What Happened Before?

Year 2019, somewhere in the Sol System...

"Master."

"Harbinger."

"We have some important news."

'Clarify."

It was strange to have so many enormous ships gathering in the backwater star system, chiefly because no one would ever try to explore a system so low in Element Zero that one could say the whole place was not worth the money and effort. However, something was different... perhaps there's something which existed where they don't belong, or that something happened the way it shouldn't have.

The Harvest, which was temporarily bothered by what the ships assumed to be 'Prothean manipulations', but quickly discovered and fixed by Nazara, was fairly easy to execute. Thanks to what the organics referred to and relied upon as the 'Treaty of Farixen', the lesser organic races were not able to mount a significant resistance to the Cycle. Their seemingly indifferent and distrustful politics only hastened their downfall as more and more of the aliens began to display fatalistic outlook to their fate. Whole worlds were delivered into the hands of these giant sentient ships, burnt and twisted and charred, leaving nothing but broken ruins which will be swallowed by nature some five centuries in the future. But in the end, life goes on. Life will always go on, just like the machines and their Cycle of Harvest.

It was not until the 'clean up' time after all of the lesser races had been culled that a signal was detected in space. Was it a distress signal or a distraction to the machines? Did it come from a spacefaring race, or a young, clueless and gullible race?

Still, despite the fact that their invasion was already complete, Harbinger felt the need to investigate the signal, as per his 'employer's words'. It took him to this... star system in the middle of nowhere, with a frozen Mass Relay and literally zero amount of Element Zero. As soon as he arrived, he had his kin to investigate everything out of ordinary, including what appeared to be a ruined 'settlement' on a lifeless red planet.

"The Protheans apparently owned an outpost close to a garden world of this system. This barren red planet hides an underground facility used by the subjugated civilization 50,000 years ago in an attempt to study the young sapient race which inhabits the garden planet close to it.

"The name of the species is Homo sapiens, their scientific name according to the global network used by these so-called Humans."

"That hardly seems like a trouble."

"Incorrect."

The mysterious employer, at the moment its servant vetoed the previous notion, shifted its attention on what Harbinger had to say.

"We are certain beyond any doubt, master, that the organics in question were the ones who sent the signal we've reported after the Harvest on the Quarians were done."

"What were their intentions?"

Harbinger sent his secretive employer a diagram of sort which seemed to be the human's way of communication. It detailed a series of information related to the Humans, such as what they were, where do they live, and most importantly, the Humans' desire to know that they were not alone in the universe.

"Do they know you are there in the system, or having even a slightest idea that something is out of place?" The unknown entity demanded.

"Negative. For whatever reasons, they no longer cared about space."

For a split second of uncertainty and discomfort, Harbinger was sure that other ships behind him were exchanging uneasy glances with one another, if only they had to visualize it in their network. They knew very well that a potentially problematic condition was laid bare before them. On one side, they were programmed to refrain themselves from attacking young and primitive species. In the other hand, it was their duty to Harvest every sapient lifeform capable of space voyaging, including those that were very close to being one.

The employer, noting the silence among its servants, held back from saying anything.

"Unlike the Asari, which enjoyed the benefits of being the Prothean's pet project, these Humans compensated the lack of guidance from any spacefaring race by being very inventive and naturally curious. According to their 'internet', the previous ten years of their existence saw a particularly large interest in astronomy-related developments, and they predicted that space travel and colonization will be available to them in twenty years or so. Nonetheless..."

"They do not have guidance in any form, not even a beacon." The employer seemed doubtful.

"But they will find one, or want to find it in their desperate attempt to solve their global crisis."

Confused as to what this global crisis was, Harbinger forwarded a series of news floating around on what the Humans called 'internet'. That one certain information package spoke of a frighteningly destructive situation, known amongst the organics who narrated it, as the 'World War 3', some kind of global war which devastated at least two separate places on their planet, now revealed to be Earth.

Behind him, Harbinger could sense, almost literally, some of his kin trying to peek into the files and live recordings of this World War 3.

"Pitiful creatures..."

"You are joking. These vermin should've known better..."

"Shall we just leave them to their fate?"

"Ascending them at this time might be problematic."

"No." The employer suddenly spoke right into the ships' communication network. As the fleet carefully connected their network with it, the mystery employer elaborated its decisions to have the human species Harvested and ascended into several of them, but allowing the fleet to decide what form they want the Humans would become. When asked why, the shadowy entity explained, or rather helped them to remember, that some eighty nine million years ago, two species once waged war as chaotic as the World War 3 they were talking at the instance. The two races decided to expand their respective wars to the stars, annihilating so many worlds, including three garden planets (the worst case being the planet Dhenallia, which eventually transformed into one big steamy rock) which incurred the wrath of the employer. It didn't take too long for the rest of the fleet to understand why their master asked them to Harvest the Humans. Better to eradicate them now than to let them spread and destroy other worlds, too.

As a comparison, the wars waged by the two extinct species required around fifty years to become too damaging for their society. The Human's World War 3 achieved the same level of ferocity in only a year and three months, according to galactic calendar system.

"So..."

"What orders will you impose, master?"

"All I ask is that all of you will stop them by whatever means necessary. If you must, you may choose to turn them all into new Collectors."

"Are you afraid that they might learn about what befell the Asari and all who followed them?"

"I'm afraid that we could be at risk of being ceased permanently. For the Humans to be this brutal without Mass Effect technology, without the evolutionary path that we implemented for every sapient life... The implications aren't in our favor."

The silence that followed in her wake wasn't a sign of mourning or disloyalty, but of obedience and agreement.

"We serve the Cycle."

"And the Humans will learn that it's better to become one with us, rather than continuing what they're doing right now."

The die had been cast. It was decided, and now there was no turning back. Harbinger and his kin served the Cycle well, and they will have all of the Humans to obey their social order, one way or another.

However, there was one more thing that needed approval...

"Master, shall we attempt to greet them or begin ascension straightaway?"

Harbinger's contact apparently was dumbfounded by such a question, that all of the mechanical beings beside Harbinger began to whisper to each other.

"The eldest one is right. What do we do?"

"They are young, but sufficiently advanced for a planet-bound species..."

"I disagree with any contact attempt, but..."

"I don't care with first-contact. How many are we going to Harvest?"

Judging from the chatter between the machines, the majority of them scowled upon the idea of performing first-contact with any race they were going to ascend. After all, they were all synthetic construct with proper mandate hard-coded into their being; Harvest any sentient lifeform, primarily spacefaring ones which has grown beyond the boundaries of their homeworlds. First-contact situation was obviously out of the question.

Their master's response was, for the lack of a better word, astounding.

"You may choose to introduce yourselves if you so desire. As for the number of ascended Humans, it depends on how many do you need, and as I said, what forms will you require from them. As of this Cycle, you all have gained 5 prime forms from the Asari and Turians, and 10 scout forms Harvested from Quarians, Salarians, Drell combined with Hanars, and Batarians."

What would come to pass for the inhabitants of Earth then?