This is a direct quote from the Novel Mass Effect: Ascension regarding what the Collectors will trade for living test subjects.
"In return, the Collectors would offer incredible technology or knowledge, such as a ship with a new mass drive configuration that increased engine efficiency, or a cache of advanced targeting VI mods to radically improve weapon accuracy. Eventually this technology would be adapted by galactic society as a whole, but for several years it would provide a significant edge for anyone smart enough to take the deal."
The Collectors have been around for a long time. They were enslaved by the Reapers roughly 50,000 yeas ago. According to ME: Ascension, they were first noticed by the Galactic community approximately 500 years before the events of ME1. "...the Collectors were rarely seen anywhere but Omega and a few of the nearby inhabited worlds. Even then, decades could pass with no reported sightings at the station, only to give way to a few years marked by several dozen sporadic visits from envoys looking to barter and trade with other species." ('Mass Effect: Ascension' p.57 ) And they are the only race capable of traversing the Omega 4 relay. Every other ship that has tried has never returned.
Questions about the Collectors mysterious behavior and advanced technology would have no doubt been of major interest to TIM. The Illusive Man is a very well informed individual, if the Collectors were looking for living test subjects and were willing to trade advanced technology for it, it is unlikely that he would pass up such a rare opportunity. He couldn't allow such advanced technology to fall into the hands of an Alien race. Also, bartering with the Collector envoys would give Cerberus the opportunity to gather more information about the Collectors.
"The people of Earth needed someone to champion their cause. They needed patriots and heroes willing to make the necessary sacrifices to elevate the human race above its interstellar rivals. They needed Cerberus, and Cerberus couldn't exist without the Illusive Man" - ME:Ascension p.3
So lets say that Cerberus had dealings with the Collectors and the exchange of technology allowed TIM's legitimate business Cord-Hislop Aeorospace, a corporation that manufactures and sells star ships, to make billions and funding for Cerberus's operation's sky rockets. But what happened when the Collectors search for test subjects started singling out humans?
Then, along comes Sovereign and Commander Shepard saves the Citadel from certain destruction and warns the Galaxy of the coming invasion of the Reapers, an advanced race of machines determined to wipe out all organic life in the Galaxy.
The fallowing are TIM's own thought concerning Sovereign's attack on the Citadel:
"Any vessel able to withstand the combined power of the Alliance and Council fleets was too advanced, too far beyond the capabilities of any other ship in the galaxy, to have been created by any of the known species." -ME: Ascension p.3
When Sovereign attacked the citadel, TIM began to suspect the Collectors may be agents of the Reapers, as they are the only race with technology this advanced. TIM's dealing with the Collector's would also explain why hes's the only person to suspect them when human colonies begin to disappear.
It is hinted in ME2 that TIM always knows more than he is saying. I believe that all of Shepard's discoveries throughout the course of the game only reinforce what TIM already knows but doesn't say. It is my belief that TIM's real reason for bringing Shepard back to life and for wanting to pursue the Collectors back to their base has always been about obtaining their technology. He spent 4 billion bringing him back to life because he believes Shepard is the only man who could complete the mission and 4 billion is nothing compared to what he will gain if he recovers their technology.
Modifié par anmiro, 07 mars 2010 - 03:00 .
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