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The Technocracy Within: The Thirteenth Hour Crossover~*~
Progenitors
~*~
There is some dispute as to exactly how the Progenitors arose. Some believe they were renegade Verbena, joining the early technocracy out of fear of the Inquisition. Others say they came from the rising medical class,in direct competition with herbal mid-wives and their Verbena kin. Regardless of their origins, the Progenitorshave done much to reshape the way the world views life and disease. It is also true that they harbor a specialhatred of the Verbena. History shapes the early days of the Convention as the Hippocratic Circle during thefirst inception of the Technocracy. In the second installation of Control, in 1851, and became the ÆsculpianOrder. Their final installation was as the Progenitors at the end of the 19
th
century.The progenitors initially worked to win sleepers to their side via improvements in agricultural techniques.Their greatest accomplishment, however, was the creation of the germ theory of disease. By attributing diseaseto a physical cause, rather than a spiritual one, disease could be treated via non-magickal means withpredictable results. It was even possible to completely eliminate certain diseases, something unthinkable inany previous paradigm.Heartened by their success with disease, the Progenitors have pressed forward to pry into the very secrets oflife itself. Evolution and genetics are the two corner-stones to modern Progenitor research. The Progenitorshave learned much about the living process, and have created a number of new and successful species.Meanwhile, their technicians continue to develop new theories and chemicals to improve the lives of Sleepers.Unfortunately, modern Progenitor obsession with the creation of the "perfect" life-form, and the generalimprovement of man, have distanced them from humanity, and they can be quite ruthless in theirexperimentation.Upon first consideration, the Progenitors are mostly researchers, medical specialists and academics. Many ofthe Constructs are Laboratories and medical facilities and their organizational structure suggests an academicframework more than anything else. This is largely credited to their historical roots as the Hippocratic Circleand their role as doctors, herbalists and alchemists; fields which evolved into the modern sciences.Recently, the Convocation has become acutely aware, and involved, in the Ascension War. They have soughtactive and inactive external operations to contribute to the better world. This orientation can be attributed tothe expectation that during the height of WWII, all Technocratic Conventions would contribute to the warefforts. It was because of their role in WWII that the exposed themselves to a degree which engendered activeopposition against them. Those circumstances forced the Progenitors to defend themselves and venture furtherafield in an effort to control their environment, so they could identify and neutralize threats that evolved inunlikely places quickly and efficiently.
 
Philosophy
: "We now hold the power to control our own evolution. The ultimate expression of Technology isthe power to redefine oneself. We have the knowledge and power through drugs and genetics to remake manin a better, more powerful form. Through successive transformations, we can advance mankind far furtherthan the course of nature would ever take us, and thereby ascend." The vision of the Progenitors is a worldwhere life is cultivated and optimized. Crops and livestock are abundant, medical care is ubiquitous, and raceand gender are meaningless in the face of genetic equality and flawlessness of all humanity. The progenitorsseek to improve on life itself as much as possible, even creating new life to suit their purposes. There are manywhose critical voices accuse them of suffering from a God Complex and conducting inhuman practices. OnlyIteration X surpasses the Progenitors attitude that the end justifies the means. The detachment of Progenitorscientists often goes so far that they will consider the most outrageous experiments as justifiable in the name ofscience.
Organization
: The Progenitors organize themselves along academic lines, in various research and educationcenters. Each major scientific discipline has a Review Board that evaluate various Technomancer's work, anddetermining who will get funding and who will be "cut".The nucleus of the Convention's structure is the laboratory. Laboratories are rarely isolated facilities, except inlow-profile street operations. Usually they are clustered into a lab-group under the supervision of one or morePrimary Investigators. The labs themselves are mostly staffed by Research Associates who form the bulk of theProgenitor Convention, and Students who form the lowest Enlightened echelon of the Convention. One ormore lab-groups together with an educational institution comprise Constructs which are headed by ResearchDirectors. The Progenitors also have un-Enlightened personnel enlisted, but they rarely play any significantrole within Progenitor Constructs themselves. Rather, they work as Lab Technicians, Recruiters and StreetOperatives among the masses and in smaller facilities in the field.The Schism between field operatives and scientists working within Union facilities is most pronounced amongthe Progenitors. Field work means less time devoted on research and internal academic politics. That results ina clear disadvantage in an environment where promotion depends highly on how many research papers onehas published and how many patrons are willing to provide support. The whole Convention is guided byAdministration, a secretive inner circle of the highest-ranking Research Directors. Administration has no directrole in the actual Constructs, but rather communicates with all of them through directives and notifications.
Meetings
: Progenitors tend to be more concerned with research than regular interaction with their peers. Anymeetings they have tend to be practical exchanges of information, as well as occasional demonstrations of newdiscoveries.
Initiation
: Progenitors, like Iteration-X, looks mostly to the academic world to find its recruits. In recent years,the Progenitors have realized that there are a number of talented individuals in the drug world, developingnew chemicals and strains of plants. Their recruits there also give the Progenitors access to a wide range ofwilling test subjects in the drug consuming public.
Chantry
: It is rumored that the Progenitors have converted the monastery where Mendel once lived into a hi-tech research center and clearing house for Progenitor ideas.
Acolytes
: Pharmacists, Medical Personnel, Drug Dealers
Sphere
: The Progenitors concentrate on the sphere of life, and their mechanistic view has influenced thegeneral Technocratic view of this sphere. They feel that life is governed by various small processes such asDNA, whose actions can be studied and understood.
Foci
: Force/Entropy: Electricity, Drugs: Life/Mind, Stopwatch: Time, Correspondence/Matter: Calculator,
 
Prime/Spirit: Vial
Concepts
: Drug Engineer, Genetic Researcher, Doctor
Quote
: "Our destiny is not doom. Our destiny is to make things better."
Iteration-X
:
"They are at least solid scientists. Their obsession withmachinery is taking them down a false path, however. Ascension is onlyavailable to the living."
 
New World Order
:
"As our leader, they do a passable job, leaving us to dowhat we do best. Never trust them, though.
 
Syndicate
:
"These businessmen can be extremely useful, but short- sighted.Our brief foray into the drug world makes it clear they are not exploiting the full potential of their markets."
 
Void Engineers
:
"We do not claim to understand their obsession with space, but have no problem with it, either. Atleast they occasionally return with interesting new specimens."
~*~
The Paradigm
~*~
The Organism
: The Organism is the fundamental unit of Society and Reality as we understand it. TheOrganism works in a predictable and controllable manner. The Organism controls Reality, we control theOrganism in order to create a Better Reality.
~*~
Magick
~*~
Biology
. By striving to understand the Organism in a mechanistic manner we can develop methods to controlit. Biology is most strongly linked to the Sphere of Life, but can be used to influence many other aspects ofReality also. It is not straightforward to assign a "sphere" to each Research Field but approximations arepresented below. Note that we follow the General Technomancy Paradigm on all Science and respect the otherConventions superior knowledge in other Spheres, though our use of those spheres are often very different tothose other Conventions.
~*~
Spheres
~*~
•
Correspondence: Microspcopy, Communications.
. This Sphere is not a fundamental part of theProgenitor Paradigm, but the Genegineers often use Correspondence to investigate Organisms at themicroscopic and molecular level. (The electron microscope uses forces and correspondence). They alsouse the Technology and of other Conventions, in day to day communications. (Cellular phones,computer networks, private jets, surveillance vans etc.).
•
Entropy: Senescence (Cell Biology)
. The organism breaks down. By striving to understand the cellularmechanisms involved we can prevent or manipulate the senescence of the organism or individual cellswithin the Organism as we see fit.
•
Forces: Energy
. Not an area that Progenitors spend much time studying, some collaborative work canhappen with Iteration X e.g. neural interfaces, neural networks, etc. Iteration X can also help with themanufacture of equipment used in Biological Research.
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