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And we already had a factory, not a small one. While I was flying Terra Nova and Rahan, these guys used powerful charges to make a cavity inside the rock that housed the plant. They had also removed one reactor from the Light of Kila, which supplied the entire plant with power. A mine had already been dug for ore and some minerals, a smelting shop and an assembly hall. Also, unbeknownst to me, they had bought equipment to mass produce Loki robots, some more moulds for parts and other small stuff, and a VI core into which they had loaded a couple of thousand programs, and they now controlled the machines in the assembly shop. They also bought some mining equipment. Brought all this batar to a neighbouring system. And then they were all killed by the Getas. The bazaars couldn't even fight back properly because they were freaking out. A trio of Quarian stands in front of you, seemingly nothing special, when suddenly you are surrounded by geths that crawled out from under the ground. Anyway, the Geths have done this 17 times while I was gone, taking their ships as well. It's a good thing I gave instructions to my guys occasionally. So now our factory, codenamed Red October, was already producing new platforms, which were being sent to build new workshops. Two smelting shops and two assembly shops had already been finished, one more new one was being laid, and mines for ore extraction were being dug. And they were searching very intensively. They were also already preparing forces to build three armoury shops, a tank assembly shop and a dock to land the Rilik. So far, I was satisfied - the only problem was the number of platforms. But the assembly shop was producing 100 platforms a day, so things were improving.

I was also informed that the Torian had finished his clones. So far, he had made 10 clones of green Azari, wearing VERY revealing costumes. Revealed because they were as tight as latex, so you could see all their... bulges. And it was impossible to take the "costume" off. It was just a skin substitute, so I had ten zombie strippers walking around on my ship. I don't even know how to respond to that. It's like a teenager's dream come true but not decent in front of the Getts. They're about to become full-fledged individuals, and their humour will be... appropriate. What a life...

All ten Azari were drawing their visions from Tori's memory. All sorts of equations and blueprints and so on and so forth. Anyway, the work was boiling. And I wanted to know what to do next.

First, Tory's friends had to be dealt with. Queen Rahni, understandably, had to be kept alive and rescued from Noveria. If some news reports are to be believed, Benezia has escaped from there, and the complex has been mothballed, and there is no way to open it. But I don't think so Benesia killed the queen. There's a reason she mothballed Hill 15. Something happened up there. Or it was because of Saren's defeat. Either way, we have to go to Noveria and rescue the queen. She'll know all about Tori and the Rakhni Homeworld, for Rakhni memory is passed on from one generation to the next, from one queen to the next. And an army of Rahni wouldn't be out of place. If they start multiplying freely, there will be a great army within three years. But they must be stopped from going to the Reapers' side because there would be unfortunate consequences. But there was a problem. I had no idea where to put the queen, but I had no idea where to put Kalros. When Tori was still on his planet, Kalros was a kilometre long. It had been at least a couple of tens of millions of years since then, and in that amount of time, it could grow well, especially with brogans in its diet. We'll leave it on Tuchanka for now; we'll catch it later and move it to the plant. Seeing it is unlikely to be a problem. Kalros, according to Tory, also has a quantum-mechanical connection, so she needs Tory to contact her, and that's it. But that would have to wait. According to Tory, three other creatures managed to escape. And people need help finding them. Oh, come on.

Secondly, we needed an army. Not just a platform but a Geth program. And I knew one way to get them. Heretic station. I knew where it was, and a strike there would hardly be expected by the Overlord. There I was going to run an algorithm that would be created from my consciousness.

Simply put, each program would become an individual personality. If memory serves me correctly, 6 million programs and 2 million platforms are stored on that station. And that's not counting the programmes on missions or the Overseer. Except you should have thought of that. This strike will deprive the Overlord of an army of Geths, who will come to me because they will surely be grateful for what I have done. But then what happens when the Lord Holder loses control of the Geth? Saren would have to seek the Channel with the Krogan and Azari, and the Lord Holder would go to the Citadel without the Geth fleet. The canon may be severely stalled if you take the Geth army out of the Overseer's hands. Lord won't go to the Citadel without Geth's army, that's for sure, and Krogan will be destroyed on Vermeer. But I'm afraid I've already changed the canon entirely and unconditionally. Well, we'll deal with that later. What is Saren doing now?

Planet Vermeir. A Crogan cloning research facility.

Night had already fallen on the complex about three hours ago. All the robots were at their posts, and new krogan were grown in capsules. The Masters of War and the Azari slept dead to sleep in their rooms. Their master, on the other hand, did not sleep. Saren lay on his bed, thinking. He had been hiding on Vermaer from the Keeper for a week now. Through research into suggestion, his scientists had created a force field that now hid Saren from the voice of that giant dreadnought. It had been a week since he had heard that iron voice. That sound that at first unpleasantly scratches your brain, asking simple questions, "How old are you?",

"What's your favourite colour?", "Your favourite food?", "Your favourite channel on TV?"... Then the voice has the same interests as you. You talk to him, and then he tells you who he is, but you keep listening to him, despite the absurdity of his idea about Cycles, the Harvest and the rest. But then, when you don't want to listen to him anymore, his voice gets louder, he starts needling your brain, and eventually, you start doing what the voice says, just to keep him quiet. And then you realize all the rightness of your judgement. You dream about the demise of entire planets in a matter of days.

You see the power of these creatures that came from no one knows where. At first, you wake up screaming from these dreams because you understand the inevitability of their arrival and the futility of resistance. Ultimately, you marvel at the power and no longer care that it could destroy your race. What about your race, the whole galaxy. But then a voice suggests you save at least a few. It tells you that the Harvest is inevitable, but it also means it is in your power to save at least some of them. And you agree. And in the end, the voice drills into your brain, and you make up your own mind because you ask the voice to shut up. And you realize you must do whatever it takes to save someone. But no one will do it. And then, the voice briefly lets you know about yourself and hints that you need to set an example. And then you willingly poke your head in with its implants. And after that... After that, you feel the power of that dark energy. You feel yourself becoming as powerful as the master of the voice... You become increasingly indifferent to the lowlifes among whom you were born. You no longer want to save them. You want to grab hold of the power you're given. So you take orders. His orders. The Lord's.

Except that the words of the geth who had defeated Saren on Feroz showed otherwise. Saren suddenly remembered that he, too, was an Organic. And he also recognized his insignificance before the Keeper and even more so before the Reapers. How could he be so blind? How could he not see that he was being used? How could he believe that he was as powerful as the Reapers? How could he think that symbiosis was mutually beneficial? And most importantly, when did the line between partner and enslaved person become permanently blurred?

- How can you think that!? Look at what we have achieved with the Keeper! What power he has shared with us! We owe it to him to go and beg his forgiveness!

- It's just crumbs of what the Reapers have. It costs them nothing to give them something that is merely a toy and nothing to take away. - Saren answered his inner voice.

- We must apologize! We must save the crumbs we have. Otherwise, it will all be for nothing!

- What's the point? The Keeper does not need us. The Council doesn't need us. We are traitors.

- Traitors? And who have we betrayed!? The wretched races that are about to die!? Our own race, which is just one of the thousands of pathetic races that mean nothing in the galaxy!? We serve a higher purpose! We are entrusted with a mission! A great mission! It is we who must begin the Harvest and end this Cycle.

- We're just pathetic organics. We are also traitors.

- DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!? We are above it now! Above organics and synthetics! We're a hybrid of both! Strong traits from both and weak features from neither! We are at the pinnacle of evolution! The embodiment of what awaits those who join the Reapers!

- No. We are but pawns. - Saren said aloud already, and suddenly, on the other side of the bed, he felt a stirring and sighing. After a few more seconds, two blue palms wrapped around his body, and then he felt something soft against his back.

- Can't sleep? - Benezia's voice was soft and sleepy.

- Just... My implants are hurting again. - Saren explained. Without the Lord's influence, the implants were beginning to fall away. The forcefield, which hung over the complex with a particular generator, was taking its toll. Without that field, the implants would have been rejected ultimately, killing Saren at best or subjugating his will at worst. - Did you get any sleep yourself? - The turian asked quietly.

- A little. It's nice not to hear anything in your head... - Azzari's voice had a calming effect on Saren. He didn't know what was happening to him, but for the past week, he had spent every night with this blue-skinned beauty, who was not against it either. And now her arms were wrapped around him, and her cold body contrasted so vividly with his, an order of magnitude hot.

- Yes. Pleasantly... - Saren replied dryly. - So, what happened there on Novaria?

- These machines... There were too many of them. All the staff were wiped out, started breeding, and we were pinned down at the monorail station. We couldn't even get to the queen.

- I see. How many paratroopers do you have left? - Saren asked in a concerned voice, pressing the left side of his face against Benezia's arm.

- Six. The others are dead. Saren, how could I? They all followed me, and I...

- Well, well... Don't... - Saren began to reassure his beloved. Yes. In this week we spent together, he could only call Benezia that. - It was all my fault. I'm the one to fix it. - After those words, Saren recoiled from the Azari and got up from the bed, not paying much attention to the fact that he was naked.

- Saren. - Called Azzurri, but Saren only stopped. He didn't have the strength to look into the eyes of the woman whose life and family he had broken.

- Yes?

- I love you. - she uttered.

- Я... I love you too... - said Saren and went to get dressed for a walk around the compound. He had really enjoyed just breathing the night air this week.

The Citadel. Councillor Tevos' flat.

Sparatus, lying lazily on the bed, had been trying to light a cigarette with his grandfather's lighter for a minute, but as sad as it was to admit, the lighter had served its purpose. However, after three more clicks, a light emerged from the lighter. Sparatus lit the cigarette and took a welcome puff. Turning his head to the left, the turian looked once more at Tevos, barely covered by the thin blanket. No matter how one looked at it, she was gorgeous. And when she was asleep after their... general stress relief, she became divine-looking. And lately, Spartacus has become more and more fond of Udina. After talking to him, Tevos was seething with anger, and the discharge was one. So now, Apparatus may not have settled in her flat, but he often visited. And he liked that a lot. Still had to keep good relations between the Hierarchy and the Republic. And this was the best way.

Suddenly the Unic Tevos, lying on the bedside table, rang with a nasty squeak that immediately woke the Azari. She mumbled something untranslatable, somehow sat up on the edge of the bed and activated the unit.

- What?" said the Counsellor irritably and briefly.

- Counsellor. We received a message from one of the GOR search parties. They've located Saren and Benesia on Vermaer. They have some compound there, but what exactly is there is unknown. - There was no need to introduce ourselves to the Councillor. Tevos had long ago ordered that there was no need to familiarize yourself if necessary. I'll find out for myself.

- Why did you tell me? - Azari growled.

- I'm sorry, Counselor, but Counselor Valern was not answering his messages, and Counselor Sparatus' uni tool is disabled. - The interlocutor on the other side explained. There was no image, but the speaker was a Salarian, judging by the voice.

- Good. Stand down. - said Tevos and disconnected the connection. - And where is Valern disappearing to? - The question was already addressed to Sparatus, and Tevos got up and went to find her dressing gown. In the dim light of the room, Sparatus once again gazed at Tevos's perfect ass, which he had time to study from all angles.

- What do you think? In a brothel, where else. - With a sneer on his face, the turian said.

- Again!? - Tevos asked with surprise and even a hint of condemnation. - How many times a week does he go there?

- Every time, after he's spoken to Udine or the Dalatress. She's a bit of a bitch, you know.

- Yes, she is... - Azzari agreed, retied her dressing gown and turned to the train.

- I told you not to smoke in my bed! - Tevos angrily approached Sparatus, snatched the cigarette from his mouth and quickly extinguished it in the ashtray. - Or have you forgotten what happened to your flat?

- Oh, come on. We weren't in the shower at the time. - Apparatus began to remember, and suddenly, it occurred to him. - Shall we do it again? - Tevos approached the Turian, who had already figured out what she wanted, but suddenly Tevos said.

- As soon as you quit smoking. - And immediately left the room. She was no longer sleepy, and Sparatus was left lying on the bed in utter disappointment.

- Oh, by the way... - shouted Tevos. - Get in touch with Valern. We need to break the news to Shepard. - With those words, Tevos shut herself in the shower, and Sparatus' good, albeit slightly dampened, the mood immediately shot up in anticipation of talking to the Captain.