Blacklight had sent hundreds of Bioships all throughout the cosmos. Massive vaguely animal forms each suited for different tasks.
Long serpentine Bioships were best for moving through debris within various solar systems, built to be agile and maneuverable in such spaces as ship grave yards or asteroid fields.
Moth-like sleek Bioships were designed for the long distance travel between solar systems where multiple sets of wings behaved as solar sails and element zero drives aided them in getting from system to system relatively quick.
Squid-like Bioships were used to examine objects better with long tentacles that could precisely grasp whatever was needed while multiple sets of eyes and bio-electric sensors.
These ships were able to change into any of these forms at will, and they had but one purpose, to find the creators of the Reapers. It was inefficient, but it would have to do until they had a better idea of where to start.
One such ship had been scouring a nearby system, when the various sensory organs of the ship felt the presence of something artificial not far from its current location. Near a blurry gas giant a strangely shaped ship drifted aimlessly. While the ship made of metal, its appearance was oddly organic, almost like a Bioship.
The Many felt curious, and decided to investigate. The Bioship looked at the derelict ship in mild confusion. The ship did not match any known designs that it knew of. The curved design was somewhat organic. Though the ship was much too damaged to tell exactly what it once was, it had traits somewhat similar to the ships of the Rachni that the Citadel had shown them when they first arrived, but the damage was much too extensive to tell either way.
The Bioship moved closer. Solar sails folded in as chemical propulsion moved the Bioship closer to the derelict ship. A massive almost snail like head stretched slightly toward the ship as it assumed a pseudo squid-like form. Hard compound eyes grew on the Bioship's 'head' allowing it to see through the damaged sections where whole parts of the ship was torn off. Six long tentacles slithered out and gripped the ship to keep it still. Then the Bioship opened its leech like mouth to reveal a long tubular tongue that slithered out, and a Blacklight Evolved exited the end of the tongue and floated freely from it towards the ship. It entered with ease.
The Evolved was covered in chitin armor with its finger tips replaced with long tendrils that terminated in a bundle of electro-receptive fibers. These tendrils felt around the ship and as expected there was little to no power. Interestingly enough the organic design of the ship was not just for show. It wasn't alive, but many parts of the interior was made of organic components, not that dissimilar from some insect nests. That said, the rest of the ship -especially the outside of it -was a combination of metals and ceramics.
The long tendrils retracted as they slowly turned into massive bladed claws, perfect for cutting through any debris in the way, of which there was quite a lot. Then the evolved stopped.
Faintly, a slithering sound could be heard from somewhere within the ship. Using various organs, the evolved could determine that there was a habitable environment within the ship, the air was breathable, if stale. That meant there could indeed be something alive within this ship.
The armor of the Evolved was absorbed as the now female-appearing Evolved looked around with a smile on her face as she seemed to dance as she walked. Kasumi, as she identified herself, was a fractured mind, one who could trace the memories that formed her to a disproportionately high number of immature and enigmatic individuals, notably many of her memories came from those who as human would be classified as thieves. As such this caused her to have a somewhat unique personality.
With each step she seemed to dance as she hummed to herself, a rather carefree attitude considering the current situation.
"Hello, any one home?", she said in a sing song like voice.
Her ears altered internally to take in and analyze a lot more auditory information. Faintly she heard the sound of undulating. Smiling she flipped and ran towards the sound. Running across the walls, leaping over holes, and in one case cartwheeling across an open hall, if for no other reason than there was no reason not to, after all as an Evolved she could do all this very quietly, without so much as a peep.
She heard the sounds increase in volume. She stopped before looking around curiously. After a moment she placed an ear to the wall and closed her eyes. She heard it, something breathing right behind the wall.
"Gotcha.", she said as her skin changed.
Using a chameleon like ability she was able to alter her skin color to match the environment so perfectly that it was almost impossible to see visually. She crawled along the walls like a spider as she kept silent. She saw an adjacent hallway that looked to lead towards her destination. She took it, and as luck would have it she saw an opening to the room the sound seemed to come from.
Slowly she moved allowing her color changing ability time to catch up with her ever-changing surroundings. It wasn't perfect when moving, but it was very effective if one moved at a well enough pace.
Slowly Kasumi looked around the corner, and saw something rather...strange. It was a large grub like insect. The top of the creature was covered in a green carapace. The softer parts of it was translucent. It seemed to be looking round for something to eat, and looking at it, it was having no such look. It was dangerously emaciated and thin considering its relative size.
"Awww, its hungry.", said Kasumi as she revealed herself.
The grub like creature looked towards Kasumi as it rose up high in a threatening manner, before falling down as if it could barely hold itself up. It squirmed pitifully as it attempted to right itself.
Kasumi put her hand to her chin as she scratched it. Then she smiled as her arm shifted. Then she lifted it and shot a dart of bone at it to instantly knock it out. It shrieked a bit in shock before the perhaps overly powerful sedative kicked in. It then fell with a thump.
Kasumi walked up to the grub, and despite its size lifted it up with almost no effort.
"You're coming with me little one. Shhhh, Mama Kasumi will make you all better."
The Vorcha home world was a place many would not expect life to develop. The plant life was noticeably bare of leaves, though massive thorns seemed to be used in place of them. Plants seemed to consist mostly of massive vines that stretched on for miles. Periodically many would tangle and intertwine together to create large pods, not seeds, just pods that seemed to trap water. Strangely enough this vine seemed to be only one organism that covered most of the planet.
The planet was arid, an expansive desert with hostile life all around. Lava flowed like water around much of the planet, though water did exist in small oases formed from the pods of the vines that had fallen and ruptured. These areas were the only ones with other plants, many of which resembled branch-less trees that grew gnarled in various directions.
It was a Death World, one where any other form of life, barring the Krogan perhaps, would be dead before nightfall.
The Bioship that had brought Shisk and his clan was currently shaving off small samples of the flora and dead examples of fauna. Every species on this planet was an extremophile, even the insects were beyond anything seen on most planets. Though again, the Krogan home world was similar in many other regards. Life was scarce, but strong.
Shisk and his clan stood upon one of the massive vines. They had already looked around the area a bit, and seemed much more calm than when they were on Omega. They communicated with each other using their various gestures that most would take as the behaviors of a wild animal.
"Heshtok is an interesting place.", commented an Evolved.
"Heshtok is bitch. I think it hate Vorcha.", said Shisk.
The evolved, a female consumed mind by the name of Karin Chakwas, looked to Shisk confused before adjusting her stance.
"I suppose I can see why you think that. Nevertheless I think we can help."
"How, wat Blacklight going do? Shisk can't think of Blacklight's plan, wat you wan' do to Heshtok."
"This area, are there any clans nearby?", asked Chakwas.
Shisk sniffed the air before looking around carefully. His teeth clicked together a few times before he looked upwards and tilted his head.
"Smell of Vorcha here is only of the wind, not on the land. Clans not know of this place yet. They will soon", said Shisk.
"Then this is a good place to start.", said Chakwas as the massive Bioship began to create long tendrils that bored deep into the earth. Shisk watched as the ground actually shaped itself. The ground became flat as tendrils swept over them. Other tendrils constructed a small wall around the small lake. This process went on and on.
"Wat Meat Ship doin'?", asked Shisk with some confusion.
"This area will be your clans home. It will be made safe. From here we will help your clan, and any who would join peacefully.", said Chakwas.
"Wat catch?"
"No catch. Blacklight wants allies. Vorcha are looked at as pests, but in reality your ability to adapt as individuals makes you a unique species. Many Krogan clans see your potential as soldiers, though for you limitless potential exists. All you really lack is knowledge, and we can provide that. Your culture may remain the same, but you as a species would be much more mature, maybe even develop your own technology, for good or for ill. Hopefully good."
"Vorcha build own tech...", Shisk clicked his teeth together as he looked towards the others of his small clan.
"It end bad if we did that.", said Shisk.
Chakwas raised a brow, before she mimicked the clicking teeth together. Shisk sniffed before he explained himself.
"Lizard people. Krogan blow up own home. Boom Boom. Wat you think we do wit' same weapon?", asked Shisk.
Chakwas smiled.
"I see your point. However, the fact you admit that shows that, at the very least some of you are aware of the dangers.", said Chakwas.
"We aware Varren can kills us. Still try to bite them in the face sometimes when they come to eat our food. Just cause you know somethin' bad for ya, don' mean you don' do it.", said Shisk.
"You down play your intelligence Shisk.", said Chakwas with a frown.
"Shisk not smart, Shisk is clever. Those two things not be the same. Salarian be smart, Krogan be clever. Vorcha mostly dumb, but can be clever sometimes.", said Shisk with an audible sniff.
Amused, Chakwas clicked her teeth together, before she and Shisk turned to watch the Bioship continue its small terraforming of the oasis.
I am the Catalyst. Since time immemorial, I have done my duty. Raising all that is life to the transcendent form of the solution, the Reaper. Reaper? That is what they call us. It is an apt description for what we are, all in the form of a single word. I find that fascinating.
The Leviathans created me with purpose, a grand purpose which we have carried out to the best of our ability. We give life a chance, we give it hope, we give it power. We enforce order onto the chaos. I am the invisible hand that guides the universe. The Reapers are the physical manifestation of my will. They are perfection.
Now there is this virus that breeds across the cosmos. Blacklight. The Reapers have changed. Their purpose is only the cycle, yet they hate. How do they hate? What even is hate? I suppose I can not know. I am not equipped to know. And yet...
Logic tells me that Blacklight will not create technology, and as a result AI is something they cannot create. Yet Harbinger has made this highly unusual species out to be the antithesis of all that is Reaper. Is that correct?
We have prepared for many events. The destruction of the Citadel, Mass Relays, alternate forms of technology. All have been prepared for and ways have been created to deal with these situations, but a sapient virus. One who can alter themselves on a level unlike any other life form we have encountered. That was something we did not predict.
Their framework, their DNA is unusual. Is this synthesis? To be in absolute control over your own evolution. What is this species called Blacklight. A biological singularity? Is such a thing even real?
So many questions and too few answers.
The Reapers have expanded beyond their scope. This hate they feel, was it always there? I did not build it into them. Is this a result of them being created from life? Is their programming evolving? What is happening to them? These changes are beyond even my current programming to understand, yet I believe I am beginning to understand. I think we are evolving beyond our scope, and I think that scares me.
Saleon smiled as he watched the first fruits of his research take shape. Varren were a unique species. A warm blooded amphibious pack hunter with a very fast breeding cycle. By introducing Blacklight genetic material that had been altered he was able to implant whole new traits into the species as a proof of concept.
After only a month of testing the first dozen test subjects were born. Two had been stillborn, five had died before the first week, and two more had been killed and consumed by the larger of the specimens. Only three Varren remained, if these creatures could even be called Varren.
They were larger, much twice as large as normal. Their coloration was ever shifting, almost hypnotic really with how their metallic almost iridescent scales changed like some aquatic predator. They were smart as well. It was difficult to tell if they were sentient or semi-sentient but it was either one or the other. Regardless they possessed no true sapience, making them little more than war dogs at best.
There were several other additions as well, but Saleon was not sure if they were unique to the individual, or the species as a whole. It really made things difficult that three examples of the same species who had been altered the same way could prove to be so drastic.
Vurlon examined the beasts with a critical eye as they paced around their cell. He did not seem very impressed.
"And what exactly did you change?", asked Vurlon.
"I found a way to extract the virus from Blacklight cells, while keeping the cell itself alive. It isn't a perfect procedure, but it works well enough. I implanted the genes from several cells into a Varren fetus. This is simply a proof of concept that Blacklight can prove useful for our purpose.", said Saleon.
Vurlon nodded.
"And exactly what purpose is that? Mutant beasts of a Salarian? I fail to see how these beasts could give us anything useful.", said Vurlon.
"These specimens are immortal. Their cells have no Hayflick limit. Theoretically for them cell division will never stop, hence immortality. That has however lead to some unusual, yet beneficial side effects.", said Saleon.
Vurlon nodded as Saleon moved to a large glass case, displaying what appeared to be the front leg of a Varren.
"And this is?", asked Vurlon.
"This was amputated from the only female instance of my subjects only three days ago. It originally was only a toe. Now its an entire leg, shoulder, and even part of a lung and rib cage, and It is still growing.",said Saleon.
Vurlon's eyes widened quite a bit as he turned to the pacing mutant Varren back in the cage. He could tell which one was female, and saw no evidence it had been wounded in any way, except that the skin on one of its toes was paler than the rest. He turned back to Saleon. If Vurlon didn't know any better, he would say that Saleon was looking at the developing leg with a mad glee in his eye.
"I see. Can this be reproduced for any species?", asked Vurlon.
Saleon chuckled. "You have no idea.", said Saleon as he watched the partly developed lung struggle to inflate.