[Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition] Legacy: Transhuman Engineers

Out of Character (OOC):

Chronicle: Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen

Venue: Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition

Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler

Assistant Storytellers: Hannah Nyland & Alex Van Belkum

Legacy Conversion:

Reaper's Transhuman Engineer

"The Apocalypse is nigh, and it will be digital and broadcast live!"

The following is the Legacy conversion of The Transhuman Engineers.  These are the specific Attainments developed and used by the character Reaper, played by Zac Israelson in our second Mage Chronicle: The Dethroned Queen.

Sources: The original source material is from Legacies: The Sublime, adapted for use in Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition.

Disclaimer: This does not follow the exact guidelines of creating Legacies per the MtA 2e Corebook but deviates creatively.

Overview:

In the 1960s, Gordon E. Moore (one of Intel’s co-founders) predicted that, at the perceived rate of technological progress, the number of transistors on a microchip would double every 18 to 24  months. He’s been right for 40 years, and this theory was canonized as “Moore’s Law.” Some might say that this idea applies to all current technological and scientific development. Over the last century and into this one, progress looks truly exponential. In every field, whether robotics or pharmaceuticals, artificial intelligence or biotechnology, the evolution of human knowledge arcs upwards with an astounding curve. What humans have achieved during the last two millennia pales in comparison to what humanity has achieved during the last 100 years. And, in some fields, what humanity has realized in the last 10 years easily dwarfs everything of the last 100.

Enter the Transhuman Engineers. The mages of this Legacy believe wholeheartedly in the ever-accelerating growth of technology. They see the entire depth and breadth of history as a slowly gathering storm of possibility. The Fallen World has taken its time building steam to this level of raw potential, but that is how it should be.

If a child accepts an allowance raise of a single cent that doubles every week, he doesn’t see any significant growth for what feels like forever. But, as the weeks go on, he finds that, suddenly, his allowance skyrockets, and his meager piggy bank can no longer hold the sudden rise in his childhood income. In a year, this doubling allowance would bankrupt the planet. This world has taken a long time to get to here, inching forward step by step in its crawl toward development. But this is now the point at which progress is only just beginning.

With technology advancing in this way, the mages of this Legacy believe humanity will soon reach a point of Singularity. In mathematics, a singularity is a point at which calculation breaks down. A curve leaps to infinity. Technological singularity is the same, except here humankind’s progress will grow to a point that nothing can stay the same and everything must change. Artificial intelligence surpasses our own. Lifespans stretch forever outward, granting everyone equal eternities. Flesh  and machine merge. In this scenario, humans are no longer human, but post-human.

This is what the Transhuman Engineers want, and this is what they try to achieve. They know that other mages do not share the Engineers’ view, but so what? The Engineers see themselves as the Prime Movers, the catalysts who push the envelope just a little bit further. They truly believe that they usher humanity toward the light at the end of the tunnel. The Engineers don’t know what exists beyond the light. Is it another Atlantis? Something better? Will the Fallen and the Supernal Worlds reunite? Will all of the Sleepers have their eyes torn open? Will all things unite and become one? The Engineers don’t know. They only know that they will help this to happen, and that everyone who stands in the way of progress is the enemy of a greater future.

Orders: 
The majority of Engineers come from the ranks of the Free Council, if they come from an order at all. The past is obsolete, so why cling to it? The process is forward. The future is key. The Prime Movers believe that technology captures a little bit of the Supernal. No one should waste time looking backward, and, hence, the Free Council and the Transhuman Engineers are an easy fit. It’s the only fit, however. A few mages from the Mysterium join the growing numbers of Prime Movers. The mages who catalog and study the strange finds in the order’s treasuries of lore sometimes feel attracted to the possibilities of this Legacy.

The other orders are less comfortable with the Engineers’ mania for progress. The Guardians of the Veil, for instance, grow uneasy at the thought of “sharing” magic or “inspiring” the mortal herd. Magic must be concealed, lest Paradox rear its head and power fall into foolish or unworthy hands. To the Guardians, the Prime Movers represent an open door — straight to the Abyss. Therefore, the Guardians feel themselves duty-bound to prevent the Engineers’ chaos. The Guardians keep a close eye on the Prime Movers, waiting for the day the Guardians have to move in and “fix” the Engineers’ egregious errors. The Adamantine Arrow and Silver Ladder both think the Engineers are nuts. The Prime Movers want to change the world beyond recognition, rendering both orders pointless. For the Engineers’ part, most don’t care much for war or secret power: That’s all so last millennium.

Appearance: 

Transhuman Engineers see themselves as a progressive, driving force and tend to dress the part. Every mage interprets this in her own way, but most Prime Movers dress more ostentatiously than their counterparts on the Path of the Mighty. The Prime Movers favor power suits, loud outfits and haute couture fashions that call attention to themselves. A few Engineers parade around in garish

makeup straight from cyberpunk movies such as Blade Runner, or adopt industrial piercings and unconventional tattoos (binary code, JavaScript, faux-circuitry).   Prime Movers all love gadgetry, from iPods to PDAs, from lowgrade microchip implants to “smart shoes”; this gadgetry provides the surest guide to this Legacy’s members. 

Background: 

Transhuman Engineers can come from any race, creed, culture or income bracket within the developed world or advancing regions such as India. The only core tenet they all share is an unswerving interest in both technology and its effects upon culture. Anybody from a computer science student to a bleeding-edge pop culture blogger will do.

Most Engineers tend to be educated, and, thus, possess high Mental Attributes and Skills (especially Academics, Computer, Crafts and Science). That doesn’t forbid these mages from being social creatures as well. They often act as the muses or false competitors for real inventors and scientists, and that takes the ability to understand and manipulate others, making Social Skills such as Empathy, Persuasion and Subterfuge common.

The Prime Movers share no common Awakenings, though many have claimed to “see” a literal singularity in their vision — meaning a point in which all things seem to merge and become one. Such a moment usually happens just before the mage finds herself in the Watchtower. Outside of that small feature, an Engineer’s Awakening is as unique as anybody else’s.

Organization: 

The Transhuman Engineers have an informal organization. Although many mages of this Legacy like to stay in touch with each other to commune and plan, constant communication is not required. Once an Engineer’s apprenticeship ends, he can choose to live the rest of his life without ever meeting with another Engineer. Few will condemn him for that.

That said, the Prime Movers do create opportunities for members to gather. The most important are the Legacy’s “Expos.” Once a year, invitations go out (via e-mail or text message) to the various Engineers. They meet at a prepared and protected location and show off what they’ve done and seen. Some Engineers create elaborate technical displays, whereas others hold a number of disquisitions and colloquia on any number of subjects — from medical nanotechnology to the artificial intelligence of upcoming video games. Other Engineers just sit in the bar and drink. Past Expos have been held on a hidden floor in the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, in the desert near Los Alamos,  and in the tunnels below the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technical Museum in Bangalore. At least a third of the Engineers do not come physically, but attend the Expos via some manner of telepresence.

The Engineers occasionally build communal citadels in the Obrimos fashion. They don’t care for peaceful cloisters; innovation is not found in a vacuum. Prime Movers place their citadels where people and ideas gather and compete: in downtown city centers, on the most traveled highways and byways or among the throngs of students at huge universities. These places are the Engineers’ war zones. Yes, nearby populations present risk, but these densely populated areas also the most fertile breeding grounds for raw possibility. The next generation of inventors, programmers and powerful minds won’t be found wandering around a meadow. Such dynamic personalities will be in the thick of things, and so that is where the Engineers go, too.

Every Prime Mover has a favored area of technological interest or expertise, called her “crusade.” A mage’s crusade gives her a number of pet projects upon which to work. A Prime Mover whose crusade is portable computing devices might attach himself to an industry insider in an effort to inspire that individual. Or the mage might be the industry insider. Of course, an Engineer’s crusade is by no means static, and can change without warning. Mages who share a crusade may form cabals, or simply work together from time to time to further common goals.

Concepts: 

Early adopter, hacker, identity thief, inventor’s muse, metrosexual philosopher, tech blogger, video game designer, war driver

History 

The Engineers are unexpectedly numerous for a relatively new Legacy. Their history, as such, is not particularly long. They do claim an unofficial heritage of various mages, however. The Transhuman Engineers trace their heritage backward to various Free Council mages over the last century. 

These mages acted as muses to various significant figures of scientific and technological development and are said to have helped shepherd the destinies and inventions of paragons such as Nikola Tesla (genius of electrical engineering), Wernher von Braun (pioneer of rocket  technology), Philo Farnsworth (inventor of the TV) and Allen Newell (originator of theoretical cognitive AI). V.V. V.V. is the Free Council mage who first crafted his soul in an effort to help push society toward a technological singularity. He takes his shadow name from the initials of a prominent science fiction author whose novels and essays helped introduce the idea of the Singularity. The founder of the Prime Movers believes that the Fallen World is on the cusp of a technological singularity, and that forces conspire to keep the Fallen World from going further. By driving technology forward with compulsive devotion, the Transhuman Engineers can help bring the world to Supernal enlightenment.

V.V. is still around. Few mages see him anymore; he is rumored to be working on “something big,” though precisely what it is remains a secret. Mages who’ve worked with V.V. say he has a number of leading Sleeper scientists and inventors as his cronies, and what he is planning will change the world forever — one way or another. V.V. leads a fluctuating cabal of mages young and old. Prime Movers consider it a great honor to be invited to meet V.V. and help him achieve his goals. Some mages who meet with him return to the world a month or a year later, wild-eyed with newfound enthusiasm for their crusades. Other mages do not return at all.

Society and Culture 

While the Engineers have an informal (some would even say scattershot) organization, they still have a formalized culture. The Prime Movers endeavor to instill in their apprentices similar values, ideas and teachings. What these apprentices do with such lessons is up to them, but the Legacy considers it important that they all begin with a few shared precepts. 

Action and Inspiration:
For mages who think about crafting their souls in the forge of this Legacy, it comes down to the simple question  of what do the Engineers do? The Prime Movers don’t require their mages to “do” anything except support technological progress. That’s it. Many mages ignore technology, or show contempt for it. The Engineers think this is short-sighted. Like it or not, they say, technology is the ladder upon which humankind climbs. 

To eschew technology means to forego progress.  And progress is everything: it is the way the Fallen World will bridge the Abyss and reach the Supernal. To the mages of this Legacy, progress means using technology and be seen using it. Many Engineers stay on the bleeding edge of technology. These early adopters buy whatever comes to market, no matter how expensive or impractical. If the product comes emblazoned with the hottest or weirdest technological buzzword, the mage probably wants it. Teraflops, telemedicine, bioinformatics, Bluetooth, pixel-shader effects, Turing tests — these are the words of the Prime Movers, and this language changes and grows daily. Owning the latest, gee-whizziest techno-toy is not mandatory. In fact, some Engineers cherish antiquated technology such as BBS’s or ham radio. Slipping off the bleeding edge, however, does tend to reduce status within the Legacy.

Transhuman Engineers don’t just use the latest technology. Some of them create it, too. A number of Prime Movers are themselves inventors, programmers or scientists. They try to push the limits of technology and magic alike. They imbue machines with magic; they use magic to further their scientific and technological research. (Of course, they realize that magic cannot be technology’s sole component or driving force. Humanity must be able to harness and create technology for it to drive humankind toward the Singularity.) These mages do not work in isolation, and prefer to surround themselves with other mages, Sleepwalkers or even Sleepers who can contribute to whatever overarching design goal drives these Engineers.  Engineers of this stripe are found in wildly varying fields — their crusades might mean helping map the genomes, building the world’s largest Wi-Fi Internet-access “bubble” or helping to feed starving nations through biotechnology. No field is off-limits.

Still other Transhuman Engineers motivate and inspire their Sleeper colleagues. These mages become muses for the creators and architects of new technology. An Engineer could anonymously e-mail an inventor tips, tricks, insider information or even stolen or classified data. Alternatively, the mage could develop a close, personal relationship with the Sleeper. The Engineers often become friends or lovers to mortals they perceive as innovators like themselves. If this means buddying up to a video game designer with an interest in artificial intelligence, so be it. If it requires becoming lover to an inventor on the political and cultural fringe, then that’s what’s necessary. The Engineer can help shepherd the individual’s progress, which might mean salving a damaged ego, leaving little “hints” behind illustrating mistakes or corrupted data or helping to foster much-needed

competition (for competition breeds progress).

For example, a Prime Mover might build an Enhanced or Imbued device that does something just outside the current range of expected technology. The device provides a feature or service that has long been sought after, but has not yet been achieved. Perhaps the Engineer offers a robot that can run (a long-existing stumbling block for inventors of bipedal robots), or maybe designs an engine that uses fuel more efficiently than anything in current production. The Engineer can show this “prototype” to a handful of Sleeper inventors (either by bragging about it or by purposefully leaving the specs where a Sleeper can find them) and say that, gosh, he sure hopes nobody beats him to market. With that said, the mage can stand back and let the competitive tech sector go to battle over designing the same or similar prototypes. What once needed magic becomes real. The Prime Movers say the trick has worked dozens of times.

Core Tenets 

Tutors of the Transhuman Engineers teach their apprentices the following tenets. An apprentice doesn’t have to agree with these precepts, though open disavowal of them may earn her more than just a disgruntled look. More than one Engineer has lost status within the Legacy by mocking one or another tenet when other Engineers could hear.

1. Unopposed Progress

Innovation cannot be opposed. People who block advances in technology are enemies of the Transhuman Engineers. The world moves toward an ineluctable point, a wonderful and necessary sublimation in which primitive humanity (i.e., the human race as it is now) becomes something greater, something different. Anyone who places roadblocks in the way of this objective is hurting the world. Such a person denies the Supernal. Most Engineers take a subtle approach. If a pharmaceutical company deems a potential new drug non-profitable and tries to bury the project, an Engineer might steal the formula and give it to someone who will produce the drug. If a politician stands in the way of pro-technology or scientific legislation, the mage might dig up some dirt on the politico (an affair, an old DUI charge, a scandalous investment) and blackmail her into “going with the flow.”

Not all Prime Movers are so restrained, however. Some Engineers engage in acts that other mages see as dangerous or cruel. In the case of the aforementioned politician, the Engineer might forge evidence of a scandal (easily done with magic), threaten her or her family — or worse, simply assassinate or brainwash her. If a group openly opposes animal testing, even when such experimentation can save human lives, a Prime Mover might “dissuade” the group from further interference. It’s regrettable if such dissuasion takes the form of coercion, torture or turning the members into lab animals themselves, but sometimes maintaining progress means making hard decisions. In this way, Engineers can become extremists as their Wisdom drops. Where once they might have taken a delicate tack in removing the obstacles of innovation, they eventually decide on more excessive (but “necessary”) tactics to preserve the flow of information and advancement.

2. Unfettered Access to Technology

Not only should progress remain unopposed, its benefits must be available for everybody’s benefit. How can technology change the world if it stays in the jealous hands of an elitist few? Many Engineers strive to expand access to modern technology. Why shouldn’t the homeless have cell phones? Why can’t a small African village connect to the Internet, have its own website and be entirely wireless? Whatever technology the Engineers possess, others should equally be allowed to have. In some cases, this means the Engineers purchase or steal technology, and distribute it among the masses like some kind of tech-obsessed Robin Hood. In other cases, the Prime Movers teach others how to pilfer their own tech. Perhaps the Engineers impart the secrets of hacking wireless networks or using peer-to-peer (P2P) pirate networks. The Engineers agree that the power of technology should be free, and one should make the utmost effort to keep it that way.

3. Anti-Corporate Attitude

This Legacy upholds a somewhat counterintuitive — some might even say hypocritical — outlook toward corporations. Without funding from big companies, a lot of technological research just wouldn’t happen. And yet, the Engineers still purport that corporations ultimately hurt advancement more than helping it. The reason for this is that corporations are driven by their profit margins; any technology advanced by the corporations is geared toward their bottom line. How many possibilities have been pushed aside in the name of money? The corporations are not altruistic. They don’t push the envelope based on humanity’s needs — only the needs of their stockholders.

In fact, tutors in this Legacy teach their apprentices a number of corporate-level conspiracies.

The pharmaceutical companies keep the cure for cancer hidden, because imperfect drugs and therapies make too much money. The oil companies similarly suppress the engines that run by splitting water molecules. The electric companies (in tandem with various world governments) keep Nikola Tesla’s papers under wraps — not because he designed powerful weapons that could fall into the wrong hands, but because he designed technologies to deliver free wireless electricity. A number of Engineers claim they have proof of such conspiracies, though few will show the evidence to anybody outside the Legacy. (And, in the Chronicles of Darkness, of course, many conspiracies are true.)

4. Technology Will Become Magic

The Transhuman Engineers believe that true technology invites magic from the Supernal and enlivens the Fallen World. Occultist Aleister Crowley called magic "the art of causing change according to Will.” The Prime Movers say technology fits that definition, too. As humanity controls the physical world more completely and more invasively through technology, brute matter becomes imbued with meaning. Technology, therefore, is the only part of culture (not art, politics or academics) that actively draws down and captures this mystery.

Modern technology comes closer than anything else to letting a Sleeper feel like a mage, too: will it, and it shall be so. Flick a switch, press a button or type a password and a thousand hidden forces and electromechanical djinni are at your command. All of this ever-increasing knowledge and power converges in the Singularity. The Prime Movers believe the Exarchs won’t be able to keep up with their Sleeping prisoners. The scientists will catch the Exarchs in their Lie and expose the secret, Supernal underpinnings of reality, the technologists will apply their discoveries and, thus, will the entire world be transformed.

Religion? Politics? Art? The Transhuman Engineers don’t think those fields bring Supernal influences to the Fallen World. At best, religion, politics and art are amusements; at worst, they are deceits to propagate the Lie. Only technology can change the world. In this way, the Prime Movers’ views are very limited, and they clash sometimes even with the rest of the Free Council. Libertines acknowledge technology’s power but do not focus solely upon it. The Engineers do.

Magical Technology 

Prime Movers make frequent use of Enhanced and Imbued technological items. They even find a few Artifacts of technology that somehow captured Supernal power. An example might be an Imbued MP3 player that uses Forces and Space magic to pick up frequencies from across the world — or Mind magic to hear the thoughts of people nearby. Transhuman Engineers make heavy use of Enhanced items, which allow for subtle advantage out in the field (and the Engineers prefer to avoid Paradox for obvious reasons). Usually, an Enhanced item in the hands of a Prime Mover simply provides an equipment bonus toward its use — a laptop that gives a bonus when performing research, a cell phone that offers advantage when transmitting viruses to other cell phones or a Taser weapon that fires with unerring accuracy. Prime Movers almost invariably dedicate technological devices as magical tools. (These often relate to an individual mage’s chosen crusade). Any Free Council mage can do this as his order tool, of course, but Transhuman Engineers may dedicate high-tech Path tools, too. The device echoes a classic Path tool through its form or function: similar to a mirror, a picture phone captures an image; a Taser is as much a weapon as any spear or dagger. And what could represent an Obrimos mage’s affinity for Forces better than a device that actually carries and manipulates energy through circuits and batteries?

Gadget Acquisition 

Transhuman Engineers usually own a great deal of technology. It is not unusual to see a Prime Mover saddled with two iPods, a GPS device, wireless headphones, smart sneakers, a PDA, a keychain full of flash drives, a digital camera the size of a credit card, a handheld gaming device and a couple of different digital phones. Their sanctums are often similarly loaded with gadgetry: robotic “toys,” kitchen appliances that connect to the Internet, LCD screens on every wall acting as windows, several PCs and so forth. Prime Movers often own a number of “black” technologies (i.e., items that have yet to be mass-produced or announced to the public) such as stealth surveillance devices, transparent silicon circuitry, hologram monitors or biometric eye-scanners. Such items are not only expensive but, in many cases, impossible to actually own. Some Engineers are wealthy, but few are wealthy enough to support their excessive “habits.”

Transhuman Engineers don’t always stay within the law. Mages of this Legacy are not only allowed to use magic to pilfer new technology, they are encouraged to do so. If progress is meant to be unopposed and available to all, the Engineers see little issue with taking it for themselves using the tools at hand. The Engineers’ overwhelming passion for technology can hobble them in some circumstances. They rely so heavily upon their gadgets that being without them is tantamount to total helplessness. Woe to the unfortunate Prime Mover who finds himself in the wilderness without GPS tracking, a digital phone and an air-conditioned weatherproof tent.

Vogue Tech

While all technology is created equal in the eyes of the Prime Movers, some forms of tech are more “in vogue” than others:

AI: Artificial intelligence is a crusade among many Engineers. In true AI, the mechanism would transcend itself and deterministic programs would become creative thought. Right now, two schools of thought compete for attention among the Prime Movers. One theory says that artificial intelligence should be made in the image of humans and that computers should learn to think with the free logic of which a human is capable. Other mages seek what is called “emergent technology,” in which the system intelligence is given the adaptability of an ant colony. While  individual ants are stupid and capable of only the simplest acts, an entire colony performs complex feats of creation and survival. These “multi-agents” might help resolve urban traffic flow,  information retrieval, medical diagnosis, even pizza delivery.

Cyborgs: 

The Prime Movers have their share of cyborgs among them. A “cyborg” isn’t a full-blown Terminator, but simply a human who has technology integrated into his body. Examples include pacemakers, tracking devices, microchips that monitor health and life signs and digital phone receivers planted in the ear. Some Engineers have “environmentally reactive” chips planted in the flesh of their arms. When an appropriately-fitted Engineer enters his home, the chip sends a signal to various parts of the house. Windows dim, lights turn on, coffee begins to brew or the house greets the mage in a pleasant voice.Other mages conduct more radical experiments with chips implanted into their brains. With these chips, mages can control a mouse cursor or machine without touching it, because the chip allows them to do it just by thinking about it. Microchips in this fashion can also curb addictions and mental illnesses. So far, “brainchips” all require enchantment — but the Engineers think their experiments will lead to devices that Sleepers can make and use.

Communication: The last decade has seen an explosion of communication technologies. The two paragons of this technology are the Internet and the digital phone. With this one-two punch, the world can be informed of events nigh-instantaneously. If a bomb goes off in Berlin, a remote town in Alaska can hear about it (and see pictures of it) minutes later. The Internet similarly gives everyone a voice. All are free on the Net, unhindered and equal. (The “blogger” phenomenon is a perfect example of this, and one a number of Engineers join, as well.) The Engineers want to push these technologies until humanity has what amounts to a “hive mind.” With the aforementioned brainchips, information can be relayed immediately through the global mind without hesitation or filter — someday. Some other technologies and sciences (genegineered crops, cloning, medical tech) are regarded highly by the Transhuman Engineers but don’t often make an appearance as a Prime Mover’s crusade. While many of these technologies are touted as the “next big thing,” most mages of this Legacy have a greater knack for “hard tech” than these particular crusades.

Other Precepts 
The Transhuman Engineers follow a number of lesser “guidelines” that complement their overarching principles. These precepts are less likely to be followed with obsessive diligence, and instead provide a list of general characteristics that a mage in this Legacy might possess.

• Many Engineers complement their Forces and Prime Arcana with Matter magic. This enables their magic to control or create technology in almost any way they can imagine.

• The Libraries of the Prime Movers are often more technologically byzantine than those of other Free Council mages. Engineers establish labyrinthine networks, each concealed behind firewalls, wireless access keys and biometric scanners. Some Transhuman Engineers spread their Libraries out over hundreds of DVD-ROMs or USB JumpDrives. Some Prime Movers actually make their own storage devices, items that others cannot understand to hack.

• As Obrimos, the Engineers embody a kind of strength. They generally believe they are the only mages willing to guide the world toward its proper end (an “end" meaning “new beginning”). They are used to conflict, and do not avoid it. That said, despite their strengths, the Legacy openly defies the usual organizations of the Obrimos. While some mages on the Path of the Mighty find a power

in uniformity, the Prime Movers disagree. They believe that, as individuals, they unconsciously work toward a singular harmony. Forcing homogeneity breeds predictability, complacency — weakness, the Engineers suggest. Therefore, the mages of this Legacy are sometimes at odds with their Obrimos allies.

• Despite relying upon technology, the Prime Movers are not without occult interests. In fact, they usually inscribe their tech devices with occult symbols. In addition to the Atlantean sigils common to all mages, the Engineers often draw upon astrology and alchemy — the precursors of physical science. Some cobble together their own symbols, often mashing together various alchemical symbols (for example, the symbol of gold with a lightning strike through it, to represent the microscopic gold wiring in every computer chip).

Induction 

It’s not too hard to join up with the Prime Movers. For this reason, the Legacy has an unusually large number of mages in its ranks. A mage who wants to join the Transhuman Engineers faces only one test: impress me. That’s all it takes, is to impress a current standing member. Of course, impressing a Prime Mover isn’t easy, as many of them have seen it all (or believe they have). The nature of this impression is unique to each tutor. It can be as difficult and drastic as a mage showing how she podcasted from the top of Mount Everest. It can be as simple as designing a cool new GUI (graphical user interface) for a hip, pop culture website. What amuses and astounds one

Engineer might bore another one.

Shadow Names 

When a mage crafts his soul in this Legacy, he chooses a new shadow name. Prime Movers often base their names on influential or revered figures of science or technology. (An Engineer usually picks someone who is dead out of respect, and also to make sure the Engineer doesn’t get confused with the still-living individual; someday, they might be in the same room.) One Prime Mover might call herself Tesla (or merely Nikola), Edison or Einstein. Prime Movers also choose names of particularly visionary science-fiction writers (again, also deceased) such as Asimov or Heinlein. Other Prime Movers choose “l33t” hacker names, the names of technological products or

titles of characters from tech-friendly pop culture (maybe the film Tron). The name generally reflects the mage’s personality and his crusade. A mage devoted to non-linear emergent artificial intelligence might call himself Turing, since Alan Turing is perceived as the father of modern computer science and helped define the Turing test, a way of testing how well a program can truly mimic human behavior. (Alternately, a similarly-interested mage might name herself after a prominent computer game character in “honor” of artificial intelligence.)

Parent Path: Free Council of Assemblies, Obrimos

Nicknames: Prime Movers, Gadgetheads (derogatory), Engineers, Technomancers,

Primary Arcana: Forces. Secondary: Matter.

Suggested Oblations: 

Convincing another person to try some “new” tech, hacking a system you never hacked before, playing with a newly purchased (or stolen) “toy,” reaching a hidden level or secret in a video game (Easter Egg hunting), ritually inscribing a favored tool with alchemical symbols, writing a computer program, programming a machine to do something it wasn't designed to do.

Yantras: 

Succeeding on a relevant Computer roll prior to casting (+2), Modern technology (cellphones, laptops, iPad, etc +1), Software (+1), Geeky toys (+1), Geeky memes or references (+1, +2 if especially timely, appropriate, or funny), Technology integrated into the caster’s physical body or other transhuman modifications (+2)

Requirements: 

Gnosis 2, Forces 2, Computer 2, Science 2, a related Computer/Science skill spec, the Technophile merit (or a similar merit that indicates technical know-how/aptitude).

Attainments:

First Attainment O “C0NN3C71V17Y"

    A Prime Mover easily manipulates wireless transmissions, even without a receiver. This attainment functions as a fusion of Forces 1 “Tune In” and Forces 2 “Transmission”. While this attainment is active, the mage can effortlessly see and hear free-floating data transmissions – this includes those broadcast by radios, cell phones, wireless modems, etc. Transmitting cables glow before her eyes with streams of data, while she might see a shimmer or even fleeting glimpses of images in the air. Satellite internet and TV programming, closed walkie-talkies, CB broadcasts, and radio transmissions all become open to her senses, as well as wireless communications. In addition, he can hijack any existing signal that he can sense and change the transmitted data or its destination as an instant action. She can shorten or lengthen the transmission, and even change frequency, such as turning a wifi broadcast into a television signal. At this level, she must still work with a signal already present. Mimicking specific sounds or information requires an appropriate Skill roll or access to the data to be transmitted. The signal sent can even be “encrypted” so that only certain actions, like specific keystrokes or frequencies, can receive them properly. Otherwise, they simply turn up as unintelligible “noise.”

     Primary Factor: Potency
     Requirements: Initiation

Second Attainment OO “4C71V4710N"

    

      An Engineer with this attainment becomes a living battery. Energy is generated from countless sources. Walking generates kinetic energy. Sunlight brings in solar power. Touching a wall draws current if an outlet is nearby. The mage simply absorbs all the energy and contains it within her in whatever form it needs to be. The predominant application is that any device near to the mage (within a number of yards equal to dots in Forces) needs no power source other than the mage to operate. A cell phone clipped to her belt never needs a battery. All the appliances in a room receive power just from her presence. And any devices implanted in her body (whether a microchip or a pacemaker) can go forever, theoretically. Even items that require alternate sources of power are fueled by the mage’s presence. A car need both gas and electricity to run, but the mage generates enough raw potential to keep any vehicle going without ever needing to stop for gas or replace a battery.

Requirements: Forces 2, Gnosis 2/3, a second relevant skill specialty.

Optional Component: “F123W4LL” Matter 2. The Engineer’s bond with technology is written into their soul; they do not often make mistakes with electronics, and even when they do, they usually walk away without a scratch on them. They receive natural armor equal to their dots in Matter against damage caused by electricity, electrical fires, robots, digital creatures (such as technology demons and spirits), and modern technology only. This does apply against firearms, but only against newer, more refined models such as semi-auto and automatic; Any firearm that pumps, cocks, or revolves is not protected against., for example It also does not apply against archaic weapons such as swords, flails, and the like. 

In addition, any devices that the Engineer has a Medium or better sympathetic connection to never end up with mundane viruses, spyware, malware, or the like. Others’ attempts to hack these same devices or otherwise sabotage them electronically take a penalty on their die roll equal to the Prime Mover’s dots in Forces.

          Third Attainment OOO “UPG24D3"

          

Prime Movers are a marvel at invention, weaving together even completely unrelated bits of technology into one cohesive device. This functions as Matter 3 “Wonderful Machine”; This spell allows a mage to swiftly superimpose pieces of various objects into one another in such a way as to produce a desired result. With this spell, a mage could, for example, integrate a nail-gun and shotgun together to produce a weapon that fires a barrage of nails with each pull of the trigger.  For each dot of Forces he possesses, the mage may transpose one quality (such as a rotisserie’s generation of heat or its ability to rotate another object within it) from a given mechanical object onto another mechanical object. All objects involved in the attainment must be touched. The effects last a scene but can be made lasting using a Willpower point.

    

      Primary Factor: Potency

      Requirements: Forces 3, Gnosis 4/5, Computer 3, Science 3.

Optional Component: “P47CH1NG” – Matter 3. When using Upgrade, the Engineer may also choose to boost the combined item’s capabilities. The Prime Mover may increase the properties of the item (Damage, Ballistic Armor, Armor Piercing, Durability, General Armor, Accuracy or Equipment Bonus), up to a total bonus on all qualities equal to their dots in Matter.

      Note: the modifications above count as an enhancement to the item and don't stack with other Matter Finishing spells - this means that you can apply one modification to it at a time (Wonderful Machine does not stack with the Attainment) and one series of buffs permanently.  If the items are meant to be used past the Story in which they are made they should be purchased per the Enhanced Item Merit.

     Fourth Attainment OOOO “3XPL017"

    Prime Movers are fond at saying there is no one, on this plane or any other, as skilled with technology and hacking as they are. What sounds like empty boasting may, with the help of this attainment, even be correct. Similar to the Forces 3 + Matter 3 spell "Supernal Hack" At all times the Engineer receives a bonus to all mundane Computer skill rolls equal to their dots in Forces. For a mana a single roll gains the 9-again quality (8-again if the roll already has that quality).  For a willpower point a single roll gains the Rote quality. In addition, while Root is active, any penalties (or Withstood value) caused by mundane or Supernal-security measures on technological devices the mage interacts with are halved.

     Primary Factor: Potency
     Requirements: Forces 4, Gnosis 6/7, a third relevant skill specialty.

Optional Component: “M4C20” – Matter 3. understanding of technology and the principles behind them he expands what Exploit can effect.  The Engineer can apply the benefits of Exploit to all Science and Crafts rolls as well.  Rote actions can instead be used by spending mana.

Fifth Attainment OOOOO “M4S732-B07"

    It is not uncommon for Engineers to become so enamored with their

      tech that they treat it as an extension of themselves, as valuable as a sentient being. With Master-Bot, this idiosyncrasy becomes a reality. This attainment functions similarly to high level Mind magic (Mind 5 "Psychic Genesis") that grants intelligence to non-sentient beings, but only works on modern technology. The Prime Mover targets a single piece of modern technology, software, or network within touch range (the hardware that will hold the AI must be physically present and touched by the creator) and it gains an Intelligence score equal to the Engineer’s dots in Forces. This imbued self-awareness costs a willpower point and lasts a day. 

     The empowered technology starts off at a friendly disposition towards the caster unless it has a compelling reason to feel otherwise (for example, a computer that the Engineer frequently abuses, or a server belonging to his ideological enemies), and is likely to perform any favors he asks of it with a minimum of fuss (note that it is a thinking being, and this sense of good will can be pushed too far). As what is effectively an AI, the empowered technology is also capable of acting autonomously and making judgment calls if the situation requires it, though this does not guarantee that it is acting on human values when it does so. The empowered technology can understand spoken, written, and digital communication by its creator without problem, and communicates itself by whatever means it has; a computer might use its own audio system to speak, while an iPod might communicate with whoever puts on its earbuds through a mashup of relevant songs. By spending a dot of Willpower and a mana, the effects of Master-Bot can be made permanent.

Note: the AI created by Master-Bot functions mechanically like a spirit in many ways but is not a spirit.  It is an intelligence held in a matrix of electromagnetic spell-like attainment effect infused into the hardware of the technology itself but can still be detected as a thinking being by Mind Sight.  I can only perform functions that the device can do (example: a laptop can open its disk drive but not close its own lid, it can ping a network but can't write its own hacking programs).  It rolls Intelligence + Equipment modifier to perform actions on the character's behalf and has no other stats than the durability, size, and structure of what it resides in.  If the object takes full structure damage the AI disperses.  Many Prime movers spend a great deal of time installing and programming in functions and software that the Bot can perform on command.


      Primary Factor: Potency
     Requirements: Forces 5, Gnosis 8/9, Computers 4, Science 4

Optional Component “S3LF-R3PL1C4710N”: Matter 5. When using Master-Bot on a piece of technology, the Engineer may also choose to grant the effects of Matter 5 “Self- Repairing Machine” to the same object. The technology heals points of Structure every hour equal to the Engineer’s points in Matter. If Bot becomes permanent, so does this effect.