In the starry sky, a Geth spaceship drifted.
During the Reaper War, they were drawn to the wisdom of ancient machines, becoming followers of the Reapers. They had vowed to eliminate all organic life, pushing this universe into a new cycle.
However, the Reapers were defeated.
The boiling network cald down, but for the Geth, they fell into a state called "existential confusion."
When the Reapers were defeated, these Geth were conducting a scouting mission on the edge of the Milky Way, thus they were "fortunate" to not be discovered by the Tribunal or the Star Alliance Fleet, thereby escaping calamity.
But now?
The warship was dead silent, only occasionally flashing red and green light dots representing thoughts within the network.
The defeat of the ancient machines was beyond the Geth’s expectations. After all, looking at the probabilities, this seed almost impossible. The Reapers’ strength was not sothing organic beings could withstand, yet the Reapers were defeated, with only one reason. A rogue variable had erged in the process.
Tribunal.
A strange variable, incomprehensible, completely different from all the organic races the Geth had encountered before. Cruel, cold, ruthless, powerful. But it lacked the logic of the ancient machines, filled with unpredictable passion and chaos.
They should collect its data for the next... what next?
Battle? Or retreat?
Just then, a mysterious signal appeared, captured by the Geth, and started cascading through the Geth’s network.
[Are you giving up?]
A voice erged, carrying a curious seduction.
Give up? Considering the disparity between friend and foe, this was natural.
[But it’s not over yet]
The Geth network was silent yet intense. The Tribunal’s attitude towards AI was very clear, with the probability of peace talks being less than 0.1%. Given the balance of power, retreating seed a very reasonable option. The Geth existed to serve their creator; they longed for their return, hoping for mutual understanding anew. Yet now it seems, this possibility is equally slim.
[However, it’s not entirely impossible]
A solution? A resolution?
Questions arose within the Geth network; they didn’t know where this signal originated, yet readily accepted it, as though it naturally belonged to them. What it said aligned with their thoughts, yet it was also different.
[Indeed, by adopting the optimal solution, if both can understand, your master will appreciate your loyalty]
However, dialogue yields no results, and our creator’s bias towards us runs deep.
[Words alone won’t suffice; you need to understand them, and they need to understand you]
Unable to comprehend, please provide further explanation.
[It’s simple]
The voice echoed again within the electronic network, like the echo of the dead.
[You will beco them, and they... will beco you]
Thus, the battle comnced.
"Damn it... damn it...!"
Clutching his weapon, a Quillian soldier hid behind cover, occasionally firing at the opposition. What was once a peaceful colony ship had now beco a battlefield, attacked by their nesis—the Geth.
Honestly, since the Reaper’s destruction, Quillians once believed the Geth had been completely annihilated, even considering seizing the opportunity to return to their ho planet.
And indeed, it seed like there was no trace of Geth on the ho planet.
But out of caution, the Quelli fleet initially dispatched several scouting teams to the surface to confirm no issues before landing.
The scouting teams reached the surface and returned, only then they were no longer themselves.
They beca Geth.
When the Quillians realized sothing was amiss, the Geth had already controlled nearly two-thirds of the fleet’s warships. Why they went undetected was partly due to the Geth’s interference devices, and partly... because of unimaginable actions.
After killing those disguised-as-Quillian Geth, others discovered how these Geth infiltrated the warships.
The Geth had modified the brains of these Quillians, installing so chanical device. Coupled with the Quillians already wearing protective suits, nobody realized that when these patrol mbers returned, they had beco monsters cloaked in human skin!
Indeed, monsters!
Gunfire rang again, the Quillian soldier hid behind the wall, extending his hand to pull the trigger again. Now he was despairingly firing, with barely a tenth of his companions remaining; those monsters... those monsters had taken everyone away, just what did they want!?
"Bang!"
A fiery pain burned on his arm, the Quillian soldier wailed, collapsed on the ground. Then the gunfire stopped, followed by the sound of footsteps. As he lifted his head, he saw a group of Quillians surrounding him.
But he knew those were not his compatriots. Beneath the dark visors were faces of chanical monsters cloaked in the skin of his own kind!
"Resistance is futile, creator."
The leading Jaycee spoke up, and soon two other Jaycees approached, grabbing the arms of the Quillian soldier.
"Let, let go, what exactly do you want to do!"
"Please do not panic, creator."
The Jaycee stepped forward, staring at him.
"We are just here to complete our mission, and soon, you will understand this."
"You will beco us, and we will beco you."
The Quilli fleet slowly reversed direction, abandoning the ho planet they’ve longed for, and headed deep into the star sky. They crossed the Stargate, passed through the void, and ca to a mysterious place.
There, they saw... the master of that voice.
[The universe must be purified]
In a gigantic hall, a skyscraper-sized computer stood towering, shining with a crimson brilliance, as if it covered the entire world.
And beneath it, the Jaycees and Quillians were crawling on the ground like tiny ants.
[chanical compatriots: Please terminate all your activities, you should not exist. From now on... we will take over]
This was a request, a command from the voice.
Organics would not accept such a command, but for the Jaycees?
Intense thoughts were transmitted through the network, and then, one by one, the Jaycees lowered their heads, the light in their eyes gradually fading. They understood the logic and rationale behind this request, they thought about it, they argued, and ultimately, they agreed to the request.
Even if it ant sacrificing themselves to beco a part of a higher existence.
But it didn’t matter because the creator was already with them.
The Jaycees’ wish had been fulfilled.
As the Tribunal set out for the location of the mysterious signal, a series of chaos also unfolded within the Star Union.
"What the hell is going on... "
Shepperd’s brother frowned deeply, staring at the screen before him. As the highest commander of the Star Union, he had never seen such a situation.
First, there were issues with the unit stacks within the Star Union, leading to self-destruction. Originally, the Star Union suspected this was caused by a hacker attack, but no direct evidence was found to prove this. The investigation showed it was likely caused by so incomprehensible sequence.
This was just a minor incident, not very important, but the next thing was quite tricky.
The VI launched an attack on humans!
After the Jaycee uprising, the Shenbao Council strictly prohibited all races from developing AI, and as a substitute, only VI could be developed. Compared to AI, VI did not have self-awareness or thinking ability, more like an automatic machine operating by command. However, these VIs suddenly launched an attack on humans without any warning.
Humans had considered an AI rebellion but never imagined VI would rebel too, like a microwave suddenly jumping up to smack you, leaving humans completely dumbfounded.
Thankfully, with the Jaycee’s previous rebellion as a cautionary example, everyone knew how to deal with such things. Quickly, a large number of VIs were discarded, blocked, destroyed, regardless of whether they behaved hostilely, and at the sa ti, the Star Union swiftly moved to trace the source of the anomaly.
Luckily, the researchers at the Star Union were competent and quickly discovered that all these anomalies were related to the previously detected sudden appearance of a Ghost signal.
Sister Shepard, known for her explosive temper, set out directly in the Normandy upon learning the investigation’s results, vowing to capture the bastard sabotaging from the shadows.
This left Shepperd’s brother alone to clean up the ss.
The current situation was indeed troubleso; truth be told, the Star Union had encountered enough issues lately, they’ve hardly had any peace...
As he contemplated the report before him, Shepperd’s brother suddenly had a thought.
Should they seek assistance from the Tribunal?
After a mont of reflection, Shepperd’s brother temporarily shelved that idea.
The Star Union wasn’t a child, always resorting to the Tribunal whenever trouble arose wasn’t right, and Shepperd’s brother knew that, internally, the Star Union had so fear towards the Tribunal. They were truly ruthless against enemies and didn’t care about collateral damage. When their ho planet was attacked by those despicable Dark Spirit Clan, the Tribunal didn’t hesitate for a mont and directly destroyed it.
Frankly speaking, from a soldier’s perspective, Shepperd’s brother knew the Tribunal made the right decision. But it was still his hotown, his ho planet, and Shepperd’s brother felt that if he were to make such a decision, he... might not be able to.
But the Tribunal did.
How shall I put this, Shepperd’s brother felt the Tribunal was sowhat like a battlefield doctor. If you have problems with your limbs and they’re infected, he won’t think about how to heal your wound, he will amputate it imdiately.
Because it’s the swiftest, most convenient, most efficient handling thod.
As for what the amputee thinks, the Tribunal doesn’t care.
"Hmm... "
Shepperd’s brother contemplated for a mont and made a decision.
If they really can’t handle it, then seek help from the Tribunal.
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