User:Ford Prefect

Okay blah blah blah it's Frod Prefect from essbee blah blah blah

Most of everything which follows is still largely in development.

PROJECTA F1

The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power. — William Shakespeare

He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. — Friedrich Nietzsche

He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man. — Samuel Johnson

The Fimbulwinter, the terrifying world of our future! In a world gripped by endless cold, national governments and international law have been usurped by the Commonwealth: a bicameral parliamentary democracy that encompasses all the world and dwarfs the empires of Alexander and Cesar. Supported by the Four Heavenly Kings, the aristocratic financial cliques that control the economic destinies of the people and provide the cutting edge technological foundations of their very lives, the Commonwealth has asserted itself as the inevitable future. It is vast, but it is also efficient, relying on the most advanced information technologies and the most comprehensive knowledge of sociomemetic and biopolitical theory. Within this vastness and this efficiency lies something ominous: as time goes by unnoticed, the Commonwealth becomes more streamlined, less reliant on politicians and civil servants. Decisions seem increasingly as though they are not made by people, but rather by the system, with those decisions merely carried out by people. In some academic circles, they warn of 'the World System', when the Commonwealth's democratic system becomes self-aware and self-replicating, something of a collective intelligence created by legislation and doctrine and convention.

The World System is an idea, and one that is usually discredited on the rare occasions that it arises into the public sphere. There are some, however, who have considered that idea and accepted it. One of these groups are the entities known as Daeva.

In the years prior to the Fimbulwinter, the asteroid 99942 Apophis struck the Earth against all probability. It brought with it the self-replicating crystalline metallic bacteria that modern science came to call 'psycholith'. Defying all compositional analysis, psycholith soon came to deny all common sense: it was a material which turned intent into reality. With sufficient strength of will and a piece of psycholith, a person could harness almost magical psychic force. The 99942 Apophis impact spread particles of psycholith all over the world, to be breathed in by an unsuspecting species. Over time, a burgeoning class of persons emerged who were best suited to unlocking the mysterious powers of the psycholith, a class of person to be exploited by national governments. But it wasn't just people: by chance or design, a symbiosis between early computer intelligence and psycholith was created, and with time that early system evolved into the network of intelligences called Daevas. They are powerful, but inscrutable and vague, their ability to manipulate the real world limited. To eliminate this weakness, they exerted a considerable effort to form a cell of human operatives that would become known as the Order of the Southern Cross.

Part paramilitary mercenary orgnisation, part secret society experimenting in evolution, the Southern Cross has sought to push the boundaries what is means to be 'human', to create a 'complete individual' that is not bound by the circle of the world. In pursuit of this nebulous philosophical ideal, the Southern Cross has co-opted the most advanced technologies available. It started with physical conditioning and meditation. It moved to the pharmacological, and as genetic engineering, mechanical implants, molecular modification and nanotechnology became available the Southern Cross rapidly assimilated it for their purposes. In the Fimbulwinter, the outcome is the Asura: specially selected humans with the highest aptitude for both cybernetic augmentation and psychic power, modified with technology on the farthest end of the spectrum. A fully trained Asura represents a combination of exquisite close quarters combat skill, elite weapons handling, wizard-class electronic manipulation and, with a Daeva granted shard of perfect psycholith, superior psychic abilities. With access to the Order's various weapons, armour and tools, an Asura stands in a whole different world in comparison to black market criminal cyborgs or even the sleek creations of the upper tier corporations. The full scope of their abilities is purely theoretical: even the current Captain-General of the Southern Cross does not approach the 'complete individual'.

For the Daeva, the Asura are indispensable agents, able to interact with the world in ways they cannot. They can take on practically any role, from investigation and infiltration to out and out combat with the Commonwealth. Ultimately, even the Asura do not understand the full motives of their alien patrons, guided mostly by vague proclamations and the better judgement of the Captain-General. Though the Southern Cross itself barely exists as a rumour, its operatives operate reasonably openly, securing further funds or information for the Order. In this capacity they can, for a time, end up working for the Commonwealth, or one of the zaibatsu that control the economy.

The Four Heavenly Kings are the four financial cliques which have SSS+ credit ratings, putting them at the apex of a new aristocracy based on corporate power. Family owned and family run, the Four Heavenly Kings are House Solidor, House Kirin, House Poseidon and House Saint-Cloud; between them they control a third of the world's resource development, full half of its heavy industry and close to two thirds of the international securities exchange. As the heart of economic and industrial activity within the Commonwealth, they hold great influence over the political process, and indeed field their own political parties in general elections. The SS+ zaibatsu wield similar power, even if it is lesser - anything smaller is inevitably absorbed. They share the same trepidation regarding the development of the World System: with their economic and political legitimacy provided by the Commonwealth, the zaibatsu are trapped. They cannot exist without the Commonwealth, but the Commonwealth is evolving to a point where their influence will become irrelevant. In the World System, their power would be essentially illusory.