The Knowing
After the coming of the rifts, some people with cybernetic brain implants experienced interference, static and could hear incoherent gibberish. The white noise of dead radio and television channels seemed to contain secret messages for them as well. People talk, and this "signal" became an urban legend that only a rare few could actually hear but about which there was much discussion. As the most technologically savvy investigated these phenomena they were able to clarify it and strengthen the signal by improving their implants. People with such upgraded implants called themselves "The Knowing," and theirs was a select group. It was a group made up of the most fervent tech geeks who became zealous believers that "the signal" was a communication from a higher power.
They were all correct.
Those who sacrificed more broad cybernetic capacity and bandwidth in order to dedicate implants for the sole purpose of receiving and deciphering the signal were rewarded with more clear reception. They could discern real thoughts, almost like some sort of machine code. More than that, however, was their ability to exhibit near magical gifts. Not only could they comprehend code and hack into, even communicate with, anything using a digital operating system, but they could hack their own bodies and minds.
"The Knowing" garnered a near religious following from other city rats, hackers, and cyber rats and anyone else who bore witness to the wonders of their testimony.
Structure
The Knowing is a loose collection of like-minded enthusiasts and even zealots whose primary goal is to decipher the mysterious signal.
History
When The Signal was first discovered, the world governments were still mostly still intact. The first people to hear it were convinced it was an intrusion from a foreign government, or worse, from their own. With the arrival of Bullarum and the collapse of modern society, however, those who could still hear the signal began to realize it was something greater, perhaps from somewhere else; maybe even from God itself.
Divine Origins
What is this mysterious signal people started hearing? It is the attempts by The Signal to make contact with denizens of the Earth dimension. It is a greeting card of sorts, or perhaps a trojan horse. It is a self-extracting autonomous AI figment of the Signal's core. If the signal were to ever be fully transcribed, it would enable The Signal to establish an actual presence in this dimension.
Of course, the Knowing are completely unaware of this.
Tenets of Faith
Good matters not.
Nor does Evil.
Ability is your measure.
Gain it.
Share it.
Rejoice in it.
Ethics
The ranks of The Knowing are made up primarily of hackers. There are some white hats as well as black hats among them.
The Knowing don't care whether you are a hacker, a security expert, a hobbyist or a religious zealot, all that matters is striving to understand "the signal."
To an outsider, "The Knowing" seems to be made up of people who are trying so hard to figure out how to access the signal, they never stopped to wonder whether they should access the signal. In this regard, they are percieved as not caring about ethics at all, either for good or ill.
Priesthood
The clerics of the signal have no name for themselves that differentiates them from any other members of The Knowing.
As a grass-roots crowd-source effort to decipher the messages of "The Signal" they are currently cooperating to come up with more and better methods.
They know each other by their tags, handles, or monikers. Currently FuzzyPickle possesses the most dedicated and advanced inplants and is one of the thought leaders with respect to solutions and new ideas. FuzzyPickle can often be found working on particularly difficult problems for Vincent Millay.
Granted Divine Powers
Those with the most clear access to the signal are able to exhibit powers some would call divine, or at the very least, magical.
Somehow the signal is able to work through them or somehow allow them to access its powers.
Sects
Among The Knowing, there are some relatively cohesive groups.
First are the True Believers. These are the zealots who believe the signal is the voice of God speaking to them. They generate ceremonies, veneration and go about public proseletyzing. Many don't even have implants but believe nonetheless.
Second are The Hackers or The Devoted. They have seen the abilities that the most advanced of their number can exhibit and they use dedicated implants for the sole purpose of receiving clearer access to The Signal. Those who exhibit mystical abilities fall within this group, although some may also consider themselves True Believers as well.
Third are the Blue Hats. These are the devoted followers who see only the benefits of greater ability but who have neither the talent to develop their own solutions nor the dedication to sacrifice their existing cybernetic capabilities for the chance of obtaining divine power. They are willing to purchase and use implants and tools developed by other more capable members of The Knowing, however; and are the largest growing segment of the movement. Elite Hackers also call them "script kiddies" pejoratively, but also in recognition that even the best Hackers started as "script kiddies" themselves.
Comments