The Age of Wonders Universe

[Charles Phipps]

Interesting idea with the Brotherhood!

Welcome to the thread!

[Charles Phipps]

The Unlimited Force Fighting Circuit

Humankind has developed a perverse fascination with the Nexus-empowered humans and want to see what they can do. This has lead to Nexus-based reality tv shows, models, studies, and more. However, bigger than all of these thing is the Unlimited Force Fighting Circuit (UFFC).

Since its creation, the UFFC scours the globe for supernaturally empowered human beings and proceeds to offer them lavish contracts for participating in their modern-day gladiator competitions. Participants are trained every bit as good as they would be under the Pendulum before giving elaborate shows of what their powers can do to other members of their kind.

The public face of the UFFC tends to be relatively harmless. There's several tiers of power levels, elaborate theatricality, pay-per-view events, and specially constructed arenas. It's not as popular as football or NASCAR but as the fascination with the Nexus increases, this will change.

Matches are often fixed either by criminals or corporate sponsors. It's not a "fake" sport but many Nexus are willing to take money due to lack of regulation. Others, however, want to keep it real and are intimidated into compliance.

The private face of the UFFC is something else entirely as Youtube, the internet, and criminal society has resulted in an illegal underground network for these superhuman-on-superhuman battles. Battles where there's not elaborate tests and monitors to makes sure opponents aren't maimed or killed.

The Black Underground has a surprising popularity with many legitimate Nexus fighters as it is said to be the possible only place where an individual can truly express his power as a warrior. Bizarre as that sounds, many Nexi fighters have started to identify themselves as warriors in the aftermath of having their previous identities as regular humans stripped away.

The Black Underground is secretly run by The Organization, a massive criminal syndicate feared across the world. The Organization uses the Black Underground to test superhumans in brutal conditions and separate the predators from the prey. Candidates are offered million dollar payments, sex slaves, drugs, and more to serve the Organization. Those who don't are often framed for crimes so the Organization can make the offer again from a position of power.

The UFFC is aware of the Black Underground but has been intimidated into silence. The Organization helped set the UFFC up and owns almost a third of the group.

The most famous of UFFC fighters are Super Dragon Punch Zero, El Grande, Anti-Ki, Devil Tiger, Seven Dragon Fists, Star Maiden, Lovely Maiden 1 and 2, and Hell Beast. A numerous of undercover Pendulum, Arrow, and UNITED agents are working in both circuits in hopes of finding out about the UFFC's ties to the Organization.

The biggest UFFC arenas are The Spartacus Hotel and Coliseum and The Doom Island. The Spartacus Hotel and Coliseum is a Las Vegas-based arena built specifically to host Nexus-based combat. Millions in bets are placed every night and every conflict is broadcast live. The Doom Island is a much darker location, on an island in Indonesia owned by the Organization. It is here fights to the death are hosted for the Divine Leader.

[EnigmaticOne]

Having some trouble trying to figure out stuff, but I just got a lightbulb lighting in my head from an old brainstormed idea.

[EnigmaticOne]

The Center (Pendulum's Board of Directors)

One of the major reasons that Pendulum is here to stay, unlike its previous incarnations, is the... eclectic, but very capable board of Directors referred to in-house as the Center (ie - Center of Mass), who have succeeded at adapting to the continual changes and challenges facing the international organization for now. A significant achievement as is. Each one has a primary field of influence and expertise in the agency, but jointly make decisions.

Dr. Guy Rosse: Generally covered previously. Dr. Rousse is the director considered overall in charge of scientific research and observation, technological development, etc. His refusal to keep bodyguards has been particularly concerning to Commander Adiv, who considers this rank foolishness of the highest order, but complaints have fallen on deaf ears.

Dr. Benton Frazier: The top psychologist and analyst in Pendulum is just now shaving, smart-mouthed, and has an uncanny knack for understanding the psychology of Nexus-empowered or linked people. A comics fan and genius, the 18 year old Benton went to Stanford University at 14 and has doctorates in psychology, criminal justice, and other related fields.

His crowning work was a dissertation on the hypothetical world impact of the appearance of superhumans, along with detailed fictional characters and analysis of utter depth, cognitively, speculatively, physically (though detractors insisted he was just aiming for a novel). Given that it was done a few days before the CERN incident, it was prescient to say the least, and proved to be an accurate model in many ways.

Pendulum had to wait until he was of age, then snapped him up. Frazier is just having a ball, though he draws Yushiro's disapproval for casual dress and showing up with fast food of some kind of other.

Oda Yushiro: Sober-suited, genial and clean-shaven, Oda Yushiro is the most pleasant of the directors. Once a Japanese diplomat, he now serves as the point man when it comes to public relations and negotiating with national governments.

People who talk to Mr. Oda tend to find him exceedingly persuasive and polite, and a calming influence on arguments. This is not just perception, Oda is believed to have a degree of 'super-charisma' and reflexive emotional control of the relaxing sort. Oda simply remarks he is blessed by the kami, and everyone leaves it at that, since Oda is responsible enough that he does not seem to abuse his talents in the boardroom.

Headmaster Hera Lycurgus: Dr. Frazier has joked her to be Commander Adiv's soulmate. Headmaster Lycurgus is a woman of unknown history (she is actually from another world - believed an exile or otherwise forcibly sent away from the few comments she's made) and Grecian looks, who was a trainee of the Pit when she voluntarily joined Pendulum - and since graduated, first to teacher, then to head of the Pit - arguably no one else wanted that high a job.

Quiet but hard, she takes the job of making those in her academy the finest combatants and agents in the world utterly seriously, and thrashes troublemakers with ease, utilizing expert combat skills and low superhuman resilience, strength, speed and reflexes.

Commander Raphael Adiv: Like the grand majority of Israeli youths, Raphael Adiv was recruited into the Israeli Defense Forces, serving with distinction as a private in the Yom Kippur War, choosing to stay in the military. He loved the Promised Land and his people, and would not see it lost again.

This attitude got him fast-tracked into a Sayeret commando unit, and Adiv eventually commanded the Sayeret Matkal as a whole - then Nexus and Nexi became common words, and so in Israel did the One Above All. The invasion of the One Above All had a significant focus on the West Bank once Legendary and Fade broke their cover, and the IDF, spearheaded by the Sayeret, strained to hold the cybernetic attacks off until Fade saved the day.

The ineffective response of UNITED (United Nexus International Enforcement & Defense) during the crisis, led to its dissolution, with Pendulum the replacement. Given his capable leadership and contributions during the invasion, the forming Center singled out Adiv and convinced him he would contribute far more with them.

Adiv is the stern but effective commander of Pendulum's military and intelligence assets, and on occasion he is not above field ops as so to help motivate his men and women by putting himself out there with them. He is however, kept generally away from interactions with Syrian and Iranian liaisons.

[Voltron64]

So basically, if the Omniscent Council of Vagueness was run by a bunch of PCs?

[Charles Phipps]

The Divine Leader

Nexus-empowered terrorism is a nightmare scenario for the world's governments. There are now hundreds of people spread around the world with more power than nuclear weapons (and thousands more with lesser abilities). There are people with telepathy, mind-control, the ability to walk through walls, teleportation and more.

The Divine Leader is the current boogeyman for much of the world due to his being the first Nexus-powered super-terrorist. His exact capabilities are unknown but reports range from him being a low-grade Nexi to a nearly all-powerful god with his own SPECTRE-like organization. The truth is somewhere in the middle. He DOES lead a massively powerful organization but his capacities and goals are rather... dubious.

The first thing is the Divine Leader isn't a traditional terrorist. The Divine Leader makes ample use of Jihadist rhetoric and his abilities allow him to implant a fanatical loyalty in his subjects but he couldn't care less about Islam let alone radical overthrow of the world's governments. All of his speeches are prerecorded and often done with actors filling in for him. Really, the Divine Leader primarily wants cash and fame as opposed to worldwide religious revolution.

The Divine Leader's organization, known under a variety of pseudonyms but most commonly asThe Organization, is a criminal syndicate more than a terrorist organization. They traffic in arms, heroin, gambling, slaves, and smuggled goods all for the ostensible purpose of forwarding the Divine Leader's worldwide Caliphate. Indeed, as one goes up the group's ranks, its agents become less fanatical and more greedy.

This is despite the fact the Divine Leader is naturally sponsored by many government leaders, businessmen, and religious figures. He's given sanctuary by people no one would think would assist a terrorist. The illegal side of his organization is unnecessary given the kind of support he is able to get legitimately but it's obvious he spends most of his time orchestrating criminal schemes. What few of his safe houses the government has managed to raid show an incredibly decadent lifestyle which should have gotten him betrayed to the authorities very early.

The Divine Leader likewise conducts massive and loud terrorist operations. The kind of thing only an extreme narcissist would think effective. The strange thing is that the Divine Leader is served by some extremely capable people, the people who run his criminal organizations and sponsor his legitimate businesses. People who seem willing to hand over their fortunes, houses, and influence to him almost as if he just had to ask them too.

Which is how he built his organization.

Mohammed al-Muttin is a Malasyian-born DVD store salesman who discovered that he had an unusual ability on "N-Day," Specifically, he discovered he has the ability to convince anyone what he says is the truth. Abusing these abilities in small ways at first, he gradually took over the minds of extremely powerful thuggish men in his area. Re-imagining himself as a super-criminal like the kind in American cinema, he started building his group around his own ego.

His early followers, local Malaysian criminals and politicians infinitely more ambitious than Al-Muttin, are completely without free will and desperately want to serve him but their advice is the reason he's gone from being an salesman to an internationally famous terrorist. His advisers recognize his ability to effect other people's minds while being unable to do anything about the fact he's convinced them of their undying loyalty.

It's a rather hellish state to be in, if you think about it.

As a result, they've got him building an empire when all he wants is to be an internationally respected figure. The Organization is thus a nightmarish shapeless mish-mash of various criminal cartels, legitimate businesses, and so on that he's literally just ordered to work together so he can keep himself supplied in billions but which his advisers have warped into a massive terrorist-state. The fact he could have achieved most of this by just walking up to an old billionaire and telling him to will his fortune to him makes the whole thing even more perverse.

Though this would have raised red-flags now in the Post N-Day world. Pendulum is watching for this sort of mind-control now.

The Divine Leader himself is a petulant semi-crazy individual who mostly walks around his elaborate compounds in a pair of gold-trimmed pajamas he thinks makes him look badass (someone told them they were a martial arts outfit). The Divine Leader outfits his homes with death traps, mercenaries, and vicious animals he often uses to execute subordinates. While he loathes the sight of blood himself, the Divine Leader is prone to executing people in order to feel like a man.

Despite his mind-control ability, the Divine Leader is weak-willed and can be intimidated or persuaded rather easily. This affects the use of his powers with truly strong-willed individuals able to shrug off his orders. Ironically, this has allowed the Organization to thrive as its most capable operatives have simply pretended to follow the Divine Leader.

The Divine Leader is a petty little man who doesn't know what to do with half of the outrageous wealth he's surrounded him with or the legion of adoring followers he's created for himself. He's secretly incredibly insecure and conducts the kind of terrible atrocities the Organization is known for like assassinating world-leaders and blowing up monuments solely so he can feel like a big man. He is particularly protective of his trained man-eating tigers, which he keeps a set of around himself at all times.

The Divine Leader is presently developing a Superiority-Inferiority complex. He's aware that the people he doesn't mind-control look down on him, especially since he's taken a couple of free-willed assistants (named Lady Scorpion and Warmonger). As a result, he's determined to make himself even more feared across the planet. The Divine Leader is thinking about taking over nations now or destroying a major world-city. Because, really, that's the sort of thing that gets you world-respect.

The Divine Leader wears a pair of silk pajamas at all times emblazoned with a gold-phoenix. He fancies himself a tremendous martial artist but he's actually quite incompetant at it. As a result, he usually poisons his opponents or makes use of weapons to kill his foes. He has nearly died twice during these faux gladiator contests but it hasn't stopped him from doing them.

[Charles Phipps]

The Organization

The terrifying thing about the Organization isn't that it was created more or less as a joke by the Divine Leader, it's the fact that it's a joke that's taken on a life of its own. In Focault's Pendulum, a fake secret society is created by a bunch of college students who find the whole thing getting paid serious attention by real secret societies.

In the case of the Organization, a bunch of petty drug warlords and street gangs have been morphed into a group with nearly unlimited funding and authority to do whatever the hell they want.

Due to the Divine Leader's associates getting them out of prison so easily, many act with brazen violence despite the severe consequences for this in real life.

The Organization has a somewhat cult-like atmosphere with the Divine Leader supposedly possessing godlike attributes which will redeem the world. Despite the West's attempts to make it very similar to Al-Qaeda, the truth is only the original Malaysian portion of the group is predominately Muslim. The Organization will accept anyone as long as you're willing to swear fealty and bring in cash.

The fact the Organization has access to multi-billion dollar industries they use to finance multi-million dollar criminal activities should tell you everything you need to know about the group.

The Organization is difficult for many real-life law enforcements to predict, mostly because its ultimate head is insane and many of the upper-tier leaders are operating under brainwashing. As a result, in addition to all the normal street crime it commits, it often performs acts that sound like they came from comic books. They've attempted to steal the Mona Lisa, kill the heads of governments as warnings, and even make off with nukes.

It's frustrating for world-wide government officials as many of these should get the whole international community cooperating against them but there's been several cases where otherwise friendly governments have turned against them. It doesn't help the Organization has become a prime employer for many criminally-inclined Nexi.

The limited and semi-deranged rhetoric of the Divine Leader has been interpreted by his publicists as calling for a new social order where [insert group being appealed to] will rise up and replace regular society. As a result, the organization has many branches in countries you would not think would have this sort of fanatical following.

For many Nexi, drifting in and out of society since N-Day, the rhetoric aimed at them is especially potent. The Divine Leader has inadvertently become a Nexi counter-culture figure to rally around. It doesn't help his upper-tier followers have recruited OTHER mind-controllers and have made use of them to brainwash Nexi they capture.

Even worse, the organization has access to advanced technology and weaponry that it should not due to its bizarre masters. Most terrorist organizations do not have top-of-the-line equipment but the addition of Nexi theives plus brainwashed sponsors means that very often the police are faced with a group armed like the military.

While the militaries of most governments are capable of dealing with them, mobilizing them often means people will die or the suspects will escape unless someone of equal power *cough* PCs *cough* faces them head on.

As might be expected, the UFFC underground fighting tournaments are often sponsored by the Organization either in part or wholesale. This is partially due to the Divine Leader's fondness for ridiculously over-the-top things. He's actually hosted genuine gladiator fights and tournaments straight from Enter the Dragon.

[DaughterofEchoes]

The Organization is a very cool piece of fluff that can easily be used for any of the 'comic titles' of this universe.
In fact it is outright brillant, not only for it's flexibility but for it's justifcation. Insane brainwashing overlord...

If I am reading this right, in day to day operations it's the competant and less/non-brainwashed mid tier members directing it. Since they don't need to know what the upper tier is doing, they don't even have to be informed that they are part of a much larger group. So it can still be the Mafia or Yakuza at low levels.
And when you need them to do something a little crazy or supervillain-eske, that's orders from above.

Seriously cool.

I have an idea that I'd like to contribute, but I want to check it won't step on peoples toes. And if it does, I'll gladly switch it around to work. It's a variation on the 'shapeshifting alien' archetype. I know that it has been said that One-Above-All has already tried to the body-snatcher invasion thing, so it won't be like that. I do plan on it being heavily involved with an Area 51 analog.

[Charles Phipps]

The Center (Pendulum's Board of Directors)

I love when people build on pre-established ideas.

One of the major reasons that Pendulum is here to stay, unlike its previous incarnations, is the... eclectic, but very capable board of Directors referred to in-house as the Center (ie - Center of Mass), who have succeeded at adapting to the continual changes and challenges facing the international organization for now. A significant achievement as is. Each one has a primary field of influence and expertise in the agency, but jointly make decisions.

Good call and a very good reason why this group is here to stay.

Dr. Guy Rosse: Generally covered previously. Dr. Rousse is the director considered overall in charge of scientific research and observation, technological development, etc. His refusal to keep bodyguards has been particularly concerning to Commander Adiv, who considers this rank foolishness of the highest order, but complaints have fallen on deaf ears.

Let's just say that HE WHO CONTROLS THE NEXUS, CONTROLS THE MULTIVERSE so he's at high risk for kidnapping.

Dr. Benton Frazier: The top psychologist and analyst in Pendulum is just now shaving, smart-mouthed, and has an uncanny knack for understanding the psychology of Nexus-empowered or linked people. A comics fan and genius, the 18 year old Benton went to Stanford University at 14 and has doctorates in psychology, criminal justice, and other related fields.

The perfect sort of PC character!

Pendulum had to wait until he was of age, then snapped him up. Frazier is just having a ball, though he draws Yushiro's disapproval for casual dress and showing up with fast food of some kind of other.

I like this bit.

Oda Yushiro: Sober-suited, genial and clean-shaven, Oda Yushiro is the most pleasant of the directors. Once a Japanese diplomat, he now serves as the point man when it comes to public relations and negotiating with national governments.

Another character I could easily see fun to roleplay.

Headmaster Hera Lycurgus: Dr. Frazier has joked her to be Commander Adiv's soulmate. Headmaster Lycurgus is a woman of unknown history (she is actually from another world - believed an exile or otherwise forcibly sent away from the few comments she's made) and Grecian looks, who was a trainee of the Pit when she voluntarily joined Pendulum - and since graduated, first to teacher, then to head of the Pit - arguably no one else wanted that high a job.

Hehe, Wonder Woman is the Pit's trainer.

Commander Raphael Adiv: Like the grand majority of Israeli youths, Raphael Adiv was recruited into the Israeli Defense Forces, serving with distinction as a private in the Yom Kippur War, choosing to stay in the military. He loved the Promised Land and his people, and would not see it lost again.

And finally, to top it off, the Only Sane Man. Great job.

Nice bunch.

This attitude got him fast-tracked into a Sayeret commando unit, and Adiv eventually commanded the Sayeret Matkal as a whole - then Nexus and Nexi became common words, and so in Israel did the One Above All. The invasion of the One Above All had a significant focus on the West Bank once Legendary and Fade broke their cover, and the IDF, spearheaded by the Sayeret, strained to hold the cybernetic attacks off until Fade saved the day.

Again, great use of previously established continuity!

[Charles Phipps]

I have an idea that I'd like to contribute, but I want to check it won't step on peoples toes. And if it does, I'll gladly switch it around to work. It's a variation on the 'shapeshifting alien' archetype. I know that it has been said that One-Above-All has already tried to the body-snatcher invasion thing, so it won't be like that. I do plan on it being heavily involved with an Area 51 analog.

Can't wait to read it!

Edit:

I updated the Index.

viewtopic.php?p=1040169#p1040169

[Charles Phipps]

The One-Above-All

The One-Above-All is a ruthless race of trans-dimensional conquerors who are seemingly interested in spreading across the Multiverse and absorbing all other species into their collective. While people on the street frequently make "Borg" jokes about the One-Above-All, they're actually not the least bit funny to the majority of people who have encountered them.

The first thing to understand about the One Above All is they're a Hive-mind AND a gestalt entity as opposed to simply being one or the other. All of the One-Above-All's drones are individually intelligent and may possess distinct personalities, especially if they are individuals who have been willingly subverted. However, at the heart of the One-Above-All is One who is believed to be a combination of the entirety of their race's hive mind.

One is actually a singular individual who has usurped the race's gestalt for his own.

The One-Above-All infects people with a surgical probe they insert into the back of the spine that proceeds to Subvert individuals. This takes the form of slowly brainwashing them as their brain is gradually replaced with an artificial nanotechnology replacement. Their organs are gradually transformed into cybernetic replacements and the final result is a machine-human hybrid totally loyal to the One-Above-All.

While the One-Above-All love to brag about their efficiency, the truth is that Subverted individuals are somewhat of a crap shot. If it's done completely unaware by operatives who know what they're doing (the process having to be monitored by nearby One-Above-All or it fails), they may simply find their loyalties switching with no real change in their personalities. This makes them excellent sleeper agents.

Unfortunately, if a subject IS aware of the transformation and actively fighting against the process, it can get... dicey. People become little more than cybernetic zombies and often useless for anything but grunt work. This can include highly advanced technological engineering feats but cannot include any form of social interaction. These Drones lack imagination and are nothing more than slaves of the One. Some strong-willed individuals have even resisted the transformation, rejecting One Above All indoctrination while keeping the physical changes.

These individuals are the most dangerous foes the One-Above-All have due to the fact they can access any and all information in the group's databases. For various reasons, no one has yet found a way to lock them out.

It's possible to destroy the One-Above-All's probes either with devices from Legendary's home world, which Pendulum has managed to replicate, or simply using surgery but the devices usually kill their subjects before this happens. The One-Above-All has immunized itself to EMPs but powerful magnets are capable of knocking the probes out long enough for removal.

Several human beings have been crudely freed from the One Above All's control and gone on to be the basis for Earth-0's cybernetic research. Legendary has spoken out against this, encouraging humans not to experiment with One Above All technology but transhumanists believe the potential of the One-Above-All's nanotech is too great.

The One-Above-All is alright with this due to the fact it will encourage Earth-0 to advance along their technology lines. Like Skynet in Terminator 2, the technology it sent back can only assist its activities.

It should be noted that while the One-Above-All have made several small-scale incursions into Earth-0, ones which have been interpreted as invasions, humanity has misjudged the One-Above-All's intentions. The collective is not interested in ideological conquest of the Multiverse. It is interested in destroying potential threats to its power base, learning, and expanding.

Indeed, One doesn't believe that pure monolithic expansion of the One-Above-All would benefit it. Instead, it is allowing cultures to develop unique but compatible technologies it can absorb to increase their diversity.

While this seems like splitting hairs, it has important consequences for the One Above All's relationships to the Nexus' other cultures. The species generally leaves alone low-technology worlds and deals with worlds on an equal or greater technology level on a diplomatic basis.

There are very few worlds as technologically advanced as the One-Above-All, however.

The One-Above-All is also quite capable of making deals with locals if it sees it as more efficient than simply subverting them and generally keeps its word (unless it's more efficient to betray them after their usefulness has ended - which is rarer than you might think).

Likewise, the One-Above-All generally only destroys species it sees as a threat such as its current war on Legendary's homeworld and its allies.

It is more a holding action as, despite destroying one of the Star Kingdom's colony worlds, the One-Above-All mostly considers the empire an annoyance.

Legendary's people worked to "free" all of the One-Above-All's people from its control and destroy the collective with many countermeasures against infection. As a result, the One-Above-All are considering wiping them out from the cosmos. Most of the other major Multiversal powers loathe them but have yet to go out of their way to antagonize them.

The One-Above-All has no understanding of magic and almost no Nexus-based abilities. Their nanotechnology seems incompatible with both. They are curious about such things but have yet to figure out how to compensate. Their greatest enemies are the Daemonites, Titans, and The Zero-Minus-One (who are demonic omnicidal off-shoot of their race).

The One-Above-All travel around in gigantic Nexus-travel-capable pyramids and other beautiful but alien vessels. Their facilities are cramped, dark, and lacking amenities. Ironically, they are quite capable of creating great beauty but most people never see this. The majority of the One-Above-All's art and luxuries exist digitally.

[Charles Phipps]

Oh for Silvercat, the answer is simple, just tell what the basis concept of your character or so on is.

Like you were writing for Kaiser_Ryu's game.

[Voltron64]

The One Above All

The One Above All is a ruthless race of trans-dimensional conquerors who are interested in spreading across the Multiverse and (seemingly) destroying all species which they do not want to absorb into their collective. While people on the street frequently make "Borg" jokes about the One Above All, they're actually not the least bit funny to the majority of people who have encountered them.

The first thing to understand about the One Above All is they're a Hive-mind AND a Gestalt entity as opposed to simply being one or the other. All of the One Above Alls drones are individually intelligent and may possess distinct personalities, especially if they are individuals who have been willingly subverted. However, at the heart of the One-Above-All is The One who is a combination of the entirety of their race's hive mind.

The One Above All infects people with a surgical probe they insert into the back of the spine that proceeds to Subvert individuals. This takes the form of slowly brainwashing them as their brain is gradually replaced with an artificial nanotechnology replacement. Their organs are gradually transformed into cybernetic replacements and the final result is a machine-human hybrid totally loyal to the One Above All.

While the One Above All love to brag about their efficiency, the truth is that Subverted inidviduals are somewhat of a crapshot. If it's done completely unaware by operatives who know what they're doing (the process having to be monitored by nearby One Above or it fails), they may simply find their loyalties switching to the One Above All with no real change in their personalities. This makes them excellent sleeper agents.

Unfortunately, if a subject IS aware of the transformation and actively fighting it or there aren't that many One Above All agents on the planet to assist in the process it can get dicey. People become little more than cybernetic zombies and often useless for anything but grunt work (which may include highly technological engineering feats but completely lacks social skill or imagination). Some have even resisted the transformation, rejecting One Above All indoctrination while keeping the physical changes.

It's possible to destroy the One Above All's probes either with devices from Legendary's home world, which are all under the control of the Pendulum, or simply using surgery but the devices usually kill their subjects less this happens.

Several human beings have, however, been crudely freed from the One Above All's control and gone on to be the basis for humanity's cybernetic research. Legendary has spoken out against this, encouraging humans not to experiment with One Above All technology but transhumanists note the potential of the nanotech is too great.

It should be noted that while the One Above All have made several small-scale incursions to the planet which have been interpreted as invasions and ARE conquerors, humanity has rather misjudged the One Above All's intentions. The collective is not interested in ideological conquest of the Multiverse. It is interested in destroying potential threats to its power base, learning, and expanding.

While this seems like splitting hairs, it has important consequences for the One Above All's relationships to the rest of the Multiverse. The species generally leaves alone low-technology worlds and deals with worlds of an equal or greater technology level on a diplomatic basis. The One Above All is also quite capable of making deals with locals if it sees it as more efficient than simply subverting them and generally keeps its word (unless it's more efficient to betray them after their usefulness has ended - which is rarer than you might think).

Likewise, the One Above All generally only destroys species it sees as a threat such as its current war on Legendary's homeworld and its allies. Legendary's people worked to "free" all of the One Above All's people from its control and destroy the collective with many countermeasures against infection. As a result, the One Above All intend to wipe them from the cosmos.

"It's not like I'm out to control everything, it's just that if anyone gets in my way, I'll ***deleted*** them over before they
they get the chance to ***deleted*** me. I'm just playing it safe is all."

[Charles Phipps]

"It's not like I'm out to control everything, it's just that if anyone gets in my way, I'll ***deleted*** them over before they
they get the chance to ***deleted*** me. I'm just playing it safe is all."

Not a bad summation of their philosophy.

[kingk]

(I'm under the impression that this is open for anyone to contribute to. If I'm wrong, please excuse the intrusion.)

Mercy Island

Even in a world without the distractions of the Nexus, Mercy Island is the sort of place that would likely escape notice. In a world where superheroes like Legendary, Fade, and the Apparition dominate the nightly news and command the public's attention, it's guaranteed that the island will be overlooked.

Which might just turn out to be a very dangerous development.

Prior to the Nexus Event, Mercy Island was a small uninhabited island 600 miles off the coast of New Zealand, which technically claimed sovereignty over the island, not that they had any particular interest in it. It held no elements of anthropological or biological curiosity, never having had an indigenous population, and with no native species that could not be studied elsewhere more conveniently.

After the Nexus Event... well, they're still working on that.

At what point exactly the island experienced it's change is unknown. What can be established is that it was first uncovered when a Pendulum scientist was calculating some geometry and geography about the Nexus Event. The scientist noticed that Mercy Island sat on the exact opposite side of the Earth from the LHC, and became curious about it. While initially disappointed upon researching the island's boring past, she arranged for a satellite imaging of the island. It was then that it was established that something strange had happened to Mercy Island.

While the images were far from perfect, they revealed an island overgrown by dense jungle and with several new features, such as a volcano and what looked to be some sort of man-made structures.

It took some time to get the funding and permission for an expedition to the island, but eventually it was approved. Mercy Mission One left from Wellington, New Zealand and ultimately spent three months studying the island, largely from the relative safety of an offshore anchoring, but with several forays on land as well.

During that time, they established a preliminary theory about Mercy Island's fate; the Nexus Event somehow caused the Mercy Island of our reality to be replaced with one of a different Earth, and that different Earth is really freaking dangerous. The island's jungle displayed many types of plant and animal life unknown to modern day Earth, or even any period of Earth. Examples include large insects that resemble creatures believed to have existed during Earth's Carboniferous period, numerous carnivorous or deadly toxic plants, and some sort of large tree-dwelling lizard. All of which made frequent attempts to feast on the explorers.

The expedition also made a few short trips to the structures scene from orbit, which were in fact large ruins of some sort. The dangers of the trip through the jungle meant that scientists had to accept just taking some pictures and samples. The ruins were gargantuan, bearing superficial resemblances to those of several ancient civilizations, but of a height and scale that dwarfed most. While no one would admit to it in the official report, at least one scientist claimed to have seen figures moving about in the depths of the ruined city.

The expedition returned to civilization with more questions than answers. A second expedition is planned but has continually been delayed due to reasons of budgeting and manpower. While there is a chance that whatever came through with the island is dangerous, there are many more immediate and pressing dangers commanding Pendulum's time and attention. A single satellite and monitoring team was tasked to observe the island, however, in case of future developments.

(I was messing about and found a website that lets you see what's on the opposite side of the Earth from one part. The opposite side from the LHC is in the middle of the ocean so I came up with this idea. A place to go exploring, or even just for a supervillain to make a base.)