Timeline
The world of Sine is set in a time where the world has been ravaged by a ruthless alien race known as the Stock.
These powerful beings have turned the earth into a green and vibrant landscape contrasted by the fallen concrete of societies passed, where humans are pushed to survive on a planet they now barely recognize. What follows is a brief history of the Sine world and the state we find it in now.
The Founding of Chiliagon
-Early 2000's-
Marcus Kingwell, a brilliant and ambitious entrepreneur who had a swift rise to international fame in the late 90’s thanks to his invention of Synflesh. With this success he founded Chiliagon: a global research and technological development haven for like minded scientists, engineers and creatives to work free of government oversight.
For almost two decades Chiliagon flourished. Despite Chiliagon’s scientific prowess, it turned down military contracts, ostensibly to preserve its sterling reputation of solely supporting humanitarian projects. However, behind the scenes Kingwell was working on a revolutionary project: the Catalyst Program. Super soldiers loyal to Chiliagon who were made to kill tyrants. He also initiated plans for the Zenith lunar colony, further showing the well of mistrust Kingwell had for the planet’s politics.
The War on Form
-January 2018-
In January of 2018 the Stock Invasion began. Early reports from NASA described a colossal foreign vessel appearing in Earth’s atmosphere, seemingly from nowhere. Referred to as the Leviathan, this alien ship hovered above the planet and bombarded the surface with waves of an unknown energy. These blasts of energy decimated cities and disrupted technology in the surrounding area for kilometers. Hundreds of thousands were killed in an instant and mass chaos broke out around the world.
Nuclear retaliation against the Leviathan proved inconsequential and modern weaponry ineffective against the ground based militants that followed. Waves of these creatures, named Stock Warriors, were deployed down to the surface of Earth where they systematically began a mass extermination of the human race. Made from the same metallic substance as their vessel, each Stock Warrior stood 7 feet tall, were humanoid with long limbs and broad chests and armed with a single spear the length of their body. Each creature looked identical to the next and were completely silent in their movements, making no attempts to communicate. Their faces were a blank slate of metal that reflected the horror of their victims back toward them, as they worked to extinguish human life.
The creation of catalysts
-2018-
Thanks to Marcus Kingwell, humanity was not entirely lost. Around the world Chiliagon had secretly built state of the art cloning facilities which employed the world’s top geneticists. These facilities had worked to manipulate the genome and alter sections of the DNA sequence to unlock a human being’s maximum potential, creating the first ever genetically engineered supersoldier. Before the Stock invasion, Chiliagon had managed to perfect six different genomes. Once the War on Form began, these facilities were repurposed to start generating clones en masse and these six genomes were used as the base material. Six different genomes: thousands of clones. These became the Catalysts of the War on Form, and humanity's best chance against the Stock.
A Stock Warrior was still more formidable than any one Catalyst, but working together in a Squad, and in conjunction with human militaries, the Chiliagon super soldiers were a boon to Earth’s defence. Unfortunately, they were still massively outnumbered and as the war progressed tensions between human and Catalyst soldiers began to rise. Catalysts weren’t designed with interpersonal skills and were only ever intended to work with others of their own kind. This led to some Catalysts exhibiting antisocial and sometimes even hostile behavior toward humans. It appeared that these Wartime Catalysts lacked the one thing they were
apohc
-2020-
There is no known data on where APOHC (an acronym meaning A Parasite Of Higher Consciousness) originated from. Records indicate that in late 2020 the parasite began rapidly spreading through human refugee camps and quickly became categorized by Chiliagon as a pandemic. This strange contagion would burrow into the brain of a singular host where it created a state of delirium for them, creating nightmarish or fantastical delusions within their own mind. Early Chiliagon studies showed that the parasite fed on neural activity of the host and as the body of its victim deteriorated, hallucinogenic spores would be released from the decaying comatose patient. Any that ingested these spores would be trapped in a shared dreamstate, colloquially known as a Nightmare.
All Chiliagon personnel were quickly directed to cease any research into APOHC as it was deemed too dangerous to safely study. The most significant observations made by Chiliagon staff was that Stock avoided APOHC affected areas, as the parasite fed on parts of their anatomy, and that it was unlike any other documented organism. The sudden arrival of APOHC during the War on Form added further chaos and destabilization to humanity’s survival efforts.
chiliagon withdrawal
-2021-
Upon recognizing humanity’s inevitable defeat to the Stock, and the general sour reception of his prized Catalysts, Kingwell decided it was time to make changes. Kingwell believed that Catalysts were the best hope for the human race, not as mindless soldiers in a losing war but as active members of the community and importantly, the gene pool. Kingwell wanted new Catalysts to be created, ones that were able to breed and pass on their superior genetics to future generations of human offspring, stating it was the only way for humanity to survive long-term. The sterilization of Catalysts was a massive sticking point for Chiliagon personnel. Many employees were outraged by Kingwell’s new direction, claiming it was immoral to subject the public to genetic tampering without their consent. Scientists insisted long term tampering to human genes was dangerous and reckless, with too many unknown variables. They begged Kingwell to reconsider but he refused, stating that it was the only way and that he knew best.
By his order, Kingwell stopped all Chiliagon operations, refocusing everything on perfecting the new Catalyst formula. Catalysts took time to grow, and so Chiliagon employees knew it could be years where humanity had no meaningful defence against the Stock and the new world the alien beings were forming. Many felt as though Chiliagon was abandoning Earth and humanity exactly when they needed them most.
Kingwell brought a crew of loyal scientists to the Chiliagon lunar colony Zenith, where they planned to work in secret to manufacture a New Age of Catalysts. There they planned to wait for a moment when the Stock weren’t as rampant and humanity needed help to re-establish themselves. With the exception of the skeleton crew that Kingwell brought with him, the majority of Chiliagon employees disavowed the company and Kingwell.
Chiliagon sent out a “stand by” order to their Catalyst agents still in the field, and facilities initiated a lockout program, barring their doors. Marcus Kingwell, the savior of humanity, left, and Chiliagon closed itself off to the world.
earth abandoned
-2021 to 2036-
Shortly after Chiliagon left the planet behind, the Leviathan fractured into colossal masses and sent them crashing down to Earth, cratering large areas of the planet. In a swift move the Stock ended any sort of meaningful resistance and left massive Stock Spires in the cavity of where Earth's defence once stood. The War on Form was over, humanity firmly on the losing side.
Seers emerged from the massive Spires left behind by the Leviathan. A different breed of Stock, Seers took on different forms, had an array of new abilities and most significantly, showcased something that had never been seen in Stock before: individuality and distinctive personalities. Seers occupied the areas around the Spires left by the Leviathan and terraformed the earth around them in new and exotic ways.
Fifteen years followed…
As the Stock terraforming effort spread, the planet changed. New biomes appeared, vast jungles, forests, and deserts, with strange alien flora and fauna, the scale of which hadn't been seen on Earth since the cretaceous period. Native animals began to change under these new conditions, growing and mutating at a rapid rate until they were almost unrecognizable from what they used to be. These creatures became known as Xenos and they added to the growing danger to life on Earth.
APOHC, while still a threat, crippled itself over the fifteen years. Existing in small pockets of the Wilds, luring Hosts into Nightmares that more slowly drained them for sustenance.
Two thirds of the human population died during the War on Form, and the ones that remained struggled to survive. With no societal infrastructure to rely on, humanity worked with what they had, slowly building up small colonies and pockets of civilization around the world. With limited infrastructure, technology and population, these burgeoning communities struggled against the new alien landscape and most notably, against each other.
The revivification initiative
- 2034 onward-
And so begins your chapter.
After years in wait, observing humanity’s efforts for survival, Chiliagon’s Revivification Initiative has been activated. As per Marcus Kingwell’s direction, Chiliagon sees this moment in history as a suitable climate for the New Age of Catalysts to flourish: humans have built enough of a foundation to be collaborated with, and the Stock seem more concerned with their terraforming efforts than eradicating human life.
You are better equipped than the last generation of Catalyst agents. Your Sign will nullify the effect of APOHC on your mind, you will be outfitted with an AI handler to keep you in contact with Zenith, and perhaps most importantly: you possess a better understanding of human behavior. Your interactions with human life are paramount to the survival of the species and your genes are the foundation of human capabilities for future generations.
I can not guarantee the attitude people may have towards Chiliagon after the events that have passed but regardless.
Never forget the mantra of Chiliagon: the earth in mind.