History Fanfic / MassEffectMurphysLaw

* BrainUploading: This is essentially how Powell and Lydia are both "created". Powell's process wasn't perfect, leaving him as a different person, but this problem was corrected by Richard prior to scanning Lydia's brain, making her Richard's first (and only) perfect transfer.

Started in April, 2015, officially completed in July, 2021.

* HumansAreBastards: Cerberus is the flip-side to Sean's idealism and altruistic attitude. When the veil has been lifted, they make no effort to hide that they are complete bastards that disregard everyone, even their own people, in the name of getting more power.

Started in April, 2015, officially completed in July, 2021. The author has also commissioned multiple pieces of artwork for the story, view-able at the ends of the chapters.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zdsfojq2_cropped.png]]

* MagneticWeapons: Sean takes pre-existing mass accelerator technology and turns it [[UpToEleven Up To Eleven]] with the [[Franchise/{{Halo}} Orbital Defense Platforms.]] The resulting weapon is so dangerous that it can potentially kill a planet with one direct shot, [[spoiler: and can easily wipe the floor with the Reapers during the Battle of Reach.]]

* KnifeNut: Dan is one of these, keeping at least two razor-sharp knives on him at all times in addition to his private collection. Sean also exhibits much lighter shades of this, carrying a knife whenever he's on field ops.

* CreepySouvenir: Kirva's necklace of teeth, which she carries around wherever she goes. [[spoiler:She later reveals to Sean that, in addition to wildlife she's killed on Reach, it holds the teeth of all the pirates she killed in the Neymean Abyss. According to her, she made it in an exhausted and frenzied state, to "make sure they were really dead." Years later, relinquishes the necklace to her husband, Lenlo, in a bid to move on from her past.]]

* OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions: Played with. Being a self-proclaimed Atheist, Sean thought he was above Catholicism in the beginning of the story. As it goes on, however, his [[{{RaisedCatholic}} upbringing]] and later experiences start to make him doubt his initial views.

* RaisedCatholic: Sean was brought up in a traditional Catholic household. This becomes a point of contention for Sean over the course of the story, especially after [[spoiler:the death of Jack.]] Even though he sees himself as an atheist, he begins readopting some of his old Catholic mannerisms, including using the Sign of the Cross and praying before meals. It gets to the point where he even questions if the [[spoiler: "spiritual experience" he had with his mother and father during Richard's implant surgery was simple brain chemistry coping with trauma, or if they were actually spirits that had been sent to protect him.]]
** This comes to a head in [[spoiler: the final battle, when he briefly "meets" his mother and father in a vision after his near-fatal shuttle crash. He quietly ponders the experience after the activation of the Crucible, but chooses to accept it regardless of its tangibility, having forgiven himself for not being there for either his mother or father's final years.]]

* GeniusSlob: Both Dan and Richard are this, if Sean's descriptions of their work and living spaces are to be believed.

* GoodIsNotSoft: Even though Dan is a quiet, kind-hearted individual, he won't hesitate to openly lash out at you for even looking at him or his friends wrong.

* HeelFaceTurn: The scientists that [[spoiler:defect from Cerberus following the human/quarian coalition attack on Minuteman Station.]]

** [[spoiler: Captain Kira Hayms and her crew also turn on Cerberus after discovering the truth about what they had been doing to Alliance colonies in the Terminus, among other incriminating details. She proves vital to ending the Cerberus threat, using her ship to get Sean and his marines close enough to Cronos Station to board it.]]

* MundaneLuxury: Sean considers [[{{MustHaveCaffeine}} Eight O'Clock Original]] a vital part of his day-to-day.

** Most of the systems (and the planets in them) visited by [[spoiler:Sean and the crew of the MFV Discovery]] during their survey mission are named in ways that reference various pieces of sci-fi.

* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: While lampshaded early on in the story, its ultimately averted with everyone on the team. Sean and Dan in particular are talented engineers and mathematicians, but are next to clueless when it comes to anything related to medical science. Luckily, the other members of the team more than make up for their lack of medical knowledge, balancing everything out.

* PsychologicalTormentZone: Sean enters one on his own construction in his unconscious mind, [[spoiler: especially when suffering from the early effects of Reaper indoctrination. In it, he is tormented by his past mistakes and regrets, and the Reaper "influence" in his mind takes the form of dead members of Cerberus, specifically those who's deaths he was personally responsible for. Crosses over into [[{{MindRape}} Mind Rape]] when they actively try to kill Sean during an operation to counteract said indoctrination with an experimental implant.]]

** Sean decides to call the reverse-engineered Cerberus weapons used to [[spoiler:attack the Saint Luke]] [[VideoGame/HalfLife2 Pulse Rifles]] due to how similar the fired rounds are compared to the OSIPR's.

** The [[StealthInSpace Phantom-class frigate]] was designed by Dan using several design elements from the [[VideoGame/{{AceCombat6FiresOfLiberation}} P-1112 Aigaion]].

** The suit of armor Sean designs for himself takes elements from the [[Anime/{{JinRohTheWolfBrigade}} Protect-Gears.]]

* HumansAreBastards: Cerberus is the flip-side to Sean's idealism and altruistic attitude. When the veil has been lifted, they make no effort to hide that they are complete bastards that disregard everyone, even their own people, in the name of getting more power.
* HumongousMecha: The Dragoon mechs are this to a tee. They have all the weapons and armor needed to tear through most opposition.

** Sean later does this in a crippled mech, using its cannons to arrest his momentum.

* InterdimensionalTravelDevice: The [[{{MacGuffin}} Spacial Distortion Device]] was designed as one, though its results are [[{{DimensionalTraveler}} not looking to be repeated by Sean and Dan.]]

* MacGuffin: The [[{{InterdimensionalTravelDevice}} Spacial Distortion Device]] acts as this, sending Sean and Dan into the future and [[spoiler: eventually becoming a device of interest to Cerberus.]]

* TrueCompanions: The original Task Force Cerebellum team (Sean, Dan, Dimitri, Mara, Richard, Jack, and Sira) are this, even if there is (or used to be) some tension between several of them. Throughout everything, [[spoiler:even Jack's murder at the hands of Cerberus]], they've remained together and supported one another for years after the destruction of Aldrin Station,[[spolier: even long after the Reaper War has ended.]]

** [[spoiler:Sean's deployment of the highly-destructive Ares Device results in this, vaporizing half of the Reaper fleet on their way to Reach in an instant, thinning their number enough to give them a fighting chance.]]

* LetsGetDangerous: The normally stoic Dan does this when he and Sean are threatened by two Turian muggers on the Citadel. [[{{KnifeFight}} It doesn't end well for the turians.]] This typically applies to

* MacGuffin: The [[{{InterdimensionalTravelDevice}} Spacial Distortion Device]] acts as this, sending Sean and Dan into the future and [[spoiler:eventually becoming a device of interest to Cerberus.]]
* MagneticWeapons: Sean takes pre-existing mass accelerator technology and turns it [[UpToEleven Up To Eleven]] with the [[Franchise/{{Halo}} Orbital Defense Platforms.]] The resulting weapon is so dangerous that it can potentially kill a planet with one direct shot.

* ProudWarriorRace: The [[Main/BirdPeople Raloi]] are shades of this, even though most of their population consisted of poor, poverty-stricken farmers restricted to a House-based caste system before First Contact with Sean and his crew. [[spoiler: They eventually grow to fit this mold much better post-war, having
* PsychologicalTormentZone: Sean enters one on his own construction in his unconscious mind, [[spoiler:especially when suffering from the early effects of Reaper indoctrination. In it, he is tormented by his past mistakes and regrets, and the Reaper "influence" in his mind takes the form of dead members of Cerberus, specifically those who's deaths he was personally responsible for. Crosses over into [[{{MindRape}} Mind Rape]] when they actively try to kill Sean during an operation to counteract said indoctrination with an experimental implant.]]

* RaisedCatholic: Sean was brought up in a traditional Catholic household. This becomes a point of contention for Sean over the course of the story, especially after [[spoiler:the death of Jack.]] Even though he sees himself as an atheist, he begins readopting some of his old Catholic mannerisms, including using the Sign of the Cross and praying before meals. It gets to the point where he even questions if the [[spoiler: "spiritual experience" he had with his mother and father during Richard's implant surgery was simple brain chemistry coping with trauma, or if they were actually spirits that had been sent to protect him.]] This comes to a head in [[spoiler: the final battle, when he briefly "meets" his mother and father in a vision after his near-fatal shuttle crash. He quietly ponders the experience after the activation of the Crucible, but chooses to accept it regardless of its tangibility, having forgiven himself for not being there for either his mother or father's final years.]]

* TemptingFate: [[spoiler:The Illusive Man believes he is too valuable to be killed, thinking Sean won't shoot him. [[{{BoomHeadshot}} He's wrong.]]]]
* TheBadGuyWins: Despite [[spoiler:successfully breaking out of Cerberus imprisonment in the Barn with everyone else, Jack is fatally shot in the back during the escape and dies moments later, leaving a hole in the team that can be felt for the rest of the story.]]

* TranslatorMicrobes: After arriving on the Citadel, a turian C-Sec officer gives Sean and Dan earpieces that automatically translate alien languages for them. Omni-tools also have the technology built into them.

* LetsGetDangerous: The normally stoic Dan does this when he and Sean are threatened by two turian muggers on the Citadel. [[{{KnifeFight}} It doesn't end well for the turians.]]

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Happens with Sean multiple times.
** He keeps fighting with a previously-sustained injury to get him and his team [[spoiler:off the Cerberus space station in Chapter 8, even as his hardsuit warns him of the damage he's causing]]. He later loses consciousness.

* MessyHair: One of Richard's defining physical traits. He has perpetual bed head, and never bothers to fix it.

* NoMacGuffinNoWinner: Sean and Dan resolve to [[spoiler: destroy the Spatial Distortion Device they've helped build for Cerberus and all their project notes, despite how badly they want to see the device operational again.]]
* NoSocialSkills: Dan had great difficulty talking to people before meeting Sean. Years later, he still interacts with very few people by himself.
* NoodleIncident: Lydia mentions Sean used to have a thing for "robot ladies" back in the day before Sean quickly changes the subject.

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Rael and Gerrel on the Migrant Fleet's Admiralty Board act as this, giving Sean and his team a quite a hard time early on in the story.

* ProudWarriorRace: The [[Main/BirdPeople Raloi]] are shades of this, even though most of their population consisted of poor, poverty-stricken farmers restricted to a House-based caste system before First Contact with Sean and his crew.

* RaisedCatholic: Sean was brought up in a traditional Catholic household. This becomes a point of contention for Sean over the course of the story, especially after [[spoiler:the death of Jack.]] Even though he sees himself as an atheist, he begins readopting some of his old Catholic mannerisms, including using the Sign of the Cross and praying before meals. It gets to the point where he even questions if the [[spoiler: "spiritual experience" he had with his mother and father during Richard's implant surgery was simple brain chemistry coping with trauma, or if they were actually spirits that had been sent to protect him.]]

* TrueCompanions: The original Task Force Cerebellum team (Sean, Dan, Dimitri, Mara, Richard, Jack, and Sira) are this, even if there is (or used to be) some tension between several of them. Throughout everything, [[spoiler:even Jack's murder at the hands of Cerberus]], they've remained together and supported one another for years after the destruction of Aldrin Station.

* UnusualUserInterface: Most control interfaces designed by Sean and Dan tend to be this due to their preference for physical, non-holographic controls. The Dragoon mech is the most prevalent example of this.

* UnusualUserInterface: Most control interfaces designed by Sean and Dan tend to be this due to their preference for physical, non-holographic controls. The Dragoon mech is the most prevalent example of this.

''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11209283/1/Mass-Effect-Murphy-s-Law Mass Effect: Murphy's Law]]'' is an ongoing science-centered Franchise/MassEffect fanfic written by author [[https://www.fanfiction.net/~TacoWrath TacoWrath]] on FF.net. Following a disastrous accident, two top scientists, Sean Michaels and Dan Nemo, are transported to the future, later joined by other scientists of similar skill. Over the years, they develop technology that gradually shifts and changes their world, as forces around them seek their skills for good or ill. As the story and settings shift, so do the characters that join them as Sean and his team [[ReluctantHero reluctantly]] become central figures of interest in the galaxy.