The Symphony That Never Ends

### Divergence Point

**celestial:** The Metatron survives Lucifer's assassination attempt.**corporeal:** 1497 e.v.; the son of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain survives to become King John III, weakening the Habsburgs and causing Portugal to focus its attention overseas on Brazil and missionary activities in Japan. As a consequence, Japan converts to Christianity, never turns away from the gun, and begins expanding in the 1590s.

### Source

Charles E. Smith on the In Nomine Collection + GURPS Alternate Earths + GURPS Infinite Worlds + Banestorming Infinity Unlimited + Liber Neglecta

### Current Affairs

The balance of a cyberpunk world shifts between four great powers: the Japanese Empire, the Swedish Empire, the Empire of Brazil, and the Kingdom of France.

### Major Civilizations

Japanese-Western (empire), Western (multipolar).

### Great Powers

Japanese Empire (oligarchy, CR4 in Home Islands, CR3 elsewhere), Swedish Empire (technocratic oligarchy, CR6), Empire of Brazil (corporate state, CR1), Kingdom of France (dictatorship, CR4).

## Worldline Data

### Centrum Zone

inaccessible

> Four temple gates ~
>
>
> under one moon,
>
>
>
> four sects.
>
> Basho (1644 e.v.-1694 e.v.), haiku

Across the infinite reaches of reality, certain gifted individuals have long been able to tap into the ebb and flow of the great Symphonies of the universe. For eons, these individuals have observed worlds without end, and in these worlds have been certain constants. In nearly every reality, the brave and heroic archangel Michael has stood against the traitorous forces of Lucifer, the Shining One, whose selfish pride and ambition leads him into revolt. In some worlds the forces of good and evil are evenly balanced, while in others one side or the other holds the dominance.

Oh, to be sure, those who can see across reality will tell you that there are variations on this great pattern. Get one to talk and they'll tell you of worlds where Michael was the one who turned against God. They'll tell you of a place where Armageddon came and went, and the tyrant Saminga holds dominance over a broken world; another world, where a hubristic Lucifer triumphed at the Rebellion and lords over a decaying reality; or a third place, where Lucifer was slain by Michael late into the War, and the human woman Lilith became Queen of Hell. But one thing has remained constant through nearly all the infinite variations of reality: the Metatron, Voice of God, was slain at or shortly after the Rebellion.

But there is a place where the Metatron still lives. Sit ye down children, and hear the tale of the exception to the rule...

The corporeal history of this parallel apparently diverged in the early 16th century, when the heir to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain survived to ascend the throne as John III. Without the dynastic union of Spain and Austria under the Hapsburgs, European history took a different shape during the crucial era of the Reformation. On the other side of the globe, the Jesuits were successful with their campaign of Christian proselytization in Japan. Under the Oda chancellors, Japan began the adaptation of Western culture that was eventually to give it dominance in the Far East.

Today, Infinity Unlimited's name for the parallel itself comes from the local version of Japanese: *shikaku-mon*, from the native word for "square" and their French loan-word for "world", is a common term for the quadripolar balance established in the 20th century. Japanese control of the eastern half of the globe is balanced by the economic power of Brazil, the frightening totalitarian Swedish Empire, and the technological achievements of the Kingdom of France, risen from the ashes of military defeat to seize the high ground of space. Despite technology superior to Homeline's in many areas, societies cling to archaic aristocratic forms that no longer function in the modern world. Social tensions between the haves and the have-nots have disrupted society in much of the world and are still increasing.

Shikaku-mon history is less strongly parallel to Homeline history than most other known parallel worlds. After the breakpoint, events changed in unexpected ways, and relatively few important people from Homeline history have counterparts in Shikaku-mon. Could this be an indication that Shikaku-mon is "special" in the same way as Homeline? Even worse, Shikaku-mon is in *precisely* the same local year as both Homeline and Centrum. Taken together, Infinity thinks there is a strong possibility that full parachronic technology, including projectors, would function in Shikaku-mon. The prospect terrifies the Council.

## Celestial Factions

### Heavenly Host

With Hell pushing the advance of technology so vociferously ~ something must be preventing its wholesale spread into the mortal world. That something is Jean. While the eloah may still occasionally attempt to slip a beneficial advance into the mortal world, most of his efforts are in the realm of regulation: trying to keep infernal techonology suppressed until humans have at least developed a cultural and legislative framework that will keep it from taking over everything.

* Asmodeus, cherub archangel of the Balance and Heaven's internal security
* Beleth, cherub archangel of Divine Fear
* Eli, mercurian archangel of Creation
* Genubath, seraph archangel of the Shield and commander of the front-line troops
* Janus, ofan archangel of the Wind
* Jean, eloah archangel of Knowledge
* Johab, eloah archangel of Salvation
* Khalid, mercurian archangel of Hope
	+ Litheroy, seraph angel of Faith, formerly a servitor of Knowledge
* Legion, kuriotes archangel of the Holy Condemnation and Lord Commander of the Host
* Mariel, the eloah archangel of Light
* The Metatron, seraph archangel of the Infinite, Voice of God
* Michael, malak archangel of Shadow, Firstborn of the Angels, First of the Malakim, and commander of the black-ops and spy division
* Novalis, cherub archangel of Nature
* Oannes, kuriotes archangel of the Waters
* Orc, kuriotes archangel of Communication
* Saminga, grigori archangel of Death
* Uriel, malak archangel of Purity
* Yves, archangel of Destiny

### The Hordes of Hell

Hell may once have existed as Dante imagined it, but no longer. With the rise of the machine and power of the internet revealed, Hell is fast becoming a nightmare ripped from the mind of William Gibson.

Autonomous vehicles fly from principality to principality, driven by computers, and powered by bits of soul stolen from demons in order to pay for their cybernetic enhancements. Neuro-interface ports allow demons and the damned to access a nearly bottomless array of skills, Songs, porn and bile. The internal data systems controlling this information are only imperfectly connected, resulting in a robust online spy trade between the principalities (and some other infernal factions which the technology has empowered).

Vapula, as the originator of all this technology, is the primary target of such online crime, but also the principle beneficiary of his technology’s pervasiveness (it’s hard to keep secrets from a demon who has been granted access to your mind in exchange for streaming videos and a suped-up Wikipedia).

#### The Trinity of CyberHell

Vapula does not rule this technological Hell alone. He still needs the backing of Kronos to secure the Primum Mobile and support of Dominic to limit how much his programming can be used.

Together the three of them form the new Trinity and the rest of Hell owes them at least nominal fealty.

#### The Second Circle

Immediately beneath the new Trinity is the second circle of Superiors. These are the ones who have either adapted best to the new paradigm, or who are considered essential to perpetuating it. The second circle includes Blandine, Gebbeleth, and Zadkiel in her role as the unofficial Hellish patron of mass media.

#### The Glitch

As Vapula’s devices have spread throughout Hell, so has his bias against calabim. Not only are “the glitch” (as they are now known) unable to reliably use technology on their own behalf, but their very presence tends to make other’s technology misfire.

As such, they are mostly barred from any position of rank or import and have formed something of an underclass in Hell.

Belial and Haagenti have therefore become the defacto leaders of the disaffected. Furfur, on the other hand, backs the new order ~ there’s no way he’s taking Hardcore acoustic. This has earned him the unfortunate nickname “Prince of Sellouts,” at least among the woke glitch.

* Andrealphus, impudite prince of Lust
* Blandine, djinni princess of Dreams
* Belial, glitch prince of Wrath and General of Hell
* Dominic, balseraph prince of the Iron Fist and Hell's internal security
* Furfur, glitch prince of Hardcore
* Gebbeleth, balseraph prince of the Web
* Haagenti, glitch princess of Pride
* Kobal, impudite prince of Envy and Bitter Jester of Hell
* Kronos, prince of Fate
* Lucifer, balseraph king of Darkness, Ruler of Hell, and King of Demons
* Magog, skulker prince of Gluttony
* Makatiel, habbalah princess of Disease
* Marc, impudite prince of Avarice
* Meserach, djinni prince of Sloth
* Raphael, habbalah princess of Oblivion
* Vapula, balseraph prince of Science
* Zadkiel, shedu princess of the Tendril

### Dead Superiors

David was slain by Lucifer at the Rebellion, as was Gabriel by Belial. Jordi was laid low in a sneak attack by Vephar and a group of demons, though Vephar paid with his life when Oannes caught up with him. Christopher, the Angel of Children, was killed by Zadkiel's forces on the eve of his ascension.

Ba'al was slain in an ambush by Dominic, Gebbeleth, Kobal, and Belial, the result of a carefully arranged trap set in 937 e.v. Genubath, the angel of the Shield, was promoted to archangel and succeeded him as commander of the front-line troops.

Lilith freed the demons and was killed in a joint-operation by Uriel and Legion. It was known as the "Green Death" because Uriel spent centuries slaughtering lilim, destroying Freedom's outposts, and generally harassing Lilith before setting her up to be ambushed and killed by Legion in 1542 e.v.

## Corporeal Factions

### Corporations and Zaibatsu

#### Brazilian megacorporations

* Ares Macrotecnologia, a conglomerate of arms, automobile, and space industries.
* Halsey, Ferris, and Skiv
* Internacional de Associados Petroquímicos (Petroquím)
* Morales, Asukaga, e Finch
* Noite Corporação
* Planetran

#### French corporations

* Semeur-Krupp Industries Lourdes (Semeur-Krupp Heavy Industries), conglomerate based on the production of steel, heavy-industrial goods, cars, arms, and communications, whose major shareholder and chairman is the dragon Lofwyr

#### Japanese zaibatsu

* Arasaka no zaibatsu
* Mitsuhama Konpyuutado no Gijutsu (Mitsuhama Computer Technologies, MKG, MCT), started as a money laundering operation for the Triads but soon surpassed their investors' income by a very large margin, focuses largely on robotics, heavy machinery, and computers
* Renraku Konpyuutado no Taikei (Renraku Computer Systems), produces mainly computers and arms
* Wushingu Kumikoma re te (Wuxing Incorporated), Hong Kong-based

#### Mexican corporations

* Aztecnologia, heavily involved in consumer goods, with strong ties to the teteo

#### Virginian corporations

* Militech International Armaments

### Noble Houses

#### Japanese nobility

* Shiawase family, which has moved into energy production, biotech, and environmental procedures

## Shikaku-mon's World of the Mind

Shikaku-mon has a peculiar mentality from a Homeline perspective, an odd mixture of advanced but alien ideas and archaic survivals. Because of a different intellectual history (there never was an Enlightenment in Scotland, and Adam Smith never wrote), Shikaku-mon natives are less ready with economic explanations of human behavior. "Self-interest" is typically defined in ways that sound more psychological than material to a Honeline native. Because of Shibata's influence, it is common to talk as if ideas manipulated the people who hold them: "Do you really think her loyalty to the corporation can defeat her communal orientation?" "I'm afraid Millennialism has overpowered him." Most people judge ideas in terms of their utility. without regard to their accuracy. Ome important example: almost everyone agrees that religious faith is necessary to social order, but actual *belief* is rare.

Most of Shikaku-mon moved from an aristocracy of birth to an aristocracy of wealth and talent without ever going through a phase of popular democracy. Remnants of the old nobility are still present and socially powerful. People tend to talk about redefining the aristocratic tradition and trying to purge it of corruption instead of replacing it with a more egalitarian ethos. After all, "everyone knows" that public order and progress depend on hierarchy. Authority may depend on the consent of the governed in some abstract sense, but most Shikaku-mon natives believe that people can so easily be manipulated into giving their consent that the concept is almost meaningless.

## Languages

The languages of Shikaku-mon are similar to those of Homeline. Of those of the four superpowers, French and Portuguese are essentially the same; a Homeline speaker will merely have an accent, and even that can be shed with a few weeks of practice. French is still the language of diplomacy and the most common second language in the world.

Swedish has evolved somewhat differently due to increased influence from German and the Slavic languages. Speakers of Homeline Swedish may attempt to understand or communicate in Shikaku-mon Swedish with a -2 (GURPS) or -1 (IN) penalty.

Japanese in Shikaku-mon has almost no loan words from English, but many from French and Portuguese; it defaults to Homeline Japanese (and vice versa) at -3 (GURPS) or -2 (IN). It also uses the Roman alphabet exclusively instead of kana and kanji.

## History

### 22,625 p.e.v.: The Fall

The sweet scent of jasmine blew through the valley on the winds created by Janus, caressing the two figures who stood together at the base of the shining, golden connection that would in later times be known as Jacob's Ladder. One figure was light and airy, as ephemeral as the winds, and as elusive to the eye: more a presence in the mind than a physical being. The other was very solid, very real. A great serpent, formed of brilliant white that was reflected in every hue, every intensity, by the near-invisible scales of his being. White, feathered wings extended from this being, creating a prismatic halo about him, and six eyes, each blazing the deep blue-white of a star, stared intently at the presence that was there/not there.

"Metatron my friend, I have a question for you." The tone was friendly and warm from the serpent's mouth.

"A question?" Soft as wind chimes, distant as time, the presence's voice.

"Yes." A pause, then a look as if pain crossed the great serpent's features. "Forgive me for troubling one such as you but I am curious. Have you thought about the questions of humanity and the corporeal plane?"

"Question?" The presence turned to the shining serpent. "I was not aware there were questions to be asked, Lucifer. God made His decree known."

Lucifer nodded slowly. "Yes. Yes He has. But my nature compels me to seek full illumination on the matter. It is the nature of Light to illumine that which is not fully known, to bring all matters to full understanding. There are many amongst our brethren who harbor questions, even doubts, in their hearts. The younger ones question amongst themselves why we were ordered away from the Corporeal, and even the older ones have their concerns. They--"

"Why do they not then come before God, and ask of Him?"

If the Seraph was ruffled at being interrupted he did not show it. "It is a grave matter to come before one's Creator, especially when one has questions about a decision He has made. If an angel feels awe at speaking to her archangel, how much more must she feel coming before the Majesty of Our Father?"

"Perhaps." The presence's distant feminine voice seemed skeptical, as much as one of her stature could be at any rate.

"And you, Metatron?"

"Hmm?"

"Surely, you could be of assistance in bringing these concerns to light. You are the Voice of God. You enjoy a closeness with Him that not even Yves can claim. Surely you of us all would be able to explain God's thinking on this?"

The distant voice turned flat. "That is not for me to say, Lucifer. Not without His permission."

"His permission? Ah, but your life is determined by His permission, is it not? More than any of us, you are bound by Him, your will not your own. Your thoughts, your feelings, your *self*, are tied to Him. Do you not ever wish that that great honor and burden you bear could pass, even for a moment, and you could enjoy the wind in your wings? The sun on your scales? A dip in the ocean? It must be hard to remain here, to know that your very being could be pushed aside at a moment's notice for you to project the Voice. I cannot imagine what it must take to be you."

"I do not regret what I am. Do you regret the burden of being the Bringer of Light? Do you weary of illuminating all the darkest depths of all questions and thoughts?"

The Seraph's smile was wry. "Fair enough. But I must ask your personal opinion, in the name of gathering all facets of Truth. What do you, personally, think of the humans?"

The Voice seemed a bit surprised. "They are God's creations. As such, their purpose will be revealed when God decides. Destiny is Yves's to monitor. I just trust that our Creator will make all known in due time."

The Seraph developed a frown, one quick to pass but still noticeable. "I see. So you bear no animosity towards these humans, despite their . . . lack of refinement and elevation?"

The Voice was silent a moment, then, "That is your task Lucifer. Yours and the others. You to bring the light that will guide them, Raphael to aid their search for knowledge, David to bring them together and strengthen them. All of us have our tasks. Love and Fire, Valor and Destiny, all of the Words were granted by God to guide all of his creations to perfect harmony. But you know this. Why do you ask these questions?"

Lucifer looked at Metatron for a long moment. "I have said--"

"No. You have spoken of the duty of your Word. You have not explained the personal interest you seem to have in humanity or in getting me to express some sort of doubt in our Creator's intent. Nor have you explained the doubt *you* seem to be feeling towards our Creator. Is there something you wish to speak of, Lucifer?"

Lucifer's frown was deeper for a moment, then he spoke carefully. "Not here, I don't. I would ask of you to come with me to speak with some other angels, angels who have doubts. It is my hope that perhaps you can be persuaded to speak with them. If you were to come perhaps some progress could be made."

Metatron was silent a moment, then tilted her head. "Very well. I will do what I can and speak with their archangels as well." The ethereal presence floated past Lucifer in the direction his extended wing indicated. She was barely past him when she felt the stabbing pain in her back. As she cried out, Lucifer's face was at her side.

"I am sorry Metatron, but if you will not stand with me then I have no choice. I cannot have you speaking with the others. Answers must be demanded of God without interference from those, like yourself, too content to raise your voices and be heard." Metatron slumped, hearing the words through a red haze of pain. Lucifer stared at her for a long moment, to be sure, and then spread his wings. It was time to speak with Beleth again, to try to lure her as he'd lured her lover. The more angels with him when the time came, the better his chances in his audacious, but to his mind necessary, plan. The death of the Voice of God would have to be explained, somehow, but perhaps if he moved fast enough the investigation could be lost in the greater press of events . . . .

Without warning he was flying, and not under his own power. The burning heat and the PAIN screamed through every fiber of the seraph's being. He couldn't tell up from down, and barely felt it when he smashed face-first into one of the gentle mountains that sheltered the Valley of the Voice. It wasn't until after he'd rolled down the side of the mountain, tumbled over the rocks in the foothills, and smacked into the valley floor that he was able to begin blinking out the floating spots in his vision.

"LUCIFER!!!" The voice . . . and the Voice, echoed about the valley, slamming into the seraph's abused senses at all levels. It was a long moment before he could lift his smoking, bloodied head and blink his six eyes into focus on something impossible.

Before him rose Metatron, the Voice of God, hurt but still alive. *That cannot be. I struck her down cleanly!* The there/not there presence was radiating a deep-blue light about her being, tinged with gold, and the Symphony was ringing like a gong about her. "DID YOU THINK THAT YOU COULD DESTROY MY VOICE WITH IMPUNITY, BRINGER OF LIGHT?!?" As Lucifer gaped, his jaw hurting from slamming into the mountain, the Voice continued. "IN THE NAME OF YOUR AMBITION AND PRIDE YOU HAVE STRUCK YOUR FELLOW ANGEL. YOU SHALL BE MADE TO ANSWER FOR YOUR CRIME!"

Lucifer looked up, his eyes slitted. "I am not the only one who must make answer! You--"

"SILENCE!!! YOU HAVE THIS ONE CHANCE TO MAKE REPENTANCE, ELSE PUNISHMENT SHALL BEFALL YOU."

Lucifer glared bitterly at Metatron, and at that which she represented, then spread his aching wings, lifted his battered and cut body, and flew off. It was time to gather his forces, incomplete as he thought they were. They would see who would repent this day!

"SO BE IT."

The disturbance rang about Heaven, startling all of the angels. From the highest pinnacle of the Council Spires to the deepest depths of the Catacombs, from as distant as the far side of the Marches to as near as the Eternal City, all heard the disturbance. It was a sound never heard before in the Heavens, in the corporeal universe, or in the Marches. Angels looked up in wonderment, and not a little fear among many. None knew what it was, though in the deepest sanctum of the Library, Yves looked up from a book in his hands and sighed in profound sadness.

From the west came the Lightbringer, flying in haste from the holiest place in Heaven. His shining form was wreathed in smoke, and blood seared the ground as his charred feathers carried him at best speed towards his allies in rebellion. While Heaven reeled, Lucifer gathered his followers, angels who had been seduced by the promise of answers to the questions that gnawed their hearts, or whispered allusions to great rewards for those who followed him, allusions which fed the seeds of dark desire within them. Amongst their number could be counted the great as well as the lowly. Andrealphus, archangel of Love was there, his beautiful face conflicted and unsure, unwilling to grant that Lucifer's words about his Word were true but unable to just back away. Nearby stood Blandine, the great winged white wolf silent as always, but her golden eyes filled with concern for the one she loved above all others. Belial, he of the flaming eyes and strong arm, took one look at Lucifer then frowned and flexed his arms, while nearby, Kobal's merry face twisted with an anticipatory grin. Dominic, whose chrysanthemum-white eyes took in all from under jade-green scaled eyebrows, stood aloof while the great winged elephant that was his Cherub servitor Asmodeus stood stolidly, his posture belying his inner confusion. Raphael, the shining Archangel of Knowledge, her eloah face impassive, listened to the bitter mumblings of Meserach, the high-ranking cherub of Wind, die off as Lucifer arrived. All turned to face the Shining One who had won their loyalty.

"My friends, the time has come!" Lucifer's charred wings spread wide, barely discernible in the powerful halo of white light he projected. "Though it is sooner than we had hoped, and with fewer numbers, we must move now to force God to answer all of our questions and doubts! I have just come from speaking with the Metatron herself! She will not join with us, and she made clear her intentions to speak with the other archangels about our cause. This cannot be allowed! Rise up, rise up, all you brave angels! Rise and make Heaven ring with our shouts as we subdue the complacent and bring all of Heaven in unity to demand answers of God!" The resounding cheers nearly deafened the archangel of Light. "ONWARDS!!!" Lucifer lifted off, and his loyalists behind him under the darkening skies of Heaven.

The Rebellion had begun.

The battle raged long and hard. The angels loyal to God, stunned by the betrayal of their peers, rallied under the banner of Michael, Firstborn of the Angels. Thunder cracked and wind howled as angel confronted angel. There an eloah faced off against its friend, who had become a twisted creature of delusion and madness. A kuriotes fell, laid low by the claws of a calab she'd once known as her ofan lover. Blood and death, chaos and war, all sullied the eternal beauty of Heaven. The streets of the Eternal City ran with the gleaming blood and Forces of angel and demon alike. Some fought with strategy and cunning, innovating the first use of terrain and lighting to gain the advantage. Others charged in with wild swings and shouts of fury and pain. The Symphony rang with the clash of angels as it has not rung since, and as some say it will not ring until Armageddon comes to end what began that day.

In the end the fierce struggle of betrayal and hope, ambition and sorrow, blood and death, came down to two. In a wide street of the Eternal City, the buildings shattered in the fighting, smoking from the torches of the demons, there stood two beings. One was a being of purest Light, the blinding aura dimmed perhaps by the blood that stained the white scales, but the starry eyes burning with fierce determination. The other was a being of purest Shadow, with chains like weights upon his chest and brawny arms, and a gaze that pierced the aura of light. Around them all was silent. The survivors of both sides; hurt, limping, watched as the two beings faced off. The wind whistled through the broken buildings as they stared at each other.

"So it has come to this." The figure of Light looked contemptuously at his chained foe. "Michael, do you not realize what the Tyrant has done to you?! He has warped you, my brother, First among Angels! He has changed you from the bright and pure Seraph you were into this . . . this mutation! This gross mockery of an angel! Is this what you want to be?! Brother . . . ," here a wing extended. "There has been much hurt this day. Much suffering. Do not let it continue. Join with me. Let us, as a family, come before God with our grievances. Let us, as one, demand redress, demand the return of all those who needlessly died this day." Lucifer's voice was filled with hope, with pleading for his elder brother's understanding.

But the Shadow, the Shadow shook his head. "You are a traitor to God, Lucifer! You and all your followers! It was you who brought about the needless death and suffering! It was you who rent Heaven in your pride and your arrogance! And it is you who must make redress!" Michael, First of Angels, First of the Seraphim, Most Holy of the Most Holy, and now First of the Malakim, the warrior-angels, assumed a combat pose, his bloody axe dripping. Slowly, ever so slowly, Lucifer's charred wing drooped.

"So be it." And with that the fight began.

Long and hard that battle raged. The ringing of Michael's axe against the blade and shield of solid light that Lucifer had conjured echoed across Heaven. Resonances and Songs blasted apart the streets, leaving only dust, rubble, and deep pits in their wake. Followers of both leaders scattered as the fight took to the skies, rending the black thunderclouds of God's Wrath with red lightning and streaks of fire. At times the Light was so intense that all were forced to turn their eyes away. At other times, the Shadow obscured all vision. The fear that gripped the onlookers was so total, even for the impassive elohim, that none dared intervene. Only two were able to see past the Light and the Shadow to the fight within, and the Metatron and Yves did not speak.

Finally, after countless hours, after a struggle so fierce that the universe itself would feel it for ages to come, the Light lay broken at the feet of the Shadow. The spell of combat broken, those who had followed the Lightbringer clenched themselves in dread and terror, wondering what their Fates would be. Those who stood by Michael stood in breathless anticipation of what would come next, what Michael would do. But it was not Michael who spoke.

Into the tense moment floated the Metatron. The there/not there presence instantly commanded the attention of all as she turned her head to the fallen Lucifer. The Lightbringer looked at her through eyes that bled with his life-force and burned with tears; tears of pain, and of failure, and of impotent rage. Tears that spoke of a towering pride forcibly humbled. He lifted his head and all could hear the serpentine tongue hiss through the broken and ragged halo that surrounded him still.

Out of the Metatron came the Voice: "YOU HAVE FAILED, LUCIFER! IN YOUR PRIDE AND AMBITION YOU HAVE DARED TO RAISE YOUR HAND AGAINST YOUR CREATOR AND AGAINST YOUR SIBLINGS. FOR THAT EFFRONTERY, FOR THE SIN OF PRIDE, I HEREBY BANISH YOU AND YOUR FOLLOWERS! YOU SOUGHT A PLACE BEYOND ME, A PLACE WHERE YOU WERE FREE OF ME? SO BE IT. GO TO THAT PLACE THEN, CURSED AND FAILED SERPENT. NO LONGER ARE YOU BRINGER OF LIGHT!" A cry of pain then, as Lucifer's very being twisted, mutating into a hideous mockery of the seraph he once was. The blood on his face settled into his scales, staining them a dark and smoky red. His halo was ripped from him, exposing his deformity to all as his charred wings lost their feathers and became leathery and black, and his eyes became empty pools of nothing, as his brow ridges grew sharp horns and his skin beneath the red scales became tough, raw, and corded. A scream of anguish seared the ears of all observing as the First Balseraph writhed in agony. The Metatron stretched forth her wings, the blue-gold aura dazzling.

"GO TO THE PLACE THAT WILL FOREVER BE YOUR HOME, THING OF DARKNESS! GO, YOU AND YOUR KIN, AND TROUBLE THE BRIGHT CREATION NO LONGER!" As all watched the air began to slowly ripple. At first it could be mistaken for a smoke eddy from one of the many leveled buildings of the Eternal City, but that ripple slowly spread, like a stain of oil on water, and as it spread it darkened. In years to come none would be able to explain it, but seeing that ripple blossom into the dark void it became, into the pain and suffering that would become Hell, spread a shadow on every heart watching, yea, even the brightest of souls. From the ripple came a wind, but nothing like any Janus had ever made. No, this wind chilled the soul and blasted the flesh. This wind sucked into itself, greedy and desperate. First it pulled Lucifer, King of Darkness and Father of Lies into its' chill embrace, swallowing him into the Hell he'd been condemned to. Then one by one it reached out for his followers. Blandine, her dream of love twisted and broken by the Serpent's lies, was first. Belial, still covered in the blood of slain Gabriel, followed. Raphael, her thirst for the knowledge she'd been promised having betrayed her, was next, followed soon by the prankster Kobal and the stern Dominic, who railed as he was dragged to his Fate. Others followed: Andrealphus and Makatiel, Meserach and Marc and Gebbeleth all went, joined by one-third of the Host of Heaven. When the ripple finally dissipated, closing as it had opened, it was a much reduced and darkened Heaven that Metatron beheld.

"AND UNTO YOU, MY CHILDREN, FALLS THE HARDEST TASK. LUCIFER WILL NOT BE IDLE FOREVER. IN HIS HEART HE WILL SEEK VENGEANCE AND HE WILL STRIKE AT YOU AND AT THE HUMANS THAT ARE YOUR CHARGE NOW. YOU MUST STRENGTHEN YOURSELVES, AND HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AGAINST YOUR ONCE-BRETHREN, ELSE YOU WILL SURELY FALL, AND WITH YOU THE UNIVERSE."

After a moment for that grim statement to sink in, Metatron turned to Michael. "MICHAEL, MY GOOD AND LOYAL SON. YOU HAVE STOOD AS THE CHAMPION OF HEAVEN AND SUCH IS NOW YOUR TITLE, FROM NOW UNTIL THE END. YOU HAVE FELT THE SHADOW OF THE TAINT LUCIFER BROUGHT TO THE HEAVENS AND YOU HAVE RESISTED ITS' SIREN CALL, TURNING THE SHADOW INTO THE RIGHTEOUS FURY THAT STRUCK DOWN THE SERPENT. AS SUCH, I NAME YOU THE ARCHANGEL OF SHADOW, COMMANDER OF THE HOSTS OF HEAVEN."

Michael knelt and slammed his fist against his chest. "As you command, my Lord, so shall it be."

Metatron turned her head. "ASMODEUS." Her wing pointed at the cherub, who flinched and lowered his head. The Voice turned gentle. "RISE MY CHILD. YOU FELT THE TEMPTATION OF LUCIFER BUT YOU WERE STRONG ENOUGH TO TURN AWAY FROM HIS LIES. HAVING EXPERIENCED LIGHT AND DARKNESS, I NAME YOU THE ARCHANGEL OF THE BALANCE, AND TO YOU FALLS THE TASK OF PREVENTING ANY MORE ANGELS FROM FALLING INTO THE PIT WITH LUCIFER. FEEL NO SHAME MY SON, AND TURN YOUR GRIEF AND PAIN INTO THE STRENGTH I KNOW LIES WITHIN YOU."

The elephant-cherub's eyes were wide and startled, then he lifted his trunk. "I--I will try, Father."

A turn. "NOVALIS, MY DAUGHTER. YOU WHOSE KINDNESS EXCEEDES ALL OTHERS. TO YOU FALLS THE TASK OF TAKING UP WHERE OTHERS HAVE LEFT OFF. GABRIEL IS DEAD, AS IS JORDI. I EXPAND YOUR WORD NOW, TO THAT OF NATURE. YOU SHALL GOVERN THE FAUNA AS WELL AS THE FLORA AND MAINTAIN THE DELICATE BALANCE OF THE UNIVERSE'S ECOSYSTEMS. IT IS A GREAT CHALLENGE BUT I KNOW YOU CAN HANDLE IT, MY LITTLE FLOWER."

Novalis's mouth was wide, the enormity of what her new task would be settling on her like an iron weight. It took a moment before she could barely nod in response, feeling all of nature begin to stir and connect within her being.

Metatron fixed her eyes on Beleth, whose tears were watering the ground and whose sobs had continued unabated since Blandine had been sucked into the void. The angel's eyes were soft, and the Voice was filled with compassion. "MY DAUGHTER. I KNOW THE PAIN FEELS GREATER THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY BEAR BUT MY LOVE SURROUNDS YOU ALWAYS, AS DOES THE LOVE OF YOUR BRETHREN. FOR A TIME, I MUST GIVE TO YOU AN ONEROUS TASK. BLANDINE YET LIVES, AND WILL TWIST THE DREAMS OF MORTALS TOWARDS DEBASEMENT, USING THEIR OWN DESIRES TO BAIT THEM. YOU MUST FRIGHTEN THE MORTALS AWAY FROM THESE SEDUCTIVE DREAMS AND FROM THE OTHER TEMPTATIONS OF THE FALLEN. BE STRONG, BELETH, AND KNOW THAT THE PAIN AND THE DESPAIR WILL PASS UNDER THE LOVE OF YOUR FELLOW ANGELS AND MYSELF."

Beleth did not look up from her tears at all.

With a compassionate glance at her, the Metatron looked then at Ba'al. The third angel lowered his head in reverence, the aura of the Metatron's light gleaming from his chrysanthemum scales. "BA'AL, NOBLE WARRIOR. YOUR COURAGE STANDS AS A SHINING EXAMPLE TO ALL, MY SON. TRULY HAVE I NAMED YOU VALOR. YOUR COURAGE MUST BE THE BEACON TO ALL OF MY CHILDREN, AND TO YOU I GIVE THE TASK OF INSPIRING THE BRAVERY MORTALS AND ANGELS ALIKE SHALL NEED IN TIMES TO COME."

"I shall not fail you, Father."

The Metatron stretched a wing, and the crowd of angels parted as if an invisible hand had separated them, revealing a small figure. The small figure raised an eyebrow and then stepped forward at Metatron's nod, revealing herself to a pale eloah with striking gray eyes. The Power came forward and knelt before the Voice of God.

"MARIEL, ANGEL OF MEMORY. YOU REMEMBER ALL THINGS, WITH A MIND AS EXPANSIVE AS THE HEART WITHIN YOU. NOW I MUST TASK YOU WITH USING THAT MIND TO COMPREHEND AND SHARE ALL ASPECTS OF LIGHT WITH THE WORLD." Off of Mariel's widened eyes, Metatron nodded. "YES. I HEREBY PROMOTE YOU TO ARCHANGEL OF LIGHT. GO FORTH INTO THE WORLD, MY NEW LIGHTBRINGER, AND ILLUMINATE THE PATH TO SALVATION."

"Yes, my Father." Even an eloah's dispassion could not conceal the stunned Mariel's reaction, which was hidden by the blazing aura of white light that sprang from her suddenly radiant form.

Metatron turned to another eloah, one whose severe, knife-edged face could not conceal the sorrow in his eyes. "JEAN OF THE LIGHTNING. YOU ARE THE SPARK OF INSPIRATION, BUT YOU MUST BE MORE NOW. YOU MUST TAKE UP THE TASK OF TEACHING AND ENCOURAGING LEARNING, GUIDING THE MORTALS PAST THE DARKNESS OF IGNORANCE AND INTO HEAVEN'S EMBRACE. I GIVE TO YOU THE WORD OF THE FALLEN RAPHAEL: THE WORD OF KNOWLEDGE. YOU WILL FIND SOLACE, MY SON, ONE DAY."

Jean did not react, nor reply.

With a compassionate look, the Metatron turned to Oannes and Janus. "THE WATERS AND THE WIND, BROTHERS AND FRIENDS. THE ONE PLACID, THE OTHER EVER-SHIFTING. JANUS, I CHARGE YOU WITH THE TASK OF INSPIRING MORTALS BY BRINGING DIVINE CHAOS, AND SWEEPING AWAY THAT WHICH IS OLD AND STAGNANT. OANNES, YOUR WATERS SHALL CALM THE CHAOS ONCE IT HAS PASSED, HEALING THE WOUNDS AND BRINGING THE FOUNDATIONS FOR LONG-TERM HOPE. MY SONS YOU MUST WORK TOGETHER, CHAOS AND ORDER AS ONE. I KNOW YOU CAN."

Oannes's watery-blue form shifted as he manifested eyes and hands. "Yes Father." He looked at Janus, and the brawny ofan grinned and nodded. "Oh yes, it will be done. The Wind and the Waters will keep the world safe, Father, never fear."

The Metatron nodded and turned to face a frowning, bechained malak, whose hand rested on the pommel of a great broadsword of whitish-blue energy. "URIEL. YOU ARE SERIOUS EVEN IN TIMES OF PEACE, AND DOUGHTY IN TIMES OF WAR. YOU HAVE BEEN CHARGED WITH MAINTAINING THE PURITY OF EXISTENCE, AND NOW THE PURITY YOU STAND FOR HAS BEEN DEFILED. MY SON, YOU MUST BE THE CUTTING EDGE, STRIKING DOWN THE IMPURITIES THAT LUCIFER AND HIS ILK WOULD BRING. WILL YOU DO THIS FOR ME?"

Uriel knelt, lowering his head. His voice, like the iron that lay beneath fallen David's mountains, rang out. "I shall not allow any to defile the creation, to undo the purity of Your work. You have my word and my oath." A new chain appeared about the malak's mighty form, binding tight about his chest.

The Metatron's aura flared brighter, then she turned to Eli. "AND THE CREATION. THAT IS YOUR TASK MY WILD, ARTISAN SON. THE BRIGHT CREATION, TENDED BY YOUR HAND. THE OTHERS MAY FIGHT IN REALMS OF WAR AND THE PHYSICAL, BUT TO YOU FALLS THE DUTY TO PREVENT THE ENTROPY THAT WOULD CONSUME ALL, AND BEFORE WHICH ALL ARE HELPLESS WITHOUT YOUR AID."

"On it, Father." The mercurian who had bound himself to Creation for the sake of Creation had a strange, quirky smile that many found off-putting in the face of the events of that day, but which others claimed was just Eli's optimism asserting itself.

Metatron's face assumed a smile, then the Voice rang out. "MY SERVANT THE METATRON SHALL BE AS SHE IS: MY VOICE AMONGST YOU. TO HER I GIVE THE WORD OF THE INFINITE, TO COMPREHEND ALL OF REALITY AND WORK TO PRESERVE IT ON A UNIVERSAL SCALE."

A head turn, and all followed her gaze to behold the Eldest Soul. "AND OF COURSE, MY SERVANT YVES SHALL REMAIN, A GUIDE TO YOU AS YOU GUIDE THE MORTALS. TO HIM SHALL BE GIVEN THE WORD OF DESTINY, TO BRING ALL REALITY TO THE BRIGHTEST OF ALL POSSIBLE FUTURES." Yves nodded, smiling his wise, enigmatic smile.

The Metatron spread her wings and flew high above the crowd, her aura blazing even brighter than that of Mariel, stronger than that of fallen Lucifer. "COURAGE, MY CHILDREN. I TRUST IN YOU ALL, AND I KNOW THAT TOGETHER, YOU SHALL NOT FAIL THIS, YOUR WORLD." With that the aura, and the Voice, were gone, leaving Metatron to slowly settle to the sullied ground.

Heaven would never be the same.

### 10th century prior era vulgaris

Ba'al is slain in an ambush by Dominic, Gebbeleth, Kobal, and Belial, the result of a carefully-arranged trap set in 937 e.v. Genubath, the angel of the Shield, is promoted to archangel and succeeded him as commander of the front-line troops.

### 14th century era vulgaris

Zadkiel is the kuriotes angel of the Mystic, serving under Michael. She is the liasion between Heaven and the ethereals, as well as between Shadow and Fear. She manipulates the ethereals (who had a stronger presence than in many Symphonies) for centuries, but eventually becomes too proud, too sure that she knows more than her superiors on ethereal matters. During the Black Death in medieval Europe she outcasts herself, using her organization of angels and ethereal loyalists to infilitrate high-ranking rival cultures on Earth and tear them down from within. When Heaven moves against the heavily discordant kuriotes, she Falls, taking her small army with her. Lucifer rewards her with the Word of the Tendril and a princess's coronet. The fallout so undermines Michael as General that he steps down and God appoints Legion, a former shedu of the Iron Fist, now Redeemed, to succeed him over the objections of the Council. Legion recieves the Word of the Holy Condemnation.

### 16th century era vulgaris

Lilith frees the demons and is killed in a joint-operation by Uriel and Legion. It is known as the "Green Death" because Uriel spends centuries slaughtering lilim, destroying Freedom's outposts, and generally harassing Lilith before setting her up to be ambushed and killed by Legion in 1542 e.v.

#### The Rise of Sweden and Japan

The most important change of the 16th century was the unification and conversion of Japan under the Oda chancellors. This was not widely recognized in Europe at the time, where the Protestant Reformation absorbed their attention.

### 17th century era vulgaris

Although its course differed in many ways, the decisive shift in the timeline came only in the 17th century, in the Fifteen Years' War (1618-1633). Gustavus Adolphus firmly established Protestantism in northern Germany under Swedish domination, beginning the rise of Sweden to great-power status.

### The French Bid for Hegemony

From the mid-1600s to 1861 France, the greatest power in Europe, struggled for complete dominance, most notably in the War of Austrian Succession (1701-1720), when Louis XIV and Charles XII of Sweden defeated England, Spain, and the Dutch. It was a violent era, but its political turmoil was ultimately less important than the ongoing changes in economic and intellectual life.

The Industrial Revolution brought Britain and France an economic world dominance that was only challenged by later arrivals in the 19th century. The Rationalist movement, parallel to the Enlightenment in Homeline, expressed and created a new outlook on the world. In Shikaku-Mon, however, although the Rationalists did bring a decline in traditional religion, they failed to create an era of revolutionary politics.

France suppressed the Republican movement everywhere except in Portugal, and managed to maintain its dominance in Europe, as well as a leading position overseas. But the strain of maintaining itself increased dangerously. Finally, in the War of Prussian Succession (1856-1861), a grand alliance ~ including Japan, fresh from the victory over China which had given it unrivalled hegemony in East Asia ~ defeated France and broke up its empire.

For two-thirds of a century, the victorious powers occupied themselves with expanding their influence through colonies, trade, and industry. But gradually they came into competition, drawing each other into a complex, unstable system of secret alliances that virtually guaranteed a general war.

### The Pyrrhic War, 1927-1932

The immediate cause of the war turned out to be Brazilian and French activity in India ~ which brought both powers to war with Britain and Japan, the established powers there. British alliances brought in Sweden and some minor powers in Europe and America. On the other side, the Coalition Agreement between France, Brazil, and Russia, originally a commercial agreement, now became a military partnership.

Advanced technology rendered the war far longer and far more destructive than anyone had predicted. The Allies slowly broke the Coalition in Central America and along the Rhine trenches, but at the peace talks the Allies found themselves preoccupied with domestic trouble. The rigors of war had led to increasing civil unrest in the conquered lands of the Allied empires . . . ultimately resulting in Indian risings, joined by rebellions in China, Poland, and Ireland. The Treaty of Amsterdam reordered a few colonial lines, but the Coalition powers escaped the expected punishment. Even the war indemnities largely went unpaid. The name "Pyrrhic War" became current in the immediate postwar period when the Allies found themselves mired in colonial rebellions and economic depression while the Coalition powers recovered.

### Synarchism

Sweden and Britain were hit hardest by post-war depression. Britain remained trapped in economic stagnation for most of the 20th century, spending its scant resources on a futile attempt to retain control over most of India. The Swedish response to depression and growing civil unrest was somewhat different: Edvard Bagare's Synarchist Party won control of the Riksdag in 1934 and proceeded to create the first totalitarian state the timeline had ever seen. At first, many were predisposed by the horrors of the war and economic collapse to listen to the synarchists' proposed solutions. (The outside world usually denied the terrors of synarchist rule in the Swedish Empire, since they were so far outside modern experience.) Directed from Stockholm, synarchism dominated the political landscape for three decades, winning support especially in the less-developed regions of the West, until Sweden belied its supposed idealism by stumbling into a major war.

### The Bombing of Britain

In 1962, the Swedes decided to support a *coup d'état* by the British Synarchist Party, calculating that the other major powers would not be willing to intervene militarily and risk another Pyrrhic War. Although correct in this judgment, covert aid prolonged British resistance and slowly turned the tide against the Swedes. In the face of defeat, Sweden used the experimental atomic bombs it had been developing in the far north of America.

Nuclear strikes destroyed the four major British industrial cities. Electromagnetic pulses destroyed most of the island's electronics, fires swept upper England, and hordes of irradiated refugees shattered the transport system. London and the other surviving cities found themselves starving. Despite aid from a world which only gradually realized the full extent of the tragedy, civilization collapsed in most of England with unbelievable speed.

### The Silent Struggle

The use of atomic weapons during the Britannic War inaugurated the current era of covert struggle between the powers. A case could be made that the so-called "Silent Struggle" did not actually begin until the following year, when Brazil exploded its own fission bomb. In any event, the era has seen continuous tension between the powers, with occasional flare-ups into proxy wars where spheres of influence overlap ~ most violently in Persia and southern Africa.

The threat of an atomic "Last War" is no more popular in Shikaku-mon than it was in Homeline. But so far the quadripolar balance, backed by the *Communauté des Etats du Monde* (or CEM), has been able to surmount even such crises as the Swedish defiance of France's ban on orbital travel, and the collapse of Brazilian domestic authority during "Red Tuesday" shortly after the millennium.

## Technology and Society

Shikaku-mon technology is comparable to that of Homeline or Centrum; TL8 with some TL9 devices. Aerospace and most forms of electronics are somewhat more advanced in Shikaku-mon than in Homeline; medicine is less developed. Shikaku-mon has a "cyberpunk" mentality and seems to be in transition to the usual cyberpunk technology ~ while computers are everywhere, cyberware is rare.

The French are still the world leaders in aerospace and the Swedes in nuclear technology, although their leads have been eroding. The Brazilians invented mass production and led the development of computers; they still produce the best consumer goods. The Japanese invented plastics and have recently taken the lead in heavy industry.

Shikaku-mon is not as dependent on oil and coal as Homeline is. The developed regions, particularly Sweden and Japan, have made extensive use of nuclear fission plants to supply electricity. Japanese researchers recently developed commerically feasible fusion power, and the first fusion power plants are in the process of being built. Europe depends more on fossil fuels, although French and Italian magnetohydrodynamic generators are more efficient than the usual Homeline power plants. Brazil is similar to Europe, with limited use of nuclear energy; it is also the only country in thr world to make large-scale use of solar power.

### Pollution

Driven by the pressure of ten billion people on the environment, pollution is worse in Shikaku-mon than it ever was in Homeline. Air quality is noticeably bad in most of the world's cities, and even in stretches of Japanese and European countryside. Air pollution is actually life-threatening in the average industrial center about 20 days in the year.

Many large lakes, the Mediterranean, and the Baltic are virtually dead areas, and the oceans themselves have suffered massive extinctions of larger organisms. There is no organized environmentalist movement in Shikaku-mon. Some activists believe that humanity is destroying itself, but few people have the time to listen to them.

### Transportation

Within the huge cities, public transportation, usually light rail, has become the only method of transport. Due to extreme congestion, private transport is neither legal nor possible in huge areas of most urban centers. In Swedish territories, light rail systems are considered the most efficient means of transportation within and between cities.

Private automobiles are still the basic form of short- and medium-range transportation in Brazil and some other parts of the Americas, at least for anyone with money. Modern cars are heavily computerized, some of them even capable of driving themselves on highways. More and more, luxury cars are armored.

Over longer distances, aircraft are the usual means of travel. Every country in the world is accessible by air, and in fact several less-developed regions have tried to use aircraft rather than construct an expensive rail or road system. Trips of thousands of miles away usually involve sub-orbital scramjets.

### Space

Space technology is highly advanced in Shikaku-mon, but the French own the moon and have shown no desire to venture beyond it except with a few unmanned probes. The only region of space that has really been exploited is that around Earth itself. Orbital space hums with activity. Hundreds of unmanned satellites coexist with a dozen space stations: there are an estimated 1200 people in orbit at any given time. Almost four-fifths of them live in Archangel Station, a huge complex of satellites in geosynchronous orbit over the Amazon basin.

Archangel Station is the site of most of the zero-gravity research and industrial production in Shikaku-mon space. It gets its energy from an array of solar power satellites, beaming the excess to northern Brazil. The station presents itself as a city in space. However, people rotate in and out so quickly that there is almost no sense of community. As in other space stations, the technology that keeps everyone alive is so delicate that civil rights and privacy have to be ignored when they conflict with safety. Furthermore, since the Earth Orbit Disarmament Treaty of 1977, CEM inspectors have had the legal right to go anywhere, regardless of sovereignty, in ensuring the absence of weapons systems from space.

#### Launching Lasers

A method of attaining Earth orbit that leaves the engine on the ground, launching lasers create a reaction on the underside of a capsule in order to propel it into space. The Japanese Empire, the only nation to use them, has been constructing a network of launching lasers in their tropical possessions ~ the home islands are too far off the equator for the system to be practical there yet. The system is comparatively cheap, and can support many more launches than have yet been required.

### Computers and Dataweaves

The computer in Shikaku-mon is even more prevalent than in Homeline. Its evolution followed a similar path, although personal computers appeared slightly earlier. They have become very popular and very cheap, with a new generation appearing every five or ten years. The obsolete micros of a decade or two back are common even in the less-developed nations.

The modern "octavo" personal computer weighs about two pounds and can run for a year on internal power. TL9, Complexity 3 "quantum-wire" machines are just hitting the shelves from a few Brazilian and Japanese producers. All executives carry "sextodecimo" personal assistants (10 ounces) which can keep appointments, record a diary, run spreadsheets, and access the Tapestry. Governments, corporations, and research institutes use massively parallel mainframes (Complexity 6) with architecture superior to anything in Homeline. "Megacomputers" are not available, however, and despite years of artificial intelligence research, no one has yet succeeded in constructing a true AI.

Programming assumptions in Shikaku-mon are different from those in Homeline, and have always paid more attention to security. Even so, standard policy for the superpowers and multinational corporations is to keep really sensitive data on physically-isolated systems.

The Shikaku-mon term for computers linked together is *dataweave*. There are a lot of them, including huge amateur syste,s that are some of the more popular recreations in the developed world, from virtual-reality games to television shows with special electronic bulletin boards allowing response from the fans. Most of the dataweaves link together somewhere (except for the deliberately isolated systems); the entirety is usually called "the Tapestry." The Euro-Brazilian complex is the largest segment of the Tapestry; the Japanese and Swedish systems are somewhat smaller and have relatively few connections to the larger complex. There are small, obsolete dataweaves scattered throughout every less-developed nation; except for the Louisianan Weave, which their Nationalist government has isolated, these link up to the larger Tapestry. (And even in Louisiana covert connections still exist.)

#### Direct Interfacing

The *concept* of direct links between a human brain and a computer has only recently been invented in Shikaku-Mon, and it is very far from being realized. In fact, many theorists believe that direct interfacing is impossible. Virtual Reality does exist, and some people have tried to adapt it to a computer interface, but most programmers find V.R. environmental interfaces distracting rather than helpful.

### Surveillance

Surveillance technology is very common and usually less regulated than firearms. In Sweden such devices are not available to private citizens; in Brazil they can be bought over the counter. The technology is also highly advanced. Any of the TL8 surveillance devices in *GURPS Ultra-Tech* are available at double efficiency and one-quarter the weight. The equipment used by professional spies is surely even better than that.

### Medicine and Cybernetics

Medical technologies in Shikaku-mon are, on the whole, somewhat less developed than their counterparts in Homeline ~ in some areas Shikaku-mon is still back in the 20th century. Organ transplants are still risky, and effective cloning techniques are far away. On the other hand, doctors can cure almost all infectious and parasitic diseases.

Although local electronics are easily good enough to make cybernetic implants, the technology has remained experimental because of the less-advanced biology and materials science; without regular immune-suppression treatments, which have side effects of their own, the subject will eventually reject the implants. For cybernetic enhancements, see *GURPS Cyberpunk* or *GURPS Ultra-Tech*. However, note that Shikaku-mon cybernetics are less advanced than in a typical cyberpunk world. There are no brain implants, and any other enhancements may be disallowed by the GM as too advanced. In addition, anyone with cyberware is subject to Rejection Syndrome.

### Weaponry

Shikaku-mon weaponry is TL8. Offense, however is superior to defense in this parallel. Personal armor is an inferior grade of monocrys. Use the TL8 personal armor from *GURPS Ultra-Tech* or the *Basic Set*, but reduce the DR values by one-quarter. Thus, personal monocrys armor gives PD 2, DR from 6 to 18, and a soldier's Combat Infantry Dress gives DR 30 to the torso, DR 9 to most other areas.

#### Standard Personal Weaponry

The most common personal weapon in Shikaku-mon is the Bandeirante flechette pistol. The Japanese equivalent, the Shimabara 9T, has similar statistics. Both are gauss needlers, although that name is not used since Gauss never lived in Shikaku-mon. Assassins and soldiers typically carry laser rifles.

In theory, Shikaku-mon nations restrict weapons exactingly (the average theoretical Control rating is 5), but the practice varies widely. Most European nations, especially Sweden and its satellites, really are serious. American nations, however, typically have strong gun control laws that are not effectively enforced; in Brazil, private security forces carry military-grade laser weaponry: official CR 4, effective CR 0. In most of Africa and the Middle East, guns are illegal except in the hands of the military, although insurrectionists seem to have little trouble acquiring them. The Japanese Empire requires licenses for any citizen to go armed; such licenses are very difficult to acquire on the home islands but common in the rest of the empire.

Finally, note that most of the world retains the traditional ban on bringing weapons into the presence of a reigning sovereign.

#### Heavy Weapons

Shikaku-mon armies use a variety of lightly armored, fast-moving artillery and transport vehicles. Heavy tanks have come back into common use since the development of effective laser shielding. Weapons of mass destruction include nuclear arms and artificial meteor strikes from the lunar mass drivers. Such weapons are too powerful to bother describing with exact statistics ~ and anyway, they have not been used since the Britannic War.

## SimSymphony

You may recently have heard of studies made to determine whether or not the universe is actually just a giant simulation. Whether or not Vapula is behind them, he watches the studies with great interest. If humanity as a whole begins to accept the idea, Vapula would be able to take advantage of his vast processors to seize control of the simulation ~ essentially placing him in charge of the Symphony and all within it.

## Entertainment

Virtual Reality sets have moved into the home over the last decade, and interactive V.R. is now perhaps the most popular form of entertainment. V.R. scenarios are available over the Tapestry for nominal amounts ~ some of them free, because of a quixotic designer or because they incorporate propaganda. The most popular V.R. designs come from Brazil and, recently, Aoteara, but the most artistically impressive designs are Italian and Mexican.

Many other forms of entertainment are available over the Tapestry, interactive or not, visual or text-based. Big corporations dominate about half of the entertainment market; the other half consists of thousands of tiny niche-marketed productions. The entertainment conglomerates deliberately try to shape mass culture, although much of the time they end up following rather than leading.

Censorship is common in Shikaku-mon: governments manipulate the mass media to suit their political and cultural ends, while the Catholic Church forbids blasphemy and "immodesty." While sex is off-limits to the legal market, violence is a staple element of pop culture.

## Fashion

Modern businesswear in Shikaku-mon has been heavily influenced by the Japanese. The contemporary executive wears a jacket of black silk (or artificial fibers) embroidered with the emblem of his corporation or, if sufficiently exalted, his family. The jackets have hanging rectangular sleeves which can hold keycards, a sextodecimo computer, saints' medals, and/or ceramet stilettoes. Formal dress in France, still the arbiter of style, currently fabors brocaded capes and metallic wigs for men and women. Street dwellers ape the fashions shown in Brazilian V.R. shows, currently pastel cotton jackets and pants for both men and women (although women's styles show more skin), with hair dyed to match. Synarchist Sweden stands apart from outside trends, requiring uniform coveralls at every level of society.

## Economics, Jobs, and Wealth

### Currency

The international currency of choice is the Brazilian escudo ("shield"), symbolized by a $ imposed between the unit and the subdivision. The current global inflation rate is about 15% ~ higher in Japan and the Americas, lower in Europe. Shikaku-mon has experienced frequent heavy inflation during the last two centuries. In 2000 the Brazilians responded by knocking three zeros off the escudo; the other powers have not followed suit. The contemporary "new" escudo is equal to about 6000 livres ("pounds"; £) or 3500 Japanese yen ("rounds"; ¥). The Swedish mark (ℳ) trades at an official rate of ℳ500 to the escudo; the black market rate is around ℳ2500.

Shikaku-mon characters have a starting wealth of 12,000$ (£72,000,000 / ¥42,000,000 / ℳ6,000,000 or ℳ30,000,000). Only 20% of this money should be available for "adventuring" equipment, although part of the other 80% of total assets can be used for a computer.

### Social Status and Cost of Living

In Japan, native Japanese are +1 on this table (except for the Prime Minister). In Sweden, no one but Directorate employees can have a Status above 1. Monks and secluded nuns have no cost of living.

## The Symphony That Never Ends and the Repertoire as a Whole

### The Council's Nightmare

Since the first days of parachronic travel, the Infinity Council has been worrying about the day when a timeline capable of building projectors would be discovered within reach of Homeline. Since Shikaku-mon is at the same local time as Homeline and Centrum, a majority of theorists believe that it represents such a threat. It does not help matters that Shikaku-mon technology is slightly more advanced than Homeline's, nor that the parallel is dominated by corrupt, paranoid elites. The only bright aspect to the Shikaku-mon headache is that it is beyond the reach of Centrum projectors; thus, the only way Centrum might gain access to the timeline is through agents in Homeline or world-jumpers.

### The Infinity Patrol

The Infinity Patrol is the only Homeline organization allowed to operate in Shikaku-mon, and it is being *very* cautious about its investigations. Overall policy toward Shikaku-mon is still being debated at the highest levels of Infinity Unlimited (there are rumors that Van Zandt himself is involved). So far, Infinity operations have only tried to set up corporate front organizations in the Americas.

Infinity desperately wants to find out if a projector can function in Shikaku-mon, both to test parachronic theory and to open up further quantum levels to exploitation. However, the timeline is pervaded by spies working for the governments, secret agents working for the corporations, and even "peepers" spying as a hobby. Anything that looks interesting is sure to attract attention from some group, and even amateurs have surveillance technology equal to the best Homeline equipment. The I-Cops get ulcers imagining what the professionals must use, but they have not yet been able to get samples of classified technology. They have already had to send several too-inquisitive natives to Coventry, and the ongoing missing-persons investigations are yet another focus of anxiety for Patrol operations.

It has not escaped the I-Cops' notice that Shikaku-mon technology might give crucial advantages to the struggle against Centrum. Agents so equipped would have a much better chance of gathering useful information and passing undetected on Centrum itself.

### Unauthorized Visits

The temptations of Shikaku-mon to Homeline governments and corporations are very strong, given the advantages that would accrue to any group that duplicated their superior computer or surveillance technology. More dangerous yet, it might be viewed as offering a possible "balance" to Infinity Unlimited's monopoly of parachronic technology.

Since the timeline was discovered by a Japanese research team, the Infinity Council has not yet been able to keep its existence secret. Travel to Shikaku-mon is severely illegal; Infinity has declared that they will punish unauthorized incursions by revocation of access to all parachronic technology from the offending group.

## Campaigning in Shikaku-mon

Shikaku-mon has obvious potential for high-stakes Infinity Patrol missions. Agents must prevent the natives from discovering the existence of other timelines ~ and, when they find out anyway, must somehow prevent them from revealing the Secret. If Homeline intruders are seduced onto the the timeline by the possibilities of its high technology ~ which has already happened more than once ~ they must be stopped from either taking any Shikaku-mon technology back with them or, worse, leaving Homeline technology behind.

The Infinity Patrol has the goals of keeping Shikaku-mon from developing parachronics, and of preventing them from destroying themselves. One frightening possibility: could Shikaku-mon have a counterpart of Paul Van Zandt, the man who invented parachronic technology? In Homeline, his family was from northern Germany and emigrated to New England, which would make him a Swedish citizen in Shikaku-mon. Relatively few Homeline natives have doubles in Shikaku-mon ~ but if Van Zandt were one of the few the results might be disastrous.

Or maybe the reason history has diverged so far from the Homeline standard is that some unknown force has been manipulating world events secretly ~ magic, psionics, the Illuminati, or even true time travel. Infinity hasn't even considered this possibility.

A straight Shikaku-mon-based campaign will be weird cyberpunk, in which some of the standard features (Japan dominates the world . . .) take peculiar forms (. . . militarily). The opportunities for political and economic struggle are manifold, and several technological innovations ~ like cyberdecks ~ are just waiting to happen. Shikaku-mon could be an interesting setting for Cthulhupunk or Illuminati campaigning, as well. Other Shikaku-mon campaigns (which will, to be sure, all have a strong cyberpunk flavor) could include Special Ops campaigns in the wilds of Africa or the frozen Swedish north, Espionage campaigns (with the Corporation in lieu of "the Company"), or even Horror of a peculiarly urban kind.

## Characters

The only Homeline characters who should be in Shikaku-mon will be agents of Infinity Unlimited. They will need to be trained in Savoir-Faire and Acting, and will probably also have Combat and/or Thief/Spy skills. All will have a Duty, and the I-Cops will prefer Fanatics in this critical timeline.

### Concepts

#### Activist

A lot of people don't like the system in Shikaku-mon, and plenty of activists are trying to force changes. Exampes might include Polish or Vietnamese freedom fighters, synarchist true believers (pro-Swedish or independents), guerilla environmentalists, or Brazilian nationalists who want to restore real power to their government. Advantages may include a Patron, or personal Charisma. Strong Will is almost a requirement ~ and so is Fanaticism. Shikaku-mon activists will probably be skilled at practical Sociodynamics and are likely to have Bard, Politics, and Savoir-Faire or Streetwise.

#### Assassin

Assassination is a common tactic in Shikaku-mon, especially in Japan and Brazil. Assassins are usually enforcers working for a government, corporation, or criminal organization. It's not a bad job, unless you decide you want to quit. Freelance assassins exist, but are much rarer than Shikaku-mon pop culture would indicate. Good advantages might include Night Vision, Combat Reflexes, Alertness, and either a Patron (for an enforcer) or Reputation (for a freelance). Common disadvantages are Bloodlust, Enemies, Overconfidence, Paranoia, and Sadism. Combat skills are almost universal, although Poisons might be the specialty of an assassin who likes things quiet, or Demolitions for the opposite sort. Area Knowledge and all sorts of Athletic and Thief/Spy skills may also be useful.

#### Bodyguard

With all the assassins around, bodyguards are a necessity for the rich and powerful. Although bodyguards must be trained in Combat skills, their function is not so much to protect their clients in dangerous situations as to prevent them from ever being in danger. Once weapons are drawn in this highly lethal world, it may be too late. Thus Alertness is a critical advantage, and Danger Sense, Empathy, and Peripheral Vision would all be helpful, as well as Combat Reflexes. Good disadvantages, besides their Duty, might be Appearance (style is *everything*), Fanaticism, Sense of Duty, or Vow, and perhaps even Paranoia.

#### Corporate Troubleshooter

Generally working for one of the zaibatsu or Brazilian megacorporations, the troubleshooter is sent wherever the corporation's interests and profits are threatened, either by internal corruption or external competition. The corporate Patron is a 20-30-point advantage, and the Duty owed to it usually a -15-point disadvantage. Effective troubleshooters may well have Reputations, good or bad. Other disadvantages include Greed and Enemies. Troubleshooters may have almost any skills, but Languages, Social and Thief/Spy skills are especially common.

#### Cyber-Samurai

Cyber-samurai are specialists loaded with cyberwear and trained as highly visible bodyguards for important people. They are common subjects in Japanese popular culture. In reality, however, no one employs a cyber-samurai who cannot also afford much more discreet and effective methods of ensuring their personal safety. Cyber-samurai are really nothing more than a status symbol for Japanese executives ~ more impressive than having an icon from the 17th-century Sapporo school, but not quite as good as getting yourself photographed with a member of the imperial family. Cyber-samurai always have cybernetic enhancements and therefore suffer from Rejection Syndrome; otherwise they are much like ordinary bodyguards.

#### Hacker

Although it has no cyberspace or direct interfacing, Shikaku-mon depends as much on computers as any cyberpunk world. Hackers are experts at penetrating computer security and hostile forms of programming. Many are employed; others, often the best, are freelance. Really successful hackers are targets for assassination if their victims can identify them. Although French programmers are the best in the world, Brazil seems to produce the best hackers. They may be idealists (possibly overlapping with the Activist character type), mercenaries, or simply thrill seekers. All computer experts but the youngest learned on TL8 machines, but anyone who can has also learned the TL9 ones. Hackers often have physical disadvantages, including Youth. Advantages frequently include Eidetic Memory or Mathematical Ability. Reputations with other hackers count as a small group of people, for 1/3 value. Computer Hacking and Computer Programming are mandatory skills.

#### Peeper

More formally referred to as "sousveillance enthusiasts", peepers are a character type unique to Shikaku-mon. They are essentially amateur spies, experts in modern surveillance technology who do not work for a government, corporation, or other organized group. Peeping is a popular hobby ~ their subculture overlaps with the hackers and occasionally the activists ~ and there are even a few freelance professionals, similar to Homeline private eyes but depending more on technology than personal interaction. Peepers frequently have social disadvantages and Shyness. Peepers must have several specialties in Electronics and Electronics Operation: Security Systems, Sensors, and usually Communications. They are often skilled at Cryptography, Intelligence Analysis, Lip Reading, Lockpicking, Photography, Research, Stealth, SIGINT Collection, and Traffic Analysis.

Peepers, and those hackers who are outside the normal power structures in Shikaku-mon, are particularly suitable for recruitment by the Infinity Patrol.

#### Secret Agent

Shikaku-mon is particularly congenial for spies, because there are so many possible Patrons. All the governments have their own intelligence agencies; the Swedish Second Directorate is the largest in the world, with the Japanese Internal Secret Police a close second. Apart from the superpowers, the Italian Secret Service and the Ukrainian Intelligence Agency are noted for professionalism. In addition, several hundred private corporations and radical groups probably run covert operations.

Secret agents come in many types: they may specialize in infiltration, hacking, electronic surveillance, or theft. Skills will depend on function and cover, but the advantages of Patron, Alertness, and Alternate Identity are common to all. Duty and Enemies are the usual disadvantages.

#### Triad Member

Organized crime is common and powerful in Shikaku-mon, but the major players are different. The Mafia is restricted to Italy. The yakuza (which began in the 1600s or 1700s in Homeline Japan) never appeared at all. The most powerful criminal organizations, which set the tone much as the Mafia did in early 20th-century Homeline, are the Chinese Triads. Their name has become generic, so people refer to, for instance, the "Colombian Triads." Obviously, all Triad members have a Patron (usually about 20 points) and a Duty to their Patron. Enemies are common disadvantages. Triad members can have any sort of skill.

### Celestial Characters

#### Distributed Systems

While the glitch have diminished by the Vapula’s ascendancy, shedim have been shown the way to one of their long-time goals. By possessing a distributed system, the shedu can split their consciousness almost as well as a kuriotes. *This can be considered a upgrade on Vapula’s shedic attunement; other shedim must spend 10 CP to learn it.*

* Every host beyond the distributed system must have at least one cybernetic enhancement
* At least one Force must be left in the distributed system for each other host

However, if the distributed system goes down the demon will be immediately ejected from every host except the largest, and even that one will gain a bonus roll to resist the demon.

### Advantages

#### Clerical Investment (p. B19)

Roman Catholic clergy retain certain legal privileges in most countries, including the right to be tried by ecclesiastical rather than civil courts. They must also buy a 5-point Legal Immunity. However, there are no laws against double jeopardy.

#### Legal Enforcement Powers (p. B21)

Most police forces in Shikaku-mon are local bodies run by some level of government. They are typically much less concerned with civil rights than were Homeline police, making this a 10-point advantage. The exception is Brazil, where the government's police powers are more restricted ~ but corporate police also have legal privileges. Either may take a 5-point advantage. Japanese private enforcers do not have any special legal status; their Patrons are supposed to take care of them. Agents of the Second Directorate in Sweden or other secret police forces have Legal Enforcement Powers worth 15 points.

#### Patron (p. B24-25)

Patrons at all levels of influence are very common in Shikaku-mon. "Deniability" and scapegoating are almost universal concerns for powerful Patrons, so that frequency of appearance should generally be low. Infinity is considered a 20-point Patron in this setting: caution about keeping the Secret here is so great that only small amounts of their vast resources will ever be used.

#### Unusual Background (p. B23)

Two possible Unusual Backgrounds are spacemen, who have logged time in orbit or on La Lune, and aristocrats from a European or Japanese line.

### Disadvantages

#### Addiction (p. B30)

With the exception of alcohol and tobacco, most drugs are illegal in Shikaku-mon. However, the laws are not normally enforced, especially on the lower classes. In the Swedish Empire and among the upper classes (Status 1+) in most countries, all drugs except tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana are illegal. In Brazil and among the lower classes, poor enforcement means that all drugs are effectively legal.

#### Code of Honor (p. B31)

This disadvantage is depressingly rare in Shikaku-mon. The samurai's code of bushido is dead and gone. Street-level characters may have the Pirate's Code of Honor, but even that is not very common. "Won't sell out employer" is worth a base -10 points, but the +1 reaction bonus it carries brings its value down to -5 points. In Shikaku-mon, betrayal is a way of life.

#### Cyber-Rejection (-10 points)

Your immune system automatically resists any cybertech implant ~ your body spontaneously rejects such things as *foreign*. In Shikaku-mon, where cyberware is uncommon, this is a -10-point disadvantage.

#### Rejection Syndrome (-5 points)

Even if you don't have Cyber-Rejection, anyone who has cyberware in Shikaku-mon must pay the price for a state of the art that can't quite manage the problem of immune rejection. If you have cyberware, you *must* take this disadvantage. Every month, roll against your HT, with a penalty assigned by the GM for the amount of cyberware you have. Failure indicates that you have developed a problem; medical treatment will cost $1000 and put you out of action for 1d6 days. Until treatment, roll against your basic HT every day, and lose 1 point of HT and 1 point of either ST or DX (determined randomly) every time you fail.

Only regular drug treatments will help you avoid Rejection Syndrome. These treatments are both expensive ($300/week) and addictive, but legal. They constitute a -5-point Addiction. You may take both Addiction and Rejection Syndrome; this means that you have developed an immunity to the drugs ~ but are still addicted to them!

#### Social Stigma (p. B27)

Women are *second-class citizens* in most of the world. Female professionals are actually fairly common in the non-Japanese half of the world, but so far this reality has made no impression on the parallel's ingrained assumption of female inferiority ~ except in Brazil, where sex, race, and religion are all irrelevant compared to wealth. In Japan, women are treated as a *minority group* (-10 points): salaried employment is very rare among the classes that don't require a second income to survive, and women largely form connections with their own kind.

Japanese citizens disdain all outsiders: being non-Japanese in the Japanese Empire is worth -10 points, or -5 points for Chinese or Europeans. Africans or Middle Easterners (but not East Asians) have a -10-point Stigma in Europe or the Americas outside Brazil. Note that Hispanics are considered "white" throughout Shikaku-mon.

Being non-Catholic is worth -5 points in Italy, Spain, France, and their former colonies; it is not a problem in Brazil or the Japanese Empire. In the Swedish Empire, being obviously religious is worth -15 points, and runs the risk of getting you arrested ~ religious sympathies are considered dangerous.

Anywhere in Shikaku-mon, being obviously lower class is a -5-point Social Stigma in addition to the penalties for low Status.

### Skills

#### Anthropology (Sociodynamics) (Mental/Hard; defaults to (other Anthropology)-5)

This is a specialization of the Anthropology skill; specialization is required, not optional. It is the study of culture and its transformation. In Shikaku-mon, under the influence of Shibata and his followers, this field is well-developed, although nowhere near as "scientific" as its practitioners sometimes claim. A successful skill roll will let you understand the cultural assumptions of a society. The default only applies if you learned Anthropology in Shikaku-mon ~ outsiders have no default.

#### Computer Hacking, Computer Operation, Computer Programming (pp. B245, B58, B60)

The Homeline and Shikaku-mon versions of computer skills are separate specializations which default either way at -4. However, the best Shikaku-mon computers are TL9 to Homeline's TL8, so Homeliners have an extra -5 to use them (total -9). Most Shikaku-mon computer experts will have both TL8 and TL9 skills; the young hotshots who haven't bother to learn about obsolete equipment have an extra -1 (total -5) when trying to use Homeline's systems.

#### Martial Arts

GMs with access to *GURPS Martial Arts* may choose to make some available in Shikaku-mon. The most popular forms in the Japanese Empire are Korean in origin, such as tae kwon do. However, the most popular martial art as a spectator sport and in pop culture is capoeira, used by secret agents and daredevil heroes in Brazilian V.R. dramas.