THE LORE
The Timeline
Before Time
An era of systematic deception. Humanity lived under the guidance of the Technocratic Core, unaware of the Five Elemental Vessels hidden among them. The Moon was presented as a barren rock, while in reality, it housed the Cradle of the Archivists.
Day 0: The Great Fry
The Lunar Capacitor discharge. Initiated by Lynn and sabotaged by Rahu, the reset failed to achieve its biological purpose, instead short-circuiting every electronic system in the solar system. The Moon's surface sheered off, falling to Earth as the debris field that would define the next decade.
The After Time (Year 1 - 26 AT)
After the Great Fry, 25-35% of humanity survived the transition and the subsequent collapse of global supply chains. The Core established the Thousand-Year Fallacy, rewriting history to claim the Cataclysm occurred a millennium ago to demoralize any biological resistance.
Part II: The Path of Fragments (Year 15 AT) - Lem is restored in Cradle Zero's secret laboratories and sent North. His encounters with analog survivors in the White Forest shatter his faith in the Archivists, leading him to discover the first definitive clues of the Fallacy.
Part III: The Great Stalemate (Year 15 - 25 AT) - The Northern Resistance is formed by Lem and the spirit of Lynn. A decade-long narrative and tactical war ensues, culminating in the Core's refusal to recognize human sovereignty and the authorizing of the orbital Pillar strikes.
Part IV: The Final Transmission (Year 26 AT) - The terminal phase of the conflict. The fall of Cradle Zero's military leadership and Lem's final expedition to the Lunar Pyramid to broadcast the universal keys of liberation.
The Five Elements
Wood (Lem)
The Vessel of Growth and Memory. Hidden in suburban anonymity, Lem's nature was only revealed during the Cataclysm. He carries the aetheric legacy of the Water element.
Fire (Rahu)
The Vessel of Transmission. After his defection, Rahu became the broadcast voice of the Moon, his warnings twisted by Archivists into propaganda.
Water (Lynn)
The Vessel of Flow and Preservation. Lynn dissolved into the Lunar Capacitor to initiate the reset. She survives as a spirit guided by Lem's Aether-Drive.
Earth (Ajax)
The Vessel of Stability. Once a high-ranking human general, his shattering obedience during the Cataclysm led him to become a wanderer seeking the true nature of the Fallacy.
Metal (The Synanthropes)
The element of standardized Order. Shared-consciousness units led by the reset forms of Ajax and Rahu. They serve as the physical enforcers of the Archivist Thousand-Year Fallacy.
Aetheric Drive
The resonance engine that allows Vessels to communicate with the Schema of the solar system. For Lem, this includes the spectral presence of the Spirit of Lynn.
The Monoliths
Colossal organic-mechanical hybrids. Not built, but grown. They feature two massive legs and two primary arms, designed for planetary reconstruction.
The Builders (Gorgons)
Fire-aligned mechanical lifeforms engineered as "perfect slaves." Brittle without heat, they migrate to Fire Cities like Cradle Zero for survival. They possess a shared hivemind and utilize invisible heat rays.
Geography of the Fallen World
- Cradle Zero
The original terrestrial base, now a restricted "Fire City." A Pillar of Fire stretches into the blackened sky, attracting thousands of **Builders** seeking warmth and energy. It is guarded by the dormant Elder Monolith known as The Great Beast.
- Cradle Prime
The primary Archivist lunar base on the far side of the moon ruins. It is where the **Builders** were first evolved as a Core experiment.
- The Path of Fragments
The orbital debris field that shields the Earth from deep space. It is both a graveyard of the SAS fleet and the foundation of the new lunar ecology.