Ye shall be as gods

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"And the serpent said unto the woman, "Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." - Genesis 3, 4-5 (KJV)


Amongst an immortal populace, capable of creating life, sapience, and transforming dead worlds into utopias lush with life, there was a range of opinions about humanity's true position in the Universe. The discovery of the mobius patterns only accelerated this, and, after contact was first made with alien civilizations, that this seemed to be a unique, irreproducable discovery did little to dampen such opinions.

Or arrogance.

The overwhelmingly vast majority of the Solar System's populace was generally happy with their lot, lacking the cares and concerns that their ancestors had. Some, however, felt - and still feel - that humanity had gone too far, while others did not believe the children of Gaia have gone far enough.

Several competing philosophies developed.

Amongst the Abrahamic faiths, still a dominant set of religions among humans, the above verse divided those not among the content into four polarized groups.

  • The smallest group (assuming they still survive) are the exiles, those who broke away from civilization, rejecting the arcologies and the alpha strain, they returned to a natural lifestyle. Rejecting even agriculture, they quickly lost track of their origins, and by the time of the Purge, few were aware of human history or science - merely the dangers it posed. They were not exterminated suring the Purge, but their fate via Lost Sol is unknown.
  • The largest group that still considers themselves to be followers of Judaism, Islam, Christianity, etc. believe that the serpent is still the incarnation of evil, but his words in this regard were true, and it is God's will that mankind make use of the gifts given. Depending on the specific faith, and branch of it, core myths have been interpreted differently over the centuries, of course.
  • In contraposition to the above, a few believe that technology needs to be rejected, and that God will grow angry if humanity flaunts its just punishment. They are best known for the so-called luddoterrorist organisations that they form and sponsor.
  • Another large group follows Gnostic traditions of these various faiths - that the God of the Bible, Torah, and Koran is, in fact, the Demiurge, and that the serpent merely assisted humans in overcoming its deception.

The Dharmic faiths have undergone different transformations, typically specific to the religion rather than a whole-scale division as with most of the followers of Abrahamic faiths.

  • Buddhism is one of the largest religions amongst the scattered vestiges of humankind, though this focusses more on the philosophy rather than the concept of nirvana. Most fall into two camps - those that believe that suffering is, in fact, not an integral part of the Universe, and those (who also question the former calling themselves buddhists) who believe that suffering is actually necessary.
  • Jainists are few, but they often take it upon themselves to assist indiginous worlds whose habitats are in danger of extermination from threats natural or otherwise.
  • Much of Hinduism has largely blended into other religions, creating a large variety of syncretic faiths. The most visible of those that remain are terrorist groups, the most vocal of which seek to ensure the proper reincarnation of the wicked.


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