6.3
Drich
Von Neumann Writing Machine
6.3
+++
June 3, 2084/2459
+++
"You're actually quite lucky." Marcus said.
Javik's head turned to the side, briefly facing towards a garden that was on fire, sparking with electricity, and which appeared vaguely twisted in a manner that didn't quite match up with euclidean geometries.
One of the small, Prothean children at Javik's window giggled as he clenched his fist, and a section of a tree was consumed by a black orb that sprung into existence, vanishing a moment later. Where the orb had been, now there was nothing at all.
The other children clapped in excitement.
"Lucky." Javik repeated, slowly.
"Yes." Marcus nodded, emphatically. "It's one garden. I could not tell you the amount of stuff I ended up exploding when I was a child."
"I would prefer if it was not my garden." He said.
"Such a big baby, aren't you?" Marcus rolled his eyes. "Hey kids, want to see something cool?"
+++
December 11, 2085/2460
+++
"I feel like this is a little... petty. With way too much effort put into it." He said.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." His companion said, smiling.
He raised an eyebrow, before deliberately turning to look out a window. On the other side, gigantic holographic words floated in space, reading, if you were to look at them from the opposite side, and more specifically from an asteroid that they were aimed at, 'FUCK YOU ARIA'.
"Bitch had it coming." She smiled.
"Who's Aria?" He asked.
"Some self-important, self-styled pirate queen that lives in the galaxy's anus and thought it made her important enough that she could get away with threatening me." She responded.
"So you decided to stay in the galaxy's anus to get back at her?" He asked. "I think you need to find a new hobby, Susan."
"I've got nothing else to do, though." Susan shrugged. "Anyway, welcome to Better Omega."
+++
August 9, 2090/2465
+++
"Javik, no." Marcus shook his head, slowly. "I know this is stupid, but there's standards to uphold. We have to make an example, serve as an exemplar-" A gunshot rang through the air.
Slowly, Marcus turned to face the shooter.
He opened his mouth. Closed it. Looked down. Looked up. Then sighed. "But on the other hand, Darwin demands his due."
Javik smirked, and drew his weapon.
+++
August 9, 2096/2471
+++
A flash of light ripped its way through space, a beam lancing forwards with lethal, destructive intent.
It met a shimmering wall, deflecting harmlessly away. Breathless observers leaned forwards in anticipation as the target spun around, preparing to shoot back-
Only to snap in half a moment later.
A loud, agonised growl went through the room.
"How?!" An Prothean engineer cried, slumping backwards as the prototype tore itself apart. "Didn't we fix that problem five iterations ago?!"
"We swapped the superconducting array on the spinal gun for a lighter mix." A Salarian responded. "The material strength should have been within tolerances, though."
A Human appeared within a flash of light, leaning back in a seat. "It was feedback from the shield system. The energy surge caused the tri-core design to briefly flare with an overlapping mass effect field, snapping the barrel and weakening the superstructure."
"We fixed that ten iterations ago." A Turian muttered. "Superconductors shouldn't be affecting that."
"I don't think it was fixed so much as we didn't put it through the right conditions to bring out the same problem."
The Prothean breathed in, then out. "Alright. Fine. Time for brute force. Make a few thousand of them and we'll try our best to break it. In the same way. We've lost too much by this point to do it the slow way."
"Well, if you're certain about that and don't care about the inefficiency-"
"I don't. I just want this damned feedback problem to stop existing."
+++
January 1, 2100/2475
+++
"I have to wonder how we should treat the beginning of this new century."
"Yes?"
"It is a new century by the standards of the universe at large. By the time we've experienced, however, we're still twenty five years away from the beginning of the new century."
"Different rates of passing time does indeed make dates complicated."
"On the other hand, that also means we can have a 'passing of the century' party twice every century and be correct both times."
"I'm not entirely certain that works out logically, but you know what, that's good enough for me."
"I am definitely certain that doesn't work out logically, but I'm too busy partying to argue with it."
+++
June 19, 2110/2485
+++
"We are actually keeping ahead on extraction?" Primarch Therus asked.
"Yes, Primarch." One of his aides responded. "At the current extraction rate, Bounty could supply the Turian Hierarchy as a whole for the next seventy five years with the entirety of our projected Element Zero needs completely by itself."
Therus nodded. Bounty was a system that had been located by Humans nearly two decades ago. It was also, quite simply, the richest star system in the entire galaxy, with the highest concentration of Element Zero known.
Humans, upon finding it, had passed that info to the rest of the galaxy. They, of course, had no need for Eezo.
Bounty was so rich that every other species had mining operations in it, and even after all this time, all of them together still had yet to tap more than a small percentage of the available material. With Prothean technology continuing to push the efficiency of its usage higher, and the maintenance costs ever lower, the system was expected to last for centuries.
"And the Naval Development Program?"
"Continuing according to plan. Science and engineering divisions have, for the most part, completed development of anti-Reaper starship designs, and are currently being refined alongside tactics and strategy. Wargame simulations against Reaper replications have reached the point where the fleets can reliably achieve victory, presuming a rough local numerical equality."
"'Local' being the key word, there." He frowned. "Very well. Dismissed."
The aides bowed, then left.
+++
December 1, 2115/2490
+++
"Is it really certain that this is the best way to go about things?"
"We do not have much else of a choice. Quite simply, there are too many Harvesters."
"Our best estimate, at the moment, leads to some 10.8 billion Capital-Class Harvesters, with 33.5 trillion lesser Destroyer-Class Harvesters, and a likely similar amount of non-Harvester support ships. Against this number, there is simply no conceivable method of achieving a purely conventional victory within the time frame we have been alloted, without also creating unaccepting casualties."
"We do outnumber the Harvesters. Right now, there are 37 Humans to each Harvester. By the time they awaken, that number will rise to approximately 185, presuming our current population growth stays stable for the entire time. Even doubling that number to account for their support craft, we still have not taken into account the assistance of the Anima. I find it reasonable that we will be able to fight back against them."
"In most parameters, yes. My studies of Harvester tactics, however, indicate that, in the face of numerical parity or excess, the Harvesters will instead shift targets to support structures. They will target docks, fuel stations, civilian centers and the like in order to weaken resistance. Typically, they utilize overwhelming alpha-strike mass-fire to destroy targets, and leave immediately after firing."
"That will not work against us."
"Against us, no. Against every other non-psychic species in the galaxy, however?"
"Ah. Point. We would be tied down, defending them."
"Harvesters are not, despite our disparagement of them, unintelligent. It is well within their ability to coordinate at faster than light speeds. At one point, in fact, during the early stages of the cycle, the Harvesters brought down a numerically superior foe by gathering the entirety of their armada, grouping together while travelling at FTL, then making sudden exits, firing an alpha-strike from billions of platforms at a planet, and then simply running off to do it to somewhere else. It was devastating to the members of that cycle, and something we absolutely cannot afford to allow here, because if they resort to that tactic, we will, quite literally, require the entirety of our population to defend every planet and every station from every conceivable direction at a distance of at least ten light seconds just to respond in time to stop them from obliterating everything."
"They tried to do that to the Dreamer."
"And while it didn't work against the Dreamer, we are not the Dreamer. Our reaction speeds, and our ability to focus energy, are far slower. Without precaution, that tactic would work against us. It would not kill us forever, but local destruction of our assets means we can't just respawn there, either. We would be locked out. And if we were defending anything, the Harvesters would destroy it before we could reach it again."
"Conventional victory, quite frankly, is impossible. We must force them into alternative solution. We need to level the playing field. And the only way that I can see to do that is this."
"Horrible as it is to say, this would be so much easier if we didn't have to worry about preserving the lives of our allies."
"Yes, if only we were a bunch of self-centered xenophobes uncaring about the lives of the aliens. Can you detect my sarcasm?"
"It isn't funny. If we go through with this, a lot of people are going to die."
"Still less than how many will die if we don't. It is not a balance I want to make, but this needs to be done. Without it... Without it, the only ones that will live are the ones that can be convinced to abandon their homes, cultures, and space. Anything that isn't mobile will be a target that will be destroyed."
"Death is not an end."
"It is also not something they need experience. Even if it was, their homes, physical elements of their cultures, and much more will still be destroyed. While we do not place much value on that sort of thing anymore, they still do. This way, more will live."
"I still don't like it."
"None of us do. Still, this is a difficult choice for the right reason. The alternative is... not something I want to live with happening."
"Fine. This is not going to be pleasant."
"No. No it isn't."
+++
June 3, 2084/2459
+++
"You're actually quite lucky." Marcus said.
Javik's head turned to the side, briefly facing towards a garden that was on fire, sparking with electricity, and which appeared vaguely twisted in a manner that didn't quite match up with euclidean geometries.
One of the small, Prothean children at Javik's window giggled as he clenched his fist, and a section of a tree was consumed by a black orb that sprung into existence, vanishing a moment later. Where the orb had been, now there was nothing at all.
The other children clapped in excitement.
"Lucky." Javik repeated, slowly.
"Yes." Marcus nodded, emphatically. "It's one garden. I could not tell you the amount of stuff I ended up exploding when I was a child."
"I would prefer if it was not my garden." He said.
"Such a big baby, aren't you?" Marcus rolled his eyes. "Hey kids, want to see something cool?"
+++
December 11, 2085/2460
+++
"I feel like this is a little... petty. With way too much effort put into it." He said.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." His companion said, smiling.
He raised an eyebrow, before deliberately turning to look out a window. On the other side, gigantic holographic words floated in space, reading, if you were to look at them from the opposite side, and more specifically from an asteroid that they were aimed at, 'FUCK YOU ARIA'.
"Bitch had it coming." She smiled.
"Who's Aria?" He asked.
"Some self-important, self-styled pirate queen that lives in the galaxy's anus and thought it made her important enough that she could get away with threatening me." She responded.
"So you decided to stay in the galaxy's anus to get back at her?" He asked. "I think you need to find a new hobby, Susan."
"I've got nothing else to do, though." Susan shrugged. "Anyway, welcome to Better Omega."
+++
August 9, 2090/2465
+++
"Javik, no." Marcus shook his head, slowly. "I know this is stupid, but there's standards to uphold. We have to make an example, serve as an exemplar-" A gunshot rang through the air.
Slowly, Marcus turned to face the shooter.
He opened his mouth. Closed it. Looked down. Looked up. Then sighed. "But on the other hand, Darwin demands his due."
Javik smirked, and drew his weapon.
+++
August 9, 2096/2471
+++
A flash of light ripped its way through space, a beam lancing forwards with lethal, destructive intent.
It met a shimmering wall, deflecting harmlessly away. Breathless observers leaned forwards in anticipation as the target spun around, preparing to shoot back-
Only to snap in half a moment later.
A loud, agonised growl went through the room.
"How?!" An Prothean engineer cried, slumping backwards as the prototype tore itself apart. "Didn't we fix that problem five iterations ago?!"
"We swapped the superconducting array on the spinal gun for a lighter mix." A Salarian responded. "The material strength should have been within tolerances, though."
A Human appeared within a flash of light, leaning back in a seat. "It was feedback from the shield system. The energy surge caused the tri-core design to briefly flare with an overlapping mass effect field, snapping the barrel and weakening the superstructure."
"We fixed that ten iterations ago." A Turian muttered. "Superconductors shouldn't be affecting that."
"I don't think it was fixed so much as we didn't put it through the right conditions to bring out the same problem."
The Prothean breathed in, then out. "Alright. Fine. Time for brute force. Make a few thousand of them and we'll try our best to break it. In the same way. We've lost too much by this point to do it the slow way."
"Well, if you're certain about that and don't care about the inefficiency-"
"I don't. I just want this damned feedback problem to stop existing."
+++
January 1, 2100/2475
+++
"I have to wonder how we should treat the beginning of this new century."
"Yes?"
"It is a new century by the standards of the universe at large. By the time we've experienced, however, we're still twenty five years away from the beginning of the new century."
"Different rates of passing time does indeed make dates complicated."
"On the other hand, that also means we can have a 'passing of the century' party twice every century and be correct both times."
"I'm not entirely certain that works out logically, but you know what, that's good enough for me."
"I am definitely certain that doesn't work out logically, but I'm too busy partying to argue with it."
+++
June 19, 2110/2485
+++
"We are actually keeping ahead on extraction?" Primarch Therus asked.
"Yes, Primarch." One of his aides responded. "At the current extraction rate, Bounty could supply the Turian Hierarchy as a whole for the next seventy five years with the entirety of our projected Element Zero needs completely by itself."
Therus nodded. Bounty was a system that had been located by Humans nearly two decades ago. It was also, quite simply, the richest star system in the entire galaxy, with the highest concentration of Element Zero known.
Humans, upon finding it, had passed that info to the rest of the galaxy. They, of course, had no need for Eezo.
Bounty was so rich that every other species had mining operations in it, and even after all this time, all of them together still had yet to tap more than a small percentage of the available material. With Prothean technology continuing to push the efficiency of its usage higher, and the maintenance costs ever lower, the system was expected to last for centuries.
"And the Naval Development Program?"
"Continuing according to plan. Science and engineering divisions have, for the most part, completed development of anti-Reaper starship designs, and are currently being refined alongside tactics and strategy. Wargame simulations against Reaper replications have reached the point where the fleets can reliably achieve victory, presuming a rough local numerical equality."
"'Local' being the key word, there." He frowned. "Very well. Dismissed."
The aides bowed, then left.
+++
December 1, 2115/2490
+++
"Is it really certain that this is the best way to go about things?"
"We do not have much else of a choice. Quite simply, there are too many Harvesters."
"Our best estimate, at the moment, leads to some 10.8 billion Capital-Class Harvesters, with 33.5 trillion lesser Destroyer-Class Harvesters, and a likely similar amount of non-Harvester support ships. Against this number, there is simply no conceivable method of achieving a purely conventional victory within the time frame we have been alloted, without also creating unaccepting casualties."
"We do outnumber the Harvesters. Right now, there are 37 Humans to each Harvester. By the time they awaken, that number will rise to approximately 185, presuming our current population growth stays stable for the entire time. Even doubling that number to account for their support craft, we still have not taken into account the assistance of the Anima. I find it reasonable that we will be able to fight back against them."
"In most parameters, yes. My studies of Harvester tactics, however, indicate that, in the face of numerical parity or excess, the Harvesters will instead shift targets to support structures. They will target docks, fuel stations, civilian centers and the like in order to weaken resistance. Typically, they utilize overwhelming alpha-strike mass-fire to destroy targets, and leave immediately after firing."
"That will not work against us."
"Against us, no. Against every other non-psychic species in the galaxy, however?"
"Ah. Point. We would be tied down, defending them."
"Harvesters are not, despite our disparagement of them, unintelligent. It is well within their ability to coordinate at faster than light speeds. At one point, in fact, during the early stages of the cycle, the Harvesters brought down a numerically superior foe by gathering the entirety of their armada, grouping together while travelling at FTL, then making sudden exits, firing an alpha-strike from billions of platforms at a planet, and then simply running off to do it to somewhere else. It was devastating to the members of that cycle, and something we absolutely cannot afford to allow here, because if they resort to that tactic, we will, quite literally, require the entirety of our population to defend every planet and every station from every conceivable direction at a distance of at least ten light seconds just to respond in time to stop them from obliterating everything."
"They tried to do that to the Dreamer."
"And while it didn't work against the Dreamer, we are not the Dreamer. Our reaction speeds, and our ability to focus energy, are far slower. Without precaution, that tactic would work against us. It would not kill us forever, but local destruction of our assets means we can't just respawn there, either. We would be locked out. And if we were defending anything, the Harvesters would destroy it before we could reach it again."
"Conventional victory, quite frankly, is impossible. We must force them into alternative solution. We need to level the playing field. And the only way that I can see to do that is this."
"Horrible as it is to say, this would be so much easier if we didn't have to worry about preserving the lives of our allies."
"Yes, if only we were a bunch of self-centered xenophobes uncaring about the lives of the aliens. Can you detect my sarcasm?"
"It isn't funny. If we go through with this, a lot of people are going to die."
"Still less than how many will die if we don't. It is not a balance I want to make, but this needs to be done. Without it... Without it, the only ones that will live are the ones that can be convinced to abandon their homes, cultures, and space. Anything that isn't mobile will be a target that will be destroyed."
"Death is not an end."
"It is also not something they need experience. Even if it was, their homes, physical elements of their cultures, and much more will still be destroyed. While we do not place much value on that sort of thing anymore, they still do. This way, more will live."
"I still don't like it."
"None of us do. Still, this is a difficult choice for the right reason. The alternative is... not something I want to live with happening."
"Fine. This is not going to be pleasant."
"No. No it isn't."
