Dissidents

The Dissidents are one of the factions and sects within the Sons of Ether.

## Nicknames

Mad Scientists (popular), Frankensteins, Amoralists

## History

While there have always been Etherites who are a bit unhinged or impatient with social niceties, the first Dissidents became an identifiable political faction during World War I. Responding to the rise of sophisticated, cruel weapons, the Utopian League created its Ethics Council. Etherites who contributed to the arms race were censured and occasionally even imprisoned.

Yet a vocal minority of Scientists wouldn’t stand for it. They’d left the Order of Reason to pursue Science with a free hand, and they weren’t about to kowtow to some replacement authority, no matter how necessary the bone-shaking primitives of the Council of Nine thought it was! In 1919, a rambling letter to Paradigma by Professor Herbert von Gegabelterblitz alternated between cogent of objections (based on the idea that ethical concerns would stymie Scientific advancement) and various threats to destroy the Ethics Council with his Pseudolunar Electro-Etheric Ray, an orbiting particle beam cannon of his own devising. His position was not exactly greeted with accolades; rubberized umbrellas were common Utopian accessories that year.

A few calmer objections followed, but the Dissidents’ position was forever tarnished by von Gegabelterblitz’s insanity. The fact that actual mad Etherites gravitated to the movement didn’t help either. All of them decided to avoid the Utopians by isolating themselves, surfacing only to publish their experiments. To avoid a repeat of the controversy, Paradigma refused to censor the work, even though it ranged from the trivial (Doctor Friedrich Vogelsang’s experiments with “Platonic Foods” in the Umbra) to the disturbing (Doctor Alice Newman’s study of the psychological effects of involuntary total cyborgization).

Since the Reckoning, the Mad Scientists have grown bolder, even forgoing their selfimposed exile to band into small groups with similar ideologies or interests. The Utopians fear that they will make a play for real political power soon.

## Science

The Dissidents research whatever they like. Many have a singular obsession to which they devote their entire lives, such as creating a robot that can perfectly imitate any human. Scientists who revel in creating weapons sell their inventions to dictators and amoral corporations

No matter how innocuous their work is, all believe that they should be able to create any invention and perform any experiment, regardless of the consequences or suffering involved.

Human test subjects are often needed. Mad Scientists either employ henchmen to kidnap them or, of it’s appropriate, perform an experiment in a populated area. Berserk robots, radiation and mutant diseases plague communities that a Dissident claims for his lab. Even without endangering humans, amoral experiments featuring vivisection and ecological destruction leave an unsettling Resonance about their lairs.

## Organization

Mad Scientists used to almost exclusively work alone to avoid Utopian agents or other meddlers. After the Avatar Storm struck, a few decided to gather in small groups, even appearing at Etherite functions. When the Scientists are unbalanced, these meetings tend to meld and intensify their particular neuroses.

Dissidents keep hidden labs and may have a few safe houses as well. Without the support of the Tradition, they are forced to find novel ways to gather resources. Despite keeping a low profile among the Sons of Ether, many of them are well connected to Sleeper businesses, governments and crime syndicates.