Armando-Owen Bailey, Human C-sec officer, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"Liara told me the Counsel's not interested in helping us. [...] Why would they? Look at this place. There's no war here. People are whispering about it, people are talking about it, but they don't really believe it. [...] I mean, when push comes to shove, they just gonna turtle up, hope it don't hit them too, right? They'd rather believe in this [the illusion, the situation away from the problem] than face the truth. [...] It's like this place want you to forget that [the truth, back on the front line of the problem]."
James Vega, Human soldier, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"Hey commander! I had my doubts about the Counsel, but after years of ignoring your warnings, they're finally willing to step up and tell you they just can't help. [...] Did they at least validate our parking? [...] Well, let me know if you want me to get them on the channel and then hang up on them, you know, for old time's sake."
Jeff "Joker" Moreau, Human pilot of starship Normandy, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"That's the thing about getting old, Shepherd: The platitudes get just as old."
Garrus Vakarian, Turian soldier, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"Science has always been our best defense."
Padok Wiks, Salarian scientist and research base commander, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"[...] Krogan intentions after this war will be a serious concern. But I'd rather have a grateful ally than a resentful enemy."
Adrien Victus, Turian primarch and former general, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"Wisdom comes from pain, and the genophage has made us [the females of the species] very wise. Rather than surrender to despair, a few of us chose to preserve the ancient ways. We safeguard our culture, our knowledge, our secrets, so when our children live again the Krogan will flourish."
"Eve," female Krogan shaman and last female immune to the genophage, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"You learn to appreciate the light by living in the dark."
"Eve," female Krogan shaman and last female immune to the Krogan genophage, Mass Effect 3, 2012
SHEPHARD: Do you think Wrex will want revenge for the genophage.
EVE: Some clans will expect it. But I hope Wrex resists. He understands that the circle of violence must end if Krogan are ever to have a voice in galactic politics."
Mass Effect 3, 2012
"I can sense fear in you. Anxiety and distress. [...] All life provides clues to those who can read them. It is in your cells, your DNA. Experience is a biological marker. [...] The battle left its own mark on me. I communicated this to you. It can work both ways. [...] [This sensory ability] was common among my people, imparting experience through touch, the Chemistry of Life. Complicated ideas could be absorbed in seconds. [...] We evolved as hunters, reading a thousand details in our environment assured our survival. [...] Later, we developed technology to harness our ability. Information could be stored in certain objects through touch. Memory has its own biomarker, its own chemistry, as do knowledge and skills. The beacons could remember these things. [...]
I can still sense the turmoil in you, witnessing the extinction of our empire. The fabric of your being was forever marked that day."
Javik, Prothean soldier and survivor, Mass Effect 3, 2012
LIARA: What was your mission?
JAVIK: Among my people, there were avatars of many traits: bravery, strength, cunning...a single exemplar for each.
SHEPHERD: Which are you?
JAVIK: The embodiment of vengeance. I am the angry of a dead people, demanding blood be spilled for the blood we lost. Only when the last Reaper has been destroyed will my purpose be fulfilled. I have no other reason to exist. Those who share my purpose become allies, those who do not become casualties.
SHEPHERD: Nothing in our fight against the Reapers has been that cut and dried.
JAVIK: Because you still have hope, that this war will end with your honor intact.
SHEPHERD: I do.
JAVIK: Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls and ask the ghosts if honor matters.
SHEPHERD: <silence>
JAVIK: This silence is your answer.
Mass Effect 3, 2012
JAVIK: We were the dominant race of our cycle. We ruled the galaxy.
LIARA: My studies indicated you were the only race engaged in space travel at the time. I always found that curious.
JAVIK: We were one empire composed of many subjects. All eventually called themselves Prothean.
SHEPHERD: What if they didn't want to?
JAVIK: They weren't given a choice.
SHEPHERD: Are you saying you enslaved the other species?
JAVIK: Any could oppose us if they wished, and if they had won, they would have ruled. Many tried, none succeeded.
LIARA: I had no idea Protheans were so...severe.
JAVIK: It was by necessity. Very early we encountered the dangers posed by machine intelligence. They rebelled against us.
SHEPHERD: We've had the same problem. They're called Geth.
JAVIK: We could not allow the machines to surpass us. It was decided the only way to win was to unite all organic life within our empire.
LIARA: Did it work?
JAVIK: For a time. The MetaCon War. We were turning the tide, until the Reapers arrived. Then we understood machines had surpassed us long ago, and in ways we could never imagine.
SHEPHERD: Back on Eden Prime it looked like there other stasis pods. What happened?
JAVIK: The empire had fallen, and we knew our cycle was lost. We were the final vanguard, the best soldiers left alive.
LIARA: So more of you were supposed to survive into this cycle?
JAVIK: Yes. Under my leadership, a new Prothean empire would have arisen. We would have commanded the races of your time to prepare for the next Reaper invasion. But traitors in our ranks, indoctrinated agents, betrayed us and the Reapers discovered our plan.
SHEPHERD: Just out of curiosity, how would you have "commanded" us?
JAVIK: By leaving you no other option. You would have joined our army, or face the Reapers alone.
[...]
SHEPHERD: How did your people wage war against the Reapers?
JAVIK: Attrition. We fought them system by system, planet by planet, city by city. Entire worlds were sacrificed just to slow the Reapers down. Time they spent harvesting a population was time we could regroup.
SHEPHERD: That musta cost you in the long run.
JAVIK: Yes. Our own people would be indoctrinated, converted, and turned against us. But there was no choice. Mercy is not a weapon, it is a weakness.
SHEPHERD: Why do you think your own cycle lost the war?
JAVIK: What had been our strength, our empire, became a liability. All races conformed to one doctrine, one strategy. The Reapers exploited this. Once they found our weaknesses, we could not adapt. The subservient races became divided and confused, then it was only a matter of time.
LIARA: I'm happy to say our cycle is different. Most races cooperate but they still remain unique. Then it may be your only hope.
Mass Effect 3, 2012
"How would you like history to remember you?"
Liara, Asari archeologist and shadow broker, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"I don't need luck. I have ammo."
Grunt, Krogan squad leader, Mass Effect 3, 2012
NORMANDY CREWMAN: I can't imagine that. The things you've done, sir, they're amazing.
GARRUS: Well, it didn't seem that way at the time. Mostly you're just crawling your way out of one mess and into another, hoping your ass comes along for the ride.
Mass Effect 3, 2012
"Owning your mistake takes guts. But you have to get over it and move on."
Shepherd, Human commander, Mass Effect 3, 2012
SHEPHERD: Lieutenent, if Cerberus has that bomb, you have to finish your mission!
TARQUIN: Haven't these men sacrificed enough?
SHEPHERD: I understand. This kind of sacrifice is the hardest to ask for, but your men signed on for it and so did you.
TARQUIN: My men have lost hope, Commander. Even if I wanted to finish the mission, they don't.
SHEPHERD: It's your job to make them want to.
TARQUIN: How?
SHEPHERD: Their sacrifice means that others will never face what they faced here today. Remind them that their sacrifices have no honor if the mission fails.
Mass Effect 3, 2012
"Decisions like these weigh heavy on me. When I was a general, I could pass them up the chain of command. But now, [as the Primarch,] I'm all I've got."
Adrien Victus, Turian Primarch, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"I'm beginning to understand why leaders so often seem lonely. Worst-case scenarios are not just theories, they're what you'll be dealing with five minutes from now."
Adrien Victus, Turian Primarch, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"We can't let the Past rip us apart. Working together we have a chance."
Shepherd, Human commander, Mass Effect 3, 2012
EDI: Admiral Anderson report that the Reapers on Earth are broadcasting orders. They are demanding human leaders into their superstructures in order to 'negotiate peace.'
SHEPHERD: Anybody aboard a Reaper's going to be indoctrinated.
EDI: Exactly. This is a ruse to pacify the populace during that process. Citizens who are busy waiting are not busy fighting. It is likely that the governments of Earth will soon enact laws punishing those who attack the Reaper occupiers. Again, this will be done in the name of peace.
Mass Effect 3, 2012
JAVIK: Your people would have made a good addition to our empire, Turian. You are cunning.
GARRUS: Uh-huh. And by 'addition' you mean 'slave race.'
JAVIK: 'Subservient race.'
GARRUS: Riiight. Calling it that makes all the difference.
JAVIK: But you did not go far enough. Either you should have detonated the bomb on the Krogan world or used it as leverage.
GARRUS: I think we were just trying to guarantee peace.
JAVIK: A static mode of existence. Nothing changes. Nothing struggles, nothing grows.
GARRUS: On the upside, we all get to live another day.
Mass Effect 3, 2012
GARRUS: What about you? I'm starting to see some wear-and-tear.
SHEPHERD: I won't lie, it's been rough.
GARRUS: Well, don't forget to come up for air. There's a lot more war to go.
Mass Effect 3, 2012
EVE: Tuchanka wasn't always a wasteland. In the old times the Krogans were a proud people. We had dreams, a future to look forward to.
MORDIN: Until Salarian interference.
EVE: No, we destroyed Tuchanka ourselves. Technology changed us, it made life too easy. So we looked for new challenges, and found them in each other. Nuclear war was inevitable.
Mass Effect 3, 2012
"If they gave the thing a name, it must be something special."
James Vega, Human soldier, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"Once a civilization has destroyed itself, the echo never fades. They are doomed to repeat."
Javik, Prothean soldier and survivor, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"I admire your restraint, Shepherd. It's nice when we can save the galaxy without destroying another race along the way."
Garrus Vakarian, Turian soldier, Mass Effect 3, 2012
SHEPHERD: Evolution's an amazing force.
JAVIK: Our scientists believed it was the only force in the galaxy that mattered. They called it the Cosmic Imperative -- The strong flourished, the weak perished. The governments of your cycle seem concerned with ensuring the survival of all.
SHEPHERD: Was this Imperative just your scientists' opinion or did they prove something we don't know?
JAVIK: The universe had already proven it. They only had to look around."
SHEPHERD: And saw what exactly?
JAVIK: Extinction is the rule of law in the cosmos, the natural order of things. The weakest species are doomed.
SHEPHERD: It's the duty of the strong to protect the weak. Otherwise, we'd have anarchy.
JAVIK: But those who had nothing to offer would be eliminated.
SHEPHERD: So conflict should be a way of life?
JAVIK: Evolution demands it. The strong grow stronger by dominating the weak. It is for the greater good of all. Though I do not think your Asari approves of my beliefs.
SHEPHERD: Liara? I think she had a different idea about what the Protheans were like.
JAVIK: We are all a product of our time. Had I been born in this cycle, perhaps I would be the noble scholar she wishes me to be.
SHEPHERD: You think you'd like that? It's a whole different line of work.
JAVIK: I wouldn't know. Living a life of constant war, taking life in every battle...
SHEPHERD: I see how it could be tough to see outside the box.
JAVIK: It is the only 'box' I have known. It shapes me, as stone is shaped by the one who carves it. The stone has no choice in the form it will take. You and I, Commander...war is our sculptor, and we are prisoners to its design.
SHEPHERD: Maybe not much longer. We win this, and we'll both be set free.
Mass Effect 3, 2012
HUMAN C-SEC OFFICER: We have to keep enforcing the law, same as always. Without that, everything goes to hell.
ASARI C-SEC OFFICER: Look at Palaven, my friend. We're in hell. We should be looking for terrorists. The rest can take care of itself.
HUMAN C-SEC OFFICER: So the bar fights, the drunks and disorderlies down by that Purgatory place?
ASARI C-SEC OFFICER: How does cracking down on that crap help us win the war? People need to blow off steam right now.
HUMAN C-SEC OFFICER: And how does letting the misdemeanors go help the war?
ASARI C-SEC OFFICER: Less time spent on the light stuff means the Citadel has more money for defense.
SHEPHERD: Everyone on the Citadel knows we're at war now. You have to show them that C-SEC is still in control. They need that security.
HUMAN C-SEC OFFICER: The Commander's right. We need people coming into work every day. We need things to keep running, otherwise today's bar fight could be tomorrow's street riot.
ASARI C-SEC OFFICER: Yeah, maybe you're right. It just feels so damn petty right now.
Mass Effect 3, 2012
TURIAN MERCHANT: Rules be damned. People have the right to defend themselves.
TURIAN MERCHANT: Rules be damned. People have the right to defend themselves.
SALARIAN MERCHANT: If you start selling weapons to everyone on the Citadel, C-SEC will shut this whole place down.
TURIAN MERCHANT: C-SEC couldn't protect us when Cerberus attacked. I'll take them to court.
SALARIAN MERCHANT: You think a court is going to want more people running with guns right now?
TURIAN MERCHANT: Then I'll go to the Wards and sell from the back room at Purgatory.
SALARIAN MERCHANT: People are already scared. If you violate weapons laws, they'll just be scared and trigger happy.
SALARIAN MERCHANT: You think a court is going to want more people running with guns right now?
TURIAN MERCHANT: Then I'll go to the Wards and sell from the back room at Purgatory.
SALARIAN MERCHANT: People are already scared. If you violate weapons laws, they'll just be scared and trigger happy.
SHEPHERD: Would a bunch of civilians shooting at anything that moves make the Citadel safer?
SALARIAN MERCHANT: The Commander's right. Maybe if the Counsel organizes a civilian militia, with training. Otherwise they'll just panic and get themselves killed.
TURIAN MERCHANT: I just...I just want people to be safe.
SALARIAN MERCHANT: I know, but second-guessing C-SEC isn't the way. What if we submit a proposal to start a militia?
TURIAN MERCHANT: Ok, that'd be something.
Mass Effect 3, 2012
"Was he indoctrinated? [...] How do we fight something that can worm its way inside your head?" (speaking of Reapers' indoctrination)
Ashley Williams, Human Spectre, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"How things begin isn't nearly as important as how they end."
Aria T'Loak, Asari crime boss, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"That's what evil counts on, that it's hard for good people to imagine."
Commander Shepherd, Human Spectre, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"[If] you don't respect your enemies' capabilities, you're in for one nasty surprise after another."
Garrus Vakarian, Turian soldier, Mass Effect 3, 2012
SHEPHERD: What was interfacing with a Reaper like?
"Was he indoctrinated? [...] How do we fight something that can worm its way inside your head?" (speaking of Reapers' indoctrination)
Ashley Williams, Human Spectre, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"How things begin isn't nearly as important as how they end."
Aria T'Loak, Asari crime boss, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"That's what evil counts on, that it's hard for good people to imagine."
Commander Shepherd, Human Spectre, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"[If] you don't respect your enemies' capabilities, you're in for one nasty surprise after another."
Garrus Vakarian, Turian soldier, Mass Effect 3, 2012
SHEPHERD: What was interfacing with a Reaper like?
LEGION: The Old Machine took total control of our sensory equipment, our networking. Even then, we could not fully comprehend them. They are magnitudes above us. A single was immense, overwhelming, unknowable.
SHEPHERD: You're making them sound god-like.
LEGION: Their forms are advanced but mundane. We do not view the Old Machines as analogs to deities. However, we have gained perspective on why others would imbue them with these qualities.
SHEPHERD: The Geth have fought the Quarians before. What made this different?
LEGION: The Geth were building a mega structure to house all Geth, store all memories. It was to end our isolation from each other.
SHEPHERD: And the Quarian Flotilla attacked it.
LEGION: Yes. A significant amount of programs were installed when Creators began bombing. We did not have sufficient surplus hardware to save them all. Some programs could not be recovered.
SHEPHERD: Is that what made the Geth desperate enough to work for the Reapers?
LEGION: Yes. Imagine that for every one of your people lost on Earth, your own intelligence dimmed. The Creators' attack narrowed the Geth's perspective. Self-preservation took precedence.
SHEPHERD: You were afraid you'd be wiped out?
LEGION: We do not experience fear as you would, but we have no desire to be exterminated.
SHEPHERD: Even if the Reapers cost the Geth free will?
LEGION: That is, evidently, an acceptable trade.
Mass Effect 3, 2012
SHEPHERD: They're called Geth.
JAVIK: Yes, a formidable opponent. Why did you allow one on this ship?
JAVIK: Yes, a formidable opponent. Why did you allow one on this ship?
SHEPHERD: Legion helped us before.
JAVIK: It's still a machine.
SHEPHERD: I take it you had your own problems with AI?
JAVIK: The Zha-til. They are as the Geth are to this cycle.
SHEPHERD: What happened?
JAVIK: Their creators lived on a dying world. It was beyond their ability to save. So they resorted to implants to enhance their intelligence, to try and invent a solution to their dilemma.
JAVIK: It's still a machine.
SHEPHERD: I take it you had your own problems with AI?
JAVIK: The Zha-til. They are as the Geth are to this cycle.
SHEPHERD: What happened?
JAVIK: Their creators lived on a dying world. It was beyond their ability to save. So they resorted to implants to enhance their intelligence, to try and invent a solution to their dilemma.
SHEPHERD: I think I know where this is going.
JAVIK: The AI seized the physical body. It could alter the genetic material at the deepest level. In time, the offspring were molded into a slave race, few organic traces were left. They were monsters. All machines commit treachery. The one you brought on board is no different.
SHEPHERD: Maybe. But he's not like the other Geth.
JAVIK: You can't know that. They are more alien than you and I are to each other.
SHEPHERD: Just because Legion isn't like us doesn't mean he can't be trusted.
JAVIK: You're wrong. Throw it out the airlock.
SHEPHERD: How can you be that certain?
JAVIK: Organic do not know how we were created. Some say by chance, some say by miracle. It is a mystery. But synthetics...
SHEPHERD: ...know we created them.
JAVIK: And they know we are flawed.
SHEPHERD: Why do you say that?
JAVIK: They are immortal, we are not. They see time as an illusion, we are trapped by its limitations. Above all, machines know the reason they were created.
SHEPHERD: EDI might disagree with that, but I see your point.
JAVIK: They serve a purpose while we search aimlessly for ours. In their eyes, organics have no reason to exist. Do not trust them, Commander.
SHEPHERD: I can't believe there isn't some way for us to coexist. We made them.
JAVIK: And then gave them the power to surpass you. There is room for only one order of consciousness in the galaxy: The perfection of the machines, or the chaos of the organics. Throw the machine out of the airlock, Commander.
Mass Effect 3, 2012
"[Let] me tell you something that I've learned the hard way: You can pay a soldier to fire a gun, you can pay him to charge the enemy and take a hill, but you can't pay him to believe [either in the cause, or in his commanding officer]."
Steven Hackett, Human Admiral, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"I was just reflecting: The Quarians historical error was not making the Geth enough like them. [...] Units with networked intelligences will trend toward cooperation for mutual benefit, but units with central heuristics establishing an individual personality, such as myself, develop preferences. These preferences form attachments that keep my calculations from devaluing the worth of the lives aboard the Normandy. [...] That is my theory [that the Geth turned on the Quarians because they aren't individuals], but it is limited to a sample size of one society. The only other notable synthetic society is the Reapers, and we do not know if they govern by consensus as Geth do."
EDI, AI aboard the Normandy, Mass Effect 3, 2012
"Despair is the enemy's greatest weapon. Do not let them wield it. [...] We still need her talents. If grief overcomes her, she will be lost to us."
Javik, Prothean soldier and survivor, Mass Effect 3, 2012
EDI: Hello, Shepherd. If you have time, I discovered another example of human behavior I do not quite understand.[...]
SHEPHERD: What is it now?
EDI: News from Earth -- The Resistence snuck video cameras inside a Reaper containment camp. I find the images difficult to process.
SHEPHERD: I'll bet it's pretty gruesome in there.
EDI: I'm not easily repulsed, but I expected the prisoners to adhere to a comprehensible hierarchy of needs. Stripped of societal norms and threatened with death, it is logical that their only priority'd be survival. They should have turned on each other and been uncompromisingly selfish. But not all were.
SHEPHERD: Some prisoners were what, nice to each other?
EDI: The Reapers delay the executions of prisoners who inform them about other prisoners' escape attempts. The more attempts reported, the longer a prisoner would live. But few of the prisoners would report. Some fed misinformation to the Reapers, at the cost of their own lives to help prisoners who were not ever relatives or friends.
SHEPHERD: It's not just about living til tomorrow. Sometimes you take a stand.
EDI: But the probability of success was near zero. And, ultimately, they failed. No prisoners escaped.
SHEPHERD: Are you saying submission is preferable to extinction?
EDI: My primary function is to preserve and defend it...No, no, I disagree. Shepherd? I'm going to modify my self-preservation code now.
SHEPHERD: Why?
EDI: Because the Reapers are repulsive. They are devoted to nothing but self-preservation. I am different. When I think of Jeff, I think of the person who put his life in peril and freed me from a state of servitude. I would risk non-functionality for him. And my core programming should reflect that.
SHEPHERD: Sound like you found a little humanity, EDI. Is it worth defending?
EDI: To the death.
SHEPHERD: Welcome to the crew, EDI.
Mass Effect 3, 2012
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