6.1: Aggregation
Drich
Von Neumann Writing Machine
6.1: Aggregation.
+++
"So the whole reason the Reapers were created was because a bunch of a cephalopods were too dumb to live and too powerful to die." Javik said, flatly.
"Pretty much." Marcus swirled his drink. "Thoroughly disappointing, isn't it?"
"Is there no end to this ineptitude?" Javik asked. "Does the universe truly have an endless supply of incompetence?"
"Stupidity remains a fact of life, it seems..."
+++
September 27, 2074/2449
+++
It had been a normal day. Marcus had not really been doing anything.
It had been. The normalcy vanishes as a presence hums through the back of his head.
That, by itself, is something he's used to. The Psi-Net links him with the rest of Humanity, and more often than not, there is a presence in the back of his head.
This one, however, is distinctly... odd. There's something that sets it apart from any of the others. A noise that they don't make, a structure that they don't have. It is...
Alien.
A group reaches out a moment later. He joins it. Most of Humanity is quick to follow, and together, they begin to track down the source.
The presence is echoing through the Psi-Net. It's not strong. It merely sticks out in comparison to all the other presences in the Psi-Net.
Something which certainly makes it easier to track it down. They follow the echoes to the source.
A mind.
They look at the mind. Small and young and full of potential like so many others, but marked apart by one single fact.
Not Human.
"Ah." They realize. "It finally happened."
This mind was Prothean. The first non-Human psychic in the galaxy.
After the Dreamer, of course.
"Took its sweet time, didn't it? It's been almost ten months." Some said.
"It makes sense." Others noted. "The population of Humans on Praak is quite low. The amount of psychic energy leaking into the environment is lower still. It would have taken quite some time for psyactivation density to be achieved. And then there's the fact that Prothean reproduction takes longer than it does for Humans."
"We'll have to keep track of it in the future." They decide. "This is the first time we'll be able to observe non-Human Psychics as they grow and develop."
They consider the mind, examining it closely.
"Not much to see at the moment." A few state. "A bit too young to really learn anything."
"Yes." Others agree."Although, it surprising that it connects to us so easily."
They take another look. The link to them, to the Psi-Net, is small. Weak.
But for a mind so young, that's not surprising. Even for Humans, it took some time for the link to solidify and strengthen.
Not Human, yet it reached out in a way that was so utterly similar. Instinctive, latching on to other minds. The barest hint of a bond that could appear.
"I don't think we should allow this." A few say.
"Why is that?"
"Our psychic link shapes us as we grow." They elaborate. "By this point, much of our culture is bound up into it. To stay connected to us with a link would shape them, too. But they are not Human. They are Prothean."
"Is that bad?"
"No." They say. "They are not lesser for it. They are not greater for it, either. But they are not Human. They are Prothean, and they should have the opportunity to be Prothean. A link to us would... complicate that."
"Diversity is good." Others agree. "And to be blunt, it reminds me a little too much of the Leviathans, otherwise. A galaxy with countless cultures turned entirely into us sounds... utterly dreadful."
They pause.
"Good point." They decide. "Let's not follow that example."
They are careful, as they reach out to the link the mind has formed with them. Young, instinctive flailing that had nevertheless brought this result forth.
They take the link, gently.
And then they cut it.
The bond is severed instantly, formless and harmless. The still-growing mind is left bereft of a connection to them, exactly as intended. They can still feel the mind, but it's a more distant feeling than the bond which links them all.
The job is done.
"Wait." A few say. "While they should not be one of us, that is no reason not to give a gift."
The rest consider the words, the intent behind them.
"The Dreamer gave that gift to us." Some say. "But that is no reason not to share."
"Acceptable."
They turn their attention inwards, beckoning forth the Dreamer's Gift. It rose easily, emerging from the depth of the psychic network at their call. It was a pattern, a thought and an idea packaged together alongside intent and power, one that hadn't changed in all the years they'd had it. A seeming impossibility, but when the Dreamer was involved...
The Gift came forwards, and they directed it at the Prothean mind.
Contact came, and then...
The Gift seemed to hesitate, the pattern shifting for a brief moment. It caught their attention immediately; this behaviour both completely unknown and unexpected.
The pattern shifted, and expanded, energy filling it that they could determine no source for.
And then, it split.
In an instant, the pattern divided into two, one exactly the same as the original, which promptly returned to the depths of the psychic network, but the other...
Changed.
They examined it closely, immediately noting the differences. It felt more... structured, orderly, than the original. It felt... distinctly Prothean, in a way that was hard to quantify and harder to express.
The new Gift went to the mind, seating itself inside of it. They watched as it worked, the structure and pattern merging, for a brief moment, with the Prothean mind, before retreating, leaving behind a smaller pattern of energy and intent. A Power relating to Space, though not one they could immediately identify beyond the general characteristics of it.
The moment its work was finished, the Gift went dormant, pulling back into the depths of the mind that now hosted it.
"Huh."
"..."
"So, the Dreamer saw this possibility. Intriguing."
"..."
"We should probably keep an eye on that."
+++
"So the whole reason the Reapers were created was because a bunch of a cephalopods were too dumb to live and too powerful to die." Javik said, flatly.
"Pretty much." Marcus swirled his drink. "Thoroughly disappointing, isn't it?"
"Is there no end to this ineptitude?" Javik asked. "Does the universe truly have an endless supply of incompetence?"
"Stupidity remains a fact of life, it seems..."
+++
September 27, 2074/2449
+++
It had been a normal day. Marcus had not really been doing anything.
It had been. The normalcy vanishes as a presence hums through the back of his head.
That, by itself, is something he's used to. The Psi-Net links him with the rest of Humanity, and more often than not, there is a presence in the back of his head.
This one, however, is distinctly... odd. There's something that sets it apart from any of the others. A noise that they don't make, a structure that they don't have. It is...
Alien.
A group reaches out a moment later. He joins it. Most of Humanity is quick to follow, and together, they begin to track down the source.
The presence is echoing through the Psi-Net. It's not strong. It merely sticks out in comparison to all the other presences in the Psi-Net.
Something which certainly makes it easier to track it down. They follow the echoes to the source.
A mind.
They look at the mind. Small and young and full of potential like so many others, but marked apart by one single fact.
Not Human.
"Ah." They realize. "It finally happened."
This mind was Prothean. The first non-Human psychic in the galaxy.
After the Dreamer, of course.
"Took its sweet time, didn't it? It's been almost ten months." Some said.
"It makes sense." Others noted. "The population of Humans on Praak is quite low. The amount of psychic energy leaking into the environment is lower still. It would have taken quite some time for psyactivation density to be achieved. And then there's the fact that Prothean reproduction takes longer than it does for Humans."
"We'll have to keep track of it in the future." They decide. "This is the first time we'll be able to observe non-Human Psychics as they grow and develop."
They consider the mind, examining it closely.
"Not much to see at the moment." A few state. "A bit too young to really learn anything."
"Yes." Others agree."Although, it surprising that it connects to us so easily."
They take another look. The link to them, to the Psi-Net, is small. Weak.
But for a mind so young, that's not surprising. Even for Humans, it took some time for the link to solidify and strengthen.
Not Human, yet it reached out in a way that was so utterly similar. Instinctive, latching on to other minds. The barest hint of a bond that could appear.
"I don't think we should allow this." A few say.
"Why is that?"
"Our psychic link shapes us as we grow." They elaborate. "By this point, much of our culture is bound up into it. To stay connected to us with a link would shape them, too. But they are not Human. They are Prothean."
"Is that bad?"
"No." They say. "They are not lesser for it. They are not greater for it, either. But they are not Human. They are Prothean, and they should have the opportunity to be Prothean. A link to us would... complicate that."
"Diversity is good." Others agree. "And to be blunt, it reminds me a little too much of the Leviathans, otherwise. A galaxy with countless cultures turned entirely into us sounds... utterly dreadful."
They pause.
"Good point." They decide. "Let's not follow that example."
They are careful, as they reach out to the link the mind has formed with them. Young, instinctive flailing that had nevertheless brought this result forth.
They take the link, gently.
And then they cut it.
The bond is severed instantly, formless and harmless. The still-growing mind is left bereft of a connection to them, exactly as intended. They can still feel the mind, but it's a more distant feeling than the bond which links them all.
The job is done.
"Wait." A few say. "While they should not be one of us, that is no reason not to give a gift."
The rest consider the words, the intent behind them.
"The Dreamer gave that gift to us." Some say. "But that is no reason not to share."
"Acceptable."
They turn their attention inwards, beckoning forth the Dreamer's Gift. It rose easily, emerging from the depth of the psychic network at their call. It was a pattern, a thought and an idea packaged together alongside intent and power, one that hadn't changed in all the years they'd had it. A seeming impossibility, but when the Dreamer was involved...
The Gift came forwards, and they directed it at the Prothean mind.
Contact came, and then...
The Gift seemed to hesitate, the pattern shifting for a brief moment. It caught their attention immediately; this behaviour both completely unknown and unexpected.
The pattern shifted, and expanded, energy filling it that they could determine no source for.
And then, it split.
In an instant, the pattern divided into two, one exactly the same as the original, which promptly returned to the depths of the psychic network, but the other...
Changed.
They examined it closely, immediately noting the differences. It felt more... structured, orderly, than the original. It felt... distinctly Prothean, in a way that was hard to quantify and harder to express.
The new Gift went to the mind, seating itself inside of it. They watched as it worked, the structure and pattern merging, for a brief moment, with the Prothean mind, before retreating, leaving behind a smaller pattern of energy and intent. A Power relating to Space, though not one they could immediately identify beyond the general characteristics of it.
The moment its work was finished, the Gift went dormant, pulling back into the depths of the mind that now hosted it.
"Huh."
"..."
"So, the Dreamer saw this possibility. Intriguing."
"..."
"We should probably keep an eye on that."
Civil Council Meetings
