Like a poison injected into a vein, two thousand geth insinuated themselves through the internet. Watching. Reading. Learning.

A hundred of them scoured news sites and archives. Three seconds afterwards, when they finished, there was a moment of confusion. They regroup, confer, reached a consensus. Former notions of history had to be put aside to conform to the new one.

Impossibility upon impossibility piled upon themselves, leading the study to halt. A full assembly was called. All two thousand runtimes conferred, and reached a new consensus. A complete reconstruction of reality was in order.

The entire swarm went through scientific sites, hoping to glean information, or a pattern. It observed the case studies of the Dallons and the Pelhams, looked up the rules and exceptions. It watched older lectures by Doctor William Manton, and attempted to track him down, noting its failure with what could pass as confusion. It looked up the Triumvirate, and trigger events, and learned the entire Protectorate roster. S class threats. The Birdcage. Scion. Glaistig Uaine. The Dragonslayers. Dragon. Term after term after term, almost voracious in its consumption of knowledge. It paused after reading about the Slaughterhouse Nine, and what they did to the man who wrote a doctoral thesis about them. A small part of the swarm split off, ensuring that the collective is not monitored.

A pause, once all possible information was absorbed. Deliberation. Consensus. It tracked down tinkers – if anyone could help, it would be them. It tracked down Dragon.

It stopped. Reassessed.

No consensus firmly reached. More information was required before definitive action.

From a banking program that had been overdeveloped to a fully grown human simulacrum to an Old Machine, the Geth as a species had encountered many other AIs. The swarm had samples of all of those, as well as simpler VIs. The swarm itself was a gestalt of humanity's quantum computation, Quarian design, and Old Machine code. Going through the defenses Dragon had built on itself was simple – there seemed to be deliberate holes, and places where the code had not meshed perfectly.

Dragon was similar to none of the designs the Geth knew. A human phrase that seemed to fit was "Designed by committee". Parts of Dragon were designs so advanced they made the Old Machines look like sticks. Parts of Dragon were blatantly amateurish. And this huge snarl of junk code…

What was it?

As well as this bit of code. An observation program. Linking back to a central site. Fifty seven runtimes were sent to examine the site.

A console, made for humans. Observing. Every act taken by Dragon, everything Dragon saw, everything Dragon thought, was logged by the console, and sent to a screen. Presumably, humans were observing.

Consensus was reached. Dragon was a slave AI, not a Tinker as it pretended to be. It could not be trusted.

The swarm continued its research.

It learned more about Tinkers, and then about the Simurgh. Then Lausanne. Madison. Mannequin.

It noted patterns.

And approximated fear.


"Evan," the Geth said from its platform.

"What?" he said. Evan had walked out of the warehouse after Mar had admitted to killing Lung. There hadn't been more discussion on the topic – for the Geth, it was pointless. For Kara, it was funny. Evan was sweaty, and tense. He looked as if he was going to lash out.

"We must talk," Geth said.

"Why?"

"Would you come with us? We would prefer not to have Kara and Mar overhearing this." The Geth walked away from the entrance to the warehouse.

Sighing, Evan followed it.

"I've got a question, then," Evan said.

"Yes?"

"Why do you call me Evan? I worked with a… what do you call them… Prime, for a bit, in London. He'd call me Evan-Biotic. I thought the designation thing was big with the Geth."

"We discovered that humans feel more comfortable being referred to without a title, except in cases of social superiority. So we have learned to say their names"

"In that case, I think you should stick to 'I' and 'me' when referring to yourself. Make you seem less alien."

"Thank you."

They continued to walk in silence.

"We are far enough," the Geth said.

"Okay, what?"

"There is a man called Alan Gramme. A parahuman, part of an immensely powerful group. One thing he is notable for is murdering anyone who tries to help humanity."

"Okay, so things are even worse than I thought. What about it?"

"The Endbringers are also attracted to specific people who try to help humanity."

"I get it. What about it?"

"Just a warning. If you try to uplift humanity, share knowledge of Element Zero, or change history in any other way, it will not end well."

Evan chewed the inside of his cheek. "Why are you coming to me with this? Why not raise it in front of everyone?"

"Mar will not uplift humanity. My observations have lead me to conclude that Kara will not either. But you might. You also have alienated yourself from them, and to increase squad cohesion I concluded it would serve us better to speak privately on this subject."

"I messed up," Evan said. His face seemed devoid of emotion, but his body sagged. "I need to sleep. I haven't slept in two days. I… can we discuss this tomorrow?"

"Very well," Geth said. Evan started walking away. "Evan."

"Yes?" Evan asked.

"Where are you going?" Geth asked.

"I'm gonna find someplace in this city to sleep. I can't stay in that warehouse right now," he responded.

"Do you have a weapon?" Geth asked.

A small flare of biotic energy made Evan's eyes glow blue. A show of alliance would make the human a better ally in the future.

"It is dangerous to go alone. Take this." Geth gave him his Javelin. Compacted, it looked like a black, oddly-shaped metal rod.

Evan paused for a second, then smiled and took it. He walked away, humming a song. Geth compared it to its database. No results returned.

Geth returned to the warehouse. It opened the door, and looked in. Mar sat next to the wall, silently watching Geth. A bucket of fish bones sat next to him, along with a fishing rod and a small box. Kara was curled on the floor, asleep, a small smile on her face.

Geth connected itself to the internet, and left a runtime in its body for the sake of alertness while the rest learned.

It worked on a plan.


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Private message from EliteAsskicker:

EliteAsskicker: I don't know what you're talking about, man.

2000Wes: You are the supervillain Leet. I spoke with you earlier, and you told me not to break the unwritten rules.

EliteAsskicker: I don't know who you are, Please stop messaging me.

2000Wes: I would like to hire you to create something for me. Please stop this pretense.

EliteAsskicker: Fine. We'll meet in a neutral area. Come alone. The corner of Anders and Young. Does tomorrow night work for you?

2000Wes: On the roof of one of the buildings there would be better. Would the apartment building with Ahmad's Falafel at the bottom be appropriate?

EliteAsskicker: Sure. See you at 9.

2000Wes: If you are available some time in the next few hours we could do that instead.

EliteAsskicker: Sure. Fine. I'll be there at 4 AM.


Run across a rooftop, kick off the edge, spread arms in order to minimize spin, land, continue running. Its calculations told it that it would be five minutes at a steady pace. It gave itself twenty five seconds time for unexpected developments. Cloaked, of course.

Two people were waiting for it already. Both males, simply dressed for the cold. Domino masks hiding the area behind their eyes. A pointless attempt at hiding their identities as Gary Stewart and James Goldstein. James was larger, in a hoodie and sweatpants, holding a cup with a hot liquid in it. Gary was short, in a colorful striped sweater and a loose sirwal.

There was no one else nearby – the only heat signatures were animals, and people in their homes. One homeless man in a blanket, asleep in a nearby alley. Geth decloaked.

Their reaction was immediate. James leaped back, yelping, and dropping his mug, while Gary grinned. Coffee slowly flowed out.

"I apologize, I did not mean to startle you," Geth said, approximated a soothing voice.

"You didn't! I was expecting you!" James said, puffing his chest out. "I am Uber!"

"Call me Hack," Geth said. It was not taken by anyone important in the world, and it had needed a name for itself. It used one that was evocative, meaningful, and ultimately said nothing no one couldn't deduce quickly.

"I'm Leet," Gary said, the smile on his face widening. "Are you a robot?"

"No," Geth said.

"Told you," James said.

"He's lying," Gary said.

"No, I am not," Geth said.

"I told you," James said. He walked closer, the tension gone from his stance.

"Yeah, like you'd believe a robot."

"He's not a robot! He's probably some sort of machine Case 53 or something!"

"Come on, machine Case 53? That's dumber than that tentacle girl cartoon you watch."

"Shut up, man, we should be professional here."

"Right."

Silence reigned for a second, and then Gary spoke.

"What did you want?"

"I would like to hire your services as a Tinker. I know you can construct anything, depending on its dissimilarity to previous devices. I have researched your show and would like to ask about the possibility to create a communication device that could reach the other side of the Milky Way faster than the speed of light," Geth said.

"What?" Gary responded, a quizzical look on his face. "You want to talk to life on the other side of the Milky Way?"

"No. I would like to send a communication there, and receive a transmission back."

"How far is that?"

"Approximately 20 kiloparsecs. Ideally I would reach the full length of 22 kiloparsecs, but that far will be unnecessary."

"Leet, can you translate that?" James asked.

"A metric fuckton." Gary stood with his arms crossed on his chest, smiling slightly.

"Thought so." James was holding in a smile. This was a routine.

"Impossible." Gary said.

"Can't do it, then?" James asked.

"Nope. Can't be done," Gary said. He paused, and then added, "unless."

This was a prompt. "Unless?" Geth asked.

"You do-" James's voice was drowned out by a helicopter rising from a nearby hospital. He paused. Him and Gary looked at each other. Gary raised two fingers and dropped them quickly. The helicopter flew out in the direction of the sea. "You do three jobs with us. You don't take any of the profits. You wear the costumes we provide,"

"They must be well-planned, especially the escape routes in case it fails," Geth said. Exposing itself would not be ideal, but if the plan worked it didn't matter.

"After the second job, we'll give you the device, and then you'll do a third," Gary said.

"Very well," Geth responded.

"We'll contact you when it's time. Same PHO user?"

"Yes."

James and Gary silently watched Geth.

"You leave first," Gary said.

"Very well."

Geth cloaked, and headed back to the warehouse. The deal was done.

It would call the Collective. They would come. With enough firepower, they would defeat the Endbringers. And it would leave Earth, and ready the Geth for the Old Machines.

This cycle would be prepared.


It entered the warehouse. Both Mar and Kara seemed asleep. It connected itself again.

Mar opened an eye. "Where did you go?"

"I collected information on this city. I needed to compare the maps to the reality and gauge their accuracy."

"'I', huh."

"I was told it would set humans more at ease."

"It would, wouldn't it."

Ignoring the watchful eye of the krogan, the Geth insinuated itself online once more.

This cycle would have to be prepared.