Chapter 4

"Doctor, we will now hear your proposal."

The salarian was already walking into the dimly lit room to the only chair. He sat down and laid out numerous datapads and folders on the table in front of him. The salarian looked up to the committee, who consisted of seven other salarians who were all lined up behind a large desk looking down at him.

The salarian cleared his throat and began, "Thank you, as many of you know the first human Spectre, Commander Shepard, revealed before his untimely death a technological threat beyond measure. He told the council that these machines were beyond anything anybody has ever encountered." The salarian stopped to gauge the reactions of the committee before him; some slightly nodded their heads while others simply sat in silence. Taking a small breath the salarian continued.

"The council played it off to the public, claiming the situation had been dealt with when the geth were stopped at the Citadel. Shepard was not convinced and this organization knows that from the wreckage we personally recovered from the warship Sovereign; the geth could not have created it. Shepard called them Reapers, an ancient race of machines hell-bent on the destruction of all organic life and they are coming."

"Doctor Hamiltin, this is all speculation at this point" uttered one of the salarians behind the large desk.

"True or not, this committee needs to be ready for such an attack and I have a proposal to help combat this new enemy. Shepard stated in his reports that these Reapers are each sentient AI systems. My goal is to create an equally deadly system to counteract them."

A female salarian at the end of the desk blurted out, "This STG committee will not condone any artificial intelligence testing what so ever, Doctor!"

Hamiltin didn't bat and eye to the interruption and calmly replied, "Good, because the Brain Incept Auxiliary Construct will not be an AI, but instead a very sophisticated, precise virtual intelligence. One built solely to gather and take in information on a designated target."

"My system will be able to integrate with other systems and cipher through tremendous amounts of data. Once the information is gathered from a multitude of sources, the system will find any and all weaknesses and flaws in said target. With all this data it will compile thousands of strategies, all able to take out the target. And being able to integrate with other systems, we will be able to plug it into our warfare networks to coordinate units."

"It will be the first VI of its kind, imprinted with brain patterns of renowned strategists, mathematicians, scientists and generals. I am confident that this system will revolutionize warfare as we know it and certainly be able to fend off an ancient machine army." The salarian doctor then sat down with a calming sigh and let the committee talk amongst themselves.

"Doctor, in the event these Reapers are indeed real, we will need to be ready. We approve your project but on three conditions; 1- If the Reaper threat proves to be false, then your system will be turned over to the STG for use by us and our allies. 2- You understand that if your endeavors are discovered, your project was never funded by the STG and we will deny all association with you."

Doctor Hamiltin nodded as he listened carefully to the committee leader.

"And 3- the proper security measures must be in place at all times. We don't need to tell you what could happen if such a system were to be stolen or hijacked. Are these conditions understood?"

The doctor could barely contain his excitement after hearing the committees ruling. He had waited years for a threat to arise that would warrant him proposing his radical warfare system. Of course he did not want people to get hurt, which was one of the reasons he originally designed the radical virtual intelligence. He had been sitting on the design for several years, but never revealed it, wanting to ensure it would only be used against a measurable threat. That day had come when he heard of the Reapers.

"Yes, understood" smiled the salarian.

"Good, then Doctor E'mil Hamiltin, this STG committee approves your proposal, codenamed Project BrainIAC.

At a time when the Alliance was pumping out dreadnought vessels and other space faring vehicles, many different designs and prototypes were being constructed. Many of these concepts were scratched due to structural flaws and only a few were ever cleared for travel. The most famous was a dreadnought size vessel that was a joint military and civilian production. It was built to be a roaming hub; a mobile space station that welcomed all forms of life. The ship could hold the capacity of a large city and quickly became known as the "City in the Stars", but most just knew it as the SSV Metropolis.

The Metropolis was home to a fully functional city atmosphere, with residences for all aboard and a main central area for people commute. It was funded by both military and civilian contracts, serving as a model of cooperation. The large vessel traveled on scheduled courses throughout the galaxy, never staying in one spot long.

The SSV Metropolis quickly became a central communication center for all major media networks for the Alliance, the most recognized on the station; The Daily Planet. The media outlet was read on datapads and omni-tools all over the galaxy, gaining a reputable status for gathering the facts and getting the stories others could not. The Planet had several sub-factions, from war correspondents to politics to cover anything that would interest the people. It only hired the most tenacious and driven people as their reporters.

The Daily Planet had its main headquarters located near the center of the city landscape-like hub of the SSV Metropolis. It had a large tower with a giant holographic golden globe spinning atop it, serving as an undisputable beacon for the truth.

"What do you mean you don't know where the Daily Planet is, how can you miss the big freaking globe?!" exclaimed the young woman in the back seat of the taxi skycar.

"I'm sorry Ma'am, it's my first week here and I really don't know my way around yet" stuttered the nervous volus, barely looking over the steering wheel.

The pony-tailed women sighed to herself, "Okay, just let me out over there" she gestured towards a pedestrian walkway beside them. The skycar tilted and hovered near the exit port as the nicely dressed woman got out, swiping her omni-tool across a screen in the taxi.

The payment came up as approved on the screen in front of the volus, he turned around as the door was closing, "Thank you Ms. Lane!"

"Yep" replied Lois as she looked at her omni-tool to see the time. She did a double take, reacting to the time and then began to walk fast through the crowds of people. People were going every which way on the large platforms that led to anywhere on the ship. The walkways were translucent so that anyone walking on it could see skycars and trucks flying by underneath.

Lois had a messenger bag on her back as she pushed and shoved her way through the crowd, "'Scuse me, coming through!" She turned and was almost jogging now through a bridge that led into the Daily Planet lobby. A large cargo truck going underneath the bridge caught her attention for a brief second as she came to a halt after running into something. She got knocked back onto the ground as a few datapads fell out of her bag.

"Are you okay?" asked a gentle voice from above her.

Lois ran a hand over her head, not looking up at the hard thing she had run into, "Yeah, must have hit a wall or something." She looked up to see a hand held out for her from a dark haired man wearing thick black glasses. The man had a kind smile on his face and well combed dark hair. Lois sat on the ground for a second looking at him, captivated by his innocence. She snapped out of it and took his hand as he lifted her back to her feet.

"No, no wall, just me" chuckled the man squaring his glasses away on his face.

"Jeez man, what were you doing just standing in the middle of the walkway?" asked Lois shaking her hands at the man.

"Uhm, well, I was enjoying the view" calmly said the man as he looked out over the bridge at the artificially created sky and towers underneath it.

Lois was temporarily lost in the view as well, never taking the time to notice it anymore. She had been living on the Metropolis now for almost two years and had got so used to the hustle and bustle lifestyle. She snapped herself out of it and looked back at the man, who she noticed was wearing a coat a size too big for him. "Right, well watch where you end up standing next time Mister" Lois said as she gathered her datapads and continued her way the Daily Planet.

The man held one finger in the air and stated, "Kent…its Clark Kent" his voice faded as the woman went into the building.

Clark had recognized the woman from when he first revealed himself on Earth, but shrugged it off and took one more look at the lively city, noting how different it was from home. He arrived on the Metropolis a few days earlier, trying to make a fresh start for himself and to remain incognito. Clark had revealed himself to the Earth two years ago and came to the galaxy to help those among the stars. Problem was, he wasn't sure how to go about it. He wanted to settle himself a regular life before anything else and thought that a career was a first step. Satisfied, he picked up his sleek briefcase next to him and strode through the sliding doors of the Daily Planet.

In the lobby he told the receptionist he had an interview with the editor, he was told to take the elevator to the top floor and find his office at the end of the hall. Clark nervously walked around the lobby and reached the elevator. While traveling upwards, he smiled at a man in the elevator, but the busy gent only grimaced back at him.

At the top, Clark got off and gazed at the dozens of desks and offices that were spread out through the open floor. He took several steps away from the elevator and looked all around for the editor's office. After searching for a few minutes, Clark got fed up and slightly squinted his eyes, causing his vision to peel away walls and desks. Scanning directly through people and other objects, he finally spotted an office labeled 'Chief Editor'.

Clark moved through the fast paced hall, trying to avoid bumping into anyone. He made his way to the office and noticed a secretary sitting behind a desk in front of the office. "Hello, can I help you?" the secretary asked.

Clark adjusted his glasses, "Yes, I have an interview with Perry White, I'm Clark Kent." The secretary checked her screen and merely nodded for Clark to go in. He opened the door to hear a middle-aged man yelling on the phone.

"No, listen, I don't care what kind of dinner party it was, you shouldn't have been there!" The man had his holopad against his ear when he saw Clark walk in, "Kent right?" he asked abruptly. Clark just nodded, not wanting to interrupt his phone call. Perry gestured to a chair across from his desk and continued on the phone, "Okay, just get in here, that top-notch reporter I told you about is here." He then tossed the pad on his desk and looked at Clark with a stern face.

"Kent I am glad you're here, I have been looking forward to meeting you after we talked the other day." Perry walked around the desk and shook Clark's hand, "I am really excited-" before Perry could finish a woman burst in through the side door in the office, already talking.

"Chief, how do you expect me to do any work when you have me meeting some hick reporter from the middle of nowhere?" The woman froze in her tracks after she seeing Perry standing in front of Clark and exclaimed, "You again?!"

"Lois Lane meet Clark Kent; Clark Kent, Lois Lane" nonchalantly said Perry as he sat back in his desk chair.

Clark got up from his seat with a smile and put a hand out towards Lois, "Nice to formally meet you, Ms. Lane."