Convention Book Progenitors

Lillian Cohen-Moore, David A Hill Jr, Ryan Macklin, Josh Roby, and Jeremy Tidwell
Credits Special Thanks

Rich Thomas and Eddy Webb for resurrecting this body.
Authors: Lillian Cohen-Moore, David A Hill Jr, Ryan
And handling all that paperwork.
Macklin, Josh Roby, Jeremy Tidwell
Lillian Cohen-Moore for digging through Dead Records.
Developer: Ryan Macklin
Keep on being our Oracle.
Editor: David A Hill Jr
David A Hill Jr for being one hell of a monster. And he
Creative Director: Richard Thomas makes a mean Prime-infused cocktail.
Art Direction and Design: Mike Chaney Josh Roby for the anti-Rejection meds. Here’s to the future.
Cover Art: Christopher Shy Jeremy Tidwell for shining the light and dusting cobwebs.
Interior Art: Alex Sheikman, Cathy Wilkins, Vince And for the assault rifles.
Locke, Andrew Trabbold, Andrew Hepworth, Dan Smith, Ian Watson for helping me get right with Ethical
Joel Biske Compliance. None of us want to get Processed.
© 2013 CCP hf. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the written permission of the publisher is expressly
forbidden, except for the purposes of reviews, and for blank character sheets, which may be reproduced for personal
use only. White Wolf, Vampire, World of Darkness, Vampire the Masquerade, and Mage the Ascension are registered
trademarks of CCP hf. All rights reserved. Vampire the Requiem, Werewolf the Apocalypse, Werewolf the Forsaken,
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All rights reserved. All characters, names, places, and text herein are copyrighted by CCP hf.
CCP North America Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of CCP hf.
This book uses the supernatural for settings, characters, and themes. All mystical and supernatural elements are
fiction and intended for entertainment purposes only. This book contains mature content. Reader discretion is advised.
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2 Progenitors
Contents
Prologue: Recovery 5
Introduction: Troubling Diagnosis 10
Chapter One: Patient History 15
Chapter Two: Residency 35
Chapter Three: Prescriptions 53
Epilogue: Sutures 90
3
Prologue:
Recovery
“Thank you for seeing me.” “I’m afraid I am the retrieval team,” I tell him,
Thin, wiry frame, rumpled suit, grey and when he looks surprised and a little hurt, I shrug
hair at his temples: the man has seen into my overstuffed armchair. “Things have changed.”
better days. He sits down opposite me He looks me over again, as if he could pick apart
in the midst of coffeehouse chatter and my DNA and puzzle out what kind of threat I pose
makes a face. “It’s not like I had much to him. His lips split, revealing perfect teeth. “You
of a choice. Reid sunk those recall codes know I can kill you before you can blink.”
deep. I hear the call, I obey.” He looks I bob my head over my steaming cup. “And everyone
me up and down, and the milk steamer else in here, I imagine. Cave in the windows, maybe,
squeals in the background. “Although I was expecting cut us all to ribbons? But you don’t want to do that.”
a retrieval team.” The grizzled old man glances around
“What makes you say that, Doctor…?”
at all the college students, sizing them up as potential
undercover goons. “Talley,” I offer readily. “And should I call you
Victor? Your file didn’t contain many personal details,
and I only imagine you’ve been using a different name “I assume nothing,” he says, smiling thinly. “If
the last few years…” He gives me a slow nod of assent they sent one young doctor instead of a retrieval
and I try to take a deep breath without it being obvious. team, something is wrong.”
Running at the mouth like that will just make me look I mirror his grin. “I’m not as young as I look,
nervous, and he doesn’t need to know I’m terrified. Victor. And then there’s the other reason you won’t
I lean a little forward as I marshal myself again. turn this Starbucks into a bloodbath tonight: you
“Anyway. You don’t want to kill everybody in here don’t want to.” I nod to the manilla folder that’s lying
for two reasons. First, you’re going to assume I’ve got on the low table between us. Inside is a collection
myself backed up somewhere, and if you prove yourself of photographs, a sequence of gruesome massacres
dangerous, I’ll come at you with a couple HIT Marks spanning ten years.
next time.” He doesn’t pick it up.
6 Progenitors
“You’ve left a broad, bloody path behind you, “Reid told me he wanted to help me,” is all he
Victor,” I tell him, “but they’re never innocents, are says, his eyes focused my reaction.
they? Drug-running gangs, gunrunning mobsters, I purse my lips with distaste and make my pitch.
corrupt politicians. Never a score of undergrads “Your telekinetic abilities kick up a good deal of
bingeing on caffeine and cramming for midterms.” pattern rejection; your file says that you require regular
The man’s eyes slit, as if he has taken offense at injections of spinal fluid. I assume your activities,” I
my implication that he has a moral code. “What do say, nodding again at the manila folder full of crimson
you want, Talley?” he grates. photos, “have been you harvesting on your own?”
I try to give him as trustworthy a smile as I can A subtle nod from him.
manage. “I want to help you, Victor. I want to bring “We can synthesize it for you in the lab. No need
you in out the cold.” to kill for it.” Without thinking, I add, “And you
know what we make would be, well, better quality
than anything you’d get from humans on the street.”
He is quiet for a long moment. “And in return?”
“Well, we’d want you back in Damage Control,”
I say, and then hurry to amend myself. “But as I’ve
said: things have changed. It’s a new kind of Damage
Control, not like before. Only… reputable targets. I
can guarantee you that…”
“Reid gave me similar guarantees,” the man
interrupts, with that same mirthless smile. “Where
is Reid, anyway?”
“Dead.”
“You’re sure of that?” he asks, and for a moment
I think I might see a spark of hope in his eyes. “Your
kind tends to keep backups.”
I sink back into my armchair, nodding away
flashes of memory. “Positive.”
We sit in silence, not looking at each other, for
a long while. Finally, he says, “Payroll. I need six
figures.”
“Low six figures,” I counter, too quickly, but smile
nonetheless. He’s in.
When I leave the coffeehouse, Konrad is waiting

for me, leaning up against the wall as if he owns the
place. For all I know, he does — I learned long ago
to never underestimate the financial reaches of a
Syndicate agent.
He disengages himself from the brick and falls
into step behind me. “Doctor Talley.”
I don’t turn. “Mister Rupasinghe.”
“My partners were expecting a shipment from
you yesterday,” he presses, striding alongside me. “I
hope nothing untoward has happened to your lab.”
We stop at an intersection and I turn to him, discussing with that gentleman in the coffeehouse.”
trying not to let my irritation show. I don’t have time I ignore the implied question. “I had other
for this. “Nothing has changed, I’ve just been busy. business, Konrad,” I say, raising my volume to watch
You’ll get your drugs, Konrad.” him wince. “I couldn’t spend a few hours in my lab
He rolls his eyes, indicating the bystanders making you a giant crate of dope.”
surrounding us. He’d rather talk about ‘shipments’ The other pedestrians give us a sidelong look
than ‘drugs.’ I make a mental note to refer to it next as we reach the other side of the street and they all
time as a ‘giant crate of dope.’ “We have a contract scurry away from us as quickly as possible. Konrad
which stipulates a delivery schedule—” he begins. looks daggers at me and is about to retort when both
“So we get penalized the five percent that the of our phones start buzzing.
contract calls for,” I hiss. The light changes and we He taps his earpiece while I glance at my phone’s
all step off the curb and trundle across the street. display. We grunt in unison.
He hurries after me. “They’re not feeling punitive, “My car’s right over here,” he says, and I turn my
Talley. Our partners are simply concerned. And we steps to follow him.
can put that 5% to good use, like whatever you were
On the way, the other half of our amalgam retroviral cocktail that had been trapped within it
messages us that they’re kicking in the door and going closer to my orbital cavity and soon my vision starts to
in. Five minutes later, we pull up to the warehouse swim. Suddenly the room seems to bloom into color:
in question and we still haven’t had an update. Their rich greens, glowing yellows, and hot, bright, bloody
empty car is parked across the deserted, silent street. reds. The corners of the room sink into cold, dark
Something’s wrong. indigo. Our comrades’ dissipating heat trail lights up
Trace DNA leads us to a back door, which hangs before me, snaking through the labyrinth of shelves.
limply off its hinges. The trail evaporates once it crosses I spot the splash of cooling green on the ground
the threshold, though, with the staticky feedback I’ve two heartbeats too late; the click of a gun’s hammer
come to associate with Traditionalist methods. sounds from high above. A kill zone. I throw myself
Konrad looks from my scrambling scanner to backwards on top of Konrad, and a torrent of bullets
the door, then spears me with a look. “What are you hammer across my back. It hurts like hell, but the
waiting for? You’re the heavy. Take point.” chitin that presently spreads out from my spine and
ribs turns what feels like hollow-tipped bullets into
So we go in. I key in a code on the scanner
nothing more than blunt trauma.
that activates gene sequences normally hidden in
the unread introns of my DNA. My skin flushes Don’t misunderstand — blunt trauma still hurts
and prickles, and then the familiar tug of potential like a fucker.
Rejection hangs off of me. Body temperature spikes With a snarl, I leap forty feet into the air, snatch
three degrees, but luckily it’s cool inside the warehouse. the shooter from her perch atop the shelves, and
The rear of the place is all towering shelves hurl her down onto the concrete floor. Konrad has
stocked with crates. I’m dimly aware of Konrad his snub-nose trained on her crumpled body, but it
recording the barcodes and muttering to himself, doesn’t move again.
but sounds up ahead have the bulk of my attention. The other two Deviants start shouting, demanding
Two voices demanding answers, plus a third one their fallen sniper report what just happened. I start
moaning intermittently. That last might be Chris. leaping, shelving unit to shelving unit, towards the red
Which leaves Parker unaccounted for. “Doesn’t add blotches I can see between the crates. Two of them standing
up,” I subvocalize. “Two Traditionalist schmucks don’t over a third strapped to a cool chair. An open space in the
take out Parker and Chris both, not in five minutes.” middle of the warehouse. A fourth form crumpled on the
I wave back at Konrad to halt, then reach up to ground, thrown over to the side, unmoving.
massage my temple. There’s a little pinprick of pain I come down on one of them like a ton of bricks,
as the sub-dermal cyst there ruptures, and I press the slamming his head against the floor before he knows
8 Progenitors
what’s happening. He struggles, frantic and desperate, “Healing waters recovered from the Node your people
and I sweep his flailing knees off the floor and smash took from us,” the woman spits from under my foot.
his face into the concrete again. He stills. “Destined for our clinic downtown. We’re only trying
A knife at my throat. “You’d better pray that he’s to help people here, can’t you psychopaths see that?”
not dead,” the other one hisses in my ear. The knife I step down on the woman’s throat. “And when
sparks and hisses with some sort of bound energy; you’re not here to administer the treatment, sweetie?
nothing I want to test against my plating. What then? When they slather the salves, burn the
Guided by the crackling knife, I straighten up to incense, and drink the irradiated water… is it going
standing. “He’ll have a headache tomorrow,” I tell to mend them? Or just make them more sick? The
her. “Your friend with the gun and the duck blind, superstitious bullshit you peddle is not medicine.”
though… don’t think she’s going to pull through.” She locks fierce eyes with me. “I have a right to
The deviant spits a curse and is about to harangue believe in my own ways.”
me when the sharp report of Konrad’s gun fills the “Right up until your right to believe compromises
warehouse. The woman’s body shudders and her the health of the people around you, sweetie. That’s
balance shifts; I whirl, striking the knife out of her when I step in.” With that, I cut off her windpipe;
hand. Two more strikes and she is flat on the ground a few moments later she’s unconscious. And I don’t
with my foot on her neck. stop choking the vile Deviant; I just stare at her slack
Konrad crosses into the empty space, gun held at face and think about all the children she’s “treated.”
the ready, and checks Parker’s pulse. “Alive.” “Talley,” Konrad says softly. I come back from
Chris, face bloody and neck reeling, nods his head that dark place, drop the charlatan, and turn to the
towards a short stack of crates by the freight door. others: Chris, now standing and rubbing his wrists;
One of them has been crowbarred open, revealing Konrad with a shoulder under Parker’s arm. “Alright,
nine identical glass globes filled with softly glowing let’s clean this place up.”
water. “Found the stolen package.” “Gladly.”
The wife is on the couch when I get home, her with a monster, and… beat the shit out of someone I
pregnant dome of a belly keeping her fixed there. had a philosophical difference with.”
But she gives me a smile and motions for me to bend She clucks understandingly. “Yeah, I noticed you
over and kiss her. “How was your day?” didn’t make it into the lab today.”
I tuck myself in next to her, deflating against the “Lab?” I snort. “What’s a lab?”
cushions. “Today I recruited a mass murderer, cut a deal
Introduction:
Troubling
Diagnosis
The Technocracy is sick. prosthetic technology, advancements in pharmacology,

Look at the Union. The Dimensional Anomaly all with the same wonder they once did with space
didn’t just cut us off at the metaphorical head; it left exploration. People live longer, and there’s a growing
infections in our body politic. The New World Order outcry for them to live healthier.
hallucinates about victory while our glorious Union Our interconnected world allows people to not only
fights against itself. The Syndicate scratched at the same exchange research and theories at speeds once restricted
old wounds, letting them become infected over and to Enlightened scientists, but also the speed to return
over again. Iteration X and the Void Engineers stumble critiques of those ideas. This generation of Masses are
around with severed limbs. becoming smarter faster than any before it — if you
Yes, the Technocracy is sick. But we’re here to make don’t believe me, watch streaming TED talks about
it better. Not just well, but better than it was. neurobiology, prosthesis design, DNA, experimental
agriculture, and so on.
Never before have we been in a position to be the
Union’s heroes. The Consensus accepts our ideas more The integration between man and machine, things
and more. The Masses look to genetic engineering, only possible once in science fiction and joint Progenitor-
Iteration X Horizon laboratories, speeds ahead like a
10 Progenitors
bullet train. The Masses are starting to embrace neuro-
science advancements. So even if you don’t understand
what’s being said or shown to you, you can’t help but
feel like you’re living in the future while watching them.
And you are living in the future. Our future. A bet-
ter future forged by the Union. And if the Union is to
remain the light keeping the darkness from the Masses,
the beacon of progress, then we Progenitors need to step
up. We cannot let the Union die.
But our road is not easy. We are beset upon all sides
by dangerous foes. The vile Traditions undermine the
health and safety of humanity over foolish, superstitious
ideas like chakra, homeopathy, faith healing, ki, all that
mystical garbage. When we’re afraid, we want to be sold
a magic pill, and fuck if the Traditions aren’t good at
selling their sugarcoated poison.
They aren’t the worst of our problems. Marauders
and Nephandi plague us still. (No doubt anti-vaccination
propaganda is part of a Nephandus plot.) Other Reality
Deviants still course around, viruses in the blood stream
that seem to never die out. Even the Masses fight against us
— there’s political backlash from certain forms of genetic
research, true Rejection against genetically modified foods.
So we haven’t won as much as NWO would have
us to believe. But we’re the doctors of the Union. That
makes us the doctors of the world. So scrub up — we’ve
got intensive surgery ahead.
Theme:
New Heroes
and Old Lines
We Progenitors were comfortable
in labs, working on the latest in clones,
genetic monstrosities, and designer drugs.
We enjoyed sitting in front of computers
and lab equipment watching the mysteries
of life reveal themselves to us. Sure, the
Masses benefitted, but not because that
was our mandate. No, we were a selfish
and out of touch Convention.
And if we’re going to be honest, we
deserved to be a little selfish. The Progenitors are why
the rest of the Conventions continue to live. But we
clearly took it too far, becoming distant and forgetting
our roots in the Hippocratic Circle.
Some of our younger scientists have broken the
Progenitor stereotype of the lab tech monkeying with
Introduction: A Troubling Diagnosis 11

DNA or neurochemistry by going out in the world. And they’re pissing off those who remain of the old
These self-proclaimed “action scientists” have taken guard. It’s not just a sense of youthful entitlement that’s
upon themselves the job of getting the entire Con- irritating — these kids are supposed to be doing real
sensus — not just the wealthiest nations — to buy work and leaving the outside world to the Conventions
into modern science and medicine. They go out and designed for it. They’re stepping on toes, stirring shit up,
fight against Reality Deviants, putting their necks and making more enemies than friends. Hearts might
on the line for the rest of us. They explore parts of be in the right place, but what they’re doing is toxic to
the world far from the comforts of vast budgets and the ultimate goal: saving the Union.
coffee-fetching interns. They’re actively making the Plenty point out that this division is a microcosm
world a better place. of the Union’s friction and division. Not enough listen.
Mood: Treating the Future

No matter what you believe, the simple Part of treating the future is mending the Tech-
fact is we’re all is working our asses off. There’s nocracy, bringing the other four houses back together.
no idle Progenitor resting on tenure — that’s We’re struggling physicians, trying every treatment
over. The old Administration’s gone, and the we can think of to keep up with new and progress-
new Shared Governance Council rewards ing symptoms. Some treatments are truly better for
continued results. So our new labs — space the Union. Some are placebos that are working for
donated by our Void Engineer friends — are now. And some of those treatments would turn into
all a bustle with researchers and bold new poison if the rest of them were to discover what
experiments. And there’re more of us out do- we’re really doing.
ing fieldwork than ever before, willingly even. But what we do, we do for their own good. Our
In other words: being the vanguards of humanity’s good. Your good. Because if we fail, then humanity will
health and wellbeing means shitty work hours. Resident be back in the dark ages, dabbling with leeches, crystals,
doctors get more time off. mumbo jumbo chants, random potions — and that’ll
And we love it. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t be the death of us all.
believe in a better world through chemistry.
Going Forward
When I was sick, you gave me bitter pills.
–The Two Gentlemen of Verona, William Shakespeare
As with Convention Book: N.W.O., book, it shouldn’t be too hard to pick up the concepts,
this book is a love letter to Mage: the but know it’s a piece of a whole puzzle unveiling the
Ascension fans. This book is for those present-day Union.
who love the Progenitors as the ones who In short: the Avatar Storm (what any good Techno-
hold life in their hands, who push the crat knows to call “the Dimensional Anomaly”) changed
boundaries of biological science, and who everything by severing the head of the Union. In the last
strive for the perfection of humanity. And decade, the Masses have become more interconnected
it’s just as much for those who wanted to — a massive game-changer for everyone, especially those
love them but were unsure how to make trying to control and steer them. With all five Conven-
them work in a chronicle. tions suddenly under new leadership during a time of
This book follows Convention Book: N.W.O. great change… yeah, that’s going to go over real smooth.
Some of the things contained refer back to that vol- What’s that mean for your chronicle? How will you
ume: terminology, vibe of the Technocracy in the last take these ideas and go forward? Will your Progenitors
decade, and a brewing Technocratic civil war that succeed in its goal to heal the Union, or will its medicine
could happen at any moment. If you haven’t read that poison the Union and the world further?
12 Progenitors
Contents
Continuing the Convention Book trend, Chapter Two: Residency offers an understanding of
this book is about the Progenitors as heroes the Convention, from their academic roots and structure
— by no means perfect heroes. They honestly to the individual Methodologies. That includes some
try. They aren’t the mad scientists cackling you’ve never seen before — the low-ranking “micro-
wildly as they make horrific monsters and Methodologies” covering veterinary science, agriculture,
endless clones of foot soldiers. (Okay, there ecology, and so on. You’ll also get a good look at the new
are some, but they’re in the minority.) upstarts in the Convention: Applied Sciences.
Chapter One: Patient History will Chapter Three: Prescriptions gives players alike a
catch you up on the Progenitors’ corner of host of options: Progenitor Procedures, gear, Enlightened
the world since the Dimensional Anomaly. Their history drugs, implants and biological modifications, even having
is told from a point of view you haven’t seen much of a genegineered creature in your amalgam. Storytellers
in the Technocracy: one of guilt. And you’ll get how see aren’t left out, with bits of Progenitor lore, advice on
how the Union’s physicians see the other Conventions Progenitors in a mixed-troupe or as a mono-Convention
and the rest of the factions in the World of Darkness. troupe, and character templates.
Introduction: A Troubling Diagnosis 13

Chapter One:
Patient
History
Progenitors Today
The last ten years hurt the Progeni- laboratories when the Dimensional Anomaly hit. They
tors dearly, perhaps more than we have don’t have doors out of their labs any more, either. We
ever suffered. However, sometimes the don’t generally find that joke funny these days.
best cure comes from the sharpest pain. The Dimensional Anomaly hit us hard, harder than
We shall see. most realize and certainly harder than we make known.
The whole of the Administration was off-world. So were
Diagnosis Critical our brightest and most influential scientists. Our men-
You’ve heard the joke about the Pro- tors, our friends, even our families are lost to us. They
genitor who requisitioned a new lab and are all trapped; maybe dead, maybe driven mad by what-
didn’t order a door for it, right? Because he never leaves, ever is happening out there. Infrastructure, too — labs,
ha ha ha. Here’s another funny story: about half of the gene archives, zero-G installations, entire biospheres,
scientists in our Convention were working in off-world all of them promising new cures and new advances in

medicine — is now beyond our reach. We were cut off at Applied Sciences
the knees, and we’re still stumbling around, pretending If every cloud has a silver lining, the Dimensional
we’re standing. Anomaly’s is that it forced us out of the lab and into
Which more or less describes the Union as a whole. the world. Or rather, it swung a spotlight onto those of
We are fractured, starving, and bleeding out — not to us who were already out in the world: doing fieldwork,
mention delusional, since a large number of our col- treating diseases, even (if you can believe it) directly fight-
leagues have taken this as an opportunity to declare ing threats to the Union. In the last ten years, though,
victory in the the so-called Ascension War. And with the influence of these “field” Progenitors has markedly
the hubris of victory comes the inevitable maneuvering grown, as have their ranks.
for power in our brave new world. More than ten years These operatives seek out places with abnormal inci-
of disarray has not recreated the Technocratic Union in dences of trouble, root out the underlying problem, and apply
the image of the modern world, no matter what NWO their science — Enlightened and mundane — to fashion a
says. We don’t have our thumbs pressing down on the solution. Often that underlying problem turns out to be those
Reality Deviants, we aren’t secure in the halls of power, goddamned Traditionalists, vampires, and similar Reality
we don’t have a lock on anything at all… and yet there Disorders. But not always. With distressing frequency, field
are still those who are pointing their daggers inward, operatives find they’re hunting Nephandi. Sometimes they
risking war within the Union. turn out to be our own operatives gone rogue.
The Progenitors has always been a support-minded, The old guard, burrowed deep in their labs, generally
back-room Convention. We supply the rest of the Union disdain these sorts of shenanigans — isn’t this what HIT
with drugs, medical facilities, the odd sidekick, and Marks are for? — and paid the “field kids” little mind.
clones. Lots and lots of clones. So while it is tempting to Then they started to see these young Turks winning
see our place in these shenanigans as pulling strings and influence, attention, and, worst of all, funding. The old
subverting their leadership with Manchurian candidates guard sprang into bureaucratic action, loudly proclaiming
and mind-bending drugs, that simply isn’t the case. their admiration for this important, difficult work, and
(Not that our former Convention heads weren’t insisting on the need for a distinct “Applied Sciences”
tempted. And not that we are unable to subvert the Methodology. The intent was to marginalize these young
Union’s leadership if we wanted to. We’re smart enough punks’ funding by putting them in the corner.
to know that would lead to disaster.) The Progenitors in the field would have been neatly
I’d tell you that it’s because we believe in the cause filed away into irrelevance if it wasn’t for the Shared
of the Union, that we don’t believe for a second that Governance Council of 2008. The Council surprised
whatever the Syndicate or NWO would build as a re- everyone when they decided to demonstrate a little vision
placement would do as much good as what we already and leadership. They struck down the Applied Sciences
have, but that probably wouldn’t be self-serving enough reorganization and kept the “agitators” right where they
to be believed. So let’s frame it this way: there are no wanted them: in the three nigh-moribund Methodolo-
Progenitors without the Technocratic Union. For as much gies (with a few in the smaller, cousin Methodologies).
as we provide the other Conventions, we are supplied Things have been interesting ever since.
with funding, with cover, with muscle and firepower that
aren’t easily available to us. If the Union falls, we lose. The Healthcare Turf War
So it falls to us to be the Union’s doctors, to diagnose No matter how careful we are, we make missteps
its diseases and to treat it as quickly and efficiently as we and get drawn into inter-Convention squabbling. The
can. It’s up to us to be the peacemakers, a position for greatest of these, of course, is the healthcare turf war. In
which we are, if we’re going to be honest, only margin- brief, the New World Order has been steadily working
ally qualified for. on installing universal healthcare across the globe. These
efforts give us (and the rest of the Union) unprecedented
Aggressive Treatments access everywhere they take root. At the same time,
Regardless of how rosy things might look on the however, the Syndicate has worked to convert healthcare
surface, the stakes have never been higher for our Con- into a profit-driven industrial juggernaut. The revenues
vention, the Union, perhaps even the world. A number from the healthcare industry account for much of our
of Progenitors turn to desperate measures to suit the funding. These two efforts run headlong into each other,
times we live in. with us caught in the middle.
16 Progenitors
In nations with universal healthcare, we have a free Syndicate “money-grubbing” funds essential work in
pass nearly everywhere and opportunities to examine and cancer cures, Parkinson’s treatments, stroke recovery
treat nearly anyone we need to. A Progenitor can always drugs, and Rejection-free organ transplants. The good
be a government doctor, ready to dispense a citizen’s that will be done bringing these methods into the Con-
right to treatment. sensus is plainly worth the minor pains created by the
In nations without such programs, our efforts are commodification of healthcare.
hampered by red tape and a crippling lack of unified
infrastructure. Nearly every operation requires creating Station Yemaja
a new front for our operatives to work out of, and fear When the Anomaly came down, not everyone was
of healthcare costs constantly interfere with the Masses’ trapped on the other side of the Gauntlet. A number of
willingness to cooperate with us. experiments and exceptionally augmented individuals
happened to be Earthside, engaged in operations, being
Worst of all, of course, are those nations with “com-
presented to scientific boards, or stationed here tempo-
promise” programs, where the Syndicate and NWO make
rarily awaiting the next mission. Many were ill -suited to
a show of working together, resulting in programs where no
Consensual Reality. Fortunately, the Void Engineers had
one understands anything and fear runs rampant. Too many
a number of undersea locations; ad-hoc refugee camps
who would seek our treatments don’t simply because they
that quickly became permanent installations.
don’t want to risk running afoul of the healthcare system.
There are those in our Convention who leverage this fear Work continues to adapt extraterrestrial projects
for their own convenience, but many worry that this is to undersea facilities and to extract good research. The
short-term thinking, destined to burn all of us. network of labs was rechristened Station Yemaja, after
the Yoruban goddess of the sea (in the Void Engineer’s
Tempting as it may be to carpet the world with uni-
tradition of looking up the names of gods of people of
versal healthcare, we would see heavy cuts to the funding
color to prove their multicultural credentials). Despite
of all our programs, both in research and operations.
their politics, the Void Engineers continue to be valu-

able allies in creating, maintaining, and defending these gerous but profitable enterprise. Some are grateful to
undersea facilities. This last bit is more important than return to the fold; others have decided they like the
we assumed, as the depths are far more populated with small taste of freedom they’ve enjoyed. Yet others have
threats than our extraterrestrial constructs ever were. found new homes, harbored by Traditionalists or worse.
The thought of our former agents in the hands of the
Past Crimes, Present Opportunities Nephandi is the stuff of Progenitor nightmares. Very
The former Administration supervised more than real nightmares.
our own ranks of Enlightened scientists. An incredible
number of Extraordinary operatives and artificial con- Prognosis: Uncertain
structs, many of which were called upon as the mysterious At the end of the day, it’s hard to tell how much of
Damage Control, were also stranded by the Anomaly. what we do is short-term benefit in the face of looming
Intrusion clones throughout the world were left without collapse. If we count every patient treated, every cure
orders. Not only was Administration cut off, so were its found, even every murderer tracked down through foren-
myriad tentacles, fingers, and cat’s paws. sic evidence, we may do a great deal of good. However,
When information and contact codes for these if the Union falls to civil war, our work will have been
stranded agents turns up, approaching them is a dan- for naught.
An Ethical History of
our Noble Convention
To my fellows in the Shared Governance Council:
copoeist from Ethical Compli-
This came across my desk last week, submitted by a young Psychopharma
use revisionist history techniques
ance. He shared with me a bold idea: our friends in the New World Order
that.
to change hearts and minds. Our collective is in desperate need of
“the Pascal Method” for optimal
The attached file has been composed with what he referred to as
in doing so, you will agree with me
psychological reception. I ask you all to read and comment; I hope
too late for the oldest of our number,
that all new Progenitor candidates read this in orientation. It may be
but it is not too late to heal the Convention as a whole.
.
At the very least, a request from Ethical Compliance cannot go ignored
Health & prosperity,
Dr. Arun R. Singh
Governor Elect,
FACADE Engineer
The Technocratic Union is a body suffering from Considering what some of the prior genera-
a serious illness. But its heart still beats, and the body tion of Progenitors was like, that may be easier
keeps breathing. In these difficult times, the Union needs than we think. There are more biological sciences
the Progenitors more than ever. The New World Order represented than ever before in our Convention.
thinks we’ve won the war, and the public performances The newest crops of students are some of the
each Convention puts on hides pain, anger, and disease. youngest in Progenitor history. We have a better
The Union can’t lie to its physician. If we’re going to international presence and gender representation
prevent a war within this body, we will do what we have (and no, not just male and female) as a Convention
since the beginning, because we need the Union, and than any other generation since the formation of the
the Union needs us. We’re going to make this Union Hippocratic Circle. And we get to do our job during
healthier than the last generation left it. the most technologically progressive eras of human
18 Progenitors
history. It’s easy to only see the grim and desper- ence and understanding of Enlightened Science is
ate things we deal with. But humanity’s weathered why they’re put into that position. But they delegate
plagues, wars, famine, the destruction of entire decision-making power. Lab heads and regional
civilizations — we’re up to the task of dealing with chiefs possess the primary responsibility to reach the
the here and now. decisions for matters of their expertise. Curriculum,
You hear a lot about history and ethics in Progenitor promotions, training, how to direct research, where
classrooms, but it’s dry. It’s clinical. I was 21 when I joined and when to send personnel — that’s all in their hands,
the Convention. Our struggle to living up to the best of their responsibility, the power to handle these deci-
what we’re capable of has shaped my life. Sometimes, sions delegated to them by the foremost minds of
you’re going to have to shut your textbooks and listen the Convention. The Progenitors have implemented
to very hard, uncomfortable truths. a governmental model where people are recognized
as competent, and empowered to do their jobs.
Your generation of students has to struggle with
more than mastering the Enlightened practice of bio- The top-down model used by the Administration
logic sciences. The origin of the situation we’re in is was abolished post-Anomaly. The single nod to prior
complex, and ignorance could prove deadly. policy was the use of any candidates for Administration
as the central hub of the Shared Governance Council.
These surviving scientists are the remnants of a genera-
The Mess We’re In tion now presumed dead. The core of the Council sits in
the center of overlapping circles of Progenitor groups,
The Progenitors and its brother Conventions have
who share the burden of decision making with the Coun-
been fundamentally changed by a single event. As
cil. Representatives are elected by their Methodology,
catastrophic as a stroke, the day of the Dimensional
and these elections ratified by the whole of the Shared
Anomaly is the day that changed us all. We had an
Governance Council. This new model of governance
Administration that called the shots, most of it off
decentralized power in the Convention, gave micro-
world. By the time we regained sense to mobilize, the
Methodologies a voice in Convention governance, and
entire Union had effectively lost its leadership, every
created a wider pool of leaders. The institution of terms
off-world asset, and a number of difficult to access
that vary according to Methodology size and need are
ones on earth. We lost family, friends, colleagues, and
a change from pre-Anomaly assumptions that tenure
centuries of research and progress.
was forever. Even the central members of the Council
We slapped ourselves full of stimulants and put can be removed, unlike the Administration, and their
ourselves through the brutal hell of combat medicine that powers to take action without consultation of the rest
day. We didn’t get time to mourn anyone, because we of Governance is highly limited. Only in emergencies
were too busy saving everyone else. Once the smoke or cases of extreme need for decisive action can the
had cleared and the remaining talking heads determined central members ratify actions without a full meeting.
the “bad weather” was permanent, we did our best to
To destroy the leadership of the Progenitors would
pull ourselves together.
take the death of every person in the center of the
The brain of the Union was knocked offline and Council, the representatives of every major and micro
wracked in agonizing spasms of activity we can only Methodology, the student representatives, and the
pretend to understand. It’s been over a decade, and handful of Enlightened Citizens who act as Advisory
we’ve cobbled together a functioning brain out of what Council Members. Every move these representatives
leadership was left here alive. But every time we turn take is in full view of the entire Convention. This petri
a damn corner there’s a new round of complications. dish existence is taxing, emotional, and at times filled
The top-down model of Administration is dead to with shouting. It is also the only option the Convention
us. We have a Shared Governance Council now, which sees as viable to prevent being crippled by another
means everyone gets a measure of say. It can be a little Anomaly-level cataclysm.
chaotic when applied on a global scale, but it’s still Now students can finally give input and be listened
pretty breathtaking. to, even if that input can’t always be used. It’s a step
in the right direction. These days we’re outnumbered
The Shared Governance Council by the Extraordinary Citizens serving among us, but
In shared governance, there is no power pyramid. that’s the case with every other Convention. Data
At the end of the day, it’s recognized that final Con- says there’s more Extraordinary Citizens (or people
vention authority rests in the hands of the Progenitors with the potential to be) than Enlightened alive right
who survived the Dimensional Anomaly. Their experi- now. That’s a sign the Union is doing its damn job.

Much of the gulf between us and the Extraordinary doctor or genetic researcher no longer makes you
Citizens has been closed since the Anomaly. They’ve out of place in our Convention.
watched some of their number become Enlightened, One of the other things that’s changed is the
while others never have. They’ve observed us, gen- attitude about fieldwork. What used to be barely
eration after generation, for centuries. Like any good suppressible antagonism between research in the
assistant, they know our weak spots. And now, they lab and practicing science in the field is now a tense
are safe enough from the Administration to tell us understanding. We need both. Science cannot con-
what they are. tinue without both laboratory and fieldwork working
Our history is full of incredible scientific feats, and hand in hand. The dangers outside are very real. Just
equally horrifying violations of ethics. because it’s almost impossible for us to get through
the sanity-splicing rip in everything bordering Earth
Our Moment of Clarity doesn’t mean things don’t come through. Our problems
to face have multiplied since the Anomaly, whether
Even now, we’re still paying for the sins of Pro- it’s the logistics of dropping enough medics into a
genitors past. Horrible lab experiments. Hidden black hurricane or playing cat and mouse with the monsters
bag projects. The careless spurning of ethics and we keep finding we created. It’s the loss, though, that
compassion. We may have had our hands tied by the I think made us change.
church when we were the Hippocratic Circle, but it Losing so many people off-world — and in the
kept the majority of us practicing science with the early days of sorting shit out Earthside — isn’t a trauma
care of the Masses in mind. Too much lab work and you heal from. You can’t put an entire Convention
people can turn a little bad. Or worse. through therapy (though the Psychopharmacopoe-
Having what’s effectively a stroke has made us ists wish they had the resources to do so), but there
reevaluate everything. Non-medical biological sci- are ways we’ve coped that we aren’t public about.
ences are getting the respect they deserve. Did you The relationship we forged with the Void Engineers
know that there are Methodologies beyond the “Big in the last decade is the closest we have ever been
Three?” Few Progenitors did, as they were rarely ac- to them. The secrets we keep from the NWO would
knowledged by Administration — they didn’t bring in hurt them just as much as it hurts us to keep them.
the Syndicate bucks the way FACADE, Pharmacopoe- We may be in a turf war over health costs with the
ists, and Genegineers did. (To be fair, they still don’t.) Syndicate, but we’re tougher than they think. I have
faith future compromise is possible.
But it makes sense to go beyond studying human
biology and making freaky monsters. Agriculture is Iteration X is…well, it’s like the new students say:
a backbone of civilization, and the new advances “It’s complicated.”
in farming and irrigation techniques may secure its We worked in concert with Iteration X; they
safety. Veterinary science isn’t solely about keeping provided the cybernetics of many Union initiatives,
Mr. Fluffy well. We also have a number of zoologists, and we provided the biological backbone. We were
and they’re not solely devoted to studying cryptozool- of complementary disciplines and exchanged ideas.
ogy. There are millions of naturally occurring species Now we share space with them, the same halls and
integral to the world’s ecosystems. We’re continually cafeterias, but our relationship shifted. Iterators are
discovering new classes of intelligence in the world now intensely devoted to their work, more than ever
around us. Being something other than a medical before. By losing contact with the Computer, they’ve
Unknown Illness
We Progenitors know we have a dark past. Once the religious and cultural arguments against their work
had fallen out of general use, the elements that had founded the House of Olympus grew bolder. It was the
laboratories studying medicine that fell to some of the greatest depravities the Convention has ever seen. After
the Dimensional Anomaly, cleaning up these unethical projects has become a priority. But there are projects
older than the last few decades still functioning, and there are Progenitors among those still on the Front
Lines who have fallen in with the darkest forces imaginable. Nephandi Progenitors aren’t an urban legend,
and they watch for any exploitable opportunities to claim more of the Convention.
20 Progenitors
lost themselves. They work closely and as frequently and created horrific monsters. Our unwillingness at the
as possible with the Void Engineers, hoping for a time to speak at length about ethical study, due to not
breakthrough. For a miracle. They have set their sights wanting to alienate members of our delicate order into
on a past they’ve lost and a future they may not ever pushing that to the Traditions, ended up encouraging
see become reality. Our friends are at times only those radical and unethical elements.
barely functional, emotionally and as a Convention. It In 1376, Doctor Hans von Rottenfeld founded the
has fallen to us to be their rock, and as time goes by, Brandenberg Krankenhaus. It was our jewel; Kranken-
quite possibly their salvation. haus was a major accomplishment to establish, and
We have a messy, beautiful, terrifying job ahead, one of the first places we’d study the dead with an
in and out of the field. So we start understanding who eye on learning anatomy. It had a considerable number
we are now by going back to our roots. of medical students housed in its walls (and a small
army to keep the students safe… from the outside
Where We Come From world and from each other). They had to keep this a
secret; the Church would have happily killed everyone
We may not be as old as motherhood, but the Pro- in that building if they discovered people studying the
genitors roots stretch back in time. Our philosophical dead and dissecting corpses. Because of this very
antecedents are global, and our ancestors were the real fear of persecution, there wouldn’t be another
first human beings who saw suffering and sought to Enlightened college of medicine on such a scale until
alleviate it, and went beyond solving suffering to better the modern era.
the lives around them. When von Rottenfeld was assassinated in 1380
Our official beginning as a Convention is easy to we took it badly. Distracted from science, we tracked
pinpoint. When the Order of Reason was established in down everyone involved with his assassination.
1325, the Hippocratic Circle stood with the rest of the From 1376 to 1473, our scientific discoveries
new Conventions in the Tower. Those Circle members unfortunately took a secondary role in our lives as we
claimed the Cosian Circle of ancient Greece as their focused on serving the Order of Reason to the best
intellectual parent. The few practitioners of the Cosian of our ability, no matter how great the cost. When the
arts left were the men and women who stood for us at Order went to war with the Traditions, we followed.
the Tower. Instead of our modern Methodologies, we In 1448, we were field medics during the Siege of
had Houses. The House of Mandrake studied herbalism Doissetep. In 1449, the Order of Reason took heavy
and agriculture. The House of Fire were some of our casualties in an armed conflict with the Traditions,
original field scientists, tracing and eradicating plagues. and like the year before, had stood witness as their
The House of Knives pioneered surgery. The Phylaxoi physicians in battle.
were our warriors, protecting the Circle during travel One of the few bright spots for us in that century
from bandits, warring nobles and armed Traditionalists occurred in 1474. The assembled Cosians of Bran-
(a role we ceded to NWO long ago). denberg Krankenhaus finally discovered a plague
In that era, science was feared in many places, cure, one that took four years of hard work. More war
making patrons a vital necessity. Science looked off-world, and a number of church-orchestrated deaths
like magic to uneducated eyes, so we stood behind followed in the wake of that exceptional moment — but
powerful people, many of them nobles, privileged for a time, the war quieted.
members of the Masses. Our early lodges were For hundreds of years after, we did our best to
secret, hidden in plain sight: universities, the early focus on our calling. Healing the sick, birthing babies,
hospitals, and the courts of nobility. That’s a tradition breeding livestock, tending farms, and curing plagues.
that hasn’t changed; we often find the future minds of When we first started, very few laboratories to lock
the Progenitors when they’re only starting to embark ourselves in even existed. We looked after the Masses
on lifelong scientific journeys. in the most practical ways possible, and when called
The Hippocratic Circle functioned in a time of upon, did our duty for the Order. We were the medics
incredible religious faith. They had strong religious and at every major armed attack led by the Order against
cultural feelings about how to conduct themselves as the Traditions. We evolved our understanding of the
scientists and with other people. For hundreds of years natural world, and did everything we could to push
that was our only foundation for our understanding of scientific innovations as swiftly as the Consensus
bioethics — that we shall not imitate a divine Creator. But would accept it. Of course, this would later on lead
that was not a universal sentiment. There were scientists to other failures — something anyone reading this is
among us who experimented on unwilling subjects well aware of.

The Renaissance was a welcome reprieve for us. for hundreds of medical schools. The Resurrection Men
We were able to come out of the shadows the Church made quite a lot of money in those days, even in America
had driven us into. Doctors were welcome in virtually and other parts of Europe. (There was never proof the
every court in the world. The Order of Reason would Syndicate was involved, but there was incredible revenue
crush petty insurrections and dangers to the Masses, generated by grave robbing, the securing of graves, and
and we would continue with research into life extension. the paying of thieves in turn for bodies.) The legal authori-
That same research laid the foundation for the long lives ties would only be patient with these crimes for so long.
many of the most advanced Enlightened minds of the time Being able to donate one’s body to science was
would experience. Only one of the Technocrats whose life not an overnight phenomenon, but its roots are tied
we extended was lost before the Dimensional Anomaly. into that era of stealing bodies for research. The dead
Reginald Proctor, whose life we extended in only acquired the right to rest peacefully because of
1715, took his own life in 1914. It was sudden, it shook the brazen practice of grave robbing.
the High Guild to its core, and ended an era. Proctor In terms of our involvement, medical schools
carried the calm of the 1700s with him, throughout weren’t the only ones reaping the rewards of empty-
the rest of his life. The idealism and pragmatism he ing graves. The Promethean Atrocities, as we have
espoused perished with him. come to call them, started in the early 1800s. A
We did not know of the horrors in store for us, cross-Methodology group of Aesculpians engaged
or how much worse they would be than losing that in particularly unethical and unorthodox research.
single patient. Where others sought to refine life extension, they
studied making life from what was currently dead.
The Worst Monsters They unfortunately succeeded, creating their panoply
of hideous, deformed creatures. Some of them were
of the Union able to escape their makers, and periodic horrific
murders would occur at their creatures’ hands.
Two creeping ills began to revise their forms England held the concentration of this movement
and become popular anew among the Masses in the of mad scientists, and Rathbone was the one to bring
1700s. They gained a strong foothold, and impacted the hammer down upon them. When they resurrected
the Hippocratic Circle. Racism and sexism had a sort the Aesculpian Ezekiel Stewart, the resulting Paradox
of vogue. Children look at paintings of the 1700 and caused freak storms in Kent, England. Rathbone
1800s and see pretty dresses. But if we peer into our and his Skeleton Keys assisted the Aesculpians in
records, we watch women of the Circle be demeaned exterminating the Enlightened who brought Ezekial
by their male peers, and a potent racism against the Stewart back from the dead.
non-European progenitors of our Circle — now called
It’s tempting to say monsters orchestrated the Pro-
the Aescuplians — take firm root. But underneath these
methean Atrocities, but those scientists were respected
social issues was a much older one.
members of the Technocracy. The destruction of their
Our secretive, historic propensity for spurning eth- work is a shame we must still face, because similar events
ics became a full-blown infection by the 1800s. In that occurred over and over again. We must be vigilant and
respect, we are the same as our sibling Conventions, brave, even now. If we’re not, our current purity of purpose
derelict of our duty for a time. Queen Victoria changed will be left behind again, in the name of something that
that. Whether we like it or not, the instrument of her pretends to be science. Shortly after, as we sought inner
wrath, Inspector Rathbone, helped us rise above our and outer evolution past the Atrocities, we attempted to
neglect — albeit temporarily. His Skeleton Keys were in- repair our relationship with several defectors to the Sons
strumental in bringing down a rogue element among us. of Ether. Reconciliation could have led to their reintegra-
tion. The failure of the Oxford Symposium was started by
The Promethean Atrocities an Etherite stealing the research of a Progenitor — and
No one likes to admit that of all the branches of the being exposed during the conference.
Hippocratic Circle, it was the doctors who fell the hard-
est from grace. Particularly in England, a mix of social and Civilian Health
scientific pressures eroded our ethics. Before 1832, the
only bodies available for dissection and study to medical None of us were prepared for The Great War.
schools were those executed for the most criminal of of- But the magnitude of casualties and pain was un-
fenses. There were not enough criminals to supply the need matched. World War I taught every Convention that
22 Progenitors
the Masses assembled a political machine that we When it was all over, the New World Order took
judged incorrectly. Influencing culture to accept sci- the lead in playing espionage games, and we had
ence and embarking in global trade soon seemed our own issues to deal with. What the NWO doesn’t
infinitely small compared to the task of addressing a know about is why a number of our people that went
world encompassing war machine. The assassination over to the Axis never turned up again… well, they
of ibn Yusuf was just one painful lesson the World have better things to worry about.
Wars taught us about what we were unprepared for.
Unnatural things have always occurred on the Behind the Curtain
battlefield. The Great War saw them multiplying. The
fog of mustard gas carried screams of dead men. The Cold War introduced new variables into the life
The eyes of corpses lit up, and we were forced to kill of the Convention. It was suddenly incredibly difficult
them a second time. to get to a number of our assets by ordinary means,
It should have been the worst to endure. But the scientists in many countries were often in grave danger,
world didn’t bounce back from the Great War. The and we were still learning to apply the espionage we
Dust Bowl of the 1930s was a cruel awakening for had been learning. While the Masses demonstrated in
our agriculture experts. In the rapid rush to introduce front of embassies, we smuggled everyone we could lay
mechanized farming practices, there wasn’t an equal hands on out of their host countries. The Enlightened
encouragement of sustainable crop practices. Com- were our priority, but we tried to take as many scientists
bined with the drought, the “blizzards” of soil-filled as we could. It got complicated quickly. Many wanted to
winds were the stuff of nightmares. A diaspora was stay, protecting extended family and students. Spouses
created of the farmers displaced from their barren land, refused to be separated, others wished to stay and fight
and in the midst of ecological misery was the Great for all forms of freedom.
Depression. The world felt upside down. In the midst of doctors playing spies and the
We thought we knew the worst humankind could specter of atomic annihilation, social progress spun
do, but World War II proved us wrong. rapidly. People fought for the rights of all citizens, re-
gardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation. Women
The speed, desperation, and scale of death are
struggled for the rights to be seen as human beings
almost unspeakable. On one front, we had the Masses,
with autonomy. For all the distance humanity still has
embroiled in another global war. And on another, the
to go, there were things unthinkable in the post-war
Nephandi. No one wants to discuss it, but we partnered
era that became part of our lives now.
with the Traditions to deal with the war. Traditionalist
and Technocrat alike could say they had former friends We stood by those who fought for the rights of
on the side of the Axis — as well as things that didn’t the mentally ill and physically disabled in the ’50s and
even have names. Young men on the battlefield would ’60s, and in some cases, we would only do so much.
become Enlightened, go insane, and then be dealt with Let the Masses decide, we said. That era of frustra-
by the Progenitor medics among them. It was havoc tion started a movement in the Convention. There
and chaos. It was the largest of any shadow war we were Progenitors who demanded action, involvement,
had ever fought in human history. doing right by the Masses. Rebels, counter-culture, un-
orthodox, sometimes entrepreneurial, they eschewed
We stamped out every Nephandic cult we could
academic siloing and practiced their science in the
find, drove back every invading force from the Deep
field whenever possible. While that debate about
Universe, and cut down everything we encountered
responsibility raged, Roswell made things even more
that was a danger to the Masses.
complicated only a few years before. That’s when we
Black Suits
When the Void Engineers were causing void-ship crashes and sightings of little Grey Men, the New World
Order was spreading itself thin trying to cover them up. Obviously, they didn’t entirely succeed. FACADE
didn’t have human cloning down pat back then, let alone the deft hand they’ve developed in the years since.
In the Roswell days, it was all slapping together the building blocks of life and calling it good. Progenitors
supplied the first Black Suits, but what the NWO doesn’t know everything about what (or who) has been
cloned since can’t stay a secret forever.

started to make serious breakthroughs in the cloning the ones who stood up inside and outside the lab for
program, trying to bail the New World Order out of a what they felt was right. Some chose to be exiled and
fire the Void Engineers created in 1947. It takes time stand up for ethics in the field, when students were
to hone a new life form, and when we first created just getting their internships out of the way. Others
those Black Suits, we didn’t have any. The next time fought for change in painful, heart-wrenching steps
you meet one of them, remember that they exist be- in the lab.
cause of Muhammed ibn Yusuf al-Mush’awidi. He’s
the Black Suits' Grandfather. But we’re their parents. The Golden Hour
Into The Fire There was no more exiling the unpopular or
canceling research initiatives after the Dimensional
During the 1950s, things were heating up for us Anomaly. There was no more status quo. One of our
internally. New scientific work in DNA and genetics first glimmers of an idea that something was terribly
made our internal divisions official. wrong came from Dr. Hugh Riley’s botanical expedi-
1954 saw the Mutagenetic Engineers become tion in Tibet.
the Genegineers. They were already showing incred- “Dispatch, we can’t come back.” Those were their
ible promise. Genegineers can make life forms from last words.
scratch, and we often take that for granted. They were There’s theories that due to the unusual Prime
one of the first Methodologies among our Conven- waves in Tibet, mixed with the Anomaly opening, may
tion to go cross-Methodology, and reach out to other have led to the expedition being lost somewhere in
Conventions. They resisted top-down authority, and near-Earth space. It’s been more than a decade, and if
many of our resident rebels were Genegineers. they were off-world when it hit, a number of brave men
Administration hoped they’d hang themselves. As and women died. Two of them were Void Engineers.
the Masses fought for social and scientific change, There are stories like that in every Convention.
our debates raged on. If we had been passionate and Unusual activity, garbled transmissions, radio silence,
unbeatable in our love of science, couldn’t we be that attacks — everything went to Hell at the same time.
way again? By the 1980’s we were arguing about the And as much as we want to know why, it was not our
ethics of animal testing and parental notification. We job to diagnose that event. Our job was to provide
were enjoying the rocket like flight of the Pharmaco- medical support in the weeks after.
poeists to continued success. Pharmacopoeists, who
Ships crashed, labs went dark — it was like being
are the heirs of the Cosians, were living up to their
inside an earthquake happening in a perfect Dyson
potential. Their partnership with the Syndicate may be
sphere all around us. Administration was declared
unsavory to the casual eye, but who better than them
MIA, scores of personnel died on and off world, and
to have a hand in the drug trade? An Enlightened sci-
we knew there was no guarantee anyone is alive out
entist isn’t going to kill users like a chemistry dropout.
there. None at all. And if they are, there is no way to
In the 1990s, bioethics was starting to see pointed, know if they were still sane.
widespread attention in the Masses. But we were
It seemed strange at the time, but it was the Void
still struggling, and an element was still present that
Engineers that we grew closest to in the aftermath.
violently opposed change, equality, and hope.
Everyone knew someone on the other side, but we
When FACADE was asked to build the HIT marks, were the ones who lost our families. Spouses, siblings,
you could have heard a penny drop. There were a parents, unrequited loves, children. The children of
number of Progenitors who questioned the decision Technocrats got hit hardest (and some of them even
to proceed with production. Some of the Progenitors achieved Enlightenment due to that anguish). There
objecting were pacifists, surely, but others looked at were so many orphans who didn’t get to know why
where the program would go and were concerned. their parents were never coming home again.
All of them were offered a chance to apologize to
People want to hope. They want everything to be
the Administration, or be permanently assigned to
okay again. There are still husbands and wives who
fieldwork.
won’t let us declare their spouse deceased. They
Some of the objectors to the HIT mark program want to get back what they lost. The Void Engineers
apologized, and the rest left for the field. Applied Sci- understand that, and that’s why our relationship with
ences aren’t just called that to be cheeky. Many of them has grown… unorthodox. If you based it off of
the investigators and supervisors we have today were bond alone, we would have to consider taking their
24 Progenitors
side, if it ever came to that. Because none of the other But for too long, we lost our way and let that duty
Conventions know how damn bad it hurts. take a back seat to hubris. The Promethean Atrocities,
Once the smoke cleared and the wreckage re- unwilling human testing, involvement with eugenics, the
cycled, we started putting our lives back together. It near total abandonment of our principles. We drifted
was the first time in history that more than half of us because we stopped going outside; we stopped look-
were deployed into the field. Ships kept falling out of ing at the world and to the people who needed us.
the void like sailors without a lighthouse. The people Yes, medicine isn’t black and white, and everything we
who survived those wrecks sane and physically do has consequences. But there’s a level we stooped
functional are in the minority. Medics that had been to that should have never been reached.
Earthside but working with Void Engineers requested We have never been in a more appropriate place
permanent, long-term deployment with them. It was and time to change the face of our Convention. To
the first policy decision we had to make without the change our heart. The Progenitors of today are younger
Administration. Once we made it, we realized that we and more diverse. They are products of this genera-
couldn’t look back. Life was going to keep moving. tion — one that questions, one that seeks. One that
Operating with a sudden lack of an Administration, isn’t dead to hope. Our students may look like children
we had to put a new form of governance into place. to us — and some literally are children — but they are
After some research and discussion, that was when tomorrow’s heroes. Maybe even today’s.
we decided that Shared Governance was going to be The Dimensional Anomaly rewrote the story we
the easiest for the medical students and academics were telling. The path Administration had locked us
to pick up. It would still make sense to everyone who on isn’t even an option anymore. Under their direction,
wasn’t either of those two camps. we grew numb, but that isn’t how it has to be. Not
Instead of Administration telling us How Things anymore. The stakes have never been as high for us
Are, we make decisions together now. Our schools as they are now. Our desire to see humanity, and each
are more transparent with their students, our labs a other, through this, has finally been rekindled. That
bit less jumpy, and our conduct improved in relation to feeling that makes late nights in a lab or a downpour
ethical behavior. In or out of the field, there is a feeling on your surgical tent in a war zone worth freezing
I haven’t had for a long time. And I can see it in their through. That Enlightenment sharpened desire to
eyes. We’ve changed. It isn’t just the way we have practice science.
conversations that’s changed. What they’re about, That’s what makes missing birthdays and
the language we use. Nothing is the same, save one anniversaries some measure of bearable. It renders a
common thread: we are still Progenitors. lifetime of chasing cures and innovations meaningful.
It may not ever erase being lonely, but we knew what
Forward is Still Forward we were signing up for. We need each other, and
that spark. That’s the light that will get us through.
We started from a desire to help humanity. The It’s ours to cling to.
Hippocratic Circle was forged to care for the living, to The mandate the Hippocratic Circle had to heal
give them health. We weren’t trying to replace a Higher and do no harm is once again ours, to carry us forward.
Power. Our need was to do right by our fellow men Whether or not this body we beat within proves more ill
and women. Medicine, agriculture, animal husbandry, than we had guessed, we know what we’re doing now.
botany: those are a sampling of what sciences we Progenitors don’t make dangerous monsters
honed and continue to advance. anymore. We fight them. Join us in that good fight.
Constable Shane Gilbert

Ethical Compliance, Psychopharmacopoeist

Relationships
We Progenitors have changed so much
in a generation, and it’s most visible if you
look at our relationships to the rest of the The Greater Good
Union and the world overall. When the stakes are so high, we can rationalize
anything for the “greater good.” Without the Union,
The Other the world would plummet into chaos. And humanity
Conventions
is worth fighting for, so any actions can be justified,
allowing us to bend ethics. Actions like drugging Itera-
For all their flaws, the other Conven- tion X, implanting failsafes in NWO and Syndicate
tions are family. We squabble like siblings, clones, and exterminating Tradition pseudo-healers.
but when threatened from the outside, we (mostly)
Our ancestors, the Hippocratic Circle, once
band together. But now that we’re winning the “Ascen-
believed in noble causes and ethics, too. Moment
sion War” — at least, from a certain perspective — the
after moment tested them, and too often they bent
squabbling is getting more vicious. All that idiosyncratic
ideals until they became antiquated memories. It’s
bullshit is a symptom of the disease. And we’re sick of
easy to see how each one of those moments led to
what that’s doing to us. Fuck that noise.
the monsters we once were. So every time we bend an
Healing the Union’s body starts with understanding ethic, we need to remember what road that leads to.
organs: the Conventions. Iteration X, New World Order,
the Syndicate, and Void Engineers are all different organs,
each with different functions, needs, psychologies, and
afflictions. We cannot treat the diagnosis of one as a “The new Computer will rectify the situation,” they
diagnosis for them all, or we will fail in our treatment. rationalize over and over again. And for all we know,
they’re right. But they’re alienating the rest of the Union
Iteration X in pursuit of their obsession. So it falls to us to keep
While we approach the mysteries of life form dif- them from being forcefully Reorganized — there’s been
ferent angles, we’ve always been able to exchange ideas enough Reorganizing for one lifetime. It falls to us to
with Iteration X. They trade us mechanical and electrical be the sympathetic ear, the friend who won’t sell them
innovations for biological and chemical ones. Together, out for political gain (as we so easily could), and the
we form the Great Technocratic Experiment, the mar- ally who will gently suggest when they’ve gone too far.
riage that begets Enlightened biotechnology. After all, They don’t make this easy, though. We’ve more than
if you’re going to create an army of killer cyborgs, you once helped an Iterator project under scrutiny by providing
need someone to make the “cyber” and someone to hyper-stimulants and prototype Genius-enhancing drugs.
make the “organism” parts. (I joke. Sort of.). And once you do that, even if you intend it to be a one-time
We share space in the facilities the Void Engineers thing, word spreads and everyone asks for a little boost. We
have gifted to us, so it’s common to see Iterators and might be saving their collective reputation in the Union,
Progenitors in the same mess hall line. But as you’d but with a couple dozen Iterators dead from overdose and
imagine, we don’t often sit together. Typical for people complications, we’re not exactly comfortable with the price.
of such Genius who are consumed with our work, and I Unfortunately, right now they are. And it’s tough to
assure you, no group is more consumed than Iteration X. swallow, but we cannot let a little ethical squeamishness be
The loss of contact with Autochthonia is as devastat- the reason the Union crumbles into chaos and infighting.
ing a wound to their morale as it is to their resources and
New World Order
advancement. For the first time in any living Iterator’s
memory, the Computer isn’t there. So they devote all The New World Order is the brain of the Technoc-
the resources they can to building “Version 2.” For the racy. There is no one better to steer the Union. Even
last few years, they’ve been productive members of the when they’re off the mark, they have a wider vision
Union, but only barely. They are not as concerned with than the rest of us. And because of that, they leave the
the Time Table as NWO would like, and aren’t produc- other four Conventions the room to do what they do
ing quite as much as the Syndicate claims to require. best — nothing like a lab scientist being promoted to
management to kill his research.
26 Progenitors
But this brain is very old, and has suffered dementia Let me be clear: if there was no Syndicate, there
and paranoia for far too long. Progenitor medics, psy- would be no Union today.
chologists, and supply officers hear whispers in NWO But don’t let that fool you into thinking they need
halls: a Technocratic civil war is brewing. Of course, we less help than the others. This has made them alien to
know that it’s been brewing for decades. Our history the rest of us. We’ve all lost brothers, daughters, friends,
is littered with insurrection — I need only point to the and they haven’t; at least, not nearly as many. They suf-
Virtual Adepts to prove this point. fer from old afflictions, ones that won’t heal — like an
Things changed with the Anomaly. So far, NWO has emphysema patient who won’t quit smoking. And since
been able to rally us together, keep us a whole Union, and the Syndicate’s rivalry with New World Order didn’t
those initial acts to keep us from further chaos should calm in the aftermath in the Anomaly, age-old bullshit
not be forgotten; that’s NWO at its noblest and bright- and alpha male crap has interfered with healing our
est. But as with any traumatic accident, the shock wears Union, like a rash you keep scratching.
off and the real pain stings. They’re back to looking at They’re still our customers, even if they’re not as
the rest of us as potential enemies and without the old, happy as they were in yesteryear. Our relationship has
baroque alliances and dealings made in Horizon to keep always been barely ethical on its best day — from the
all in check, we’re in danger. illicit drug trade to control over global medical care,
There’s a reason we’re so eager to assist NWO experimental pharmacology, dubious clone requisitions,
whenever they call, beyond esprit de corps. Project Pulse and so on. Many younger Progenitors, notably in Applied
is a secret experiment to administer subtle, untraceable Sciences, are outspoken against these practices, crying
Enlightened sedatives and psychoactive agents to key for a “return to ethics” and scorning Syndicate agents
members of the Order. Those who would be rational they come into contact with.
and open to peace if they were calm are given calming Contrary to their belief, many older members of our
agents. Those who are too far gone for us to help are order sympathize. Yes, some who watch the money pour
given psychoactives to undermine their authority. Only a in see that as justification enough — the Technocracy is
few know about Project Pulse; not even everyone in the filled with ends-justify-the-means types. But even those
Shared Governance Council knows about this. So far, who agree with the youth know better than to speak up.
NWO’s own psychologists have not shown suspicion. The Syndicate isn’t known for… tolerance. And our sur-
Pulse is careful, but we can’t keep this going on vival, not just as a Convention but as a Union, involves
forever. We need a permanent solution, and that will not taking a side in the NWO-Syndicate conflict. Not if
take time. The clones we provide for NWO leadership we want to quarantine it. These kids are fucking it up for
have the most advanced neurotransmitters and receivers the rest of us. Good intentions paving the way to ruin.
built in. (And we price the clones high enough to where God, sometimes that could be a slogan for the entire
NWO doesn’t look to hard at what they’re getting — they Technocracy.
would certainly suspect if our rates were favorable.) The
So when we smile and nod at the Syndicate as they
main hiccup is that FACADE can’t mass-produce these
order more questionable goods, understand why we’re
clones; even if they could, only a fraction of our facili-
doing it. We do it to keep our lights running. We do it
ties could be trusted with such a secure project. Since it
to preserve the peace in the Union. And we do it to get
began in 2006, four clones a year have been deployed,
close enough to Syndicate facilities and key personnel
and many target personnel are still happy with their
to enact Project Pulse on them as well. Please don’t fuck
current clones.
with the program.
We play a most dangerous game. But if we pull it
off, the Union will be stronger for it. Void Engineers
Ah, the Void Engineers, our strange, new benefac-
Syndicate tors. It’s through them and their deep sea facilities that
If NWO is our brain, the Syndicate is our lifeblood. our scientists are able to continue our noble work. Thanks
Their mastery of resources, both mundane and Enlight- to them, we’ve been able to recover some of our old
ened, has kept the other four Conventions running when projects and case studies from beyond the Dimensional
we were scrambling post-Anomaly. Of all our allies, Anomaly (though that dried up in 2005). Our elders
they’ve weathered the Anomaly the best. That’s been our have gotten used to the contact from the Union’s most
greatest boon, for without someone grounded as the rest eclectic member; before the Anomaly, they were distant
of us lost our collective shit, we would have fractured. clients and occasional shuttle pilots.

Our priorities with respect to them have changed dramati- a threat to the Union; they’d do what the Traditions
cally. There are still some Genegineers who play with zero-G never could: annihilate us. You need only look at the
biomorphs, but now those are just academic exercises. We’re numbers — of the new Marauders we’ve encountered,
more likely to create for them biomorphs native to deep sea nearly 4% of them are former Void Engineers (even some
and able to withstand the pressure outside of the habitat we’ve thought lost to the Anomaly). Can you imagine
domes. FACADE works on secret projects at their request, what would happen if an entire Technocratic Conven-
one of the ways we show our thanks. And they frequently tion were consumed by insanity?
requisition exotic medicines from Pharmacopoeists. So be grateful to the Void Engineers for our survival
Which brings us to our new relationship — a sym- and ability to thrive in the last decade. And be afraid of
biotic one, like the black rhinoceros and the oxpecker. them for what they could so easily become. When you
They protect us, and we keep them equipped with the deal with them, show gratitude and not fear.
latest in medicine and biochemicals for their excursions
into the void. Don’t let this camaraderie mislead you; Traditions
we still see them as sick patients. They put up brave The Convention is split on how to handle Traditional-
faces around the rest of the Union, but you need only ists, and in a way surprising to those in other Conventions.
go to the Wall in Yemaja — where they put up pictures The old guard, notably those in distant labs and enjoying
of those the Union’s lost in the Dimensional Anomaly tenure, is not as a concerned with them. When NWO
and those ever since — to see beneath. Tears, anguish, comes knocking for an anti-Deviant weapon or other
guilt, rage. It only took rage and a sense of betrayal for distraction from genuine research, they’re annoyed, but
the Electrodyne Engineers to leave and join the Tradi- otherwise these Reality Deviants are not a concern. Don’t
tions, and there’s so much more seething under the take this as a “live and let live” attitude as much as it’s
surface of the Void Engineers. a “leave me the fuck alone so I can do real work” one.
That makes our symbiotic relationship crucial to the Those in Applied Sciences are increasingly vocal about
Technocracy. If they’re made to feel alone, they’ll become reinstating the Pogrom. These scientists deal directly with
28 Progenitors
mages and their harmful pseudo-medicine — these threats That isn’t to say they’re dangerous. These reprehen-
promote horrible ideas, prey on the desperate and weak- sible fucks hand out all sorts of psychoactives, uppers,
minded, and interfere with Enlightened scientific progress. downers, and really weird shit like it’s all candy. Hell,
The worst part is that sometimes their methods work, but to them it is, but not to the Masses they’re playing with
only when they administer them and often with Rejection and fucking. Few things are as heartbreaking as rolling
side effects, and the Masses hear these stories and buy into a teenager in on a stretcher, watching her froth at the
these cultish ideas — and that’s the real harm done. mouth, overdosing on fuck-knows-what and being unable
On occasion, a “mage” shows Enlightened potential, to synthesize a counteragent because it’s some cocktail
but of all the Conventions, we’re the least likely to take an Ecstatic invented earlier that day and decided to let
in a defector. And because they share space with Void someone try that night.
Engineers — who are the most likely to take in Reality In the rare instance where you need to get a Cult-
Deviant defectors — there’s sometimes a sense of hostility, ist to cooperate with you, kidnapping and threatening
as we Enlightened are not above prejudice. the Sleepers they drag into their dens of iniquity tends
to work as leverage. Just don’t, and I cannot stress this
Akashic Brotherhood enjoy, eat or drink anything they’ve made, touched, have
The Brotherhood’s message of mystical body con- in their home, or even just looked at cross-eyed.
trol and healing is dangerous not only to our agenda,
but to the Masses as a whole. Fortunately for us, the Dreamspeakers
Syndicate efforts to suppress these ideas as fringe have The Dreamspeakers are a strange group. Their
been successful in the Western world; no one co-opts toxic Deviant effects blend Akashic and Chorister
like the Syndicate. Still, that leaves the actual Reality perspectives, at least as best any sane person can un-
Deviants who perform horrific acts on others and call derstand them. They aren’t organized enough to be a
it “holistic healing.” critical threat, but their presences in a local situation
Akashics react to our presence with their trademark should be handled swiftly. (Just make sure our Void
kung-fu violence and rhetoric about how we’re poison- Engineer friends don’t hear about that; a few have
ing bodies and minds. As if. Don’t let that Buddhist showed dismay and even filed protests when they’ve
Jet Li bullshit fool you, though — if your amalgam isn’t seen our scientists dispatch Dreamspeakers.)
rated for combat, get the hell out of there and call for
Damage Control. Euthanatos
If there’s one Tradition that shows an ounce of
Celestial Chorus promise, it’s the Euthanatos. They believe in something
Nothing gets Progenitor doctors worked up like the not entirely alien to us: that some limbs need to be cut
mention of Choristers. If these throwbacks to the Dark from the body in order for the body to survive and thrive.
Ages had their way, we’d all be praying for the sick and Unfortunately, the analogy and similarity mostly end
still using leeches and draining humours. They are the there. Many of their ilk see every Technocrat as need-
antithesis of reason, scientific progress, and everything ing to die what they call the “Good Death,” so that we
the Union stands for. Our hatred is so strong than other might be reborn and believe some mystical crap rather
Progenitors professing faith are looked at with a bit of than reason. Many of them are psychopaths; kill those
disdain; not distrust, as they’re still a Technocratic scien- before they kill you. And be wary of their adeptness
tists, but many of our number cannot hide our contempt with Entropy effects — they’ll break down clones and
at anything approaching the Celestial Chorus mindset. bioweapons faster than you can deploy them.
Occasionally, you’ll find one open to talking,
Cult of Ecstasy someone who want to interview you to see if you need
Now here’s an interesting Tradition. On one hand, to actually die. Choose to engage at your discretion; a
many of us can sympathize with them — show me a Phar- new ally would be nice, but not at the cost of a genuine
macopoeist who hasn’t experimented with psychoactives, Enlightened mind.
and I’ll show you one who is either lying or isn’t doing
her fucking job of intimately understanding biochemis- Hollow Ones
try. But like the raver kiddies and washout out stoners Some of these orphans show promise, though we
they are, these Deviants don’t amount to much and are allow NWO to handle Processing them — few scientists
a waste of potential Genius. And man, does that royally and doctors have the time or patience to deal with
piss off old guard. the typical teenage angst, gothy outlook, or hipster

contrarianism. Those who aren’t Technocrat material barely worth notice unless they’re a direct interference
have another use. Drugging them and tagging their to a Progenitor project.
Pattern to track they movements can help flush out All said, if you encounter one, see if you can capture
other Traditionalists over the years. Something about intact. If not, report the Hermetic to Damage Control.
these kids make other Reality Deviants want to play NWO pays a bounty on captured Hermetics, and your
mentor or den mother, and when they come out of amalgam will receive some of that funding as a reward.
the woodwork, we’re ready.
Sons of Ether
Order of Hermes You know the current trend in homeopathy? You have
We can almost respect Hermetics. Almost. We can goddamned Etherites to blame for that. As with most
trace similar roots, to people bold enough to experiment Reality Deviant treatments, they only work to a degree
with biology, chemistry, and the natural world. The Hip- when performed by their kind. But that hasn’t stopped
pocratic Circle was once in their Order before seeing this trend from being embraced by “health nuts” and
the light of Reason. They decided to stop progressing a pseudo-drug manufacturers. (The Syndicate claims to
millennium ago; we moved on. not have a hand in the mass marketing of homeopathic
For the most part, they don’t see the Masses as worth “medication,” but I find that hard to swallow.)
dealing with on a large scale. Their elitism has kept ex- They’re much like Hermetics, playing with some dif-
posure to Hermetic concoctions to a minimum… more ferent pretend fantasy “science.” And they’re dangerous;
or less. There were a few during the Wild West era who remember, they revere Victor Frankenstein and occasionally
thought it a good idea to peddle their wares — the origin an Etherite turns a dead body (or something made from
of the snake-oil salesman — for money to continue their parts of various bodies) into a roving monster. Imagine the
backwater experiments. But those instances were few and literal and cognitive infections that spring from such horror.
far-between. Typical Hermetics are just frustrated scien-
Idealists see the potential for Genius under their
tific failures that resort to becoming Reality Deviants,
delusions. A few may be worth salvaging, but as a whole
30 Progenitors
Other Reality Deviants
they’re filled with rot and plague — and we need to
remember that proper disposing of biohazards is just
good medicine.
Nephandi
Verbena We have Nephandi in our ranks. Their presence
Much like we share lineage with the Order of has grown stronger since the Anomaly, as if they didn’t
Hermes, we share one with the Verbena. Only they suffer any loses. Bastards probably didn’t. That just
stopped progressing pretty much after the invention of means we need to even the score.
the wheel. They’re the closest thing we have to a sense of You cannot rank the danger that Traditional or
blasphemy, a dark reflection of everything that’s noble Technocrat Nephandi pose one over the other, for
and pure about us. they seem to work together. They blend and fuse, a
They’re barbarians, primitives who drench them- mutating and resilient cancer. Each Convention has
selves in blood and chant into the night. Verbena are their preferred method of handling these threats,
nothing more than pure monsters that happen to be and most of them involve heavy weapons and high
people, barely one step away from being Nephandi. There explosives. Of course, that doesn’t really treat the
is no glimmer of Genius in what they believe and do, cause, just individual symptoms — chemotherapy
only the crawling chaos that would swallow the world if because there’s right now no cure.
these vile fucks had their way. The Verbena are true evil. If you believe younger idealists in our Convention,
If there’s a saving grace, it’s that their arrogance and the Syndicate is run by a host of Nephandi. I don’t
sense of ritual keeps them from overly contaminating buy it… but I am convinced that there’s at least one
the Masses. So from a purely pragmatic view, they aren’t Nephandus on our own Shared Governance Council.
the worst the Traditions have to offer. Still, the Shared I haven’t any proof. At least, not yet. And I hope to
Governance Council would look the other way if an Ap- hell I’m wrong.
plied Sciences amalgam reported going all Contingency
To the Nephandi reading this:

5 on a hotspot upon seeing even one Verbena.
Virtual Adepts
The Virtual Adepts are angry, and they’re organized.
They hit against our computer systems, work to corrupt We know you’re reading this. You are
humanity’s greatest sickness, its most
budding Extraordinary minds, and seek to undermine
vicious cancer. You seem to see everything,

everything the Union does. As a result, NWO considers
them the greatest threat to the Union and Masses, so we
are bombarded with requests to assist NWO efforts. To know all our plans and weaknesses.
You’re always one step ahead in our
say that this is a annoying distraction from real work is
an understatement.
This has led to unearthing an experiment mostly lost desperate quest to purge you.
Until now. The tables have turned
to the Anomaly, one alongside Iteration X to developer
a nanotech virus that would burn out the minds of any
Virtual Adept interfacing with the Masses’ Internet. — we know how to find you, track
you, and hunt you down. You won’t
Unfortunately, Iteration X is far too focused on their
find out how by reading this book; we

obsession to lend more than token assistance, so re-
constructing has been slow. The last test was somewhat
successful: it burned out two captured VAs. But it also Progenitors are not fools. But know
that we will eradicate each and every
burned out two of our scientists who were working on
the project. No new candidates have applied to replace
them yet. one of you.
You’ve preyed on the world for far too
Along with that, we have teams working on vaccines
and cures to nanotech viruses we know they’re building.
Some are meant to target us. Others are meant to change long. It’s time you knew fear.
the Masses. Neither will be permitted to happen.

Marauders Werewolves (Canis morphae)
The inconvenient truth: Marauders don’t just come What’re commonly referred to as “werewolves” is
from Tradition mages. There are rare instances where a result of a hereditary and unstable disease, one that
valued Technocratic Genius breaks under the strain of responds poorly to Technocratic Procedures. With a
Rejection and refuses respite and recovery time. And if few exceptions, they abhor technology, progress, and
you think a Traditionalist Marauder is scary, pray you everything that the Union stands for.
never meet one fueled by Enlightened Science. This affliction clearly has a mental component, as
Whether they come from our side or the enemy’s, they share some delusion about us and an entity the
Marauders are a dangerous threat. They pose significant call “the Wyrm,” using that as a justification to assault
danger to research, property, life, and worse. Evidence is when encountered. (Others refer to another called
shows that their presence can cause other Enlightened “the Weaver” — it’s unclear if this is the same entity, a
Citizens to go mad, and they can corrupt the minds of different one, or some alternate form in their mythol-
Extraordinary Citizens. The Marauders are no less than ogy.) Fortunately, they view many other Reality Deviant
a psychological plague. threats in the same light, and are not discriminant.
It may seem barbaric and contrary to the ethos of Because their condition is not contagious (as vam-
helping those suffering, but you must burn them as you pires are), scientists have been freer in their experiments
would infected corpses. Do not hesitate, even when the with captured and killed werewolves. Which brings us
Marauder wears the face of an old friend or loved one. to a very peculiar recent development: several of their
kind from a tribe called Glass Walkers have approached
Vampires (Homo sapiens mortis) us through a biotech research front company. Not only
We have extensive documentation on the various did they know it was a Progenitor front, but they had
subtypes of vampires. Homo sapiens mortis, as some in infiltrated middle management, entirely without us
our order have taken to calling them given their lore of aware. They made an offer: they’ll cooperate and even
being “undead,” is a fascinating case of supernatural con- assist in Progenitor research of their kind if we stop
tagion. They are certainly the world’s oldest retrovirus, hunting their kind and we share the last few decades’
albeit one not rooted in proper biological sciences and of werewolf research.
thus not yet treatable. (The similarity to this condition Hell of an intriguing offer. We’ll see what comes of
and Schere’s Disease hasn’t gone unnoticed.) it — not sure what their game is yet. And hopefully the
The NWO point of view on vampires is the combat amalgams will heed the memo to stop werewolf-
Technocratic party line: no open hostility as long targeting missions.
as they keep their so-called Masquerade up. We…
disagree. Looking at the facts should convince any Unclassifiable
rational scientist that there is no room for leniency. “Ghosts” are nothing more than psychological and
Vampires feed on the Masses. Vampires are not only Paradox-oriented phenomena, sometimes the result of
a contagion, but also a powerful and secret culture. Marauder activity. Regardless of their nature, they can
They create through a bodily process a highly addic- cause disruptions with laboratory and field equipment,
tive substance, known as “vitae.” They’re vectors for and are best handled by Void Engineer Neutralization
mundane plagues. Worst, a sizeable faction does not Specialists. (Best if you don’t get into long conversations
care for operating in secret, causing as much memetic with Void Engineers about their pet theories on what
damage as biological. ghosts are; one more reason to be wary of the whole
Fringe bioengineers sometimes use vampiric Convention going insane.)
research and even components to create weapons. “Mummies” are curious rumors. There is an old
Damage Control looks the other way at these projects, report of a FACADE Engineer claiming to have met
employing vampire-modified Enlightened operatives one, describing it as “truly immortal” and having lived
in their ranks. (Which also allows them to keep tabs for “thousands of years.” That report’s certainly inspired
on these experiments, should these modified humans more than a few of their Methodology to replicate beings
turn.) But research into vampiric immortality is strictly able to withstand time, their withered bodies the result
forbidden — we will not succumb to the same hubris of aggressive time acceleration experiments. Assume
as the former House Tremere. any “mummies” you see to be escaped pet projects, and
inform Damage Control.
32 Progenitors
Unlike the two entities reported above, faeries are Genegineers initially assumed that these people were
quite real. They defy proper biology and do not quite fit human evolutionary spikes; others in the Conven-
under any Kingdom, though many appear to file under tion wondered if Pharmacopoeists left something in
Mammalia. Genetic testing of those captured are incon- the drinking water. In the end, we cannot conclude a
clusive, because there’s no genetics to speak of that we biological element to their abilities. A Preservationist
can detect. Naturally, that just means our equipment is recently offered a new analogy to explain hunters, one
not properly calibrated for their protean nature. While taken root in several key minds: the Consensus itself
their ability to twist reality makes them a danger to the is creating antibodies for Reality Deviants by injecting
Masses, we’ve got bigger problems. Inform a Void En- mortals with Deviant-reactive abilities. The actions of
gineer or NWO strike team; they’re equipped for such these hunters seem to correlate with that hypothesis,
situations, and get back to doing real work. but we’re watchful; immune system mutations are fickle.
We’ve taken in some self-proclaimed “hunters,” Should you encounter an unclassifiable Deviant,
otherwise-Sleeper individuals with seemingly super- inform your superiors so they may dispatch a Damage
natural powers, in for observation and experimentation. Control team to investigate.

Chapter Two:
Residency
We Progenitors have been here a long time. Our Our efforts have paid astounding dividends! Every
old enemies — sickness, injury, and hunger — are only virulent disease has been addressed and cured, and we
slightly older than we are. The birth of our noble work tirelessly to protect those cures from Rejection until
order didn’t happen when ancient humans first ate the Consensus accepts them. The first powered, neurologi-
unknown herbs in desperation and hunger, and found cally controlled prosthetic limbs are already in the wild.
those herbs dulled their pain. No, we were born when Stem cell spray guns will soon consign second and third
those long-dead ancestors of ours, moved by compas- degree burns to the same fate as polio and consumption.
sion, used that knowledge to ease the suffering of We’re not letting our momentum go to waste. That
others. We have come a long way since that origin; would be criminal. Our charge is to push ever forward,
we now wage war on human suffering in gleaming, blazing trails and reforming the Consensus into a safer,
sterile laboratories that our forbearers — if you will, healthier world. To borrow from an iconic alien, we’re
our progenitors — would not comprehend. here to make the world live long and prosper.

Classifications and Taxonomies
Naturally, the core of the Progenitors are uncommon comprehension of one of our root sciences,
Enlightened scientists, though we only make usually biology or chemistry.
up three percent of the Convention (counting Some Students are assigned as staff to their superiors.
those who draw a Progenitor paycheck and They get into vicious contention over these positions, de-
work for us without knowing it). A further spite the fact that it only results in even more work being
eleven percent falls into the Exceptional heaped upon them. The theory is only those who have
category, as able lab assistants and other roles what it takes to “make it” can complete a full course of
working next to Inspired Science. They bring study in addition to twenty-plus hours working in the lab
their prodigious talent and understanding every week, doing the boring parts nobody else wants to
of the physical universe to bear in positions do. Usually this arrangement is just petty superiors flexing
varying authority. The rest are unEnlightened Citizens, doing their immense sense of entitlement and entertaining them-
necessary tasks in order to free up the greater minds (and selves in the process. The irony is that most Progenitors
aid in the Masses accepting Progenitor science). don’t take this kind of service into consideration when
The Convention can be divided up into three bands: evaluating a potential employee, and it certainly doesn’t
scientists (who often call themselves “the talent” or other grease the skids of the thesis review process.
self-inflating terms), management, and support staff. After Students complete their studies and defend their
theses, they graduate into the ranks of the Research As-
The Talent sistants. At first, their work in researching the investigatory
Students are the entry level of prospective Progenitor paths is set by their superiors. Once they prove their ability
scientists. With rare exception, they’re newly Enlight- a few times, they are rewarded with some determination
ened, Extraordinary, on the cusp of achieving Genius. over their own efforts. Fortunately, there are so many
We typically discover them in undergraduate academic avenues of inquiry, Convention-wide, that opportunities
environments (though that’s partly due to our bias). In to rise above the crowd come along frequently.
order to be considered for inclusion in a Progenitor funded Research Assistants who haven’t yet achieved En-
program of study, a potential Student must demonstrate lightenment tend to do so at this point in their careers.
Studies suggest this is due to exposure to other Enlightened
personnel and the constant stimuli of advanced research.
Skipping Ahead The RAs that don’t will spend their entire careers where
they are. There, poor souls will live a comfortable and
Sometimes one’s path to Enlightenment isn’t rewarding life, but Enlightenment is always a requirement
conventional. There have been fourteen cases of for career advancement. (An Extraordinary RA with the
nascent Enlightened Scientists found in the wild chops and luck might get promoted, but the number of
and brought into our Methodology since its foun- times this has happened since the Reorganization can be
dation. All but one of them was utterly unaware of counted on one hand.)
their own Genius, thinking that everyone possessed
The brightest and most ambitious RAs graduate into
their insight and capabilities. The most recent
more authority and responsibility, becoming Primary
member of this exclusive club is Bisrat Semhar,
Investigators. These brilliant minds have repeatedly
an Eritrean farmer. In 2008, an Agronomist field
proven themselves worth the increased responsibilities. PIs
observer pursuing a rumor about miraculous crop
decide the course of research taken by the labs and RAs
yields discovered Semhar had developed a suite of
under their control, though they are still constrained by
Devices on his own. He rewrote the DNA of a strain
their field of study and the occasional meddling Research
of mosaic virus that had destroyed his neighbors’
Director. Students and RAs are almost always assigned
farms. To the shock of the observer, biological
directly to a PI. In smaller labs, there’s only one PI, but in
computers grown by Semhar controlled the Devices.
larger ones (such as Yemaja) there are as many as a half a
He was inducted into the Progenitors six months
dozen. Some PIs telemanage over RAs all over the globe.
later, and today runs a Construct in the Sudan.
The one thing all PIs have in common is dedication.
The light of curiosity burns so brightly in them. They
36 Progenitors
possess the ability to blend their considerable intellect, Councilors are the masters of the Convention, the
ineffable Genius, and driving desire to decipher the members of the Shared Governance Council (page 19).
enigmas they encounter in the course of their (genetically From their distributed offices around the world, they
prolonged) careers. With their rank and experience, they make the high-level decisions that affect everyone. They’re
are given wide leeway in directing the activities of the the interface to the rest of the Union’s leadership. But,
people under their command. and this is key to how they work, they don’t stop being
Like the majority of RAs, most PIs never leave their Research Directors. Governance terms are not for life, so
roles. The only way up is into management, and the idea they need to keep some skin in the game, so to speak, if
of no longer getting their hands dirty is generally met with they’re going to be relevant after their term’s up.
a response somewhere between laughter and disgust. The
same fire that fueled their ascent into their fulfilling jobs Support Staff
also makes promotion out of the question. It’s partly be- The academics aren’t the only people in the Conven-
cause of this ceiling, and its limited opportunity, that there tion. Absolutely nothing would get done if that were the
are more PIs transferring to Applied Sciences each year. case; a quick visit to any university will show you that.
In order to work, researchers need a large support staff.
Management Most of these are unEnlightened personnel, with some
There’s more to being a Progenitor than lab work. Extraordinary and Enlightened washouts. Yes, you read
Laboratories are almost always part of a larger institute that right — Enlightened washouts. Enlightenment doesn’t
or foundation of scientific research. These entities are automatically confer success. That comes from a combina-
administered by the Research Directors. RDs are a tion of talent and limitless determination.
slightly different breed of scientist. To be sure, they pos- Recruiters are the talent scouts for the Convention.
sess astounding knowledge regarding their chosen fields Their job demands the mastery of science to the same
of study, but either their desire to research has cooled level as at least a PI. Without that knowledge they couldn’t
over the many decades of their long lives, or they have pick the wheat from the chaff.
both the ability and desire to run the facilities under Ever see Amadeus? These poor bastards are like Salieri in
their command. Needless to say, most PIs just don’t the flick. These guys showed enough promise to get recruited
understand them very well. themselves, and most of them even finished their theses. But
Like the PIs under them, they guide the research somewhere along the line, their careers died. Either the burden
efforts of the facilities and personnel at their command. of Inspired Science was too much, or no one wanted them
They do not generally get involved in planning individual
lines of research, but rather focus on the strategic level
of scientific inquiry. They also make sure the junior
research fellows under their tutelage are published and about how they’re
recognized by the Convention as a whole. Everyone All the propaganda ministration is,
old Ad
better than the less
benefits from this; an impressive white paper can lead correct. They’re
well, technically ev ent
to increased funding from research grants and fellow- royed in a single
likely to be dest de st roy
ships, this attracts higher caliber Students to the facility doesn’t also
(at least one that fr om an
and generally improves the lot of everyone under their they’re better
the planet), so tw ee n
employ. pective. But be
evolutionary pers t all roses. There
no
This arrangement is almost always harmonious. The you and me, it’s cil:
nitty-gritty research is left to the PIs, while running the jo r fa ct ions in the Coun
are two ma om the
tted greatly fr
organization that gives them the best labs in the world is those that benefi ings, and those who
th
left to people more suited to the task. Sometimes a bitter old way of doing y.
y di sg us ted by the old wa
or jaded PI (or even RA) will make off handed remarks are vocall it ed
causes makes the Un t.
about who does the “real science around here.” In our The impasses this et en
look fucking comp
benighted past, these people didn’t last very long. Things States’ Congress
I
are different now — we actively encourage everyone to air cal Compliance
Don’t tell Ethi vo ic in g
their dissatisfaction so we can address it. (Though that he says above,
said that. Like es n’ t
doesn’t stop individuals from having years-long grudges is encouraged. Do
dissatisfaction wi th a
when others voice dissatisfaction about them — nature get looked at
mean you won’t
of academia.) ing so.
microscope for do
o: Residency 37
But the search for new blood also takes them to un-
Progenitors expected places as well. Reports of pie in the sky “miracle
cures” are taken very seriously. The ratio of actual medi-
and Processing cal breakthroughs found by lone inventors would shock
Dr. Caroline Yu, the Convention’s Director of most people. Deviancy Scene Investigators look into
Surgery and Practice (think the Progenitor’s equiva- these claims, if only to expose dangerous frauds or collect
lent to the U.S. Surgeon General), has led a campaign information on any Reality Deviants who come sniffing
against NWO’s Processing methods. She cites stud- around. Sometimes, though, they find a true Genius and
ies of Processing on subjects with brain anomalies, a Recruiter is called in.
severe circulatory or respiratory problems, or were If you get on a Recruiter’s radar, you’ve demonstrated
pregnant. In these cases, the Procedure killed well not only expertise but also a natural affinity for our core
over half of these subjects. While she’s not foolish principles. Recruits have these traits in common:
enough to challenge the existence of Processing, Devotion. You simply have to put in a lot of work to
she is fighting for safer methods. NWO Operations get anywhere. Most Students dream of a defining “Eu-
representatives state that changes to the Procedure reka!” moment, and most never get one. When they do,
would make it less effective. Right now, there’s a it’s the result of weeks, months, years of slavish research
political standoff; Yu is not clearing Progenitors and experimentation, vetted by as many hours of peer
for Processing (except in critical cases where Ethical review as you can squeeze out of your colleagues. Come
Compliance overrules her). review time, the dedication you show is a greater credit
to you than any breakthrough discovery you might have
made. Management knows anyone can get lucky, and we
in the first place. Sad, huh? They have enough brains to stay aren’t looking for just one-hit wonders.
useful to the Convention, but not enough drive or charisma
Openness. Those who don’t keep an open mind can’t
to be promoted. To add insult to injury, they now have to send
call themselves scientists. Shutting out ideas just because they
wet-behind-the-ears grad students into the very gristmill they
seem foolish, don’t fit convenient models, or for whatever
couldn’t survive themselves. They don’t all hate the job, but
reason, is counter to the principles of the scientific method
make no mistake, there’s a lot of bitterness in their ranks. Just
— and, by extension, the Convention. Discoveries tend to
not so much that their judgment is tainted. Recruiters who
be serendipitous. Exploration of all possible combinations
can’t cut it don’t have many options left. (Most feel fortunate
of factors is the best way to carve out knowledge. (That said,
that they weren’t immediately put to NWO Processing after
this can bite you. Openness is only considered a virtue when
failing the first time. All that advanced science in the head
applied to science; asking probing questions about policies
of a washout is an unhealthy combination.)
and decisions leads to attention from Ethical Compliance.)
There’s a place in the organization for Students who
Mastery. Recruiters love candidates who consume
neither graduate nor have the prerequisites to be a Recruiter.
everything they find regarding their field of study. Progeni-
Usually these poor wretches either crack or voluntarily give
tors who maintain that mastery rise to the top. This isn’t
up on their studies. The ones that don’t completely wig out
easy — research, experimentation, and fieldwork endlessly
are usually offered roles as Technicians, the lowest step on
pumps data into our shared body of knowledge. Scientists
the ladder in the Convention. They keep the glassware in
who can consume the constant influx of information
the lab clean and make sure there’s always enough pens and
while simultaneously contributing to it are considered
clipboards to go around. They also take clerical and support
the best of the best.
roles in Shared Governance Council. The Convention keeps
them around because, frankly, they know too much. Just cut- Each Methodology places different value on these
ting them loose can backfire. And there’s always hope that traits. Pharmacopoeists primarily value devotion, at least
such people will turn around and embrace their inner Genius. early on. They specialize in research and production of
pharmaceuticals, both medicinal and recreational. Stu-
Humble Beginnings dents and RAs help run production facilities for both
strains, and devotion is key to keeping the manufacturing
The Progenitors don’t induct just anyone into their
lines humming, and to insure the safety and/or purity of
ranks. A potential Student must display excellence in
product. (The “or” part is a sticking point for the higher-
their given fields of study to get attention in the first
minded among us.) Later in their careers, Pharmacopoeists
place. Their typical haunts are all the places you’d ex-
shift towards openness, as the PIs and RDs focus their
pect; libraries, universities, technical schools, hospitals,
efforts into developing new products.
hospices, and morgues.
38 Progenitors
produce Enlightened and Extraordinary Citizens. We
always reach out to them when we find them, as allowing
The Fourth Principle the Traditionalists to get their hooks into these minds
is unacceptable. Lone individuals doing their own base-
Even though it isn’t explicitly valued by any
ment research for the pure love of science are also sought
Methodology, many Progenitors have come to em-
out, though these are the rarest candidates. More often
brace compassion as a core principle in the years
than not, their Genius becomes corrupt and leads them
since the Anomaly. In a Convention-wide poll
to the Traditions (or worse); saving one from that fate is
conducted in 2010, 28% responded compassion is
cause for celebration.
their main motivation when choosing assignments.
The number was much higher with Applied Sci- To the shame of many in our ranks (especially those
ences — 77% after adjusting for statistical errors. younger), the Progenitors are active and entrenched in
It isn’t hard to see why. Progenitors who decide the world of illicit drugs. For a street kid, getting a job
on fieldwork in lieu of laboratory assignments in- in a drug lab can be a blessing and a curse. The money is
evitably face decisions that hurt people. Real, live solid, but the security, paranoia, and constant wrangling
people, not statistics projected from experimental with law enforcement sucks ass. Lab workers who show
data. In those harrowing moments, compassion is the chops are inducted as Students. Sometimes this means
more than a principle; it’s an irreplaceable guide. getting sent to the more legit research institutes for train-
And, when things go wrong, it’s a powerful solace. ing, but more often than not the Enlightened PIs and
RDs in the street labs take them to a disused basement
to begin their tutelage. There’s lots of crossover with the
FACADE Engineers primarily value mastery. Cloning is academic divisions after the Students become RAs, but
a very delicate operation. Constant vigilance and the ability very few actually land long-term work in them.
to diagnose and correct errors within a matter of seconds are This divide leads to a lot of tension, for the clichéd reasons
absolutely essential. Failure leads to entire batches of clones you’d expect; a lot of academics look down their noses at the
developing spontaneous lethal mutations (if they’re lucky), or street lab operations, huffing about “true science,” and the
even worse, clones or ones that test as perfectly normal but street lab crews get all pissed off and rant about who pays all
have genetic flaws (if they’re not). This compromises opera- the goddamn bills. These tensions are a big part about why a
tions in the field, destroys assets, and costs lives. Parental-like lot of the post-Anomaly crowd wants to change the landscape.
devotion is also necessary, as clones can take weeks to grow, Some want to cut the street drug programs out, some want
during which any of a thousand things can go wrong. to more tightly integrate the divisions, and some want to
Genegineers value openness above all else. They plumb completely merge them, turning the illegal drug operations
the genomes of humans (and all other living things), looking into clinics and medical dispensaries. The kingpins in charge
to unlock hidden potentials. This means investigating genetic of the street labs don’t tend to like any of these ideas, but a
sequences from tens of thousands of species, evolved over lot of their underlings are receptive to them.
millions of years of selective adaption. A closed mind could
(and has) cut off entire families of potential breakthroughs. A Glorious Career
They also develop new traits out of whole cloth, which requires
openness to not just ideas on how to develop those abilities,
In Science
but what their forms are in the first place. Since hundreds of The life of a Student is fundamentally the same
millions of genetic sequences must be considered, they also as her experience in college and grad school. You go
need Students with an innate mastery of the subject matter. to class, pay attention, take exams, write papers, and
perform experiments. You’re continually exposed to
Real Geniuses new ideas and tested on your mastery of them. Any
student worth her salt can handle that kind of environ-
Most Students come from colleges and universities. As ment. The same goes for street lab Students. They’ve
we’ve said, this is a natural synergy; these places teach the learned chemistry or biology, either in high school,
foundations of science and offer a crucible for developing community college, or by on the job training in the
the proper virtues. Most of the Progenitors’ culture comes production labs. This is old hat for all Students, or
from academia — a candidate steeped in that doesn’t have they wouldn’t be there in the first place.
to be broken in. They already know how to play the game.
Where things go off the rails is the subject matter.
Campuses aren’t the only source of classically trained When you’re learning at the feet of the grand masters of the
candidates. Established research facilities occasionally universe, the curriculum gets weird. The fact that Inspired

Science exists and that our ridiculous enemies label it as cases involve Students betraying the Union in some capacity,
wizardry is only the tip of the iceberg. Once you start delv- intentionally or not. Sometimes they crash and burn, or just
ing into the existence and biological natures of vampires, can’t cut it for a panoply of reasons. These unfortunates are
werewolves and faeries… well, a lot of people balk at that. generally handed over to the NWO for Processing, in order
The majority of students get over their reticence after their to remove any dangerous memories or knowledge. Those
first exposure to test subjects from those groups — it’s kind who keep it together but still don’t graduate are generally
of hard to deny werewolves exist after you’ve seen nine allowed to stay on in some sort of support capacity. A few
hundred pounds of hairy bipedal fury try to rip apart a threaten to expose or betray us for varying ethical or personal
titano-primium cage (which, no joke, is part of Cryptozool- reasons. They usually get a visit from Ethical Compliance.
ogy 101). After that, it’s just a numbed acceptance of pretty Going traitor after you graduate is uncommon. A
much any outlandish fact your instructors throw at you. rare few defect to the Traditions, either because some
Once you graduate and ease into a life as an RA, you pet theory of medicine isn’t accepted by the Convention
can expect a decade or two of lab assignments, or go into as a whole, and instead of embracing the nature of the
field work. Either way, it’s an awesome experience from many Enlightened Scientific Method, they flee to the home for
perspectives. You learn more about your field of study than wayward pseudoscience. Even rarer are those who defect
you ever thought possible, you get many opportunities to because they can’t handle the corporate and clinical nature
expand your mind and prove your worth, and it even oc- of the Union — they join the Verbana or others of their
casionally gets downright provocative. It’s a fulfilling life of ilk, getting all hippie and primitive.
long, devoted hours in a lab (or field research Construct) Students who do this kind of get a pass; after all,
pursuing knowledge, punctuated by moments of joyous they’re just being introduced to information that turns
elation or stark terror, just to keep things interesting. After their worldview and identities on their ear. More often
that, you will rise to the level of your incompetence. than not, they come back; we treat the situation like an
Amish rumspringa (one that’ll cost them having to scrub
Going Down In Flames beakers for a few months and be watched closely for a
Of course, sometimes things don’t go according to few years). RAs and above are supposed to have their shit
plan. Every opportunity to show your strengths is also together, and are put on Damage Control’s retrieval list.
an opportunity to show you can’t handle your shit. This There was a time when disagreeing with your superiors
is discounting simple mistakes, of course. It’s fine if you counted as a disciplinary infraction. The more curmud-
just forgot to keep your laser optics clean in a microbial geonly members of the old guard really couldn’t stand
culture experiment. A more serious mistake can call for that. As if sharing your own ideas with your peers was a
an administrative review, but these aren’t really that hor- crime! Fortunately, most of those Progenitors have met
rible either. Unless you got someone seriously killed or timely ends. The Dimensional Anomaly eliminated some
blew up a multi-million dollar lab, the worst that’s going of them. The rest mostly stopped making vexing under-
to happen is a black mark in your file. Too many of those lings disappear after the old-boy network vanished. The
will lead to trouble, but the truth is everyone has a few. Shared Governance Council today sees no benefit in that
We’re talking about the more serious infractions, the sort of environment; wasting talented professionals over
really serious (and frankly, stupid) courses of action. Most dick-swinging contests is counterproductive to our cause.
Methodologies
As scientists, we naturally organize response to the demands of Inspired Science itself, not
ourselves along lines of expertise and the whims of an oligarchic superclass. We’ve arranged our
inquiry. We’ve never valued outside input infrastructure to efficiently explore the most important
on how to allocate our resources; non- medical discoveries of the modern era.
scientists aren’t qualified to give it. Other There are three primary Methodologies, with a smat-
Conventions are orchestrated from the top tering of smaller houses filling the niches in between. The
down, with a central authority guiding all FACADE Engineers dominates the field of biological
development and change. Not so with us. replication and cloning. Without it, the Union would
The Shared Governance Council dictates be a radically different and much less effective. The
how we divide our energies, but always in Genegineers transcends the copying of biological life,
40 Progenitors
Falling Between the Cracks
Not every Progenitor’s research interest fits neatly the Consensus rejected the parallel technologies we
into one of the three main Methodologies. Many scien- developed to control and mitigate the damage. The
tific disciplines, such as veterinary medicine, agriculture, Preservationists seeks to reverse this trend before
and ecology, fall outside the larger Convention struc- extreme weather events and poisoned water and food
ture. The result is a smattering of smaller organizations supplies irrevocably damage Sleeper civilization. Its
that fill in the gaps. These groups are often referred methods are a strange hybrid of NWO Mind Proce-
to as “micro-Methodologies,” even though structur- dures (to find the root cause of Sleeper resistance to
ally speaking they are full Methodologies in their own advanced green technologies) and Progenitor Science
rights, just on a much smaller scale (with a smaller-than (to implement cost-effective alternatives that have
proportional funding from the Syndicate). stronger resistance to Rejection).
The Shalihotran Society is the Progenitors’ vet- The Psychopharmacopoeists specializes in psychi-
erinarian Methodology, named for the earliest known atry and psychology. As one might guess from its name,
veterinarian. Shalihotrans travel to places in the world it used to be a group within the Pharmacopoeists. In
where people earn their livelihoods from animals, as Conference of 1960, Administration voted to make
sources of either food or labor. Whole economies in them a separate Methodology (possibly influenced
every socio-economic stratum would collapse without by NWO “advisors”), resulting in decreased funding
their dedicated ministrations. Their work takes them when they were no longer core to Pharmacopoeists.
around the world, combating diseases like BSE, West Its members now serve as counselors and therapists
Nile virus, and SARS. Some of their research into for the Technocratic Union as a whole (though only
animal diseases that are potential human epidemics recently have more in the other Conventions taken
(such as the recent bird and swine flu scares) gets ap- them up on services, notably Void Engineers and
propriated by Pharmacopoeists once those illnesses whose who’ve lost loved ones and don’t trust talking
become “worth their time.” to NWO shrinks). Unlike their NWO counterparts —
The Agronomists is comprised of Progenitors who they accuse of weaponizing their science — they
steeped in the sciences of botany and agriculture. Even focus on healing the mind rather than taking it apart.
by their own admission, their field of study is boring, Despite this animosity, they consult with Operations
steady, and absolutely indispensable for the Masses and the Ivory Tower, both to take courses to further
to continue flourishing. Its most famous member their study of Mind Procedures (for better purposes)
was botanist Norman Borlaug. His work developing and aiding in cases of Processing hardened Reality
dwarf wheat cultivars in India and Pakistan in the Deviants. Psychopharmacopoeists also pride them-
1960s prevented the collapse of the food supply in selves on research into the mental and psychological
South Asia, and he’s credited with saving the lives components of Enlightenment.
of over a billion people. Following in his footsteps, There are a few oddball scientists who don’t fit
the Agronomists applies Genegineer techniques to even in one of these Methodologies, like Enlightened
plant species, producing strains that feed people, geologists and paleontologists. There’s so few of them
put clothes on their backs, and improve their lives that they don’t even have a group identity or name. The
in scores of ways. Shared Governance Council gives them a small stipend
The Preservationists is our council on environ- for their research, and (gently) encourages them to find
mental science. It has an unenviable task — convincing their way into a loftier position in the Convention, but
humanity to clean up its own messes. Toxic pollution that usually falls on deaf ears. Like most Progenitors in
is the undeniable price paid for the advancements these micro-Methodologies, they have a passion for their
our Union created for the Industrial Era. Sadly, particular niche of study, and can spend many happy
years in dig sites and museum libraries.
delving deeper into the mysteries of the genome. Its sci- demand for drugs — therapeutic, recreational, and so
entists manipulate and dissect genetic patterns, providing on. And that demand is great; medicine is an essential
enhancements to make us stronger and more effective in component of a healthy and fruitful life. Just ask anyone
our work. The Pharmacopoeists is our response to the without access to it.

FACADE Engineers
The mysterious FACADE Engineers have one purpose ology. Their numbers slowly grew over the centuries, with
in the Convention: producing clones. Their mastery of this sightings of other mythical beasts from various cultures in
difficult science has made them indispensable. Their clones and around the Mediterranean. Always paired with these
are used in multiple roles across every Convention. Further beasts were whispers of their awful masters locked away
cementing their importance is the fact that they hold the in secure stone towers and underground crypts. The few
keys to the immortality enjoyed by nearly every Technocratic surviving records from those lost years, compiled by the
leader. This one fact allows them access to just about any Order of Reason, hint at an unbroken chain of scholarship,
resource they need, in any amount they dictate. Further passed down over very, very long generations, indicating
confounding and confusing their critics, they almost never early research into immortality.
abuse their authority. To do so would mean interacting with Using those same records, the Order of Reason man-
the outside world. aged to coax most of the chimera-makers out of obscurity,
binding them together into a formalized school for the
History first time. The Order dubbed them the Chiurgeons, and
The history of the FACADE Engineers is spotty at best. then left them to their own devices. The only caveat was
What actually is documented is naturally pretty sparse. The that they would provide the high leadership of the Order
earliest known histories suggest that they began as a secretive with immortality (without divulging its secrets to anyone),
offshoot of one of the Egyptian Cosian Circles sometime in exchange for security and privacy. This forged a success-
around 300 AD. They speak of beasts and gods from the old ful, if singular, relationship that has lasted for centuries.
Pharaonic religion; men with the heads of jackals, women The Order kept its initial promise quite well, only
with the heads of cats and massive raptor wings for arms, getting involved in internal matters when invited to. That
and other such monstrosities. These chimeras were the only happened once, during the Grand Housekeeping.
handiwork of the earliest known ancestors of this Method- Absolutely nothing is known of the details, except that
the name of the Methodology changed the FACADE
Engineers.
Sadly, their chimaeras are mostly extinct. They don’t
What’s In a Name? survive Rejection well. The strengthening and unification
The term FACADE is, of course, an acronym. of the Consensus over the centuries has made their sur-
It stands for “Forced Adaption and Clone Altera- vival rate practically zero. Now with Horizon effectively
tion Developmental Eugenicists.” That’s a really out of the picture, the few that remained are either dead
cumbersome way to spell out a word that means or lost. A few similar in structure and appearance to their
“A false front to hide behind.” Clearly, the name is parent animals (or humans) do manage to cling to life
intended to be mysterious and threatening. While today, but they are very rare.
Operations
we’re on the subject, take a look at that the word
“eugenics.” If you’re not familiar with its history,
look it up. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Although they are still far from totally transparent, the
FACADE Engineers has opened to scrutiny in the last decade.
Yeah. That word is an ugly relic of the past. It’s
Since 2003, the Shared Governance Council dictates that its
got baggage. But changing it would be a mistake.
research institutes take on increasing numbers of new Stu-
If our new, progressive attitudes are to mean any-
dents, instead of the previous generations’ method of hand
thing, we have to acknowledge the darkness of our
selecting their protégés. In a move that would have made
recent history. The Methodology wears this name
their old masters recoil in horror, two of the largest FACADE
like a badge of shame for the entire Convention.
facilities, located in Montreal and Lausanne, have instituted
And we collectively haven’t yet earned the right
cross-Methodology open house programs. (Nevertheless,
to change it.
FACADE is still the smallest of the main Methodologies,
Not that the old guard in the FACADE Engi- and receives disproportionally larger funding.)
neers agrees with that new, “softer” take on things. The most recent of these has pioneered an astounding
Another place where we’re divided. breakthrough — the world’s first universal 3D organ and tissue
42 Progenitors
printer. With a single sample Type II clones are much more stable and
of DNA, the machine can syn- nearly perfect copies of their predecessors. They
thesize any of fifteen organs, are reserved for Technocratic senior leader-
or two hundred types of tissue, ship, so that their memories and abilities are
each designed to integrate preserved. This is the vaunted immortality
seamlessly with the donor’s that the FACADE engineers offer us. The
biosystem. Genegineer tech- process copies both the Mind and Life Pat-
nology rapidly synthesizes terns of the original, allowing the beneficiary
the required RNA sequences, to cheat death for many decades.
FACADE Procedures pro- What’s referred to as Type III clones
duces the output in minutes, have recently come to light in the last
and Pharmacopoeist medicine ten years. The name is a misnomer;
controls rejection. If smash- they are actually small groups of
ing down political barriers clones, three or more in number.
to revolutionize medicine is Each clone possesses different
something that excites you, physical specifications, such as
the name of the task force gender, ethnicity, and physical
is the Syorka Institute of dimensions, but each cluster
Regenerative Medicine, has one common trait:
and is based out of the they are controlled by
University of Pittsburgh. the same Mind Pattern.
They’re accepting ap- The rumor is that the
plications. FACADE masters have
C l o n e s c re - developed a Mind/Life
ated by FACADE Procedure that allows
have three classifi- them to control these
cations, based on small groups simul-
quality, durability, taneously, spread
and intended use. out over vast dis-
Type I clones are the tances. These clusters
least sophisticated. of clones are very rarely
They are meant to in- seen, but an encounter
filtrate Sleeper society, with them is unforgettable.
either as replacements for They act with spooky
witnesses or as clandestine coordinated precision,
assets. They are not intended each member a part of
to pass scientific scrutiny at a whole, without any
all. Physically, they are perfect obvious means of com-
copies of their original patterns, munication between them.
but their synthetic personalities When they communicate
tend to unravel after a few years with others, they can
in the field (in the best case individually or in
scenario). Also, inconsis- creepy uni-
tencies in their son. So far
Life Patterns as anyone
make them knows, no
easy to spot one outside
to anyone with of the Meth-
Enlightenment, odology has access
or the Traditional or control over one
“Awakened” facsimile. They aren’t limited to cloning of these gestalt hives.
humans — household pets make perfect spies.

Convention
Like the Pharmacopoeists, the FACADE Engineers Why Not Make
have fashioned a comfortable existence for themselves. Unlimited Clones?
The New World Order couldn’t run its operations for New Progenitors ask when they find out about
more than a week without the clones provided to them. FACADE and all the threats to Consensual Real-
On multiple occasions, NWO Operations has needed to ity: “Why not just keep making soldier clones?”
quickly produce large amounts of disposable Black Suits,
each with the proper training already ingrained in Mind Tell them “Because it’s expensive.” And when
Patterns. Without FACADE-run clone banks at their they say “But what about the Syndicate?” you
disposal, they would have been reduced to mincemeat answer “Exactly.”
by the horrible foes they face.
And of course, there’s immortality. Sure, preserv- even a little bit, even after all the years of extended life
ing all the collective experiences and abilities of the they’ve already had? The idea is ludicrous. A thousand
leadership is important. But are we really to believe year old man will still beg for his life on his deathbed.
that underneath all the trappings of power and En- That’s what the FACADE Engineers are really selling
lightenment, those leaders aren’t scared of death? Not to the Union: putting off the inevitable.
44 Progenitors
Genegineers
In many ways, the Genegineers have picked up the of heredity and trait inheritance. The Haematologists
torch of biological design that FACADE dropped when expanded their activities to include these new findings.
they began to specialize in cloning. Instead of using In- Since their interests focused on the
spired Science to cobble together creatures from transmission and evolution of
amputated fragments, they create whole beings traits over generations of life,
from scratch at the genetic level. This goes they were renamed the Mu-
much further than mix-n-match. With their tagenic Engineers.
encyclopedic understanding of genetics, These developments
they have created new traits and enhance- fascinated the whole of
ments from scratch. Their creations suffer the Convention for de-
from Rejection much like the Frankenstein cades. Many a Primary
creations of the Chiurgeons did; however, Investigator and Re-
instead of locking them away from sight search Assistant stood
to rot, the Genegineers instead create on the shoulders of
whole ecologies to support these giants, and
they creatures. Whether this hundreds of
is playing God or simply being Students’ the-
responsible for your works is ses cited their
a common argument among legendary
other Technocrats. works exhaus-
tively. The final
History breakthrough
Unlike its sibling Methodologies, came when the
the Genegineers can’t trace its roots back discovery of DNA.
to the old Cosian circles, but rather to one of Suddenly, all the avail-
the Hippocratic Circle schools founded by the able information came
Order of Reason in the 1300s. This was long together. That cells and
before the discovery of the double helix by Wat- tissues owed their structure
son, Crick, and Franklin. Back then, they were (and therefore function) to an
called the Haematologists evolved, self-replicating system of
after their chosen biological information storage and re-
field of study: trieval sent shockwaves not only through
the dynamics the Progenitors, but the scientific world
and prop- at large.
er ties of The only possible course of action
blood. Fast- that the Progenitors could take was to
fo r w a r d a devote prodigious amounts of funding
few centuries and research to the subject. After all, it
to the wild was the Holy Grail that our pre-Cosian
and woo- ancestors sought — the answer to the
ly days riddle of life! After lengthy debates, an
of the emergence Conference held in 1954 Confer-
scientific ence announced at its closing symposium
method, the foundation of a new Methodology
and we find such Geniuses as Luigi Galvani, discov- comprised of their own homegrown ex-
erer of the connection between electricity and the perts. Thus, the Mutagenic Engineers were
actions of the nervous system, and Gregor Men- rechristened the Genegineers.
del, who worked out the first functional model

Operations
their creation of new life. The number one customer for
such entities is Damage Control, by a wide margin. They
From its foundation, the charter of the Genegineers really can’t be used in many other roles due to Rejection.
has been the complete understanding and mastery of the This has led to widespread criticism of the Methodology —
genetics of every species — known, unknown, and yet not just among the Progenitors by across the Union — the
to be created. The completion of the Human Genome thrust of which is questioning if the cost of making their
Project, while being a defining moment for the Methodol- monsters is worth it, when NWO can provide security for
ogy, is merely the first in a series of milestones. To date, a much lower cost, financial and otherwise.
the Methodology has cataloged the genomes of tens of Another product line about which the Genegineers
thousands of species, with hundreds of thousands of more has been taking a lot of flak recently is genetic enhance-
earmarked for analysis and inclusion. With the discovery ment. Upgrades like built-in bioweapons, Enlightened
of an average of a dozen or so new species every year, this senses, and performance and durability boosters were chic
job may never truly be done. for the better part of the ’90s, but all that has changed
Even with all the information they have gleaned on of late. Most of these enhancements can be replicated
genetics, many Genegineers readily admit that their Sci- by Pharmacopoeist drugs at a lower price point, without
ence is still in its infancy. Over the sixty-odd years they invasive procedures. The drugs are also safer. When your
have been at work, they have found thousands of viable Consensus-breaking abilities come from an alteration to
combinations of DNA to weave into their hybrid creatures, your own Pattern, you become the battery for any result-
along with hundreds more synthetic sequences. The result ing Rejection. Lab techs call field agents who still use
is a frightening and awesome bestiary of life beyond the implants (especially xenotransplants) “human bombs”
wildest speculations of the Chiurgeons of old. They hand behind their backs. The most damning criticism is in the
over control of their more durable and frightening cre- statistics; the number of voluntary implant surgeries has
ations to Damage Control for use in security operations. dropped a staggering 87.4% since 1998.
You can find Genegineer scientists on every continent Those pointed criticisms have caused the Genegineers
in the world, hunting for new and exotic strains of DNA. to branch out in a different direction. Instead of making
The Methodology has invested a significant portion of living weapons and enhancements for Front Line troops,
their energies and funds in the tropical rainforests of South a small but growing group within the Methodology has
and Central America, looking to catalog the genetics of decided to directly help Sleepers. At first, a handful of
as many species as possible. (Which has lead to some of individuals went to work in cancer wards and genetic
their financial support to the Biosphere Explorers amal- disorder clinics. Once word got out about their altruistic
gams.) With the development of those areas by Syndicate work, their numbers began to swell. The Shared Gover-
controlled corporations, many species have vanished into nance Council gave it’s approval and funded the programs
extinction already, taking their genetic secrets with them. officially. Of course, this consent came with a caveat from
Ethical Compliance: that any damage caused to the Con-
Methodology sensus would be considered a security breach and dealt
With all the knowledge they have amassed in such with accordingly. Not that stern warnings will stop them;
a short period of time, a critical examination of the the dearth of advancement opportunities in this line of
Genegineers’ activities reveals a startling lack of wisdom. work means only those yearning to help others join up, and
To many other Technocrats, they seem almost reckless in that sort of passion can override conventional thinking.
46 Progenitors
Pharmacopoeists
The Pharmacopoeists is a house divided. One side with a multi-pronged mission: to unite the remaining
of the Methodology is the pride of the Convention. It Cosian schools still floundering in the darkness, to
works tirelessly to improve the human condition by de- combat disease by founding hospitals and universities,
veloping medicines and therapeutic compounds. and to educate the masses about the foundation of
It’s pioneered lifesaving drugs: penicillin, vac- medical science, so that they would never have
cines for diseases from smallpox to AIDS, to hide themselves again. Naturally, this pitted
and treatments for chronic and terminal them against the Verbena and Celestial Chorus,
conditions like heart disease and cancer. It engendering conflicts that still rage to this day.
also addresses little things that make life The following centuries led to an unprec-
easier and more fulfilling, such as sexual edented rate of advancement of life sciences. With
enhancers, depilatories and hair the newfound power of their unity, the Apothecaries
growth stimulants, and a rainbow dug into their mission. They ushered in entire
of metabolism accelerators. new schools of thought regarding the interac-
Then there’s the darker side of tion between the body and substances found
the house: the street labs and illicit drug in nature. Their successes allowed them to
distribution networks. We had the best escape the tumultuous Grand Housekeep-
intentions when getting into that nasty ing of the 1860s mostly unscathed. One
business, but that trade has always been significant change brought by this was to
sleazy and dangerous. We just haven’t their name. By then, the term “apoth-
been able to keep our hands clean. Be- ecary” was going out of fashion; the
cause of this contrast, this Methodology is Methodology renamed itself to the
a living illustration of the Convention’s Pharmacopoeists.
split nature. The Pharmacopoeists cen-
turies-long streak of altruistic
History development ended in the early
Pharmacopoeists boasts an unbro- 1970s. Sleeper organized crime
ken lineage stretching back to the 4th cells transmuted into enterprises
century BCE Cosian Apothecaries trained devoted to the manufacturing,
by Hippocrates, claimed as an Enlightened distribution, and sale of danger-
medical practitioner. Thanks to their early ous and impure recreational
developments in longevity, individuals could street drugs. The trend
continue their works for decades past a normal continued unabated
human lifespan. Naturally, the advanced stuff well into the next
was kept away from the general population. This decade. The drugs
wasn’t out of a fear of Rejection — the Consensus these kingpins produced
wasn’t very strong or unified back then — but out began to kill people in record num-
of self-preservation. As many cultures descended into bers. Fingers were pointed—usually at
barbarism, they often labeled healers as witches. The vampires, the Cultists of Ecstasy, or
Apothecaries fled, continuing their labors in secrecy the Syndicate. The New World Order
and isolation. They splintered their numbers and ef- placed the responsibility for solving the
forts in the name of safety, prohibiting the exchange problem squarely on the shoulders of the
of information. This hindered the advancement of Progenitors, since the Pharmacopoeists
medical science in the early part of the second millen- were uniquely (if unfortunately) qualified.
nium, and was directly responsible for many ghastly We had the best of intentions. The
privations of the Dark Ages. need for the release and glamor these
The Renaissance brought a reversal. When the street drugs provide is an incurable
Order of Reason reunited them, forging the Hippo- part of human existence. Curb-
cratic Circle, the Apothecaries charged themselves ing demand was dismissed as

impossible, so the only recourse was to make them safer, laboratories across the Technocratic Union, absolute
cleaner, and with minimal side effects. That was until the containment measures have to be maintained at all times,
Syndicate got their grubby mitts in the business. They or research that triggers Rejection can be wiped out in an
have changed the street labs into the biggest source of instant. The cost of these containment methods is astro-
income for not just the Progenitors, but the Union as a nomical, and only buys about a 50% success rate. This
whole. Long-gone are the days of concern over the purity has dramatically slowed many developmental timetables.
and safety of the product. The street lab organizations The impact on the illegal operations is dramatic as
take their cues from their Syndicate masters, who allow well. The majority of research into new street drugs is
the Progenitors in the field only enough authority to done in academic-side research facilities. The street labs
insure smooth daily operations. The strategic direction just don’t have the gear or personnel for pure theoretical
is solely focused on profit, and has been for decades now. work (nor, for that matter, the desire). Their strength lies
in effective mass production. Since the Anomaly, this
Operations means that every scrap of research and development for
The daily operations of the Pharmacopoeists haven’t the next ten iterations of crack, heroin, and PCP are on
changed much since the mid-1980s. On the legitimate file in labs on Earth, where Sleeper law enforcement and
side, they run research laboratories and pharmacological the Cult of Ecstasy can get to them. And before you say
production plants on every continent (yes, every continent). anything about how tight security, keep in mind that it’s
They follow the general model used by Sleeper pharma- a lot easier to get into a locked filing cabinet than it was
ceutical companies. Controlling entities and research to get into a Horizon realm. This has caused Damage
facilities are hosted in developed nations such as the Control many a sleepless night, even after moving the
United States, Switzerland, and Japan, with production most sensitive operations to undersea Constructs.
plants operating in less developed countries like India,
the Philippines, and Mexico. The Syndicate created this Convention
arrangement, at the behest of the pre-Anomaly Progeni- A lot of Technocrats are absolutely enamored with
tor leadership. From a purely economic standpoint, it the Pharmacopoeists. They provide essential services to
makes perfect sense. The drug formulas are controlled all the other Conventions. NWO relies on psychoactive
and maintained in the more powerful nations, while compounds to assist in Processing. (NWO agents techni-
production is done in places where labor is cheap and cally can do it themselves without assistance, but running
security can behave in as extralegal a fashion as necessary. farms of Processing tanks is a hell of a lot easier with
The view from the street lab side of the house hasn’t superdrugs at your disposal.) Vitamin deficiencies, bone
changed a lot since the ’80s either. Drugs produced in the loss, and radiation sickness would constantly plague the
same third world shitholes still feed the millions of brass Void Engineers without a Pharmacopoeist-stocked sickbay
monkeys in the first. Serf-like peasants manufacture product, on every vessel. Mood stabilizers and attention enhancers
disposable mules take it over national borders, and criminal are widely used by Iteration X. Those hardsuits can get
distribution networks dole it out on street corners. It’s the awfully confining when you practically live in them the
same model you see in movies and television, except that the way they do. And of course, the money brought in by
roots go far deeper than even the most addled conspiracy both sides of the house keeps the Syndicate fat and happy.
crackpots can dream. Imagine what their reaction would be if Within the Convention, the Pharmacopoeists enjoy
they learned the true nature of the drug trade. The sound of a position of prestige and fear. Prestige comes from their
their collective minds blowing would be like distant thunder. aforementioned cash flow. Technocratic operations cost
Most people forget there’s more to the Methodol- a tremendous amount of money, and the Progenitors’ are
ogy than getting cured and getting high. These scientists no exception. Labs and facilities are incredibly expensive,
are the foremost experts on poisons (both making and especially now that they can no longer depend on Horizon
treating), amnesia cocktails, truth serums, etc. If you foundries for raw materials and energy. As for the fear, take
can imagine something that could be administered pill, a good, hard look at illegal narcotics cartels. Semi-fictional
injection, spray, or patch, you bet they have people on it. works like The Wire aren’t far off the mark regarding what
Like every Methodology, the Dimensional Anomaly it takes to run that kind of operation. A blend of icy self-
had expensive ramifications for the Pharmacopoeists. On control, psychotic violence, and cunning brilliance is essential
the academic side, it means that all new pharmacological to insure consistent success under those conditions. People
research and development has to take place in an environ- who possess those qualities are scary enough on their own
ment where Rejection is a possibility. As with Earthside without the notion that they’re backed by the most powerful
and invisible organization on the face of the Earth.
48 Progenitors
Applied Sciences
The image most Technocrats have of the Progeni- around as some are making themselves worthwhile to
tors is the researcher in the laboratory, with equipment those cynical RDs.
ranging from Bunsen burners to unfathomable multi-
billion dollar apparatuses. This is not an unreasonable Deviancy Scene
assumption to make, as well over 90% of us live up to that
stereotype. But not every scientist’s work is in insulated Investigators
environments; some earn their stripes working in the field, Progenitor Science has many applications in the
seeking hands-on experience. While those who work in world of criminal investigation. Naturally, our Devices
pure research recoil from this quaint idea, the men and operate on a stratospheric level compared to anything
women of Applied Sciences yearn to go out into the world in the Sleeper world, but the basic idea of what they do
and actively make it a better place. is the same as their mundane counterparts. The work of
Deviancy Scene Investigators is invaluable to the security
Many in Applied Sciences amalgams refer to them-
divisions of the Union, in particular the Operations
selves as “action scientists” (and in the case of some
Methodology of the NWO. They also work hand in hand
Damage Control operatives, “combat scientists”). This is
with Damage Control. Otherwise, they wouldn’t know
a key element to their mindset and identity: they aren’t
where point their guns. Because of their extensive work
just NWO thugs or Iteration X units to be bossed around
with DNA sampling and identification, most DSIs are
and deployed to places where “real work isn’t happen-
Genegineers with some FACADE Engineers in the mix.
ing.” They see themselves as bridge between Progenitor
science and the real world. To put it in the words of one These Enlightened forensic teams frequently embed
Médecins Sans Superstition doctor (after getting a bit drunk in Sleeper law enforcement. It lends an air of legitimacy to
at the 2010 Conference and overhearing some snark at their operations. Badges can open doors without resorting to
the mention of his kind): “What does my badge say? It methods that risk Rejection. It also affords the investigators
says ‘Doctor.’ That’s not a fucking honorary title — I’m a first-hand look at candidates for induction into the Union.
a scientist, just like you. Except I have the balls to also The Sleeper credentials they carry are little more than
be something more.” Shortly afterward, a brawl broke a useful fiction in service to their real job — using En-
out; the action scientist was on top when the brawl was lightened Science to investigate threats to the Consensus.
broken up, but that didn’t help bridge understanding After Operations pacifies the scene of a Reality Deviance
between this new group of Progenitors and their older, event, Progenitor investigators go to work, bringing every
indoctrinated brethren. tool at their disposal to bear in discovering crucial evidence.
There is a general sense of community across everyone DNA samplers, time/motion splatter analysis, holographic
in Applied Sciences — natural for a group who has to band reconstruction, whatever it takes. They’re so good at what
together to defend against outside political pressures. But they do that the Progenitors loans their expertise out to
beyond that, there is a sense of culture. They celebrate every other Convention, making them the go-team for
scientist-heroes in fiction, from Doc Savage to Star Trek to investigating events that confound everyone else.
Atomic Robo, even when what these figures do has nothing Their expertise, equipment, and razor-keen minds
to do with the life sciences. make them the natural choice for procuring supernatural
Applied Sciences isn’t a Methodology (though they test subjects. Need to neutralize a werewolf? DSIs have sil-
had to fight to not be turned into one — a classic Progenitor ver nitrate power-soakers and genetically tailored narcotic
trick to cut someone’s funding). They’re more like super- mists that can drop a raging beast in its tracks. Vampires
amalgams; groups of groups with likeminded purposes are a little trickier, but accelerated coagulant darts and
and command hierarchy. The first of them, Médecins Sans aerodynamic wooden stake bomblets even the odds. They
Superstition, patterned themselves after Damage Control. have specialized gear for just about every form of Reality
Others have since formed. They’re made up from mem- Deviant out there, and the guts (and brains) to do the job.
bers of various Methodologies (often pariahs, outcasts, or
undesirables from the perspective of Research Directors), Médecins Sans
which means they still have access to political, financial, Superstition
and tangible resources, even if begrudgingly so. That said, One of the first groups of Progenitors to formalize
the attitude toward Applied Sciences is slowly turning fieldwork is a group mostly comprised of Pharmacopoe-

ists called Médecins Sans Superstition (Doctors Without cal defenses, some of which have effects similar to synthetic
Superstition). Its self-made mission is to practice medicine Enlightened compounds, but with a game-changing resis-
so-called “hot spots” — places in dire need of trained medi- tance to Rejection. The medical and research applications
cal personnel. This means inner city hospitals in ghettos of these exotic chemistries has kept the Pharmacopoeists
and barrios around the world, remote places that haven’t busy for decades. The same seemingly inexhaustible array
seen doctors in years, or field clinics in war-torn nations. of species is relevant to Genegineer interests; they’ve cata-
There, its members do as their Cosian predecessors did: loged hundreds of thousands of species of insect alone,
heal the sick, tend to the wounded, and ease the dying out each with unique and exciting genetic traits.
of this world. It’s hard work, full of heartbreaking loss. This has been an unexpected boon. The Genegi-
As one of their doctors said, “You savor every tiny victory neers and Pharmacopoeists offer bounties on relevant
as it comes, because they’re so fleeting. But at the end of new discoveries. Two things come from that: finances to
the day, when you have spent it helping people instead of continue missions and respect from those who used to
playing it safe in a lab, it makes it all worthwhile.” look down on them. The Biosphere Explorers are earning
Of course, being Progenitors, their plans have their keep, to where some RDs suggest that young, antsy
multiple layers. In addition to medical practice, these Scientists join them for a few months.
doctor-scientists also push to strengthen the acceptance These Explorers work in near isolation. Their Con-
of modern medicine and science in general. Many of the structs are very small, usually only able to host five people
people they come into contact with have dangerously at a time (ten for short periods of time, before supplies
low levels of Consensus buy-in. Low education rates, no — sometimes including oxygen — run low). There simply
normalized experience with technology, and economies isn’t room for the usual security personnel lab Progenitors
crippled by war or poverty (or both) create an air of request when going into the field. While they usually don’t
desperation, which Reality Deviants easily exploit. Tra- have to face as many Reality Deviants as others in Applied
ditionalists recruit acolytes and spread their dangerous Sciences, their work threatens in ways no other Progenitor
ideas, opening the door for Marauders and Nephandi. faces. (Though, when they encounter something too hot
Supernatural predators hunt with impunity. for them, they aren’t stupid; they call Damage Control for
The Médecins Sans Superstition doctors are frequently an extraction.) When they’re not out in the far corners
the only hope these communities have against Deviant of the world, they’re at home taking training from Void
threats. They must be ready to defend their charges at Engineer marines and explorers in survival and combat.
a moment’s notice, without any backup. Because they Every Biosphere Explorer has at least one harrowing
travel alone or in small groups, they take as much combat story about narrowly escaping death: submarines crack-
training as they can from Black Suits, and carry weapons ing from deep water pressure, evading hungry sharks or
fabricated in Iteration X foundries. What they lack in polar bears, even discovering lost tombs full of Deviant
numbers, they make up in resilience. horrors. They’ve seen it all. Listening to their tales over
drinks can be a humbling and exciting experience.
Biosphere Explorers
The Biosphere Explorers studies the astounding di- Damage Control
versity of life on Earth. Nature has an endless capacity to Damage Control, the oldest of Applied Sciences (since
solve problems in elegant and useful ways. The Biosphere before that was even a term), has the unenviable task of ensur-
Explorers’ drive to discover these secrets takes them out ing the security of the entire Convention. Their order stems
of the lab and into the furthest corners of Earth. Every from the Phylaxoi during the Order of Reason, the warriors
new species it discovers presents multiple opportunities who protected the healers. Its mission is to defend the physical
to learn how to improve health and quality of life for and operational security of our Constructs and personnel.
humanity. It’s established permanent research Constructs It’s our internal security force, internal investigation division,
in the rainforests of South America and Southeast Asia, and wetwork group. This near unilateral power — one of the
desert ecologies in Africa and China, the ice fields on last legacies of the Pre-Anomaly Administration — inspires
both polar caps, and deep sea heat vents — just to name compliance and fear alike.
the more extreme environments.
Unlike the rest of the us, who use titles like Scientist
The Pharmacopoeists views these ecologies as vast and Research Director, Damage Control’s titles remind
reserves of untapped chemical potential. The sheer volume you of who they are: Constable, Chief Inspector, etc.
of species competing for resources over the last 40 million Don’t let that mislead; each one is a Progenitor in her own
years has evolved a startling and exciting panoply of chemi- right (if they’re human; some officers are genegineered
50 Progenitors
creatures or other entities). Many carry doctorates to go others in Applied Sciences have become useful — notably
along with their Inspired weaponry. Deviancy Scene Investigators. And when hunting down a
They do the dirty work so that you and I can sleep rogue Progenitor, experts into the target’s field of inquiry
well in our beds. Most of that work involves hunting are using to have on hand… as are friends and colleagues,
down escaped chimerical experiments and rogue Pro- to gain insight into a target’s mind.
genitors (especially Nephandi), providing security for Contrary to the beliefs that many have about them,
remote facilities and disaster-prone experiments, and so most Damage Control agents regret executing a fellow
on. If there are reports of Sleepers spotting Progenitor Progenitor. They have a code of conduct and do not take
tech, they investigate before Rejection becomes critical. liquidation lightly. It’s just that, at the end of the day,
Constables also go after Traditionalists sporting pseudo- they’ll do what’s necessary for the health of the Convention
medicine with great prejudice, and another other such and Union. DC believes in amputating a finger before
reported occurrences. Keeping such ideas from poisoning infection spreads to the arm, and amputating the arm
the Masses as a whole falls very much under their idea before it spreads to the heart. (One of the former head
of “damage control.” honchos of our order, Dr. Charles Reid, was sanctioned
Part of keeping the Convention secure is not letting for this reason. Reid is the cautionary tale for any Coun-
the rest of the Union know the extent to which Dam- cilor who considers stepping out of line.)
age Control is necessary. When DC agents are in the
field, they’ll sometimes integrate into mixed-
Convention amalgams under cover. Other
times, they’ll co-opt a Sleeper organization
as a front (more than one FBI field office
has become a temporary Damage Control
front). Most such agents cover up their
tracks after an operation is done, to keep
NWO or the Syndicate in the dark.
Ethical Compliance
Ethical Compliance is a subsection
of Damage Control, who only looks
into Convention activities. They
are the Progenitor’s thought
police, and they don’t make
any attempt to hide that
fact. A visit from Ethical
Compliance causes
all but the stupidest
or most oblivious
Progenitor to stop
whatever they’re doing.
And usually it just takes one unexpected
appointment with EC to course correct
a scientist’s behavior.
There are two to three dozen
dedicated EC agents at any given time.
However, they have the unique ability
within the Convention to conscript
anyone into a task force. Usually, that’s
a matter of assigning some Damage
Control wetwork constables, but

Chapter Three:
Prescriptions
Scientists of Note
Dr. Ajani Durand, Anomaly, Durand firmly made her case that she was
needed not at school, but in the field helping impacted
Pharmacopoeists/ labs on the Front Lines become operational again. The
Damage Control, 1982-Present travel and risk Ajani experienced put her in regular
Doctor Ajani Durand felt the call to contact with Damage Control, as compromised labo-
medical science at an early age. As a second- ratories and dangerous unsupervised constructs were
generation Technocrat, she was raised with discovered in greater number than before Anomaly.
one foot on Earth, and the other in the Her life split between risky missions to far flung
far-flung Progenitor off-world laboratories. labs on Earth pushed her into an increasingly stubborn
Durand was orphaned as a teenager — both her parents were refusal to return to lab work, declaring to her superiors
working in a Deep Universe laboratory when the Dimen- that her training in pharmacology was best put to use
sional Anomaly hit. Luckily, Ajani was planetside, attending in the world, and not in the lab. After meeting Damage
university in France. Control Constable Nathan Durand during an assign-
ment to rescue laboratory research from the wreckage
Suddenly recalled by the Union to act as another
of a Progenitor installation in Southern France, the two
trained pair of hands in the harsh fallout left by the
became nearly inseparable.

Cassidy Perry,
With a long term plan in mind for life after gradu-
ation, Ajani began crafting a manual of “Safety and
Security” Procedures to test for field use with home FACADE Engineers, 1999-Present
personnel, basing the defense Procedures on her cur- Cassidy Perry’s early life held few hopes and smaller
rent vein of pharmacology research at Institut Pasteur dreams. As a crown ward of the Canadian government,
on the pharmacology of pain. Approval for the tests she had been removed from her home, bullied over her
was debated for three years, during which Ajani grudg- mixed race, and well aware of her uncertain future.
ingly finished her internship. Though approval of her
proposed experimental program has come with tight Science became her safe haven, an escape from the
restrictions and a test pool made only of a small num- world and her peers, peppering her teachers daily with
ber of personnel in France, some of her research has numerous and rapidly advanced questions. Hungry
been expanded on by the Convention, with a branch for knowledge and out reading her own school in a
exploring her theorems for weaponizing her findings manner of months, her pattern of unusual reading
for use in the field to counter enemies originally — or activity and rapid pace had her flagged by the Union
resembling — something with a human central nervous as a person of interest.
system. Due to her age, FACADE reached an agreement: the
The Hindu-French husband and wife team have only way they could offer her entry into the Convention
sparked conversation inside and outside the Progeni- was via the Howser Project (an under-the-radar program to
tors, as the two action-oriented scientists make their rapidly accelerate the physiological growth of very young
case for increasing safety and security training for all Enlightened minds). If she refused, they’d walk away.
members of the Progenitors. The Durands have argued When she turned twelve, they took the offer to
repeatedly to any lab director who will agree to see Cassidy. When presented with her options — remain a
them that the Golden Hour of the Union may be run- crown ward and endure the many physical and financial
ning out, and it is up to the whole of the Progenitor hardships to come, or accept the unusual offer of the
Convention to brave the worst dangers imaginable to FACADE Engineers — Cassidy sided with FACADE.
keep the Union alive. Issued a UID and told she no longer needed her name,
the teenager agreed to leave her old life behind.
54 Progenitors
Putting their plan into play, Cassidy’s extrac- drive to pursue bioethics. Black South Africans’ treatment
tion from her old life was conducted by a FACADE by white doctors was monstrous; the unethical human
amalgam, with help from a single outside source: the experimentation was its own medical apartheid. Black
Void Engineers. Their assistance was a necessity; Void medical personnel worked brutal hours in facilities that
Engineers had helped the Progenitors restore access to possessed only the most basic medical resources. What
deep-sea laboratories, including the lab Cassidy Perry Kalyan’s medical school lacked in practical — or nearly
was bound for. The Void Engineers orchestrated ad- any — bioethics training was made up for by begging,
ditional assistance on their trip from the surface to the borrowing and stealing access to every text and person
bottom of the ocean. he could find to impart the desperately needed and
Once there, the process to take Cassidy from con- elusive component of his education.
spicuous child to full grown adult began. Cassidy was When the world hailed apartheid as ended in the
taken from a short, malnourished teen to a healthy 1990s, a degree of unprecedented mobility was created
adult woman of twenty in a matter of months. Then she for the Progenitors. During apartheid, it was difficult
received her new identity as Cassidy Perry — whatever for Progenitors to move with ease inside the country;
name and identity Cassidy had before the Union was personnel who weren’t white faced impossible barriers
buried, hidden to all outside the Howser Project. In a when dealing with the larger scientific community, and
decision that mirrored many of the Technocrats that those who were distrusted by a majority of the popula-
came before her, she has resolutely turned her back tion. Progenitor resources present in the country were
on her old life, making no moves to contact any prior funneled as frequently as possible into the underserved
foster families or friends. communities by back channels — dangerous work for
As one of the stable and functional Progenitors both the Progenitors and anyone found in possession of
produced by the Howser Project, Cassidy lives and medical equipment apartheid had fought to keep from
works inside an intensely stressful panopticon of an their communities. When the cultural-medical wall fell,
environment inside the Union. While valued among a wave of new Progenitor personnel in South Africa were
her fellow Progenitors and other Howser Fellows, she the ones to come across Kalyan, slowly absorbing the
spends every day aware that her research into botanical man into the Convention a step at a time.
cloning and gene manipulation comes under closer Noah was one of the first on scene when the Progeni-
scrutiny than that of her peers. As one of the few suc- tors faced the local destruction left by the Dimensional
cessful products of the project, the road ahead of the Anomaly. He went to work coordinating rescue of sci-
young Progenitor is still a rocky one. entific personnel and data from the wreckage landing
in the rural areas of South Africa. Those early, desperate
Noah Kalyan, days were a bonding experience between local Progeni-
tors and Void Engineers, sharing a mutual heartbreak
Genegineers, 1970-Present at the devastation they bore witness to. These cross-
One of the premier surviving Bioethicists from be- Convention and cross-Methodology efforts have made
fore the Dimensional Anomaly, Noah Kalyan endured Noah a supporter of in-house cooperation among the
and survived his life before the Progenitors as a medical Progenitors. He’s also urged that the partnership with
student during the South African apartheid. In a period the Void Engineers continue. In Deep Horizon as well
where black students still were heavily restricted from as the far-flung corners of the earth, both Conventions
entry into higher education, Noah pushed on to make a held considerable numbers of personnel and data. With
life for himself as a doctor. Failure was too horrific and each other’s help, they may yet save them.
terrifying to contemplate. Noah’s specialty in genetics
Noah walks a dangerous path as one of the leaders
is the study of heritable congenital defects. The unseen
of the Progenitors in South Africa. With the recent ad-
inherited flaws in the human body are often waiting in
vent of Shared Governance in the Progenitors, Noah no
deadly silence.
longer has an Administration behind him to fear. But a
Having watched his father, also a doctor, despair determined bioethicist at the wheel in South Africa has
over the losses of his patients’ children, Noah’s choice driven some of the worst black bag projects of the era
of field was made out of a desire to alleviate widespread underground. Beneath the halls of his struggling and
suffering, from patient to caregivers. The consequences ethics-minded community of Progenitors lurk terrifying
of ethical ignorance in the medical community fueled his and deadly secrets Noah has only begun to discover.

Rumors and Lore
Research Graft Chimera 467
Expedition 215 Combining personnel from Genegineers and FA-
CADE, Dr. Martin Chase’s cross-Methodology lab was a
The twelve-person expedition,
botanical house of horrors, disguised as a boring Earth-
headed by Pharmacopeist Hugh Riley
side sample processing and analysis laboratory (though
went into the mountains of Tibet to con-
one completely off the Agronomists’ radar). Producing
duct a botanical study in the rural and
a host of sentient plants, toxic hybrids, and botanical
difficult to access area. Riley had built
security measures, the lab was decommissioned for a
a theory that the plants in the remote
decade after a lab accident resulted in Chase’s death.
areas may could have Prime influenced
The Primary Investigator was found dead in a pond on
evolution based on the evidence of an unusual, long
laboratory grounds, used for the observation of larger
standing energy pattern in Tibet.
water samples. Before the Pre-Anomaly decommission,
His team included Laura Casca and Peter Flynn, someone with laboratory access destroyed as much as
both on loan from the Void Engineers’ Earth Frontier they could of the organic and written material on the
Division, specifically the EFD’s Inaccessible High Eleva- premises.
tion Exploration Teams. Though it wasn’t expected to
The lab was reactivated in 2010 for organic field
be a milk run, Riley’s expedition met with difficulties
sample processing, and the remaining sensitive records
far beyond their expectations. Thomas Skelton, the only
of the laboratory surfaced. They chronicle the bizarre
member of the expedition responsible for its security,
focus of Chase’s private research — all of it reckless,
died in the first week of mountain climbing due to an
unethical, and highly unorthodox. The sort of hell that
equipment malfunction. Unable to take his body with
justifies Ethical Compliance.
them, they wrapped him in a decay-resistant body bag and
placed him in a deep outcropping. The locator beacon “Graft Chimera 467” is one of his personal projects.
placed with his body malfunctioned within days; by that The new species combines human DNA and that from
time the expedition covered a considerable portion of multiple plant families, making them the only known,
inhospitable terrain, encountering a scant number of presumably developed beyond seed-stage plant/human
religious pilgrims. The freak weather encountered by the hybrid created by the Convention on Earth.
expedition triggered urgent messages to return as soon The scientists analyzing these unsanctioned labora-
as possible. The beacon with the body of Skelton was tory experiments have issued a curt notice to their sister
dead, and the expedition vanished off the patchy satellite laboratories: 467 is an invasive species. Allowed to develop
feed. Whether the messages reached the expedition is unchecked, 467 has a statistical likelihood of creating a
unknown. A garbled message from Riley was received thriving and difficult to eliminate monoculture. In the
days after the directive to return, of which only a few wild, 467 would spread outside its original geographic
words were decipherable. area and choke out or interbreed with other plants…
“Dispatch, we can’t come back.” and quite possibly humans as well. The consequences of
such unstable Enlightened botanical material are not yet
Twenty-four hours after the transmission, the
fully understood. If the fragmented records left behind
Dimensional Anomaly happened. Even in the post-
are to be believed, Graft Chimera 467 may use Primal
Anomaly era, the topography of Tibet’s energy is still
Energy in a process similar to photosynthesis. A Prime-
relatively unknown, making it a mountainous Bermuda
influenced evolution could make 467 even harder to kill.
Triangle. No rescue expeditions by the Progenitors
were authorized. The deployment or status of any Very little data on this remains, but their potential
rescue operations by the Void Engineers is a mystery. for destruction and damage to the Consensus is being
taken with utmost seriousness. The whereabouts of any
Refusing to classify the remaining eleven expedition
surviving organic material from the project, or any living
members as dead, both the Progenitors and Void Engi-
467 Chimaeras, is unknown. The eradication of 467
neers have listed the personnel of Research Expedition
organisms will become a Convention priority if proof
215 as “Current Location: Unknown”. There are rumors
surfaces of their survival.
that an expedition beacon recently reactivated in Tibet.
56 Progenitors
The Promethean Society
track as a competent and dedicated cloning specialist
until log in discrepancies involving his ID were found
Since the days of the Hippocratic Circle, Progeni- during a spot laboratory audit. Lockewood spent hours
tors have dealt with those of their own attempting in the cloning facilities in Utah while not scheduled
to cheat death. In the earliest years of the Circle, for a shift. Being less competent at scrubbing his login
resurrection was perceived as going against the Di- use than at cloning, Lockewood was initially flagged
vine, a blasphemous act against Heaven. The study of during the audit on concerns of overwork. The rise
resurrection and the dead were done largely in secret. in Technocrats working themselves to exhaustion
By the time Mary Shelley published Frankenstein, a being no secret, his lab’s Primary Investigator was
new crop of resurrection-obsessed Progenitors gathered first concerned that he’d been logging extra hours
in England. Like members of the Circle’s unsanctioned in an attempt to lighten the load for his colleagues.
House of Olympus, these Progenitors would be forced Lockewood’s disappearance during the investigation
to practice in secret. Even in 1818, the religious and raised additional flags, but no one was prepared for
cultural repulsion at such study lingered, driving such the data found in Lockewood’s home.
activity underground. These scientists each saw them- Hastily destroyed written records, combined with
selves as a modern, scientific Prometheus, creating life laboratory equipment cobbled together with Lock-
as the Titan. They were the intellectual heirs to the ewood’s understanding of hypertech, created a picture
renegade Cosians who had come before them. of grim and paranoid personal research into cloning.
A select number of their experiments succeeded. The few remaining records were incomprehensible and
Inspector Rathbone’s Skeleton Keys exterminated nauseating for investigators to peruse. Lockewood’s
these unnatural creatures whenever encountered. methods, fragmented as they were, seemed to fly in
Fearing discovery, the rogue scientists kept relocating the face of Enlightened understanding about cloning.
their laboratories. As Rathbone assumed these events His writing indicated a man suffering from troubling
to be the work of Traditionalists, the Society spent delusions of persecution and conspiracy. Investigators
much of its time one step ahead, barely, of those at- pieced together his fear of a non-specific antagonist
tempting to locate and unmask them. One captured group that knew he was aware of their involvement in
Promethean likened the hunt to “feeling the breath the death of his colleague and fellow student Deborah
of bloodhounds on the back of my neck.” Parker. Parker, killed in traffic accident six months
As the Grand Housekeeping occurred in 1897, the before Lockewood came under scrutiny, had been
danger represented by the Society grew. They had set a close personal friend of the troubled Progenitor.
their sights higher than brief resurrections of animals Attempts to locate and subdue Lockewood for
and chimera. And they succeeded in resurrecting one questioning resulted in deadly consequences for the
of their own, Dr. Ezekiel Stewart. The Rejection was Technocrats charged with bringing him in. When two
catastrophic — the manor house where Stewart was simultaneous incidents involving Lockewood, both
destroyed, and Her Majesty’s Reformation crushed resulting in the death of field operatives were exam-
the Society shortly after. With the renegades dead, ined, a diagnosis was reached. Lockewood, who had
their research destroyed, the Union was more than previously tested as unable to understand or access
happy to bury the matter in the Archives. Correspondence, was not using a simple co-location
Recently, it’s come to Ethical Compliance’s at- Correspondence Procedure: he had cloned himself.
tention that an organlegging operation discovered Further encounters confirmed fears that his
by Progenitors in the field is ran by a man using the clones are in fact networked, operating in tandem.
name E. Stewart, raising the specter of the possibility These clones are developed using an unstable ap-
that once again, the Society has risen to the occasion. plication of his Enlightened Science — with mental
patterns and signatures far too similar to Marauders
The Lockewood Hive for comfort. The Lockewood Hive has killed several
Progenitors. Each clone is considered as dangerous
Friendly, intelligent, and outspoken, FACADE
Engineer Aaron Lockewood was on a steady career as its creator, and on Damage Control’s top ten list.

Progenitor Fronts
Wherever science touches the living the University of Chicago, most of its work is done
world, chances are you’ll find a Progeni- abroad. Deep Green scientists tour the back roads of
tor somewhere nearby. Our scientists can Africa, visiting villages that have minimal contact with
be found in government consulting, the modern world. Their goal is to assist the disenfran-
academia, hospitals, even forensics teams. chised in “bootstrapping” themselves to a better standard
For the most part, these fronts are of living through the use of new crops, managed nutri-
composed of unEnlightened technicians tion, and preventative healthcare techniques. The think
and employees. Enlightened personnel can tank also employs a number of advisors and lobbyists
be found at or near the top of the heap, and at home who work to direct government aid to projects
use their positions to (among other things) highlighted by the teams in the field.
disseminate knowledge and cutting-edge techniques to the The underlying theory behind Deep Green Think-
Masses. Rarely, an entire team of Progenitors will take up ing is that isolated villages can use today’s cutting edge
residence in a front, usually to tackle a particularly perni- technology to leapfrog over the infrastructure demands
cious problem that requires multiple Enlightened minds. that kept them out of yesterday’s “modern world.” The
massive water reclamation plants built in the twentieth
Academia century, for instance, are irrelevant in a world with
The undisputed home turf of the Progenitors, the life personal drinking straws with in-built water filters. The
science departments of academia form the backbone of founders of Deep Green hoped to apply similar solutions
the Convention’s efforts, especially after losing contact to the developing world’s problems.
with off-world labs. At least one Progenitor is stationed Theory met with reality in a brutal confrontation.
at every university with a reputable program in biology, Deep Green teams quickly found themselves set against
botany, chemistry, ecology, genetics, immunology, neu- rank corruption at every level: police demanding bribes,
roscience, or zoology. first-world ambassadors playing favorites for their political
Educational institutions offer ready supply of ma- sponsors, rebel paramilitary groups commandeering their
terials, including drugs, medical equipment, hospitals, supplies, even black ops teams sent (they believe) by the
and offices; networks of expertise and support, from multinational corporations interested in the water rights of
doctors to psychologists to burly orderlies; and malleable the people Deep Green sought to help. All of which is not
work force in the form of undergraduates hungry for to mention the Reality Deviants defending their personal
course credit. In addition to all this, positions within fiefdoms and attacking Technocrats simply on principle.
academia can be leveraged to reach the public sector. The future of Deep Green Thinking is uncertain.
Reputable credentials from a respected institution allow The project leader, Doctor Miranda Rogers, is intent
Progenitors to serve as science correspondents for the on digging in her heels and proceeding with the project
media and technical advisors to government panels and as planned, damn the obstacles. The scientists on the
individual politicians. ground, however, are increasingly discovering misgivings
Then there’s what some call “fast-tracking research.” with their mission. Rogers has joined one the roving
The process is simple: a lab director demonstrates some teams to prove that it can be done.
corner of Enlightened Science, then turns the project
over to unEnlightened scientists to replicate and “work Biotech Firms
out the kinks.” When they hit an obstacle that seems to Long accustomed to doing their work in the clois-
imply the Procedure is impossible, the director returns to tered labs of academia, the recent boom of biotech firms
show them that the advanced Procedure can in fact work. actually has the Progenitors scrambling to monitor, let
This leads to redoubled efforts and, if all goes well, new alone manipulate, what is happening on the Consensus’
technology introduced to the Consensus (though it can forefront of their own industry.
take years of iteration for this to hold for any given idea). Agricultural biotech companies breed new strains
of crops, new fertilizers to benefit them, and custom-
Deep Green Thinking designed pesticides that kill everything else. Medical
While the think tank Deep Green Thinking is firms concentrate on pushing the bounds of human
technically a part of the Ethnobiology department of longevity and potential, slaying disease and even
58 Progenitors
slowing the body’s natural decay. Other firms deal in It also means confronting the fallout of the darker
biofuels, growing building material, even designing corners of the world, where the Consensus is not as
a longer lasting rose blossom. established. The emergency room often sees a stream of
Progenitors working within the biotech industry of- victims of Reality Terrorist attacks, escaped and malnour-
ten work in the labs, directing research and fast-tracking ished blood slaves, even the occasional reanimated body
new developments. But they can also be found in these unaware that it’s dead. Interviewing patients about the
companies’ leadership or working as consultants or liai- “alternative medicine” they’ve sought out, from whom
sons from Progenitor front companies. Their goals are and from where, yields leads on Traditionalists operating
to keep abreast of what is happening, occasionally guide on the Masses with their signature dangerous methods.
research away from dangerous pitfalls, and encourage Whether the Progenitor follows up these leads herself or
lines of inquiry that supplement what is coming out of tips off someone else depends on the individual Scientist.
other Progenitor-controlled labs. While there are opportunities for research, unless the
hospital administration is under Technocratic control,
SanMondo: a Sustainable such studies must be conducted clandestinely. Drug
Agriculture Company tests, experimental organ grafts, even recovery regimens
Often considered the Progenitor’s flagship effort can be quietly introduced to the Masses through these
to maintain the integrity of the Technocratic Union, channels. Assuming the patient walks away healthy, few
the biotech giant SanMondo had humble beginnings questions are asked.
as a producer of pesticides. Dedicated work by Doctor
Edgar Kingley, however, “tuned” the pesticides to attack Health Bomb! Mobile Clinic
anything but a given crop; this led to a massive increase This massive bus sports a colorful swirl of paint
in crop yield. that reads “Health Bomb!” in something approximat-
The new pesticide also increased SanMondo’s stock ing street art-style lettering. Inside are two examination
value. The Syndicate stepped in to help manage the rooms, one that doubles as a fully functional operating
company’s finances, leading to a series of ruthless acqui- theater or somewhat cramped living quarters for three.
sitions and mergers. As SanMondo’s stature grew, New The bus travels from one inner city neighborhood to
World Order operatives insinuated themselves into the the next seeing to the health needs of the impoverished
company to manage its image and its relationship with and underserved.
governmental regulatory bodies. Inter-Convention work That is, however, only the Health Bomb! amalgam’s
enabled SanMondo to begin patenting DNA sequences, cover. The three Progenitors and their HIT Mark that
which allowed greater control over the resulting crops, compose Health Bomb! are Damage Control operatives.
pesticides, and other products. The bus allows these Scientists to roll unremarked into
Today, SanMondo generates an incredible amount hot zones of Reality Deviant activity, set up shop, and
of revenue while providing cheap food for the world. It pursue their targets.
consults on legislation in many different countries and Target areas often host communities suspicious of
sends experts to politicians and other influential figures outsiders due to economic disparity and political neglect.
to serve as technical advisors. The corporation is quickly By approaching bearing gifts, the amalgam finds it much
becoming a pillar of the global economy and beacon of easier to question locals in the pursuit of their quarry.
international cooperation. Within the confines of San- Additionally, patients examined in the Health Bomb!
Mondo, the Progenitors have successfully encouraged can serve as carriers for custom-tailored pathogens or
the New World Order and the Syndicate to cooperate DNA-seeking microbes, unknowingly spreading the
peacefully and productively. If this model can be applied amalgam’s search field.
elsewhere — and nothing goes wrong at SanMondo — the Some Methodologies would like to use the amalgam
future looks bright for the Union and the world. to distribute Enlightened medicine to gain Consensus
acceptance, but the manager of Health Bomb!, Dr. Morris
Hospitals and Clinics Burrows-Wright, refuses on ethical grounds. His team
While some consider the Progenitor fronts in health- wouldn’t remain around long enough to verify any such
care somewhat pedestrian affairs, those who choose them treatments’ success.
do so out of a certain calling. A hospital position means Once the amalgam eliminates its targets, the Health
working directly on the front lines against disease and Bomb! bus moves on to another target area.
injury, facing blood and death on a daily basis.

Forensics Teams Environmental
For the Progenitor who wants to fight crime, there
is the field of forensics. Crime scene investigators,
Remediation
Theories as to the nature of ecological damage
medical examiners, and toxicologists all rely on the
are varied within the Technocratic Union. Rabid
life sciences to uncover clues to put away bad guys,
optimists identify pollution as a throwback to the
and even elitists who normally disdain fieldwork find
Masses’ unwillingness to believe in clean technol-
this hard to disparage. (While this is a common front
ogy — a gut-level disbelief in anything that offers
for Deviancy Scene Investigators, they aren’t the only
something for nothing. The theory then continues
Progenitors who entrench here.)
to claim that once global Empowerment is attained,
Those same skills can be called upon for inter- environmental fallout will become a thing of the
Convention work. Progenitor forensic analysts can past. Others compare pollution to thermodynamic
lead teams from evidence to culprit in ways that entropy, stating that no process can control all its
are subtle and efficient. Not to mention, Enlight- particulars; everything produces some sort of mess.
ened forensics does much more than its mundane
Whatever their position, a number of Progenitors
counterparts — tag DNA by blood sample, perform
became interested in the industry of environmental
biometrical analysis of footprints for holographic re-
remediation, which seeks to repair ecological dam-
construction, and reset any legs broken while chasing
age. (The Preservationists welcome these scientists.)
down the culprit. In fact, the Convention gets more
Many of the techniques involved rely on tailored
requests for forensic analysts each year as the rest of
fungi and microbes, and all the work rests atop the
the Union embraces the “smarter, not harder” ethic
current understanding of ecology. In many ways,
of the post-Anomaly era.
it’s ideal work for Progenitor skill sets. And when
Clark County Forensics Department something unspeakable from the Deep Universe
runs amok and the subsequent slaying sprays ichor
Strange murders are rife in and around Las Vegas
all over downtown Detroit, telling the locals that the
for a variety of reasons, many of them supernatural.
splatter came from an industrial explosion is better
The Technocracy keeps a lid on the Deviant commu-
than the truth.
nity’s worst mistakes by seeding DSI scientists among
the first responders to crime scenes. They gather Whistler Industrial Sanitation
evidence, track down who’s responsible, then turn
Headquartered in Brussels, this environmental
over a plausible suspect that the Masses can accept
remediation firm employs twelve teams who operate
as a murderer. The alternative would be allowing
widely across Europe and North Africa. One of these
mortal law enforcement to storm the local vampire
teams is staffed by Enlightened scientists and Extraor-
lair, which would not end well.
dinary assistants; the company’s dispatcher, Wanda
Thanks to a few subtle and well-placed Mind Goossens, is an intrusion clone. The Enlightened
Procedures, the CCFD crime scene investigators team are assigned the hardest jobs — those otherwise
enjoy unparalleled privileges that other forensics deemed impossible — as well as those with the most
teams can only envy. They visit crime scenes armed. potential to gain influence and favors in the political
They question witnesses. They even make arrests. and industrial worlds.
Such privileges are necessary for their cover-up work:
However, the highest priority jobs come from the
more than once, they’ve had to dispatch a rampaging
Union itself. When the Union needs to construct a new
ghoul mad for blood while on the job.
facility and they want it kept quiet, they call Whistler.
The amalgam has only one remaining founding The Enlightened team consults with the architects
member, Investigator Nick Sanders. After seeing and construction foremen, producing a facility that
perhaps too much action, he has begun to agitate for has almost no environmental impact. All the better
a shift to the team’s function. Instead of covering up to keep it free from the undesired attention from the
offenses to the Consensus, he advocates eliminating more ecologically minded denizens of the supernatural
them. This brings him into frequent conflict with his world. Too many facilities have been uncovered by
new superior, Lead Investigator Deb Rush. For her tracing the footprint they leave; after Whistler does
part, Rush simply wants to demonstrate some lead- its work, that becomes nearly impossible.
ership and get reassigned to a less violent position.
60 Progenitors
Progenitor Amalgams
For a different spin on your Mage the Storyteller should take care that this is not the only
chronicle, consider a game in which all (or compelling plot arc available.
most) of the player characters are Progeni- A Progenitor-only amalgam will see its fair share
tors. The Convention as a whole tends of antagonists drawn from the Council of Traditions,
toward insularity, its members preferring from the ranks of the supernatural, and from the weird
to work with like-minded doctors and and strange corners of the World of Darkness. Its most
scientists rather than outside elements pernicious antagonists, though, will come from the
with foreign priorities and values. Union itself: agents from other Conventions with agendas
The key to a Progenitor chronicle is a that do not square with the Progenitors’ vision for the
premise where all the characters are doc- future. The worst part of these antagonists is that they
tors or otherwise associated with life sciences. There is no can’t simply be beaten down and erased… most of the
shortage of television shows with this exact premise: teams time. The player characters will need to balance when
of doctors, bound to a common purpose, can approach a to work with their fellow Technocrats, when to work
given situation from many different angles depending on behind their backs, and when to play their colleagues
their specialties, relationships, and individual histories. off each other. It’s a dangerous game, but there may be
That purpose may be altruistic (like spreading the benefits no other way to mend the fissures in the Union and
of modern medicine to the world) or self-serving (like present a united front to the outside world.
rounding up escaped Progenitor projects).
Differentiating the characters begins with their Quality Assurance
areas of specialty, with different characters claiming An amalgam entirely composed of Progenitors, Qual-
the roles of surgeon, genetic engineer, drug producer, ity Assurance plays a dangerous game with high stakes:
field medic, forensic analyst, and so on. Use this as a they are purging rogue agents from sensitive positions
springboard for further development though, rather than within and without the Union, and doing so secretly —
a fait accompli checkbox. Does the surgeon approach because no one can know that the agents ever existed.
problems hands-on? Does the resident Pharmacopoeist Quality Assurance has two covers: to the Masses, QA
rely on his drugs to mask crippling self-confidence? Does is a human resources consulting firm which performs
the forensic analyst refuse to trust her intuition or take office visits to conduct physicals, administer flu shots,
leaps of faith, insisting instead that the data will yield and otherwise perform preventative care to keep company
the answers she needs? healthcare costs down. The other Conventions, however,
Progenitor hierarchies are relatively flat, usually know that QA uses this cover to service, communicate
with a single Scientist heading up the amalgam. This with, and equip the Technocracy’s moles in otherwise
position may be based on seniority, but is just as likely unEnlightened organizations. And yet, this is not the full
elected by the other members; whatever its basis, it’s truth, either. The amalgam’s highest priority is identifying
never absolute. Mutiny among the rest of the amalgam and neutralizing Progenitor infiltrators and spies from
or word from the Shared Governance Council can upset the pre-Anomaly era. These agents are embedded in
the power dynamic overnight. Chat briefly with the group sensitive positions in government, business… and even
to figure what the leadership style of the lead Scientist is the other Conventions.
like, how the others respond to that, and (perhaps most QA’s goal is to clean up the excesses of their prede-
importantly) what the PCs expect from the amalgam’s cessors before any of the targets finds out that they’ve
leadership given its own history. been compromised. If the other Conventions discovered
Corruption seems to find Progenitors easily, whether the extent of the Progenitors’ past crimes, the resulting
it’s spearheaded by Nephandi infiltrators, introduced by rift could threaten the cohesion of the entire Union.
Syndicate offers, or based on home-grown hubris from
a doctor’s own Enlightened abilities over life and death. History
It’s all too easy to turn a Progenitor into a grinning Seven years ago, an NWO strike against a Tra-
mad scientist, happy to ignore all scruples and ethics ditionalist stronghold went sideways, resulting in
in pursuit of her research or simple power. While this hundreds of deaths. The culprit was a rogue HIT
can be an intriguing element to an ongoing chronicle, Mark who disregarded orders and set off a massive

arcane explosion. Blame fell on Iteration X, but
the Shared Governance Council knew the truth:
the “malfunctioning” HIT Mark had been loaded
with subconscious triggers at cloning, intended for
use as a Progenitor spy. She broke mission protocol
because she acted under garbled and outdated
contact codes, mistaking an Order of Hermes mage
for its handler from the Administration.
The Council quickly recruited trusted Scientists,
all from within the Convention, to a “houseclean-
ing” amalgam dedicated to tracking down lost and
stranded Progenitor agents before they could do any
more damage… or worse, reveal the existence of a
massive network of spies within the Union.
Two of their first recruits were forensic geneticist
Imelda Siqueira, a third-generation Technocrat, and
the world-weary hunter Esau Grosvenor, a reluctant
recruit to the Union. Siqueira’s unwavering dedica-
tion to the cause and by-the-book procedures serve as
a stark contrast to Grosvenor’s sometimes schismatic
individualism and his tendency to “improvise.”
The leadership of QA seems to be a revolving door
alternating detached back-office managers and am-
bitious on-the-ground reformers, but Siqueira and
Grosvenor have been constant fixtures of the team.
After putting six years of work into Quality Assur-
ance, both Siqueira and Grosvenor both have collected
a wide array of favors and allies throughout the Union.
Despite their orders to keep the old Progenitor sins
under wraps, this has not always been feasible, and
now Siqueira and Grosvenor stand in the center of
a web of contacts and informants. Grosvenor knows
that it would be all too easy to mistake their network
of innocent quid-pro-quo dealings as a full-fledged
conspiracy. Unfortunately, he can’t seem to convince
Siqueira how vulnerable they’ve become simply by
doing their jobs. She can’t conceive of the Union
turning on its own, especially when they’ve been
doing such good work!
Practices
Quality Assurance begins with the barest clues
on the existence or location of a rogue agent. They
visit crime scenes and last known locations, gath-
ering evidence and forensic data. Interviews with
neighbors or witnesses collect more. QA has learned
from experience that they must tread carefully, as
the agents are often paranoid and liable to run if
they realize they’ve been discovered.
When they locate the target, the amalgam decides
whether to “remediate or repudiate.” A remediation
62 Progenitors
brings the target in out of the cold, convincing them to come At 13 years old, Siqueira’s Enlightenment was in-
back into the employ of the Progenitors. Inducements may duced… maybe. The event occurred during her mother’s
include luxuries and payroll, but also include the protection of experiment intended to induce Enlightenment; the
the Union and access to its Enlightened Science. If a remedia- results were never reliably duplicated. She then spent the
tion is not deemed feasible, however, the amalgam pursues next four years in accelerated studies and was deployed to
repudiation: eliminating the target and erasing their tracks Earth at age 18. College was a cover story as she worked
behind them. It’s not strange for Technocratic operatives to in the labs shadowing the Human Genome Project.
go missing, and QA is adept at framing Traditionalists and Siqueira lost contact with her parents when the Di-
Nephandi for their own wetwork. mensional Anomaly cut off their Deep Universe colony;
By this point, QA has captured or neutralized most she’s since convinced herself that they must be dead. It
of the low-hanging fruit: the monsters hiding in the was the only way to proceed with her life, rather than
deep woods and the intrusion clones burrowed into the pine for their return. She poured herself into her work,
periphery of the Union. The holdouts are those agents explicating and elaborating on the human genome.
now sheltered by other will-workers and those deeply So it was somewhat appropriate that Quality Assur-
embedded within the ranks of the Technocracy. Both ance approached her because they required her DNA.
class of target offer their own brand of difficulties, and One of her mother’s old projects had gone rogue, terror-
the consequences for missteps are disastrous. izing the Argentine pampas. Siqueira keyed off the DNA
she shared with her mother to convince the beast that
Using Quality Assurance she was its creator, and peacefully brought it into Union
The QA team is the distillation of the current plight custody. After that assignment, Siqueira stayed on with
of the Progenitors: enmeshed in a web of politics and the amalgam and has served as its forensics analyst since.
treachery not especially of their making, they are nev-
Image: Lost somewhere in her thirties, Siqueira is
ertheless required to act decisively and in secret to fix
a plump Brazilian woman with a permanently hurried
the previous generation’s mistakes. None of this falls
air about her. Her long black hair is pulled back into
into their primary areas of expertise, but if they want
a single ponytail. She favors simple, solid-color shirts
to forge a brighter tomorrow, they must first deal with
and trim slacks, over which she throws a quilted silver
the sins of yesterday.
jacket with a high collar. When on the job, she carries a
The Quality Assurance amalgam can form the “suitcase lab” for gathering and processing evidence and
core of a chronicle, with players taking up the roles of a high-resolution camera often swings from her neck.
Siqueira and Grosvenor and others on the team (or as
Roleplaying Hints: You’re kind of a grunt doing scut work,
their replacements after a remediation gone wrong).
but it’s important scut work, and you’re part of something
Alternately, QA can show up at the Technocratic
much bigger than yourself. Your job is to track down incredibly
player characters’ Construct, ostensibly to see to the
dangerous experiments gone awry and keep them contained so
Citizens’ health needs but in reality there to weasel out
they don’t hurt anybody, and it’s hard to argue with the value in
a heretofore-unknown spy.
that. So you hurry and you do your best, hoping against hope
Tradition-minded Mage chronicles might take in that you find the answers before the answers find you.
refugees from the Progenitors’ experiments only to find
Methodology: Genegineers
QA snooping around on their heels. You might set the
player characters on the trail of a monstrous aberration Eidolon: Questing
controlled by local Nephandi. When they meet QA hot Nature: Crusader
on the same trail, do they confront them, expose them, Demeanor: Investigator
or cooperate with them?
Attributes: Strength 1, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3; Charisma 2,
Imelda Siqueira, Manipulation 2, Appearance 4; Perception 3, Intelligence 5,
Wits 2
QA Forensic Analyst
Groomed for science from a young age, Siqueira’s Abilities: Awareness 2, Expression 3, Leadership 2;
parents were both members of the Technocratic Union: Firearms 2, Research 4, Technology 3; Computer 2,
her mother was a Scientist and her father an Extraor- Investigation 4, Medicine 2, Science 5
dinary lab technician. She was raised in a series of Backgrounds: Destiny 1, Genius 2, Library 4
extraterrestrial colonies, moving whenever her mother’s Enlightenment: 3
assignment changed. On rare occasion, her family trav- Inspired Sciences: Correspondence 2, Life 3, Mind 1
eled to Brazil to visit her grandmother.

Willpower: 8 Image: Esau is a weather-beaten man saying goodbye
Primal Energy: 2 to his forties, with burnished skin and dark eyes. His hair
is cropped short, but unevenly; there is no mistaking him
Paradox: 0
for a soldier. He typically wears a many-pocketed hunt-
Esau Grosvenor, QA Hunter ing vest and heavy canvas pants. The belt that cinches at
During 1996, They visit, Esau Grosvenor spontane- his waist bears a wicked-looking hunting knife and the
ously gained Enlightenment. While his expanded senses holster for a gleaming handgun designed by Iteration X
were certainly useful, Grosvenor merely thought he had technicians. Esau smiles readily and erratically, as if he
stumbled onto some “new tricks” and nothing more. He finds humor in things no one else can see.
continued his lifelong love affair with the most remote Roleplaying Hints: You’ve been around the world,
corners of the natural world for some years afterwards, you’ve waded through every biome on the planet, and
slowly growing in understanding of how things worked. you’ve hunted just about everything on four legs, two
Old textbooks on biology, zoology, physics, and anatomy wings, or any number of pseudopods. As far as you can
served to educate him on what to call things, so when he tell, things continue to get screwier the longer you live.
finally met the Technocracy two years later he spoke the Now you’re tasked with hunting down your colleagues’
language well enough to be recruited. old tools, except the tools are people, and you’d really
The fateful meeting occurred on the Mongolian rather not shoot them on account of them being people.
steppes, across which Grosvenor was motorcycling and Unfortunately, the decision is rarely yours to make.
in the middle of which a team of Progenitors was field- Methodology: FACADE Engineer
testing a new species of canine companion. The animals Eidolon: Primordial
mistook Grosvenor for their prey, but their confusion Nature: Caretaker
didn’t last long. The FACADE team found him sur-
Demeanor: Quester
rounded by three of the beasts, their necks all snapped
cleanly. Grosvenor was heating up a can of beans. Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 5; Charisma 3,
Manipulation 1, Appearance 3; Perception 3, Intellig
The Progenitors took Grosvenor in, marveling at his
ence 2, Wits 3
native Enlightenment while rushing him to be indoctri-
nated, conditioned, and recruited. He took a liking to the Abilities: Alertness 4, Athletics 4, Brawl 2, Dodge 2,
world of possibilities the Technocrats told him about and Streetwise 1; Drive 1, Firearms 4, Melee 2, Stealth 4,
signed up without hesitation. Survival 5; Enigmas 2, Investigation 3, Medicine 1
Never one to be a rising star, Grosvenor kicked around Backgrounds: Device 3, Genius 3, Hypercram 2
as an odd member of various amalgams for twenty or Enlightenment: 2
so years. It was only when the Dimensional Anomaly Inspired Sciences: Correspondence 2, Entropy 2,
crushed Horizon that he gained an appreciation for the Forces 1, Life 1
existential scale of the Technocratic Union’s activities. He
Willpower: 6
was offered a place on QA from an old friend, and took
the job to “make sure the cubs don’t muck things up.” Primal Energy: 3
Paradox: 0
Progenitors in Mixed Amalgams

Leaving the lab and playing with others Analyst
is not the typical Progenitor’s cup of tea, Whether they come from a general background in fo-
but the Convention has more atypical, rensics or are called in for a needed specialty, Progenitors
adventurous members than ever before. often get cast in the role of researching and dispensing
This entails a more active role in cross- information. Crime scene investigators appraise dispa-
Convention amalgams the Union creates rate evidence to give the amalgam a good idea of who
to pursue specific targets and defuse im- they’re up against. Specialists in specific breeds of Real-
mediate situations. These doctors and ity Deviants outline the abilities, social structures, and
scientists can serve a variety of roles in habits of their quarry. Progenitors with a certain moral
these teams. ambiguity are very capable interrogators, and not only
64 Progenitors
in controlled circumstances with the source strapped to
a chair. Out in public, witnesses trying to hide informa-
tion are often betrayed by escalating heartbeats or other Secondary Roles
biometric telltales. Regardless of a Scientist’s role in a mixed
amalgam, she’s often expected to act as a medic
Face or researcher. That’s the trouble with stereotypes,
Having power over life and death in one’s hands though they’re not the only Convention to suffer
tends to accumulate favors from grateful former patients. from that. Iteration X operatives are expected to be
Additionally, the healthcare industry is rooted in a ro- mechanics and electricians, NWO agents are asked
bust web of social connections with local government, to clear up parking tickets, and Syndicate person-
academia, and social outreach projects. Progenitors nel are treated like walking ATMs. (Void Engineer
who have been around the block can become valuable stereotypes are more about psychosis than role.)
networkers — calling in favors for access, tracking down
You can decide whether you want to embrace
information, and pulling the rest of the amalgam out
these stereotypes or play against them. There are a
of hot water without causing a scene.
lot of juicy roleplaying opportunities in both direc-
Heavy tions, especially as a chronicle grows and develops.
Similarly, Progenitors without a strong attachment
to their own DNA can become quasi-human wrecking
machines, through modifying and upgrading their own Medic
bodies. Some of those modifications are blatant: the
The Progenitors’ facility and training in Inspired Life
bulging muscles and disconcertingly abnormal skeletal
Science makes them obvious choices for team medics,
structure may send Citizens screaming, but that also
but their work often requires more than just patching up
aids in intimidation bids. Many of these Progenitors
their teammates. Some medics become the amalgam’s
can only maintain their rough-and-tumble forms for
de facto mother hen, seeing to the team’s emotional
limited amounts of time before fatigue and Rejection
needs as well as their physical traumas. Other medics
set in. They appear perfectly normal the rest of the time,
offer courses of drugs or other therapies that boost the
until they “hulk out” again.
abilities of the amalgam; these Procedures always require
Infiltrator careful monitoring, on site and in person.
More than a few Progenitors don’t have just one
face: they use their Enlightened Science to shift their Mixed Agendas
appearance and mien to suit their circumstances. Ad- It’s no secret that the various Conventions of the
ditionally, a little tree frog DNA or chameleon gene Technocratic Union have similar but not identical
sequences can send a Progenitor operative scrambling goals. The Union works by focusing on the common
up walls and blending into the scenery. It may not be the ground and often turning a blind eye to individual
kind of work they expected to be doing as an Enlight- projects that pursue the more idiosyncratic goals of
ened Scientist, but these Progenitors have a particular its members. This mostly works to keep the peace,
flair for breaking and entering, hustling unsuspecting but there are always minor disagreements, frequent
citizens, and otherwise getting into and out of places clandestine obstruction, and occasional flare-ups of
where they’re not supposed to be. real antagonism. Mixed amalgams often find them-
selves in the center of these conflicts.
Lead This is especially true for Progenitors. The number
Many Progenitor-led amalgams have a high mission of rogue Progenitor projects loose in the world has never
success rate. A Progenitor amalgam head can keep tabs been disclosed to the rest of the Union; the Shared
on his team members’ stress levels, provide drugs to Governance Council believes that any such disclosure
regulate adrenaline and synaptic response times, and would destroy the Convention’s reputation, and has
carefully ration the augmentations the amalgam gets to issued a general call to quietly clean up the problems.
reduce side-effects and Pattern Rejection. A background When a mixed amalgam stumbles onto the trail of a
in the life sciences can be surprisingly useful in head- rogue project, its resident Progenitor must walk a thin,
ing up an amalgam. Understanding the dynamics of sharp line of working with the amalgam while keeping
a wolf pack provides incredible insights to running a them in the dark about sensitive aspects of their mission.
team of Technocrats.

The Progenitor’s Hippocratic Oath
The original Hippocratic Oath has been modified many times across the centuries; many Progenitors swear the
following version when they are inducted into the Convention. Others swear slightly different versions, or none at all.
I solemnly pledge to consecrate my life to the service of humanity;

I will give to my teachers the respect and obedience that is their due;
I will practice my profession with conscience, dignity, and duty;
I will respect the secrets confided in me, even after death;
I will maintain the utmost respect for human life and the dignity of my patient;
I will maintain the utmost respect for the Consensus
and avoid vulgarity and Rejection;
I will do no harm.
Ever since they cast themselves as the healers of the covertly, and use the time not spent shooting at Reality
Union, Progenitors have increasingly found it necessary Deviants to perform their cover: drug manufacturer,
to work in the shadows. More than once, a Progenitor has medic, surgeon — whatever the rest of their amalgams
seen fit to aid an amalgam-mate in resolving and covering believe they are. Some even openly work as hitters in
up their indiscretions so that the rest of the amalgam never these amalgams, but still keep their mission’s true nature
discovers a terrible secret. At other times, Scientists have to themselves.
worked to arrange circumstances to promote the stability Even mundane considerations can lead to compli-
and well being of their amalgams. Allowing a colleague to cations in the amalgam. Many Progenitors have taken
claim credit for the Progenitor’s own victory can increase the Hippocratic Oath and try to adhere to its precepts,
the inter-reliance and trust of the whole amalgam. This but its insistence on patient confidentiality can lead to
is no different, they argue, than arranging a comfortable Scientists keeping secrets from amalgam-mates. Its slogan
recovery room filled with supportive family members of “do no harm” and its admonishment to never with-
guilted into visiting a recuperating patient. hold necessary treatment can lead to friction with other
Some combat scientists integrate into mixed amal- Technocrats who support the Pogrom. When faced with
gams in order to utilize other Conventions’ resources a critically wounded Traditionalist, does the Hippocratic
in tracking and eliminating threats. These scientists act scientist treat them or finish them?
Gear
Gear is an everyday part of a Progenitor’s generate a flush of nanobots to the applied area. They
life. The biological sciences require expansive only generate a small amount of artificial tissue, but what
technologies, and we spare no expense in giv- they lack in power they make up for in speed, deploying
ing scientists the tools they need to succeed. their full load within seconds. For this reason, many
field teams request at least one patch.
Nanopatch When applied to a wound, a Nanopatch immediately
Enlightenment 1, 1 Prime Energy, heals one health level. With a Willpower point from the
1 Background Point subject, a Nanopatch instead heals one aggravated level.
Nanopatches are small, quick-use Nanopatches come in the common patch variety and
devices for emergency first aid. They’re in spray can form. Each patch or can accounts for one
about the size of a nicotine patch. When applied, they use. Each Background dot conveys two doses.
66 Progenitors
Nanovaccine time for a surgeon to properly re-affix the limb and use
Enlightenment 1, 1 Prime Energy, 1 Background Point proper Life Procedures to mend the limb to the body.
Warning: do not attempt this on a head. For that, visit
Nanovaccines are standard Progenitor field gear. a high-grade Progenitor medical facility.
While field scientists are routinely vaccinated against
all known illnesses, this protects against the unknown. If used against an unwilling target, it’s a four die
When exposed to strange pathogens, a quick injection weapon, but can only be used at very close range. How-
sends targeted nanobots to face the infection head-on. ever, it’s unwieldy; suffer a +2 difficulty when using it
in combat (unless the target is fully restrained).
Nanovaccines administered will immediately attack
any disease that hasn’t progressed to irreversible lethality, Bio-Printer
curing within hours. After that scene, any new diseases Enlightenment 3, 6 Prime Energy, 3 Background Points
encountered require new treatments, as the nanobots
This device crafts synthetic human tissue in minutes.
have already configured themselves. However, they will
While it can make generic parts or even stylized, unique
continue to project against the diseased they’ve config-
pieces of flesh, typically it fabricates precise replicas generated
ured themselves for the next few hours.
from scans kept on-file with the Convention. It requires
Anti-Gerasone a massive energy investment; each point of Prime Energy
Enlightenment 2, 2 Prime Energy, 2 Background Points used can print one health level’s worth of tissue. The tissue
must still be applied to the subject. But the sterile tissue
This device prevents physical aging. It works like a prevents infection and guarantees that wounds will not scar.
complex can-shaped water filtration system; many sci-
entists have them attached to their home showerheads. The current model is a cube, about two feet in each
To gain the full effects, it must be used daily. If properly direction, weighing about forty pounds and looking like
used, the character does not age a day. Any lapse in use a complex microwave oven. The device creates the tissue
will rapidly return a character to their true age; they — once complete, just open the door to remove the wet,
advance one year for every day without treatment. A fresh part. The whole process takes about ten minutes.
user won’t age past her true age. For one fewer Background dot, you can requisition
last year’s model. Last year’s model is closer to a conver-
Quantum Monitor sion van in size and weight, and takes an hour to use
Enlightenment 2, 2 Prime Energy, 2 Background Points successfully.
The Progenitors install some scientists with Quan-
Non-Puncturing Injector
tum Monitors. These are internal nano-networks that
track vital signs and hormone levels. Unlike the classic Enlightenment 3, 3 Prime Energy, 3 Background Points
radio monitors from a few years ago, these take advantage Sleeper medical science is currently testing medicine
of quantum computing to transmit data instantly to Pro- delivery through air pressure, which doesn’t break the
genitor systems. Radio waves and microwave radiation skin the way a hypodermic needle does. The Progenitors
will not block the signal. Scientists subject to Nanotech have taken the idea a step further. With a Dimensional
Integration (page 74) typically receive a Quantum Moni- Science effect, this hand-held injector can target some-
tor, so lab scientists can manage their investment. one within eyeshot, and put a drug into his system. Just
point and pull the trigger. Each shot requires a point of
Biological Dislocator the injector’s Prime Energy to power, and a Dexterity +
Enlightenment 3, 6 Prime Energy, 3 Background Points Energy Weapons roll to aim the device. The roll is not
A biological dislocator cleanly removes limbs while not required on willing subjects.
severing arterial and nervous connections. This mechani-
Medi-Bot
cal cutting device is a handheld, water-powered cutting
tool, attached to a five-gallon drum of water, affixed to Enlightenment 4, 10 Prime Energy, 4 Background Points
a compressor. It cuts like a surgical saw, but without the A Medi-Bot is a small, disk-shaped robot, about six
mess. Using a built-in combination Life/Time effect, an inches high and 18 inches in diameter. It sports four
amputated limb still maintains blood flow and all other metallic limbs, each with a series of fine manipulators and
vitals. The doctor can operate on the severed limb, without various medical tools. The bot can conduct most major
the patient risking infection or bleeding out. surgeries, administer anesthetics, and stabilize patients.
One point of its Prime Energy will keep the limb It’s made for quick, effective tasks, not long-term treat-
safe for one hour. Usually, this is more than enough ment. A Medi-Bot can save the lives of an entire team

of field scientists in a pinch. By Iteration X standards, it simultaneously by spending one point of Prime Energy
looks downright archaic, but it serves its purpose well. per patient treated. This cost must be paid every hour
A Medi-Bot works with an effective Intelligence 4 and for each such patient. (Zero points for one patient, two
Medicine 4. It moves rapidly, treating multiple patients points for two, three points for three, etc.)
Body Modifications
Many Progenitors believe that bodily prosthetics, each is reflected by its own Background.
modification is the purest expression of Unless otherwise noted, a prosthetic purchased through
the Convention’s ideals. While most this Background has six soak dice, four OK health
adherents to Convention thinking would levels, and one Demolished health level independent
argue in favor of advanced cures for of its host. Additional Background dots spent add one
widespread illnesses or efforts to extent OK level and two soak dice each.
human lifespan, that doesn’t keep bodily
modification from receiving overwhelm- Hot Swapping
ing R&D funding. After all, a cure for The main benefit of adaptive prosthesis is the ability
cancer’s nice; an eyeball with built-in night to hot swap devices to suit a particular need. Removing
vision makes a far sexier recruitment tool. an active device takes one full turn. If another device
Most modifications fall within four categories: is at ready, it can be installed over another full turn to
adaptive prosthesis, biomods, sensory alterations, and attach and power up. During these two turns, you may
xenotransplants. Adaptive prosthetics are synthetic not take advantage of either device’s advantages.
additions to the body that may be swapped out to suit By making a Dexterity + Fast Draw roll and spend-
the scientist’s situational needs. Biomods are subtle ing a point of Prime Energy, you can swap devices as a
genetic alterations that significantly alter one aspect of reflexive action. (The Prime Energy is needed to power
the scientist’s physical capabilities. Xenotransplants are the device immediately.)
parts of supernatural creatures grafted into or onto a
scientist for their preternatural abilities. Each has its own Replacement Parts
unique advantages and disadvantages. We’ve provided The basic Background cost purchases not both the
examples for each, but be creative — Progenitor scien- appropriate mod and a normal, near-human prosthetic
tists are always testing something new. Use the existing (when replacing a body part rather than adding a new
examples as guidelines. one). These are for normal use, when needed to pass in
As you might expect, many of these modifications are Sleeper society or use normal limb function.
vulgar. Excessive vulgarity will get you a polite chitchat
General Prosthetic Tools
with an Ethical Compliance officer. At least, the first
Enlightenment 2, 4 Prime Energy, 2 Background Points
meeting or two will be polite.
Prosthetics may be specialized in a single task. Such
Adaptive Prosthetics prosthetics eschew aesthetic concerns — they look highly
bionic, with an obvious tool at the end. If attempting
With Enlightened enhancements in prosthesis,
a task the tool was developed for, that task receives a -1
sometimes it’s more efficient to graft some silicon and
difficulty. All other tasks suffer a +1 penalty.
plastic than to regrow a lost limb. (Some Iterators laugh,
telling us they’re glad we’ve “caught up.” But we know Holdout Compartment
we’re taking the idea in a different — and honestly
Enlightenment 2, 4 Prime Energy, 2 Background Points
better — direction.) The Progenitors have taken this a
step further, with prosthesis designed for modular hot A holdout compartment is a small cavity buried
swapping. It takes seconds to swap out a functional within a limb. As well as not affecting limb usage, it uses
human-like arm for a powerful pincer, and vice versa. a Dimensional Science/Life/Matter effect to mask the
contents. Without Enlightened techniques (or “magic”)
The Background cost for adaptive prosthetics reflect
to contest the effect, anything within the compartment
the actual prosthetics; the surgery and fixtures are all
appears to all scans as part of the scientist’s organic matter.
part of the package. If you wish to purchase multiple
68 Progenitors
Telescoping Limb arm modifications, but some exist as leg replacements to
Enlightenment 2, 4 Prime Energy, 2 Background Points brace a scientist to hostile moving objects. The jaw grasps
with an effective Strength 5. In any Strength challenge
Telescoping limbs are fitted with hoses, pulleys, where grip is essential, the mod’s Prime Energy may be
valves, pistons, and all manner of devices to dramatically spent for automatic successes, one per.
extend reach or height. The device takes a full turn to
extend, but can instead be extended or retracted reflex-
ively with a point of its Prime Energy. Fully extended
Biomods
arms add up to ten feet of reach, and legs up to six feet Biomods are organically-developed bodily modifica-
in height. These limbs otherwise work identically to tions. Usually they’re vat-grown for a generic user and
their mundane equivalents. Since the limb is synthetic, grafted onto later. Sometimes, they’re grown directly on
the scientist can use her hands even in otherwise hostile the scientist’s body. Once fused to a body, they have full
environments, such as in noxious fumes or vacuum. function. They’re rarely as directly impressive as adaptive
prosthetics or xenotransplants, but are often safer. They’re
While strong and accurate, telescoping limbs are not generally used to repair damaged or nonfunctional body
made for high-stress situations. When using weapons or parts; their outside functionality is currently limited.
attacking opponents while one’s extended, it imposes
a +2 difficulty. Installing Biomods
Biomods are not quite as convenient as adaptive
Quad-Leg System
prosthetics, but they’re far safer than xenotransplants. The
Enlightenment 3, 6 Prime Energy, 3 Background Points surgery causes lethal wounds equal to the Background
These leg modifications are split into four heavy cost, and puts the scientist out of commission for that
metal, highly segmented legs. Each leg ends in an array of number of days. Removing a biomod safely requires the
fully-articulated claws. Sometimes they’re masked as insect same process and time as installing it in the first place.
parts, but generally scientists simply opt for the default Unless otherwise noted, a biomod uses the scientist’s traits.
chrome. They can be hidden under loose-fitting pants.
Functionally, they keep the scientist stable. They can Facial Reconstruction
grip onto most any surface, and have an effective Strength Enlightenment 2, 4 Prime Energy, 2 Background Points
10 against any attempt to lift or destabilize the scientist. While the Convention possesses quicker methods
While they don’t change the scientist’s top speed, they for disguising its scientists, facial reconstruction offers a
eliminate all environmental penalties to running and foolproof method for changing appearances. This mod
allows her to climb at walking speed with both hands requires a small genetic sample from a target. Once grown,
free. All jumping heights and distances are doubled, the mod perfectly replicates the target’s appearance.
doubled again with the expenditure of a Prime Energy. While it does not replicate mannerisms, it gives a +2
difficulty to any attempts to detect the disguise, and a -3
Performance Blade difficulty to any rolls to hide the scientist’s true identity.
Enlightenment 3, 6 Prime Energy, 3 Background Points Most big advantage to this over Sleeper surgeries is
Performance blades replace both legs. They’re carbon that your new face has a plasticity that, when triggered,
fiber and aluminum oxynitride blades with a curve not will allow an Enlightened surgeon to quickly reconstruct
unlike an upturned question mark. Similar models can be your face again. In short, it only takes a two-hour out-
found available to the Masses, helping disabled runners patient appointment in a Progenitor-run facility to change
achieve high speeds. The Progenitors took the concept your face back or to something new.
to a whole new level with the performance blades. Each
point of Prime Energy spent allows a burst of speed equal Bone Spurs
to the scientist’s full running speed. The first burst in a Enlightenment 3, 6 Prime Energy, 3 Background Points
turn is safe. Beyond that, the human parts that connect These common modifications take the form of ex-
to the blades cannot handle the strain; each additional posed, sharp pieces of bone, never more than an inch or
burst in a given turn causes the scientist one lethal damage. so in length. Most of these modifications are designed with
muscular controls, so they can be retracted or extended at
Pincer Tool
will. Used offensively, they’re 1 lethal weapons. Defensively,
Enlightenment 3, 6 Prime Energy, 3 Background Points you may roll against attackers in physical contact each
A pincer tool is a two-foot pair of metal jaws, made turn, with a dice pool equal to the scientist’s Stamina +
to hold something still. Typically, they’re designed as Survival, and damaging as a 1 lethal weapon. Addition-

ally, they may reduce difficulties of certain actions by -1, reasons. One known scientist was losing his husband to
depending on their location (for example, hand spurs a deadly cancer, so he used touch recorders so he could
may aid with climbing or holding onto a moving vehicle). remember the last time they made love.
One Background purchase can cover a single sense,
Sensory Biomods all senses, or any combination thereof. These modifica-
Sensory modifications are specialized biomods, and tions are often installed simultaneously with amplifiers.
involve more Progenitor resources than typical ones. First,
the target organs and nerve clusters must be grown, using Distance Vision
the recipient scientist’s DNA to negate any tissue rejec- Enlightenment 3, 6 Prime Energy, 3 Background Points
tion. While being grown, they’re tailored for function.
A hit with Damage Control snipers, distance vision is
Once ready, the recipient undergoes cranial surgery to
an eyeball modification that gives the ability to zoom vision,
remove the standard human organs, replacing them and
sometimes through solid objects. Without obstructions,
grafting the new nerves into the brain.
a scientist can see a mile away as if it were right in front
All in all, it puts a scientist out of commission for of her. In addition to the basic applications, it cuts any
between one to two months, while the brain heals and range penalties with firearms and energy weapons in half.
acclimates to the new data.
By spending a point of Prime Energy, she can see through
These modifications can be turned on or off at will, solid objects for a single turn. The device uses multiple sen-
by pressing against an implanted nerve cluster on the sors in numerous directions, along with subtle radar, and a
neck behind the jaw (either right or left side, chosen by computational predictive algorithm to show the agent what’s
the scientist) and thinking consciously about the switch. likely to be on the other side of a given obstruction.
If multiple sense or modifications are taken, they’re all
linked to the same on/off switch — no switching just Infravision Receptors
part of them. (Some poor sods are forced to take on Enlightenment 2, 4 Prime Energy, 2 Background Points
these modifications, particularly sense recorders. In By spending a point of the implant’s Prime Energy,
those cases an off switch is rarely installed.) the scientist can activate the receptors for the scene. Her
Sense Amplifiers vision shifts to detect heat signatures, instead of light. When
dealing with living subjects, darkness does not bear into
Enlightenment 1, 2 Prime Energy, 1 Background Point
the ability to see. As well, any rolls to perceive something
Sense amplifiers do exactly as advertised; they hiding in the dark are made at -3 difficulty. When detecting
heighten sensory feedback to the brain. This sharpens things hidden supernaturally, the device’s Enlightenment
sight, smell, hearing, and in some cases touch. They rating adds to the dice pool. However, things that operate
give a -1 difficulty to relevant Perception rolls. However, at room temperature, such as vampires, impose a +3 dif-
when active, any bright flashes and other major stimuli ficulty penalty since they blend with their surroundings.
can overload the amplifiers, which will blind, deafen,
or otherwise debilitate for a full minute. A difficulty 8
Stamina roll prevents the temporary overload.
Xenotransplants
Xenotransplants are a newer series of experiments
One Background purchase can cover a single sense, in Progenitor labs, and have attracted no small amount
all senses, or any combination thereof. of controversy in the past decade. They’re implanted
organs and body parts, taken directly from the bodies of
Sense Recorders Reality Deviants. Field scientists abduct various creatures,
Enlightenment 1, 2 Prime Energy, 1 Background Point then lab techs put them into stasis, later removing the
Sense recorders replace sense organs in the scientist. parts in order to install them into their scientists. The
Generally, this means eyes and the inner ear. Some rarer techs keep careful, continual track the results of these
modifications replace taste buds, olfactory receptors, and dangerous implants once out in the field.
(in at least one case) tactile nerves and sensory recep- Unless otherwise noted, a xenotransplant uses the
tors in the skin. These modifications don’t significantly scientist’s traits.
change the input, but they do record and submit the
sensory data experienced. Xenobiological Limitations
While practical in information gathering, some sci- The human body was not made to handle the rigor of
entists opt to take these modifications for more personal supernatural body parts. Any given scientist can safely keep
70 Progenitors
combined Background dots of xenotransplants equal to Predator’s Pheromones
twice her Stamina dots. Each dot above that limit causes a Enlightenment 3, 6 Prime Energy, 3 Background Points
persistent level of lethal damage to the scientist. She cannot
heal this damage as long as the xenotransplant remains These glands fit in the scientist’s neck. They project
installed. For example, a character with Stamina 3 can pheromones into the air, cutting down a subject’s resis-
handle 6 dots’ worth of xenotransplants without issue. tances, making them pliable and docile. By spending one
However, if she purchases Troll Skin (5) and Deviant’s point of Prime Energy, it increases the difficulty of any
Heart (5), she’s exceeded that limit by 4. She then keeps roll to resist the scientist’s Social actions by 3.
a persistent four lethal damage that cannot be healed as Implant Rejection: In addition to the normal effects
long as the implants remain in her body. of implant Rejection, Rejected pheromone glands cause
If the character’s Stamina increases or decreases for the scientist intense overcompensation and overconfidence
whatever reason, the body’s tolerance for xenotransplants issues in social situations. Until all implant damage is
immediately shifts in kind. healed, any failures in these situations count as botches.
Implant Rejection Shifter’s Skin

These implants require regular maintenance to Enlightenment 3, 6 Prime Energy, 3 Background Points
prevent complete Rejection. After a week without With a skin transplant from a shapeshifter, the sci-
treatment, the implant bursts out of the body, caus- entist can change her appearance at will. When taking
ing three aggravated damage, and potentially other this augmentation, determine what skin was replaced.
complications in the process. If a werewolf’s heart At any time, spend a point of Prime Energy from the
bursts out of the body, a few levels of damage will device to change appearance in that part of the body.
be the least of the scientist’s concerns. Many of the These changes last for the scene, unless shifted back.
xenotransplants listed below offer additional concerns Implant Rejection: If Rejected, the exposed flesh
for implant Rejection. remains raw and brittle for some time. So long as any
If the implants are used among unEnlightened wit- aggravated damage remains from Rejection, the affected
nesses, the anti-Rejection treatments run their course area has no soak dice.
much quicker. A small group witnessing for several
minutes may require you to do another treatment within Prehensile Tail
a few hours. Showing off your chitin at Mardi Gras will Enlightenment 4, 8 Prime Energy, 4 Background Points
mean you’ll need another treatment within minutes. This rare augmentation comes from a half-man, half-
alligator hybrid. It’s a thin, muscular tail, usually gray or
Installing and Removing green. It’s quite articulated, able to manage limited ma-
Xenotransplants nipulation. It acts with an effective Strength 5, and can
Xenotransplants don’t want to be part of their hosts. make a grappling attack each turn. Because the human
They’re notoriously difficult to install. The surgery causes brain isn’t wired for multitasking with a tail, it acts with
aggravated wounds equal to the Background cost, and a +2 difficulty if used at the same time as other actions.
puts the scientist out of commission for that number Implant Rejection: Losing a tail causes a massive
of weeks. Removing a xenotransplant safely requires the disruption in balance. Until all damage is healed from
same process and time as installing it in the first place. Rejection, the scientist botches any time she’d fail an
action where balance is crucial.
Chitin
Enlightenment 3, 6 Prime Energy, 3 Background Points Undead Strength
By reflexively spending a point of Prime Energy Enlightenment 4, 8 Prime Energy, 4 Background Points
from the transplant, one source of lethal damage With a vampire’s arm muscles, the scientist is capable of
instead causes bashing damage. This must be spent remarkable feats of strength. Unfortunately, a vampire’s muscles
on each such attack. need human blood for fuel. The scientist may spend up to three
Implant Rejection: If Rejected, the exposed flesh of the augmentation’s Prime Energy, and the same number of
remains raw and brittle for some time. So long as any health levels, in order to gain that number of automatic successes
aggravated damage remains from Rejection, the affected on all Strength actions for the rest of the scene.
area has no soak dice. Implant Rejection: The limbs with lost muscles are ren-
dered useless until all aggravated damage from Rejection heals.

Deviant’s Heart the scientist goes unconscious. (If the rage ends due to
Enlightenment 5, 10 Prime Energy, 5 Background Points the heart being emptied, the scientist falls unconscious.)
This mod only recently saw success in the field. It’s Implant Rejection: Not having a function heart is,
the heart of a werewolf, installed in place of the scientist’s. well, a problem. Every minute the implant is Rejected
It beats with intensity and ferocity, making the scientist causes an aggravated wound (on top of the normal im-
faster, stronger, and more resilient. Its Prime Energy may plant Rejection damage).
be spent reflexively for three basic effects: Trollhide
• Take an additional action. This action must be spent Enlightenment 5, 10 Prime Energy, 5 Background Points
to cause harm someone. The skin of a troll (a species of humanoid faerie) acts
• Add a success to any Strength-based action, includ- as effective, regenerating armor. It only rarely covers the
ing damage rolls. entirety of a scientist’s skin, due to the strange, inhuman
colors and textures. Affected parts have 4 points of armor,
• Regenerate two bashing or one lethal damage. which stacks with any other forms of worn armor. As well,
In a given turn, a scientist can use a number of Prime the skin regenerates one bashing health level per turn, or
Energy equal to her Genius or Dexterity, whichever is less. a lethal health level every hour. One of its Prime Energy
Unfortunately, the deviant’s heart brings with it a can be spent to regenerate a lethal health level instead
blood-boiling rage. Any turn she taps the heart’s Prime of a bashing level in a given turn. Attacking uncovered
Energy, she must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8). parts can be done at +2 difficulty, if the attacker knows
If she fails, she flies into a rage and will attempt to kill to avoid the Trollhide. This augmentation is obvious to
anything in sight, friend or foe. In this rage, all her those that see an uncovered patch.
Physical Attributes increase by one. To take a lucid ac- Implant Rejection: If Rejected, the exposed flesh
tion for a turn requires a point of Willpower. This rage remains raw and brittle for some time. The affected
lasts until the heart is emptied of its Prime Energy or area has no soak dice, so long as any aggravated damage
remains from Rejection.
Procedures
While gear is very common in the Drug Enhancement
Convention, certain Procedures make (•• Life, •• Matter, • Prime)
the rounds in Progenitor training. These This common Procedure allows a scientist to enhance
Procedures are well-kept secrets, tricks, mundane drugs without heightening the side effects.
and tools of the trade. Unlike Progenitor See the example drugs in Mage: The Ascension. Drug
gear, which anyone with an Enlightened Enhancement doubles all beneficial effects of a drug,
Science background can be trained to without affecting the negatives.
do, these Procedures require specialized
knowledge to use in the field. Because Accelerated Aging (••• Life, ••• Time)
of that, the devices these Procedures use With a modern synthetic concoction, Progenitors
are rarely given to anyone outside of the Convention. can accelerate age in a subject. Each use of Accelerated
Aging ages the target five years. Without regular, weekly
Biometric Holographic Recreation maintenance, the effects of Accelerated Aging fade after
(•• Life, •• Time) a month’s time due to slow Rejection.
A common tool in Deviancy Scene Investigation,
this investigative Procedure allows a scientist to recreate Adaptive Chemistry
a scene in entirety, through holographic technology. It (••• Matter, •• Prime)
takes a half an hour of thorough investigation and tech- When dealing with pharmaceuticals, your stock
nological scanning, and then the scientist can project a stops being useful the moment you don’t have the right
holographic replica of the scene. This replica is exact, chemical for the job. This Procedure shifts trace chemi-
down to the specks of dust. It allows for safe investiga- cal signatures, effectively turning one drug into another.
tion, and a preservation of sensitive events.
72 Progenitors
Typically, this is used in the field in order to have Destructive Genegineering
the right drug for the job. Some Progenitors have used (••• Entropy, ••• Life)
it on hostiles, shifting their medications to deadly con-
With advances in genome mapping, a scientist can rapidly
coctions. Rogue scientists have used it to cover their
manipulate a target’s genetic makeup. This doesn’t allow for
tracks, changing trace poisons in a victim’s body into
complex mutations (something Genegineers are still working
other chemicals.
out), it does emulate genetic disorders such as albinism and
Agrivelopment (••• Life, ••• Matter) hemophilia. After the first day, each day a victim can make a
This Procedure, pioneered by the Agronomists, renovates Difficulty 7 Stamina roll. Success means the body rejects the
topsoil, fertilizing and causing rapid vegetation growth over mutation. To simplify, increase the difficulties of any actions
an area. With Agrivelopment in effect, every day’s time sees that may be impaired by the mutation by 2. For example, a
a full month of plant growth. This allows the Convention character given albinism suffers the difficulty penalty when
to move into damaged or desolate areas and quickly prepare in full daylight, or a character with hemophilia suffers the
infrastructure for continued life. The Procedure can affect a penalties on any rolls that would stop them from bleeding.
number of acres up to the total success on the roll. Manufacture Enlightened Drugs
While it can turn a desert into farmland, the seeds (••• Life, ••• Matter, ••• Prime)
must come from somewhere, or it’ll just be a patch of This Procedure allows for the creation of Enlightened
fertile dirt. It also won’t change destructive weather; if drugs. The creation of such a drug requires five points of
one builds a farm in the Arctic, they’d better be prepared Prime Energy for each dose, which is transferred to the drug’s
to build the right facilities to protect the plant life. user. See below for some of the drugs that can be crafted.
Enlightened Drugs
With the Manufacture Enlightened Drugs Procedure, Cognition decreases the difficulties of all Enlightened
scientists can craft drugs that specifically affect Enlightened Science by one for the day. Cognition works similarly to
senses, and deliver Prime Energy on a moment’s notice. amphetamine stimulants, which intensify the mind’s
They work similarly to mundane nootropic drugs, only ability to focus, but shut out periphery attention.
infused with Prime Energy and targeted to the Enlightened Side Effects: Cognition is highly addictive. A difficulty
Eidolon. Here are some common examples. 7 Willpower roll will resist addiction after use. A failed
roll means the scientist craves more. Each day without a
Breakthrough
dose of Cognition raises the difficulty of all Enlightened
Breakthrough is a drug commonly infused into Science by one, to a maximum of 10. After one week, the
energy drinks. There are currently three varieties: symptoms become violent, and the character loses a health
Clarity, Boost, and Snap. They’re orange, purple, and level per day. Traditional addiction therapy will help coax
green flavored, respectively. (Not orange, grape, and them off the drug after two full weeks.
apple. They taste orange, purple, and green.) Each type
focuses on one Mental Attribute: Clarity for Perception, Tweak
Boost for Intelligence, and Snap for Wits. They raise Tweak is a form of adrenergic drug, one that not
the target Attribute by one for four hours. only heightens the user’s nerves, but also enhances their
Side Effects: Breakthrough causes a drinker to doubt Enlightenment briefly. Instead of invigorating the body,
himself when not under its effects. After all, the drink it pushes the Enlightened Eidolon to extremes. For the
makes you smarter, wittier, and more able to notice your rest of the scene, the character may take an Enlightened
surroundings. After its effects end, a character cannot Procedure as a reflexive action each turn. Each such
spend Willpower on Mental actions until she’s achieved Procedure causes one health level of aggravated damage,
a Dramatic Success without Willpower. since one’s Genius isn’t meant for such stress.
Side Effects: In addition to the injury caused
Cognition by use, Tweak exhausts its user. After the scene, the
Cognition is a classic drug with the Progenitors. character’s dice pools are all halved until she gets a
It commonly comes in a vaporizer-style inhaler. Use of full day’s rest.

Nervous Control (••• Forces, ••• Life) world around it. While this is hardly a good thing for
While the brain is a complex organ, is ultimately (to the body, it turns the recipient into a generator for that
use an Iteration X analogy) just a network of circuits that essence. Ethical considerations aside, the raw amount
send messages throughout the body. With a controlled of Prime Energy this Procedure generates over time can
electronic pulse, an Enlightened scientist may compel fuel downright miraculous effects.
the brain, and thus the body, to action. Once the effect’s taken hold, the target generates one
If not successfully countered, this Procedure can point of Prime Energy per week. She can hold a number of
cause any one of three effects: prime energy equal to her Stamina. Each such point causes her
one health level of damage, which cannot be healed as long
• Repeat action: The subject undertakes one simple, as the point is held. The energy also weakens her immunities,
physical action repeatedly. This raises the difficulty of any increasing the difficulty of any rolls to resist disease by two.
relevant physical actions by two. The subject may spend
a point of Willpower point to stop the action for a turn. Primal Net
• Dulled sensation: The subject feels no pain. Ignore (•• Life, •• Matter, •• Prime)
any wound penalties, but increase the difficulty of Many hospitals maintain Progenitor hardware networks,
any actions relating to the sense of touch by two. designed to harvest small amounts of Prime Energy from
(This includes actions like running on uneven ter- those trapped in persistent vegetative states or in long-term
rain or defending in melee.) intensive care. In these hospitals, IV units connect to the
network, which feeds into a Primal battery. It slightly reduces
• Intense pain: The body is wracked with pain. The recovery rates for coma patients, while fueling advancements
character suffers as if taking three health levels’ that could save millions. Enterprising Progenitors have
worth of damage. developed herds of the incapable, using Primal Infusion to
create the energy, and Primal Net to harvest it.
Nanotech Integration
(•••• Life, •• Matter, ••••• Prime) Stop-Gap Resurrection
Nanotech integration is an advancement of an earlier (•••• Life, •••• Mind)
effort between Iteration X and us. It’s since evolved, becom- Briefly, this Procedure brings the dead back to life. This
ing far more efficient. The recipient is loaded with nanobots Procedure isn’t a full resurrection, nor is it meant to be a
that expel toxins from the body, regulate vital functions, replacement for more complex sciences. It resurrects quickly,
destroy aberrant cells, and regenerate tissue at alarming but temporarily. It lasts one minute per invested success, and
rates. While massive and immediate trauma can still kill cannot be used a second time on a given target. At the end of
the host, nanotech integration offers remarkable effects that the duration, the target dies once more. Most scientists use
guarantee survival in all but the most extreme situations. this Procedure to provide a reliable, if temporary, eyewitness.
The Procedure’s recipient gains three dots of Stamina,
and regenerates one health level every turn. Mundane Trauma Transmission
drugs, diseases, and poisons will not affect her, even if (•• Correspondence, •••• Life,
desired (and has been used to detox a number of Void [•• Dimensional Science], [•• Prime])
Engineer substance abusers). She does not age. The proce- Referred to in black humor as “Rip the Clone Body,”
dure requires massive resources. Currently, field scientists this Procedure keys off the shared DNA clones have in order
sign up for a waiting list that currently accommodates to transmit wounds experienced by a target to all his extant
enough subjects to take at least two years. A character clones. When possible, Damage Control and Ethical Compli-
with Entropy, Life, or Matter 5 may destroy the nanobots ance use this to clean up escaped messes remotely by thawing
without otherwise hurting the recipient. Otherwise, the a clone and throwing it into a crematory furnace. (Smart,
nanobots are nigh impossible to remove without highly paranoid scientists keep their cloning tanks hidden away.)
restricted access to Progenitor computer systems. Adding Prime makes the damage aggravated. Add-
Primal Infusion (••• Life, ••• Prime) ing Dimensional Science is required for damaging any
off-planet clones — and the reason so many Ethical
This Procedure requires a battery of drug infusions
Compliance officers have training in Dimensional Sci-
over the course of three to six months. The drugs gradually
ence. That isn’t used often anymore, but in rare cases of
work down the body’s resistances in very specific ways,
liquidating high-ranking officials, Ethical Compliance
until the body becomes a conduit for Prime Energy.
takes no chances with the potential for surviving off-
Once complete, the body absorbs Prime Energy from the
world clones. Just in case.
74 Progenitors
Genegineered Creatures
Genegineering has been a waxing a tremendous investment of time and money to main-
and waning fad since Shelley penned The tain safely. Even successful genegineered creatures
Modern Prometheus. Typically, the waning are short-lived, as their genetics aren’t entirely stable.
coincides with terrible disasters, such as Some field agents are issued genegineered creatures
the atrocious “Zsgraak, Devourer of His for experiments and data gathering. In these cases,
Enemies’ Bowels.” These mistakes tend the Convention frowns on frivolous risks. Any agent
to leave a trail of bodies, and Damage using a modified creature for a suicide mission has
Control shuts down those guilty op- to answer to higher-ups.
erations. As each lab closes, a group of Each type of creature has multiple background
clever Genegineers swim through red costs listed. Those are for the game traits following
tape, edit documents, and do whatever it takes to start the cost, if an agent is assigned care of a creature.
anew. This usually takes a few years, but it guarantees (For use as a player character, see below.)
those starting the new labs are only the most dedicated
and persistent workers. Genegineered Creatures
The past two years have seen a dramatic upswing
in genegineering efforts. This is partly due to an im- and Rejection
mense push to recruit young biologists specializing in Genegineered creatures are clearly vulgar cre-
cloning and genetic studies — fields where there are ations. Instead of factoring Rejection each scene,
currently more advancement opportunities. The labs assume a creature has a persistent Rejection rating
aren’t what they’ve been in the past, but scientific equal to twice its background or merit cost. At the end
advances make up for space and funding. of any scene with Sleeper witnesses, a genegineered
creature suffers backlash. Usually, this reflects as
Genegineered creatures (also called “biomorphs”)
damage, as the creature’s body literally disintegrates
are not only risky from a control standpoint; they’re
into primordial ooze.
Playing Genegineered Characters

“Can I play a Genegineered Creature?” It’s an Subject to certain Procedures, they may attain Enlighten-
obvious question. That’s up to the Storyteller and the ment, but this should be a rare exception to the rule.
group — they can add an interesting angle to play, but The advantages listed here will differ from some of
they move away from the human element inherent to the forms in the section; that’s to keep your character
a Mage chronicle. If you choose to play a genegineered near the level of other starting Technocrats. You may
creature, that costs 2 or more Merits. Create it as a choose any animal breed listed under a type of creature.
normal character, and gain the listed that types. Con- For example, if you choose to play a cephalomorph,
sider balancing out the cost with massive Flaws, such your character may be an octopus or nautilus, or if
as Mayfly’s Curse. Note that by default, genegineered you’re playing a cetaceomorph, your character might
characters are not possessed of Enlightened Eidolons. be a narwhal or a dolphin.
Creature Merit Cost Advantages

Cephalomorph 2 Cloud Ink, Cromatophores, Regeneration, Speed, Tentacles, Thick Skin
Cetaceomorph 3 Echolocation, Empathy, Hyperintelligence
Dracomorph 4 Armor, Field of Vision, Jaws, Mass, Scent, Speed
Sauromorph 3 Armor, Regeneration, Silence, Tribe-Minded

Cephalomorphs
eight limbs (or sometimes more), and hundreds of eyes for
a full range of vision. They cannot speak, but can write if
Cephalomorphs blend human intelligence into the taught or communicate through other installed methods.
body of a large cephalopod, usually a nautilus or octopus. Cephalomorphs maintain phenomenally high
The end result is somewhere between 200 lbs. and one results in intelligence tests — a blessing and a curse.
ton, depending on the breed. Rogue Genegineers have Lately, the Internet’s been abuzz with stories about gi-
created sea creatures reaching upwards of 100 feet in ant cephalopods. The stories include more and more
length, weighing multiple tons. Cephalomorphs sport suspicious signs each time. Some included wounds on
76 Progenitors
the strange biologies therein. Each cephalomorph-led
Biosphere Explorer expedition uncovers dozens of new
species, far outstripping modern human undersea explo-
ration. Some Void Engineer teams have applied to join
cephalomorph undersea teams (though their reasons
for that aren’t entirely clear). While the crossover to
alien biology is questionable, every bit of information
helps in the field. Intelligent cephalomorphs are often
capable research scientists in their own right, and can
maneuver where most Progenitors wouldn’t dare tread.
Cephalomorph Advantages
All cephalomorphs have the following advantages.
Cromatophores – A cephalomorph’s skin contains
cromatophores, specialized cells that help camouflage.
Any rolls to detect the creature are made at +2 difficulty.
Ink Cloud – A cephalomorph can spray a jet of
ink that blankets an area equal to the Cephalomorph’s
volume. This ink blocks all senses. Due to Genegineers
modifications, the ink interferes Enlightened and
“magical” senses as well. Any roll to sense through the
ink cloud, mundane or magical, suffers a +3 difficulty.
Regeneration – A cephalomorph regenerates one health
level per hour. They regenerate lost limbs after one week.
Speed – In the water, a cephalomorph moves
up to 40 miles per hour. Cephalomorphs cannot
normally move on land; they can however pull and
drag themselves the length of their tentacles in a given
turn, but it requires their full action.
Tentacles – A cephalomorph may attack multiple
targets without splitting dice pools. Alternately, it
can dedicate multiple tentacles to a single opponent,
each adding one die to its pool. Attacks against the
tentacles may sever the appendages, but the damage
does not affect the body’s health levels.
Thick Skin – A cephalomorph is difficult to hurt
when in the water, gaining two dice to soak.
Average Cephalomorph
(Background Cost 3)
This cephalomorph is up to ten feet long, in the
200 lbs. range. A nautilus breed cephalomorph has,
along with the standard abilities, two additional dice
whales that could have only come from massive coral
to soak. An octopod cephalomorph can squeeze through
weapons wielded with intent. Forcefully drowned sharks
a space less than two inches in diameter.
in one region raised attention. Explorers have hunted
for larger and larger specimens with each finding, and In addition to the listed Abilities, give them two
with each odd circumstance. This led the Convention more dots to reflect the creature’s training. Often, they
to shut down most cephalomorph research labs. receive training in Awareness, Computer, Investiga-
tion, Research, and Technology. Small cephalomorphs
On the other hand, cephalomorphs have made great
are sometimes trained in Stealth and Demolitions, for
strides toward understanding the depths of the oceans and
placing charges inconspicuously.

Attributes: Strength 6, Dexterity 3, Stamina 4, Perception 3, municate with. Cetaceomorphs learn independently
Intelligence 3, Wits 2 and rapidly. Left to their own devices and an Internet
Abilities: Alertness 4, Brawl 3, Intimidation 2, Melee 1, connection, they’ll master numerous languages, develop
Stealth 4, Survival 3, Linguistics 1 complex mathematical concepts, and solve cyphers that
stump Sleeper code crackers. The running joke is that
Attacks: Tentacles, Dexterity + Brawl from crushing;
cetaceomorphs are designed to render the Syndicate
Beak, 3 dice
irrelevant; one lab teased that merely one of its uplifts
Willpower: 5 could single-handedly outperform every major predictive
Health Levels: OK (x3), -1 (x2), -3 (x2), -5, Incapacitated model on Wall Street. (By the way, that joke cost them
their funding. Learn from them; most Syndicate agents
Monstrous Cephalomorph don’t have a sense of humor.)
(Background Cost 5) Cetaceomorphs are both clever and versatile. While
This massive cephalopod is over thirty feet long, and they can be playful at times, they are always calculating,
weighs over one ton. It’s too large for conventional lab and often downright predatory. With human (or greater
space, and need to be kept in open waters (naturally under than human) intelligence, they can commit to complex
close scrutiny). Nautilus cephalomorphs of this size have plots and launch detailed plans. The Shared Governance
six additional soak dice. Such octopod cephalomorphs Council keeps a close eye on cetaceomorph development,
have two additional soak dice and can squeeze through for fear of the day they choose to revolt.
any space one foot or smaller.
Not only larger, they’re much more intelligent than Cetaceomorph Abilities
smaller breeds. Add four dots of Abilities to reflect the All cetaceomorphs have the following abilities.
creature’s training. Common training includes Aware- Echolocation – A cetaceomorph uses sonar in order
ness, Computer, Hypertech, Investigation, Research, and to sense its environments. This means it can pursue prey
Technology. While too large to practice Demolitions, at rapid speeds in complete darkness.
monstrous cephalomorphs can manipulate massive Empathy – A cetaceomorph has an intuitive un-
undersea Hypertech installations with ease. derstanding of behavior and interactions. Lying to one
Attributes: Strength 10, Dexterity 3, Stamina 6, Percep- is always made at +2 difficulty. All beings suffer this
tion 4, Intelligence 4, Wits 3 penalty, even other cetaceomorphs.
Abilities: Alertness 4, Brawl 4, Intimidation 4, Melee 2, Hyperintelligence – A cetaceomorph calculates at
Stealth 2, Survival 3, Linguistics 1 daunting speeds, with alarming efficiency. Any Mental
Attacks: Tentacles, Dexterity + Brawl from crushing; rolls involving math or logic are made at -2 difficulty.
Beak, 8 dice
Willpower: 6
Basic Cetaceomorph
(Background Cost 3)
Health Levels: OK (x8), -1 (x4), -3 (x4), -5 (x2), Incapacitated
The standard cetaceomorph often works as a lab
Cetaceomorph assistant or in another similar academic position. They
make for talkative partners. Cetaceomorphs are gener-
The cetaceomorph is an uplifted dolphin, whale, or ally constrained to aquatic life. However, most possess
porpoise — a popular construct in the past decade. Clas- waterproof computer systems with advanced satellite
sical Genegineers consider it a fad, though it’s showing networking. Some field teams use uplifted orcas and
no sign of slowing. While most genegineered creatures dolphins for their networking and informational sup-
are created for their unique bodies and physical capabili- port. Because of their advanced training and intelligence,
ties, cetaceomorphs are created for their potential for add six dots in Abilities to a standard cetaceomorph to
brilliance. Genegineers selectively breed cetaceomorphs reflect its scientific and technical education.
into much greater degrees of intelligence. Successful
Their breed determines their general size. Larger
cetaceomorphs generally work in their home labora-
breeds tend to be more physically competent, but are
tories or are farmed out to handle other tasks. We’ve
generally identical from an intellectual standpoint.
even loaned an uplifted dolphin to Iteration X for its
memory experimentation laboratories. Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 4, Stamina 4, Perception 4,
Intelligence 5, Wits 3
Most cetaceomorphs are modified to emulate
human speech, or are provided computers to com- Abilities: Alertness 3, Brawl 2, Intimidation 2, Stealth 1,
Survival 2, Linguistics 3
78 Progenitors
Attacks: Bite, Dexterity + Brawl Their popularity spiked around 1993, with the
Willpower: 7 release of the film Jurassic Park, though not for why
new students think. We’ve been tinkering with dra-
Health Levels: OK, OK, -1, -1, -3, -3, -5, Incapacitated
comorphs for a long time, but only when the movie
Advanced Cetaceomorph came out did the begin building a resistance to im-
(Background Cost 5) mediate and explosive Rejection.
An advanced cetaceomorph boasts intelligence While dracomorphs are bred for intelligence, they’ve
beyond human capabilities. While they’re very capable, never accomplished more than lesser primates. Every at-
they’re also typically stubborn. After all, why should tempt to infuse a human brain into a dracomorph results
they work for inferior beings? Mistreating an advanced in complete failure and permanent damage to the brain
cetaceomorph could have terrible consequences; an and body. (At least, that’s what the reports say.) Because of
agent looking to utilize one’s skills should consider this, dracomorphs are wildly impractical. They’re efficient
friendship or bribery. Add nine dots in Abilities to a killing machines for their size, but due to their size and
standard cetaceomorph to reflect it advanced education. obvious appearance, they can’t be used anywhere there
might be witnesses. And due to their very telling claws,
Their breed determines their general size. Larger
they draw immense scrutiny even in the wild.
breeds, such as whales, will have a higher Strength,
Stamina, and more health levels. For these and many other reasons, dracomorph
projects are highly restricted.
Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 4, Stamina 4, Perception 4,
Intelligence 7, Wits 4 Dracomorph Abilities
Abilities: Alertness 3, Brawl 2, Intimidation 2, Stealth 1, All dracomorphs have the following advantages.
Survival 2, Linguistics 3 Armor – A dracomorph’s flesh is tough, and their
Attacks: Bite, Dexterity + Brawl bones are made to take punishment. Add two dice to
Willpower: 9 soak rolls.
Health Levels: OK, OK, -1, -1, -3, -3, -5, Incapacitated Field of Vision – A dracomorph is equipped with
additional eyes and sense organs, so that it can perceive
Dracomorphs a full 360-degree range and can’t be effectively blinded.
Dracomorphs are the rarest of genegineering projects. Jaws – Dracomorphs come from the most deadly
Dracomorphs come from dinosaur genetic material, but predators in history. A dracomorph’s jaws act as four
are heavily modified for various tasks, vanity, die weapons. As well, they add four dice to any
intelligence, and often just for weird- rolls to grapple when using its jaws.
ness’s sake. Most have numerous Mass – A dracomorph is mas-
eyes, to support multi-directional sive for its size. Any attacks
vision — while not inherent to with a tail or ramming will
their source breeds, earlier knock a victim back five
Genegineers developed this feet for every point of
particular modification damage caused before
and it stuck with later soaking.
breeders. Most have en- Scent – Their en-
hanced bone structures, hanced sense of smell
offering tougher bodies, allows them to track a
or more flexible forms. scent up to a mile away
Most breeds have four at Wits + Alertness roll,
or more legs. Larger va- difficulty 6.
rieties tend toward eight
to ten legs for stability. Speed – In short
They range from ten feet bursts, a dracomorph
in length, about man-high, can sprint up to 80 miles
upwards of thirty feet, and two per hour. At long distances,
stories tall. Most have feathers, it can maintain a speed of 30
but some adopt older, scaled looks. miles per hour.

Common Dracomorph responsible for the most Progenitor deaths. Their intel-
(Background Cost 4) ligence is barely human. They can communicate in short,
simple sentences. They understand if/then relation-
This breed comes from deinonychus stock and stands
ships. They understand object permanence. They can
about human height. They’re bred for base obedience,
use simple tools and weapons. They can comprehend
but cannot follow complex orders. They’re hunters that
two-step directions, and will work for food.
can use simple tools, nothing more.
Sauromorphs lives are rather short, with the
Due to their resemblance to fictitious velociraptors
longest-lived barely top five years. However, they breed
(the real ones being around half a meter tall and not
correspondingly quickly. At this point, they’re a complex
nearly as smart as people believe), Genegineers would
race with numerous subdivisions. Larger habitats have
joke about that: “Oh my god, it can open doors!” At
bred ancestral tribes over the past three decades. They
least, they did before they discovered that dracomorphs
form family and tribal bonds. When gathered in large
understood the concept of condescension and sarcasm.
numbers, sauromorphs seem more capable of grasping
Attributes: Strength 6, Dexterity 3, Stamina 6, Perception 4, complex concepts.
Abilities: Alertness 4, Brawl 3, Intimidation 3, Stealth 1, Sauromorph Abilities
Survival 3 All sauromorphs have the following abilities.
Attacks: Claw or Bite, Dexterity + Brawl, two attacks per turn Armor – A sauromorph has tough, leathery scales,
at full dice pool; Tail, Dexterity + Brawl, free against any rear providing two dice to soak rolls.
opponent; Charge, Dexterity + Brawl + 2, takes entire dice pool Cold-Blooded – A sauromorph is cold-blooded, and
Willpower: 6 capable of remaining completely still for long periods. It
Health Levels: OK, OK, -1, -1, -3, -3, -5, Incapacitated gains four extra dice in any attempt to hide or go unseen.
Cold-blooded creatures must regulate their body heat with
Legendary Dracomorph external sources as the body goes into semi-hibernation.
(Background Cost 6) After a day without a heat source, halve all dice pools.
This enormous dracomorph comes from tyranno- This penalty does not go away until a full day in the heat.
saurus stock. It towers upwards of thirty feet, and has Regeneration – A sauromorph regenerates one
teeth the size of swords. It’s somewhat cleverer than its health level per turn, and recovers lost limbs after a full
smaller cousins — good with ambushes (if they can find week of recuperation.
something large enough to hide behind) and it’ll run if Tribe-Minded – A sauromorph is mentally dull
the tide turns the other way. They need massive space when acting alone. But when acting in groups of five or
to survive, nothing short of a football field will keep it more, they all gain an effective dot of Intelligence. More
safely. This provides its own complexities since the loss frightening, they gain an additional dot of Intelligence
of deep space facilities. when acting in groups of twenty or more.
Attributes: Strength 8, Dexterity 4, Stamina 8, Perception 4,
Intelligence 1, Wits 3 Sauromorph Prole
Abilities: Alertness 4, Brawl 4, Intimidation 4, Stealth 3, (Background Cost 3)
Survival 4 Standard sauromorphs are followers, and not particularly
great ones at that. They’ll do as told, but react poorly to mistreat-
Attacks: Claw or Bite, Dexterity + Brawl, two attacks per
ment. They’re very animalistic, and have a tendency toward
turn at full dice pool; Tail, Dexterity + Brawl, free against
impulsive violence due to their weak genetics and short lifespans.
any rear opponent; Charge, Dexterity + Brawl + 2, takes
entire dice pool Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 4, Perception 2,
Willpower: 6
Abilities: Alertness 2, Brawl 2, Intimidation 2, Melee 2,
Health Levels: OK (x8), -1 (x6), -3 (x6), -5 (x3), Incapacitated
Stealth 3, Survival 3
Sauromorphs Attacks: Claw or Bite, Dexterity + Brawl; Tail, Dexterity
+ Brawl, or by weapon, Dexterity + Melee
Sauromorphs are human-sized, bipedal lizards — a
long-standing tradition in genegineering. They’re the Willpower: 3
most popular genegineered creature, and also the one Health Levels: OK, OK, -1, -1, -3, -3, -5, Incapacitated
80 Progenitors
Sauromorph Chieftain dangerous, the only saving grace is that they’re territo-
(Background Cost 5) rial enough to fight amongst each other before posing
a significant organized threat.
Advanced sauromorphs take chieftain roles, and a
few are even utilized in fieldwork (typically in wetwork Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 4,
amalgams like Damage Control). They’re capable of full Perception 3, Intelligence 2, Wits 3
communication, and are only barely less intelligent than Abilities: Alertness 3, Brawl 3, Intimidation 4, Melee 2,
average humans. The Convention tries to keep them Stealth 3, Survival 3
away from sauromorph groups, because they become Attacks: Claw or Bite, Dexterity + Brawl; Tail, Dex-
ruthlessly intelligent leaders. (However, they’re clever terity + Brawl, or by weapon, Dexterity + Melee
enough to downplay their intelligence around humans Willpower: 3
with guns if they see they don’t have the advantage.)
Health Levels: OK, OK, OK, -1, -1, -1, -3, -3, -3, -5,
They count as two sauromorphs for the purposes of Incapacitated
the Tribe-Minded ability. This makes a group of chieftains

Field Doctor
“Fuck you and your ‘war for reality.’ You’re on the front lines, putting people in
my med bay for your war. You don’t have to deal with reality, you just have
to pull the trigger. This bleeding patient is reality. This quarantine is
reality. This flesh-eating bacteria that could wipe out this whole city,
that’s reality. Now, get over here and apply pressure to this guy’s leg.
If we stop the spread of infection, we can talk about your silly war.”
You went to college to save the world. You were ready
to throw your life away. You were ready for long hours. You
knew you’d never be the type to settle down and raise a
family. You had purpose. Your sister had Parkinson’s. You
swore you’d be the end of that disease. You swore that you
would make a world where nobody suffered from it again.
Your dedication led to success. While you didn’t find
a cure or a prevention, you revolutionized treatments.
You developed numerous procedures a decade ahead
of modern science. You never got credit on paper,
but that didn’t stop you. You did well enough in your
first five years that the Progenitors grabbed you right
out of your residency. You fought it briefly, until you
realized the truth of medical politics: it was completely
out of your hands. Your protests turned to apprehensive
curiosity when you found you’d be providing research
on genetic anomalies. During your first briefing, you’d
heard the names of diseases you couldn’t dream of. The
supervising physician spoke a mile a minute, and you
felt like an ignorant child. But it was all the same genes.
Only… different. It all followed the same rules, just in ways
you’d never imagined. Those combinations could not be
human genotypes.
Then you saw the field. You saw the monsters. You
saw the mistakes. You saw everything the Convention
tried (and failed) to hide. It was your job to minimize
losses, and to guarantee those problems were not
repeated. In many cases, it was your job to give those
mistakes the only mercy they’d ever know.
At first, you didn’t ask questions. You knew
you weren’t ready for the answers. Then you
demanded them. You needed to know to what
ends you were collecting data. You knew you
were brilliant, but not that brilliant. You were
single-handedly revolutionizing medicine in ways
you only knew from science fiction a decade ago.
You hit every wall, until eventually you found the
cracks. You learned about the genegineering projects.
You heard how long they’ve been enacted. You learned
that the plans are currently plotted out for fifty years.
You swore to yourself you’d end it. You swore that you
would make a world where nobody suffered from it again.
82 Progenitors
Name: Nature: Visionary Division:
Player: Eidolon: Questing Concept:
Chronicle: Demeanor: Perfectionist Amalgam:
Attributes
Physical Social Mental
Strength OOO Charisma O Perception OO
Dexterity OO Manipulation O Intelligence O
Stamina OO Appearance OO Wits O
Abilities
Talents Skills Knowledges
Alertness OOO Drive OOOO Academics OO
Athletics OOO Energy Weapons OOO Computer OOO
Awareness OOO Etiquette OOOO Enigmas OOOO
Brawl O O Firearms OOO Finance OOOO
Dodge OOOOO Hypertech OO Investigation OOO
Expression OOO Melee OOOOO Law OOOO
Intimidation OOO Research O Linguistics OOO
Leadership OOO Stealth OOOOO Medicine O
Streetwise OOOOO Survival OOO Politics OOOO
Subterfuge OOO Technology OOO Science OO
Spheres
Correspondence OOO Forces O OO Mind OOO
Dimensional Science OOOOO Life OO Prime O OOO
Entropy OOOOO Matter OOO Time OOOOO
Advantages
Backgrounds Enlightenment Health
Devices O O O O O O O Bruised -0
Influence Hurt -1
(Medical) OOO Injured -1
Willpower
Resources OO O O O Wounded -2
OOO Mauled -2
OOOOO Crippled -5
OOOOO Primal Energy Incapacitated
Resonance
Other Traits Dynamic OOOOO
OOOOO • Entropic OOOOO
OOOOO Static OOOOO
OOOOO
Experience
OOOOO
OOOOO Rejection
Enterprising Genegineer
“Thomas Dolby said, ‘she blinded me with science.’
Me? I make people see with science. I’m not talking
about replacing lost corneas. That shit’s child’s
play. I’m not an inheritor of Rufus’s legacy. I’m
an inheritor of fucking Frankenstein.
Okay, that sounded kind of silly. I probably
spend a little too much time in the lab. I don’t
get a lot of visitors. As it turns out, I’m too busy
discovering the next stage of humanity. Sorry.”
Do you know how most kids have a
story about being disgusted by the class
exercise where they dissect a frog? You
don’t have that story. You were the weird
kid, bouncing in your seat at the front of
the class. Your teacher told you to settle
down. You told him that he’d rue the day.
He thought you were joking.
He had never been so wrong.
You graduated high school at fifteen.
You had your undergrad in Biology by
seventeen. Your only friends were a col-
lection of exotic pets that rivaled the city
zoo. You procured some of them through
less-than-ethical means, which resulted
in a criminal record barring you from
government work. You pushed through
the rest of your education, coming out of
your doctorate barely able to legally drink.
Did we mention that during this time,
you’d spliced and forked a few species in
ways current geneticists couldn’t dream of?
Defiantly, you mentioned these experiments
during your dissertation. The professors ques-
tioned you, so you delivered evidence. They
summarily kicked you out of school. Days later,
you received a letter of apology, and a full acceptance
of your dissertation. Then, a Union talent scout came
to your home, curious about your creations. She signed
you on the spot.
Now, you’re King of the Lab. You bark orders, you stomp
around, and you make new life. You’re like a god. Only, a god
that’s constrained to a musky white room with a lack of funding
and an overabundance of sarcasm in the janitorial staff.
84 Progenitors
Name: Nature: Architect Division:
Chronicle: Demeanor: Architect Amalgam:
Attributes
Abilities
Subterfuge OOO Technology OOO Science Sci-fi OO
Spheres
Advantages
Advanced O O O O O O O Bruised -0
Cetaceomorph Hurt -1
Devices OOO Injured -1
Willpower
OOO Mauled -2
OOOOO Crippled -5
Resonance
OOOOO Static OOOOO
OOOOO
Experience
OOOOO
OOOOO Rejection
Research Assistant
“You know as well as I do that I signed up for lab work. I wanted to do
paperwork. I wanted job security. I wanted to play solitaire on my office
computer while interns did all the real work. I did not sign up to inves-
tigate the stuff of 1980s Saturday morning cartoons in filthy sewers.
I’m not saying I won’t do it. I just want to register my disapproval.”
You wanted to be boring. You wanted nothing more
than to do the picket fences, the 2.4 children, the doting
puppy, and the husband that uses too many puns and
watches the game on Sunday. You wanted to work from
9-5. You wanted to complain when you had to stay
until 6. You wanted two weeks of vacation, and to
complain in the break room that you deserve three.
You tried very hard for that, and you failed miserably.
When you took the position as a research
associate for your alma mater, you thought you
had that ideal. Your eyes glowed with the pos-
sibility of tenure. You did your time proudly,
managing a workload for a renowned professor
of paleontology. You were even cited in some of
her papers.
You didn’t think twice when she asked you to
go out on a dig; clearly she would need information
quicker than she could get with the spotty satellite
internet in the kinds of places that still had dinosaur
bones in their dirt. You made some cracks about
your fear of malaria, but you told yourself it was like
a vacation.
You gave a noncommittal protest when she asked
you to traipse through some cave network with her team.
You said it’d be smarter if you stuck above ground, in the
communications tent. Just in case, you said. She wasn’t
having it. While on the excursion, the team stumbled
upon a tribe of large reptiles that appeared to be speaking
with one another. The professor wasn’t shocked, neither
was the rest of the team.
When you got back, you asked questions until
you were blue in the face. You met with a debriefing
agent. (What kind of university has debriefing
agents?) They tried convincing you that you
didn’t see what you did. You weren’t having it.
Weeks later, you received a reassignment, a
promotion, and plane tickets for training in the
Amazon basin. The university gave you little choice,
and said they needed “someone with your skills.”
Whatever that means. You had to buy a whole new
wardrobe and invest in sunblock. Most importantly, you
had to give up on your dreams of normalcy.
86 Progenitors
Name: Nature: Conformist Division:
Player: Eidolon: Pattern Concept:
Chronicle: Demeanor: Conformist Amalgam:
Attributes
Abilities
Spheres
Advantages
Influence Hurt -1
(Academia) OOO Injured -1
Library
Willpower
OO O O O Wounded -2
Resources OOO Mauled -2
OOOOO Crippled -5
Resonance
OOOOO Static OOOOO
OOOOO
Experience
OOOOO
OOOOO Rejection
Damage Control Operative
“I stopped a dracomorph rampage by ramming the slimy bastard with a
car loaded full of explosives. I ended the 1998 sauromorph uprising by wres-
tling the chieftain into submission. I played my part in defending the Horizon
realms by shooting an arch wizard in the face. Do you think a bunch of
Hogwarts rejects are going to stop me?”
No. Fucking. Nonsense. You’re in possession of the two
things in this world most capable of solving problems: Enlight-
ened Science and your fists. You have two master’s degrees:
one in organic chemistry and the other in kicking ass.
The difference between you and others field agents is
that when you get an assignment, you’re on-location by
the time the others are done filled out their requisition
forms.
You’re growing long in your years, but nobody
dares tell you this. No matter what the issue, you
have a story about something bigger, something more
fantastic. Every single story ends in the same way:
you win. Typically, there’s a bit of tragedy to pepper
the tale. An agent or two or thirty die. But if you’re
going to make the world an omelet, it’d damned well
let you crack some of its eggs.
Did you do all those things? Does it really matter?
What matters is, you’re on the job, right now, and you’ve
survived all this time. You have a reputation to uphold.
Every young field agent’s heard your name. When you
stop by the lab to pick up your requisitions, the joke is
that you don’t study Forces, you study Excessive Forces.
Why do you do it? Because you don’t want to die
quietly. Your grandfather died fighting off a crocodile
attack. That made him the talk of the town, and the
darling of your entire family. He set a pretty high bar.
You intend to blow it out of the water. Besides, what
other line of work has you chased by dinosaurs one day,
and chopping off then regrowing limbs infected with flesh
eating nanoparticles the next?
Enlightened Science is just another tool. You’ve learned
to use their tablet computers and their gene splicers and
their particle propulsion cannons and their yadda, yadda.
But no tool replaces good, old fashioned hard work, blood,
and sweat.
Every mission could be your last. Deep down, you’re
getting tired. You’re hoping for that glorious end. Some
people end with a bang. You want to end with a bang,
a splat, a boom, a thud, a crack, and a whoosh. Not
necessarily in that order.
88 Progenitors
Name: Nature: Gallant Division:
Chronicle: Demeanor: Bravo Amalgam:
Attributes
Abilities
Spheres
Advantages
Eidolon Hurt -1
Fame OOO Injured -1
Willpower
OOO Mauled -2
OOOOO Crippled -5
Resonance
OOOOO Static OOOOO
OOOOO
Experience
OOOOO
OOOOO Rejection
Epilogue:
Sutures
“Okay, this is the hard part,” I say, mates… they don’t know exactly how many former
turning to face Victor before opening the Progenitor ‘experiments’ broke off their leashes.”
cargo elevator. “This part requires trust.” “They do not. But we still require their trust, and so…
He lifts an eyebrow. “You think you we don’t mention it to them. As far as they’re concerned,
haven’t already asked for enough of my trust?” you’re a Genegineer who’s antsy to get some fieldwork.”
I shake my head. “No. This is the part I reach down and roll the big door up, revealing the
where I trust you.” I nod toward the closed elevator cage behind it, and head inside.
door. “When we go in there, you’re my old Victor follows after me. “This plan can’t possibly
friend. You weren’t out in the cold. You just go wrong.”
moved into the area, and you want to help out.” “Tell me about it,” I grouse, and pull the cage closed.
Victor is quiet for a moment, studying me. I reassure As the elevator creeks and moves, he raises an eyebrow.
myself that he can’t read minds, but he guesses the truth, “Wait, since when do we ‘get antsy for fieldwork?’”
anyway. “They don’t know,” he says. “Your amalgam-
I can’t help but laugh a little.
90 Progenitors
When I open the elevator door again, we are three bad people and a smattering of good people, lost or
floors down. trapped or just naive. That about sum it up?”
Our base of operations is a maze of white cubicle I lean against my desk, appraising him again. “You’re
panels, windows, and venetian blinds. It sprawls across going to be a challenge.”
the entire floor, with offices tucked in corners, a machine His eyebrows lift. “Me?”
shop and a chemistry lab hugging the wall, and long teak
“You don’t ask questions,” I tell him. “You do as
conference table down the middle that, if truth be told,
you’re told. That’s a dangerous temptation for somebody
hosts Chinese food boxes more often than meetings.
in my position, with desperate stakes and finite resources.”
Motor pool takes up a third of the floor on the opposite
side, with access to the freight elevator. “Sorry if I make things difficult,” he says without
emotion. “I’m just here for a paycheck.”
I wave at all of these with terse explanations for Victor,
lingering a little on the people occupying the offices. I actually snort at that before I can stop myself.
“Parker is our resident Operative, ranks somewhere in “Is something funny?”
the middle of NWO’s fifty shades of suits. Rupasinghe is I consider the man for a long moment. “I’m sure this
Disbursements with a little headhunting on the side. But facade you’ve got built up is very comfortable and very
don’t worry about him in combat; he’s a former Enforcer. safe, Victor. But you’re not here for a paycheck. Hell,
Chris is our… well, sort of our mascot, I suppose. Poor you’re not even here for spinal fluid.”
lost little Pan-Dimensional Corpsman. The pregnant one He watches me with dead eyes. “I’m not?”
over there is my wife, Leela. She runs our lab.”
“No,” I tell him. “You’re like me: you want to make
“So she’s who I talk to about my supply?” He’s quiet the world a better place.”
on that query.
He doesn’t react at all at first. Then he lifts one finger
I nod. “And this is my office,” waving him towards to his lips. “Shhh.”
the couch that faces my desk. There’s a folder resting on
my chair marked confidential, and I sweep it open. As I “So I know I talked about you working for Damage
scan the contents, I keep talking. “The amalgam is rooting Control,” I say, shifting gears. My hand falls to the desk
out… well, we think we’re rooting out a Nephandus of to rest on the confidential folder. “I was hoping that you’d
considerable power. We were dispatched two years ago to be a little flexible and do some work outside of the whole
investigate some anomalous disease vectors, but after the hunter-killer shtick.”
first round of digging we discovered that was the tip of Victor sets his cup aside. The look on his face could go
the iceberg…” I stop myself and look up from the folder. in the dictionary next to the entry for weary resignation. He
“Do you… care about the whys and wherefores?” folds his hands together. “What is it you’d like me to do?”
Victor slides his head back and forth in a slow shake. I flash him a smile. “Nothing much. Just plant some
“Not particularly. Bad people. Tied up with a lot of other evidence.”
Rupasinghe steps into my office twitching like a live wire. Still Victor sniffs slightly. “Never was in the past.”
jumpy two days after shooting at people and they say Progenitors I give him a short smile and then look up at my office
are the back office types. “Talley,” he begins before I’ve even invader. “Mister Rupasinghe, this is Victor. He’ll be doing
looked up. “Doctor, we really must deliver that shipment.” some heavy lifting for us. We go way back.”
“Shipment?” Victor speaks up, and the Syndicate man The moneyman turns on a heel and offers his hand, a
turns to regard him with suspicion, and then a dawning practiced motion. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Victor.
look of recognition. I assume your association with Doctor Talley is professional?”
“Drugs,” I clarify. “I make ‘em, the Syndicate sells “As professional as this line of work gets,” the psychic
‘em. Which funds your salary. Is that a problem?” responds soberly. His eyes flick up and down Rupasinghe.
“Did you want to see my C.V.?” His voice is a naked Parker does not flinch.
challenge, and the Syndicate man’s spine straightens at it. They thank Victor and hurry to their respective
I clear my throat and stand. “Konrad, I cooked up a offices, gathering their coats and shrugging them on.
batch last night; it should be finished crystallization. I’ll Rupasinghe has one finger resting on his earpiece as he
go check on it and let you two get acquainted.” talks to empty air, arranging airline tickets.
Rupasinghe barely looks up as he squares his shoulders I raise my eyebrows at Parker, who pauses at the door
on Victor. “I don’t think that will be necessary, Victor. to the lab just long enough to breathe: “A lead on Scott.”
I trust Doctor Talley’s judgment. So you’re in the know, I do my best to act surprised, swallow, and nod to the
that’s great.” elevator. “Well what are you waiting for, go.”
Victor leans forward in his seat. “I’ve seen a man When I get back to Victor, he is scowling softly at
turned inside-out, laughing the entire time, before his the closing elevator door. “I gather you want me to ask
bones skewered the necks of the men trying to restrain questions, so here goes. What the hell was that all about?”
him. Marauder. I’ve seen werewolves track and hunt their
“You told them about the crash?”
prey–our guys–through the Canadian Rockies. Didn’t
end well. I’ve seen century-old vampire nests, a miniature “I told them what you told me to say,” he answers.
world inside a computer, even what I’m told was a faerie “Not that it was much. Half a ship crashed in the Brazilian
bolt-hole once. Burned all of ‘em to the ground. I’ve seen backwoods. IFF transponder scrambled. Traditionalists
half a Deep Universe ship breach the Gauntlet and crash swarming all over it, moving glass tubes the size of couches
land in the Brazilian rain forest.” across the rain forest. Heavy fire so we couldn’t get close
at first, and once we cracked that nut three days later,
As I’m leaving, Rupasinghe quiets slightly. “Have
they didn’t have the tech any longer. Tubes were found,
you, now?”
smashed to bits, outside a little town called Envira.”
I keep the narcotics lab nearby, and it’s all windows
I sit behind my desk and pull up the exterior cameras,
between it and my office, so I can watch the two of them
swinging the monitor around so that Victor can see, too.
as the conversation progresses. I make my hands look
Rupasinghe and Parker rush out the front door and onto
busy, which earns an odd look from Leela. I direct her
the curb. Rupasinghe waves frantically for a cab, which
attention towards my office. “Valkyrie?” she asks and I
flashes its lights and starts pulling over. Parker stares at
nod; we both watch quietly.
the ground, looking downright lost, and when Rupasinghe
Rupasinghe shifts forward, questioning Victor. At turns back, they embrace, clutching each other desperately.
first he plays it off as curiosity, probably still trying to
Victor’s eyebrow lifts minutely. “So now I’m even
win the dick-waving contest. But as Victor answers more
more confused.”
questions in his deadpan manner, the other man grows
more and more intent. Finally he stands and hits the “Parker’s last assignment was the morale officer on
intercom on my desk phone. an expedition to Saturn,” I explain. “The Valkyrie. It was
supposed to be a long voyage — years — so the crew took
His voice comes over the speakers in the ceiling.
their families along, including Parker’s son, Scott. And
“Parker, can I see you in Talley’s office?”
then the Anomaly came down. The kids got stuffed in
The NWO agent responds grudgingly, ghosting up stasis tubes while the crew tried to bring the ship home.
to my door and giving the Syndicate man a look that’s They were partly successful. The half of the Valkyrie that
half-glare, half-acknowledgment. “Yeah?” didn’t come home fifteen years ago has been missing on
Rupasinghe gestures from Parker to Victor and the other side of the Anomaly ever since. Or rather, right
back. I can almost read his lips. “Tell Parker what you up until a month ago.”
just told me.” “So Scott Parker…”
And it happens again. At first Parker is standoffish, “…is at an orphanage in Elvira,” I nod. “Hasn’t aged
disinterested, playing defensively. Then he goes white as a day.”
a sheet. He steps forward, asks a question. Before Victor
“And Rupasinghe?”
can finish answering, Parker demands another answer.
They scramble for a pen and paper scavenged from my I turn off the display, since the taxi cab has long since
desk, and the two of them, Rupasinghe and Parker, are disappeared from view. “He has the less happy story.
hastily scribbling notes as Victor speaks. His family didn’t make it.” Victor’s craggy face tenses,
and he tips his head to the side. Questions come hard
When he stops talking, Rupasinghe sets a hand on
for him. “Why the charade?” I ask for him. “Historically
Parker’s shoulder.
92 Progenitors
speaking, Parker and Rupasinghe have not got along very “Damn, Talley,” says Victor. “You take this healer
well. Differing backgrounds, different agendas, different thing seriously.”
motives. Now they’ll have something in common. Parker My soft eyes look out the window, and then shift to
has a reason to trust Konrad. Inter-Convention rift staring into Victor’s. For the first time, he looks away.
mended, at least locally.”
“Parker and Rupasinghe should recover the boy in a to pursue. We can assign you assistants, or if you have any
few hours and be back on the morning flight,” I report names, we can track them down. I assume one of those
to the six faces on the screen. “I don’t know if we’ll be names would be Leela,” he adds with a smirk.
operations-ready tomorrow, though. It depends on how I exhale slowly. “You can’t be offering me a blank
much time Parker wants with Scott, and you’ll forgive me check with no strings.”
if I tell you that won’t be getting curtailed.”
“As close as this world can get,” he replies, still
Most of the heads bob in agreement. One of them, smiling. “You’ve made some big wins out on the front
Councilor Grant, goes so far as to smile. “Good work, lines. And you’ve done good research in the past. We’d
Doctor Talley. I knew you were the right scientist for the like to reward your service in such a way as to get more
job. I think this concludes your report?” research out of you.”
“It does, sir.” I give the camera a curt nod, and the “I… appreciate the offer,” I stammer. My heart is
faces of the Governance Council start winking out. trying to leap up into my throat, but at the same time
Councilor Grant’s face remains. “Doctor Talley —” my arms feel leaden.
I give my old comrade a smile. “Everyone else is off He gives me a slow nod. “But you’re going to say no.”
the call, Darius. You can just call me Mary Beth.” “Yes,” I say, surprising myself. “I mean yes, you’re
“I get stuck in formal cant sometimes,” he shrugs, right; no, I can’t take the position. Getting back to pure
grinning like he’s got a secret. “Listen. There’s a lab research sounds marvelous, believe me. But there’s…
available in Yemaja.” there’s too much to do out here.”
I can’t do anything but blink. “Excuse me?” He sniffs and rubs his nose. “You’re not the first
“If you don’t mind working on the ocean floor,” he scientist we’ve offered the spot to,” he says. “You kids get
says with a slow chuckle. “We have a vacancy and we’d like a little fieldwork in you, you can’t let it go.”
to fill it with you. It was being used for mollusk research, I give him a warm smile and tip my head towards the
but you can reconfigure it for whatever project you’d like offices behind me. “I’ve gotta go. Duty calls.”
Name: Nature: Division:
Player: Eidolon: Concept:
Chronicle: Demeanor: Amalgam:
Attributes
Strength OOOO Charisma OOOO Perception OOOO
Dexterity OOOO Manipulation OOOO Intelligence OOOO
Stamina OOOO Appearance OOOO Wits OOOO
Abilities
Alertness OOOOO Drive OOOOO Academics OOOOO
Athletics OOOOO Energy Weapons OOOOO Computer OOOOO
Awareness OOOOO Etiquette OOOOO Enigmas OOOOO
Brawl OOOOO Firearms OOOOO Finance OOOOO
Dodge OOOOO Hypertech OOOOO Investigation OOOOO
Expression OOOOO Melee OOOOO Law OOOOO
Intimidation OOOOO Research OOOOO Linguistics OOOOO
Leadership OOOOO Stealth OOOOO Medicine OOOOO
Streetwise OOOOO Survival OOOOO Politics OOOOO
Subterfuge OOOOO Technology OOOOO Science OOOOO
Spheres
Correspondence OOOOO Forces OOOOO Mind OOOOO
Dimensional Science OOOOO Life OOOOO Prime OOOOO
Entropy OOOOO Matter OOOOO Time OOOOO
Advantages
OOOOO O O O O O O O O O Bruised -0
OOOOO Hurt -1
OOOOO
Willpower Injured -1
OOOOO O O O O O Wounded -2
OOOOO Mauled -2
OOOOO Crippled -5
Resonance
OOOOO Static OOOOO
OOOOO
Experience
OOOOO
OOOOO Rejection
Merits & Flaws
Merit Type Cost Flaw Type Bonus
Procedures
Preferred Effects Rotes
Devices
Name Level Enlightenment Primal Energy Appearance
Combat
Weapon Difficulty Damage Range Rate Clip Conceal
Armor:
Expanded Background
Allies Backup
Construct Companion
Enhancements Influence
Laboratory Library
Mentor Node(s)
Patron Resources
Secret Weapons Spies
Possessions
Gear (Carried) Equipment (Owned)
Foci Style
History
Empowerment
Goals/Destiny
Seekings: Quiets:
Description
Age:
Apparent Age:
Date of Birth:
Age of Empowerment:
Hair:
Eyes:
Race Appearance/Nature of Eidolon:
Nationality:
Height:
Weight: Common Resonance:
Sex:
Visuals
Amalgam Chart Character Sketch
Heart of the Union
The Progenitors hid far more depth than anyone, Tradition or Technocrat, realized. Too
long considered by others — and even themselves — as lab monkeys and cloistered researchers,
their protective cocoon of isolation was ripped away by the Dimensional Anomaly. Forced by
cataclysmic events, the Progenitors are injecting themselves back into a sick world.
The Union’s surgeons and chemists have made their diagnosis, and it scares them: the
Technocracy’s diseased and about to tear itself apart. Traditions keep peddling snake oil
treatments to a populace yearning for an easy fix. And there are worse things out there, cancers
on the world. So the Progenitors must take the only sensible action: arm up and prep the OR.
A World Infected
The Masses are gobbling up the ideas behind biotechnology, medical advancements, cloning,
and neurochemistry — nearly everything from the Convention’s bag of tricks. But the world
is still full of scared people looking for magic pills to make all their problems go away. The
members of the Technocracy are no different. But now the Progenitors are in the mix, frantic
trauma surgeons elbow-deep in unwilling patients. Convention Book: Progenitors updates
Mage: the Ascension with 21st century medicine, biotech, and desperate idealism.

Convention Book Progenitors

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Convention Book Progenitors

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Lillian Cohen-Moore, David A Hill Jr, Ryan Macklin, Josh Roby, and Jeremy Tidwell

Credits Special Thanks

When I leave the coffeehouse, Konrad is waiting

The Technocracy is sick. prosthetic technology, advancements in pharmacology,

Introduction: A Troubling Diagnosis 11

Mood: Treating the Future

Introduction: A Troubling Diagnosis 13

Chapter One: Patient History 15

Chapter One: Patient History 17

Chapter One: Patient History 19

Chapter One: Patient History 21

Chapter One: Patient History 23

Constable Shane Gilbert

Chapter One: Patient History 25

Chapter One: Patient History 27

Chapter One: Patient History 29

To the Nephandi reading this:

vicious cancer. You seem to see everything,

find out how by reading this book; we

Chapter One: Patient History 31

Chapter One: Patient History 33

Chapter Two: Residency 35

Chapter Two: Residency 39

Chapter Two: Residency 41

Chapter Two: Residency 43

Chapter Two: Residency 45

Chapter Two: Residency 47

Chapter Two: Residency 49

Chapter Two: Residency 51

Chapter Three: Prescriptions 53

Chapter Three: Prescriptions 55

Chapter Three: Prescriptions 57

Chapter Three: Prescriptions 59

Chapter Three: Prescriptions 61

Chapter Three: Prescriptions 63

Progenitors in Mixed Amalgams

Chapter Three: Prescriptions 65

I solemnly pledge to consecrate my life to the service of humanity;

Chapter Three: Prescriptions 67

Chapter Three: Prescriptions 69

Implant Rejection Shifter’s Skin

Chapter Three: Prescriptions 71

Chapter Three: Prescriptions 73

Playing Genegineered Characters

Creature Merit Cost Advantages

Chapter Three: Prescriptions 75

Chapter Three: Prescriptions 77

Chapter Three: Prescriptions 79

Chapter Three: Prescriptions 81

Secret Weapons Spies

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