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[Dean_the_Young]

http://social.biowar...3839/1#15425564

TL;DR: It's in the title.

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Recognizing the Under-Recognized

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A teacher once told me there are three types of good ideas when it comes to an interesting idea not being used fiction: there are missed opportunities, when something could have been included but failed to be, there are opportunity-costs, in which the cost of implementing an idea would have taken away too much from somewhere else, and then there are someone else's opportunities, for ideas that would work well in another story.

This is about the last sort: a basis for ideas that don't really need to have featured in ME2 or ME3, but could make some interesting spin-off material be it a comic, a book, or even other games. And that basis is Reaper-tech, or more accurately the idea of Collector-crafted super-weapons.

The Collectors are, to be blunt, a massively under-utilized source of mischief and development in the Mass Effect universe. Having a negligable role in a majority of the game that nominally revolved around beating them, the real setting strengths of the Collectors were never used: a species with unparalleled scientific capability, advances and inventions of truly galaxy-shaping implications, and a historical ability and willingness to spread their advances to anyone, anywhere. Decade-leading advances in weaponry, equipment surpassing the galactic standard, bio-technological advances unheard of in the galactic setting, total knowledge of the entiriety of the still-limited mapping of the Mass Relay network...

And yet advances with galaxy-shaking implications, such as a selectively targetting genocidal airborn virus that could annihalate all but two of the species of the galaxy if it got off the rickety space station with daily interstellar flights, gets less attention than someone's Daddy Issues. To further the understatement, they don't even get mentioned in the actual galactic war of ME3.

Admittedly, the point of either of those games wasn't to revolve around the Collectors or their tricks. ME2 was focused primarily on the companions, to the exclusion of most everything else: arguable as a design choice, but it was definitely a design choice. And ME3 (rightly, in my view) focuses on the big-picture of the war by focusing on the campaign which brings the galaxy together: stopping Unleashed Collector Weapon SXIOS-2 might have made for an interesting ME2 companion mission, but it shouldn't have been elevated to the expense of the Main Plot.

But still, there's a lot of untapped potential for the Collectors and their potential tools... and Reaper-tech implications could make for a good deal of interesting content or help drive other plots in their own right.

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Ever Wonder What A Wonder Weapon Can Do?

(Answer: Just About Anything)

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Collector Tech is effectively applied Reaper Tech, and one of the interesting things about Reaper Tech is that it can do just about anything within the context of the lore. Raise zombies? Check. Brainwash people? Check. Talk across the cosmos? Check. Give super-powers? Check. Do anything that established technologies allow, but better? Check. Allow super-hacking and interrogations and enable a super-intelligence network? Check. Dominate just about all other technology? Check, check, check.

Reaper tech is, in other words, pretty much the ultimate trump card for any quasi-technological idea. In the ME universe, where technology drives civilizations, that's a lot of trump.

While the Reapers themselves are presented in ME3 as an overwhelming conventional force in their own right, ME2 (and, to an extent, all of the ME series) establishes an interest/consistent strategy of developing new technological means to beat the current civilizations. The Collectors collect, study, analyze, and prepare all sorts of nasty surprises, from advanced husks for the armies to biological weapons to more. And by maintaining trade relations with whomever they want, whenever they want, the Collectors are also in a key position to monitor and direct the growth of galactic civilizations (if they have any interest to). Want to discourage the rise of a race of synthetics who might trouble the harvest? Give advanced weapons to their organic rivals. Want to encourage the rise of Reaper-ascendable species? Offer them trades of super-computers and software. Etc.

Heck, one of the Collector's most useful things to trade around wouldn't even necessarily be weapons... it would be information on the Realy Network. It's an established fact that the current galaxy has stopped itself from activating all the known relays, and between lost relays and undiscovered ones there remain entire sections of the galaxy without a space-faring presence. Trading secret knowledge of this relay or that to a group not only gives the Reapers whatever bargain they were looking for at the moment, but it can help affect the rise/fall of a civilization by giving them exclusive colonization access to new parts of the galaxy... or new paths to cross it. Imagine how anyone might feel if their bitter rivals found a relay chain that would take them deep inside their territory.

Whether it's an actual technology, or just information, the Collectors could be the root of a whole host of 'big deal' developments and items of interest.

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The Contents of Pandora's Box

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Collector and Reaper accomplishments are already established in some fields: cybernetics, energy weapons, bio-technology, biotics, stasis fields, husks, biological warfare, and even software. But it can be easy to lose sight of what these advances can actually mean... so here's some brief sketches of what plot-driving tidbits from the Collector Base could really mean, or be used as.

The first few will be familiar or already touched upon, but some more original ones will follow. Each musing will also include a 'Hook' of how such a development might be used in a spin-off game of sorts.

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The Omega Plague

The brief bioweapon that appeared on Mordin's Recruitment could certainly have re-appeared, and has a host of possible uses and users that could have driven a plot. With a brief hand-wave of 'further development' to mitigate Mordin's Cure, a bioweapon that can selectively target species, targetting some while leaving others unharmed, has obvious implications in a genocidal war to kill billions. If there's one Reaper Tech that should have been in the background of ME3, the Reapers spreading plagues on the planets not yet fallen should have been one.

But the Harvest isn't the only application for such a weapon: any racially-motivated extremist group could have a use for such a weapon, particularly if it were re-designed to target other species.

The most obvious would be Cerberus: amoral already, imagine how much easier (and quicker) Cerberus's occupation of Omega might have gone had they deployed the Omega Plague on the oppressed population. While Cerberus has never actually gone for the outright genocidal before, but the appeal would be obvious the more depraved, or desperate, the organization is made to be.

But even other groups could be interested in such a development, particularly if it could be re-designed to suit their preferences. The casual racist might use it to further a eugenics agenda, but even Serious People would be interested in something of this power... whether to defend against it, or to remaster it. A plague of galactic proportions would definitely warrant the attention of the Council, and thus their Spectres. The Salarians STG is an established interest in genetics/biological warfare, and after defense against such a virus comes the appeal of having one's own in reserve. Anyone who came into possession of a Vial of the Omega Plague would not only have a huge target on their head... but also a huge oportunity to make money or trades.

The Hook: In a post-Mordin Recruitment frame setting, the recovery/redevelopment of a small part of the Omega Plague becomes a race amongst competing factions to secure the Virus before it can be released again... with the chase leading across the galaxy, and possibly even to the Citadel itself. The Player's Choices could lead to deciding which faction ultimately gains control of the Plague, with implications for the ME3 arrival of the Reapers.

This is an idea in which a potentially Big Deal is averted, keeping it safely out of conflict with Shepard's story regardless.

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The Relay Map

The value of a better understanding of the relays has already been mentioned, but this is actually a plot driver that doesn't have to come from the Collectors: it could just as well come from a remnant of Sovereign after ME1. The advantages of exclusive knowledge of the relay network would be far and wide: Aria could use it to advance her smuggling network, the Turians could use it to identify and establish military strongholds at strategic junctures, anyone could use it to advance their own colonization expansions in secret...

The Hook: This is actually an idea Captain Zaysh came up with: set a spinoff in terms of a C-SEC crime-story that takes the player from the Citadel (where backup is a call away, the rules and regulations are endless, and where off duty is safe) to Omega (where dirty-cop narratives play out, the player is left to their own devices with no restrictions and no backup, and there is no safe haven). The timing of this would be between ME1 and ME2, and centers around the player (a C-SEC officer) trying to secure the remnants of Sovereign despite the rampant interference of petty criminals, terrorists, and the various governments of the galaxy as everyone tries to seize the Reaper technology for themselves.

Between indoctrination dangers and political intereference, the player pursues a series of leads across the galaxy in pursuit of a portion of Sovereign's data banks, the contents of which are the potentially galaxy-shifting Relay Map. Ultimately, of course, the player chooses who they side with, and who they give the map to... and in their choice, determine their forseeable future. Will you give the Map to C-SEC and the Council, and rise the ranks as a proud officer? Will you be a Human Patriot, and give it to the Alliance and win back a commission into the Alliance military? Or will the straight and narrow no longer apeal to you? Will you be a True Human and give it to Cerberus, and remain in C-SEC as an agent for Human Advancement and Interests? Or is the allure of the freedom and rush of Omega more to your taste, as you become one of Aria's Lieutenants and hand the best smuggling routes in the galaxy over to the Queen of Omega? And if none of those are to your taste... why not simply take the map and flee, taking the uncharted paths that would take you out of the known galaxy and the curruption that infests it?

This sort of hook is self-limiting by future developments, but not 'pointless'. The Relay Map can be Significant without being Galaxy Defining, as some of Shepard's Big Decisions were, and besides short-term gains to the benefactor the actual impacts aren't the sort that we should expect Shepard to have heard of: whether the Relays were never announced (if kept a secret by the recipient), or just were old news by the time of Shepard ('The council announced new relays being opened up a few years ago: now to more pressing news'), the Map can be an artifact that is certainly relevant at the time of the decision. Moreover, the flexibility of the player's outcomes can mean that the real 'consequence' of note is the direction and/or fate of the PC: what sort of future they would take, and where that might put them later on.

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The Cure for What Ails You

The Collector's propensity of abominations of medicine shouldn't take away that sometimes the most effective tools of all are beneficial. Shepard forged a wartime alliance between hated foes with the Genophage cure... and while unorthodox, the idea that the Reapers might do the same shouldn't be ignored. While the merits of striking a deal with the Reapers should always be suspect, the bold, the stupid, or the indoctrinated could be convinced it's a good idea... and the Reapers certainly have the technology to justify a medical advance as payment for some quid pro quo.

The Hook: In the context of the ME3 early-game, or even ME2 Collector-era shenanigans, the idea of the Reapers creating their own genophage cure as political leverage over the Krogan is surprisingly under-used. Certainly there are Krogan, ambitious, proud, and/or stupid, who don't fear the Reapers... and the idea of trading a Cure to get the Krogan fighting the Reaper's foes for them fits into the Reaper's divide and conquer strategies of the past.

So imagine a context of 'other stories of the Collector/Reaper War': the battles and important victories where Shepard wasn't. In one such arc, the Player has to stop the Reapers from giving a Genophage Cure to a warmongering, arrogant patsy who would use the cure to rally the Krogan behind him, not Clan Urdnot, and would go to war with the historic enemies even as the Reapers are on the door step. While Shepard ultimtely succedes in the genophage cure (or not), the player prevents a serious destabilization of the galaxy that would have interfered with the war.

Note that while I bring up the Genophage Cure, the idea of medical leverage doesn't have to be on such a wide scale. It could be used to justify turning someone traitor (to save themselves/loved one), and otherwise is another option available to those who hold Collector technology.

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The Clone Wars

If expanded material ever wanted to depict the the Collectors as preparing the galaxy for the Reaper arrival by destabilizing it, they could do worse than by enabling others to do what Okeer did not: clone armies to fight wars and divide thegalaxy. With a Trojan Horse inserted to help the future Harvest (such as creating clones succeptible to Reaper commands), the basis of a future Reaper army could be started in enabling the spread of private armies early.

Clone armies have strategic appeal in sci-fi for a variety of reasons: they tend to be fast-growing, easy to hide the origin of, relatively cheap, and totally loyal. In the Mass Effect galaxy, an ideal place for such bred-to-fight depravities is in the ever-violent, and ever vague, Terminus. Terminus empires are alleged, if rarely developed, but having one (or several) be the beneficiary of Collector trades is a way to have a relatively low-profile conflict be introduced and resolved. Terminus conflicts are allegedly so common that yet another one that was resolved before it could escalate wouldn't be something to interfere with Shepard's story.

The Hook: In an 'Expanded Conflicts With Collectors' narrative, a Collector trade with a cloning army could be the impetus for the rise of a minor Terminus Warlord into a Significant Threat. While stopping him is the priority, the idea of seizing the Collector Technology and trying to repurpose it for yourself is a loaded option.

The Hook (Alternate): How about a more genuine ressurection of lost species? Like the Protheans? While the Collectors were genetic engineering and implants destroying biology and culture, cloning doesn't have to be like that. With a real living Prothean for pure genetic samples, the existence of the Cypher as a device to justify uplifting the clones into 'real' Protheans, and established quasi-Prothean cloning technology, and you could actually ressurect a dead race over the course of a narrative: first as a weapon of war, but possibly as the rebirth of a civilization.

Such a development would obviously make for a post-ME3 setting, but hey: it could be done.

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The Jormugand Virus

A bit of a steal from an anime of the same name, what was a weapon of peace in the origin could be a devastating weapon of war in a different application. The idea of the weapon in the origin was as a supercomputer that would interfere with and actively sabotage computer-dependent flight: it was a tool that was intended to eliminate sophisticated computer aviation and thus reduce the devastation and occurance of wars.

In the Mass Effect universe, shutting down all the flying vehicles around a world could devastate the entire planet.

Call this one of those 'little-big' things: more software than hardware, a computer virus or otherwise snuck into the production facilities or sattelites or otherwise, possibly by piggy-backing on a Collector 'gift' of more obvious application (like an improved drive core that offers better performance at less cost). Flippable on command, and all of a sudden the entire military-economic aviation of a system... dead. With the computer virus operating by disguise, and advanced Reaper programming behind it, it's hard to block and even harder to detect, making a potent cyberweapon.

In a sense, this is the meager computer virus the indoctrinated Hanar tries to upload in ME3... but this one has a cooler name.

The Hook: Call it the expanded Reaper War: colonies are being knocked out of the sky right as the Reapers arrive in orbit, and you need to stop them.

The Hook (Alternate): Or call it a boon to Cerberus from an intact Collector Base: Cerberus use of this weapon, and its infiltration of so many commercial systems, has given Cerberus access to otherwise no-fly zones to great affect.

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The Babel Virus

This is a real beauty, because it goes on one of the most under-appreciated great assumptions of the Mass Effect universe: the idea that everyone in the galaxy can talk to eachother and understand eachother.

The allusion should be obvious, and so should the potential devastation were all the translators in a given area to shut down: conversation, commerce, coordination, all the things that help a collections of individuals act as a single group would be limited to who actually speaks who's language. Given the ME universe's position that most people just speak their own, and-

The Hook: Imagine if Shepard and crew were in deep ****, fighting whoever wherever, and the lights go off. When the lights come back on, Shepard calls out, voice familiar as can be... and what comes back is certainly not familiar. Garrus, deep-voiced and masculine and oh so familiar, is moving his mouth but all that is coming out is a series of clicks and hisses. Beside him Liara frowns and says something, but when she speaks all that is heard is pure Asari, a language that while melodic is not understandable to you. When EDI tries to radio you, all you hear is AI binary in its rawest form.

Luckily, good teamwork and sign language carry the day. Shepard gives the hand signs, and the team finishes the fight. Javik, thanks to Prothean body-reading, has a passable ability to understand and speak the languages, and plays translator. Slowly but surely, Shepard gets the team reorganized, turns off the jamming signal, and everyone is able to speak again...

...but what will happen next time the Reapers, or Cerberus, or any prepared adversary deploys such a translator-jammer?

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Collector Tech is Like... Like Something Really Easy To Spread

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As I mentioned various Collector Wonder Weapons/devices that could be used, I made a point of bringing up various time periods at which a development could be used for a plot. This was deliberate, because one of the interesting aspects of the Pandora's Box of the Collector Base technology is that it is so easy to justify being spread around.

At any time before ME2, Collector Technology could be justified as being traded to -insert group here- as part of the Collector's occassional trades and deals. This is certainly how Okeer got his cloning technology for Grunt, and there's enough time and opportunity. Even Reaper tech not technically of Collector Origin, such as Reaper Artifacts, could be discovered and provide potent narrative fuel.

During ME2 itself, when the Collectors are beginning their preparations for the Reaper War by abducting human colonies in advance/designing the advanced husks, Reaper Tech weapons to help shape the war can also be justified in being prepared, and even initiated. The Omega Plague is one such development, but it needn't be the only one. The Collectors, already expanded somewhat in Paragon Lost, could be further expanded as attempting to set up the galaxy for the Reaper invasion by a variety of tricks and traps that were ultimately limited in effect or stopped.

After ME2, Collector projects can still be justified through the new distributer of Cerberus. Whether salvaged from the ruins of the base, or actually captured intact thanks to Shepard (ME2 carryover could still impose consequences), Cerberus is another potential distributer or user of Collector weapons, though obviously with a different style of execution.

During ME3 itself, the Reaper War can be a potent field for Reaper tech for hopefully obvious reasons.

But even after ME3, even in a post-war Destroy setting, Reaper tech still has potential. The Catalyst already tells us that technology can be rebooted and recreated in relatively short order, and finding the remains of Collector/Cerberus/Reaper projects means that future generations could find the buried landmines of the past.

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And... yup. That's about it. Collector/Reaper Wonders = Gold Mine for Plot Devices, Cool Circumstances, or future expansions of the ME universe.