15th March 2156
"We are closing in the relay. Activate stealth systems and disable all transmitters." STG operative Yonum Maban ordered. His orders acknowledged, he sat back and let his mind work over the data he was briefed at. A new race with unmatched technological capability, seemingly little regard for alien life and very likely allied with the batarians.
The Hegemony, as usual, denied everything but the STG knew better. Governor Grothan Pazness, one of the Hegemony's more open minded and less xenophobic officials, disappeared from his post in Camala for a few days, then suddenly returned. No ships were detected carrying him which only left one possibility. A stealth spaceship, like the ones humanity apparently used.
"Captain, we are entering the relay in 30 seconds." said the XO, a young salarian operative.
"Alright, double check everything, take no chances." Yonum ordered.
In 30 seconds, they reached the relay and passed to the human side. There was a small patrol fleet, 10 ships of unknown make, definitely human. What was weird was that there were also 3 destroyers of batarian make. Probably the batarians who helped the humans destroy admiral Arterius's patrol, Yonum thought.
Suddenly, a beeping sound was heard:
"Captain, one of the human ships is hailing us! How is this possible?" said the young operative.
"Calm down everybody! It's a bait! There's no way they could see us in..."
Yonum's orders were cut short however when 3 human ships headed towards them, like they knew exactly were to look.
Right that time, the comm activated by itself, without authorization, to reveal an orange hologram of a human dressed in strange, black, high-end looking clothing.
"My, my. Such uncourteous guests. At least the previous five ships had the decency to answer my call."
All the salarians were silent, trying to figure out what was happening.
"Oh, pardon me, where are my manners?
My name is Arthur and I am the AI of the Terran Coalition destroyer Griffin. Now, we are aware of possible infiltration attempts by STG and you are the sixth. Could you please lead your fine vessel to the Griffin's docking bay 3? I promise you no harm."
"Men! Fall back to the mass relay!" shouted Yonum. Arthur's hologram frowned and said:
"I'm afraid I cannot allow this to happen."
Then, he hijacked the navigation systems of the small stealth craft and started leading it towards the human destroyer. The crew tried and failed to stop the AI, which only sighed from disappointment.
"Gentlemen please. You efforts are pointless. I disabled every manual reset failsafe and all consoles are locked. You are just tiring yourselves for no reason. I said no harm will come to any of you. Just sit down and relax. I can put some music if you want." Arthur said and put a classical song to the loudspeakers.
That seemingly did the trick. The salarians stopped tinkering and waited to see what humanity had in store for them. One of them, Kirrahe, the young salarian who was
Captain Yonum's XO found the courage to talk to the AI.
"Arthur, would you mind if I ask you some questions?" he asked the AI.
The AI turned and smiled:
"Of course not. Anyone who has good manners is aces in my books. What do you want to learn?" he asked jovially.
"What is the title of this song? I never heard anything like this." Kirrahe asked.
"Ah, its title is 'For Elise'. It was composed by Ludwig van Beethoven 300 years ago. It's one of the most widely known titles of classical music in human space. Probably, one day, to Citadel space too." Artur answered.
"Indeed. It's very relaxing. If humanity is so culturally advanced, why did you destroy that turian fleet in such a cruel matter?"
Kirrahe asked again.
"Well, for starters, captain Lana Kushner gave admiral Desolas Arterius a chance to retreat. She also warned him that if he attacked, only his ship would be spared.
He didn't listen, he went against an unknown enemy, us, and was defeated. While it seems cruel and barbaric, captain Kushner only kept her word." Arthur answered.
"Oh, I see. Is it possible to tell me how you managed to track us?" Kirrahe asked.
Arthur laughed and said:
"That is classified. I worry about my job you see. However, you seem like a bright lad, so I will give you a little tip. If... you answer my question. What is your name?"
Kirrahe was confused to the question, but obliged nonetheless:
"My name is Kirrahe. My full name is a bit larger and is classified, so this is all I can give." he said.
"Thank you. This is the tip. An emission you cannot hide. This is how we found you and the previous five teams. This is how we will keep finding you, no matter how quick or stealthy you are. Now, anything else in your mind?" Arthur said.
After a bit more talk about various themes, they reached the docking bay.
The welcome party wasn't particularly violent, but who would dare to resist at these towering armored troops armed with chainguns, flamethrowers and other exotic weapons. The salarians were lead to a room filled with other salarians, a lot of them. It was true, every STG team sent through the relay was captured by the humans. None of them looked worse for wear, which means the AI was again truthful. However, being captured with such ease really mocked the STG, the salarian union and the citadel. It was a resounding defeat. This thought was in everyone's mind. A bit later came a human. He was unarmed, his body was wiry, he had black hair and piercing blue eyes.
"Hello, my name is Jason Peterson. I am your interrogator." he said.
He stood still for a few seconds, then gestured one salarian and said:
"Operative Kirrahe, can you please come with me?" he asked.
Kirrahe nodded and obliged. He followed the human named Jason, who was for some reason without backup, weapons or even armor. Kirrahe knew that an escape attempt would be either too easy or too difficult.
"I know it seems strange to you that I am unarmed and without escort. But trust me, I don't need any of that." Jason said.
Kirrahe was now even more confused. How did the human knew what he thought? Did he detect it from his demeanor or...
Then it dawned to him. Arthur's tip, the ability to understand exactly what anyone thought, Jason was a psychic, a mind reader! Right that moment, Jason stopped, a smile on his lips:
"Arthur was right. You really are smart. You will prove useful to us in the future."
he said.
"Okay. I've had enough mind games. Can you tell me what's going on?" Kirrahe said, a bit angry from this whole debacle.
Jason smiled even wider and said, his tone getting quieter and predatory:
"Simple my amphibian friend. I will fill your mind and the minds of your fellows with fake information, you will take it to your leaders and they will fall in our trap in Shanxi."
His tone was so calm, like he was talking about the weather. Kirrahe was so disturbed that he tried to run away...
only to be caught mid stride by an unseen energy.
"I forgot to say that not only I can read, control and modify minds, I can also move objects with my thoughts." Jason said as he brought Kirrahe back.
"What are you?" Kirrahe asked, both angry and afraid. Jason answered nonchalantly:
"I am a psychic commando. Now calm down and relax, you won't remember a thing."
Kirrahe tried and failed to scream as darkness claimed his mind.
AN
Looks like the Reapers don't have the monopoly in indoctrination and mind warping. But it's one thing to alter a few memories and another to turn living beings into husks. This was today's morality lesson. Ta ta.
