Project Overlord

Project Overlord was a Cerberus research project based on Aite intended to create a hybrid human/Virtual Intelligence capable of interfacing with and controlling the geth.

The project was only partially successful. David Archer, chief scientist Dr. Gavin Archer's brother, volunteered for the experiment to meld his mind to a VI. The VI overwhelmed David and the resulting hybrid essentially became a virus, which proceeded to take over the facility and used the live geth that had been acquired for the project to kill off the Cerberus staff in Hermes, Vulcan, Prometheus, and Atlas Stations. The VI attempted to leave Aite through the facility's communication dish, but the dish was destroyed by Commander Shepard. If it had escaped, potentially every electronic device in the galaxy accessible by the extranet could be subsumed and used by the VI against an unsuspecting populace.

The VI itself was designed by Cerberus to exploit the religious tendencies of the geth. This was inspired by Cerberus' observations of Saren Arterius as a leader of the geth in the events leading up to the Battle of the Citadel. The researchers hoped that the hybrid VI, essentially a "computer program with a face", could become a similar kind of figurehead and thus give Cerberus complete control over all geth.

It is later revealed that David Archer, the human component of the hybrid VI, was autistic and a mathematical savant. David's unparalleled understanding of mathematics allowed him to communicate with the geth on a fundamental level; communication had previously been a significant hurdle for the project, and without any results the Illusive Man threatened to shut the project down. Dr. Archer realized the potential of this breakthrough, and forcibly incorporated David into the VI. At this point, the hybrid VI went berserk and began its rampage and escape attempt.

After deactivating the rogue VI, Shepard's decision about who should handle the care of David Archer determines if Project Overlord will continue or be decommissioned.

It is interesting to note the correlation between Commander Shephard's ship, the Normandy, and the name of the DLC, Project Overlord, as this may be an intentional allusion to the Allies invasion of Normandy Beach in France during the initial stages of Operation Overlord during World War II.