Chapter 8 has arrived! What's that you say? I didn't update yesterday? That is true… I had to work late and I just crashed into bed afterwards, I'm sorry if I've added more suspense to everyone. Then I spent a lot of time today writing this… But that's ok, it's my story after all. Also, some people (kill-phil) were disturbed by the way Shepard reacted to Anderson's death; I may have planned that a little, but hopefully this chapter can explain that away. Anyway, Mass Effect is owned by Bioware, now let's see what my story has in store now.

Ch.8: Answers

Citadel

Commander Shepard

Shepard was walking through the Keeper tunnels with a blank face. He was following Javik's instructions, but his mind was elsewhere. Anderson's death hadn't completely sunk in yet, and his reaction seemed so… odd. Sure, Harbinger was firing lasers at him, but he hadn't even felt anger or pain. He just felt hollow; he felt completely empty on the inside. He couldn't believe the Crucible had docked, and at the same moment Anderson died so… impersonally, and right when he thought everything was won. Anderson didn't deserve that, but for some reason he wasn't angry about it. He just felt he had failed Anderson horribly and anger, or sorrow, or both, just couldn't express the empty feeling he felt. When he fought Harbinger his mind hadn't completely wrapped around Anderson's death and he just let his body do the work; now, he hardly knew what to do. He put his personal anguish to the side and put his commander face back on. Now wasn't the time to dwell on this, Javik had found something…

Strange Keeper Chamber, Citadel

Commander Shepard

…The word was: Activate.

Shepard's eyes widened at the sight of the word. It was the most beautiful word he had ever seen, and he smiled at the thought of the Reaper threat finally being over. He walked up to the panel and pressed the button.

The screen flashed blue lights at Shepard. The console then said, "Identification confirmed: Commander Shepard, First Human Spectre."

A small holodrone then rose from the panel and scanned the room with the same blue lights. "No indoctrinated presence detected: Activating."

The holodrone left the panel and moved to the center of the room. When it reached the center it began to change. A humanoid hologram appeared from the holodrone. The figure had four insect-like legs, four arms that were also insect in nature, and it had a strange head that bowed below its neck. The figure looked exactly like a keeper.

"Commander Shepard, I've been waiting for you."

Shepard raised his eyebrow in surprise at the hologram. "Are you… What are you?"

The hologram answered immediately. "We understand you will have many questions, Commander, but your organic mind cannot perceive as quickly as is needed to answer them all. The Reapers are currently decimating your allies."

"So you won't answer me?" Shepard gave the hologram a glare.

The hologram continued. "No, we will answer as many questions as we can but not here. We must go inside your mind."

Shepard just looked at the hologram with another raised eyebrow. "And how will you go inside my mind?"

The hologram paused for a moment. "According to your reports, you once joined the Geth consensus with the use of a pod. I can use a similar device to connect your mind to me, so your questions can be answered at the speed of a computer and we can end this more quickly."

Two pods that were almost identical to the pod Shepard used to join the Geth consensus came out of a panel in the ceiling. He could tell they were far older and more advanced than the pods the Geth used however.

Shepard turned to the hologram again. "How can I trust you?"

The hologram answered immediately. "I will answer your questions when you enter the pod. All I will say here is I wish to help fight the Reapers. Please Commander, we do not have much time."

Javik seemed uncomfortable but didn't speak, and got inside one of the pods. Shepard got in the other and they both stood waiting patiently for the pod to start. More blue lights scanned Shepard for a few seconds, and then he felt his mind connect to the hologram…

Inside Citadel AI

Commander Shepard

Shepard looked around the room; everything was bright white. The ceiling, floor, and walls were all white and glowing slightly. Shepard saw Javik appear next to him, though he looked like a hologram. Shepard looked at himself and noticed he appeared as a hologram as well. The keeper from before appeared, but it was no longer a hologram. The keeper's face could be seen in perfect clarity. It had a blue line above its eyes that ran the length of its face, it had a blue shirt on, and it was wearing pants; at least, a keeper variation of pants. The keeper kept its eyes on Shepard as it began speaking.

"Commander Shepard, my name is Ji-Wilnar. I was the last of the race you know as Keepers, before we were changed to suit the Reaper's purposes. My mind was put into this AI construct, and I now stand before you ready to answer all of your questions."

Shepard asked the first question he thought the AI could answer. "What's the Crucible, and do you know how I can activate it?"

The keeper turned towards the white walls. "The Crucible was of my design when it was first made, but has been improved upon over the millennia. It is a simple machine, but massive. Its only purpose is to destroy the Reapers."

"It can destroy them then?" Shepard smiled. "Good, now turn it on! We need to use it now!"

The keeper turned back to Shepard. "It will be when I know it was built properly. I am running a diagnostic of the entire machine. In the mean time I will continue to answer your questions."

Shepard nodded and continued. "What are the Reapers, and why are they doing this?"

The keeper smiled a strange keeper smile. "You finally ask the question all before have wondered. I know you have spoken to the Leviathans, but their supposed truth is marked by lost data and their own arrogance. I know exactly what happened, though a few details were lost, and I know exactly how many cycles there have been, although that is irrelevant. The Reapers were originally created by the Leviathan's AI creation to bring peace to the galaxy using force. They were built to be a kind of galactic police force. There were many who built synthetic creations to help ease their lives, but the AIs rebelled. Their rebellions, however, were almost never of their own doing, and no organic race was ever destroyed by these rebellions until the Reapers themselves began the cycle. This was the mistaken idea the Leviathans thought of as truth. A simple coding error usually caused the revolts, and most of these coding errors occurred because of other races that held grudges or were in some state of war with the organics that had created the AIs. The error in their runtimes caused the AIs to perceive the organics that had created them as a threat, but they never killed them off completely, because they remained sentient despite the flaw and did not want to kill them all. The Leviathans, however, were angered by their loss of tribute because of these wars, and they repurposed their AI to preserve life at any costs."

The keeper continued. "The Leviathan's AI originally used the Reaper 'solution' to destroy all artificial life it encountered. Many organics fought against the AI, to defend their creations, and that left the AI confused. It could not preserve life when life fought it, and so the cycle began…"

The keeper turned its head to the wall again. "I was one of the programmers of that AI... I was one of the greatest 'tools' for the Leviathans. They ruled the galaxy, and nothing could ever hope to defeat them… Or so we thought. My race was the Leviathan's most obedient race, and we eagerly tried to please them. We created the original Reaper fleet. Many of those original ships are gone now, however. The AI though… The AI lives on. I am uncertain of the exact cause of the AI's change of attitude, but I believe there was an error in its programming, just like the AI rebels. One of the parts I didn't design, I hope. Machines are as close to perfect as any sentient being can be, but are only perfect if everything is coded correctly. Errors will cause their failure and the smallest of errors will... create the biggest problems."

The keeper turned back to Shepard. "After the AI became corrupted, it decided there was only one way to preserve life: The Reapers."

Shepard crossed his arms and asked. "And how do Reapers preserve anything?"

The keeper continued. "It believed there was only one proper order of life in the cosmos: synthetic. It believes that organics are to blame for conflict in the universe, and they decided that 'melding' organic life to synthetic technology would perfect them, and preserve them forever. They believed a synthesis of all life as the only solution. The Reapers, to the AI, are the salvation of all organics."

The keeper shook its head. "It also believes that only advanced civilizations are worthy of this melding, as the Reapers were considered the 'final' evolution of all life, and the cycle was born that day. Using the Reaper fleet we had created for it, the AI attacked the Leviathans, turning them into the first true Reaper. After the Leviathans were destroyed the Reapers attacked all of the lesser races, and systematically wiped them out with the greatest efficiency… My kind fought the Reapers the hardest, and we were the last of the first cycle to be destroyed. As a final insult we were converted into the keepers, as if to remind all of the folly of our resistance. But they were wrong! I had set up several plans to destroy the Reapers, but none have worked until now. Most were lost to the ages, but the Crucible and myself have remained."

Shepard looked at the keeper with a confused look, "Then how are you here on the Citadel if your race was destroyed? And what other plans?"

The keeper put another smile on its face. "The war lasted for centuries, but my kind was a long-living species. We lived for about 600 years. I was young, only 88, when the first cycle began. When I was 533 I was one of the last survivors. I was getting old, but I led the final resistance. The last battle of the first cycle occurred here, on the greatest marvel of my species, the Citadel. When it was clear the war was lost completely I decided to spread my ideas across the cosmos. I spread what you call Thanix cannons to several underdeveloped planets, but nothing but their own destruction resulted from it. I sent several copies of the Crucible to as many planets as I could and many data devices describing the Reapers were sent out into space, but few ever found them and no one ever believed them. My final idea was to upload my mind into the Citadel's computer network. The Reapers took control of the Citadel and I then realized what I had done would prove nothing. I was discovered, and written over. My code remained, but it was lost to the ages… until the Prothean cycle."

The keeper turned to Javik. "It is because of your people that this cycle can finally break the endless death and destruction of the Reapers. Your kind advanced far faster than the Reapers anticipated. No other cycle ever came close to discovering the secrets of Mass Relay technology before you. Your kind also discovered me, hidden deep in the discarded code of the Citadel computers. Sadly, the day I was activated by accident was the same day the cycle began for your people, but I was able to send a message to those on Ilos. When the Prothean cycle ended and the Reapers went back into dark space, those from Ilos came to me and freed me from the bondage code the Reapers had written in me as a backup precaution. I told them everything I'm telling you now, but they had no hope of building the Crucible and their people were already gone."

The keeper turned back to Shepard. "I then awaited the next race to find me, and sure enough the Asari arrived at the Citadel. I told them of the Reapers, of the inevitability of their death unless they built the Crucible, but the politicians of the Asari kept me under wraps. They called me an insane AI and tried to delete me… This is why I was trapped in this room and why your cycle was so leery of AIs. I was still able to receive feedback from the Citadel, but I could only send output here, in this lost panel. I was able to create the pods you are currently using, but I couldn't do much more. I watched as more species came to the Citadel, and I watched the Reapers manipulated events for centuries in an effort to break your cycle. I watched your Rachni Wars, your Krogan Rebellion, the Geth Rebellion, and the human's 'First Contact War'. I thought this cycle was doomed, and I would again be thrown into oblivion and never stop the Reapers… But then you appeared. You gave me hope! You tried to tell everyone the Reapers were coming! You, Shepard, are the only reason it is even possible for the Reapers to die, and you've proven that today."

The keeper stopped for a second. "Crucible diagnostic at 78%, please ask any more questions if you have them."

Shepard looked over at Javik, and then turned back to the keeper. "What about the Collectors? What were they for?"

The keeper looked at Shepard for a moment, processing the question. "The ones you call Collectors were the last insult to the Protheans, but according to my data banks you already know this. Their purpose was more experimental. The AI decided to try and use the humanoid creatures to maximize the efficiency of their harvest, as they were unable to turn the Protheans into a Reaper. Because of you their experiment failed, however."

"Where is this AI anyway?"

Ji-Wilnar replied. "The AI created by the Leviathans is housed in a mega structure deep in dark space. It is the largest space station created in all of my records, and houses all Reapers. The Crucible is designed to target this mega structure and destroy it, cutting the Reaper command signal and saving your cycle from extinction."

The keeper looked up. "To think it could finally end today… I cannot know exactly how many trillions were killed because of my masters, the Leviathans, but I do know they can finally be stopped and the harvest can end. Do you have any more questions?"

Shepard just stared for a moment. The keeper had described the Reapers as nothing more than a terrible mistake gone horribly wrong, and it was trying desperately to atone. He also thought about the Leviathans; they were ultimately the ones responsible for the death of trillions because of their need for tribute. Shepard shook his head in disgust at the thought of the 'apex' race.

Javik finally decided to speak, "We have no more questions for you computer, and it does not matter. Activate the Crucible and end this! I must avenge my people!"

The keeper looked towards Javik. "Diagnostic complete: Activating…"

The entire room flickered. The keeper turned to Shepard. "Commander, there is an error…"

Author's endnote: There, I have laid out my plans. The AI is insane and must be put down, and that's what the Crucible does. Now you know what was going on in my head before I got the 'canon' ending… This is canon to me! XD I didn't necessarily care for the Leviathan DLC at all, but I ultimately decided it could be interesting if it was described a little more and fleshed out properly… Now, just because you know everything doesn't mean this will have to be a happy ending story, but I will say that doesn't mean the ending has to be sad either; you'll see what my plans are. Anyhow, review, follow, favorite, or hit me if you think I made the ending worse, and I'll see you next chapter!