Things that happen as time passes:
- Moss’s necropolis beneath the surface of Mars develops greatly. Ares, the avatar of Mars, is under his and Nyx’s thumb. The surface of Mars is not safe; even as the Mars colony is being rebuilt, people disappear regularly, some claim to have seen ghosts and other spirits, and many agree that Mars is haunted, perhaps due to the atrocities committed during Cain’s rampage.
- The war between Canis and Lupus runs its course, with Lupan troops occupying Canis and ousting the Volokhovs. One brother, Viktor, betrays the others, handing Canis to Khan. (Secretly, Huntington altered Viktor’s mind to induce his betrayal.) Mikhael is captured. Stefan escapes, and Ivan is presumed dead. Viktor is made regent of Canis, and sets about the task of rebuilding the ruined colony.
- Vadril programs the Deus Ex Machina based on his study of machine intelligence sans LORE chip.
- The rite goes forward, and Luna is merged with Cain, the Oversoul and the OL to form a new gestalt consciousness: Lilith.
- Bryant (sans O.L.) gets away after the rite; his mind has been permanently altered by the effects of the Crown; he now seeks homogeneity for the universe (i.e., to grey goo everything). Thus, he is in some sense a servant of the Destroyer. He may also seek out other elements of the Divine Calculus, to turn them first. Or perhaps Bryant simply lurks deep beneath Luna’s surface, slowly consuming it from the inside.
- Technofearful devour Laboro, and decimate Lupus. Battle ensues at Wolf 359 with 41 UNF ships, including Perseverance, before the technofearful advance on the ruins of Canis. They use Trenton Verner as their mouthpiece to make their demands on the Terrans: they want all mystic energy eradicated.
- Shortly before the Deus Ex Machina is to be activated by the Caretaker and Lilith, the Destroyer shows up. Using miller2 they manage to slow the Destroyer’s approach, but it slowly overcomes them, until Glaurung shows up at the last minute to save them. Together, they activate the great machine, projecting their psionic signatures to the edge of the solar system (near Pluto).
- Pipwhistle completes his research with the juice, which is used to put the finishing touches on DEO. If there is any chance of success, the elves deploy the ship against the Caretaker before the Deus rite.
- Pipwhistle has also discovered many interesting properties of "the juice." In particular, necrophagic grafts of those infected with the juice do not die after a week. StratCo makes a deal with high-level UNF officials to augment the soldiers with improved necrophagic capabilities. To cut down on the massive replication of the juice, nanites are deployed to keep the juice’s numbers in check, and keep it from being transmitted to third parties.
Things that need to happen to PCs:
- Vadril needs inspiration for the Deus AI. What better inspiration than the digital messiah, DEE, who has freed himself from his LORE chip? An easy way to tip him off is to give him a Miller prophecy about the digital messiah.
- Max, now a servant of Xela and the Caretaker, needs to find Vitto and befriend him. This is accomplished by Max and several other members of Xela’s forces confronting Nikolai about the status of the Crown. In truth, Xela already knows the Crown is in the OL’s hands, but she wishes to renew the Monday’s group’s allegiance by reminding them of their promise. She offers them an alternative means to fulfill their obligation to her…
- Wednesday needs something to do immediately – something important enough to keep them from directly assisting Monday with guarding Cain.
- Trenton needs to learn more about Pandora’s Box. Perhaps there is a prophecy about Pandora’s Box containing the hope for the world?
Who is at the rite, and why?
- Gerald, to keep an eye on things, and to retrieve his sword.
- Merlin Huntington, to make his play for power.
- Harry Bryant, so that sulphur/salt can merge with the Oversoul. (The sulphur/salt piece of the O.L. desires power. Its plan is to maneuver Bryant into a position during the rite to "jump ship" into the Oversoul. During the rite, Bryant leaps toward the Oversoul, and the O.L. transfers itself.)
What happens at the rite?
- The Oversoul is contained within a large onyx gem, which Cain needs to eat.