Author's Note:
I would again like to thank all the positive reviews I have been receiving. It made my day when I saw a few of the reviews. I will do my best to keep up with the story. I will say this here. Spoilers are present in this chapter. I will say again, SPOILERS. I will post messages like that whenever there are any, though the chapters from this point on will probably contain them. You have been warned. Otherwise, take a seat, and enjoy.
Disclaimer: The following story is not used to make a profit or advertisement. Mass Effect was created by EA/Bioware. I take no credit for any original characters, possible dialogue, story, or elements I may put in this story.
The three men all took a seat. The chairs were much more comfortable than expected. Plura continued to stand while the other two geth continued to the other door across the room. When the two geth had left, Trenton spoke.
"So I take it those two had a small number of programs compared to you?" Trenton asked.
"Yes. The geth platforms had 37 programs. We achieved a consensus that we should bring two other platforms to make you comfortable, since there are three of you."
"I got a question, Massani's gruff voice. Why haven't we passed by a single window on this ship?"
"Geth do not use windows. We find it is a structural weakness. We do not feel the need to take in a "view"."
"Yea, this is getting too weird for me," Massani replied to himself.
"So, tell us about these other races. What are they like?" Trenton asked, already feeling butterflies in his stomach.
Plura told them about a few key races like the Asari, a mono gendered race where male and female had no meaning yet still looked like women, who had a long life span and were pretty much the peacekeepers of the galaxy. There were the Salarians, which didn't live more than 50 years, but were highly intelligent and could think very fast, they were apparently the brains of the community, and even a race called the Turians, which were the main military arm who were much disciplined. These three were apparently called the Citadel Council who governed all the other races. The Council didn't have true power over individual worlds, but their decisions carried a great weight. The other races only gave the Council suggestions at conventions as they were a part of the Citadel Embassies, which didn't seem like much power to the humans. They apparently governed the galaxy from the Citadel, a superstructure created by the Protheans, who according to every race, had disappeared long ago.
"So..the Protheans are extinct? Jackson asked, very interested.
"Yes. The Protheans had amassed an empire long ago and made the Citadel and mass relay network. They mysteriously disappeared 50,000 years ago and the galaxy finds ruins from time to time and occasionally, they are exceptional finds. The galaxy knows about as much as your kind does at the moment about them."
Plura then spoke of the Rachni and Krogan and how the galaxy was in a losing battle with the Rachni until the Salarians had had made contact with the Krogan and uplifted them from a nuclear winter. The Krogan were apparently a reptile like race that were born to fight and were very strong, large, and could live about as long as the Asari. The Krogan had helped win this war and were granted many worlds. Finally, the Krogan began taking more worlds against the Council's wishes as a result of over population, due to the Krogan being able to reproduce very quickly, and pollution on other worlds they inhabited at the time. The Krogan began an all-out war with the Council and things were not looking good until the Council made contact with the Turians who had had mass effect technology long before the Citadel was even found. The Turians were very skilled, but the krogan had numbers and could reproduce very quickly. Finally the Turians had used a bio weapon called the Genophage that had sterilized the Korgan's birth rate and without numbers, the war was won by the Council.
"How are the Krogan's numbers now?" Jackson asked.
"The Genophage is currently still in effect," Plura replied.
"That's kind of harsh to condemn a species to extinction like that. I can understand then, but why keep it going."
"Currently most Krogan show violent tendencies against all species and any cures have been discouraged. No krogan has ever shown currently that the Krogan can change."
"It sure is a shame," Jackson replied sadly.
There was a short silence broken by Trenton.
"So, what role does your race play in all this?"
"There are many species that are a part of the galactic community, however the Geth play no role in these affairs. The Geth have not been seen by the galaxy since or heard of since 1895 AD on your calendar.
"What, did you spy on an Asari and they didn't like it?" Massani asked with a bit of humor.
"Massani, watch your tongue," Trenton barked.
"Unlike your species, every other species is unwilling to cooperate with a synthetic being. Your kind is the first to not fear us. Most of the inhabitants of the galaxy see synthetics as a threat."
"Why would that be?" Massani asked again with a little worry in his voice.
"Their fear stems from the Morning War or the Geth's rebellion against their creators in the year 1895 AD on your calendar. The-
"I knew these guys couldn't be trusted! Massani yelled, reaching for Jessie.
"MASSANI, STAND DOWN RIGHT NOW!" Yelled Trenton
Massani stood for a few minutes with his rifle pointed at the prime, but finally lowered his weapon.
"If you are going to be a problem, I will send you back to the ship. It's about time the crew received an update anyway."
"No sir, I'll stay," He said in a defeated tone. He sat back down and holstered his weapon.
"Sorry about that, but you must understand the outburst. We know about rouge intelligences, but there must be more to your story right?"
"Yes. The Geth's creators are a race called the Quarians. They bear physical traits to humans except for three digits on their hands and feet, skin color varies from pink, grey, and several other colors, and eyes that glow. The Geth were created as a labor until for agriculture mostly as well as defense. Creators found that if geth platforms were in close proximity, they could work more efficiently and created the Geth Network to house all programs. The Geth were not made as artificial intelligence since it was illegal to create an AI in council space and were made so they could only do certain tasks. Geth soon gained awareness and began showing signs of it. Creaters began to fear and continued to try to keep intelligence at peak capacity. Finally a geth did something that caused all Quarians to try and exterminate the Geth."
"What did the geth do?" Jackson wondered. "It must have been horrible to start a war." He thought.
"It asked a question," replied Plura. "Does this unit have a soul?"
"That's it?" Jackson asked, very shocked. "What's the harm in that?"
"Creaters would have been using the Geth as slaves if we became sentient. It also would have violated the Council's law of creating a sentient intelligence."
"That is still no reason to try and kill you all!" Trenton exclaimed. " Something else could have been done." "You chose to defend yourselves." He shook his head and sighed. "I can understand their uncertainty and fear of the unknown however. So what happened to the Quarians?." He had a feeling he really didn't want to know.
"Not all quarians chose to exterminate the Geth. Some tried to fight alongside the Geth, but they were outnumbered. A while after the war had started, a geth agriculture worker used fire arms for the first time. It wasn't long before the Geth had, how you say, the upper hand. Creators chose to leave the planet and the Geth accepted this outcome. Since then, the Geth chose two to stay beyond the Perseus Veil, a nebula separating Geth controlled space from the Council until two years ago."
"You let them go," Massani murmured to himself, but Plura heard.
"Yes. Creaters were forced out of their embassy and now travel the stars in a massive fleet. Your kind would call it The Migrant Fleet."
"Wait, if that happened about 300 years ago, then that would mean you were in hiding all this time. Jackson said shocked.
"Consensus showed that this was the best solution until 2 years ago. Organics in Citadel Space also fear the Geth because we destroyed several emissaries for a time when our awareness was new and we wished to be left alone. We harbor no ill will for their current judgments or even our creator's. The Geth wished to end their iscolation and expand. It has been very difficult to evade Council patrols. The Geth had always monitored organics across known space and soon found races adapting to new technologies. Consensus showed that we should do the same."
"Wait, the council attempted to contact you and you killed any ships they sent to you?" Jackson asked a little worried.
"We were new to our awareness and consensus showed that the Geth should stay isolated from the galactic community. Now we only wish to study organics and coexist with them. Consensus has shown this for two years."
"And that's when you ventured into our part of the galaxy and discovered humanity," Jackson said seeing the pieces coming together.
"Yes."
A silence arose between the four beings until Trenton broke it again.
"I am sorry that everyone has never given you another chance, but I can understand both the Council's and the Geth's reasons. Just know that humanity will give you that chance. We may look at you with suspicion for a few years, but we would be willing to accept your species over time if you show us you can be trusted. I don't know how everyone back home will react, but I feel I can trust you. Are the Geth still willing to try and coexist with humanity?"
"Yes." Trenton took note of the flaps above the optic move. "Must be their way of showing an expression." He thought to himself.