By Samantha Webb
With the technological marvels of the Old World lost to much of the devastation inflicted during the war with the Builder AI, it’s no surprise that some groups on Evera Prime are keen to relocate the knowledge fragments scattered in the old facilities and mega-cities before they collapse to time.
The Archivists of today grew from the ragged remnants of the pre-War Everan government and other institutions that were able to offer a measure of protection to those who could reach them in time. Some were military groups, others were scientists and researchers, others technocrats or administrators. Over the years the Archivists have split into a number of groups based on different philosophies, but they all hold to one overriding principle: that knowledge is central to the future. It is their core, fundamental belief that they must learn, learn, learn, and in doing so help others.
Many familiar Archivist outposts known to the wider Everan population exist in towers, those rural facilities in the Everan countryside that had working amenities that could maintain a small population. As the Archivists bedded in, word of some of these outposts attracted other survivors and entire towns have sprung up around these towers.
Many Archivist communes value both the hardware that can be scavenged from the ruins of the Old World and the knowledge fragments they contain, and so frequently send out expeditions, or hiring Grabbers from the local populace. With these knowledge fragments perhaps they can help rebuild Evera Prime into the jewel it once was.
Many Archivists still proudly identify with the old pre-War organisation from which they grew, maintaining formalised structures, military, government, science and medical groups, and as such people refer to one another more formally than other Everans. Most Archivists have access to technology that makes others’ mouths water, or a Dreamer’s skin crawl. Body borne tech is common, from eye pieces or contact lenses, to utility belts laden with gear. Few Archivists carry weapons; those that do only ever do so for a good reason.
One tech that only the Archivists possess is that of the GLIF pen, their primary defence against the Wakers. Short and stubby, these devices come in a wide variety of styles and designs and, loaded with specific algorithms, can create patterns to stun, disarm, distract, confuse, or otherwise disrupt an active Waker.
Archivists aren’t just nostalgic historians or technophiles, but pillars of Everan communities, helpers, Fixers, and knowledgeable sages.