Rebirth The Mass Effect is old. part 12

Chapter 12: Ideas and Suggestions

After returning from the Terum, I gave the members of the disembarkation group the opportunity to rest, tidy up, eat, and only then gather in the briefing room to discuss the current situation, since an hour or two did not matter.: We have the same eight-day flight to the Citadel. However, Rex fell asleep safely. The Krogan didn't care what we were doing, where we were going, who we were hunting. The important fact is that our lives are full of events, and our ship is in the center of a hurricane. That's what he told me before he closed the door and went to sleep.

Karin released Liara from the infirmary, pumping medicines up to her eyebrows with instructions to be in a bed and sleep in an hour. As it turned out, the young Asari stayed in that bubble for almost three days and managed to fall into despondency and despair. Our appearance for the girl was something like a miracle, which she had already stopped hoping for.

Slowly, the two Turians, Tali, Kayden, and a dejected Ashley gathered in the hall. Jeff was listening with interest from the control room, but only Nihlus and I knew about it. When Liara arrived, the people stopped chatting and pretended to be attentive.

"Dr. Liara." I motioned for Asari to sit down. "How are you feeling?"

"Thanks to you, it's pretty good." The girl smiled a little shyly. "I'm sorry, but I do not know your names."

"Yes, it was rude. My name is Irene Shepard." I introduced myself, and then pointed to the Spectre sitting next to me. "Nihlus Kraik. You've already seen the rest: Garrus Vakarian, Tali"Zora nar Raya, Kayden Alenko, Ashley Williams and Krogan, who is now brazenly sleeping — Rex Urdnot. We are on board the frigate Normandy."

"Are you the military of the Alliance?" Asari asked doubtfully, looking at our extremely colorful team.

"Just Kayden and Ashley." Who is the commander of the ship?

"I."

"Liara nodded slowly."

"I'm sorry, I don't have much experience with your race. I am grateful to you. You saved my life."

"What does Saren want from you?" Nihlus asked.

"I do not know what the Council's Spectr required of me." The girl said, confused.

"Saren lost its Spectr status." Kayden said dryly.

"Oh... I didn't know. I've been excavating for over a year now and I've barely kept in touch with the Citadel. The news has been going on for a long time."

"Have you heard something about the Channel?" I asked.

"Only that he has something to do with the disappearance of the Protheans." The Asari spread her arms. "This is the area of my research. For the last fifty years, I have been searching for the causes of their disappearance."

Kayden and Ashley's faces fell. The Turians reacted calmly: they knew perfectly well that the Asari were a long-lived race.

"What is your age?" Alenko asked quietly.

I grimaced. Question... not too tactful. But Liara was understanding and, with a slightly embarrassed smile, replied:

"I don't like to talk about it, but I'm only one hundred and six years old."

"Everything?" Ashley's world seems to have fallen apart.

"For a species as short-lived as yours, a hundred years may seem like a long time, but by Asari standards, I'm considered barely out of childhood." Liara explained. "That's why my research has not received much attention. Other Asari scholars usually dismiss my theories because I'm too young."

A spark of anger flashed in Liara's voice. This attitude hurt her, but she couldn't do anything about public opinion and prejudice.

"I have my own theory about why the Protheans disappeared."

"With all due respect, Captain, I'm aware of all the theories that exist." Nihlus chuckled slightly at this categorical statement, but said nothing.

"The problem is finding evidence. The Protheans left very little behind. As if someone didn't want the mystery to be solved! It's like someone went through the Galaxy after the extinction of the Protheans and destroyed all the evidence!"

Nielus and I exchanged glances, which was not lost on Liara's wary gaze.

"Go on, Liara."

But here's what's amazing. According to my findings, the Protheans were not the first race in the Galaxy to mysteriously disappear at the peak of their development. This cycle started long before them!

Nihlus looked at me questioningly. I nodded. Liara is absolutely right.

"How did you come to such conclusions?" Nihlus hoarse voice sounded unexpectedly loud in the silence of the hall. "Is there any evidence?"

"I've worked for fifty years!" I examined every grain. "Eventually, a subtle connection began to appear. A faint hint of the truth." Liara clenched her fists. "It's hard to explain. I can't provide any concrete evidence. It's more like a feeling generated by more than half a century of painstaking work. But I know I'm right! And sooner or later I will be able to prove it! There were other civilizations before the Protheans. The cycle has been repeated many times!

If the Protheans weren't the first, then who was before them?

"Kayden asked." I don't know. There is almost no information about even the proteans, and even less about their predecessors! I can't substantiate my theory, but I know I'm right!"

Nihlus listened with interest, staring intently at the nervous Asari. She sensed in her gut that this Turian had come here for a reason. He has the right. But she didn't know who he was. Liara did not recognize the Spectrum in Naylus, and we were in no hurry to enlighten her.

"The galaxy lives in a cycle of annihilation. Every time a great civilization arises, it is suddenly and brutally destroyed! Only ruins remain!" Liara threw up her hands. The Protheans created a great empire, but even they were climbing over the remains of their predecessors! Their greatest achievements — the Citadel and the repeaters-were built using the technology of those who came before them! And then they disappeared, just like other civilizations before them! I've dedicated my life to finding out the reason for this."

Nihlus leaned back in his chair, wincing painfully. I looked with interest at Liara's soulful face, wondering if I should tell her the truth. Sooner or later she'll find out. Does it make sense to remain silent? She met the gaze of bright green eyes. A slow nod, a slight smile. And really, why not?

"What if I tell you that you're right about something?" I asked calmly.

Liara blinked in surprise.

"In something?" The Protheans really aren't the first civilization to be destroyed. "And not the last one."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"We're next." I watched with interest how the expressions on the faces of the reasonable people sitting in the hall changed. "And we have already achieved enough greatness, but we have not yet crossed the line beyond which we become dangerous."

"Are you sure?"

"Not so long ago, I had the pleasure of meeting with the efficient information buoy protean. You call it the Lighthouse. And I still enjoy the exquisite nightmares-visions that show in detail exactly how the Protean was put under the knife."

"It is quite possible. The beacons were designed to transmit information directly into the user's mind." Liara jumped to her feet, excitedly pacing the center of the hall. "It is extremely rare to find a working lighthouse!"

"Oh, this one worked." But the beacons were designed to interact with the physiology of the Protheans. Your visions are probably blurred and fragmented."

"This is not entirely true." Liara stopped abruptly.

"The information has been processed and is more than clear." I chuckled. "The Protheans were destroyed by intelligent living machines. The reapers. Or Reapers, whichever way you like. They are the ones who observe the Cycles of Destruction, destroying the advanced races of the Galaxy over and over again. The name of this process is very revealing: Harvest."

Liara froze, starting to pace the hall again.

The citadel and the repeaters weren't built by the Protheans, you're right about that. And not even by their predecessors. I completely captured Liara's attention. Have you ever wondered why it was the repeaters and the Citadel that repeatedly experienced the actual genocide of the galaxy's most advanced races in one piece? Didn't the same Protheans resist? They resisted! And for a long time! At least a hundred years old. But! The galactic Star Wars didn't leave a scratch on the Citadel and the repeaters. Strange, don't you think? And no need for fairy tales about a particularly durable case. You can ruin EVERYTHING.

"Indeed, such thoughts have visited me." Liara admitted. "But I didn't find any other answer, except as a special durable alloy."

"The answer is as simple as a ruler. The citadel was built by the Reapers. Millions of years ago. Repeaters are a trap. The Reapers are repeatedly rebuilding the station and building mass repeaters in systems with undeveloped civilizations, so that the next generation is guaranteed to receive new toys BEFORE they can create their own unique way of interstellar travel. We also found them, and without realizing it, we got into a carefully dug development rut.

"Why are you sure that we will be destroyed too?"

"Why shouldn't they? How do we differ from the same protean or inusannon?"

"Inusannon? Who is it?"

"The progenitors of the Protheans. Anticipating your question, I only know the name and have seen the stone statue a couple of times. If you want, I can draw it for you."

"I would appreciate it. What can you tell us about them?"

"There is nothing really about Inusannon in the lighthouse: the name, the vision of the statue in the jungle, and the information that they were killed seventy thousand years before the Protheans. An example of repeating the Harvest Cycle."

"There is a logic to this. But... Do you have any proof?"

"Besides the Reaper that flew off Eden Prime before our eyes? No."

Liara stopped abruptly, as if she had crashed into an invisible wall, and now stood silently gasping for air. Kayden and Ashley exchanged glances.

"I'm sorry... WHAT?"

"Before our eyes, a Reaper flew away from the Eden Prime spaceport."

Raising my head to the ceiling, I said quite loudly:

"Jeff, give me the picture from my camera on the terminal."

"Just a moment, Captain."

The holographic screen unfolded. We stared at the static for about twenty seconds while the Joker searched for the right recording and displayed it on the screen, and then he appeared in all his glory: The Lord of Nazara, starting in an extravaganza of red lightning with a roar and disappearing into the bloody sunset sky.

"This is the Reaper."

"But if the Reaper is already here..." Liara waved her hand vaguely. "Then why didn't he attack?"

"I suspect that he has ALWAYS been here, watching over us and waiting for the hour when he should send a Call to his kin and begin the Harvest. A kind of overseer. His activity is more worrisome. And the fact that he was able to bend the Spectrum under himself, forcing him to look for a Channel for him. Apparently, for some reason, the Reaper can't find it himself. Or the linings that got loose."

"Do you think the Channel is on the Citadel?" Nihlus asked, earning a suspicious look from Liara.

"Most likely, yes. But the importance of the Citadel lies elsewhere."

"In what?"

"But that remains to be seen. We will return to the Citadel in eight days. In the meantime, rest. Tali, take Dr. Liara to your cabin."

The Quarian nodded in agreement.

"Rene, we need to talk." Nihlus stood up, gesturing for her to follow him.

I nodded and followed my colleague out. As the door was closing, I heard Liara's question:

"Excuse me, but who is Naylus Kraik?"

And Ashley's response:

"The spectrum."

Under Liara's soft yelp, the door slammed shut, cutting off all sounds. Nihlus snorted.

* * *

Entering his cabin, the Turian waited until the doors slammed shut and activated the pyramid of a funny device that cut off any opportunity to eavesdrop or spy on what was happening in the coverage area. Jeff's curiosity is already well known to him, as well as his capabilities.

"What happened?"

"You tell me." Nihlus carefully sat up, growling involuntarily at the sharp pain.

"Does the wound hurt?"

"I stirred it up a bit." Spektr leaned back in his chair.

"You do realize that if I tell Dr. Karin about this, you won't leave the infirmary until you fully recover, right?" I asked with some kind of fanatical interest.

"What about you?" Nihlus cocked his head questioningly.

"Should I?"

A quiet chuckle.

"No."

"I hope." A light golden glow passed over his hand. "No exercise is planned before the Citadel, so you will have an accelerated course of treatment."

"What are the consequences?"

"No."

"For you." said the Turian.

"Weakness and lethargy if I pump out a lot. If you overdo it, then..." I waved my hand vaguely.

The green eyes narrowed.

"You do understand that if I tell Dr. Karin about this..." Quoting me, Naylus murmured with a barely perceptible grin.

"What about you?"

"Should I?"

It was surprisingly easy to communicate with Nihlus. Fortunately, at least the officialdom fell off him in a couple of days, and the Turian quickly switched to informal communication, throwing off the mask of the Spectr. There are no pitfalls, hidden meanings, piles of useless verbal lace hiding unsightly meanings. A clean and open conversation, honest words that do not need to be literally disassembled by sounds, trying to grasp the hidden meaning. A powerful mind did not require an explanation of the obvious, it was enough just to report the fact so that the green-eyed Turian himself would build the right chain of events and assess the prospects. He was not moved by my cynicism and a certain callousness that had developed over long lives and the contemplation of other people's deaths. I loved it. It's not so easy to find someone who takes your word for it, just because one day he decided to trust you. Or is this a feature of the Turians as a race? Who knows? The Turian was silent, watching me with barely noticeable interest. This is how a wildcat looks at the world around him: with calm curiosity, appreciating every little thing.

"No, don't do that. I know my capabilities." Nihlus obediently leaned back in his chair, allowing me to come over and examine the wound. Blue blood appeared in patches on the elastic bandage, glistening slightly in the bright white light.

"Apparently, you didn't wake her up a bit." Nihlus shrugged his shoulders.

"When you know that you survived only by a miracle, you look at it calmly." The Turian twitched his mandibles slightly. "It's a strange feeling."