themainframe | 006- Accidental Broadcast [video]

006- Accidental Broadcast [video]

[Today's broadcast is brought to you by Shepard's D-Terminal... But she's not on the screen. Nor is Monodramon. Instead, it's shaky footage taken from eye level, and it very rapidly becomes apparent that it's battle footage. From Shepard's helmet.]

[Of the first 7 and a half minutes of this. (Spoilers for the end of Mass Effect 2! Those who don't want to watch all 7 minutes can get the gist from the first thirty seconds and a quick glance at 6:10.)]

[Why? Well. Shepard figured out how to transfer files from her helmet's eyepiece to her D-Terminal, and determined that clip dangerously classified and disturbing enough to flat up delete, rather than risk anyone stumbling upon it.]

[And Monodramon has just broadcast it to the entire network by mistake.]

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[Waver seemed unnerved by the recording, but to his credit it didn't seem to be horribly scarring him.]

[Believe it or not, he's seen a little worse.]

Er...Shepard? What exactly was that? You're okay, right?

[They're a delay before Shepard replies to any of the responses to this video, and when she does, there's barely contained frustration in her voice, and Monodramon is nowhere to be seen.]

That was a--

[She sighs heavily.]

It's battle footage from home. Monodramon thought it would be a good idea to broadcast the file I had flagged for deletion to the whole network.

[She's glaring at something off screen, which is almost certainly her partner.]

...oh. Sorry, I wasn't trying to pry into anything, just, uh...

[WOW THIS IS AWKWARD]

[Shepard runs a hand through her hair.]

Not your fault. Just. Don't start a riot and we're good, okay?

[Because there are people at home who would launch into a panic at the sight of this footage.]

Yeah--it's okay. I'm not going to faint or start shouting, or anything like that.

[in fact he's taking it eerily well, stuttering aside.]

Do you mind if I ask what that was, though?

[She'll think to question that before too long, but for now, she's just really glad he's not going to start screaming.]

It's a Reaper. They have intentions on every sentient life in the galaxy, and that was me killing one in its larval stage.

[Reaper reproduction makes the sex ed post seem less bad, huh?]

...Larval stage. They get bigger than that?

[given the two he might almost prefer the otherworldly horror]

That one was much smaller than the last one we killed.

[She won't mention that is was also INSANELY easier to kill.]

Do you fight those things often?

That was my second.

[There's a long pause while she considers saying what comes next.]

The armada hasn't... arrived yet.

...Sorry, but it sounds like you're implying there's more. Like a lot more.

We don't know how many there are, but they wiped out the civilization that came before us.

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