4.13
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"You have evidence?" Sadir asked, near-immediately after Javik.
"An extensive array." Javik stated.
"Wait, hold on." Detius interrupted, pointing at the hologram projector. "That last image was the Citadel."
"Your capacity to state the blindingly obvious is incredible." Javik said, bluntly.
"There is not way your people could have gotten an image of the citadel, unless-"
"Unless I'm not lying." Javik interrupted. "Yes."
Javik poked the holographic projector, and, immediately, more images began to appear, arranging in a grid.
Protheans on the Citadel, Prothean constructions, Prothean fleets surrounding the Citadel, Protheans poking at the Keepers, Protheans engaging in war with another species, the Citadel in the background...
All that and more.
Javik, after several seconds, poked it again. The hologram changed once more, going from flat planes to a full three-dimensional form. The Citadel, open, and spinning slowly, rendered in a surprising amount of detail.
"Your kind call it the Citadel. We called it the Keep." He noted. "The Inusannon before us labeled it the 'Core', for its positioning in the Mass Relay Network."
"This..." Sadir started, but paused for a few moments before continuing. "This holds many implications."
Javik laughed, humourless. "Of course it does. You believe that we created the Mass Relays and the Citadel; but we didn't. You believed that we vanished quitely for no discernable reason; but we didn't. You believe that we were gone for good, never to return; and here we are. The last survivors of a galactic genocide."
"Implications... unpleasant." Sadir stated, but it was more to herself than it was to anybody else.
The room fell quiet.
"We understand that it sounds... fantastical." One of the Humans began. "But everything that Javik has said so far is, to the best of our knowledge, entirely true. We can corroborate his evidence."
"It would take a significant amount of time to go through such evidence." Sadir noted. "To ensure that it isn't falsified or misrepresented. As well as to transfer and translate it to our systems." She added, almost as an afterthought
"Of course." The Human agreed. "We will assist as much as we are able."
"
Before you do that; -" Javik interrupted. "- start the explanation on your history. It should be finished now rather than later."
"Probably for the best." The Human agreed.
The Human held up his hands, index fingers extended. He tapped the ends of them together, a small blue light sparking into existence as he did.
Sadir blinked at it, while Detius frowned. Benezia carefully looked over the Human, but she couldn't see any obvious holographic technology.
They grabbed it, fingers pulling at the light, stretching it and making it larger. With a gesture, the light shifted forwards, hovering above the table
"We are Humanity." He spoke, and with a start, Benezia realised that his eyes were glowing. "And our story begins upon the world of
Earth."
The light reacted, blooming into a slightly transparent shape.
A planet; predominantly blue, its landmasses green and brown, with spots of white clouds decorating it.
That wasn't all; from three points of the planet stretched long silver-grey structures, several times the length of the planet itself. Halfway up the three structures, a ring stretched around the planet, a silver-grey band wrapping around it.
An Orbital Ring, and three Space Elevators to go with it. That was... quite the engineering achievement.
"There are many points at which I could begin telling our history. But, in the interests of brevity, and in ensuring you can discuss the previous revelations with the appropriate people, I will start at the point that changed the course of our history forever more."
The hologram shivered, the green and blue planet morphing into a grey-white one.
"This is Charon." The Human smiled, gesturing towards it. "It was a moon in our home system."
"'Was'?" Sadir noted.
"Yes." The Human nodded. "It exploded."
The three Citadel diplomats looked at the Human.
"Unknown to Humanity before then, Charon was host to an alien machine." The Human continued. "You know it as a 'Mass Relay'. It had been inactive for tens of thousands of years, allowing ice and cosmic dust to build up on it over time, until it was reactivated, and subsequently shed all of its accumulated matter in a single, violent burst."
"Somebody activated a Mass Relay into your space." Detius nodded. "And the moon exploded."
"Exactly so." The Human agreed. "On that day, Humanity gained confirmation that it was not, in fact, alone in the universe. Two beings came through that Mass Relay."
"'Beings'?" Sadir questioned. "Not 'ships'?"
"'Beings' is an accurate word, in this case." The Human stated. "Neither of them are normal beings. One of them was a Reaper."
The hologram of Charon shifted again, forming...
A very strange
shape. It seemed mechanical, with a number of 'limbs' coming from its sides and front.
"That's... a ship?" Detius asked.
"Do not confuse that monster for a ship." Javik cut in. "
That is a platform hosting an ancient and malevolent Artificial Intelligence. It isn't a ship, it's a machine body."
"These Reapers are Artificial Intelligences?" Detius asked, for confirmation.
"For all intents and purposes, yes." The Human agreed. "If I may continue?"
"Of course." Benezia nodded. "Our apologies."
The Human tipped his head. "The other being was the Reaper's opposite. We would eventually come to call it 'The Dreamer'."
The hologram changed again.
And, again, it was another
strange shape.
It was also bright blue, glowing with its own internal light. Two 'arms' hung from the top, connected alongside two pairs of 'wings', and two more pairs of long 'streamers'.
"I've never seen anything like that before." Benezia stated, leaning closer to look at the hologram. It was... strangely beautiful, its ethereal appearance majestic in an alien way. "The Dreamer?"
"Yes." The Human nodded. "The Reaper was attacking it, but failed to actually land any attack. The two of them wandered throughout our home system for nearly twenty hours, which we recorded in its entirety with every available telescope on our planet."
"What happened at the end?" Benezia asked.
"Humanity's history changed." The Human stated. "The Reaper came to Earth, unable to hit the Dreamer. It prepared to bombard our planet, but the Dreamer did not allow that to happen."
The holographic form of the dream split, shifting streams of light forming into panes of what appeared to be crystalline glass. Moments later, they shifted, showing the recordings of several different satellites.
The Human said nothing as the events played out. The Reaper trying to attack, only for the Dreamer to get in an attack of its own, turning the tables on the Reaper. The Mass Effect Barrier simply being punched through. The Reaper losing a limb in an explosion of crystals, something that made Sadir pay exceedingly close attention. The Reaper releasing drones, then moving to Earth. The chilling moment as it prepared to attack, followed by the relief as it was stopped at the last moment by the Dreamer.
The moments that followed; the Dreamer finally taking a hit, all to spare the Human's homeworld.
The end; the Dreamer crashing into the Reaper, engulfing both of them in a mass of blue crystals.
And, finally, the crystal mass falling towards the planet below.
"And that -" The Human stated. "- is how the Dreamer came to
Earth. From then onwards, Humanity was forever changed."
and were raised out of our ignorance." there will be that shock and disbelief again.
