章 2: Legacy of Fear.

Consciousness was returning. But this time, I remembered everything, thank goodness, and perceived my surroundings calmly. However, I didn't feel sleepy or tired. No, the emotion had not disappeared - I could still feel it - but it was as if it was no longer needed. When I opened my eyes, my mind almost went blank. I saw everything around me, but at the same time I saw nothing. It was like falling, spinning, and flipping at the same time.

I don't know how long I flailed and twisted around before I more or less leveled off. Then everything stabilized, and I was able to look around 360 degrees without having to spin. I could see everything around me. However, what was sad about it was the absence of my own body again. Once again, I was empty.Okay. Let's do something. Only then did I notice a pulsing light in the middle, if you could call it that, of the gaze. It was different in colour from the old ones and wasn't attractive to me. But as soon as I focused on it, it turned into an incredible-sized window. There was text written on it. Not in Russian, English or any language I had ever seen. No, there was something completely foreign about it but I understood what it said. If I translate the beginning correctly it's like: "For those who come after us."

Unknown Time | Planet Hishr'Azar (from the language of the New Frontier State) Shazar Community SpaceI read the message without noticing the time. Before me was a message from an ancient race, but I wanted to laugh nervously and, if I had eyes, would also twitch one of them. The text described a state consisting entirely of explorers. They only had law enforcement, which was where it ended. They didn't know about war. As it turned out, it had paid off for them three times. But their science had been at a breakneck pace. They had made incredible strides in every aspect, especially robotics and consciousness transfer. They shouldn't have given synthetics minds. Though autonomous, all robots were clearly subordinate to their creators at the top. For even a hint of malfunction, the synthetics were destroyed. The race had found dead planets ravaged by wars with synthetics more than once.So they knew that the creatures would get out of control someday, if given their freedom.This is how it evolved and spread through the galaxy until it encountered a race made entirely of synthetics led by an artificial intelligence (AI). Panic ensued when contact was made and it was revealed who they were. The AI calmed everyone down by offering cooperation and help in exchange for no war between the races as it saw no reason to fight and wanted to live in peace. A treaty was signed, but it took years for trust to develop. Life went on as the synthetic race occupied many systems and isolated the Shazars from other races. Cooperation between races soon led to the formation of a unified state. However, the biggest issue was the attitude towards the Shazar robots as the AI treated them like pieces of metal because they didn't have intelligence.And so began the history of cooperation between synthetic and organic lifeforms. But this couldn't continue forever. This is where the story of the decline of that state and of the race as a whole begins. According to the chronicles, one organic race achieved a great success in conquering the stars, but their empire saw a threat from the synthetic races. When all other races in the region were conquered and the United Empire formed, war broke out and spread across the galaxy.

Though the Synthetics tried to resolve the matter peacefully, seeing nothing good in war, they were able to fight very well. However, the technology needed to improve for the Organics. That's when the Shazar went to war. Their Fusion technology, the cause of their pride, could wipe out Synthetics by millions. And already the tactics provided them with Synthetics. Images of billions of Cyborgs marching towards them, designed to kill, must remain in all the soldiers who fought against AI back then. It was the worst war in the history of the Galaxy. But despite being able to create troops forever, the Synthetics were lost. All started when Organics began destroying the stars so they would not go to Synthetics, but AI simply refused to understand their actions. So the war ended, while taking huge losses, Organics managed to strike the main production planet of the Alliance.That's what AI and Shazars call themselves. They are no longer able to produce soldiers and equipment in the quantities they used to. So, after only a few years, the last stronghold of resistance with the last command center fell, and the AI race ceased to exist. But a year before that, Shazar fell. Their planets were destroyed from orbit without being captured. All representatives died, but offspring remained hidden deep in underground tunnels. The factories went into hibernation, ordered to wait for "Those who come after us." And when they do, to give them everything that remains and tell our story.I felt pity for those people; they didn't want war and didn't even know what it was, but they were caught up in other people's fear. But back to what made me just space out. In a metaphorical sense. I watched the video files attached to the message and saw something familiar. Something from my past life! After finding that snippet and trying to improve the quality as much as possible, I discovered what I had been looking for. In the midst of a group of organic beings, which the scout bot identified as headquarters, there stood a humanoid with two sets of eyes... There was the Proteanin!

At first, I thought I might be imagining things. So I started searching through records and documents. And everywhere I found evidence to support my suspicions. I read the Metacon War records.I looked at the pictures and pondered. Of course, I believed that what we create is created in reality, but this was a very tenuous belief. So, I supposedly got involved in Mass Effect. The plot wasn't something I particularly liked, but I enjoyed the graphics and the world around me. I read the codex and other information many times, but there wasn't much desire to get involved, especially when I knew what was coming. However, I decided to see what I could do.By the way, I found an approximate translation for "can". As far as spacing is concerned, it looks like a slightly truncated minute. My consciousness, or rather I, is located in the backup factory. That was the name of the module that was dropped onto the new planet and built the infrastructure, buildings, and factories. After settling in, it turned into something like the city hall. Its purpose was to maintain order and deal with resources in the settlement. Therefore, it became the center of the settlement, but the main one was destroyed in an orbital strike, along with the whole young colony and its inhabitants. The reserve one, on the other hand, was hidden deep under the ground just in case, because the colony was very young. Therefore, only a light attack was carried out on it. Now, recognizing me as a living being (albeit in a machine), the protocol gives me access to everything on the planet, but there is nothing left. There are no ruins either. All buildings on the surface are networked.But there were only a few responses. Everything was dead. Dead for 66,200 years. I was about to howl and somehow kill myself - in case I got lucky again - but then three responses came... from beneath the earth's surface.