Chapter 4. Speculation

The recalculation of the coordinates received from the Prothean beacon took six months and turned out to be erroneous. There was no Reaper in the place, as well as in the other supposed place after recalculation, and in the third one too. But judging by the Prothean reports, he is in orbit of the planet and cannot fly anywhere, perhaps the data was damaged or I translated it incorrectly.

In any case, all this time I not only spent searching for the Reaper, at the same time I deciphered and checked Prothean data on the technologies of the Reapers and the technologies of the Protheans themselves, and also disassembled and studied the operation of the Reaper beacon, which I pulled out of the Prothean scientific complex already in a disabled state , fortunately, the lighthouse contained information on how to do this.

During the breaks, he contacted Bartus to provide new types of weapons and protective equipment for sale. It's convenient when there is a partner who takes on all the hard work with business, concluding supply contracts, production and presentation of goods and other important but boring fluff, even if profit suffers from this and a fair amount of independence is lost.

I also began to maintain close contact with Benezia and even went to visit her several times on Illium - one of the most important planets of the asari (alas, they didn't let me into my home world), where they tried to hustle me with all their diligence and tried to drag me into bed, but I... a real OYASh held out until the last... this happened to me for the first time.

Well, the data obtained from Benezia of genetic maps of various intelligent species with a sample of several hundred representatives of each species made it possible to begin compiling them to find ideal combinations of genes and try to obtain a more perfect species by combining different combinations of genes in stimulation. Although the word "ideal" is too strong, everyone has their own ideal, I am only looking for the best possible.

Of course, such efforts required a monstrous amount of mental work from me, and at times it seemed that even my synthetic brains were melting from the abundance of information, so periodic breaks for rest were necessary. During the breaks, I usually updated my own technique and, first of all, my synthetic body. I assembled my new body from scratch using as a base an alloy of metals obtained from the Reapers, or rather from the Protheans who studied the Reapers. Protik (named after the xenos that disappeared into history) turned out to be not only lighter than the one from which ship hulls are now made, but also stronger, and also more resistant to extreme influences such as high temperatures or acids, and therefore could be processed with great difficulty. As a result, the new shell was even outwardly more technologically advanced and advanced, more integral than the previous one.

 The EM core acted as an energy source, however, as elsewhere. The Mass Core is generally a very universal and not fully understood thing. It is reliably known that the EM core, like the zero element, can create fields of dark energy of different configurations when exposed to electricity, that to create it you need a zero element and that the EM core is an almost eternal source of energy. It's no joke, the core in the Reapers' lighthouse was working all this time, and more than fifty thousand years have passed since the Harvest of the Protheans, but apparently it was not even the Protheans, but someone else who finished off this Reaper long before them, and this happened hundreds of thousands of years back! Of course, everything depends on the quality of such an energy source, but the possibility itself! Even I don't fully understand how it works, but judging by my observations, the core is a "pump" that pumps out energy from another "plane of existence" or perhaps causes the decay of the smallest particles that make up our world. This explains why, when creating a nucleus, EMs sometimes explode; they simply are not able to transfer the entire flow of energy received. I couldn't say more without magic.

In any case, this theory explains the principle of operation of the EM core: it emits high-order energy, which is captured and converted into more studied and controlled energy. As a rule, an electric one, which is used as a power source. On ships, or even in some heavy personal protective suits, converters capture the high-order energy of the EM core and convert it into electricity, which is used to operate their systems, stored in energy cells and used to influence the EM core and create mass fields.

He also built ion engines into his arms and legs to enable independent flight in the atmosphere of planets and even for some time in space. The operating principle of ion engines allows them to be used not only as engines, but also as weapons: the diffuse "exhaust" of ionized gas causes a powerful deafening wave, allowing you to knock down enemies at close range and even knock them out, and if you release plasma in a concentrated beam, then and completely kill the enemy. And plasma is a very dangerous weapon and penetrates even a reinforced kinetic shield for personal use; only a sufficiently powerful biotic barrier (or a ship's shield) can be protected from a repulsor attack (that's what I called my ion engines).

Of course, the ion engine had to be modified so that the repulsors were truly lethal and provided powerful thrust for flight, the magnetic coils and electromagnets had to be modified, but in the end I got a truly innovative technology with negligible gas consumption compared to a chemical engine. However, for the time being I will keep this technology to myself.

However, flying with only four repulsors turned out to be surprisingly uncomfortable, so many more small folding engines had to be added throughout the body to stabilize and smooth the flight. However, I got so carried away that I equipped my entire corps with weapons, such as homing high-explosive and disintegrating missiles to destroy enemy personnel and overload shields, respectively, miniature laser installations on the outer sides of the hands and, of course, retractable fire cannons in the forearms, allowing to extinguish the enemy with continuous rapid-fire fire without interruption for recharging thanks to the automatic replacement of thermal charges.

"Now I really am a formidable fighting unit, all that remains is to test it in battle," he concluded contentedly after testing the systems of the new body.

However, I didn't really look for an opportunity to fight, being completely immersed in calculations of the desired genetic set and the potential coordinates of the dead Reaper.

***

Milky Way, Eta Hawking, Thorne.

Even before approaching the brown dwarf Mnemosyne, the only planet in the Thorne system, I realized that this was it. External sensors began to transmit signatures, as if from the work of a very powerful, or rather even incredibly powerful, EM core. And when I approached the planet, visual sensors outside Machiavelli recorded the contours of a two-kilometer ship frozen in Mnemosyne's orbit. Here it is, the dead Reaper - the concentration of the greatest technologies of this world.

 Leaving my cruiser hanging in space under the control of the onboard VI (which I wrote to calculate routes, control the secondary systems of the ship and safely wait in outer space, the VI is simply not capable of more) I went to the Reaper, crossing outer space on my own repulsors. The feeling of flying...amazing. Incredibly, sometimes I don't even regret the lost magical abilities, since I was able to gain such opportunities instead.

Even as I approached the Reaper, I felt waves of psychic energy hitting my mental shields. It's unpleasant, of course, but I don't see anything dangerous. The pressure inside has increased, but it is clear that the Reapers are not psionics - even without possessing mental shields, but simply having a strong will, you can resist the psychic influence of the Reapers for some time. So I can rest easy with my protection of consciousness, although it doesn't hurt to come up with technology to protect the mind.

Wandering through the insides of the dead Reaper and looking at its colossal size, I could only admire. But alas, I won't be able to take this beauty somewhere: he won't fly on his own, and I don't have the necessary technology to drag him to the relay and, more importantly, to transport the Reaper through the relay. Well, I'll have to leave this handsome guy for a while, and prepare my own production and research base; my cruiser, alas, is no longer suitable for such tasks. Before leaving the Reaper, I finally looked at his heart - the EM core, which has been working for more than a hundred thousand years without any interruptions. An amazing thing, such monstrous power is enclosed in such a miniature (slightly more than two meters) shell. If I can create a miniature Reaper core and place it in my body instead of the current one, my shields will immediately strengthen tens, or even hundreds of times. And ships with such cores will be impenetrable, monsters compared to ships of other races.

 After finding the Reaper, I decided to build my own industrial and production base in the same cluster, in the Verr star system. It is located quite close to the object of my interest and is quite rich in resources. At least Korang was extremely rich, and the other two planets of this star system: Allusa and Serao, can act as a source of the main fuel for helium-3 spaceships.

But the most important thing is the remoteness of the Verr system from the main routes, which means no one should bother me. Well, if the world disturbs their ashes, no one will find the poor fellows.

So, through a Shadow Broker, having ordered the construction of an orbital production base and paying a decent amount for secrecy (all the same, if you had officially or semi-legally ordered the construction yourself, the information would have gone to the side, and only a limited circle of people would know about this place) received an estimated time of ten years and took up biology and genetics. Namely, experiments to create viable samples of intelligent beings with a certain set of genes in the laboratories of Binery Helix. And I wasn't afraid to leave strangers in close enough proximity to my Reaper; they wouldn't be able to damage him, take him away either, and with prolonged contact they would go crazy and die, saving me from another headache.

***

Terminus systems, Attic traverse, Eva system, planet Tuin, Binery Helix risk laboratory.

"What's so interesting there that you can't take your eyes off the microscope?" asked the asari sitting next to him on the table.

At the same time, sitting in a short dress without panties, I checked what I had done to deserve the woman's victorious look. Eh Benezia, no matter how hard you try, we won't go beyond light flirting, no matter how much we want the opposite.

 "Virus, Benezia," answered the asari, but noticing her questioning look, he tried to explain in more detail. —Viruses can contain DNA and RNA, and when they enter the body, they begin to divide using the body's cells as material. Moreover, the DNA or RNA contained in them are used as templates for replication and...—.

—I know how viruses work, don't take me for a fool. I'm wondering what you're doing." The gloomy asari moved forward and pointed her finger at me.

"I'm trying to use a virus to isolate a certain set of DNA, so that I can then assemble a unique set of genes from it and a number of other chains." He moved away from the microscope, letting the asari see for herself.

—Are these dextroamino acids? Do you want to isolate turian DNA?" Binesia quickly understood what she saw. —I thought you were interested in Asari, Salarian and Krogan DNA?—.

"Not only that, I want to create dextro and amino acid DNA at the same time, a kind of quadruple helix," he answered the woman, to which she touched the microscope with even greater curiosity.

-And as a result?-.

"Not yet," he admitted reluctantly, but then continued enthusiastically. —However, I have already isolated asari DNA, which is responsible for the structure of your nervous system and the secondary lymphatic system with elements of the zero element, which is responsible for biotics.—.

-Interesting. However, it seems that this virus has already captured all the cells, so the work is finished for today, I'm waiting for you outside." The woman went out, seductively swaying her butt.

After checking Binesia's words and putting the infected cells into a test tube in the incubator, I myself changed clothes and headed for the asari, because I promised her to go to the next event of her friend from Tessia, some kind of charity evening or something like that. It's so good that relays allow us to cover enormous distances in an insignificant amount of time, and in just a few hours Benezia and I will find ourselves on Illium.

Over the six years that have passed since we met, Binesia and I have become close friends, although the asari tried to transfer our relationship to a horizontal plane. It was she who helped me conduct not entirely legal research, providing space, equipment and personnel, and in return I helped with the development of more powerful biotic implants and stimulants, learning a lot of new things for myself.

In the meantime, I'm trying to create more advanced DNA from the existing ones and have made great strides in this, especially local developments in gene therapy, cloning and the Reapers' way of processing living organisms into biomass helped me. On the dead Reaper, I found the tools and nanorobots used for this process that turn living organisms into semi-synthetic zombies, but I was never able to properly examine them. Although my station is being built at an accelerated pace and ahead of schedule, at least a couple more years are needed until the end of construction and the start of active work. It cost me millions of credits, I gave almost the entire available amount, but it's worth it, I'm sure.

-Benesia! Glad to see you, you look wonderful. Gordon, hello, you haven't changed a bit over the years," my companion's friend smiled at me in a friendly way.

"And the years only make you more beautiful, Etita, you have become even more beautiful," he gave a simple compliment to the woman, clearly pleased with such a remark.

In general, Benezia is a fairly popular and influential politician in asari space, so there are tons of different intelligent people around her, but there are few close friends among them, and even among them I can only single out Etita - the same age as Benezia and asari with very progressive and radical views. Actually, on this basis they became close; Benezia and Aethyta believe that it is time for the asari to take more part in the life of the galaxy: build their own repeaters, look for intelligent species that can be helped to go into space, conduct genetic research to enhance biotic abilities, etc. Only Benezia is softer and more diplomatic, while Aetita, on the contrary, is impetuous and impulsive.

"Hmm, Benezia?" I attracted the woman's attention. —And who is this?—.

Following my gaze, the asari appeared to be a small (no more than a meter in height), three-fingered, barrel-shaped creature in a sealed suit, talking about something with the turian.

 "Gordon, I think you've been sitting too long in your laboratory, it's a volus." "Voluses are..." the woman began to condescendingly explain to me.

In general, volus are small humanoids from the planet Irune, known for its high atmospheric pressure (sixty times higher than Earth's), high gravity (one and a half times higher than Earth's) and the composition of the atmosphere, the basis of which is not oxygen, but ammonia. These little ones also have high internal pressure and the atmosphere usual for all other races does not suit them. And therefore, in order not to suffocate and burst from the inside like punctured balloons, they are forced to walk in sealed spacesuits, which maintain the habitat familiar to the volus.

Due to such physical characteristics, the volus cannot fight and do not have their own army, and therefore they are in an alliance with the Turian Hierarchy, which protects them. But the Volus are excellent diplomats and traders; it was they who came up with and achieved the introduction of a unified banking system in the galaxy. And they are the authors of the standard galactic volute - credit.

"Honey, I know perfectly well who voluses are," interrupted the woman, rolling his eyes. —I'm wondering who he is, who exactly this volus is.—.

-This, if I'm not mistaken, is Lumen. Lumen Creole, he got rich five years ago by selling the turians the wreckage of a Prothean starship he found." Binesia gave me the summary and pulled me to the dance floor. -Okay, let's go dance. You'd rather look at me than at any pot-bellied little guys.—.

The evening was rather boring, although if I were in an organic body, I could really feel the pleasure. As it is, I don't have nerve endings, I can't feel the taste of food, the warmth and silkiness of my skin, the excitement from the advances of an asari, in general there's just one disorder. And when Benezia clearly hinted at continuing the evening in her bed, I completely lost my mood and hastily said goodbye to my friends, left the hall, boarded a passenger ship to the Attic traverse and flew to the laboratory. The faster I create a physical body for myself, the faster I can feel myself alive, and not just existing. Sometimes I feel trapped in this synthetic body and I'm still surprised that I haven't developed a bunch of psychoses.

***

Illium, Plaza Hotel, balcony.

Leaning on the railing, a beautiful woman looked out at the city at night, dazzling with lights, with her sad eyes, from whose appearance it was impossible to say that she had already passed half a millennium. She was brought out of her contemplative state by the appearance of another asari, hugging her friend.

"Are you still moping about your Gordon?" the guest asked.

"Not mine," Benezia answered her bitterly. —And it seems he will never become mine.—.

-Maybe he's gay? What do you think?" Aethita chuckled. "Any normal man wouldn't push you."

-No, definitely not. I saw the eyes with which he looks at me. Etita, he definitely wants me." The asari rejected the assumption of her friend.

-Well, maybe he has a wife or a lover to whom he remains faithful. Honestly, this Gordon is a very strange and mysterious person, there are no records of him in his youth, and even through the Shadow Broker we managed to find out that he first appeared about twenty years ago, for some time he was associated with the quarians and was fascinated by Prothean ruins and technology.— .

"Stop, did you say quarians?" Binesia drew attention to her friend's reservation, and then hit the railing with her hand. —Damn it!—.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Etita hugged her friend more tightly, trying to calm her down.

—His DNA research. He is trying to create DNA that is both right and left amino acid. I think he wants to change his own DNA, but why would he do that? Unless he has amino acid DNA, but wants to be with a girl with dextro-amino acid DNA, and we only have turians and quarians like that.—.

There was silence for several minutes in which Aethita tried to warm her friend not only physically, the evening was quite cool, but also morally.

Finally, one of the asari broke the silence. "You know, if you really need him that much, just take him away from this quarian." Well, or wait. How long do they live, eighty to one hundred years? Even if he did have a lover there, it had already been almost twenty years since he was first spotted with the quarians. Then she must have been about twenty years old, and now she is about forty, give or take. And Gordon, judging by the fact that he does not age, is long-lived. Just wait, what does forty years mean to us?—.

After her friend's speech, Binesia was even confused, and then she perked up and looked differently at the city stretching below her.

-Are you right that I'm only forty years old? Moreover, the Migrating Fleet of Quarians is somewhere out there, far away, but I am here and always nearby.—.