Edit: just fixing a few pronouns and commas

Something that concerned me about Mass Effect was the pervasive theme of fearing the unknown for no other reason than it is unknown, only accepting things when they became what society deemed to be familiar. The council species are terrified to let go of what they were to embrace the future (eg. Every single alien species having almost exactly human personalities, stigmas and looks, AIs needing… windows? Either cameras just don't exist in mass effect, or the geth are flying by the seat of their pants here.) AIs, extensive genetic engineering, new mass relays and systems, all of them, squandered because they are unfamiliar, based off the assumption that those are "playing god." So they sit, and almost revel in their stagnation.

No, despite its material advantages, a sedentary life leaves us unfulfilled. A feeling, I'm sure, that was derived from our survival; Long summers, mild winters, bountiful harvests, none of these things last forever. It is to the restless few, consumed and tormented by an everlasting itch for things remote, that we have always owed our future. This story will be a tribute to those adventurous souls and their eternal quest to peel back the veil and see what lies ahead. Every lab coat and notebook, a testament to our curiosity.

It's time to go big or go home, and with the reapers at the gates, going home is not an option.

This will also be an outlet for me to nerd out about tech, so, if you're into the implications of technology in our near-future I think you'll enjoy this. I am an unabashed technological optimist, but I will admit some technology I see as possible in our future will cause equally as many problems as they solve, but the forward march cannot be stopped!

*I'm not one to be too particularly picky about pronouns, but to avoid the headache of having to spell it out, and to emphasize the foreign nature of the populous of the future, "e" will be used as a general-purpose pronoun for all sapients that do not follow traditional standards (e.g. AI and certain "metas" with the exception of the asari.) It will be declined like the more traditional pronouns (his/ hers/theirs= eis/eirs, him/her/them= em, etc.)

here are the ground rules that I'm going to try to hit for writing humanity:

-Information cannot locally travel faster than light

-Matter and energy are conserved

-Technology will change the nature of social issues

-A known science explanation for even the most fantastic elements must be provided.

-Space is vast - the same challenges will have many different solutions

Please let me know if you guys have any questions about tech or plot. So, don't panic, grab your towels, and let's begin the endless march out to the stars!

Chapter 1: The quiet revolutionist

July 23rd, 2093

Von Braun Station, NASA module

Low Earth orbit

An eye of billowy white encased in a shell of deep blue glared up at him as he flew high above the Gulf of Mexico. How serene it all looked never ceased to amaze him, the seemingly gentle motions of the clouds he knew full well to be 130 knot winds violently thrashing at the surrounding sea, barreling towards his Floridian home.

Such a storm would normally have cataclysmic effects on anything it touched, an avatar of nature's destructive capabilities, forcing all who dare to remain in its way to their knees, cowering in fear from Mother Earth's gaping maw.

He was worried, but it was not for fear of the hurricane, no, decades of work, planning and funding on the part of the U.S. Navy's Oceanographic Engineering Corps had gone into constructing vast chains of carefully placed artificial islands packed with as many sea oats and palm trees as possible. All this so that hurricanes would break their fury on these deserted isles instead of the now metropolitan southern and central Florida.

Many, himself included, saw irony in the fact that even the fiercest of these wrathful tempests were not stopped by any technological silver bullet as the past had hoped, but brought to heel by nothing more than sand, sweat, and strength of will.

His fears abated slightly as he pondered this, its implications not being lost on him. Something so monumental in its scale could be, and already had been, achieved.

The contentious debates over ownership of the islands in the United Nations building, years of collaboration with Dutch experts, and the subtle coaxing of funds and ships from the countries of the Caribbean were not forgotten either.

All those things seemed like petty squabbles compared to what he was about to ask Congress to agree to.

He swallowed hard, as his thoughts returned to the issue at hand. One that he dreaded more than any natural disaster- He was about to ask a joint congressional committee to fund what had been a childhood dream of his. He had been practicing for weeks, readying himself for any question that could be thrown at him, time that he desperately needed too.

He was an engineer first and foremost, despite his leadership position, he could only barely manage to keep it together when he publicly spoke. Though he was told he still was well-spoken, it was going to take a miracle to convince experienced politicians to commit to the ludicrous idea he was pushing for.

The magnetic induction neural interfaces (MINIs) that had taken the world by storm decades ago could only provide the facts directly to someone's mind, convincing that person still required a personal touch. Especially in this case, as the numbers for this project did not look good to any, save for other engineers, let alone politicians.

He cast a nervous glanced upward, pulling up the MINI's clock and felt his stomach drop. A mere five hours until he would be answering questions in Washington! An hour before his short flight to the recently finished Carl Sagan magnetic-suspension space ring and an hours long ride down one of the tapered, aggregated diamond nanorod cables strung down from the ring to D.C.

He hardly noticed when the room's smart-material walls subtly adjusted the color and lighting to a warmer, more comfortable hue and intensity.

Given the stressfulness of his job, he had long since learned to stop jumping at the change when they did this, the sound of liquid pouring into a sealed container indicated that the same programs had deemed his stress level high enough to suggest that he would want a calming chamomile tea.

He didn't want to guess who programmed them to learn this, nor how they did, but he couldn't fault them for being right 99.9% of the time, he did actually want chamomile tea. Naturally, immediately after he thought this, he received a neural advertisement for various herbal tea blends, which he angrily batted out from his head.

It indicated that he was low on tea, but he was a traditionalist, and always felt this to be a breach of privacy, even if only the networks of artificial neurons that composed his electronic shadows knew about his stress-management habits. It's why he opted for tea rather than just having his MINI suppress his sympathetic nervous system.

Grabbing the container, he sat down again only to be greeted with the familiar neural stimulation that indicated a call request. He merely had to think about answering for it to pick up.

Quickly shimmering into existence, a tall figure dressed in a well-cut blue coat and perfectly fitted dress-pants was now sitting in a chair opposite his desk, legs casually crossed and a smile on his face. E* was slightly transparent, and with a noticeable aura around em, denoting the figure as only a projection of his optic implants.

"Well shoot Ike, you're looking a little worse for wear." The figure noted.

E was right of course, he had yet to shave and probably had dark circles under his eyes from staring at his notes for half the time he should be sleeping. Even for a genetically engineered "meta" like he was, he got very little sleep. Though, he wasn't about to admit it.

"Easy for you to say, it's not like you have to worry about your appearance anyway." Ike shot back.

The figure raised eis eyebrows in amusement. "And you never had to pass a Turing test. Seriously, do you know how stressful it is for a transophont to wait those few seconds for a reply, wondering if you were just a bit too in depth with your previous answer?"

Shaking eis head, the figure continued "Anyway, I didn't just come to commiserate, just got the few, final projections done for the minimum investment, auto-generated charts out to 50 years are ready to go, figured you would want to have a look."

Nodding, he took a sip from the container and picked up his data pad and stylus, a format that never seemed to go out of style. The figure merely pointed at it and, instantaneously, the charts appeared on the pad. He began sorting through all the information. There was a lot to go through, he could've had it directly transmitted to his brain, but he felt taking the time to read it conveyed a better understanding. That, and he was still uncomfortable with machines messing with his brain, even if they were specifically tailored to do just that.

Reading didn't take long; he was grateful to his mods for the increase in myelin sheath and blood vessel density speeding up his perception times. Though, he couldn't help the 'o' that his mouth formed in awe at the numbers. He already knew many of them well, still they were staggering.

Noticing eis slack-jawed colleague, the figure added "And they thought the L5 project was big… I don't imagine their reaction being much better than yours is now."

"That was a few 38-kilometer-long rotating tubes Dan, this… We're talking about cannibalizing a whole planet here! In 50 years, Mercury could be nothing but solar panels, O'Neil cylinder components and one ludicrously big telescope!"

"You weren't this nervous about the Friedmann telescope before. You know just as well as I do that there is always going to be a scale that the human brain just stops entertaining even the notion of, as too big, too grandiose, too… beyond yourselves. Yet, inch by inch, you take baby steps forward, slow and uncertain, until you find yourselves at the welcome mat of the very place you could scarcely even conceive of beforehand. This is one of those places, you're already there, all you have to do is convince them to knock on the door." Dan countered

Ike looked skeptically at em, but otherwise said nothing, so e continued. "Hell, only a half century of space industrialization, and already a ticket to space only costs as much as an old commuter train ticket does! Neumann drones take care of most maintenance and construction, sophonts don't even need to be involved past the start of the project! Don't doubt yourself, you are ready for this."

"I know." Said Ike, "It's just not what I had really expected for our first foray into space exploitation to look like, especially when we're only just getting industry going in the belt."

"Why do one thing at a time when you have machines that enable you to do 10 things at once? Also, those drone ship factories need power and lots of it."

"Just the same, none of that's going to come cheap and you know it. The only reason why I think this has even got a shot at working is that it's going to make its money back in fuel savings… Eventually." Ike held up the pad to Dan. "I think they'll like these new numbers too; they're promising."

"Well, I'm glad you see it that way. Anyway, I'll let you go, don't want you to be late for the hearing, see you there." Ike only just had time to get out a 'see ya' before Dan's image faded from existence. Looking once again at the time, he decided that he should be heading to the shuttle terminal.

Ike was, once again, impatient. Only this time, he wasn't surrounded by the smart walls and gently curved, rotating floors of Von Braun station, but the Victorian mahogany and marble of the US capitol building.

The vast hall was abuzz with chatter of both the myriad of reporters and journalists as well as the politicians. They moved like bees, mingling with the movers and shakers of the American political system.

For his part, he was sat at a central table looking at the imposing cascade of wood that was the bench for the politicians. Next to him was a fair-sized box he knew to contain the utility fog by which the figures would be made visible to the gathered crowd, and the vehicle for Dan's appearance. People were only just beginning to find their seats when the box began to dispense its microscopic, mechanical cargo.

Ike watched in mild amusement as the form of his artificial colleague began to be assembled by the millions of small machine 'foglets' right before his eyes. Others formed a neat cube in between his table and the bench.

Everyone was seated and the chatter was quieting by the time the foglets had finished their color diagnostics, and the vaguely anthropomorphic shape had become Dan. Not ten seconds later, the presiding senator spoke, "This committee shall come to order. I would like to welcome NASA associate director Dr. Isaac Bostrom and NASA administrative AI Daneel Olivaw to the sub-committee for Space Exploitation this morning…"

The senator, whose nameplate indicated her as Chairwoman Jane Serrano, continued in a professional deadpan about the credentials of the two seated in front of her, and the purpose of the hearing. Ike had tuned out this part, waiting for the actual questions to start being asked.

With his enhanced perception speeds, this was like waiting for paint to dry for Ike. After what felt like an eternity, Dan gave him a nudge indicating that it was time. After a quick opening statement from Dan detailing the basics of the project it was Ike's turn to fight for his ambitions.

His first verbal sparing partner was a gruff 107-year-old ex-marine who didn't look a day over 30, a small radiator panel ran along the sagittal sulcus of the Rhode Island senator by the name of Martin Pastore. He had a reputation for being blunt and honest and his question and phrasing reflected it perfectly. "Is there anything in this project that in any way relates to the security of the nation?"

Instantly Ike felt hadn't prepared enough, he wasn't expecting such a question, he thought it was obvious what the advantages of the Friedmann telescope were, and military and security applications weren't one of them. He decided to go the professional answer. "No sir; I don't believe so."

"Nothing at all?"

Ike tried to fight the scowl he could feel forming on his face and, trying to hide his begrudging acceptance, he repeated "Nothing at all."

He could've sworn he saw a smirk on the senator's face as he continued his prodding. "It has no value in that respect?"

Dan shot him a nervous glance, this was a loosing battle, and Ike needed to change the subject fast, so he relied on the one thing he had going for him in this instance, his passion. "It has only to do with the respect with which we regard one another, the dignity of men, our love of culture and knowledge, it has to do with these things… It has nothing to do with defense, I'm sorry."

The senator sat back in his chair, smirk instantly fading, but he wasn't done yet. "Don't be sorry for it, but is there anything in this project that would give us and our allies a competitive edge over those that wish us harm?"

"No, this has to do with the things we venerate and honor in this society. It has to do with: are we good painters, great sculptors, talented poets? This has nothing to do with directly defending the nation except to help make it worth defending!"

This final, zealous remark finally shut the senator up with a meek, "That is all." Fighting back the giddiness that came from this first, small, victory Ike readied himself for the next barrage of questions.

The next verbal combatant was a young Ohio representative who asked. "Is there any necessity for pushing to complete this telescope by 2143?" Instantly the utility fog began forming the figures out to 50 years in the air between them.

He breathed a sigh of relief; he had prepared for this one. "I regard this like planting a tree, it may take 50 years to grow and that could be used as an excuse for procrastination. But that's all the more reason to start it sooner, otherwise it will never happen. We need to know what's out there, and with this telescope, we can directly image details of far off planets in a multitude of spectra…"

Dan smiled and nodded along; e was liking where this hearing was going. Ike continued to bat off questions from the assembled congressmen for six hours, and by the end, e felt he had said all there was to say.

Through preparation and zeal, they had given the project the best chance of success they could have when the politicking finally ended. All that was left was to see if it would be enough for the appropriations committee to approve, but that was one for the journalists.

The next day, now back on the kilometer-long spire and toroid that was Von Braun station, Ike sat enjoying a beer, comfortable in the knowledge that the anti-intoxicant in his morning auto-pill would keep him sober. He was again greeted with the sympathetic nervous stimulation that indicated a call, again from Dan.

He shimmered into existence, once again, with his legs casually crossed, but this time with an ear-to-ear grin. "Check this out." E said and pulled up a compilation of several freelance reporter's with high-quality but inexpensive recorder drones. All of them had a headline with something to the effect of 'house expected to approve funding for Friedmann Mega-Telescope'

Now smiling just as wide as Dan was, Ike couldn't resist thrusting his fist in the air as Dan half yelled. "We did it!" Ike simply nodded along as e continued. "Now, we get to see what's out there."

Ike sobered a little and added. "Let's just hope we like what we see…"

Sorry that these beginning chapters will probably be kind of boring as I set the stage. I promise it won't be much longer until we get into Mass Effect.

I would like to point out that these will take a while, this chapter took me nearly two months to research, and trim off my worst excesses of technical speak. So, it might be a while before the next one.

I also won't be giving a perspective of how an AI thinks, as I am not a transophont, and an intelligence like Daneel would be leaps and bounds ahead of anything in even my most far-flung dreams. E is what I'll refer to as an S1 intelligence (singularity 1, capable of making improvements to emself.) I also didn't want to give the impression that there's only one level of artificial intelligence, there's everything from the non-sapient shadows to the singularity level of Dan.

I might also be publishing a codex to go alongside this with the nitty-gritty about, and current presence of, the technologies used, as well as a timeline. Let me know if you guys would like that.

In the meantime, I'll just continue solving reversing entropy without the net expenditure of energy

.

.

./

There is, as yet, insufficient data for a meaningful answer

Collecting additional data

macroVAC: ~$ Signing off