To the sound of deafening applause, Councilor Tevis touched the document with her thumb, thus placing her electronic signature on it. In an instant, the finally ratified treaty was uploaded to the network, automatically distributing itself to all major information publications, gaining real legal force.
"Allow me to be the first to welcome our new colleague," the matron smiled radiantly, extending her hand for a handshake with the newly minted Citadel Councilor from the USSR. Under the glare of the spotlights and the quiet hum of anti-gravity video cameras, Wolfgang Amatya Anderson carefully squeezed her palm with his large paw, not forgetting to smile, turning his head towards the lenses so that the equipment would best capture the historic moment.
Soon, a photograph of the two-meter-tall Wulfhednar shaking hands with the Asari, miniature in comparison, would fly across the galaxy, gracing the front pages of all tabloids, but that would be later. Now, the Union's councilor was enjoying the moment of triumph of the working people and his fatherland. Tevis, as an experienced psychologist, read the savoring of pride and malice from victory on his bestial face. How else to call it, that the Union, without starting a war, not only entered the Citadel Council as a senior member but, in essence, won the cold war of the two blocs?
"This is a disgrace!" the realization thundered in her head. The document she had signed on the expansion of the USSR's acceptance into Citadel Space under special conditions, with the introduction of its representative to the Council, visible to her peripheral vision, burned her eyes. Everything should have been completely different!
It was not the Union that should have done them a favor, but they should have graciously accepted these barbarians under the wing of civilization!!! The alien state should have been crushed, humiliated, and forced to play by the rules of space by Turian legionaries and fleet... Instead, the Hierarchy almost bit the throats of those with whom they had lived in harmony for centuries, suddenly remembering old grievances!
"What went wrong?!" a more sober thought flashed through her mind during the reception organized in honor of the signing. All the fuss passed by Tevis, leaving the defeated politician alone. A glass filled with Soviet champagne and a view of the Citadel's residential buildings only completed the picture, adding to the picturesque billboard that looked directly into the window of the fashionable hotel where the celebration was taking place. From it, an Asari maiden gazed with a proud and arrogant look, her voluminous body covered by expensive designer lingerie, made from natural fabrics from Thessia... according to patterns from the USSR!
The model from the poster. An average Asari of this era.
The world turned the wrong way...
Adding even more meaning and subtext, in the distance was another advertising billboard, on which a Soviet female worker was depicted at a machine tool. This disheveled, dirty human woman looked much more attractive than the Asari maiden, making the advertisement for mutual aid funds more appealing to the eye.
Looking at this, the councilor understood – they had lost not now. A critical mistake was made there in the past, during the first contact with this country. Then, frightened by the fact that the Hegemony was literally wiped out in a week by red flotillas... they panicked. They let emotions prevail over them, on the wave of general panic!
It was then that they should have united and presented a united front against the Union, but fear of the unknown made them hesitate, while the communists were actively acting, having gained access to their Extranet! Having analyzed terabytes of data downloaded from the information space, they began to disseminate their materials, making the public sympathize with them! The Batarians were already disliked, but seeing their atrocities on their own land, what they allowed themselves with slaves, sympathies were on the side of the communists, who came to punish and reward.
What was worse, the Hierarchy, the sword and shield of the Citadel, although it sent troops under pressure from the Council to stop the Union, the Turians regretted not being in the place of the punishers! It was necessary to finish this mess faster, before the two militaristic unions realized that there was no point in fighting each other! The problem was with others, not with them!
Then the centuries-old system received its first crushing blow. The black hole disappeared, where excess resources could literally be dumped, and where the "disposal" of the undesirable took place. After all, it was so easy to direct pirates at the troublemakers... Moreover, the Hegemony provided the entire Space with cheap food, and with its demise, there was a prospect of famine riots.
And then the Union, which immediately requested peace, having made sure that the enemy at its borders was no longer dangerous, as a sign of goodwill, took the vacant niche, not only fully covering the supplies but also reducing the price many times over, which not only had a beneficial effect on the economy and well-being of the Space's inhabitants but also postponed the overproduction crisis. The population simply had more credits, which they could spend on the megacorporations' industrial goods, which ensured the stabilization and growth of the securities market.
However, this did not solve the problem. If before everything could be blamed on the Hegemony, then now there was no one to blame for the lack of constant growth. Business, accustomed to investing minimally and receiving cosmic profits, did not want to change anything. Then the strategy of militarization was adopted, to allow the economy to postpone the crisis and prepare a sword that was to strike the USSR. Then it seemed funny and ironic to her that the army that would defeat the communists would be fed by food from the Union…
Only the communists also saw the situation in the economy of their neighbor in the galaxy. Not bound by the laws of Space, with prejudices, they had real AIs that predicted the future outcome if the Union did not act. Naturally, they began to prepare countermeasures, the full power of which Tevos began to understand only now, seeing the whole picture, having gotten rid of bias.
By flooding the market with cheap food, they conveyed to the ordinary person very well, thanks to whom he had not only synthetics but also natural products on his table. Moreover, an ordinary worker began to have credits left in his account, and it became possible to save up without getting into debt.
By giving access to their People's Network, they showed that the media space does not have to consist of seventy-five percent porn. Any Soviet information channel could be turned on for children to watch without fear of getting a slippery question from their offspring: "What is that Asari aunt doing? Why is she inflating the Krogan uncle?"
And sports? The initiative with the Olympics and intergalactic competitions? As if there had been no sports in the galaxy before them! It turned out that there was definitely nothing like it. They turned sports into a spectacle and a way to earn money. Any person from the colonies could now rise to the top of the social food chain solely thanks to their physical abilities.
"We had to act in the opposite way in propaganda. The image of a moderate athlete in everyday life and an intellectual became too closely associated with communists," she drilled the unfortunate advertising poster with her gaze. Tevos also had a hand in turning her kin into short-sighted, fat, easily led creatures…
All this happened because the lifestyle of a Soviet citizen turned out to be surprisingly attractive to the ordinary person. Moreover, an ordinary clerk, sitting out his allotted hours in the office, forgot about polymerization, which was a mandatory addition to the life they so desired! There were those who injected this junk into themselves, connecting to the collective mind!
The Asari shivered at the thought that someone else would hear and feel her thoughts and emotions, and she would feel the presence and emotions of others, from which she would not be able to escape completely. This, among many other things. For example, the rejection of chic apartments, several flyers, jewelry, and other usual benefits of luxury. It was still hard for Tevos to believe that her newfound colleague had gotten to the signing ceremony using public transport, only switching to an armored car at the USSR embassy, and even then under pressure from security services… of the Citadel.
"Her employees clearly lost a few nerve cells after realizing the behavior of their client."
It was difficult to measure how much effort the Council and the governments of the RAS had to expend to discredit this entire image, but it was worth it. The contagion was stopped by developing immunity. It only remained to cut off the parts of the body affected by this gangrene.
No matter how valuable the specialists from the former slaves, whom the Soviets freed from the Hegemony, were after rehabilitation and training in allied institutions, they were gotten rid of even with the hypothetical possibility of compromise. Only those loyal to their governments survived. Most often, they were from the third or second generation of slaves and simply saw nothing but slavery, so they were easily lured away for credits…
Then they had to get their hands dirty. To send the troublemakers to the colonies, to wait for them to fix everything, and then to get rid of the used material – it was easy, and it was a victory for the Citadel. The Union did nothing but official notes of protest when they poisoned the ragamuffins from the Migrating Fleet, showing that it was not omnipotent!
As it turned out, they rejoiced too early. That, and the Ecumene, and many subsequent victories of the Citadel played into their hands. Behind the apparent superiority, the Asari and Salarians did not notice the growing discontent of the Hierarchy, which did not want to act as "cannon fodder" when the conflict escalated into an open phase. Even if the Turians are militarists, it does not mean that they are ready to go to a slaughterhouse and throw their own kind into the furnace of war. They had to stimulate them and force them to go down this path, time and time again slapping them, not letting their blood boil with anger cool down…
The result was deplorable. In fear of the USSR, they did not notice that the Hierarchy had already reached the boiling point, continuing to fuel the fire, so it is not surprising that the lid blew off. The incident at Shanxi was the last straw. The good idea of demanding the extradition of the general who almost started a war with the USSR, which would have been supported by the revenge-seeking Quarians, turned out to be the last straw in the Hierarchy's patience. Instead of obedience, the Primarch broke all trade agreements that bound his race, throwing off the leash that had restricted all Turians. Perhaps everything would have been fine if not for the six Primarchs killed before that. The Turians could not forgive, let alone forget, such a thing.
The Asari and Salarians suddenly found themselves without an army in the face of the Hierarchy. It was only a matter of time before all the Turians, as one, began to demand their due…
Then the USSR made an offer that no one could refuse, immediately collecting the dividends of its implemented policy. The reputation of peacemakers and defenders of the innocent, carefully cultivated, outweighed the last cards of the Citadel Council…
"If you don't drink champagne before all the gas comes out, it will kill the soul of the noble drink," the voice of the USSR advisor interrupted her thoughts.
"Came to gloat over a defeated enemy?" the matron replied to him. "Forget it. I won't give you that pleasure. You may have outplayed me and my people, but you can't take away my pride. So rejoice in a won war without a single shot. Time will tell who is right, and you will inevitably stumble."
"There is no more time…" remarked Wolfgang, casting his gaze from the window with undisguised pleasure.
"You can't try to tell those fairy tales you scare children with," Tevos replied calmly, extinguishing her irritation with willpower. "You won't find a noble listener in me. I've read the analysts' reports and tend to agree with their conclusions. You are fanatics, afraid of the darkness of space, who have built their civilization on faith in this fear. It pains me that an enemy like you has outsmarted us."
"We don't consider you enemies. And we never thought so," the intelligent beast put her at a loss. "And we come up with better fairy tales for children."
"I've seen them," she said dryly. "But I had a better opinion of you. You deify science, but you are mired in pride yourself… Or do you want to humiliate me with these words even more than defeat, if you think the Citadel hasn't bled you enough."
A frame from a Soviet fairy tale. A young shark sings the song "Arlekino".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVar_DNBlu4&list=RDYVar_DNBlu4&start_radio=1
"We didn't fight you. We were just preparing you for the inevitable," her interlocutor ignored the matron's outburst.
"Ah yes… enemies all around. Honestly, I've already managed to forget about it, colleague. I hope our forced cooperation won't last long. Forced dependence on you offends both me and my people. You prepared us well, cornering us."
Against her will, Tevos chuckled. Her perfect mask cracked. Her lips stretched into a crooked grin on their own.
"You cornered yourselves," the advisor stated the obvious. "And for some reason, you hear words but don't listen, and even interpret them, looking for other meanings."
"It's you who distorts everything you touch," the Asari chuckled again, amused by this farce. "My people are an example of this. With a single action, you split us, broke our history, and turned our culture into a den of iniquity, bestowing this abomination. I wouldn't be surprised if I found out you raised this male in a laboratory…"
"If your people broke from just a trinket, then were they united?" the wolfheadnar raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"You don't even deny it," Tevos exclaimed in shock. "And after this, you are not monsters? Your actions have distorted the history of an entire species… and you admit it so easily. What if I tell everyone?"
"No one will believe you," the interlocutor snorted. "Just as they didn't and don't believe us. Sentients tend to ignore the obvious."
The Asari silently emptied her champagne flute in one gulp. The liquid fell into her stomach in a pleasant wave, but she didn't taste it.
"This savage and product of genetic engineering is right," she capitulated.
"Whether you want it or not, we will have to work together. Darkness is coming," a chill emanated from him. "We won't stand alone. The cycle is ending… but you don't believe me again. Even if I show you what I've seen, you won't accept the true reality where we are all pawns on a game board. I've said everything I wanted to say. I would like to gain at least an ally, if not a friend, but now I can only hope that the truth will not break you… Because very soon you will see it all for yourselves."
The USSR advisor left his interlocutor, full of heavy thoughts. "Why is it always like this? Even if I show her another Citadel, she'll claim it's a forgery. We don't even try to do that anymore… Only a few can accept the world as it really is. I hope the Union survives the great darkness."
"No one ever believes them," thought the ancient machine, observing the conversation through the eyes of an observer. "Too much truth. Organics are not optimal in their understanding. Their minds cling to the familiar and believe lies because they are more preferable for their form of existence."
The Sovereign analyzed all the data again. The USSR had not disappointed him. These organics had even prepared a trap for the Reapers, but it would be useless. The primitives, along with their synthetics, would be able to do nothing. The cycle would end. They would know horror when they realized that all their fuss with the Citadel was not of this cycle and that the preparation of the trap was part of his plan.
"They have little time left to realize the inevitable…"
The office plunged into darkness as academician Lebedev turned off the projector. "I was right," he thought, twirling an ancient pen in his hands. "She didn't believe. Everything is as I saw it. There is only one way… But to go through it, the loop must be completed. Without prediction, we are doomed. I will have to personally control its creation. The probability window is too small."
The scientist stood up from his desk, his stiff back cracking. With a shuffling gait, Comrade Lebedev left his workplace and went to the recreation room. There was what he needed most right now.
Reaching the coveted room, he turned off all surveillance devices with a hidden switch, looping the broadcast from them to the desired fragment.
Walking around the soft armchairs, he gently touched the panel of colored enamel, running his fingertips over the image of a little girl who had once saved him and everyone around him.
"Help us again!" he implored the one who was not a god, but who had given the world an AI that did not want to become one.
The academician once again trampled on the ideals of science and progress that he himself had declared…
Statistics Update:
Citadel Space survival chance during the Harvest: 5% (was 2%);
USSR survival chance: 7.4% (was 4.6%);
Reapers' desire to turn the USSR into a tool: 73% (predetermined).
USSR forces at the moment of "X":
1. Army:
A) Regular army: 342 million for peacetime (2.6 billion – for wartime/all able-bodied population);
B) Auxiliary troops:
* 86 divisions of dwarves;
* 148 divisions of naga;
* 27 divisions of elves;
* 670 divisions of geth;
* 141 divisions of drell.
2. Fleet (main fleet: 47 fleets with 2168 pennants each):
* 6 fleets of elves;
* 9 fleets of naga;
* 18 heavy fleets of dwarves;
* 24 fleets of geth;
* 16 fleets of drell.
USSR Capital System (Solar System) will hold out for 13 days 17 hours and 5 minutes until the complete destruction of all defenders. (was approximately 55 hours)
Reaper fleet losses will be 76% (23,069,558) (was 17% (5,160,296)) of the deployed ships (30,354,682). (0.73% of the total number (706,889,886 pennants)).
* Ships from corvette size are counted.
Project success chance: "Red Wind": 5% (detonation of the entire Solar System and turning the Sun into a supermassive black hole by dropping 25 relays and detonating them simultaneously);
Chance of destroying the entire galactic arm in case of "Red Wind" success: 23%; In case of success: death of 25.6% of all Reapers;
Time of USSR resistance until complete destruction (last connected sentient): 567 years, five months, three days, and five hours. (was approximately 382 years);
Project success chance: "Phoenix": 1% (arks created to restore the USSR in case of its destruction);
Chance that after a cycle, in case of "Phoenix" success, the Reaper forces will be attacked by the USSR 99.9999%; Chance of Reapers losing 31%; Probability of destroying the Milky Way galaxy, as well as the Andromeda Nebula galaxy: 67%;
Te vos was right. The world had truly changed. The confrontation between two ideologies had not disappeared but had only changed its specifics. Now the USSR was confronting the Hierarchy. Two countries, which had become guarantors of the Citadel's security, were rapidly militarizing, although it seemed, how much further?
Against this backdrop, science received a gigantic leap in development. Having the opportunity to openly touch the scientific achievements of other races, scientists moved progress by leaps and bounds.
Thus, twenty-five years passed in tension. The illusory peace was ended by the discovery on the planet Institute of Applied Natural Sciences (IDEN) of the USSR, with the letter Prime, of Prothean ruins. As a result of excavations, an almost intact beacon was found. The find did not have time to be delivered for further study. An unknown ship attacked the orbital defense group of the institute's planet…