has some really epic moments, even if all they use is swords and ancient stuff like that. Eh, without spoiling it too much for you runts reading this, there are some really cool battles, of massive armies clashing with each other and awesome scenes. Oh, and the pointy ear and volus humans never failed to entertain. I loved those two! "Still counts as one." Laughed my hump off with that one!

Those Nagzul ain't that scary, not even close to that massive fire demon (I think it's called a Balrog?), but DAMN does their battle-song BANG! I've got no idea what they singing, but it sounds epic anyway. Gandalf's fight with that demon thing was also epic and that fall looked awesome!

Those old trees are even slower than the asari when doing or deciding anything, but when they get going they really get going, if ya know what I mean.

Those green ghosts also ain't scary, or powerful. Oh no, what they are is a cheat. Biggest army in the galaxy? Eezo guns? Dreadnaughts? Ha, the turians would still get defeated in the end, by swords no less, and probably shouting "Spirits!" or something like that.

But I still had two very important questions stuck in my head after watching all the vids.

Why couldn't they just use the eagles to fly? And doesn't that pyjak Sauron look like an evil giant flaming version of asari genitalia?

Also, fuck that gollum. Thing's more unpredictable than a thresher maw pet.

Asari Vid Reviews

There isn't much technology put into these vids, no crazy powers shown on screen (if you don't count resurrection as such) and the story is set in medieval times, but it still manages to create a magical world, almost with an ethereal feel to it. And scenes like Gandalf vs Balrong, the Battle of Helm's Deep, the Revenge of the Ents, and the Ride of the Rohirrim are pure cinema. You can bet I bought the books this trilogy originated from, though it was the digital version.

Oh, after reading, I definitely identified myself with the hobbits' love for food, merry life and peace. Plus, I find it interesting how the fate of the world is intertwined with the weakest of races. Even Sméagol could be said to be key in the events of the story.

Also, I really loved the elves: their looks, the way they carried themselves… and especially their made up language. I had a very happy surprise when I found out it was "real", as in the late human writer actually constructed it along with many others. Talk about dedication! And coming from a species that's so short lived. Speaking of which, the elves' immortality is a unique take on interspecies relationships in regards to aging. We are used to seeing our bondmates go by way before our time, but would any of us ever choose to become "mortals" if that was the price for love? If it's for someone like Aragorn…

There are so many memorable quotes. One that I particularly liked was from Gandalf right at the start: "A wizard is never late. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to." I'm going to use that, paraphrasing it a bit, of course. After all, so many consider us "space mages" already. Also, even Galadriel, who went all Goddess of Destruction on Frodo, had something to say that really resonated with me: "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future." The human actress did a superb job giving off the feeling of a long lived being. I'd say even better than most asari I know ever could.

One thing that slightly hurt my suspension of disbelief a bit is that the world is coming to an end, there's a war to end all wars going on, yet no one seems to want to unite under one banner to save themselves. In some ways, it's worse, as it seems the enemy can actively subvert some people that should've been fighting on the good guys' side. All it took was for all races (even if they only look like differently shaped humans) to work together to defeat evil once and for all.

Nevertheless, I can't shake the feeling that I've been tricked into watching a 11-hour long turism commercial of some part of the human homeworld. But that doesn't bother me at all! There were so many beautiful landscapes and sceneries, with an amazing soundtrack in the background to accompany them, that it's all worth it in the end. Ah yes, this trilogy is really that long, and it shows. Trust me, when an asari says your work is perhaps too long, maybe you've gone overboard.

One last thing though: the endings never seem to… well end. Seriously, even for someone as long lived as us asari, it just keeps going and going. That was my impression at least.

Ah, I think I counted seven whole scenes that could work nicely as the story's end. So, as a heads up, the trilogy only really ends one scene after the screen has faded to white.

Keep that in mind.

Turian Vid Reviews

A day may come when I give a negative review to an old human work/vid. But it is not this day!

This human work was, for lack of a better expression, a special experience for me, and I have to admit that it has rekindled my interest in sword-fighting. It made me remember the ancient duel rituals, with a mexta being my favorite weapon, that originated back when we were still "stuck" on Palaven. Basically, I found that there's something uniquely interesting about old-style warfare, the kind featuring cold weapons, which is brilliantly shown in these vids.

The battle of Helm's Deep was simply epic, and I really liked that human Primarch (King, in their tongue). He doesn't hide, runs away from his duties or lets others do the fighting for him, but fights together with his people, showing honor and courage. That's how a leader should be! And it couldn't be any other way, given that the story features an intriguing tale of brotherhood. You can really feel the connection between brothers here. In my opinion, Frodo might be the Ring-bearer, but Sam was the real MVP.

Also, I really enjoyed the rivalry between Gimli and Legolas. "That still only counts as one." and "Certainty of death, small chance of success, what are we waiting for?" That dwarf is like a more friendly krogan in human form. It makes one consider if maybe a krogan and turian could become friends… Nah, probably not.

However, there were a few things I found… odd. For one, the whole conflict of the story is centered around The One Ring, allegedly the most powerful artifact on the fictional world of "Middle Earth", meant to Rule Them All and wielded by the Greatest of Evils… which can only turn you into an invisible red-sand addict. Yes, that's all the power shown when it's used.

I could see that being a terrifying prospect for a batarian drug dealer who fears getting his "wares" stolen, but it's hardly a fit for all the hype built around the thing. Oh, and speaking of batarians, these vids feature a race even uglier than them: orcs and goblins. Only the vorcha has them all beat in that regard.

Also, why did Sauron try to grab Isildur, at the start? His mace hit like a large biotic blast with each swing! Better yet, why didn't Elrond stop him?

Finally, one does not simply walk into Mordor, but flying there though…

Salarian Vid Reviews

After going over this review section, I've seen a lot of glowing reviews of this trilogy, all rightfully praising it, mind you, and very few more… critical looks at the work. So, this time, I've decided to do something different and point out some things that may not have been done perfectly. Do take note that I'm only reviewing the vids as they stand by themselves, not taking into account the source material.

The part with the line "And my Axe!" is a really cool scene, but did he forget that he broke his weapon right before? Yup, sometimes having a good memory is a curse that takes the enjoyment out of entertainment. I guess he had another one in his person.

They just let Grima go after everything he had done. Really? Would you let off a traitorous snake? One that's called Wormtongue no less?

Something else I found odd was that every time the Nazgul appear on screen they get less and less imposing. Really! To start, there are commercially available Omni-tool incineration programs that could ruin their day. Oh, one time a single arrow was enough to make one of them fly away. And, you could say that the baddest of them got defeated by what was basically a technicality.

One thing I've learned about "Middle Earth" is that heights don't really affect you if you're one of the good guys. It might even give you an upgrade! Also, why didn't Frodo's mithril armor protect him from the spider's stringer? And, lastly, Mount Doom: why did Sauron not close it off or post at least some guards there?

Ok, now that those have been said, here's me answering a very common doubt present in other reviews: there is an actual reason why they couldn't just count on the eagles, and it's explained in the books this work was based on (apparently, many things I've pointed out make sense there). It just wasn't put in the vids.

One would think in 11+ hours of runtime they'd find a scene to add that and thus prevent a lot of confusion, but hey, I guess they really needed all those walking, strolling, running and galloping clips…

You know, what started as a more critical review kinda ended up becoming an argument to just go read the books!

[Starcraft: Remastered & II: The Complete Collection]

Salarian Game Reviews

Ah, what a fine addition to my collection! These two real-time strategy games really were a welcome surprise to me. They're really good RTSs of the sci-fi genre, with a decent story (in all six campaigns), solid gameplay, epic cinematics (that hold well even today!) and just an overall fun experience. I highly recommend it!

There are three main races we get to play as: terrans, protoss and zerg.

Terrans are basically the humans we know quite well by now, except these here took a super-krogan serum and became really buff. Also, their technology is weirdly advanced in some areas while primitive compared to ours in others. They really like bulky machinery and nukes. And speaking of technology…

Think of a race of beings that could be described as vagabonds always roaming the stars in their ships, are good with technology, once created AIs who rebelled against them, have exiles, really (REALLY) want their homeworld back, their legs are digitigrade… You might think I'm talking about the quarians, but no. Those are the protoss.

Well, actually, they're not exactly the same. For one, the protoss made peace with their AI creations… eventually, but I don't see that ever happening with the quarians and the geth. Also, they make some really questionable choices. One of their greatestes heros comes to inform them of impending doom, but they ignore him in favor of a suicidal attack to retake their homeworld. I don't think quarians would be that crazy/stupid.

Lastly, there's the zerg. Imagine the rachni. Now picture them being ten times worse. With me so far? Ok, then add instant adaptability, quick regeneration and, just because why the F- not, some form of innate space capability, while being completely organic. And the zerg still manages to be worse than that! Which is why I only play as them in multiplay. In here I'm just a media critic/reviewer, but in there… I'm a Micro God!

Why? Because they really shine when in the hands of someone who can micromanage multiple units, always using their spells to maximum effect. Ha, the protoss might be able to talk psionically, but only a salarian can do some real magic by playing with that race.

Those terrans are bullshit though! They just mass build marines, get a few medivacs and then proceed to DELETE all your stuff with sieged tanks. Worse was when one guy built bunkers inside my base at the start of the match.

If you're the kind of who does that, then may none of your eggs hatch!

Turian Game Reviews

"But none of us are ever truly alone. For our warrior hearts are bound by honor… tradition… Battle is waged in the name of the many… the brave, who generation after generation, chose the mantle of… Dark Templar!"

What an amazing journey playing these games was. I've finished them all in almost one sitting! Few games have made me resonate with a fictional species' idea of unity like these two ones did. Needless to say, the story was quite good for an RTS game. The cinematics, as well, are simply ageless epics! In both games, the main story is divided into three(2x) different campaigns. Because of that you also get to play as three races: the adaptable and mobile terrans, the ever-evolving insectoid zerg or the powerful and enigmatic protoss.

My favorite was the protoss, for their aesthetic, advanced technology and philosophy (see the quote). Furthermore, I've seen some vids of warriors walking away from an explosion or explosions. But those can't be compared to Artanis. Because you can be cool, but you'll never be "warping away inside an explosion" cool. On that note, maybe it's just me, but I can't help but feel that the humans sometimes managed to come up with aliens that are, well… honestly cooler than us "real" ones (to them!)…

One thing I've found really annoying is that the zerg is really OP in multiplayer. Many times I have started a match only for my opponent to send zerglings to my base and then it's all over in minutes. Yeah, the zerg really needs a nerf, because they're very imba right now.

This might sound weird but… I have a friend, a turian friend let me add, who sorta thinks that Kerrigan is kinda, you know… attractive, for a human I mean, due to the carapace and all that. Does that sound strange?

Spirits, it just stuck me now… where they came up with so many new ideas, like the orbital pods! Retro Media has been releasing these kinds of works all the time and it belongs to the same corporation, the Atlas Foundation, who hires Hell's Angels for its protection… So that's where the PMC got the idea from! You know, I think I'm onto something here…

If these games are good enough to influence real world warfare, then they're good enough for you to give it a try! Oh, I can't miss this opportunity…

My life for Palaven!

Krogan Game Reviews

Ya know, stuff's been changing here in Tuchanka after I've gotten back with my warlord, so he told me to learn about more smart things. That's why I got myself into playing these two games and damn was I glad I did. The first one was old and kinda boring, so I skipped it, but the second game… hehehe, that one was awesome!

I'm glad our humans aren't like those guys. They make krogan look like turians if ya know what I mean. Like, have you seen the size of those guns? Thing looks like it only takes one shot to blow apart a krogan. And a punch from those suits? Not interested in finding out if my headplate could take it. But they have the most manliest weapons , so .

Then there's those protoss, who look really strange to me. They're supposed to be cooler than the terrans 'cause of all the super-advanced tech, but all of that "muh honor", "muh sacrifice" and such really reminded me of turians, so that was kind of a turn off. Also, for some reason, the questions too? Anyways…

They're really broken in multiplayer. Like, I thought I had mastered it after finding the "F2" trick, making a lot of marines and unleashing them on my enemies, but the protoss scrubs in my matches mostly just build a massive army of the strongest units, then F2's that ball of death into my base and win like that. I bet it's those dumb turians who does that, since they can't strategize for shit (unlike a genius like me, who plays terran). At least it's not those pyjaks who only know how to build a lot of cannons in the enemy base. I bet it's the salarians… that cowardly bunch!

Now that brings me to the last one, the zerg. Forget the rachni and those xenomorphs, this zerg race is the real nightmare fuel. They actually make the rachni look cute! My warlord told me some stories of the war, when everyone needed us to save their asses. Just think about this, the rachni had some bugs who exploded in acid, but were any of them bigger than a varren? Did they drop from orbit into your city? 'Course not. The rachni ain't doing any of that! But the zerg do, and much worse in all aspects. I don't play as them because I kinda want to "relieve" what it was like back then, going against something like that…

While Starcraft 2 (all three campaigns) was an awesomely cool ride, the ending was kinda meh for me. Like, some horror from a "void" can just come in and take over the minds of all dem powerful races. Eh, I guess they ain't all that smart if one old guy can play them all for fools. And the plot sorta gets all crazy with stuff like an infinite cycle that nobody asked for. Not that I cared anyways. Everything else was fun.

Also, can I have a THOR!? Please?

Quarian Game Reviews

I haven't had so much fun while playing old games in a good while, and have likely spent hours on end watching competitive games of Starcraft. It's that good! And something I've noticed while playing is that the protoss are quite similar to us quarins, in the fact that we are both nomads, drifting the stars in our ships, and only want our homeworld back.

And Keelah! Those Protoss Purifiers. They are almost like the "Ancestor VIs" we only have a few mentions of still left in our records. From what little I know, we quarians used to take personality imprints from individuals and developed them into an "interface" similar to a VI. The goal was to make them more sophisticated and hopefully preserve the wisdom of the ancestors. But then the Geth War happened and it was all destroyed in the chaos.

What's scary is that these Purifiers, on the other hand, are like that while also resembling the geth. For example… Their systems work more effectively when in proximity to each other, outlying protocols can be off-loaded to unoccupied cores and they're connected to each other, though in a similar way to what they call the "Khala".

It's crazy how close the humans from centuries ago got to things they could never have gotten in contact with! Sometimes (and this mind sound strange), I wonder if we're also part of the imagination of humans from very far away…

Coming back to the review, I've found that the three races we play as are pretty balanced overall, but one can almost always make them overpowered when playing against noobs. For instance, you can build a few zerglings quickly at the start of the match and rush them into the enemy base. With the terrans, you can build bunkers near the main enemy structure(s) and then put some marines in them. Or just warp pylons and photon cannons, if you play protoss.

It doesn't really work against seasoned players, but I've found enough bad ones for these to be my go-to strategies.

Lastly, and borrowing from a turian reviewer that came before me….

My life for Rannoch!

Author's Notes: It's finally finished! If you're wondering why this one took so long, blame Lord of the Rings. I watched the trilogy again. When I began writing this chapter, there was barely anything on it, but then ideas just kept flowing in. Anyway, before I begin this round of extra information sharing, I'd like to offer my thanks to Pez, from Questionable Questing, who gave me a shout out on his story, called "[NSFW] - Big Ears, Big Brain (Mass Effect | Inspired Inventor)". As many reviewers pointed out, that's likely from where the massive amount of new readers came from.

Anyway, without further ado, let's get right into it…

The intro was heavily inspired by a video made by Kurzgesagt, titled "Why Are You Alive – Life, Energy & ATP" (part of the YT link: /watch?v=QImCld9YubE). And the part about food was inspired by a video from The Man, The Myth, The Legend, the one and only Issac Arthur, titled "Synthetic Meat" (part of the YT link: /watch?v=_NULFAItoBs). I'd recommend them both for you guys. Also, can't forget to quote the timeless gem here: "Steak, Liara. I think about when there's so much steak. I fucking love steak!".

Maybe some of you will consider it "unnecessary" to "waste" time on food, but the ability to be able to create food that easily, especially the part about cloning mutated beings with "microcephaly", will be very important in the future. All that I'll say for now is this: once we improve our knowledge of science for one thing, it often helps us solve problems in related areas. The ability to mass manufacture artificial steaks is likely to have an impact on all sorts of other areas of biology and medicine. Keep that in mind.

About the volus and their speech problem… would you have guessed that "solution" came from my lack of desire to write *breath* all the time? Yeah, that's a part of the reason. Also, the small coversation in the restaurant is also a snippet of how I'd interact with the "employees" – and why they consider the MC as their "boss". I could never be a CEO type or some such, but would very much not let myself have no real power in the companies, at least to make decisions there, that's why the MC acts as some kind of "Representative".

Now, the rachni are free. Even if one doesn't consider the moral side of things, there are a lot of benefits in doing it: the location of Illos; removing a part of the reaper forces; a new way to do QEC, an entirely organic one… Bioware really did that species dirty, especially after hinting in ME2 that they'd be important later on (then ME3 comes along and all of that just becomes a few numbers in the war asset menu). Even many fanfics don't do much with them. I plan on "fixing" that.

By the way, I almost named the rachni queen Ker Y'gan (totally not a StarCraft homage). But ultimately chose to leave it up in the air for now – or for you guys to decide.

Next chapter will be about quarians and will feature one of the central themes of this story.

…

Question(s) for my readers:

1) What do you guys think the rachni queen's name and title should be? For example, Ker Y'gan, the Queen of Blades (of course, "blades" wouldn't fit here; that's just an example).

2) And what do you guys imagine I'll do with the rachni?

…

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

And it'll be something else.