The World of Vestige, a Primer
Vestige

The World of Vestige, a Primer

January 26, 2025
Condividere Inviare Spillo E-mail
Generations ago, the potential of humanity’s reach seemed boundless. Cities thrummed with power, pathways to the stars opened, and technology evolved such that the barriers between humans and machines blurred. The unthinkable became less and less ‘un’.

At the heart of this progress: biocurrent, a scientific breakthrough that enabled technological devices to draw energy from anything biological. Suddenly every plant, every creature, every human became an energy source. In simplified language, biocurrent ate away at the flesh of whatever lifeform it was attached to, but because most biological flesh can regrow, this new source of energy was considered highly sustainable if used at responsible rates. 

Farms were converted to double as energy farms with crops and livestock tapped for energy. Augmenting the human body with technological implants became a common practice, tech on and in the body, powered by the body. The integration between biology and technology grew deeper, more innovative, more invasive, and more bizarre. Bio-engineering lifeforms perfectly suited to specific technologies opened whole new fields of not only science but of existence.  

But then, as sometimes happens every time humans are involved, things went too far. Civilization’s insatiable hunger for power resulted in it being literally devoured by the march of its progress. The consumption of biocurrent energy exceeded sustainability standards. Scientists and mathematicians sounded the alarm: the point of no return would soon be passed; would really really soon be passed; the point of no return…had been passed. Too much energy had been drawn from the lifeforms of the world, and no amount of effort or change could reverse the inevitable: the world was dying. Their warnings, however, were always going to be in vain. The integration of technology and biology had grown too deep, and too complex. To strip technology from humanity was to strip the skeleton from a body, even if you succeeded, the body left behind would have been incapable of functioning. Humanity’s days were number. And the number was small. A few lifetimes.

So, with nothing to lose, scientists went in the other direction. Instead of pulling back from technology, they leaned in. THE OBELISK PROJECT was founded to seek an alternative source of energy, burning through reckless amounts of the world’s remaining energy in that pursuit. They succeeded. Plans to create a new, self-perpetuating power source were formed. Civilization would be saved, but, only by the tightest of margins. To get this infinite energy supply built and operational would take a colossal amount of energy. 
The governments, cultures, and corporations of the world united behind a carefully calculated plan. Every creature on the planet, humans and animals alike, had a cutting-edge biocurrent nano-tech installed in their body that would siphon and transmit energy to the Obelisk (now the name of the massive power construct under construction, growing nearer and nearer completion with each infusion of energy.) The rate of this draw and transmission was carefully calculated to be as safe and sustainable as possible to guarantee the people survived long enough to provide enough power to get the Obelisk operational. The nanotech was dubbed Hope, and it fused itself with the body in such a way that it would be passed through the generations. 

The math was clear, all of humanity needed to take part in Hope, in contributing to the Obelisk, if there was to be a chance of having it built in time. There was no time for letting people opt-in and striving to convince those who didn't. If even 5% of the population did not assist in the effort, humanity would be doomed. 

And yet, there was resistance to this plan. People did not want governments telling them what to put in their bodies. And with a 5% margin, chances couldn’t be taken, which is why the technology was injected as a nano-tech that couldn’t be removed by black market bodysmiths. 

Wars, famines, and the like were also death sentences, and so the cultures of the world found themselves united in a way they never had been before. Broadly speaking, it was a time of optimism. There was a plan, and it was working. 

Enter anti-obelisk activist groups aghast at the invasive nature of Hope. They abhorred the forced augmentation of all of humanity. They were disgusted at the abandonment of sustainability practices in the name of the Obelisk, practices that left whole biomes, (and most of the world's animals) as nothing more than withered husks. There were protests. There were protests against the protests. Movements grew and splintered, anti-obelisk groups and anti-Hope groups coalesced around a wide range of opinions and agendas, sometimes in conflict with each other, but all with a generalized distaste for the Obelisk plan and/or the plan for Hope to bring the Obelisk to life. 

One of the activist groups held that the reason there is not more pushback to Hope is because humanity is blinded by the subtlety of the draw from their bodies. People aren’t *feeling* the draw happening to them, so they aren’t as bothered as they should be. And so, in an effort to wake humanity up to the horror of their condition, this group initiates a plan in which they upload a firmware update to the Hope in all of humanity, increasing the draw and transmission rates of the Hope to dangerous levels. It also locks the digital door into Hope to prevent future patches that could quickly or easily undo these changes. They believe that once people start experiencing the effects of what’s being done to them, that the governments of the world are eating away the energy of the very flesh of their body, that public sentiment will turn dramatically and the project will be discontinued. 
All records of what happens next are considered unreliable, as things descend into chaos very quickly. Myths and legends of what followed have been passed through the generations but with countless inconsistencies, gaps, and manipulations. 

It is said that the leader of the anti-obelisk group that installed the Hope firmware update also created a digital key that could be uploaded to unlock Hope and allow further changes, like turning down the rate of power draw or turning it off completely. With this key, they held humanity hostage, but, in their minds, for liberation. It is assumed the group intended to deactivate the Hope altogether once the Obelisk plan was discontinued. History had other plans. An opposing extremist group—who may or may not have been operating at the behest of a government or corporation—sent militants into the anti-obelisk headquarters in an attempt to retrieve the key by force. They failed. Many myths hold that the leader of the anti-obelisk group—who, in the generations since, has come to be referred to as “The Key”—hid the key as a piece of biological encoding in their genetic code. This leader was presumed killed in an explosion during the raid, and their body was never recovered. 

With the new firmware update to Hope, the draw on humanity is much more noticeable. It has the intended effect: the outcry is massive. World leaders try lies and misdirection while they search for a solution, but none is found. The average life expectancy is recalculated to be roughly 35 years. There is panic. Violence. Within three weeks of the Hope update, the 5% of the population that would cause the plan to fail…have died. Within six weeks, it's more than 30%. Governments splinter and collapse, their remnants and the corporations that supported them insulating themselves. Alliances shatter. Zones of control are established, and extremism reigns. A militant group who believes the Obelisk can still be activated takes that ground by force and begins capturing and sacrificing huge numbers of humanity to the construct, believing (despite math to the contrary) they can get it started. Wars break out. People die by the millions. History goes dark. 

Generations pass. And they pass quickly, with life expectancy being shortened as it is. For a hundred-plus years, things collapse further and further until a strange new normal settles in in the current age. Today, a small vestige of humanity scrapes together a life in the tough and unforgiving ruins of the past.

Much of what has happened, and is happening, is shrouded in mystery and myth. Rumors swirl that The Key survived and that their descendants might be out there, their bloodline holding the secret to restoring humanity’s access to Hope. Secretive collectives take root, each with their own set of closely guarded mysteries. A group calling themselves The Codex seems to have somehow overcome the ravages of Hope, as their members survive well into old age. Chatter persists of mysterious plants with a strange energy, the evolved remnants of past biocurrent experiments. Perhaps related, are The Botanists, who seem to have developed a new type of biotech that may be *entirely* biological. Portions of humanity hold that the obelisk and its technology still represent the pathway toward rebuilding. Others feel quite differently. 

The truth is elusive in a world such as this, with fragmented records, secrets upon secrets, and stories that are riddled with contradictions or re-shaped into myths or religious texts. So much is not known. Does the Obelisk still present a means of salvation, or is it merely the grave marker of a doomed species and civilization? 

You find yourself at the edge of this broken history, a world of ruins and whispers. A world shattered by Hope, where, for the time being at least, the only reliable means of keeping safe is leverage over those who would seek leverage over you.