▁derived ▁many ▁techn ological ▁innov ations ▁from ▁the ▁artifact s , ▁they ▁also ▁mis inter pre ted ▁much ▁of ▁what ▁they ▁found ▁and ▁wor sh ipped ▁the ▁ext inct ▁For er unn ers ▁as ▁gods . ▁Event ually ▁reg aining ▁space f aring ▁technology , ▁humans ▁studied ▁the ▁For er un ner ▁artifact s ▁with ▁a ▁more ▁scientific ▁approach . ▁Both ▁the ▁al ien ▁species ▁and ▁human ity ▁were ▁surprised ▁to ▁discover ▁that ▁the ▁For er unn ers ▁granted ▁human ity ▁alone ▁ste ward ship ▁over ▁the ▁technology ▁they ▁had ▁been ▁left ▁behind . ▁The ▁reasons ▁for ▁this ▁were ▁only ▁made ▁clear ▁in ▁the ▁most ▁recent ▁nov els ▁and ▁H alo ▁ 4 . ▁The ▁For er unn ers ▁themselves ▁were ▁created ▁by ▁al iens ▁far ▁more ▁ancient , ▁of ▁which ▁the ▁For er unn ers ▁had ▁only ▁a ▁myth ological ▁understanding ▁of . D ark ▁Void ▁features ▁a ▁race ▁of ▁hum ano id ▁shape - sh if ters ▁called ▁Watch ers , ▁who ▁ruled ▁over ▁ancient ▁humans ▁as ▁gods , ▁bringing ▁technology ▁and ▁civil ization ▁to ▁Earth . ▁Their ▁human ▁subjects ▁re bel led , ▁and ▁ex iled ▁them ▁to ▁the ▁tit ular ▁Dark ▁Void , ▁an ▁alternate ▁dimension ▁that ▁exists ▁between ▁Earth ▁and ▁the ▁original ▁Watch er ▁home world . ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁game ▁Mass ▁Effect ▁human ity ▁disco vers ▁a ▁cache ▁of ▁al ien ▁technology ▁buried ▁on ▁Mars , ▁built ▁by ▁an ▁al ien ▁species ▁known ▁as ▁the ▁Pro the ans . ▁The ▁Pro the ans ▁had ▁apparently ▁maintained ▁a