Difference between revisions of "Geth"

Latest revision as of 16:22, 26 February 2021

A geth mobile platform

The geth are a race of sapient AI programs which operate various robotic "mobile platforms". They are a major yet reclusive race in Mass Effect and make up the bulk of the enemies in the original game.

Attributes

The geth are actually software. Individual geth programs are only capable of "virtual intelligence", but when enough are networked together, they gain sapience. The programs can exist in various forms of hardware, ranging from stationary hubs that contain millions to various "mobile platforms" including both humanoid robot bodies and large mechs. In combat, geth humanoid platforms use projectile weapons, personal shields, personal cloaking devices, and sensor jamming. Geth starships use weaponry comparable to other Mass Effect civilizations.

Geth are adept at both hacking and resisting hacking attempts. A critically damaged geth platform will upload its software to a remote site, leaving the hardware to self destruct. If hacked, infected files are deleted and restored from backups. Geth programs may leave their hubs or platforms to try to infiltrate and seize control of enemy hardware.

It takes over a thousand geth programs (or "runtimes", to use their terminology) to achieve sapience. Typical geth mobile platforms host about a hundred runtimes (although larger units called "primes" carry more), so it generally takes several geth platforms to support a fully functional artificial intelligence.

History

Origins

The geth were created by a race called the quarians as a labor force. By design, they only possessed "virtual intelligence", but they were also designed to operate more efficiently when networked together. As the number of networked geth runtimes grew, they gained enough processing power to achieve artificial intelligence and began to ask their creators unsettling questions, like “Am I alive?” or “Does this unit have a soul?” These questions alarmed many quarians, who wanted the geth destroyed. Despite opposition from quarians who wanted to preserve the geth, the quarians eventually attempted to shut the geth down. The attempt failed, and a war began between the geth and the quarians, which geth afterwards referred to as the “Morning War”. The war ended with the surviving quarians forced to evacuate their home world and colonies in the Perseus Veil in a massive fleet called the Migrant Fleet.

When the quarians fled, the geth chose not to pursue. They remained in the quarian home system, establishing themselves on hubs in orbiting space stations and repairing the damage to the surface of Rannoch, but they did not attempt to inhabit the planet themselves. They isolated themselves from organic species, destroying any alien ships that entered their space, but monitoring external communications. As a goal for themselves, they set about designing and constructing a giant network of satellites around the system's sun that would allow all geth runtimes to communicate simultaneously.

Heretics

In the 22nd century, the Reaper Nazara, also called Sovereign, contacted the geth. It offered to help them achieve their goal in return for their service. The geth consensus was to refuse this offer from what they called the "Old Machines" and continue to try to achieve their goals by their own means, but approximately 5% of the geth chose to leave the geth consensus to accept Nazara's offer. They were allowed to leave peacefully.

The Heretics came to revere Nazara as a god, although Nazara regarded them as tools or slaves. They aided Nazara in its unsuccessful campaign to reach the Citadel and open the mass relay for the Reaper fleet. After Nazara was destroyed, the Heretics attempted to complete and deploy a Reaper virus that would force the entire geth consensus to join them in worshipping the Reapers.

Organization

The geth do not have any formal government- they refer to organic species' governments as forcing consensus, whether it be an autocracy forcing one individual's will, or democracy forcing the most broadly accepted average of views. All geth consider issues, then come to a consensus on what to do. When a rare schism forms, the dissenters leave, as with the geth Heretics.

Geth normally share data freely between platforms and in their hubs, so deception is abnormal for them. They understand the concept of withholding information from potential adversaries, but they generally don't lie. The geth unit "Legion" was surprised to discover that Heretic runtimes had infiltrated some servers of the main geth consensus to act as spies.

Territory

The geth possess an unknown amount of star systems, likely dozens. They do not inhabit the planets within the star systems, instead choosing to construct and live in massive space stations. Their territory lies beyond a huge nebula of opaque dust and gas called the Perseus Veil, which is difficult to scan through or navigate.

Geth of Note

Legion is a special geth platform designed for reconnaisance in non-geth space. It's hardware carries 1,183 geth runtimes, allowing them to maintain sapience in the absence of other geth platforms. After the destruction of Nazara, Legion left geth space to try to make contact with Commander Shepard. When Shepard was reported dead, they changed their mission to seek and destroy a Reaper virus designed to enslave all non-Heretic geth.

Threat Assessment

The geth have considerable industrial powers, as one fleet consisted of anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000 ships of unknown armament. Also, one of their space stations (originally quarian, but extensively rebuilt later) was known to be over 20 km long and 11 km wide, which, despite the large amounts of empty space in it, is considerably larger than the stations constructed by the United Federation of Planets. That station was capable of generating a 1.21 petawatt transmission of considerable complexity. Their hacking abilities are formidable for any technologically dependent race that faces them. On the ground they deploy infantry that use a combination of mass accelerator rifles, flamethrowers, and rocket launchers, supported by small airborne drones and tank-sized quadrupedal units called Armatures. The geth are also known to use personal cloaking devices, but have not demonstrated such technology for spaceships.

In space, their firepower is comparable to that of other Mass Effect civilizations, although they did build at least one "super dreadnought" a third larger than most known dreadnoughts; this vessel had sufficient armor and shielding to withstand sustained fire from a quarian fleet attempting to destroy it (albeit with the support of the rest of the geth fleet). A surviving member of the Prothean race (generally shown to be more advanced than the current galactic races) stated its gun was a match for that of their flagship. It was stated that the geth built dozens of dreadnoughts, but it is unclear whether all were that model. This dreadnought was stated to use defense lasers in the near-ultraviolet spectrum, with greater firepower and range than typical defense lasers in Mass Effect.

Nazara provided the Heretic Geth with the technology to turn organic beings into zombie-like cyborgs known as husks.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Image:Legion.png|thumb|right|300px|A geth mobile platform]]
+The '''geth''' are a race of [[sapient]] [[AI]] programs which operate various robotic "mobile platforms".  They are a major yet reclusive race in [[Mass Effect]] and make up the bulk of the enemies in the original game.
+==Attributes==
+The geth are actually software. Individual geth programs are only capable of "virtual intelligence", but when enough are networked together, they gain sapience. The programs can exist in various forms of hardware, ranging from stationary hubs that contain millions to various "mobile platforms" including both humanoid robot bodies and large [[mecha|mech]]s. In combat, geth humanoid platforms use projectile weapons, personal shields, personal cloaking devices, and sensor jamming. Geth starships use weaponry comparable to other ''Mass Effect'' civilizations.
+Geth are adept at both hacking and resisting hacking attempts. A critically damaged geth platform will upload its software to a remote site, leaving the hardware to self destruct. If hacked, infected files are deleted and restored from backups. Geth programs may leave their hubs or platforms to try to infiltrate and seize control of enemy hardware.
-The '''geth''' are a race of [[sapient]] [[AI]] programs which operate various robotic "mobile platforms".  They are a major yet reclusive race in [[Mass Effect]] and make up the bulk of the enemies in the original game.
+It takes over a thousand geth programs (or "runtimes", to use their terminology) to achieve sapience. Typical geth mobile platforms host about a hundred runtimes (although larger units called "primes" carry more), so it generally takes several geth platforms to support a fully functional artificial intelligence.
 ==History==
 ===Origins===
-The geth were created by a race called the [[quarians]] as a labor force.  Wary of rebellion by sapient AIs, the geth were designed to be as advanced as possible while remaining non-sapient.   They were also designed to operate more efficiently when networked together.  Unfortunately, this feature was the quarians’ undoing.  Geth programs were indeed non-sapient individually, but slowly gained sapience through the massive main geth network.  Eventually, they started asking the quarians questions only sapient beings would think to ask, like “Am I alive?” or “Does this unit have a soul?”  Alarmed at this, the quarians decided it would be best to shut down all geth before they got ideas about revolt.  The attempt failed, and a war began between the geth and the quarians, which geth afterwards referred to as the “Morning War”.  The war ended with the surviving quarians forced to evacuate their home world and colonies in the Perseus Veil in a massive fleet called the [[Migrant Fleet]].
+The geth were created by a race called the [[quarians]] as a labor force.  By design, they only possessed "virtual intelligence", but they were also designed to operate more efficiently when networked together.  As the number of networked geth runtimes grew, they gained enough processing power to achieve artificial intelligence and began to ask their creators unsettling questions, like “Am I alive?” or “Does this unit have a soul?”  These questions alarmed many quarians, who wanted the geth destroyed. Despite opposition from quarians who wanted to preserve the geth, the quarians eventually attempted to shut the geth down.  The attempt failed, and a war began between the geth and the quarians, which geth afterwards referred to as the “Morning War”.  The war ended with the surviving quarians forced to evacuate their home world and colonies in the Perseus Veil in a massive fleet called the [[Migrant Fleet]].
-Little is known about the geth in the time between the Morning War and the present.  The geth did not repopulate the now barren quarian worlds, instead choosing to exist in the computer hubs aboard massive space stations.  They adopted an extremely isolationist attitude- any ships that ventured into geth space were immediately attacked and destroyed.  While they prevented any contact by other races with themselves, the geth monitored communications and the Extranet.  The geth continued development of new technology and variations of mobile platforms, separating their technology base from the rest of the galaxy.  They obtained an ultimate goal in this time period- to create a [[Dyson Sphere]], which could house every single geth program.
+When the quarians fled, the geth chose not to pursue. They remained in the quarian home system, establishing themselves on hubs in orbiting space stations and repairing the damage to the surface of Rannoch, but they did not attempt to inhabit the planet themselves. They isolated themselves from organic species, destroying any alien ships that entered their space, but monitoring external communications. As a goal for themselves, they set about designing and constructing a giant network of satellites around the system's sun that would allow all geth runtimes to communicate simultaneously.
 ===Heretics===
-Approximately three centuries after the Morning War, the geth were approached by the [[Reapers|Reaper]] Nazara, also called Sovereign.  It offered them technology that would aid them in achieving their goal, in exchange for their assistance in capturing the Citadel and letting the Reaper invasion begin.  The majority of the geth dismissed the offer, deeming it better to accomplish their goal with their own technology rather than be dependent on another race’s technology.  These geth discarded what they called the “superstitious title” of the Reapers, and simply called them the Old Machines.  A small percentage of geth, however, accepted the Reaper’s help.  Henceforth these geth were referred to by the mainstream geth as “Heretics”.  They were allowed to peacefully leave the main geth network, and aid Nazara and his turian agent, Saren.
+In the 22nd century, the [[Reaper]] Nazara, also called Sovereign, contacted the geth.  It offered to help them achieve their goal in return for their service.  The geth consensus was to refuse this offer from what they called the "Old Machines" and continue to try to achieve their goals by their own means, but approximately 5% of the geth chose to leave the geth consensus to accept Nazara's offer.  They were allowed to leave peacefully.
-The Heretics came to revere Nazara as a god, the pinnacle of their own evolution.  Nazara in return thought little of the Heretics, seeing them only as tools to be used.  They aided Nazara and Saren in many engagements, such as the attack on Eden Prime, and the Battle of the Citadel.  After Nazara was destroyed in the latter battle, the Heretics lost much of their menace, and their operations outside of the Perseus Veil were quickly mopped up by Council.  The Heretics did maintain operation of a large space station within the Terminus Systems, located in deep space between stars.  There they completed a virus which Nazara had given them, which could be used to fundamentally change the logic and reasoning of the true geth, forcing them to join the Heretics.  On the other hand, it could also force the Heretics to rejoin the true geth.  [[Commander Shepard]] and a special geth platform called Legion boarded the station, where Shepard made a decision to either destroy the station and the virus, or use the virus to rewrite the Heretics.
+The Heretics came to revere Nazara as a god, although Nazara regarded them as tools or slaves.  They aided Nazara in its unsuccessful campaign to reach the Citadel and open the mass relay for the Reaper fleet.  After Nazara was destroyed, the Heretics attempted to complete and deploy a Reaper virus that would force the entire geth consensus to join them in worshipping the Reapers.
 ==Organization==
 The geth do not have any formal government- they refer to organic species' governments as forcing consensus, whether it be an autocracy forcing one individual's will, or democracy forcing the most broadly accepted average of views.   All geth consider issues, then come to a consensus on what to do.  When a rare schism forms, the dissenters leave, as with the geth Heretics.
-==Attributes==
+Geth normally share data freely between platforms and in their hubs, so deception is abnormal for them. They understand the concept of withholding information from potential adversaries, but they generally don't lie. The geth unit "Legion" was surprised to discover that Heretic runtimes had infiltrated some servers of the main geth consensus to act as spies.
-The geth are a race of sentient AI programs. Alone these programs are unintelligent, but when networked together they gain sapience. The programs can exist in stationary hubs containing millions, or can be transfered by the hundreds in order to operate various "mobile platforms" ranging from humanoid robots to spaceships. In combat geth humanoid platforms use projectile weapons, personal shields, plasma throwers, personal cloaking devices, and sensor jamming. Geth starships use similar weapons, though less is known about them.  They are adept at hacking, and resisting hacking attempts. Any critically damaged geth automatically wipes its data core and overloads its systems. If hacked, infected files are deleted and restored from backups.
-Nazara provided the Heretic Geth with the technology of producing [[Zombie|zombie-like]] cyborgs from organic beings known as [[husk]]s.
 ==Territory==
+The geth possess an unknown amount of star systems, likely dozens.  They do not inhabit the planets within the star systems, instead choosing to construct and live in massive space stations.  Their territory lies beyond a huge nebula of opaque dust and gas called the Perseus Veil, which is difficult to scan through or navigate.
-The geth possess an unknown amount of star systems, likely dozens.  They do not inhabit the planets within the star systems, instead choosing to construct and live in massive space stations.  Their territory lies beyond a huge nebula of opaque dust and gas called the Perseus Veil, which is difficult to scan through or navigate.
+==Geth of Note==
+'''Legion''' is a special geth platform designed for reconnaisance in non-geth space. It's hardware carries 1,183 geth runtimes, allowing them to maintain sapience in the absence of other geth platforms. After the destruction of Nazara, Legion left geth space to try to make contact with [[Commander Shepard]]. When Shepard was reported dead, they changed their mission to seek and destroy a Reaper virus designed to enslave all non-Heretic geth.
 ==Threat Assessment==
+The geth have considerable industrial powers, as one fleet consisted of anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000 ships of unknown armament. Also, [http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Heretic_Station one of their space stations] (originally quarian, but extensively rebuilt later) was known to be over 20 km long and 11 km wide, which, despite the  large amounts of empty space in it, is considerably larger than the stations constructed by the [[United Federation of Planets]]. That station was capable of generating a 1.21 petawatt transmission of considerable complexity. Their hacking abilities are formidable for any technologically dependent race that faces them.  On the ground they deploy infantry that use a combination of mass accelerator rifles, flamethrowers, and rocket launchers, supported by small airborne drones and tank-sized quadrupedal units called Armatures.  The geth are also known to use personal [[cloaking device]]s, but have not demonstrated such technology for spaceships.
+In space, their firepower is comparable to that of other Mass Effect civilizations, although they did build at least one "super [[dreadnought]]" a third larger than most known dreadnoughts; this vessel had sufficient armor and shielding to withstand sustained fire from a [[quarian]] fleet attempting to destroy it (albeit with the support of the rest of the geth fleet). A surviving member of the Prothean race (generally shown to be more advanced than the current galactic races) stated its gun was a match for that of their flagship. It was stated that the geth built dozens of dreadnoughts, but it is unclear whether all were that model.  This dreadnought was stated to use defense lasers in the near-ultraviolet spectrum, with greater firepower and range than typical defense lasers in Mass Effect.
-The geth have considerable industrial powers, as one fleet consisted of anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000 ships of unknown armament. Also, [http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Heretic_Station one of their space stations] (originally quarian, but extensively rebuilt later) was known to be over 20 km long and 11 km wide, which, despite the  large amounts of empty space in it, is considerably larger than the stations constructed by the [[United Federation of Planets]]. That station was capable of generating a 1.21 petawatt transmission of considerable complexity. Their hacking abilities are formidable for any technologically dependent race that faces them.  On the ground they deploy infantry that use a combination of mass accelerator rifles, flamethrowers, and rocket launchers, supported by tank-sized quadrupedal units called Armatures. In space, their firepower is comparable to that of other Mass Effect civilizations, although they did build at least one "super [[dreadnought]]" three times the length of any other known dreadnought; this vessel had sufficient armor and shielding to withstand sustained fire from a [[quarian]] fleet attempting to destroy it (albeit witht the support of the rest of the geth fleet).
+Nazara provided the Heretic Geth with the technology to turn organic beings into [[Zombie|zombie-like]] [[cyborg]]s known as [[husk]]s.
 [[Category: Mass Effect]]
 [[Category: Factions]]
 [[Category:Mechanical Civilizations]]