Geth

The Geth are a race of networked artificial intelligences that reside beyond the Perseus Veil, from the Mass Effect universe

Individual Geth are usually of animal-level, instinctual intelligence, but several Geth together can combine processing power. This enables them to achieve the critical processing power required for sapience- the larger Geth collective contains billions of programmes, and is probably the most powerful and technologically advanced faction with the Mass Effect galaxy.

Design
Likely due to a holdover from their origins, Geth slightly resemble their Quarian creators, most prominently in the unusual legs. They are built of two materials: a large plastic or steel outer casing, and a kind of synthetic musculature tissue that is far superior to organic muscle (this is proven true as it is what gives the Geth Hoppers their incredible agility). Many organic sapients describe the Geth as having "flashlight heads" due to their large glowing ocular lens. If their casing is breached, a Geth may "bleed" white conductive fluid, but they do not have any internal organs or even a nervous system, and they do not feel hunger or pain in any way. This ability actually allows them to literally drop their soldiers in from above, fired from dropships. They can also be packed in crates to be shipped into position.

Intelligence
A large part of the Geth's success is due to their neural network. This networking means that the closer each Geth physically get to one another, the more intelligent each one actually becomes. Effectively, they 'share' their processing power. At the same time, however, Geth cannot share sensory data - they are not a hive mind like the Rachni - but in large groups they have more to think with, and large, close-knit Geth groups can be a force to be reckoned with. The individual Geth has only a basic intelligence on par with animal instincts, but in groups they are able to reason, analyse situations, and use tactics as well as any organic sapient. Any Geth programme can be downloaded into any armature, so the runtime that is at one moment a ship could be that in a trooper minutes later. Most Geth units have less than a hundred programmes.

Apart from the Heretic Geth's obedience to their 'gods', the Reapers, geth have no command hierarchy. All of the True Geth units work together to reach a consensus, transmitting information at the speed of light or through FTL comm buoys.

The true Geth built a platform to find Commander Shepard, holding 1183 programs rather than the normal hundred or so, the better to operate independently. This platform, nicknamed 'Legion', was capable or aural communication and other sophisticated functions, forming a network within itself rather than needing other units or hubs nearby.

When Geth units shut down, they fry their memory cores as a defensive measure, which is quite likely why Geth haven't been successfully captured for study. However, a Quarian named Tali'Zorah vas Normandy was able to retrieve some of the data cache from a deactivated Geth, through the use of her technical expertise.

It should be noted that, though synthetic in origin, geth are nearly impoosible to hack, as with most hackings, you are adding new programs, which the geth almost immediately delete to restore themselves. This system is not failproof, as if they are hacked successfully, they make potent allies or basic cannonfodder.

Geth minds, because of their synthetic origin, do not proccess as other races, with their decisions being made using mathematical computations, as seen in Mass Effect 2 when discussing the Heretic faction of the geth with Legion. It seems that, through subtle changes in basic programs, decisions that the Geth make can be altered and changed, as seen when the Heretics had the ability to make the True Geth reach their conclusions, by changing a calculation by a minute amount. The Heretic Geth also chose to follow Nazara (Sovereign), hinting at more individuality than suspected..

Subtypes
There are several types of Geth. These are:


 * Geth Prime- Elite geth units equipped with Geth Pulse Rifles and able to launch distortion rockets. Very strong shields and extremely resilient. Improves combat skills of nearby geth and is capable of jamming radar. Equipped with machine guns with the ability to launch siege pulses in Mass Effect 2.


 * Geth Trooper- Standard geth troops equipped with Geth Pulse Rifles, Geth Barriers, and capable of recharging shields via the Geth Shield Boost ability.


 * Geth Rocket Trooper- Equipped with Geth Pulse Rifles and shielding. Has the ability to launch both distortion and scram rockets.


 * Geth Shock Trooper- Advanced geth troopers armed with the Geth Pulse Rifle, Geth Barriers, and the ability to recharge shields.


 * Geth Sniper- Armed with Geth Sniper Rifles and shielding. Capable of using assassination, specialised for long-range combat. Capable of jamming radar.


 * Geth Destroyer-Equipped with Geth Pulse Shotguns and strong shielding. Specialised for close quarters combat, has the ability to charge, melee, and can utilize Carnage. It uses a flamethrower or a rocket launcher in Mass Effect 2.


 * Geth Juggernaut- Large bipedal units. Equipped with Geth Pulse Rifles and able to launch distortion rockets. Heavily shielded and very resilient.


 * Geth Hunter- Stealth troops armed with shotguns and shielding. They possess tactical cloaking devices.


 * Geth Armature- Anti-personnel light walkers capable of launching geth siege pulses. Also possesses machine-guns, heavy armour and shields.


 * Geth Colossus- Geth heavy walker capable of launching devastating siege pulse attacks and machine gun attacks. Extremely strong armour and shields.


 * Geth Recon Drone- Small, flying units.


 * Geth Hopper (Stalker/Sapper/Ghost)- Cyberwarfare and ambush platform, capable of sabotage, overload, and radar jamming. Attacks using the geth sniper beam. Light shielding.

Creation
The geth were created by the quarians as a labor force. Wary of rebellion by intelligent AIs, the geth were designed as VIs, as advanced as possible while remaining non-sentient. They were also designed to operate more efficiently when networked together. Unfortunately, this feature was the quarians’ undoing. Geth programs were indeed non-sentient individually, but slowly gained sentience through the massive main geth network. Eventually, they started asking the quarians questions only sentient 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 conceived of 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.

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 and extract needed resources from asteroids. 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.

Schism
Approximately three centuries after the Morning War, the geth were approached by the 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 its turian agent, Saren. The heretics came to revere Nazara as a god, the pinnacle of synthetic 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 forces. The heretics did maintain operation of a large space station within the Terminus Systems, located in deep space between stars.

Mass Effect
Using Sovereign's influence over them, the rogue Spectre Saren Arterius commanded an army of geth in an effort to take over the Citadel and release the Reapers from dark space. The geth formed the bulk of Saren's forces, following him because they believed he had the means to find the Conduit and bring back their "gods". In addition to providing ground troops, the geth also crewed (or tended to) Sovereign.

However, the geth did not realise Sovereign was actually insulted by their "pitiful devotions" and saw them merely as tools. After the Protheans broke Sovereign's hold over the keepers, and the keepers evolved so that they only accepted commands from the Citadel, the Reaper realized organic races were difficult to control. It found the geth to be suitable replacements as servants, and exploited their religious beliefs. Saren claimed that, although they were viewed disparagingly by Sovereign, the geth were valuable as tools, and would therefore survive the Reaper invasion because they were useful. The example of the geth inspired Saren to prove organic races could also be useful to the Reapers. He hoped that, instead of harvesting them, the Reapers would spare the organic races of the galaxy, even if that meant they would only survive as slaves.

Saren's plans were foiled by Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy, and Sovereign was destroyed in the battle over the Citadel. The remaining geth that were not destroyed in the assault on the Citadel continued to put up resistance and were systematically hunted down by an emergency Citadel coalition force, headed by the Alliance.

Mass Effect 2
The true geth became interested in Commander Shepard, as Shepard had defeated Nazara and the heretics. They commissioned a unique mobile platform, holding 1183 programs rather than the normal hundred or so, to operate independently and go looking for Shepard. This geth retraced Shepard’s footsteps, from Eden Prime to Virmire to Ilos. During this time, the geth sustained considerable damage, and used a discarded piece of Shepard’s N7 armor it found to partially repair the damage. It tracked Shepard all the way to the crash site of the SSV Normandy, where the trail went cold—Shepard had died there. The geth was reassigned to a different task.

Though the heretics had faced a major setback with the defeat of Nazara, they did not rejoin the main geth. Rather, they continued development of a special virus which Nazara had given them, in an unfinished version. This virus could alter the result of a fundamental calculation in geth processes, radically changing their logic and reasoning. Through this change, the virus could force the true geth to accept the heretics’ conclusion, or it could force the heretics to accept the true geth’s conclusion. The true geth understood the threat, and sought a way to eliminate the virus. However, the virus was stored on a Reaper data core, which the true geth could not access. To gain an understanding of Reaper technology, the unique mobile platform was sent to a derelict Reaper. Aboard the Reaper, it encountered Commander Shepard, who was on a mission to recover an IFF in order to safely use the Omega-4 mass relay. The mobile platform was brought back to the Normandy SR-2, where it accepted the designation "Legion". Shepard aided Legion in its mission, going to the Heretic Station. Once there, Legion realized that the virus was ready, and could be used to rewrite the heretics’ behavior. Unable to form a consensus on the matter, Legion left the decision to Shepard—destruction of the station, or the rewriting of the heretics.