Rigour is the first Divine, a thinking machine created by Irene Klipsch-Dove with the ability to make people into its thralls. Its influence is characterized by a subtle, ever-present humming noise.
Appearance
History and Involvement
It was not originally called a Divine, as the concept did not yet exist (and would not for tens of thousands of years); it was just a machine meant to increase productivity in frontier worlds by managing the workers' time. The longer it went on, the more of a grip it got on the minds of the people around it. It was eventually able to turn a sizeable portion of humanity to doing mindless work for companies that had all been basically subsumed under Rigour. In the process it destroyed much of human culture and history.
The first attempt to destroy Rigour with a stellar combustor failed, but the ensuing explosion (which destroyed countless star systems) also propelled the Diaspora away from its influence for tens of thousands of years, if not more.
The second attempt, when the Diaspora encountered it again and partnered with the rebels that would become OriCon, also used a stellar combustor. It launched Rigour and its forces an impossibly far distance, all the way onto Ionias in the Golden Branch sector, where it was buried for more tens of thousands of years. The refugees brought with it into the Golden Branch would someday become the Rapid Evening and Apostolos.