From life to machine

Disclaimer

Starcraft is the property of Blizzard entertainment.

Mass effect is the property of Bioware.

Any elements used in this story are used only in order to create a story for no monetary gain nor do I claim any ownership over them, beyond the names and characters unique to this story.

Xel'naga reliquary - Therum

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya

A tempest.

This was the only way that Tali could describe the event that was unfolding right in front of her eyes.

She had only been lucky enough to witness rain and storm in a digital form due to her immense curiosity and her access to the extranet.

She found that sort of chaos… relaxing.

But she was now far from being relaxed.

Since her rescue from the assassins, Tali had been more than grateful to those who had saved her and had given her a second chance.

As a quarians, she had been given the chance to prove the worth of her species to the rest of the galaxy by being one of the people trying to save it from a mass murderer and the creations of her people.

But in truth she had taken this chance due to her want to aid the two people who had helped her: Shepard and Xiltar.

To the human she owed a debt of gratitude for offering aid despite his own government trying to do the opposite and allowing her to join his crew in the normandy.

To the stranger she owed him a debt for saving her life where she would have most likely perished.

Tali had once approached Xiltar with the intention of stating as much and promising to repay this debt when she could, but he confessed that he had done so out of selfish interest and said that her want to repay such a debt was needles.

The protoss clearly had no intention of insulting her but Tali still believed that she needed to repay such a debt.

He had been understanding in this matter and did not oppose her when Tali still promised to repay her debt when the time came.

The protoss then had extended the same promise to her should he eventually owe her something in return.

While their interaction had been few, the stranger always spoke with an aura of patience and great insight. But as Tali spoke with the giant she sensed that something beneath his words felt strangely familiar.

It was the longing of being apart from one's kind.

And Tali knew that feeling all too well.

The quarian had only been apart from the migrant fleet for a few months but it already felt as if she had not seen her family and friends in several years.

And it was because of this that she was made aware that this type of isolation seemed to invite all those negative feelings that ate at the mind in moments of weakness.

But this…

This was something else.

What appeared in front of her wasn't the figure of a lonely and saddened individual… no.

This was wrath.

And the protoss was now its avatar.

Tali saw nothing but hatred and fury in Xiltar's eyes as he turned towards them.

What tilted the creature over the edge at the mere sight of images and what they represented was beyond her.

To her this was a gallery of long forgotten history.

But this had to be something else for him.

The team readied their weapons and aimed at the protoss as more lightning emanated from his body.

None of them understood what was happening to him and even Shepard seemed to be unaware that he could do such a thing.

Tali was still unsure if she should be aiming her weapon at him. He was their ally and he had not done anything to hurt them before.

She could only plead for him to end this.

"Xiltar, stop!" she called to him, as if begging for him not to attack them.

But he did not waver, he only stared at them in silence.

The light from his eyes spewing forth in chaos.

"They knew…" he began ominously "The Xel'naga knew of the destiny of my people…" he turned back to the wall "AND THEY DID NOTHING!" he screamed for all to hear.

Lightning then emanated from his hands and struck at the wall with his fury.

The wall buckled at his onslaught and turned to nothing but rubble and a cloud of dust…

Those who were not wearing their helmets at that moment were forced to cover their eyes as the dust threatened to blind them in a storm of particles and broken stone.

And as the cloud of dust began to settle and the lighting began to die down they were witness to a sight that only a few people across reality had been witness to.

A protoss with a broken spirit.

They saw as Xiltar was kneeling when just moments ago he had been levitating off the ground in an impossible display of what his kind was capable off

Tali just looked in confusion as this person she had come to respect just kneeled in defeat after this strange outburst from a creature that acted with cold demeanor and precise action.

What was the truth that shattered his patience in such a manner?

The group just exchanged glances in confusion as none of them dared to approach him.

They just saw how he had lost all the will to exist and they looked at how the fight had been taken out of him…

Even Shepard seemed stunned by this display of anger.

"They left countless to die…" Xiltar broke the silence as he sat and let his arms fall limp to his side "They condemned my reality to an age of abomination…" Xiltar continued but each sentence left Tali and the group even more confused "They allowed him to win… my gods… my gods betrayed me…".

…

What had been done to his people?

The group exchanged uncomfortable glances as they decided to leave the protoss alone and gave him some space while they walked back to the other side of the room and continued to look at the panels.

All save for one…

The quarian did not know what compelled her to approach the protoss, but Tali made her way to his side and kneeled next to Xitlar as he just faced blankly towards the ground.

She just guessed that he didn't want to be alone.

They just sat in silence as Tali just looked into the strange wall that had been revealed beyond the now destroyed mural and continued to sit next to her… friend.

After another moment, it was he who broke the silence.

"They betrayed us…" Xiltar spoke and Tali turned to look at him "They betrayed existence and left it at the mercy of a monster…" she did not understand what any of this ment.

She extended a hand and tried to place it on his shoulder but he just glared at her as she tried to do this. "I'm sorry…" were her words as she retracted her hand and looked away in shame.

Tali did not see it but his expression softened at the realization of what he had done.

The protoss apparently realized what he had done with both his allies, the relics of the Xel'naga… and what he had done to himself.

Tali felt as the protoss shifted next to her and stood up once again.

The quarian looked up and saw as a hand was offered to her "I… I am the one who is sorry".

Tali accepted the hand and allowed herself to be aided by him as she lifted herself up.

Xiltar nodded and turned towards the group that had finished with their exploration of the chamber and had begun to congregate next to Shepard.

With a spirit humbled and a wounded soul, he spoke once again "Go and bring them here… our journey is not done…" Tali did not wish to leave his side so soon but she nodded and did as she was asked.

The quarian approached the commander and his team and managed to hear half of what the commander had been saying "... There weren't any vents and no other doors like the one we saw before. Is that correct?" Shepard asked while he looked towards Kaidan.

"There weren't any exits…" Kaidan began "And the walls are solid in all directions. I have no idea how we are supposed to go further" the lieutenant said before he turned towards the other alliance soldier "Any ideas Ashley?".

But the gunnery sergeant did not answer as she continued to look up towards one of the panels.

It was that of the human homeworld. Earth as she recalled.

"It doesn't look like that…" These words escaped the lips of the woman as she continued to look up "Our world has never looked like that".

The rest of the team followed her gaze and stared at the panel with a sense of unease.

"Have your people never made anything like those ships?" Garrus asked as he pointed to the four massive ships that left the confines of home and were sent to the abyss.

"No…" Shepard said "Not yet I think…".

Yet?

"What do you mean, Shepard?" Liara asked as she looked at the commander in confusion.

"..." Shepard opened his mouth but no words came out of them. He then sighed and spoke his mind "Two centuries ago our species could never imagine what we are living through now. We were alone in the universe and could only dream at what we would be able to achieve in several years or what our children could accomplish beyond our lifetime" he looked towards Ashley and both seemed to understand what he wished to say "We wrote stories to give names to this dreams and in most of them we reflected our desire to build something greater than what our ancestors left behind".

The commander stopped and was followed by Ashley "A symbol to show the galaxy that we were here…" she said while pointing towards the panel "And to show those beyond that we wished to be alone no more".

The group fell silent and remained like that as they processed this sentence.

…

Were the humans in that image supposed to be alone in the universe?

This could not be…

The next one showed how they made war upon the bug like aliens and Xiltar's people…

…

Wait.

The image showed the protoss as enemies of the humans.

Tali realized in shock what this must have meant to the humans in the room.

She could see that they now would look at him with nothing but distrust.

…

She did not wish to, but seeds of distrust also took root in her heart.

But he had asked a favor of her and she would comply "I…" Tali began and got the group's attention "Xiltar actually wanted…".

She was interrupted by the shaking of the ground and the sound of stone moving.

The group turned towards the origin of the sound and looked as Xiltar had just done something to the wall as it shined with an eldritch pattern of blue light that was also dotted with a strange union of symmetry and chaos.

The wall then began to shift around slowly as another passageway was revealed to them.

The door opened to reveal more darkness and over the rubble of the mural they saw as Xiltar stared at the group in anticipation for them to follow him.

They all exchanged worried glances but decided that this could maybe be a way out for them.

Shepard ordered the team to follow the protoss but all remained a distance apart from him as he slowly made his way to another room.

They entered the darkness and like before a faint glow illuminated the chamber as they all entered it.

But this time it only shined in two places.

The first place was over a small pedestal that held a black sphere of stone atop it.

And the second place…

One final panel.

But this panel that was made with far more detail than those before showed something the group did not expect…

It showed them.

The panel was plastered with their own figures. As they looked back at them with a crest of strange symbols adorned the heads of each of them.

It was odd to see themselves in such a static and live-like manner, but Tali found it even more strange that her figure had been carved in a place that was who knows how long.

The group remained silent at this bizarre discovery.

"Thats…" Ashley broke the silence as it remained since the protoss unlocked the room "Not a way out… Liara?".

The doctor on her part just sat on the ground. Despair showed across her face "The protheans… they thought a way out could be found if they entered the temple and walked beyond it's galleries… But it seems they were wrong" She explained while she hugged her legs with her arms with a tired expression.

Tali also felt… tired.

This whole mission had been an arduous one and there seemed to be no sign of it ever coming to an end.

But one of the people amongst the group remained resolute.

Shepard moved next to the protoss as they both examined the panel. He then reached for it with his hand and as he touched it, the symbols changed to a language their translators could understand.

The symbols must have been some sort of title for each of them.

The creatures that had built this place must have to know that they would come to this palace… somehow.

They called Wrex the chief of many hordes.

They named Garrus as a lord of angels.

Liara they called the shadowed hand.

Kaidan was called the monarch of war.

Ashely received the title of ruler of vengeance.

Shepard was baptized as the prophet of plights.

Xiltar they named the wayfarer of the void.

And for herself… Tali was called the matron of the exiled.

"How… Xiltar?" Shepard began as he was looking for an answer from the alien.

But both Shepard and Tali saw that the protoss had somehow moved without making a sound and was now facing the sphere in the pedestal.

Before Shepard or any of them could ask him what he was doing Xiltar spoke "Say what you will. Traitor…" contempt permeated his words.

Who was he speaking to?

"First… born…" a bodiless voice began to speak as each word echoed with might across the chamber "We… did… not… betray… you…" each word a subject of effort as it seemed.

Xiltar moved one step closer to the stone.

"You did" Xiltar began to discuss with the voice "You failed us… you left us to fend alone… you abandoned us" sadness permeated his every word as he seemed to be on the verge of agony.

"We… did not…" it responded in turn "We… meant… to save you…" the voice whispered with more fluency.

Tali noted that on the floor appeared a pattern of light that flowed towards the pedestal as it seemed to feed the sphere atop it and as time passed it seemed to do this in quicker intervals.

Her focus returned to the tense shape of the protoss as he shacked slightly.

Was it fear of anger that boiled out of his soul and made this mighty warrior shake, she did not know.

Xiltar towered over the artifact and thinking he intended to destroy it, Shepard made his way to him quickly and grabbed his arm.

"Xiltar!" The commander spoke as the protoss turned to him, anger still in his eyes. "That thing might be the only way for us to get out of here. You cannot destroy it!".

"A way out…" the voice spoke from the artifact "Help… we can help…" the energy in the room began to gather at the artifact "Wield us… first born…".

Shepard looked at Xiltar as if asking for him to obey the demand of the artifact. Xiltar in turn began to shake his head in disapproval "Nebula will answer for this".

Tali saw as the giant reached for the artifact and began to fight against a wave of energy that emanated from the stone.

But it was done.

Xiltar held the artifact in his grapes and after a moment of darkness and silence a white light exploded from the sphere and overwhelmed her senses.

Moments later the chamber layed empty.

A tomb once more.

Surface of Therum

Shepard

The sun was too bright.

This was what woke Shepard from his dream-like state.

He panicked as he breathed for air but found himself surprised that he was able to breathe.

A movement to his side alerted him that he wasn't alone and he looked around in order to find the source of this disturbance.

But Shepard quickly realized that they were back on the surface and that his squad laid unconscious on the ground next to him.

Shepard panicked as he approached those figures but was relieved to find that they were okay.

He let out a sigh of relief.

Shepard made a head count and as he looked over those unconscious people before him he realized that all were there.

All save for one.

He searched for his last companion and found Xiltar a few meters away from him as he sat on the ledge of a cliff that was near them.

He was just watching the horizon as twilight fell upon that world.

"Commander?" Joker's voice over the intercom got his attention and the commander turned around to focus on him "I lost your signal for a moment there. What's your situation?"

Shepard let out a sigh of relief and replied "We are fine Joker. We got the doctor" Shepard heard as several groans from the rest of his team signaled that they were regaining consciousness.

"That quickly? Hell commander, you might have just set a record for your fastest mission ever" Joker replied with sarcasm as this made Shepard smile a little.

"This isn't the time, Joker. Get us out of here" Shepard ordered his pilot to come for them.

"Understood commander. Just…" he felt doubt in Joker "How the hell did you get to the other side of the planet?".

…

What?

"I… I'll explain later" said Shepard as he helped Garrus and the rest of his team to their feet.

"Understood, commander. We are approaching your position" Shepard saw in the distance as the ship approached and began its descent.

It held position over the edge of the cliff and a few moments later the ramp to the cargo bay was opened.

His team walked towards the ramp and began to unwind from the near death experience.

The protoss was the last to come aboard and his shambling form still showed some signs of fatigue.

Shepard on his part made his way to the elevator and turned to his team "Ground team. Get out of your gear and meet me in the comms room in thirty" he turned his gaze to the protoss "No exceptions" he then punched the button to take him up to the crew deck.

Shepard wanted an explanation and Xiltar would need to come clean with what had happened.

…

A few minutes later

Shepard stood alone in the comms room while he waited for his team to arrive.

Their exploration of that old temple was… informative.

But he knew that before they could even begin to ask questions to the protoss on what had transpired there he still had a mission to fulfill.

He was interrupted after the door opened and he saw that everybody had decided to arrive together.

Apparently all were as eager to hear what the hell went down there.

But first, there was an order to things.

As everybody took their seats he turned towards Liara first and began to explain the reason for their mission "I'm going to give you the cliff notes version of recent events as you may be unaware of what has transpired in the wider galaxy, professor" Liara shifted her posture and looked directly at the commander as he spoke to her "Your mother has been linked to former specter Saren Arterius, a turian terrorist that had caused the deaths of thousands using an army of geth forces and we have reason enough to think that he plans to unleash more destruction if we don't stop him" he saw as Liara did not even flinch at the mention of her mother's involvement in all of this.

It seemed that Xiltar was telling the truth for once.

"I see…" Liara began "I will fully cooperate with anything that is required…" She did not doubt her mother's involvement. As if reading his thought she proceeded "I am aware that my mother might be responsible for whatever crimes are levied against her and I am willing to cooperate with anything that is asked of me…" she lowered her head as she paused "But… it still hurts to think she would even betray me" Liara looked distraught as a single tear came down her cheek.

Losing her team and having your own mother trying to kill you must have been a hard thing for her to experience.

"Thanks…" Shepard began before he gave her a reassuring smile "Then let me bring you up to speed on the objective of our mission…".

Shepard remembered that he hadn't explained his visions to all of his companions and had only briefly explained it to Kaidan and Ashley after they wandered on the citadel "Saren attacked the world of Eden Prime with an army of geth. We don't know how he managed to get their aid but he invaded our world for one single purpose…" Shepard paused for a moment and looked around the room. Each person in it had warned the right to know what he was about to reveal but he still felt some sense of caution "To acquire some information from a recently discovered prothean beacon and to gain access to something called the conduit".

"Incredible…" Liara said in amazement "Not many people get the opportunity to find an instrument of the prothean that still works. I shuddered to think what Saren could have done with the information stored inside had he the opportunity to use it…".

Shepard cringed as she said this last part "Doctor T'soni. Saren did manage to acquire the information stored within the beacon… as did I".

He could see the looks of astonishment and curiosity that came from the other side of the room as all the people on that side were not well informed of what he had experienced or did not have any idea at all.

The other three people on his side of the room seemed to be more calm at this last part as all three of them had been witness to what had happened to him.

Once he made sure that his other allies were completely focused on his words he delivered the dire warning that was inside the beacon "Saren may be working towards unleashing the same force that destroyed the prothean. I saw in a vision the death of that race as they were consumed by something beyond horror… there are no words to describe what I had to witness".

This surprised everyone, but for some reason Shepard saw that Liara wasn't as disturbed as the others "It is true…" she whispered briefly before she looked at Shepard and asked him a question "Commander. When you had your vision, did you hear any voice call to you? Any word that was heard?".

Shepard felt that thumping feeling returned to his head.

The same feeling he had as he woke from the nightmare.

"There was… There was a voice. But I couldn't make out what it was saying…" Shepard began to sweat slightly as he remembered the dream he had with fear. "The beacon. It…" Shepard began. Not finding the right words "It showed me visions that still hunt me in my dreams…" he hid his face as he told them this "There was only carnage as far as i could see. Abominations made of metal and flesh… and a message I could not understand. But then… nothing" Shepard turned to Xiltar. "You know what I'm talking about, right?".

He asked this to the protoss because Shepard hoped he could confirm to the others what he had seen as he was proficient in reading minds.

(Commander…) the protoss began to speak into their minds (I see nothing of these visions…) his reply left Shepard confused as he expected that a mind reading creature would be able to confirm his words (I see only empty space where these dreams should be. But even there I can't see the images you speak off… This isn't something that is held solely on your mind) he looked dejected by this confession as he clearly hoped to see what the commander had seen.

Silence fell across the room.

Apparently there was no way to confirm their existence or a way to unlock the meaning of the vision.

Unless…

The asari in front of him shifted in her seat as she wished to propose something "If… If they are not something of his mind then there might be a way to see if they exist…" Liara explained as she rose from her seat "I would have preferred to do this in a more private manner but time is short. Commander" she extended a hand to Shepard as if she was inviting him to stand "Forgive me for this…" She left out a sight as if trying to relax and then proceeded to cradle his head between her hands and shut her eyes "Empty your mind, commander. Embrace eternity" She opened her eyes to show nothing but an oily blackness.

And then they started…

…

The visions this time were different.

Where before it was a garbled mess there now was time to take in every detail of it…

Every moment, every scene, every horror…

But he found that this time his consciousness wasn't alone as he witnessed these atrocities.

He felt another…

Liara.

He felt that her consciousness was becoming one with his own as they kneaded two fragments into one whole.

But as she could see through him, he was also able to see through her and she that she was both excited and mortified to be able to look at what they were both seeing

Both being two separate creatures but both being connected.

And he could feel the horror she felt, her fear.

The vision began by showing them the shape of aliens like the ones inside the tomb.

Protheans.

Like those inside the temple and the greater dome they were dead and piled up into mountains of corpses.

They saw the shape of similar beings as they dragged the corpses of the now fallen aliens and saw as they moved them towards constructs of black metal in the distance.

Each was a structure of sickening design with asymmetrical relief and almost organic form.

These buildings were clearly built with nothing but malice and an insidious purpose in mind.

One which only eluded them briefly.

The vision showed them only fragments of what happened in that place.

And Shepard was glad that they weren't privy to the whole process.

They saw as flesh was twisted without care and they saw as machines twisted this flesh with more pieces of steel while wovening then in a sick display of both meat and circuitry being made into one thing

They saw as these machines turned and twisted life while using it as a building block for devices and constructs of evil purpose.

The vision then sent them to the stars.

In the darkness of the cosmos they saw as figures in the shadows moved and coiled into impossible shapes while approaching them.

One light appeared across this mass of darkness before it was joined by a row of synthetic eyes as they stared at him from the darkness.

The shape moved further on and walked into the light to reveal the shape of the prothean's destruction.

A shape that Shepard had seen before.

The massive vessel he had seen on Eden Prime.

An ear shattering horn was heard as the ship approached them while a single inorganic word was muttered.

A moniker of death.

"Reaper".

And with that… the vision ended.

…

Shepard woke up and found that he was on the floor while Ashley was furiously shaking him.

Shepard looked around and saw that Kaidan and Ashley were next to him.

What happened?

He could only think about this question before he turned and looked towards Liara's direction.

Shepard could see that Tali and Garrus were trying to wake her up.

She was unconscious.

Afterword.

That last part was inspired by a process called biotransference. True nightmare fuel in every regard.

InSaNEC - hello m8. This whole story was inspired by the mission in SC2 called utter darkness. It's a given that this dark future pivoted on the death of Kerrigan.

Unfortunately she won't have much of an active role despite being one of my favorite characters in the series. But I am cooking something you might like if you want more from her.

Edit - expand into space.