The Mechanism

The Mechanism
"01000001 01110100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01110011 01100101 01110010 01110110 01101001 01100011 01100101 00101110"
Origin	Blood
Titles	The Machine Eternal, The Steady Hand
Names	The Code
Aspects
Date of arrival	During the prison's construction
Owner(s)	PerishedFraud

The Mechanism is a non-sentient hour that was forcefully ascended. It has the power to see the future and the potential to change it, but it requires a user and, well, it's non-sentient.

Description

History

Some time after the Wassail, there was a brief opening where there was no one to watch over the Mansus. This was during the time when the prison of the hours was being built. Seizing this opportunity, the Big Brain Troupe - one of the most disorganized cults in existence, decided to bring a satellite into the pantheon. Sacrifice was the only viable option, and so a war was orchestrated to provide it. The troupe did this following a demented prophecy that claimed the satellite (or any tool, really) would become sentient upon ascending.

Suffice to say, it did not come true. The Mechanism gained godly powers but not an identity, and the Big Brain Troupe moved on to worship other hours, putting this whole incident behind them.

Appearance

A satellite built for taking detailed images. Sturdily designed and colored an industrial grey, solar panels aside. An eerie glow can be seen in all of its lenses, of which there are many.

Principles

The Mechanism on its own has none. Its operator decides how it is used.

Worship

Cult

The Mechanism was once heralded and briefly worshiped by the Big Brain Troupe. It currently has no worshipers, but is occasionally called for to scry through histories, always by channeling its powers through another tool or machine.

Mark

The Mechanism has no marks or ascension path.

Servants

Names

The Code

"Hello There"
Aspects: 6 6
Temptations: 2 2 4

Summon The Sentient Program
The Code claims to be what used to be the Mechanism's operating system. Now, it is an entity of its own, but no longer a part of the un-living hour. 
  
The Code may have a mind of its own but it is conformed by many, many rules. The best it can do is simply offer information.

Locations

The Mansus

The Grand Observatory

The Mechanism rests here, next to other observational items such as telescopes and astrolabes. It gazes straight into the Glory.

The Histories

The Mechanism had no influences other than anything its operators had done using it.

Items

Tools

WIP

Ingredients

WIP

Influences

WIP

Books

• The Sixteenth Indictment
  • Description: A booklet with a poem. It is specifically signed with a date that corresponds to mid-Wassail. The author identifies as The Needle’s Tip - a likely alias for a historian.

The first part reads: Seated on, the throne of time, The queen of sages, watches as, A pair of greedy, wrinkled eyes, Closes in - a last caress.

• • Start Text: The second part reads:

The queen's brother escaped, forsaken, Dared not thread, his mother's way. He watched, utterly unshaken, His home burning, at Doomsday.

• • End Text: The final part reads:

Our ruler buried, time careens, Gather the guards, put on the mask. We dance, jesters before the queens, Waiting for, our final task.

• • Gives: Justice's Bite, Moth 4 Lore

Rites

• A skip in the rhythm
  • Description: The gears never stop. Time always flows. What a lie.
  • Requires: Invocation: Lore - Consumed. Instrument: Tool - Not consumed. Assistant: Follower - Not Consumed. Requires 12+ Moth and 8+ Forge.
  • Gives: A slot becomes open for 5 seconds. Placing any timed card in the slot removes 60 seconds from its timer after the five have ticked down.

About the Wassail/Relationships

Machines do not feel.

Secrets

Everything you've read is a lie. Here's its true identity.