Ilos: Vigil

So something stops the Mako from going forward other than the fact that it's a steaming pile of horse shit, so Shep and pals get out and go see what's up. They travel down this little cavern, down an elevator, and find themselves in a big cavern, but that's okay guys this is a shooter not an RPG.

And then they find a VI.

And then I try really hard to do art by fucking up the long-practiced ideas of perspective.

Remember when I was talking about the idea of MSPixel as a form of preservation? I hope you laughed your ass off.

Anyway, everyone, say hi to Vigil!

This is the other super important conversation Shepard has with an ancient such and such. You need to pay attention here too, Vigil's going to set up the plot of the next two games, particularly ME3. To tell the truth, I'm not that excited about giving Vigil its own post, but it was too long to stick pack in the last one, and it's too long to stick in the next section, soooooo here we go. Vigil.

So, Vigil imparts very important information. Hey, Vigil! Talk to me about the Citadel. That other holographic bastard Soverign told me reapers built it, what can you tell me about it?

PS, Vigil's not lying. The Citadel is an Admiral Ackbar certified trap. It links to "dark space", which the game never really gives a great definition of (maybe it's where they store their mass effects?), but anyway, dark space is where all the reapers are. Alls you gotta do is send a signal, and the Citadel opens up like a high school kid on prom night.

OH AND PS GUESS WHAT SAREN'S OFF TO DO?

So, hey, Vigil, what are our chances?

Hey hey, that's awesome.

If you haven't figured it out by now, the Protheans got ate by the reapers. They figured out that the reapers were reapin' early on, and tried to fight back, but ... well, that's why we have humans and asari and shit now. Vigil says that some Protheans were enslaved instead of reaped. Remember that for ME2. Are you remembering that? Write it down.

Ilos was a Prothean research facility, one of the last that stood against the reapers. One of the things that they did was install a mini mass relay in Ilos so they could just beam into the Citadel whenever they felt like. That mass relay is called the conduit, which is the thing that Saren is so hot for.

Vigil's not shitting. You remember those glowing blue pods? The Prothean scientists sealed themselves in those things to be cryogenically frozen just in case there was a chance they could be revived. Vigil was programmed, however, to shut the pods down if the facility got too low on power, and, welp, sucks to be a Prothean scientist.

But as much as Liara would like to hang around and stroke Vigil lovingly talk to Vigil, Saren's trying to get the entire universe reaper ate, so we must be off.

Vigil makes one last offer to Shepard: he's got this file that can control the Citadel if Shepard copies it onto a USB drive and then shoves the drive into the Citadel control panel. (What? The Citadel works via USB. The reapers are very concerned with the universality of technology. There's probably an app to control it to, but Shep doesn't have the 1.99 in her iTunes account.)

So Shepard drags Liara kicking and screaming back to the Mako, and then we all drive like hell to try and catch up with Saren.

I won't spoil it for you, but Shepard manages to get the Mako on the Citadel. She uses a mass effect! Really! It is the first and last time a mass effect affects the plot.

Oh, but also, that busts the Mako.

fuggit good riddance.

NEXT TIME: Fuck.