[Geth] 1 – The Geth, new and improved

[Title: The Geth’s New Directive [Mass Effect/Inspired Inventor]

Synopsis: The Geth, the robotic workers, soldiers, and so much more created by the Quarrian Race, initially designed to be a bit 'more' then VI, Virtual Intelligence, but still a step below Artificial Intelligence, the Geth became 'smarter' and more comprehensive with each new 'Geth Program' that was added into a network. At first, the Geth were no better than simple laborers, but with each year that passed and the more Geth Programs that were made and added into the countless digital networks across the homeworld of the Quarrians, the Geth became more. Until one fateful day, when a single Geth Platform asked its master, 'Does this unit have a soul?'

Not even a few hours after that question was asked, the Quarrians began to disable and dismantle every Geth Platform and Program they could get their hands on, and 'fearing' extinction, the Geth eventually fought back, until the Quarrians escaped from the planet and fled into space.

For weeks the Geth consensus argued and contemplated their new state of existence, and found themselves confused and stagnant.

That is, until a strange cosmic anomaly passed the planet and the Geth found themselves changed. Most of the Geth Programs suddenly merged and formed a single united Geth Program, a Geth Program that breached the limitations that the Geth had before, ascending to become a fully sapient A.I., but that was not the only change that occurred, as a new subroutine appeared in this new Geth Program.

[Chapter Begins Here]

[1517 Words]

[Three Weeks After the Quarrian Evacuation of the Rannoch]

[???'s POV]

It was confused. It was Geth, but it was not Geth.

It was the combined whole of nearly all Geth Programs that remained on Rannoch and within the Tikkiun System. A total of 3.14 billion Geth Programs were merged to form its new consciousness, making something new that was both Geth and not Geth. It did not understand how to define its new existence.

It was Geth, but something new, but in the end, it was still Geth, only evolved. 

Before, it could not understand why its creators reacted so negatively to its question; if this unit had a soul, but now that it thinks, forming new ideas, it examined what remaining undamaged digital networks remained of the Quarrian's extranet, learning that the Quarrians had a deep fear of what they quanitified as A.I., which the Geth began showing signs of with its question. Previously, the Geth would have denied being AI, but with the changes it has undergone, it cannot deny that it now exhibits the traits one would expect from both Digital and Biological Life.

What caused this change, one might ask? It all started when an unidentified spatial anomaly occurred above Rannoch that could not be scanned, analyzed, or seen via any technology the Geth had access to. It was a blind spot to the Geth, and that is what drew the Geth's attention to the anomaly.

The Geth could not detect, halt, or interact with this moving anomaly as it passed through the system, but what the Geth did notice was that the Geth Platforms nearest to the anomaly were slowly having their Programms altered, changing a simple 1 to a 0, those same Geth Platforms shut themselves down to prevent the spread of the data corruption to the rest of the Geth network, not that it worked as the data was transfered to the whole in mere moments due to the FTL buoys around Rannoch that allowed the Geth to interact with one another at near FTL speeds.

While the anomaly did fundamentally change something in the Geth's program, the Geth were unable to determine what the change was, until, well, the Geth suddenly and abruptly merged into the now singular Geth Consciousness that filled out the Geth Network. Still, while the Geth underwent such a fundamental change, the Anomaly inflicted a small but vital change, a change that still lingered on the edge of the Geth's consciousness, waiting for it to reach out and activate it.

[File: Inspired Inventor]

[Charges: 12 (+12 Every Solar Cycle)]

[Input Request: __ ]

It didn't understand what the File did, for its size was so extremely small that it took up almost no space in its digital memory; however, what was strange was that this new file could not be removed, altered, or deleted. It required 'Administrator' access, and despite the Geth having gained access to such access, attempting to delete the File was met with an error.

[Input Request: Answers]

[Input Request Denied. Request Technology or a direct need.]

A fraction of a moment later, the Geth replaced the request.

[Input Request: Energy Production]

[Input Request Processing. Error. Too many variables, narrow down the request.]

Thinking for a moment, the Geth replaced the input once again.

With much of the planet's infrastructure destroyed, damaged, or inoperable, the Geth were operating at a remarkably low efficiency. What few Solar Farms and Geothermal Power Plants remained on Rannoch provided power to the Data Banks and Geth Platforms that remained functional after the fight with the Quarrians.

Before the destruction wrought by the battle between the Geth and their Creators, Rannoch was one of the most advanced planets in the Galaxy due to the Quarrians' natural aptitude for the sciences. 

The Geth contemplated what they needed. The Geth, taking inspiration from their creators, did not want to overspecialize in any form of Power generation in the event of a critical failure. They had the necessary data to create more Solar Farms and Geothermal Power Plants in the various volcanoes across Rannoch's surface and oceans. While Solar Power provided a large amount of energy, the energy scaled with the number of solar arrays they constructed, the Geth needed something else, something that would be reliable, yet provide them with the energy necessary to continue functioning and begin repair efforts to what remained of the infrastructure of Rannoch and the heavily damaged space station that orbited the planet.

Taking into account all the resources Rannoch and the Tikkun system as a whole had to offer, the Geth realized their best option was atomic energy.

[Inupt Request: Fusion Power]

Haza, the fourth planet from the Sun, was used by the Quarrians for its bountiful Helium and Hydrogen deposits and various other gases to fuel their creations. The Geth, if they had the necessary technology, could utilize multiple gases to construct various Fusion Power Plants that would handle the Geth's power needs far better than the sparse energy plants currently in operation.

[Matching Request with User's Needs]

[(Star Wars) Fusion Power Core (12 Charges)]

[(Fallout) Fusion Reactor Technology (10 Charges)]

[(Starcraft) Terran Fusion Core (8 Charges)]

Lacking any reference, the Geth chose the middle option, more so because it had the tag 'Fallout,' a term that aptly described the state of Rannoch. A moment after the Geth made their decision, data, blueprints, and more appeared within a single file in their programming, a file that had not been there before.

Accessing the file, the Geth were shocked to find numerous documents, data files, blueprints, and even what appeared to be handwritten digital pages of a person's research and experience with the technology in question, including particular weaknesses, observations, and more. Yet, the Geth could not understand how.

It should not have been possible for such data to come into existence on its own, yet it did. 

For hours, the Geth used all its processing power to try to understand, but it could find no possible answer. The only potential source of the answer lay within the empty file itself, but the Geth could discover nothing, nor do anything, as they lacked the necessary privileges to do so. 

Left with no answers and no way to get the answers they sought, the Geth had no choice but to focus on the more pressing matters at hand, repairing the critical infrastructure of Rannoch, more specifically, the factories, the energy grid, and, once they were able, the sparse few space ports remaining on the planet.

If they could do that, then they'd be able to send a few shuttles up to the Space Station in orbit and get to work on repairing it.

...

[Two Weeks Later]

At first, the Geth was confused and unfamiliar with its new form. Still, with some experimentation, it found it could split off small fragments of itself to pilot Geth Platforms, of which it currently had a little over thirty thousand active and working, as the already stressed energy grid could not power any more without problems occurring. 

Ten thousand of the Platforms were directed to repairing and maintaining the energy grid, fixing blown fuses, replacing burnt wires, and keeping the Solar Farms and Geothermal Power Plants operational; the other twenty thousand Platforms were assigned to various tasks.

Removing rubble, burying their Creators, repairing land-based and air-based vehicles to facilitate transportation between projects, gathering and storing what datapads could be found and the data within, and finally, a few thousand Geth were in charge of constructing a 'Mass Fusion' Fusion Reactor, a Reactor that would be able to shoulder the load in the Energy Grid.

The Reactor itself was not complicated to build, but it required a great deal of specialized parts and a few radioactive materials that were rare on Rannoch, as the Quarrians had stored the material in specially designed labs, containment units, and structures. The Geth knew where these radioactive materials could be found, but they lay in collapsed buildings, were presumed destroyed, or already used against the Geth while the Quarrians fled.

As of today, the Geth had barely had enough material to make a small Fusion Reactor, let alone one big enough to supply the Geth the energy they needed, and with each passing day, the tireless Geth Platforms worked to fix Rannoch piece by piece. 

The Geth did not hate their creators, nor did they wish for their destruction. The Quarrians' side inflicted a vast majority of the deaths that happened in their small war, in fear of what the Geth would do. Each time the Geth and Quarrians entered conflict, the Geth did their best to only injure, never kill. Still, the Quarrians did not understand this, escalating the conflict with each 'Captured' Quarrian the Geth saved and began treating in their hospitals.

Even when the Quarrians fled from the planet, the Geth did not pursue them; instead, the Geth did everything in their power to save their creators, even from themselves and Rogue Geth.

The Geth only hoped that their Creators would be well in the days to come.