Sins of the Father, Sins of the Flesh
folder
+M through R › Mass Effect
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
15
Views:
3,747
Reviews:
7
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Category:
+M through R › Mass Effect
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
15
Views:
3,747
Reviews:
7
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Disclaimer:
All Mass Effect intellectual property reserved to Bioware and Electronic Arts; I make no claim to ownership and make no profit from this fiction.
The Dream Factory
Who doesn’t love the movies?
A short shuttle ride from our last stop takes us to a sprawling studio, busy as a beehive, everyone rushing here, there, and back again. Announcements come over loudspeakers in a calm electronic voice:
“Ellen Bell, please report to studio 3.”
“Now calling all krogans to soundstage C for Bloodrage fight scene.”
“Calling Drs. Tam, Beckett, Banner, Bashir, McCoy, and all available medics to soundstage C for Bloodrage fight scene.”
“Craft Services is now open.”
And even amid the barely controlled chaos, most everybody’s got a smile on their face, and why not? This is one of the largest, best known studios in the galaxy. “Nekyia Corridor?” “Fleet and Flotilla?” “The Demon and the Nightmare?” All made right here (along with megabombs like “Ruck Humpers”—is it really a surprise that Krogan war comedy hasn’t caught on with the rest of the galaxy?).
But in general, if it’s from Illium Entertainment, it’s quality.
Although there are actually two studios here. The second one is separated from Illium Entertainment by a very large wall with very large guards at the entrances. This studio’s name is Illium Entertainment Plus, though it’s usually just referred to as IEP.
At first glance, this studio seems much the same as the first: busy, noisy, cheerful. But if you take a closer look (as most people definitely want to), you see that most of the actors are rather...oddly dressed, even for a movie set. Some are wearing robes and slippers; some are wearing costumes that can at best be described as loose interpretations of the real thing (for example, an Alliance uniform which actually consisted of short shorts, a midriff-baring halter, and high heels would surely break every dress code regulation in existence)…and some are wearing nothing at all.
This is also one of the largest, best known studios in the galaxy. “Vaenia?” “All About Aish Ashland?” “Under the Suit?” All made right here.
Although the star of “Under the Suit,” a Quarian male exiled from the flotilla, took his first earnings, bought a ship, named it Keelah’s Folly, and promptly crashed it into an asteroid.
IEP doesn’t really like to talk about that.
Because everybody loves the movies…and stories like that might make people love them a little less.
And anyway, the actors here are paid and treated very well. A great many of them are asari in their maiden years, but there are almost as many humans. There are representatives here from almost any race you care to name, although some of them feature in vids and holos targeted to an extremely specific audience with what might be considered extremely questionable taste.
But in general, if it’s from IEP, it’s quality.
It’s all above-board. An asari matriarch runs the studio, and she makes sure of that. All the actors are of age (which differs from species to species; a salarian can sign a binding contract at 10, while an asari has to wait until she’s 60. Nobody’s quite sure exactly what the krogan age of consent is. The legal department figures that if one comes into the studio, it’s best just to let them sign; less property damage that way). And the Matriarch keeps track of it all. She has to, given the fact that despite Illium Entertainment’s higher profile, IEP makes more money.
Which means more attention.
And there is one very small and very secret department that she must ensure never receives any attention at all.
You can count the number of people who know about it on the fingers of one of her elegant blue hands. Even the people who buy the films that are made in this small, secret department don’t know where the product comes from; there are layers of shell corporations between them and IEP.
Do you remember the room from the very beginning of the story? You may not want to go back there, but we have to. There’s one more thing in that room, you see; just one thing I didn’t mention.
It’s a very small camera, high up in one corner.
The man in the room mostly works with it off; he doesn’t do what he does for profit. However, there is so much profit to be made from the sale of the films of his work that, every once in a while, he puts a very special person in the chair and turns the camera on.
And a signal comes up from the underground to a very small room at IEP, where a beautiful woman turns on a monitor and makes sure that the signal is being received and recorded. And when it’s done, she’ll hand the recording to a man who’ll make sure that every image has been captured with perfect clarity, that every sound comes through like a bell.
Because everybody loves the movies.
Especially the people who buy these.
A short shuttle ride from our last stop takes us to a sprawling studio, busy as a beehive, everyone rushing here, there, and back again. Announcements come over loudspeakers in a calm electronic voice:
“Ellen Bell, please report to studio 3.”
“Now calling all krogans to soundstage C for Bloodrage fight scene.”
“Calling Drs. Tam, Beckett, Banner, Bashir, McCoy, and all available medics to soundstage C for Bloodrage fight scene.”
“Craft Services is now open.”
And even amid the barely controlled chaos, most everybody’s got a smile on their face, and why not? This is one of the largest, best known studios in the galaxy. “Nekyia Corridor?” “Fleet and Flotilla?” “The Demon and the Nightmare?” All made right here (along with megabombs like “Ruck Humpers”—is it really a surprise that Krogan war comedy hasn’t caught on with the rest of the galaxy?).
But in general, if it’s from Illium Entertainment, it’s quality.
Although there are actually two studios here. The second one is separated from Illium Entertainment by a very large wall with very large guards at the entrances. This studio’s name is Illium Entertainment Plus, though it’s usually just referred to as IEP.
At first glance, this studio seems much the same as the first: busy, noisy, cheerful. But if you take a closer look (as most people definitely want to), you see that most of the actors are rather...oddly dressed, even for a movie set. Some are wearing robes and slippers; some are wearing costumes that can at best be described as loose interpretations of the real thing (for example, an Alliance uniform which actually consisted of short shorts, a midriff-baring halter, and high heels would surely break every dress code regulation in existence)…and some are wearing nothing at all.
This is also one of the largest, best known studios in the galaxy. “Vaenia?” “All About Aish Ashland?” “Under the Suit?” All made right here.
Although the star of “Under the Suit,” a Quarian male exiled from the flotilla, took his first earnings, bought a ship, named it Keelah’s Folly, and promptly crashed it into an asteroid.
IEP doesn’t really like to talk about that.
Because everybody loves the movies…and stories like that might make people love them a little less.
And anyway, the actors here are paid and treated very well. A great many of them are asari in their maiden years, but there are almost as many humans. There are representatives here from almost any race you care to name, although some of them feature in vids and holos targeted to an extremely specific audience with what might be considered extremely questionable taste.
But in general, if it’s from IEP, it’s quality.
It’s all above-board. An asari matriarch runs the studio, and she makes sure of that. All the actors are of age (which differs from species to species; a salarian can sign a binding contract at 10, while an asari has to wait until she’s 60. Nobody’s quite sure exactly what the krogan age of consent is. The legal department figures that if one comes into the studio, it’s best just to let them sign; less property damage that way). And the Matriarch keeps track of it all. She has to, given the fact that despite Illium Entertainment’s higher profile, IEP makes more money.
Which means more attention.
And there is one very small and very secret department that she must ensure never receives any attention at all.
You can count the number of people who know about it on the fingers of one of her elegant blue hands. Even the people who buy the films that are made in this small, secret department don’t know where the product comes from; there are layers of shell corporations between them and IEP.
Do you remember the room from the very beginning of the story? You may not want to go back there, but we have to. There’s one more thing in that room, you see; just one thing I didn’t mention.
It’s a very small camera, high up in one corner.
The man in the room mostly works with it off; he doesn’t do what he does for profit. However, there is so much profit to be made from the sale of the films of his work that, every once in a while, he puts a very special person in the chair and turns the camera on.
And a signal comes up from the underground to a very small room at IEP, where a beautiful woman turns on a monitor and makes sure that the signal is being received and recorded. And when it’s done, she’ll hand the recording to a man who’ll make sure that every image has been captured with perfect clarity, that every sound comes through like a bell.
Because everybody loves the movies.
Especially the people who buy these.