The Etheridge Collective

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

### Mission Statement

To watch out for one another no matter where everyone is in the world and achieve their dreams together

## Details

### Leader(s)

* Kodachi Tsurugi (Founder/art lead)
* Chokuto Tsurugi (Founder/logics lead)
* Makibishi Tsurugi (Founder/heart of the group)
* Arashi Tsurugi (In training)
* Zeph Tsurugi (Lead protector)
* Lumi Kivi (Social lead)
* Talia Annemieke (Lead historian)
* Axol Lotl (Lead diplomat)
* Skye Rose (Broad life lead)
* Wren Rose (Broad life lead)

### Goals

* Heal from past wounds hand in hand (ongoing)
* Restore social order to the vast majority of Synaptum (ongoing)
* Become game developers in the Earth realm (ongoing)
* Collect and preserve history (ongoing)
* Live to the fullest (ongoing)

### Allies

* A vast majority of Synaptum's governments
* Memory Pool Guardians
* Friends in the Earth realm, both online and in person
* Each other

### Enemies

* Nightmare Energy
* Those obsessed with Kendra to the point of doing harm to the group
* Apathetic family members in the Earth realm
* Previous, unprofessional employers

## Chronological

### Preceded by

* The Etheridgeon Rebels
* Kendra's Cabinet

### Coexisted with

* Arashi's Collective (Branch of Etheridge Collective)
* Calamari Squad (Branch of Etheridge Collective)
* Multiple Subgroups that have formed unaware of the alternate world
* Pancake subgroup (one of the random subgroups, met in a dream)
* Kendra Loyalists (once enemies, now neutral)

**The Etheridge Collective** is a collective of protectors and peacekeepers hailing from the continent of Etheridge, a land that relies on magically enhanced technology in its day to day life down to the very inhabitants that rely on magic to function. The Etheridge Collective represent those chosen to interact with Earth, a world beyond the one they were raised in, and have been chosen to lead lives between worlds. It is the current main collective.

## History

Formed in October 2020 after the Etheridgeon Rebels dissolved during the previous summer of that year, Chokuto and Kodachi consisted of a then-unnamed dual-collective. Whilst Kodachi considered him to be her brother, even when her memories were lost after winning the rebellion, his presence felt natural despite having him be there as a timekeeper and a companion. The following November would bring Makibishi into the group, the following December would see the birth of Arashi Tsurugi; Chokuto's daughter. The following January would see the reintroduction of Zeph.

As time passed, more and more members joined and left, from new faces never seen before to old faces from previous collectives making their return. The Etheridge Collective is truly the "Everyone is Here" generation.

## Members

### Hosts/Leaders

\*Sourced member

* Tsurugi Triplets
	+ Chokuto Tsurugi,
	+ Kodachi "Drifter" Tsurugi
	+ Makibishi Tsurugi
* Arashi Tsurugi
* Zephyra Tsurugi
* Lumi Kivi
* Axol Lotl\*
* Talia
* Skye Rose
* Wren Rose\*

### Medical Team

* Lillith Tsurugi
* Hana Tsurugi
* Chili\*

### Protectors

* Melony\*
* Wren Rose\*
* Skye Rose
* Tachi Tsurugi
* James
* Aqua
* Fuchsia
* Deep Cut\*
	+ Shiver\*
	+ Frye\*
	+ Big Man\*
	+ Chaz\*

### Friends without roles

* Myne\*
* Tuuli\*
* Ledger
* Kyosuke
* Bandit\*
* Tobiguchi Tsurugi
* Nagamaki Tsurugi
* Loona\*
* Bluey\*
* Bingo\*

### Seasonal members

* Toby (autumn - spring; yearly since 2022)

### Former/Inactive members

* Mriya Iryna - once part of the Etheridge Collective's day to day life, she left after a couple of weeks. She's currently stationed in a freed portion of Graelenncia, helping in a humanitarian effort to restore the continent. She currently remains an ally and will fight on their side when the opportunity presents itself.
* Lotus - once a part of the tiny group that was the EC back in 2020, her life was lost in a battle of self defense, as she was ready to kill the members.
* Shiloh - Once on probation in the EC due to being freed from his source, he left the collective to go on his own adventures to search for atonement and his own freedom.
* Phoenix - She attacked a member of the EC, leading to self defense measures to be taken at the cost of her life, however unintentionally and remorsefully. Revival efforts are being made as of present.
* Moxxie - Gave the collective a shot, but couldn't take the banter any longer. Still on good terms with the Etheridge Collective in spite of this.

## Framework

Throughout history, every collective has had a technological view of itself, shaped by a collective upbringing around technology in their daily life and in the media consumed since the earliest days. As such, the Etheridge Collective and future generations refer, and will end up referring to the way interacting with the alternate world as a computer framework, as the ethereal bridges were and are considered to be computers in appearance and function.

The Framework for the Etheridge Collective is akin to a highly immersive virtual reality theater and virtual reality user chamber all in the same place, as an audience can watch in the background and be just as immersed in the alternate world as the users that experience it, allowing for a seamless, but noticeable "plug and play" experience especially felt among leaders and others with a high trust level.

This framework is referred to as Neuronet. Its latest and current version as of December 2023 is Neuronet 4.0.

### Why it will be used for years to come

* Rather than being slightly rewritten from Earthnet and Earthview, Neuronet is a completely new framework engineered by Hana Tsurugi herself and a team of other internal engineers. Thanks to it being a completely new system, it can be updated freely and seamlessly overtime not only as the collective grows in number and experience, but also as the Conduit grows up through time as well.
* Compared to other Frameworks, memory retrieval is easier and the memories are clearer, and are forwards compatible even if made when other frameworks were set into place.
* Up to seven users can be hooked up to the FrontVR, a subsystem for the express purpose of immersive control.
	+ Different levels of control are granted depending on the user's trust level, which are adjustable on the fly.
* Imposition is clean, easy, and not as distracting as it doesn't require immense brainpower, even if it doesn't last as long as it can in other frameworks.
* Passive influence in terms of decision making, audio sources, and conversation are clear and easy to understand
* Switching users is easy, and can be done freely without a time limit, and switching in batches is now possible.
* A user can view the internal and external world at once without disorientation.

### Why it may be moved on from in the future

* Reason 1: Life marches on, and there will always be something new to learn to use that cannot be used with even the latest version of this framework.
* Reason 2: As time goes on, these benefits listed above may not always be in their prime, and may even decline in later life. That being said, it's possible that new frameworks would have to be set into place to accommodate without losing the core aspects of what makes Neuronet 4.0 so wonderful and fun to use.
* Current complaints have involved it not being able to control very well during dreaming, but this is more of a hardware specific problem than something in the Neuronet software.

## Trivia

* Not counting the alternative human-like forms displayed in the Tsurugi Triplets, Arashi, and Tachi, and excluding Phoenix being a half-human, half cat hybrid, there are no members of the homo-sapien species in the Etheridge Collective.
* Arashi is the youngest of the group, and the youngest host, at only six years old
* Tachi is the oldest of the group at 208 years old
* Talia is the only member who was born in the world of the collective to have not originally hailed from the continent of Etheridge, but rather, Graelenncia.
* The Etheridge Collective has the highest total of hosts, at ten - compared to the Graelenncia Collective and Kendra's Cabinet, which just had one.
* This is the first group formed since Kendra's death.
* This is the second group formed without Kendra as a host, following the Etheridgeon Rebels.
* The Etheridge Collective has the highest amount of sourced members on record compared to the previous groups.