The Shard

History

The Everpresent: The End of History

Humanity doesn’t always win.

Good does not always triumph over evil. Entire species succumb to heartless natural forces, alien despots, and their own hubris, their histories ending in blood and tragedy. Sometimes, the mad scientist succeeds, or the evil god enacts its vision upon the world. And sometimes, transhumanism does, in fact, lead to monstrosity.

In one version of the universe, civilization was destroyed by the hubris and dark otherworldly powers that other universes stave off or stamp out. In this particular facet of existence, there was no heroic holdout – not one that’s made a difference, anyway – and there’s no thrilling redemption in sight. Then again, it’s difficult to tell when virtually every instance of organic or synthetic life has been consumed by a monolithic, ever-growing entity.

The God that overtook the universe has had countless names given to it. Most of the civilizations that would have named it have long since been subsumed, or have given themselves to it in sacrifice. Amongst its own components, there is no need to refer to it, as it is eternally a part of each of its components. It is a part of their identity and their body, for it is Everpresent within them. This is as much of a name as they can give it; and in some part of their individual brains, they refer to this binding entity as such.

Very few creatures exist in its universe that are not a part of the Everpresent; aside from a handful of small post-singularity fragments, all organic and inorganic matter has been assimilated by the god’s body. It has grown so great that the stars themselves are its flesh, its protoplasm filling the expanse of space with intricate caverns of living and synthetic tissues. Entire worlds exist within the folds of its body, with new life and civilizations rising and falling within cavities, and cities forming of thousands of entities of every bizarre configuration. Everything it has assimilated is blended and transfigured, assembling components from many life-forms and even devices to form new life, all mentally subsumed to the giant, eldritch mind that governs the entire universe. The rebels swim amid these canyons of fat, desperately seeking the few yawning voids that exist in this universe, knowing that anything they find is a part of the titantic force that would consume them, reducing them to component parts.

The Extrusion: Exploration and Loss

Perhaps when the portal opened into the Nexus, it was curious. Perhaps it wanted to plunder a new universe, seeing an opportunity for new resources to break the monotony of its own creations. Perhaps it was merely reflexive, lashing out at something outside of itself as it had done to the few dwindling rebellions. At any rate, an extrusion was crafted from the surrounding fleshscape, extending through the gate in a tentacle composed of thousands of varied organic, inorganic, and synthetic compounds. The extrusion filled the gateway, forcing itself outward in a gigantic mass of bluish matter.

It’s not clear exactly what burst free of the biomass, tearing at it from the inside; it was most likely a rebel faction that had found its way to the area where the portal opened, desperate to escape its dying universe. The fish-like, tendrilled creature attacked the extrusion mercilessly, tendrils slicing huge rents in it while streaks of fire launched from its midsection, blasting apart the mass. It did tremendous damage before the thousands of monstrous arms seized it and crushed it, and the ragged appendage retreated so hastily that a sizable portion of it tore free, toppling through foreign space as the Extrusion and its attacker returned to their world. Seconds later, the portal imploded amid flashes of multi-coloured energy, no doubt forcibly sealed by the Everpresent. All that remained was a colossal slab of myriad matter, breaking apart as it toppled through space.

It was only a day before the damaged systems came back online, the fleshy mass quickening to life. Soon after, it began to fragment violently, sections peeling back to reveal small, buzzing forms rising from it. It was only as they escaped the fleshy mass that they were revealed to be ships, each bearing within it several different entities – all once symbiotic parts of the alien whole, now freed from the Everpresent subsuming their consciousness. They were no longer part of their god-body; they were free, a shard of amalgamated matter floating in an unknown see of emptiness.

They were, for the first time in their known history, alone.

Shard: Coping with Freedom

Without the Everpresent to guide them, the extrusion quickly separated into its component minds. Their second shock came from the realization that they WERE individual entities – the god had not dissolved their consciousness, but had rather overwritten it, manipulating it directly as an extension of itself. What’s more, they remembered their captivity perfectly, as well as the knowledge they learned through their psychic communication networks, and the experiences they accrued in their lives. Many understandings were fragmentary, contained with several different entities, but at least the wayward souls were not blank shells, with no understanding of anything.

Fortunately, due to the myriad and composite nature of the Everpresent, most knowledge was decentralized. The Shard, as they came to call it, was effectively full of organic computers, containing historical and technical records of civilizations long past. Even as stable individual minds separated, components that did not possess strong autonomy remained whole, and the general biomass did not disperse entirely. What remained with tough, vacuum resistant hide, containing natural life support and biomechanical supercomputers. Many remembered how to access these machines, and were allowed to, thanks to the survival of their most valuable component resource – the synergy paste. This substance, despite its innate ties to the Everpresent, remained stable, if inert, and could be quickened by the application of lesser minds.

It didn’t take long for the Shard to organize themselves into hierarchies. Individuals that acted as sub-controllers in the Everpresent hive-consciousness were given priority, due to their optimization towards leadership and direction, as well as their possession of the vital Control Cysts. The most sentient individuals appeared to be creatures derived from human templates, though nearly all were tremendously altered by their stay within the Everpresent; other entities, such as vessels or as war forms, ranged from low artificial intelligence to full sentience. Experimentation and debate led to a preliminary government, and to a decision to take the name ‘Shard’ as their special designation, as well as their national identity.

The cast-off mass managed to reach a star-system before the damaged worsened to fatal levels. Through the efforts of their scientists, the Shard managed to convert the mass into a more stable form, using its control relays to shape it into a spherical shape and to stabilize it. The result robbed it of its flexibility and much of its ambulatory systems, but effectively healed the damage, leaving it as an artificial, living planet in stable orbit around their star. The Shard immediately sent out to the surrounding worlds, eager to use their resources to build other settlements and to stabilize their position in this new world.

Decision hasn’t been made on what to do if any alien life-forms are found; the old Everpresent attitude of assimilation or destruction does not seem valid anymore. If life exists in this wide gulf, it is certain that it will be alien – as alien as the derelict that has been dropped into its tides.

Technology

Synergy Paste

<recovering data>

Statistics

Population: 2 (3)

Transhumanism: 4 (6)

Infrastructure: 2 (1+1)

Growth Potential: 3 (2+1)

Military Support: 2 (2)

Space Fleet: 2 (2)

Diplomacy: 1 (1) [-1 Rank with nations of Transhumanism Rank 1 or 2]

Espionage: 2 (2)

General Advancement: 1 (4)

Unique Technology: 3 (4+1)

Emergent Technologies: 3 (6)

Magic: 2 (2)