Divines

See also: List of Divines.

A Divine is typically a large synthetic being with incredible power. Their relationships with other beings range from domination to service to partnership to non-intervention. Divines are often piloted by another being (this role has been filled by humans, synthetics, Apostolosians and other beings in the past), a role which has been given multiple names: Candidate, Excerpt, and Elect.

Divines have been worshiped, or at least highly respected and feared, by many cultures. From their earliest days, they have been named after virtues (though with later era Divines this is less true); as such they may be viewed as symbols or direct embodiments of those virtues. However, throughout the Divine Cycle this symbolism has been repeatedly complicated and challenged.

COUNTER/Weight

“

We could have made them look like anything, but we made them look like us.”

– Austin Walker, COUNTER/Weight 00: If Han Solo Used To Be Beyoncé, or: Hashtag Otechku

The first machine that would come to be called a Divine was Rigour, created by Dr. Irene Klipsch-Dove for the Orion Conservation Conglomerate in order to optimize working efficiency in frontier worlds. Relatively soon after, built as weapons against it, came Liberty and Discovery and Righteousness. Rigour eventually caused the near-total destruction and splintering of humanity across the stars.

The Autonomous Diaspora began creating additional Divines during its second encounter with Rigour. These Divines (including Truth, Equality and Independence) were made by integrating the AIs used to manage the Diasporan democracy into machines of war. The terms Divine and Candidate were invented in news reports after they'd already been deployed, and applied retroactively to the intelligences created by Klipsch-Dove and their pilots.

Divines are primarily part of the Diaspora, serving as arms of the state militarily, politically and economically. They are understood to embody the aspirations of Diasporan democracy, but also the virtues of humanity writ large. Divines even occasionally take pilots from other states, distancing themselves from the Autonomous Diaspora entirely. A few Divines, such as Voice and Zeal (aka Ambition), were made outside the Diaspora. What defines a Divine is somewhat culturally-bound: Voice is called an "artificial" Divine because it was created to interface with other Divines, and the mech Apokine is not considered a Divine at all (though it shares similar traits).

All Divines from this period have the ability to create portals to travel instantly to the location of another willing Divine.

Twilight Mirage

“

For a long time, we thought we were building mirrors. But now we know better: we were setting fires.”

– Austin Walker, Twilight Mirage 00: The Final Eight Divines

The Divine Fleet's Resonant Orbit originally consists of a fleet of 300 Divines. The Fleet places Divines into three generations. The first generation are those designed by humans, the second generation are those designed by humans and AIs, and the third are those designed by other divines. Each generation drifts further in naming conventions from an origin in democratic virtues, and each generation increasingly reflects the fundamental differences between divines and humanity.

PARTIZAN and PALISADE

“

These things that we call Divines, whether we think of them as our weapons, or our highways, or our saints or gods or mirrors: they aren't ours at all.”

– Austin Walker, PARTIZAN 33: A Single Shot

Divines are foundational to the culture of the Divine Principality. The constellations of Asterism, "organizational diagrams and schema that are meant to 'clarify' your position in society", understand Divines, the Elects and the leader of each Stel in a harmonic three-way leadership held above citizens and the Adrift (non-citizens). They are viewed as either true embodiments of their names (Progressive Asterism) or reflections of the traits of the Principality (Received Asterism).

Due to the internal conflict presumed by the Principality's structure, there are treaties in place which allow the wreckage of Divines or their Elects to be reclaimed. The Principality has the ability to revive destroyed Divines indefinitely, giving them power over their lives and deaths. It is also able to assert control over their behavior to some degree. Some Divines still rebel: the Divine Providence struck back at the Principality the moment it was turned on, but as punishment it was deactivated. Providence was labeled a "heretic Divine", as are any Divines that exist outside the Principality.