My trophy was much more advanced and complex in technical terms, but at the same time, due to its excellent technical condition, its study was much faster. We managed to get to the archive records, after which it became more or less clear to me what happened at the base.

About a day after we returned to the ship, our research marathon was interrupted by Rina, who warned us about the general ship meeting. I had to continue my research myself, and the Salarian fell asleep for an hour to attend the event with a fresh head. For frogs it was quite normal to sleep no more than an hour a day.

So, at the appointed time, I went with Okren to the cabin-company, where the whole crew had already gathered. In addition to the personalities I already know, there was a batarian sitting in a separate chair.

“What kind of beast is this?” I asked, pointing at him.

“This is Korkak Dan'Selas, a batarian.” Okren introduced him.

“Do you have a batarian in the team? You're crazy!”

I did not develop this topic and took one of the chairs next to a large table. Everyone present looked at me with surprise, and the victim of my xenophobia was also hated.

“Well, since everyone's here, I'll start.” Tria took the speech. “Our expedition to this planet was quite successful. As a result of the raid, we captured several trophies with Forerunner technologies. Okren will now tell us the results of his research.”

“Yes, I do. Umm.” Salarian got up and went out into the center of the room. “Over the past 24 hours, Atman and I have explored several technical devices, including two computers and an analogue blaster. I can say with full confidence that we have discovered the remains of an ancient civilization that died out about a hundred thousand years ago. However, the technologies used in computers and weapons are at roughly the same level of development as the Azari technique. Of course, there are some other solutions and standards, but in general, I see a complete analogy with the azari enclave technologies that were used on some planets two thousand years ago.”

But this information was new even to me.

“This allows me to conclude that two thousand years ago, Azari had already encountered the heritage of this race and used their work to create their own computers.”

“So, these computers are worthless?” Rina asked disappointedly.

“No, I don't think so. They cost quite a lot. Especially, the central computer of the base, which contains a real system of artificial intelligence, capable of solving complex problems, but at the same time not having self-awareness. I have never seen any analogues of such a software complex. They are not even in the descriptions of secret technologies of Azari and Salarians. So, I think we can find a buyer. But... this computer belongs to Atman. Other equipment is not so unique, but I think we can sell them for the sum of ten to a hundred thousand credits.”

The whole crew stared at me with the sight of hungry wolves.

"How much do you estimate the main computer?" Tria asked casually.

“It's hard to say.” Okren was nervous. "From one million to ten. Or maybe more.

After these words, the eyes were more like the radiance of the eyes of the undead, suffering to taste my flesh and soul.

"If you take me to the Citadel, I'll give you thirty percent of the computer revenue.”

After that, their eyes softened slightly, although it was obvious how the inner toad suffocates Tria, demanding her to immediately organize my unravelling. In the look of the batarian I read not greed, but envy and... fear. What did they tell him about me?

"Has everyone heard?” Tria finally tried to cheer up her team as she finished with her toad. “We have a chance to get three million credits!”

"Hooray!!! We will be rich!” Rina shouted, jumping up from her seat. After that, she literally jumped on the Okren and started hugging him. Apparently, in her head has already matured a plan, at the expense of whom she could double her share of the profits. Well, well.

After a couple of minutes, common hysteria calmed down, and Tria took the word again.

“Okren, are you managed to find out how it turned out that the whole base was filled with thousands of living dead?”

Everyone becomes quiet, waiting for the solution of this terrible mystery.

"Well, we were able to restore the database log entries, but there are many things that remain unclear, especially the language of this race. But I did find data from hardware sensors that can generally restore the sequence of events.”

The salarian looked around the audience and continued in the voice of a professional horror storyteller.

"The base was built for the sole purpose of preserving the last members of this race.It had only a reactor, a central computer and thousands of stasis capsules designed to work for ten thousand years. One of the main requirements was the invisibility of this shelter, so there was a minimum of equipment. The first batch consisted of about three and a half thousand fugitives, who were placed into capsules in just a couple of days. After that, three years passed, and another five hundred members of this race arrived at the base. They spent about a couple of weeks doing something that loaded the base's reactor capacity by ninety percent, after which all were also immersed in stasis.”

I noticed that while Okren was telling this story, the lighting in the room gradually faded away, and now we were sitting in the gloom, with only the salarian's face illuminated by a single directional lamp. Here's an artist.

"But just a week later, one of the capsules failed, and the computer decided to wake up its occupant, since there were several free working capsules nearby. But the awakened was not in a hurry to fall asleep back. What he was doing is unknown, but a couple of weeks later he manually disconnected one of the capsules and pulled his comrade out of it.

"After a couple of days, he turned off the next one and so on. After twenty capsules were disconnected, the security system was activated, which brought the base management out of stasis from the first wave. That was five reasonable ones. At first, they spent a long time studying the data in the computer, trying to figure out where the five hundred new settlers came from. And then something happened that destroyed the equipment in one of the rooms. The equipment that has been continuously working since the first reasonable one was awakened.”

“Then someone tried to intercept control over the computer, but activated the hidden security system, which caused computer to go offline. And at the very end, the computer discovered that they were going to blow it up. At the time of the explosion, computer activated the reactor overload protocol, which for a second became a source of strong neutron radiation, killing all living people at the base, including those in capsules. No one could survive. Nevertheless, the automatics recorded that during the next year each of the capsules was opened, and after a while it was closed. At the same time, an ordinary corpse was taken from there, and a corpse stuffed with all sorts of electronics was put back. So ended this mysterious story, after hundred thousand years later, we came and woke up all these zombies.”

“What about those skulls you brought with you? Garush was worried. “Are they safe?”

"I haven't study them yet.” Okren confessed. "I just connected them to the main onboard computer to download the data.”

"What did you do?" Tria said, jumping up almost to the ceiling.

"I'm joking, I'm joking.” The scientist backed down “I isolated them in the box for especially dangerous samples. I'm not even sure we should study them on the ship.”

"Whew! Joker.” Tria has calmed down. "Look, you may receive reply to your joke, and turn the lights on. Your dramatic effects are out of place. This is a meeting, not a memory night."

“Yes, ma'am.” The Salarian answered, returning the lighting to normal with a command on his multitool. “Do you have any other questions?”

"Not yet, sit down." Okren obediently sat back in the chair. “Atman, can you tell us something about this database?”

"Hmh... I think I can reveal the veil of this mystery to you. But, are you sure you want to know the truth? Forefathers says: know less - sleep better.”

"I'm going to maintain the engine.” The batarian stood up. “I'm not interested in tales about ancient civilizations.”

"Ok, go.” Tria nodded.

"No one else wants to leave?" I asked. “Look, you won't be able to erase this knowledge from your memory later, and you'll be terrified and horror for the rest of your life”

"Stop scaring us. Tell.” Garush expressed common opinion.

“Well. Listen up. A long time ago, more than a billion years ago, there was a race that reached incredible heights of development. But on one day they built a smart computer and gave him a wrong command, because of which he decided to destroy all organic life in the galaxy.” I decided to tell the 'official' story of the game. I didn't see any point in telling someone about the Reapers. This knowledge is not for mere mortals. "Artificial intelligence complied with this order by destroying its creators. Since then, about once every fifty thousand years, the computer begins to harvest, destroying all intelligent forms of life in the galaxy and creating giant spaceships with their own electronic intelligence.”

"But the base is just a hundred thousand years old!” Okren exclaimed. "You mean that...”

"Yes, I do. This was the base of the inusannon race, which was the most highly developed civilization of the previous cycle. They are faced with intelligent machines are called Reapers. When it became clear that the battle was lost, they built this base to hide and wait out the Harvest. But, one member of the second team turned out to be a traitor controlled by the Reapers. He forced the main computer to release himself, and then began to turn his comrades into techno-zombie. And in the end, when they tried to destroy him, he set up a reactor explosion that destroyed the remnants of this race. That's the whole story.”