Chapter 17. Unbearable responsibility

Before getting ready to go anywhere, we had to hack into our home VI and erase the recording of our conversation with Liara. Of course, he received it from Benezia for such tricks, but it was better that she would find out how close her kids had become. Although I'm unlikely to be Benezia's own son, I don't think this will be much comfort to her. Although maybe she won't see anything like that in this? But again, it's better not to take risks.

And the very next day, when Benezia had to urgently go to check the FreeMan Armory company due to a hacking of the digital security system (they had to pretend to break into the company's system), Liara and I were able to leave the house having previously disguised ourselves (a hoodie and blue foundation The Liaras did a tolerable job of hiding my remarkable appearance).

We got to the place by public transport, which was, of course, slower than a taxi, more inconvenient, but more inconspicuous. And the Atame Temple is quite a crowded place; many tourists first of all visit this majestic temple when they visit Thessia. Now there are asari, at the height of the summer season, there were more than usual and, to be honest, it was not entirely clear what or who to look for in this crowd.

"Ivon." Liara called me, activating her instrument, but I was already in a hurry to check the message that had arrived.

— Along the street means...to the university. "Okay," he commented on the incoming message and, having decided on the direction, moved with Liara, skirting numerous passers-by.

For two hours, two fucking hours, this unknown person drove us around the city and when I was about to give up everything, we found ourselves in front of a small store with household items and equipment called "Tellex". An ordinary store of which there are plenty on any sufficiently developed planet, but there was no salesman or any other staff in it. In principle, this is also not such a rarity, a smart VI system completely replaces workers such as consultants and salespeople, as well as various bellows performing mainly menial labor from cleaning, sorting and dragging cargo and up to guarding the store. A similar picture is observed in small shops, because periodic repairs and maintenance of furs are much cheaper than permanent salaries for employees, providing them with insurance and social benefits. package and other things offered to an official employee by asari law. But there weren't even any buyers here, apparently due to the location of the entrance, which can only be reached through the alleys half a block away on the opposite side of the building.

"Ivon, look." Liara pulled on her sleeve, pointing to a toothbrush with a miniature mass core that completely cleans the oral cavity with weak barriers.

It's an expensive thing, it costs two and a half thousand, but it's very useful and does its job in a short time, Liara and I have these at home.

-How many? Fifteen thousand?—I noticed the price tag for this brush. —It's clear why there are no buyers.—.

While we were looking around, we noticed how the holointerface on the front door turned red, indicating a blockage, and a miniature fur rolled up to our feet. Only when he butted Liara's leg did we pay attention to him. But he turned our gaze to himself and hurried to hide in the office premises, where we then rushed.

Our smart escort brought us to the server room and, after spinning around one of the hefty boxes, he hurried away, leaving us bewildered.

"Something is wrong here," he whispered under his breath, suspiciously examining the box... and for good reason.

I could barely notice the articulation, as if the front of the box could open like a regular door, which is strange. However, as soon as this part was touched, the black box came to life and opened up, showing its empty dark inside.

"It feels like we're in a spy movie about teenagers," Liara said somewhat nervously and at the same time enthusiastically, activating her instrument.

I turned on mine and, activating the flashlight function, carefully moved forward, illuminating the path with a fairly bright, wide beam of light.

We had to walk far, but carefully. After a couple of meters, the light of the flashlights caught the steps and we had to feel our way down strictly down about five meters until we reached a small round room.

"So what now?" Liara asked, looking out for a small room that could accommodate a maximum of four asari.

"I don't know." He answered tensely and was about to offer to return, but as if on command, the light turned on, blinding eyes accustomed to the darkness, a plate came out of the ceiling, closing the passage and cutting off the path back, and a second later we began to move down.

We didn't go down for long, about five seconds, but it's hard to say how deep we went down. Perhaps we have already jumped tens of meters and are now deep underground. Oh, I shouldn't have dragged Liara here.

As if she heard my thoughts, my sister grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers, giving support. However, we worried in vain. When the elevator finally descended and its walls parted, we were presented with a fairly large hall, about thirty meters diagonally. Or rather, filled with advanced technologies, ultra-modern supercomputers and the rarest weapons, analogues of which can only be found in the SPECTER hall. Damn, whoever it is, the owner of all this is clearly cool.

-You have arrived. "Both." An artificial voice brought me out of my contemplative state. —Your simultaneous arrival is outside the given guidelines. Liara T'Soni, Biosynth project, maximum security clearance.—.

After such strange phrases, a hologram appeared before us, I believe, of the local VI. And although it was similar in shape to a humanoid, small antennas instead of ears, a fixed slit instead of a mouth and the rigid shape of the body clearly showed that they were trying to make it in the form of a synthetic. Although VIs are usually depicted as representatives of organic races.

"Who are you?" Liara asked the question that was on the tip of her tongue before me.

— A virtual intelligence created on the basis of Ultron's personality matrix - a synthetic known in the organic society as Gordon Freeman, who is also your creator. — like a bolt from the blue, this VI information naturally fell on me and pointed with a translucent limb at the synthetic one frozen in a niche in the wall platform, a copy of which VI was.

-With the creator? Synthetic? But how? - He voiced the only thoughts remaining in his head with disobedient lips.

However, in almost absolute silence, my words were perfectly audible and the insensitive computer hastened to provide the requested information, not paying attention to our state of shock. With every word, VI felt as if he was being hit on the head with a Krogan war hammer, and something whispered in his mind that every word to the last letter was true. But if this is really true...if everything said is true, then our entire history, everything that civilizations that have gone into space know is actually complete garbage. The Rachni wars, the krogan uprising and the subsequent genophage that took billions of lives against the backdrop of the opening picture look only like an unfunny joke. Biosynthetic life forms created from processed races of previous cycles. Intelligent machines the size of a dreadnought whose technology surpasses all modern analogues, on whose technologies our civilizations are built. Those who come from the depths of space once every fifty thousand years in order to reap intelligent races, those who visit me every night in my nightmares are the Reapers. And they are already close, their time is about to come.

Against this background, a synthetic who was accidentally created by the intervention of a quarian in the Geth programs and decided to challenge the Reapers looks funny, but Ultron really achieved a lot: he integrated into the society of organics, amassed a huge fortune, acquired influence and made attempts to create autonomous shipyards and a fleet in uncharted regions for protection from the approaching Harvest. Now it's clear why Freeman's companies have always favored the quarians, they created him. Eh, maybe we really have a chance to survive, but...

"And where is this Ultron?" he stared into the cold eyes of VI, who extremely surprised me with his answer.

"You should know," answered the synthetic, but not seeing comprehension in my eyes, he continued. —He put all the information available to him into you during creation. The technology was experimental but proven. Perhaps there was an error when loading the information, but by all indicators the information was loaded into your brain in full.—.

"I see." I tried to calm down a little after the breaking news. —And is it possible...is it possible to somehow restore this information?—.

"Unknown." VI gave his verdict, but immediately returned hope. —Perhaps deep stimulation of the central nervous system can trigger a memory restoration effect. I recommend spending the embrace of eternity with an asari; such a procedure using technology is highly likely to result in complications and disorders of the nervous system.—.

In principle, it is logical, and I have been told this many times before.

While I was digesting the news I had received, Liara decided to ask a question that in a good way should have been asked herself. —VI, why did Ultron create Ivon?—.

"To confront the Reapers," VI answered calmly, making everything inside me freeze in horror.

How the hell can I fight them? I just... well, I don't know who I am.

-You are the highest form of organic and synthetic life. You were designed to lead organic life forms in the coming war with the Reapers. Your DNA is flawless and can contact all life forms, but you are not one of them. "You were created to destroy the Reapers and interrupt the cycle of cycles," answered VI, apparently asked out loud, and with every word I felt like an unbearable burden of responsibility fell on my shoulders, pressing me to the ground.

All this was too...simply too much, and therefore, turning around, I literally ran into the elevator and, in the abundant light, quickly finding the control panel on it, I went upstairs, so that in less than a minute I would be on the street noisily inhaling the air. It's so stuffy, it seems like the walls around me are pressing, but in reality it's the burden that was placed on me before I was born. Or rather creations.

Due to lack of air, I even took off my sweatshirt, remaining in a T-shirt, but this didn't help much, the panic didn't want to go away. This is exactly how Liara found me without further ado, hugging me and giving me the support I needed so much at that moment. Fuck, he pretended to be a tough adult who could handle anything, but in the end he panicked like a snotty girl. But still, how can I save the entire galaxy?

"How are you?" Liara asked when I calmed down a little.

- Everything, everything is fine. Who's okay with the Reapers? Some crazy synthetic created me to stop other crazy synthetics who are harvesting organic life forms in the galaxy for who knows how many cycles. I'm terrified Liara. How can I cope with all this?—.

"Together." Liara pulled back slightly to look into her eyes. —We will cope with everything together, no matter what happens.—.

Liara is right, I'm not alone. I was never alone, at least Liara was always there to support me always and in everything. It's even good that Ultron created me and left such a cache to prepare for the arrival of the Reapers; I would still have to fight with them in order to protect Liara, mom and Shiala. And this way I will have more chances.

Taking a fresh look at the situation, I really calmed down, I have time, resources and potentially a fleet, and also a monstrous motivation to stop the Reapers - I won't let them take my family. And I know that I won't be alone all the way, Liara will always be there. My beautiful sister.

Subtly the atmosphere changed and we, getting closer, intertwined in a kiss, chaste at first, but more and more passionate with every second. Liara's nimble tongue haphazardly explored my mouth as if claiming ownership, and I myself, having shared my first kiss with her, could not boast of skill in this. And yet, no matter how awkward it was, it will forever remain in my memory as one of the best moments in my life.

"Ha-ah, I thought my first kiss would be in a more appropriate place," Liara whispered, barely catching her breath when we finished.

-Sorry. I promise, our first time will be in a more romantic place," he whispered against his sister's lips, but received a sensitive poke in the ribs. -What? You heard it yourself, to restore my memory I need to embrace eternity.—.

"I see you've come to your senses," Liara ignored my hints. —I think it's worth figuring out what exactly Ultron left for you.—.

"I agree, if the Reapers really come to us, they will be destroyed, no matter what the cost." I crossed my arms over my chest, already thinking about how I would proceed next and figuring out a plan of action.

***

As a result, we first decided to take an inventory, find out what resources we have, and we must admit that these resources are considerable.

First, information. At this secret base, huge and consisting of several levels, by the way, two of which occupy memory blocks. So, here is all the information accumulated by Ultron during his activity. And this is not only information about his life, but also technologies that are several decades ahead of current ones, if not more. For example, there was repulsor technology that allowed Ultron to fly and even be used as a weapon. Apparently I repeated its technology using the embedded information, but due to the lack of some knowledge I was not able to realize its full potential.

But in addition to the technologies of the geth, Ultron himself, the memory blocks contained information on the technologies of the Reapers received from the dead Reaper, whom Ultron found and gutted for information.

Secondly, there was advanced equipment with which I could create, for example, a more powerful and more miniature kinetic shield. Or improve your tooltron, update its software, write programs with which you could easily hack Shiala's tooltron. Yes, I can even create military-style weapons and armor for myself, which obviously would be impossible to do at home. Although there were images of equipment here anyway.

There was also a new medical complex at the base, with the help of which I was able to examine myself and study my physiological capabilities. For example, my skin is so strong that it can withstand a direct shot from a small-caliber weapon, which I tested using a pistol found at the base. The shot left only a slight redness and a slight burning sensation. The VI will process the rest of the information a little later and display the results.

And thirdly, VI himself. He turned out to be an extremely useful assistant and advised us to first check the results of the project to create a fleet in uncharted regions, for which he provided a drawing of an autonomous reconnaissance aircraft once created by Ultron. And the Phalanx hive will help gather such scouts - a colony of multifunctional minibots created specifically for the construction of anything in all kinds of conditions.

Having outlined the first steps and begun to implement them, for which we had to order several batches of resources to create reconnaissance drones, further steps were easier. For example, I need a crew for the fleet, and from representatives of several races so that one, if such ships fall into their hands, will not have imperial ambitions. To find suitable intelligent ones, you need access to a vast information network. To do this, this network must first be created, which will take a lot of time, or taken away, for example, from a Shadow Broker. But getting to the intermediary is a non-trivial task, no one knows who he/she/they are and where he is. And then the last and easiest option remains - to become a SPECTER. The SPECTERs have an extensive information network, full support from the Citadel and a ton of freedom. Of course, SPECTER is an elite and to become one of them you need to become an elite, but I think I have every chance. In the end, one of the SPECTERs already paid attention to me, and now, having the incentive, I will develop by leaps and bounds and I will definitely have the opportunity to join the Tactical Intelligence Corps.

Yes, having learned about my origin, I began self-improvement with complete dedication. Data from Ultron's secret base was absorbed in terabytes, I even made a neural interface with a direct connection to the computer to speed up the work. And then another feature of my hybrid biosynthetic organism became clear - with sufficient energy supply, I can accelerate consciousness many times, process information at a monstrous speed, and in many ways this state is similar to the state of AI, for even emotions become dulled and barely perceptible.

I also didn't give up on physical exercise, I even increased the load, because as it turned out, my body is extremely stress-resistant to any load, and therefore I trained like hell, reached the limit and went beyond it, adopted the experience of the Asari commandos and in the shortest possible time mastered their hand-to-hand style with the use of biotics. But he did not allow himself to relax for a second, even when he began to scare Shiala and his mother with such an obsession.

But I gave up on school. Well, or rather, not quite like that, I looked through what they give us there, adopted something useful for myself, but discarded what was unnecessary. How will painting help me become a SPECTER in the future, or will the rules of Elcor society help me defeat the Reapers? Sky took on all the homework (or rather, I shamelessly dumped it on him). Liara, looking at all this, did the same, continuing to understand with me the information legacy of Ultron.

At first, Liara wanted to tell Benezia everything, but I managed to reason with her. Still, according to the assurances of VI Ultron, the Protheans left behind a lot of warnings, but no one is in a hurry to prepare for the end of the world, apparently they did not take it seriously. So Benezia, no matter how much I love her, most likely will not take the warning seriously, but she will expropriate the received technologies and protect us from them, preventing us from preparing for the appearance of the Reapers.

By the way, this whole story has seriously brought me and Liara closer together, we even remind a couple of them in public, and if Benezia doesn't pay attention to this, then Shiala began to throw strange glances in our direction. She's already been looking at our activity askance lately, and then... not quite standard family relationships have emerged. Fortunately, it didn't go beyond suspicion; in public, as a rule, we don't show too close contacts, like kissing, and even if suspicions grow into something more, then...well, the Reapers are with them. Liara and I are not related...reasonable, so it's okay, especially since I have no one closer to Liara and therefore I will do my best to ensure that we are together as long as possible, no matter what the cost.