The galaxy was a fascinating place, and the only regret Mordin Solus had about the short life he had been gifted was that there was just so much to see and so much to learn. And, sadly, the galaxy seemed intent on giving him unavoidable tasks. Of course, he could avoid them, but her moral fiber wouldn't let him do so. Easier, perhaps, if someone else did. But when a task was necessary, he saw avoidance as moral cowardice. Do the job, do it right. Then go home. Do it himself, someone else might get it wrong.
The Dalatrass was nervous, of that there was no doubt. A fascinating phenomenon. Biological imperatives dictated social stratification. Behavioral patterns followed. Culture arranged itself around it. The Dalatrasses vied for power as a means to achieve safety, yet safety was never absolute. Never enough. Anxiety could be reduced by accepting fate and moving on. He suggested once to a Dalatrass, did not end well. He kept his face carefully schooled with a neutral expression while smiling internally. Life was complicated enough, why make it harder than it is? He understood why, but still would have liked to change that. Would help a lot.
"Solus," the dalatrass called. A signal, she had concluded her deliberations. Would have preferred to be seated in the meantime, but that was life.
"Dalatrass," he replied. Simple, convey attention and respect.
"Your report regarding the asari attempting to make contact is worrisome. Our sources have not been able to trace a motive to the interest. Your area of expertise lies in genetics and medical science, your work with the genophage might be known to some of their rank, although no leak has been discovered so far."
She talked too much. Attempting to establish a dominant position. Knows everything. Is in control. Pointless, but couldn't be helped. Those possibilities already evaluated. Could have simply moved on and assumed he was not a dunce.
"Your research has never brought you close to studying the protheans, yet it would seem as if that is what the asari who contacted you are interested in. We have been able to trace the contacts to the Ala'ksha Exploration Corporation or, rather, to the asari family orchestrating their movements from the top."
Hinting to intrigue, privileged information. Quite unnecessary. Deduction had told him as much. Many questions remained regarding their intentions, however. Biological data of Prothean origin was rare. Ilos cache might provide some. Reaching to STG-linked expert for analysis overly risky. More behind the scenes than he had data for. Had already decided to agree, expected to manage a trip to Ilos. Fascinating place, so many questions.
"Are you familiar with the recent operation by the Systems Alliance out in the Attican Traverse?"
Surprise. He was aware, knew STG members had to have been involved, deduction by indirect signs. Personnel movements, information blackouts. Asking him. Asari involved? No, asari were involved in the construction of the new human fleets. New designs, overpowered weaponry. Unsurprising that STG- Ah, of course, testing countermeasures. Systems Alliance had been unusually vicious. Forced into that position possibly. Counter to newer armaments or defenses. Connection to prothean-focused asari seemed tenuous. Technology not of prothean origine, had been claimed. Precursor to protheans? Possible. He stopped thinking, Dalatrass expected an answer.
"I am," he replied. "Operation testing new STG countermeasures. Full success I assume? No information leaked."
Regrettable, but understandable.
He stopped himself from saying that. True, but Dalatrass wouldn't appreciate.
"Correct," the Dalatrass responded. Interesting choice, assumed deduction. She was correct, of course. "The asari might have more information than they have shared with the humans. Perhaps they want to test our knowledge, or offer collaboration. Contacting a researcher of your caliber wouldn't create suspicion. You must keep your eyes open and report to me as soon as feasible. We must know what the asari know, and what position they wish to adopt should negotiations follow."
Power structures. Shortsighted. Expected the asari to react immediately to sudden setback by their allies. Premature. Asari did not like lack of information any more than Dalatrasses did, but wouldn't rush to conclusions like that, contact was made just hours ago, but previous contact throgh proxy agents was weeks ago. They would- Evidence might be out there. Possibly. If immediate action was taken, evidence conclusive. Unless premises wrong, garbage in, garbage out. Descriptive human idiom.
Premise wrong. No retaliation against Union or other powers. Request assistance. Unknown threat? No, unknown to Union, perhaps. Possible threat, connected to Protheans, misidentified due to STG operation. Human idiom. When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
"I expect your discretion and collaboration in this matter, Solus," the Dalatrass said.
"Of course, most promptly, Dalatrass."
He smiled. It seemed as if the galaxy had yet another task for him to perform. Stop another catastrophic conflict. Good thing it was him.
Somebody else might get it wrong.
He had expected to have to talk his way into visiting Ilos, although he had his doubts about whether the location mattered at all. After all, the asari reported a data cache and working VI, potentially mobile and easy to secure somewhere else. Location of Ilos was known, and expeditions had already started to attempt to reach the planet through regular FTL travel. Expected twenty years before arrival, most wouldn't make it. However, the asari had taken him directly towards Ilos. Surprising.
"Not worried about others attemtping to reach Ilos," he said. It wasn't really a question.
The asari, Shiala, smiled in return. "It hardly matters. By the time anyone makes it there, we'll be long gone one way or another."
Mordin blinked rapidly at that. Interesting choice of words. fitting with his working theory. Sense of urgency, but couldn't be related to recent Traverse have made him feel uneasy if he weren't a salarian. Just wait, data will be available soon. He closed his eyes and started humming to himself, one of those delightful human melodies.
The shuttle started the descent towards the planet soon after, shaking and weaving in the air. The atmosphere looked highly active, with strong winds and electric activity. With a final push, the vehicle made it past the turbulence and braked sharply as it reached the surface. He disengaged the restraints of his seat and stood, eager to step outside. Shiala gave him a look and smiled. Yes, been in many a landing before, some more adventurous than this one. Both had. Look of recognition of a peer.
Outside, another asari awaited. Recognized her immediately.
"Doctor Solus, my name is Liara T'Soni. Welcome to Ilos."
"Thank you. Please, just Mordin. Eager to pass your tests and learn about threat," he said.
He expected a response, and he got it in the look of shock drawn all over the faces of the two asari. Amusing, but hardly useful. Surprise, sure, but had better things to do. Surely the matter was urgent, better to skip ahead.
"How... What..." Liara stammered, while Shiala stood next to her, one hand on the weapon clipped to her belt.
"Deduction. Was not sure until reactions. Regardless, Union not aware of external threat. Must ask, why secrecy?"
"Perhaps the test first would be in order," Shiala said, her voice clipped and clear. Intent.
"Of course, will follow."
Liara, still visibly shaken, took a deep breath and gestured for him to follow, It was fascinating to watch. Old prothean ruins at a scale he had never seen, mixed with overgrown but sickly-looking vegetation, and modern touches from the asari that had made the planet their new, albeit temporary, home. A large presence of hanar was quite noticeable as well. That incident after the revelation of the Ilos mass relay connected to the Citadel. Not much had been said publically about it afterwards. Illuminated Primacy satisfied. Even STG information channels unaware of the large hanar presence. Fascinating. Threat must be connected to protheans. Similar to Rachni, perhaps? Isolated by protheans in the same way Rachni had been prior to relay opening. Machine uprising suspected during ancient prothean history. Possibility.
They crossed a door and arrived to what appeared to be a large lab. Crowded, very active. He understood. Supposed to distract him while test was conducted. Interview? Too simple, but potentially effective. Meld, perhaps. Couldn't agree, too many secrets. Might have to convince them otherwise, threat to the galaxy warranted response. She led him to a corner, where a few comfortable seats had been placed next to a terminal.
"Vigil," Liara called out loud, and one of the terminals came to life. An amorphous construct of some sort. "Please check Doctor Solus for indoctrination."
She was looking at him as she spoke. Evaluation reaction. Indoctrination? Process of imposing an idea on someone until contradiction became impossible. Looking for signs of mental duress, perhaps. He smiled and waited, expecting a barrage of questions, perhaps biological scans. STG training prepared him for such tasks. Wouldn't use training. No reason to be dishonest now. Would stop them if-
"No signs of indoctrination detected," the construct said.
He blinked rapidly.
"Fascinating. No sign of biological scan. Indoctrination term not used in expected way. Threat uses Biological vector? Affecting the mind, perhaps. Prothean technology used to detect, inconvenient to bring subjects to Ilos. How widespread? If undetectable by-"
"Somebody shut the Salarian up!"
New voice, unknown accent. Translator buzz indicated asari language, but voice did not match expected registers. Researchers stopped their tasks, turned to the newcomer.
"Hm, unknown physiology. four eyes, speaking Thesserit? Deference by hanar, facility..." he jumped to his feet in surprise. "A prothean. Fascinating. How-"
"I am not a specimen, salarian," Javik said, coming to a stop in front of Mordin.
"Of course not. Sentient with self determination, same as rest. Must know, how? Cryo-preservation over such long timeframe unlikely. Time dilation, perhaps. Other survivors? No, would have already left. cloning, dangerous, but perhaps-"
His speech was interrupted as the prothean raised his hand and touched his forehead with a finger. It was a fast, but not overtly aggressive move. Could have tried to avoid it, fast and trained enough for it. Instead, let it happen. Didn't expect the result. Flood of memories, not his own. Dawn of the Prothean Empire. Not so enlightened, after all. Extinction. Machine race called the Reapers. Not of their creation. Living in dark space. Mass Effect technology a trap.
Not a trap, apex of technological development. Alternative technologies not discovered. Ah, of course, setting path of evolution.
Memories. Shared? Prothean must have shared back. Helped himself. More human idioms. Amusing. Knew about Union, Dalatrasses. High access. Couldn't be allowed to live with that knowledge. But last prothean. Threat to the galaxy. Secrecy? Ah, indoctrination. Mental manipulation. All organic life guided by Reapers. Unlikely, sowers likely to precede Reapers. Javik didn't attempt debate, didn't care. Had nothing but Vengeance. Exemplar? Could be used for survival. Javik cared not for survival of others, only vengeance. Sad. Understandable.
The flood of memories stopped as the physical contact ended. Excessive. He had to take several seconds to process the flood of information. An eternity for his trained mind. Imminent threat, one that destroyed all civilizations before. Possibly destroyed their own creators. Ah, the technological end of civilization.
"Will you try to kill me, salarian?" Javik said.
He blinked rapidly. considered the words. Had some of his memories, too precious to be shared. Classified information. Dangerous. As the prothean finished, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Drell. Bodyguard, possibly. Always dangerous in close quarters.
"Remarkable, mind as fast as a salarian's," he said. "Cannot, immediate threat too important."
"Good, you would have failed."
"Unlikely. Wouldn't have moved openly. Acted in secret. Still might," he said, breaking into a smile, and making eye contact with the Drell. The Drell looked back, and hept his hand on the weapon on his belt.
"What?" Liara said.
"Ignore him," Javik said. "We have tasks for you, Doctor Solus."
Used proper name. Progress.
"Indoctrination. Compromised leadership led to extinction, must not repeat mistake. Indoctrination targets leadership? No, indoctrination creates leadership. Hunger for power and control."
"Exactly," Liara said, visibly putting aside all the questions that had clearly popped in her head. Good, had curiosity, but couldn't connect dots just yet. Needed training. "We cannot possibly bring everyone who matters to Ilos, but so far we have had trouble replicating the prothean technology that allows for the detection of indoctrination."
"Must not attempt to replicate technology. Study measured effect. If measurable, develop method to do so. Replication only shortcut when easy."
"Yes, yes, but more important than that right now is the Collectors," Shiala said.
"Collectors? More important. Connected to reapers? Of course. Reapers do not disappear. Have failsafes. Protheans first to deactivate Citadel, other civilizations would have attempted to warn others. Explains Collector curiosity about sentients, verify indoctrination process. Or suitability for unknown reaper goals."
"Perhaps, we're not sure yet," Liara said. "What matters is that they have advanced reaper technology, and recently attacked a human carrier, destroying it with no trace."
He blinked rapidly again. Completely wrong. Cover for STG operation mistaken for Collector attack. Why? Several possibilities crossed his mind. Perhaps true. STG compromised by reaper assets? Possible. Disturbing. But wrong. e looked at Javik, and the prothean surprised him with his response.
"These collectors," he said, distaste dripping from every word he uttered,"are what remains of my people. Twisted into slaves by the reapers, made to serve them. It wasn't enough that they destroyed us and drove us to extinction. They are an abomination. they must be destroyed."
The prothean knew the truth. Chose to hide it. Wanted to destroy collectors. Not upset galactic order? Didn't seem to care. Interesting.
"Evidence of collector involvement?" Mordin said.
"Vigil, show us the video please," Liara said.
At once, the terminal swapped to a grainy video recording. Observation port from small craft, most likely. Something flashed by and the video ended. Enough for him to recognize it. Smaller craft. Autonomous drone, perhaps. Interesting choice for STG to make, but likely to be useful. Expensive, vulnerable to cybernetic attacks. Dangerous to use against humans if geth allowed access.
"You saw it," Javik said.
"Of course. Collector ship?"
"It has been identified as an Oculus, an autonomous drone used by the Collectors. Possibly."
He looked at Javik. "Reaper asset, or prothean?"
"Neither," Javik said, "at least during my time."
"Interesting. Why me? Biological research not related to drone construction."
"We believe the collectors use some sort of biomechanical, miniaturized drones called seekers which can render enemies unable to move, with some sort of variation of a biotic stasis," Liara said. "And that you are ideally suited to develop a countermeasure to neutralize them."
"Source?" he said. Liara looked at Shiala, and neither of them replied. He smiled widely. "Ah, finally found real secret. Very well, will help, but must report to Dalatrass. Expects update, believes asari want to renegotiate status quo."
"That might not be a good idea," Liara said.
"Assume leadership compromised, lead along until indoctrination can be confirmed or denied. Pass along to superiors, let them make decisions. When will Collector attack happen?"
Liara, once again, took a moment before answering, letting her brain catch up. Javik looked like he had. Prothean remarkably gifted, if angry.
"The humans are organizing that, but they want a swift response. They're quite unhappy."
"Understandable. Meanwhile, could help with indoctrination. Have any live subjects?"
"Not anymore," Javik said flatly.
"Oh, shame. Still, please, show data."
As Liara showed him around, his mind kept spinning around with the information he had just absorbed. In truth, he had dealt with the immediate response, but there were implications he had to consider. Entire galaxy could be compromised. Changes could be drastic, lead to large scale war. Weakened against Reapers. Timeline likely to be short, given asari attitude. Stakes were higher than ever.
Had to be him.
Author's Notes: Okay, I'm not sure how this will sit with the audience but... Chapter kept intentionally short. Why? Because going any longer in Mordin's voice is going to give me, and likely you, an aneurism, and it feels so fitting that he went through the chapter in half the length other people do.
I love Mordin. I really do. so many great lines, so little game to enjoy them.
So what's going on? As Mordin said, the salarians made the attack, the collectors are being blamed, and nobody knows if it's true or not. Lovely, lovely ambiguity. And now you know why I mentioned in the previous "Next on: Divergence" that it was about someone stuck in the middle. That'll be him. Opened up the whole enchilada, signed up, and managed to get some reluctant respect out of Javik, of all people. I mean, primitives!
On the other hand, it's unlikely we'll see him in action in the long term as long as there's research to be made. But ooooh, the implications.
Also, are you out of breath after reading the chapter? That was the intention! :D
Right, so, as per usual, and not wanting to seem too pushy, but if you want to support me as a pat on the reon, you can do so here:
tinyurl (period) com (slash) y2q9cop6
(FFnet and hyperlinks don't mix).
Reviews! Plenty of reviews right before Christmas. Let's go over them!
RedShirt1453: The problem Roy has with all that $$$ is that he's got way too much on his mind at the moment to think of anything like that. Give 'im some time :)
maesde: I think Shepard still doesn't know how to feel about Roy, but there'll be some clarification eventually. Growth and all that hehe.
Antonyfal: Asking if there'll be more of Marie is asking if there'll be more of Cerberus. I think you can guess the answer ;)
BJ Hanssen: Yeah, I'm still juggling ideas of how the drone spam will be dealt with, plenty of ideas coming through the comments, so thanks. Still ruminating, but I know plot-wise how (just a matter of choosing the tech that'll fit and will work with the plot). Can always go the Macross Missile Spam route for a laugh. Just need Sings-to-the-Future to sing Lion during the final assault and the transformation will be complete :D
Uemei: Hat tip on picking up the geth angle (referenced here). They might very well be part of the countermeasure, if not hijacking, then maybe counteracting. Also, press F for the Death Watch! (Still pretty damn cool tho).
Jasticus: Thank you for the comprehensive review and criticism. It's not unfounded, and I see where you're coming from of course (it's not like I believe I'm perfect... most of the time). Some of the frustrations you're expressing are part of, avoiding spoilers, things that I do have planed to have resolution for but which have suffered in pacing due to the fic fattening considerably in the middle, due plot threads dealing with all the fallout across the galaxy ccoming to the forefront. There's only so much patience I can ask for after, what, nearly 400k words? But yeah, if I had considered that the middle chapter, so to speak, was going to be a lot more involved than it is, I'd have paced differently and perhaps tried something else. But there'll be resolution to several of those. Thanks for your thoughtful review. I do have to object to two things: One is that I don't think I ever implied anything romantic between Kim and Roy. And the other is that Wahea isn't exactly an innocent maiden (she spent decades doing drugs, sex, and rock and roll), she's just a bit lost and out of her depth. But if you're thinking of the previous chapter, the attitude will be explained soon, which I hope will be amusing.
RIOSHO, SpecterXCove, Finshadow212th, Tom712, moosejuice5, thanks a lot!
Next time, on My Effect: Divergence: A plan. Someone really, really pissed off. And breaking news. Until then, thanks a lot for your support!