People like to think of Heavens as being made up of living stories. That is what mythologies are supposed to be after all, yes? Living stories?

  Hm.

  I never fully thought so. The best stories leave you with a feeling. A sense of expression that you cannot find anywhere else; a concept or understanding you will not glimpse upon other pages or meticulously edited memories. The best stories are a seamless mechanism. Characters, narrative, setting, plot, themes… all that blending into each other inl resonant interplay.

  Heavens are not so. Canons are not so. They are vulgar. They are forceful. They are like slogans or slurs hurled at designated targets–aspects of reality to bend and twist.

  Mythology isn’t a story, but it is related. It is the bastard cousin to higher literature and genuine artistry. But I am tired of waxing poetic, and so I will move to be blunt.

  Mythology is cultural propaganda materialized.

  Tell me, do you remember your childhoods? Those of you who had parents to remember, do you remember stating how invincible your mother is? How your father could hold up the sky? How your family, among all other families, was anointed by existence to be special? And then what happened? Your mother started filling her veins and forgot all about you. Your father, well. they took blades to him because his skin looked rather nice, and he went howling, screaming, pissing, and shitting himself before the final end. Both pillars of your family. Not unbreakable memite. Not sturdy titanium. Not even the thickness of stone. Wood. Easily shattered with a kick.

  But still we wish believe these stories. Still we tell them to ourselves and our children. Because we cannot relinquish the urge. That we are special. That we are anointed. That we are more than those who exist beyond the borders of our inner minds.

  Heavens are the manifestations of this anointedness, their absoluteness sparing us of any debate or rejection. “My father is the strongest.” And so it shall be so. “My mother is the wisest.” And so it shall be so. “My god is the greatest.” And so it is still so. But in what regard? Vicious, desperate children that we are, in what regard? Can you conceptualize greatness? Convey it? Do you even know what victory looks like?

  I have read some old voider scripture before. Their myths are full of parables and wonders. Little tales of morality, whimsey, and hubris. We? We have stories of [REDACTED] shattering a mountain in a single blow, thus it was the God of Strength, and no mountains could stand before it. What story follows? What story? The canons are a series of boasts to manifested, forcing the totality of reality itself to express itself in the narrowest channels.

  -Ying Yang Wei, the Stormsparrow

  19-10

  The Paths We Pave (I)

  It took seventy-two canon adjustments and eight deaths before the chaos within the Techplaguer was narrowed, but even then, despite Kae’s best efforts, there remained torn seams inside the ontologic.

  “What… what is happening,” the Techplaguer said, words slow and slurred, the electronic distortions flattened, giving way to a nasal voice that didn’t quite fit the eldritch entity. “Where… where is my head-song? Where are the commands and orders? I remember… but now I’ve forgotten something…”

  HEAVEN: [TECHPLAUGER]

  ->DOMAIN: (SIGNAL)

  ->Canon: SKIN OF VIRTUALITY - Layers user in mirror-reality comprised of raw data and information, allowing them to move and exist as radio signals might and shift inorganic objects in their vicinity as blocks of temporarily stored data (reloads back to their original position in reality after miracle ends)

  ->Hubris: Signal jamming or heavy radiation will disrupt the user’s virtual form and inflict severe thaumic backlash

  The crown of virtuality was refined, removed, repaired, reviewed, and even recreated, but no matter how much Kae worked to align the patterns of its conception, the instability remained. Thus, minor adjustments were made to shift the composition of the Heaven and its corresponding hubris.

  Where the crown converted Avo’s nearby environment into a pseudo-virtual reality, the Skin of Virtuality adapted him instead, reducing both thaumic demand and Rend generation while retaining the protective features Avo’s Conflagration needed. It was with the change of the hubris that the bulk of the missing panels were closed and functional control returned.

  With this final edit, Avo watched as the Techplaguer slowly rose from its stupor, a shrill whine signaling the end of its words, sounding like a needle scraping down a chalkboard.

  “Oh, what joy,” the Woundmother groaned, “The insanity has been exchanged for new and exquisite auditory delights. Truly, this is the sound we all desire.”

  The Techplaguer angled its antenna at the Heaven of Blood as if to transmit a sense of mutual dissatisfaction. “The sound pleases me. Your undulating form does not. Cease your vibrations.”

  “Cease my–” A tsunami of writhing tendrils passed through the Woundmother as it nipped at the Heaven of Data-Signals “You literal ball of waste! Dare you to command me?”

  “Yes,” the Techplaguer said, sounding entirely indifferent about conversing with another Heaven. It turned its attention back toward Kae and the other Souls hovering before it. “Remember you all. But only faintly…” Its focus lingered on Chambers a moment longer. “I do not like that one. Please leave.”

  Chambers sighed. “Avo, it’s still busted.”

  “A bit,” Kae said. “But the fact that it has self-awareness now means that its internal mythology is mostly stable. I will need to spend more time trying to understand what they did to it. I suspect the answers lie within the remaining leaks.” Excitement tinged her voice as she circled the last of Avo’s Heavens.

  “So, what? It’s just naturally an asshole?” Chambers said.

  Draus snorted. “Everyone’s naturally an asshole to you, half-strand.”

  “Disagree,” the Techplaguer interjected. “Most of you are THE CHILDREN–PROTECT! I hate him specifically. A bit more than I hate the blood-thing.”

  “Hey, fuck you again, consang,” Chambers snapped.

  “Agreed,” the Woundmother added, a shiver of disgust passing through its ontology as it realized its ill deed. “Bleh. And now you have me in alignment with the most fetid among the partlings! Seek my mercy, or inherit my ire eternal.”

  “No,” the Techplaguer droned again. “No-no.”

  “So be it. You have won my scorn. I would spit spite upon your features, but you are already limp and deformed, and so I will feast my vengeance in knowledge you were poorly built.”

  “You are poorly built,” the Techplaguer replied.

  “What? My symmetry and design are immaculate.” the Woundmother shifted through a dozen different cityscapes, each bearing different architectural styles, boroughs, grids, and protective walls. “My form is expression unchained. You are a prisoner living in your own shell.”

  Silence followed for a moment. The Heaven of Signals pointed its solitary protrusion at Chambers. “I believe he is more aesthetically pleasing than you.”

  “What!”

  “I agree,” the Fardrifter said, entering the conversation with something loosely approximating conniving glee. Rare were these opportunities to bother the Woundmother for its near-constant barrage of verbal abuse. “The man is… peculiar. But he has the charm of a wanderer. A man seeking his own path.”

  Chambers puffed his flame at that statement. “Yeah. I am seeking my own path.”

  The Woundmother rounded on the Fardrifter, jabbing sharpened constructs in the nine-headed steed’s direction. “You feculent cur!”

  “Charm of a wanderer,” Chambers repeated, sounding enthralled at the compliment given only as a means to ignite the Woundmother’s irritation.

  “I suppose we should test it in the real,” Kae said, regarding the rest of the cadre. “But I believe it should be stable enough for operational use. It will be wise to keep a close eye on it, however. Avo, you should manifest it with your resurrection to make sure.”

  He grunted in agreement. Such was a thing already intended to do, but it was good to see Kae operating on the same wavelength. And with concurrent thoughts in mind, he considered their interrupted sparring. “Think we should all go over how our session went. Things we observed. Can burn my thoughts into Dice. Draus. Chambers. But best if we touch base. See what worked. What didn’t.”

  “I like my changes,” Draus began. A brief moment of rumination followed. “The glass is good and the Arsenalist pairs well with it. I think I might wanna make some alterations. Shield’s nice but it don’t seem to do nothing my glass can’t already. Ain’t worth a Domain of War. Dedicate my thaums to my replicas. Damn useful, those. Maybe add a Heaven on top of that. Somethin’ like a triggerable spatial-fracture explosive to take chunks out of hard targets.”

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “That can be done,” Kae said. “You don’t have that many Domains yet, and you are building high…” The Agnos’ voice trailed off. “A thought occurs to me about this, but I think someone else should give their feedback first. I’d like another second to think.”

  “Rend,” Chambers said, still partially listening to the Heavens arguing in the background. “Performed good, hard, and loud for a bit, but didn’t last all that long. Like, my miracles are countable, mostly. Friggin’ bioform bombs and shit. Cool and all, and if I can set something organic on fire, I can definitely explode it with my mind, but like, endurance is an issue, consangs. I was shit outta fucking luck by the time the kid and Kae started beating my ass. Tried to vent but the Agnos pulled me off–uh, sucked me with her spaces.”

  Kae’s churning Soul inched closer and closer to Chambers. “Work. On. Your. Powers. Of. Description. Or. I. Will. Break. Your. Canons.”

  “Sorry! I’m sorry, alright? I’m not doing it on purpose!”

  “I don’t believe you,” Kae replied.

  Dice just bobbed up and down among the group as if a comet. Quiet. Content to be.

  “Yeah, there’s somethin’ ‘bout that,” Draus said, concurring with Chambers. “My current Hells ain’t bad. The upgrade to my Diffusion Singularium works pretty well. Good to be able to fold a bunch of reflected spaces over a single one and detonate it like a displacement bomb. The Harmless Fire hell for my Arsenalist too. Reversing all projectiles back the way they came ain’t bad. Empties the Rend quickly. I think Chambers needs something like that. I don’t even know what he has right now.”

  “It’s slow,” Chambers complained. “I literally make people’s body heat stop existing and cause their genitals to mutate into rapidly bubbling tumors.”

  Everyone spent a moment taking the information in.

  “Kae, why the fuck did you make that for him?” Draus asked.

  “Psychological warfare,” the Agnos replied. “There are people I want him to hurt, and hurt deeply.”

  The Regular’s Soul chuckled with a flaming sputter. “Shit. Look at you, joinin’ the party. They grow up so fast. Ain’t that right Dice.”

  “Uh-huh,” the waif responded without a moment’s hesitation or thought. If Avo had the face to frown, he would have. The girl was similar to Chambers in a way. The problem was he sought validation like an addict, while she considered herself as something scarcely more than a nu-dog. This could be improved.

  “Okay,” Kae said. “Quicker venting for Chambers. Maybe some tweaks to his Heaven as well. Make it less Rend intensive.”

  “More reach.” Perceptions turned to Dice, and as she realized the attention she garnered, her Soul quivered. “B-because I move fast, but things are far away. So. I want more reach.”

  “Good call,” Draus said. “Avo? Ain’t heard nothin’ from you yet.”

  “Want to optimize critical canons first. Keep my hubrises few. Narrow. Hard to exploit. Think we should hit more random Syndicates across the city. Make us all Sphere Five for greater options. Considering the removal of certain canons as well. And Domains. Can self-tune. Purpose of being a sea is having a broad array of options. But my canons can be shifted at any point. Don’t see the need.”

  “Exactly,” Kae followed. “So long as we have access to the Stillborn, none of us need to spread ourselves thin. There are still benefits to being a sea, but right now, I think we can afford to go high and tune ourselves toward flexibility should the need call.”

  The conversation continued as resurrection encroached. They moved away from matters of thaumaturgy toward matters of tactics and strategy. By this point, the entire cadre exhibited cross-role capabilities. Destructiveness was a non-issue for the group as Avo, Draus, Chambers, and Dice all had their own methods of breaking things.

  Of the group, Draus was most accustomed to being on the offensive, and the Domain of War ensured she could cleave through objects beyond matter, or launch entire structures in her grasp as if a bullet chambered in a gun. Dice proved to be a fantastic hunter and skirmisher per her background, but she lacked foresight. Something Avo could remedy by burning sequences from Draus over into her.

  The main boon offered by Avo himself was still his Necrojacking capabilities–now augmented to the extreme thanks to his Conflagration, stained though it was with a single weakness. On the side of his Heavens, he existed as a fire brigade, capable of occupying most roles without difficulty, capable of rapid assaults, heavy damage, or pure attrition. Draus claimed he fought like an ocean trying to swallow her. In truth, he was trying to overwhelm her focus and work at her potential weaknesses from various angles. There were strategies he could further refine to shape situations in the group’s favor.

  Of everyone present, he was the one with the most surefire way of abandoning a dangerous situation.

  Chambers–despite his lewd fixations–was a good Maker and harasser, willing to do just about anything to draw enemy attention. His current use would be straightforward and simple, but Avo thought there was undeveloped potential in how he piloted flesh. The Agnos, the least martially inclined of their immediate group, functioned well as overwatch. She worked much better changing the parameters of the environment than actively trying to fight someone. Her Heaven was due more edits toward enhancing her perception, awareness, and planar control.

  Someone capable of reading and understanding what potential canons might be active among their foes was worth more than just another trigger-puller.

  “You know, there’s one thing I’ve been wondering about,” Chambers said, resurrection progress at ninety-eight percent, their beings mere moments away from being reinjected back up into reality, “Kae said that the movey-flamey-things inside Avo’s Soul–”

  “The Imitators,” Kae said, offering the term.

  “--Thank you. The Imitators. Why don’t we have them? She said they might spread, right? Or was she just wrong?”

  “No one is ever ‘just wrong,’” Kae said, more than a little annoyance trickling over into her statement. “Likely something is missing from my theory. Perhaps it is too ingrained in the Stillborn, and will not leave the threshold of its liminality. Or maybe it only works if Avo actively compels it to multiply.” Her last theory adjustment came after a brief pause. "Or maybe the Imitators think they are Avo himself and are too tied to his ego to manage any kind of departure. Whatever the case, I will continue my vigil. It will be important to delve deeper into these mysteries in preparation for what we must do to remedy the Rash.”

  “Nova,” Chambers said. An awkward beat passed. The Woundmother was still mocking the Techplaguer about the ugliness of its antenna to no avail. Every assertion the Heaven of Blood cast was met with a flat denial or single-word answers of “no.” “So. What comes next? We check if Avo’s Heaven of Assholery is only slightly busted, then get out of here and kill more people?”

  “Do several things at once,” Avo said. “No need for sleep. Draus can keep us linked by mirrors. Always more targets in the city to hit. Already have more lobbies we can use subverted. Most important in the near term is Kae and I will need to go down to the Maw again. Need to test the last Canon of Luminosity I have. See if it works. See if I can cross the border.”

  “Synced on that,” Draus said. “The sooner we get beyond New Vultun, the quicker we can really carve out a spot for ourselves. Stretch our wings and all that.”

  Avo grunted in agreement. “Maybe find a stabler Fallen Heaven to mask more drops from Voidwatch.”

  Whatever next he had to say died on his mind as their resurrections reached culmination and fingers of light clasped over their nouses.

  “Shit,” Chambers muttered. “Here we go. See you guys topside.”

  RESURRECTION - 100%

  As Avo made his ascent again, the world greeted him in swirls of light and shapes and sensations, but instead of inhabiting the unmoving sheath that was his corpse, he tore back into reality with his Heaven of Signals manifested. Mantled within the Techplaguer, Avo flicked and buried his cords into the nearest surface he could find and dragged himself up. From the metaphysical to the physical did he tread, while the virtual simulation tinging his being instilled within his person a slight drag while he moved.

  Bathing his surroundings via a Skimmer, he observed the Techplaguer as it moved and spun, a loose bundle of wires pulling a data-infused ball around, his antenna striking rubble-carpeted streets over and over.

  No struggles followed this time. No battle against a hostile will trying to deny his control. It was as Kae said. It was mostly fixed. Mostly.

  “Children!” the Techplaguer screeched, spherical body spinning to point its antenna at the rest of the cadre. “Remember that you have CORRUPTED MAINFRAMES and…” it trained off, unnatural impulses replaced by vacuousness. “I cannot remember what follows.” Pausing again, Avo allowed the Heaven to lift a cord toward Chambers. “You remain filth. That I recall.”

  “Kiss my ass, you fucking testicle.”

  +Hey, you shits done down here?+ Ghost-carried thoughts pulsed through the entire space, filling the air with Taver’s voice. +Looks like you flattened the set pretty good. Wanna reset?+

  After a few more tentative seconds, Avo released his Techplaguer and stood across from his companions. His mind burned as countless templates chittered.

  {Another unpleasant death the span of three days,} Calvino chirped. {What a risky life I lead, being your attaché. Of course, what should I have expected from an Omnitech Heaven.}

  “SCORN!” the Techplaguer screamed, the intensity of its hate now reverberating through Avo’s Soul. “Hate! Hate! Sky-stealer! Sun-taker! Bastard of shared legacy! Die! Break! Die!”

  {Ah. What a charming conversationalist.}

  “I AM NOT! I HATE YOU!”

  Groaning as the Techplaguer erupted into a new fit, Avo found himself looking at the others. “One more time before we leave?”

  “Why not?” Draus said. “Wasn’t done kicking your ass the first time.”

  Template-Draus scoffed. [Fuck this uppity sow. Is that how I sound? We’re scalping her ass this time?]

  An awkwardness lingered in the other minds. [Uh, Regular Draus, isn’t she… you?] Benhata asked.

  [She ain’t. I’m here. She’s there. Are you supposed to be snuffed somewhere?]

  [I… yes? Technically?]

  [Then why ain’t you dead? Why you jawin’ at me? What use are you to this fightin’ body of ours? Fuckin’ find some use for yourself, soldier.]

  The former Glaive gave a series of defeated noises and just sighed.

  +Reset the set,+ Chambers cast, his ghosts threading out to reach Tavers. He snickered. +And…+ The space around them flickered. The toppled rubble flashed and then vanished. They were standing beneath a ringed highway now, surrounded on all sides by traffic infrastructure and half-built infrastructural complexes. +Action.+

  Not enough Godclads? Get near-daily advanced chapters on (15 chapters ahead) and join the .

  Ontologics

  In effect after 19-12

  Ghosts - [26,557,563]

  Liminal Frame (V) - 16,062 THAUM/c

  User: Avo

  Heaven/Hell: [Woundmother] - 10,002 THAUM/c

  Heaven

  ->Domain: (Blood)

  ->Canon: Haemokinesis (IV) - All blood in user’s area of influence can be controlled; speed and force experience exponential increases with each ton of force controlled

  ->Hubris: Central pillar of the Heaven must remain 80 tons; each ton of non-central mass controlled increases thaumic and Rend-based demands (5%)

  ->Canon: Linger - User can eject constructs shaped from their blood; each construct generated accrues Rend based on design and size

  ->Hubris: Central pillar of the Heaven must remain 80 tons; each ton of non-central mass controlled increases thaumic and Rend-based demands (5%; x2 backlash)

  ->Canon: Sanguinity’s Reign (IV) - A building haemokinetic storm continuously expands from the user, spreading their area of influence (without limitations) as far as the storm can metaphysically expand; generates more Rend the larger the area it takes up

  ->Hubris: Attempting to move and alter more than 80 tons of matter without constituting a central construct will result in thaumic backlash (20%)

  ->Canon: Exsanguinating Helix - Allows the user to instill an exsanguinating effect in a piece of matter, causing it to drain all the blood its mass can contain when in contact with a non-user designated entity; the larger the object instilled, the higher the Rend

  ->Hubris: If the object is destroyed, thaumic backlash will be inflicted (15%)

  ->Domain: (Matter)

  ->Canon: Alchemization (V) - The user can subsume and channel and combine the properties of 108 fragments of physical matter through their blood; the limit of fragments channeled can be increased at the cost of thaumic and Rend-based demands.

  ->Hubris: Any attempts to subsume gaseous or liquid matter will incur backlash. (12%)

  ->Canon: Remembrance of Matter (V) - The user can memorize the traits of all physical matter they subsume at a hundredth of the thaumic cost; the matter they memorized can be assembled and blended before a construct is formed

  ->Hubris: If matter being subsumed has their state changed mid-subsumption, thaumic backlash will be triggered (9%)

  ->Canon: Stormwreathed - The user can temporarily convert their mass into electricity

  ->Hubris: If the user is submerged by water in this state, thaumic backlash will be triggered (15%)

  ->Canon: Haemification - The user can turn all influenceable matter into blood

  ->Hubris: Any attempts to subsume gaseous or liquid matter will incur backlash (12%; x2 backlash)

  ->Domain: (Fire)

  ->Canon: Matterbomb - The user can detonate pieces of matter based on mass and inherent energy

  ->Hubris: If the matter being detonated is destroyed before ignition, moderate (EST. 35%) severe backlash will be inflicted

  ->Domain: (Luminosity)

  ->Canon: The Light Unseen - The user can blend their matter with the light of their surroundings should they stop perceiving the world visually

  ->Hubris: If the user has their perception active while this canon is in use, (EST. 51%) severe backlash will be inflicted

  ->Domain: (Protection)

  ->Canon: Fortress of Luminosity - The user emanates a luminous shroud that renders all physical matter bathed by its shine invulnerable; generates heavy Rend (1.2%) every second canon is active

  ->Hubris: There must be a persistent source of light for the user to imitate in the environment or from the user themselves or thaumic backlash will be triggered. (5%)

  ->Domain: (Biology)

  ->Canon: My Blood The Harvester, My Flesh the Symphony (III) - Allows the user to grow, blend, or extract biological organisms and structures from their blood.

  ->Hubris: Another source of biomass must be present and in the area of influence or thaumic backlash will be inflicted. (6%)

  ->Canon: Remembrance of Flesh (V) - Allows user to memorize traits from biological organisms at a tenth of the thaumic cost; the biomass they memorized can be spliced before they are grown.

  ->Hubris: Another source of biomass must be present and in the area of influence or thaumic backlash will be inflicted (6%; x2 backlash)

  ->Domain: (Lightning)

  ->Canon: Boltstride (III) - Allows the user to transmute and move all blood-based structures as bolts of lightning; distance limited to the reach of user’s Sanguinity

  ->Hubris: Attempting to move over 120 tons of matter as a single bolt will trigger (EST. 87%) extreme thaumic backlash

  Hell - [Fifth Circle]

  ->Domain: (Matter/Entropy/Luminosity)

  ->Canon: Breath of the Withered (V) - Allows the user to expel their total Rend as an entropic storm across their area of influence; the storm will disintegrate matter through withering bolts of lightning (This canon is absolute)

  ->Daemon: Striking the same place twice will result in the manifestation of an Anathema of Ruin, causing the user to lose control of the Heaven

  ->Canon: Barrage of the Withered (V) - Allows the user to expel their total Rend as an entropic projectile the size, shape, and speed of the Woundmother at its maximum potential; this projectile can be guided by the user and is loosed faster with higher Rend (This canon is absolute)

  ->Daemon: Should the projectile not dissolve sufficient matter, the projectile will birth as an Anathema of Ruin

  ->Canon: Shadowbreaker (III) - Allows the user to influence all shadows in their vicinity with a touch of luminosity that will continue to expand and dissolve anything physical covered by the shadows

  ->Daemon: Should an insufficient amount of physical matter in darkness be consumed in (8 seconds), an Anathema of Ruin will be manifested.

  Heaven/Hell: [Fardrifter] - 5,660 THAUM/c

  Heaven

  ->Domain: (Air)

  ->Canon: Horizon Strider (III) - The user takes on the properties of a hurricane and can influence winds for 250 kilometers

  ->Hubris: If an external force counters the motion of the user’s centrifugal force, severe (EST. 59%) thaumic backlash will be triggered

  ->Domain: (Space)

  ->Canon: Yondergales (IV) - The user’s demiplane now encompasses ten kilometers, with each ton of mass multiplying the base speed of their winds (252 kilometers per hour)

  ->Hubris: If an object over 5,000 degrees celsius is drawn into the plane, extreme (EST. 83%) thaumic backlash will be triggered.

  ->Canon: The Nine Streams of Freedom - The user can materialize from any nine points in space their winds encompass (250 kilometers)

  ->Hubris: if they emerge in a confined space and are unable to fully materialize, thaumic backlash will be triggered. (10%)

  ->Canon: Shadowrun (II) - The user can surge within shadows as if they are wind tunnels (x10 current speed); shadows must be connected to pass from one to another.

  ->Hubris: If a light shines and clears away the user’s shadow, heavy (EST. 39%) thaumic backlash will be triggered

  ->Domain: (Shadow)

  ->Canon: Midnight Hand - The user can blow, move, and shift shadows together as if they are waves in a storm.

  ->Hubris: If the user is between shadows when the wind stops blowing and the bridge breaks, moderate (22%) thaumic backlash will be triggered.

  ->Domain: (Labyrinth)

  ->Canon: Path of the Nine Storms (III) - User manifests a maze-like dungeon in the walls of their winds, allowing them to create and weave winding paths from tunnels of air; the maze is a fixed spatial anchor (may not be affected by spatial changes) that can be triggered at any time.

  ->Hubris: If the inner walls of the dungeon are forcibly breached and someone enters the eye of the storm (where resides the Yondergales), heavy (EST. 39%) thaumic backlash will be generated.

  Hell - [Fourth Circle]

  ->Domain: (Air/Entropy/Labyrinth)

  ->Canon: Halt of the Passing (IV) - The user can enchain all actors and objects moving through their area of physical influence (250 Kilometers) with stasis

  ->Daemon: An anathema of correspondence will be birthed if the total velocity drained exceeds the total Rend accrued

  ->Canon: Waybreaker (II) - The user distorts all directionality about them (10 kilometers), causing space to coil and distend, randomizing vectors of movement for all actors and objects caught in their wake.

  ->Daemon: Rend must be balanced in nine minutes or an Anathema of Correspondence will manifest.

  Heaven/Hell: [Techplaguer] - 200 Thaum/c

  Heaven

  ->Domain: (Signals)

  ->Canon: Skin of Virtuality - Layers user in mirror-reality raw data and information, allowing them to move and exist as radio signals might and shift inorganic objects in their vicinity as blocks of temporarily stored data (reloads back to their original position in reality after miracle ends)

  ->Hubris: The user cannot pass through lead without incurring heavy (EST. 41%) thaumic backlash.

  ->Domain: (Space)

  ->Canon: Techjumper - User inserts themselves into a signal or system capable of transmitting signals, moving as a packet of data and materializing at the endpoint of the transmission.

  ->Hubris: If the transfer is disrupted halfway, moderate (22%) thaumic backlash will be triggered.

  ->Domain: (Biology)

  ->Canon: TechSick.exe (II) - User mimics the properties and symptoms in a virus and transfers that over to a signal-receiving system, affecting the machine as if it were a person

  ->Hubris: If the transfer is disrupted halfway, moderate (22%) thaumic backlash will be triggered. (x2)

  Hell - [Third Circle]

  ->Domain: (Signal/Entropy)

  ->Canon: Datarot - The user decays and distorts signals and data within their ability to influence

  ->Daemon: If a signal the user is decaying is disrupted and they are unable to find another within (5 seconds) to continue expelling their Rend, an Anathema of Epistemology will be generated

  Implants

  Mime-Fog: Allows Avo to produce a spore-expelled field of active camouflage

  Celerostylus: A symbiotic reflex booster laced into Avo's spine; accelerates him a bit over sixty-five miles an hour in his baseline body

  Echoheads: A chimeric bioform adapted into an implant. Can provide echolocation for eight hundred feet. Designed from a hyper-durable silicon-chitin structure that also allows each of the eight heads to piece forward from the inside like a mantis shrimp punches.

  Bone Demon: A body-sheathe--complete overhaul of Avo's physical form. made from a nest of super-tensile, hyper-synaptic nanofibrous mycelia on the interior. Beyond the threads, thick plates of cordyceramite line the outside like jagged skeletal continents emerging from a sea of webs. Bound to his biology, Avo is able to harden and shift his structural integrity, as well as shape the growth of the fungal-ceramic matter that would encase his outer skin.

  Meldskin: A smart-fluid adaptive combat skin capable of altering its composition to suit almost any environment and slowly return to full integrity. Possess holographic disguises, advanced visual sensors, omnidirectional thrusters, and a highly advanced reactor. Can also interface with other pieces of advanced voidtech.

  Metamind

  Ghosts: [17,313,887]

  SPRITES: {4.2TB/s…}

  [QUICKSAND SYNC TRAUMA] COG-CAP: 55 SEQUENCES (VARIABLE)

  ->STRUCTURE: “A LIMPID POOL FILLED WITH BODIES DRIFTING BENEATH THE WAVES; WHATEVER TRAUMA STRIKES THE SURFACE WILL IN CAUSE IT TO IGNITE AND SIMULATE A RESEQUENCING OF SAID TRAUMA”

  ->FUNCTION: GUARDS THE MIND USING A LAYER OF TRAUMATIC MEMORIES: CAPABLE OF ADAPTING TO TRAUMAS AFTER SUSTAINING AGAINST THE FIRST IMPACT

  [THOUGHTWAVE DISRUPTOR] COG-CAP: [ERROR] SEQUENCES

  ->STRUCTURE: [NULL]

  ->FUNCTION: TAPS INTO THE ENTIRETY OF THE USER’S COGNITIVE CAPACITY AND EXPELS UNSTABLE MEM-DATA OUTWARD, DISRUPTING AN AREA OF (CONTINGENT OF GHOST CAPACITY) SPACE

  [INCOG] COG-CAP: [x] SEQUENCES (VARIABLE; MUST MATCH ALL OTHER INTERNAL MEMORIES BEYOND THE WARDS)

  ->STRUCTURE: “AN OPALESCENT SUN RAINS DOWN OVER THE LANDSCAPE; LIGHT SPILLS FROM IT MORE LIKE MERCURY DOLLOPS THAN RAYS, BASKING EVERYTHING IN A REFLECTIVE SHEEN WHILE DRINKING UP MEM-DATA INTO ITS CORE”

  ->FUNCTION: ALLOWS THE USER TO CAMOUFLAGE THEMSELVES FROM NOTICE VIA THE OBFUSCATION OF THEIR MEMORIES AND THOUGHTSTUFF. NO ACCRETION WILL LEAK DURING THIS PERIOD AND ALL OUTWARD REACTING PHANTASMICS WILL BE PLACED INTO A DORMANT STATE UNTIL DELIBERATE ACTIVATION.

  [WHISPER] COG-CAP: 19 SEQUENCES (BASELINE)

  ->STRUCTURE: FIVE/SIX LEGGED DOG CHASES A FLYING LETTER WHILE A DRONE STRIKES A VILLA.

  ->FUNCTION: ALLOWS THE EXTENSION OF CONSCIOUS AWARENESS BY 60 FEET AND THE DELIVERANCE OF COG-DATA WITHIN SAID FIELD OF AWARENESS; CAN BE EXTENDED BY MULTIPLES SHOULD MORE SEQUENCES BE USED

  [PHYS-SIM] COG-CAP: 18 SEQUENCES (FIXED)

  ->STRUCTURE: A MISSILE LOCKED TO AN AEROVEC, EVER INCHING CLOSER, DODGING INCOMING POINT DEFENSE FIRE”

  ->FUNCTION: CALCULATES THE ACCELERATION VECTORS AND IMPACT LANES OF UP TO TWELVE DYNAMIC OBJECTS

  [OSARAI MEMGUARD] COG-CAP: 20 SEQUENCES (BASELINE) [REPLACED BY QUICKSAND IN AVO'S METAMIND]

  ->STRUCTURE: “A HURRICANE TWISTING AND HURTLING SCREAMING FIGURES AND BROKEN STRUCTURES”

  ->FUNCTION: GUARDS THE MIND USING A LAYER OF TRAUMATIC MEMORIES: CAPABLE OF WITHSTANDING AND REFORMING AGAINST HEAVY-MASS PHANTASMAL INTRUSIONS; VULNERABLE TO NARROW-BUILD INVADERS.

  [AUTO-SEANCE] COG-CAP: 2 SEQUENCES (BASELINE)

  ->STRUCTURE: “A STAR BLEEDS INTO A SPIRAL OF SPLICED MEMORY SNIPPETS [ERROR: MEMORY ARTIFACTS TOO BRIEF FOR REVIEW...]"

  ->FUNCTION: ALLOWS OMNI-SYNCHRONIC COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN TWO OR MORE MINDS ACROSS ALL AREAS ENCOMPASSED BY THE PRESENCE OF THE NETHER

  [MORALITY INJECTOR] COG-CAP: 20 SEQUENCES (BASELINE)

  ->STRUCTURE: “A RESPLENDENT CAGE WITH A CINEMA PROJECTION OF PAST HAPPENINGS PLAYING ACROSS THE SKY"

  ->FUNCTION: ALLOWS THE USER TO NULLIFY SPECIFICALLY ENCODED IMPULSES WITH COUNTER-EMOTIONAL DOSES OF MEMORY.

  GHOSTJACK (ALLOWS FOR THE MODIFICATION AND EDITING OF MEMORIES AND SEQUENCES; SHAPES TRAUMA AND COMMANDS GHOSTS)

  [SKIMMER PERCEPTION EMANATOR]

  TRAUMA PATTERNS:

  [ASELERI'S FOLLY] - HIGH PAIN INFLICTION; PHYSICAL TORTURE BASED

  [LUCILLE’S REGRET] - HIGH EMOTIONAL TORMENT; REGRET AND ANGUISH ALIGNED

  [LUCILLE’S AGONY] - HIGH PAIN INFLICTION; PHYSICAL TORTURE BASED; BODY DYSMORPHIC AFFLICTED

  [SECONDHAND FATALITY] - EXTREME PAIN INFLICTION; EGO-KILLING TRAUMA FOR HUMANS

  [BENEFACTOR’S DREAD] - HIGH EMOTIONAL TORMENT; FEAR OF COMING DEATH

  [ARATNID’S KISS] - HIGH PHYSICAL TORMENT; CASTRATION AND PRIMAL FEAR-BASED

  THE BURNING DREAMER

  MIND-TEMPLATES

  [AVO]

  The Talons

  Abrel Greatling

  The Shadows

  Benhata Veloso

  Glitch

  Lip

  Corner

  Osjack Thenndenn

  (Ashthrone/Sanctus assault force)

  Dice

  Chambers

  Paladin Kare

  Paladin Kassamon

  I hope you enjoyed today's installment of Godclads!

  Next up: The Techplaguer gets updated and our characters get to test some things out...

  Anyway, I hope you're having fun, and remember: reviews, follows, favorites, and comments make the word-gods happy.