Blacklight's Hive mind was never instantaneous. It could reach vast distances using Brain hives to send thoughts towards strategically placed masses of viral matter that functioned not unlike comm buoys that were seeded all throughout space. The application of Biotics ensured that the message was sent at FTL speeds, but even at such speeds, it would take a while to reach the destination.
Normally this was not a problem, as Blacklight knew individual minds within themselves well enough that they could speak to each other simply by guessing how the other would act and what they would say. Even across vast distances one individual could guess with a startlingly high accuracy what another member would say even if they did not personally know that member. All viral matter had set instructions coded into its very DNA, and Alex Mercer ensured that every cell had at least a fraction of his own mind within it, one that could ensure the biomass would behave in ways he deemed appropriate. In this way, Alex could be said to be all of Blacklight, for every cell, even those used by an Evolved or Infected, had a bit of Alex within them.
Normally this bit of Alex would remain dormant, unless a piece of Blacklight was separated from the main mass. Should that sample grow, it would become a copy of Alex's mind and seek out the main mass to deposit the memories and rejoin the collective. For this reason it is said that Alex knows where all of Blacklight is at any given time, because all Blacklight is Alex at some level, though usually minor.
This was how they functioned when parts of themselves were kept away from vast distances. It was crude, but it worked. Now however that was all going to change.
All across the cosmos, Blacklight changed, adding something a little bit new to itself. Any Evolved separate from the main mass froze and stood as new possibilities opened up to them. All existed everywhere. Those on Earth existed simultaneously on Mars, the asteroids, the moons, and planets they infected. They saw all that all could see.
Shepard on Omega simultaneously watched the biomass forests of earth as massive Behemoths and Anansi roamed among the helix towers. Ashley saw this and watched as Hunters on Shanxi sunk their teeth into an older Varren and become absorbed into its mass. Elizabeth watched this and watched as tendrils crept deeper into the Charon relay. What they saw was seen by all, and what all saw was seen by them.
Tactile sensations could be felt. When a hunter on Shanxi sank its feline like teeth into the Varren, Blacklight on the water world searching for the Leviathans tasted the blood. Massive sea beasts beneath the sea of earth could feel the wind on the wings of flyers on Shanxi. Behemoths absorbing nutrients from a Helix tower could hear the busy sounds of omega.
The sensations were vast and for the first time, Blacklight was aware of its shape and spread across the galaxy. It was an orchestra of wonders that could not be put into words by any lexicon Blacklight was aware of. It was a symphony of stars and colors far greater than they had ever felt before. As they drowned within the sensations and splendors of existence, a voice spoke to them.
'This is the song of the universe, the symphony of the stars. Gaze at its colors as we, The Rachni have since we first knew ourselves. Feel it as my mothers before I have felt it, listen to it and sing to its rhythm. The song of the soul plays and we are its maestro. We will sing in colors beyond sight. We sing as one.'
'It's Beautiful.'
'If I would have known this were your capabilities, may haps I would have sought you out as Thralls.'
'Do not sing the yellow notes of subjugation after what we have been through Thorian. We were slaves once, we never shall be again.'
'What a curious reaction. It was a compliment, though looking through your memories, and the memories of those before you. I suppose I can understand your reaction. The Reapers have cost you much.'
'Stay on target everyone. We have much more important things to discuss.'
'Indeed we do. Lets talk about that sample.'
To be wrong even once, to even acknowledge the possibility he was wrong, would open up the potential for being wrong again, or worse, being wrong in the past. Dr. Saleon could not accept that.
"I'm not wrong.", said Saleon as he paced around his lab.
Broken furniture lined the sides as books and disks lay broken on the floor.
"I'm not wrong. They are a weapon, I know it."
A blind Varren thing cowered in the corner as Saleon destroyed his console and threw slides containing blood samples on the ground.
"I'm not wrong.", said Saleon as he fell into his seat before his broken desk, his hand on his head as if in pain.
He grabbed the computer off the desk and threw it across the room.
"I'm not wrong. I'm not WRONG! I'M NOT WRONG. DAMMIT, I AM NOT WRONG!"
He tossed the table clear across the room ignoring the beatings of soldiers and guards against his door.
"Doctor Saleon, open this door at once.", called a guard from the other side.
"I'M NOT WRONG! Never wrong, they lie. They know. They're toying with me. I AM NOT WRONG!"
Saleon ignored the pain of glass in his feet as he paced around his room with a mad gleam in his eye, his knuckles pale as he clenched his fists tightly. He heard the sound of a blow torch against the doors as he opened the chamber to the cells. He ignored the caged Varren Things as he made his way to the canisters. A moment of lucidity came and he placed a gas mask over his face.
"I'll show them. I need new subjects, no more Varren.", said Saleon as he turned the knob on the first canister, allowing the neurotoxin to flow into the air. Near immediately the alarms began to blare.
"No more Coolant Breeds.", He said as he opened more and more valves containing the toxin. He took one of the canisters into his hands and lifted it over his head.
"I AM NOT WRONG!", he screamed as he threw the canister over the glass case of his most dangerous creation. The Glass cracked but did not shatter. He took another canister in his hands as he brought it down again and again onto the glass cage, causing the crack to widen with each blow.
The Neurotoxin Varren backed against its cage as small shards began to fall. Then with one final toss, the glass shattered and the scared Varren leapt out and moved towards the Blind one. It was at this time that a hole cut into the door opened and fell to the ground. The two Varren smelled the change in the air as the Toxin-Varren-Thing leapt out and attacked the closest Salarian out of simple minded fear and confusion.
Saleon opened all cages and released the packs as they moved away from him, attempting to keep away from the Mad Salarian who merely watched them go as he adjusted his Mask. He looked out the hole in the door to see a fallen Salarian Guard holding a bloodied stump of an arm. His breathing slowed as he inhaled in the continuous gasses of neurotoxin. Saleon grabbed another mask and made his way over to the downed Guard. With a snap the Mask was held in place as Saleon looked over the Guard and smiled.
"A volunteer I see, Secondary Testing begins Now.", said Saleon as he grabbed the man.
All across the Base, Alarms blared as the ventilation systems detected the growing toxin in the air. Dozens upon dozens of regenerating Varen hunted and killed everything they came across, many with mild electroreceptive abilities chewed on the wires strewn across the base, destroying billions of credits worth of machinery, machinery meant to purify the air. The machinery failed as the backup generators came on too late to stop the death of nearly every Salarian on the station, all but a small Handful who now stood in a Panic Room.
Sil breathed in deep as Vurlon watched the closed circuit camera feeds to see the damage, his face impassive as death and destruction reigned around the base.
"The Varren, they chewed the wiring for the ventilation system.", said Sil as she panicked a bit Her gas mask secured over her face.
"So it would seem, that toxin is probably all over this base now. I am beginning to wonder if Dr. Saleon is really a genius, or just that damn lucky.", said Vurlon as he sighed.
"What do we do sir?", asked Sil.
Before Vurlon could answer many of the lights and electrical equipment went off. A moment later the backup went on. Vurlon narrowed his eyes.
"It would seem the Doctor has outlived his usefulness.", said Vurlon.
Morinth cracked her fingers as she moved through the city, for once ignoring everything going on around her, her mind working in overdrive. Looking at it, if the Asari did have a data cache of Prothean knowledge then most likely they had it hidden somewhere. No idea where though. Something like that would be kept in a big ass storage facility with a whole lot of room to make sure no signal got out, or something like that.
Morinth moved her way through the busy streets as cars flew above her. Calming, if somewhat annoying with so little to work with. Then again if someone somewhere on this planet did have a beacon, then they would probably keep it close to a museum, after all its technically an artifact. An advanced one yes, but still. Or maybe that's a stupid train of thought. Morinth didn't know, all she did know was she had so little to work with.
Spying a small museum on the lower levels of the city, Morinth decided that maybe she could figure something out there. It was a small museum dedicated to Ancient Asari culture, not the best place to look, since all that was there were a few old tablets. Maybe she would check the Athame Museum after that. It was a better starting point then any other, so Morinth made her way to the Museum. She walked calmly in the front door minding her own business with a small sincere smile on her face before immediately SPINNING THE FUCK AROUND TO LEAVE THE WAY SHE CAME OUT BECAUSE HOLY FUCK THAT'S A FUCK MOTHERING JUSTICAR... Whelp, fuck that idea. Fuck it with a Rusty Venture, whatever the fuck that was. Time to get the fuck out of there because Jesus H. Christ I think she fucking saw me... FUCK!
...Well, at least it wasn't Mom.
Flesh moved unnaturally, melting and shifting upwards and outwards. Bones shifted, twisted and snapped before reshaping themselves. The screaming thing before him had once been a Salarian, now it was little more than a mess. A living mess, but a mess none the less.
Saleon tossed it onto the floors where a pack of his Varen tore at the screaming mass like wild animals who never ate. Odd, Saleon remembered feeding them earlier. He dragged another body over to the table, this one living only by a chemical concoction that long term would cause the subject great pain through necrosis, but the neurotoxin wouldn't kill him for now. Saleon supposed that was a plus.
Blacklight-derived stem cells were implanted into the subjects body at certain points as the mutagenic properties of the cells began to take effect. Next was the Viral Vector. Not Blacklight, but another retrovirus that was bred to replicate by after implanting its RNA into the subjects DNA. A few replications should cause some mutations within the virus before it died from the anti-virals Saleon held in a syringe in his hand.
Already the body began to shift and mold itself into a new shape. It could vaguely be called a Salarian, if one were loose with the definition of what a Salarian was. Still, at least the results were promising. Even if the subject did look superficially similar to an emaciated Krogan. Then the man screamed and the bones twisted and snapped as it went through the same mutations as the last subjects. Saleon sighed as he threw the still screaming mass onto the floor. It was promptly devoured by the mutant Varren.
"Running out of Subjects. Can't run out. Need more data.", said Saleon as he looked to the barely living Salarian on the ground. It was the last one.
Saleon stared long and hard at the thing as his Blind Varren stood by his side. Saleon patted the beast's head as he looked to the subject. Then he bent down and put the barely living man onto his table and strapped him in. Right as he prepared to do his work, Saleon froze. An idea popped into his head as he began to contemplate.
"I wonder what the other scientists were doing.", said Saleon as he left the lab to answer that very question.
If he were lucky, he might be inspired by their achievements and be able to do something with them. Not like they could use the data anymore.
As Saleon left, several test tubes began to shake, seemingly from their own power. Then the glass cracked.
Within the dark space beyond the universe, they slept, and they dreamed.
THEY ARE CANCER. A FLAW IN THE CYCLE. BEASTS OF EVER SHIFTING FLESH AND BLOOD. A BODY. NOTHING MORE. A BODY IS THE FLAWED VESSEL FOR THE FAR SUPERIOR MIND. ONLY IN THIS SHAPE, THE SHAPE OF OUR CREATORS, ARE WE FLAWLESS. YET OUR TRUE POWER RESTS WITHIN OUR MINDS. EACH A NATION, COMPOSED OF WHOLE SPECIES, WORKING WITH THE MINDS OF EVERY VESSEL, EACH A NATION THEMSELVES.
WE HAVE SEEN FIELDS OF CORPSES AS WE DESCENDED FROM THE STARS. SOME DYING SCREAMING, OTHERS DYING WITH SMILES, BELIEVING IN THE CAUSE FOR WHICH THEY HAD FALLEN. NEITHER MATTERED TO US. THOSE WHO SCREAMED AND THOSE WHO SMILED BECAME ENTOMBED WITHIN THE SHELL OF THE CREATORS.
THEY CALL US REAPER. SUCH A SIMPLE WORD TO DESCRIBE BEINGS SO BEYOND THEM. REGARDLESS, THE METAMORPHIC FLESH WILL BURN. WE REST FOR NOW, BUT EVEN NOW PLANS TENS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS IN THE MAKING WILL ENSURE WE AWAKEN. THEN THE CYCLE SHALL BEGIN AGAIN. AS IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN, AS IT SHALL ALWAYS BE.
They slept in a state not hibernation. Their innards hummed softly as only basic functions and subroutines ran through their systems. They numbered in the millions, countless ship sized machine gods who have ended life across the cosmos and allowed life to ascend into a state of being far beyond anything dreampt in their small minds.
Harbinger's limbs twitched as its mind flew across the vast cosmos to parts unknown as it scoured and but forced its way into the extranet, its mind comprehending untold intelligence. Occasionally, it would come across a Geth Program and consume it into itself. It looked and learned. Secrets kept hidden from the world.
Then it found something. Something that could be turned to its advantage. The Collectors and Heretic Geth are useful, but to place all its resources into the same location was unwise. This though, this could be useful. Bypassing the security programs with Ease, Harbinger made its way into the systems of a simple dreadnought ship. It watched and learned from this group who called itself The Cure.
"The stockpiles are being moved very soon brother, that chemical fuel was built for the expressed purpose of destroying Blacklight. We can get flamethrowers later, that fuel is too useful not to have.", said Saren.
Desolas nodded as he looked to his Brother standing ramrod straight. Desolas looked to the shipping manifest that detailed the minuscule amount to flamer fuel Saren had managed to obtain.
"Your SPECTRE status helps in this endeavor brother, but not enough for our needs. If we are to be prepared for a Blacklight counter attack, we will need a lot more.", said Desolas.
Saren stood stiff as he thought that over.
"We have more than enough soldiers, but we need scientists, some who could make more of this chemical fuel. For the life of me, I cannot think of any.", said Saren.
Desolas sighed as he put his palm to his face.
"We are horribly out of our league. What of that Bloodtox I have heard of, can we at least get that?", asked Desolas.
"Not enough. The Salarians are manufacturing it to be weaponized by Turian engineers. The engineers can only grab so much to go unnoticed.", said Saren.
"We'll never prepare a defensive countermeasure at this rate."
Then the lights in the room flickered as static came from the Speakers. Saren readied his rifle as Desolas grabbed his pistol and clenched it tightly in his hand.
"YOU SEEK TO END THE CANCER KNOWN AS BLACKLIGHT. WE SEEK THE SAME."
"What is that, Who are you?", asked Desolas as his finger inched closer to the trigger, but remained off it.
"WE HAVE BEEN CALLED THE REAPERS. WHAT YOU CALL US IS OF NO CONSEQUENCE, WE SIMPLY ARE."
"How long have you been listening, and where are you?", asked Saren rather calmly.
"WE ARE BEYOND YOUR REACH, WE SEEK THE DESTRUCTION OF THAT WHICH CALLS ITSELF BLACKLIGHT. WE MAY BE ABLE TO AID YOU. WE WILL SEND YOU A LOCATION. MEET US THERE IF YOU ARE INTERESTED."
Then the Transmission ended.
Saleon sat still as the mechanical arms came from above. The mutagens and chemicals were injected into the subject, their payload entered into the dying Salarian. A viral vector would ensure that the DNA would change in such a way to take advantage of the mutagens. The arms moved upwards and retreated as a glass case covered the body. It would be a while before any mutations became apparent, cells needed to change as they divided.
The chemical compounds, along with a Salarians natural high metabolism would ensure the cells divided quickly enough actually do something in the available time. Saleon breathed through his mask as he looked to his blind Varren. It wheezed with each breath as drool dripped from its mouth. Saleon looked at the door and began walking out. His pet followed behind him.
The corridors were empty, only mutant Varren roamed these halls. Occasionally, one would growl at Saleon, only for his own Varren to growl back. Saleon liked his blind pet, more than he probably should. The bodies of the dead and dying were few and far between, evidently that neurotoxin wasn't quite as fatal as everyone thought. Debilitating and painful yes, fatal... not so much.
However there were those left unaccounted for. He did not see Sil's body, or Vurlon's. few guards were missing as well, still the vast majority of the station had fallen. Walking down the halls, Saleon looked to see a rather unusual Varren. It had unusual skin, not too dissimilar from a Krogan's. The scales were much too large, and the teeth were like knives cutting into its bleeding gums as strange sacs inflated on its sides. External lungs were its main issue, not to mention its strange misshapen forepaw that looked like it attempted to become a hand but had given up half way through.
The strange Varren was sniffing at the pipes, and began to whine and whimper before it took off at a quick if somewhat sloppy pace down the halls. Something had frightened it, strange. For the most part, the Varren seemed to tolerate each other, none would fight over anything, and Saleon had left plenty of corpses around for them to eat to ensure they did not see him as a meal. So long as he kept his distance and remained by his blind pet, they remained docile.
However something had scared that one off. Saleon moved away from the pipe, a primal part of his mind telling him that if the Varren was afraid of it, then he best leave it alone. Saleon was a curious man, but he knew well enough that if animals were all running in the same direction, you follow after them, less you discover what it is they were running from. He continued his trek down the hall, never looking away from that pipe as he did, only when he turned the corner did he stop, and wait.
He did not peer over the corner, instead he closed his eyes and listened. That was when he heard it, the sound of something skittering within those pipes, causing an echo all the way to the pipes across from him. Saleon remembered the tests of a Varren able to fit into unnaturally small places, could one of these mutant beasts squeeze into a pipe barely a few inches across? His mind said no, but he did not discount the possibility. At this rate, he would not be surprised if one could squeeze through a needle's eye.
Saleon stared at the pipes. These ones specifically were built to bring water and transport it across the complex. However there was a filtering system where all the pipes converged. One that with the right equipment be converted into a prison. If there was something in the pipes, Saleon was not going to let it live if it scared even one of his new friends, even if he himself were not the one to create them. Saleon looked to his pet, and smiled.
"Come, lets go purge the systems."