Collectors

The **Collectors** were a mysterious species, known within the Terminus Systems for their bizarre trade requests but generally believed to be a myth by citizens of the Citadel. Some of the items they have traded for included two dozen left-handed salarians, sixteen sets of batarian twins, a krogan born of parents from feuding clans, or two dozen "pure" quarians who have never left the Migrant Fleet due to illness, importance to the fleet, or disability. Even these deals were typically made through agents, such as Golo, making them even more mysterious.

The homeworld of the Collectors was, for a long time, never identified. They were known to come through the Omega 4 relay, a mass relay in the Omega system, but for much of history no one who went through that relay ever returned. In truth, the Collectors were Protheans who had been completely indoctrinated by the Reapers. Rather than a homeworld, the Omega 4 relay led to a space station in the galactic core of the Milky Way.

## Physiology

The Collectors, like the Protheans that they originally were, had a quad-strand genetic structure in their DNA. However, their DNA had been totally rewritten by the Reapers. The rewrites included three fewer chromosomes, reduced heterochromatin structure, and the elimination of superfluous "junk" sequences. To make up for the decreased skills and abilities of the indoctrinated Protheans, the Collectors were cybernetically enhanced. The modifications were beyond repair, with each Collector drone essentially being little more than a mindless clone. They seemed utterly devoid of self-awareness.

The Collectors showed no differentiation based on gender, and had no glands of any kind or any digestive system. They had a chitinous exoskeleton, similar to that of an insect. They were bipedal, and also had two arms as well as a pair of vestigial anterior limbs. They had a fully functional pair of wings on their backs which did allow them to fly.

Although lacking in intelligence, the Collectors communicated in a language comprising of chirps and trills. Should the need arise, they were able to speak in other languages. Though could not be translated by technology or through translator microbes. The Collectors shared a hive mind, though they were commanded by one Collector General who could psychically take control of any drone at any given time. The General itself was being controlled by Harbinger.

## History

The Collectors emerged during the waning years of the Reapers' harvest of the Protheans, the result of extensive genetic and cybernetic experimentation on captives. The Collectors were then sent after their own kind, sending them into the bunkers of stasis pods where numerous surviving Protheans were hoping to wait out the harvest and rebuild their empire once the Reapers had left the galaxy again. The Collectors destroyed nearly all of the pods -- leaving only Javik to survive.

The Collectors disappeared behind the Omega 4 relay and did not reappear until about 2400 CE. The reports of them were widely dismissed as legends or myths, and the Collectors were seen rarely enough that this belief became pervasive. Anyone who went through the Omega 4 relay did not return, leading to much discussion about what lay on the other side: some believed it was a black hole, whereas others thought it might be a paradise from which no one wanted to return.

The Collectors were not seen in earnest until 2983 CE, less than a month after the Battle of the Citadel.

## Source

The Collectors are derived from *Mass Effect*.