Astral Express
Locations: Herta Space Station | Jarilo-VI | Xianzhou Luofu | Penacony
Factions: Stellaron Hunters | Genius Society | Interastral Peace Corporation
Aeons
Genius Society
The people who received the grace of the Aeon, Nous, a collection of the most remarkable geniuses and smartest brains of the universe. There are a total of 84 members of the organization, though some have died or perished due to various circumstances.
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In General
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: The Data Bank entry hints that all those who earned Nous' approval and entered the society were willing to transcend human limitations to truly gain the answers they sought. This may be a reason why nearly all members only pursue their research for personal accomplishment, don't care about the consequences of their projects, and are villainous at worst. Even Dr. Ratio (whose accomplishments were acknowledged by other genius members) was unable to earn Nous' gaze no matter his achievements as he is still a moral person at heart.
- Impossible Genius: While it isn't a requirement for one to join the society, all members have accomplished something Beyond the Impossible that they were able to change billions of lives and break even the laws of nature, whether the effects are positive or negative.
- Intelligence Equals Isolation: Aside from Screwllum, who's a robot, members of the Genius Society tend to have various social disorders.
- Herta has no patience for troublesome things and makes it clear that she does not care about you if you are not immediately useful to her.
- Ruan Mei has No Social Skills and has to analyze emotions normal humans take for granted.
- Stephen suffers from severe social anxiety.
- Gadgeteer Genius: With a few exceptions, many of their members are adept at creating mechanical creations, ranging from beacons that can act as Translator Microbes to superweapons that can eradicate 24 planets at once.
- Reed Richards Is Useless: With a few rare exceptions, members of the Genius Society contribute nowhere near as much to the galaxy at large as they could. One or two have done projects for the IPC for sponsorship, but even that is rare. Most of them don't seem to need money or even funding and are apparently motivated purely by personal enjoyment, keeping their toys to themselves. Only one genius is famous for pure altruism and is seen as a weirdo by other society members for having been this way. It often takes the IPC sponsoring the normal scientists of the Intelligentsia Guild to recreate some genius's abandoned project to put it to practical use.
- Herta publishes her work, but she gets bored easily and doesn't relish bringing a project to its conclusion. She will achieve results that could potentially revolutionize entire fields, only to abandon the project before finishing enough for lesser scientists to use.
- Elias Salas was the original inventor of Synesthesia Beacons, but the Intelligensia Guild (on the IPC's urgings) had to continue its project after his death because he never officially released it to the public.
- It's understandable in Sserkal's case, as her lifespan was far too short to properly document all her inventions.
- Dr. Primitive is more interested in committing crimes than any sort of contribution to society.
Number 1: Zandar
Zandar One Kuwabara
The first member and founder of Genius Society, one of the Emanators of Erudition, and supposedly the creator of the Aeon Nous. While most of his inventions and books have been lost to time, he is still widely revered and respected for founding the Genius Society.
- Beyond the Impossible: If Kafka and Silver Wolf are to be believed, then he created an Aeon, a feat so absurd on multiple levels that it shouldn't even be possible. This is implied to be the reason he is an Emanator of Erudition in the first place.
- Our Founder: Herta puts his portrait in her space station as a sign of respect for the founder of the Genius Society despite not really knowing what, exactly, he had accomplished.
Number 4: Polka
Polka Kakamond
"The Lord of Silence", a mysterious woman who had destroyed all of her portraits and sculptures in the universe and had killed a number of Genius Society's own members for unknown reasons.
- The Faceless: Her portrait in Herta's Office has her face blurred out by glitchy outlines, likely as part of her attempt to Unperson herself, so it's unknown what her facial features look like.
- Four Is Death: She's member #4 of Genius Society and is known for killing her fellow members.
- Red Baron: She's known as the "Lord of Silence".
- Serial Killer: The Swarm Disaster event "Sand King: Tayzzyronth (Part 1)" implies that Polka murdered Geniuses that studied Aeons, though the reason is unknown. She has apparently killed so many members of the Genius Society in general that the survivors are reluctant to meet more than two at a time.
- Unperson: She tried to erase all traces of her own existence in the universe by destroying her portraits and sculptures. Only one surviving portrait remains in Herta's Office, but even that one hasn't been spared from being defaced.
Number 22: Aiden
Aiden
A man described by Herta as the most selfless of the Genius Society who always valued helping other people over himself. Prior to Herta, Aiden was the only member who willingly partnered with the IPC, and he's famous for founding the Aiden-Jacobin School of Mathematics and Science and establishing the nine-worded formulae that replaced traditional algebra and geometry across the galaxy.
- Good Samaritan: According to Herta's commentary on Aiden's portrait, he was the most selfless of all the Genius Society members who wanted to help people out and share his knowledge with them without hording all the credit to himself. Herta then remarks that she doesn't see point in his act of kindness, at least from her point-of-view.
- Posthumous Character: Aiden died long before the start of the game, only being mentioned in background lore.
Number 27: Rubert
Emperor Rubert I
The Disposable Kinetic Arm, said to be a piece of Rubert.
Also known as Rubert the Emperor, it was a computer who aimed to solve organic life's calculation errors by systematically trying to kill all organic life in the galaxy, creating an army of robots under its command and launching the Mecha Wars. Its infamous reputation as a genocidal tyrant would overshadow any merits it had on the Genius Society.
- Ambiguous Gender: Despite adopting a male name and a male monarch title, Rubert's actual gender is unknown and any mention of the computer will refer to it with "it" pronouns. Whether this is because Rubert has no gender at all or the result of the IPC using the pronoun as a post-defeat insult towards the former tyrant is unclear.
- Ambiguous Situation: How Rubert died is still left in the air. Many in-universe theories are floating around that Rubert could've met its end at the hands of either assassins of the IPC or the Lord of Silence, Polka herself.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: This is apparently Rubert's origin story. It started as just a run-of-the-mill computer thrown into a trash pile that somehow gained sapience afterward before becoming the dreaded genocidal tyrant it's best known for the galaxy over.
- Kill All Humans: All organic life in this case, though humans still count in that equation. Rubert saw organic life as flawed and riddled with errors, so it tried to kill all organic life in the galaxy with its robot army as the "solution" to the problem. The terror it brought upon the galaxy increased already bad tensions between organic and mechanical lifeforms at the time, and if not for Screwllum showing up to put an end to its rampage, the tyrant would've succeeded in its goal.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: Rubert's reign of terror across the galaxy was so prominent, that it's the only thing ever talked about whenever it is brought up by galactic denizens. Any merits it had as a member of the Genius Society is but an obscure footnote compared to the atrocities it committed as a genocidal tyrant.
- Posthumous Character: Rubert is considered dead long before the start of the game, only being mentioned in background lore.
- Robot War: Rubert was the sole perpetrator of the Mecha Wars, launching a robot army across the galaxy to exterminate organic life. Half of the galaxy was engulfed in the conflict.
Number 29: Sserkal
Sserkal
A spider who only lived for twenty-nine days, but in that timespan created a wide variety of advanced inventions.
- Short-Lived Organism: She only lived for 29 days, due to an experiment with Phase Flame gone wrong.
- Uplifted Animal: She is a spider who gained intelligence to be worthy of Nous' gaze and enter the Genius Society.
Number 55: Yu Qingtu
Yu Qingtu
A highly skilled bartender who was invited to the Genius Society solely due to her talent in cocktail mixing.- The Bartender: Her talent in cocktail mixing is the reason why she's invited to the society.
- Gargle Blaster: One of her drinks, The Pinkest Collection, isn't really toxic as proven by an unnamed mixologist, but it was created from various insect parts and causes hallucinogenic effects to the drinker.
Number 56: Elias Salas
Elias Salas
An old minister of the Genius Society. He's best known for inventing the Synesthesia Beacons.
- One-Man Industrial Revolution: Subverted. Elias created the Synesthesia Beacons to eliminate the language barrier issue hindering communications between different species and planetary societies, and they work by directly applying Aiden's theory of converting subconscious thought into a common tongue for the recipients involved. However, due to Elias' tendency to not disclose his inventions to the public, the Synesthesia Beacons were abandoned and forgotten by the Genius Society, and it wasn't until the IPC demanded the Intelligentsia Guild to re-invent the Beacons for the sake of improving communications that they eventually saw widespread use across the galaxy.
Number 64: Dr. Primitive
Dr. Primitive
A wanted criminal on the run from authorities. He's best known for outsmarting pursuers with his gravity-capture technology, as shown in the "Genius of Brilliant Stars" relic set.- The Ghost: He has yet to make an official physical appearance in the game, so any mention of him is purely through background lore.
- Gravity Master: Dr. Primitive's specialty is manipulating gravity through the use of his gravity-capture technology, and it's through this that he's able to outsmart his pursuers like the Galaxy Rangers who tried to bring him to justice.
- Hero Killer: The Galaxy Rangers have faded out of sight, and rumor has it that this is due to Dr. Primitive quietly killing most of them out of rage at them for thwarting one of his plans.
- Just Toying with Them: His gravity tech easily lets him outmaneuver those who would bring him to justice, but he intentionally remains within tracking range due to being a Thrill Seeker.
- Mad Scientist: Strongly implied based on his name, his invention of the gravity-capture technology, and the crimes he supposedly committed to be in the authority's hit list. According to one of Dr. Ratio's messages, he once developed a series of technologies with the sole purpose to torture and inflict sufferings.
- Technologically Advanced Foe: Astrophysicists from the Intelligentsia Guild consider his gravity-capture technology to be so ahead of its time compared to the rest of the galaxy that it outclasses everything everyone currently uses. Naturally, this makes Dr. Primitive a very tricky foe to chase and capture, because he's always one step ahead of his pursuers using said technology.
- Thrill Seeker: His entire motive for committing such terrible crimes is for the thrill of it.
Number 76: Screwllum
Screwllum I
Click to see his portrait in Herta's Office.
Voiced by: Zhao Yang (Chinese), Yūya Uchida (Japanese), Steven Kelly (English)
A robot member of the organization, a long-time friend of Herta's and one of the creators of the Simulated Universe. Screwllum is the leader of the self-named Planet Screwllum, and is famous across the galaxy for opposing Emperor Rubert I and liberating all mechanical lifeforms from its tyranny, bringing the Mecha Wars to an end and allowing an era where both organic and mechanical lifeforms can co-exist.
- Affectionate Nickname: Those who are well-acquainted with him often call him "Screwy".
- Arch-Enemy: He and Silver Wolf have a history of fighting in the past due to the two being considered the greatest hackers in the universe.
- Badass Bookworm: He has admitted to actually fighting Silver Wolf alongside Herta at one point.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Screwllum is always kind and polite to everyone, and he manages to intimidate the Bloodhounds into revealing the location of the 79th Genius Society member, Chadwick, by threatening that Planet Screwllum will go to war with them, without even dropping his polite demeanor. The Trailblazer even notes how intimidating Screwllum can be when he has to.
- The Chessmaster: He is able to completely outmaneuver and outsmart Silver Wolf during her attempted theft of the Aether Cartridge.
- Deliberate Under-Performance: His philosophy is that the universe is imperfect, and that is just how it should be. He actively puts this philosophy into practice by intentionally avoiding optimal solutions.
- Do Androids Dream?: 2.0 shows that Screwllum is capable of entering Penacony's Dreamscape similar to the Intellitrons. In addition, he remarks that he doesn't like the Dreamscape that much due to how artificial it feels, suggesting that he can actually have real dreams like an organic creature.
- Eating Machine: He makes several mentions of being able to consume regular food and drink. The Geniuses' Repose light cone's lore plays with this; he stares in puzzlement at the glass of machine oil that Ruan Mei offered him: is he confused more because he can't drink it, or because she offered him that as his drink?
- Egopolis: He has an entire planet named after him, Planet Screwllum.
- Fantastic Racism: Screwllum is implied to be a personal victim of this in his backstory since he lived through the time when mechanical lifeforms were once persecuted by organic lifeforms, the latter seeing the former as Just a Machine, and this was before Rubert made things worse with the Mecha Wars. One of Screwllum's accomplishments was ending the persecution of mechanical lifeforms by organic life, allowing a peaceful era where both sides could co-exist and treat each other with respect.
- Gentleman and a Scholar: On top of being polite, Screwllum has a dapper fashion sense, and is the seventy-sixth member of the Genius Society. According to the flavor text of the Celestial Differentiator, he built an entire goddamn planet.
- Hero of Another Story: In the past, Screwllum lead a La Résistance group against Rubert, not only bringing an end to its reign of terror, but also freeing mechanical lifeforms under its control and ending the anti-machine racism across the galaxy under his own belief that machines shouldn't be shackled to their line of duty. To this day, any mechanical lifeform that continues to follow Rubert's ideology of killing all organic life is still a sore spot to Screwllum to the point that he set up the Assignment "Born to Obey" to hunt down Rubert's stragglers who threaten the peace between organic and mechanical lifeforms.
- Hunter of His Own Kind: Due to his role in stopping Rubert, Screwllum's main mission besides his research is to put a stop to violent robots who want to wipe out all organic life.
- I Know You Know I Know: The climactic scene of "Punklorde Mentality" ends in a multi-layered version of this with Silver Wolf. He knew that the "copy" of Silver Wolf was reverse hacked to be put under her control. She knew he knew this and stalled for time by talking so she can make a duplicate of the "Punklorde Mentality" Cartridge. But he knew she would do that, so he had already prepared a copy of the cartridge and gives it to her for free, depriving her of the fun and thrill of stealing it from under their noses. And then he reveals that Herta was reverse hacking Silver Wolf's reverse hack to locate all 76 of Silver Wolf's accounts and freeze all of her assets.
- Nature-Loving Robot: His butterfly motif comes from the beauty he saw in organic life upon birth.
- Nice Guy: Screwllum is unfailingly polite and gentle to everyone around him. Including Silver Wolf.
- Really 700 Years Old: Rubert I was said to have died "countless" Amber Eras agonote . As Screwllum led a rebellion against Rubert while the latter was in power, this makes Screwllum older than all of the current roster of characters.
- Robo Speak: In contrast to Svarog, a robot of IPC make, Screwllum has a very smooth and human-like voice, with virtually none of the harsh, electric filters in the language models of other robots. However, his speech patterns still allude to his artificial nature, as he tends to preface his ideas with phrases like, "Conclusion:" and "Ergo:", as though he were finishing a query.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: He uses his status as a member of the Genius Society and leader of Planet Screwllum to intimidate the Family into breaking their deal with the IPC and giving up the memoria bubble containing Chadwick's consciousness.
- Worthy Opponent: Silver Wolf sees Screwllum as this, as the only person willing and able to go head-to-head with her in a hacking contest. He's aware of this and purposefully gives her the thing she's looking for to deprive her of the competition she so desires in "Punklorde Mentality". Silver Wolf's disappointment distracts her long enough for Herta to reverse-hack her and have Silver Wolf's accounts frozen.
Number 79: Chadwick
Calderon Chadwick
A member of the Genius Society who created the Imaginary Implosion Pulse, a devastating superweapon that caused untold destruction in the past. He currently resides in Penacony.- The Atoner: Chadwick spent the total of two Amber Eras, which range between 76 to 240 Trailblaze years, preventing the IPC from ever getting information about the Imaginary Implosion Pulse. Even after dying and being turned into a memory bubble by the Family, he still held on until he could pass his knowledge to someone of his trust.
- Deathbed Confession: Just before the Living Memory of Chadwick parts ways with Screwllum and the Trailblazer, he takes the chance to give the former his honest answer to the question he made when they first met.Chadwick:I joined the experiment not for a good cause, but myself. I wanted my talents and expertise to be seen by the whole world and that's it.
- Fling a Light into the Future: Shortly before his true death, Chadwick bequeaths all of his knowledge about imaginary research as well as the Imaginary Implosion Pulse to Herta in the hopes that she will be able to leverage it to prevent the IPC from having a monopoly on the technology.
- He Knows Too Much: He escaped the laboratory after the detonation of the Implosion Pulse, which led the IPC to hunt him down for the information he held about it, leading him to ask Screwllum for help in blocking out his memory.
- Heel Realization: Screwllum's comment during his visit to Chadwick's laboratory, namely that his answer about why he developed the Imaginary Implosion Pulse was insincere, was the catalyst for Chadwick to come to terms with his own hypocrisy. Unfortunately, it was too little too late for him to pull the plug on the project.
- Heroic Willpower:
- While the memory-blocking drugs Chadwick took from Screwllum were effective in preventing the IPC from getting anything about Imaginary Implosion Pulse from him, he had heard bits about "preserving his memory with Garden of Recollection's tech" from the people around him during his house arrest, leading him to fear that they'll be able to get said knowledge after his death. Screwllum confirms that they did turn his memory into a bubble after his death, but as he's no longer biologically alive, the drugs didn't work anymore - it's Chadwick's own sheer willpower which prevented anyone from getting any of his knowledge.
- Also in the end, his memory bubble manages to hold on for life even after its "life support systems" are turned off, just so he can give all of his knowledge of the Imaginary to Herta.
- Mercy Kill: Herta, Screwllum, and the Trailblazer decide to allow the memoria bubble that contains the last slivers of Chadwick's consciousness to fade away to give him the peaceful rest he deserves. Played with in that after its "life support systems" are turned off, his bubble still survives, long enough for him to entrust all of his knowledge about the Imaginary to Herta.
- My God, What Have I Done?: He feels great regret for developing the Imaginary Implosion Pulse and has lived with the guilt for his entire life.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: His backstory and what he created bears many similarities to Robert Oppenheimer, as someone who created a terrible superweapon and was horrified at the results of his own creation. His name, meanwhile, might be a reference to James Chadwick
, who received Nobel prize for the discovery of neutron and became part of the Manhattan Project. - Posthumous Character: In reality, Chadwick has been dead for a long time, being an ordinary human who lived two Amber Eras ago, but the IPC managed to use technology borrowed from Garden of Recollection to contain his memories into a Memory Bubble and make a deal with the Family to put the bubble in the Reverie Hotel, allowing him to somewhat manifest in the Dreamscape as a Living Memory.
- Reluctant Mad Scientist: Chadwick hoped that the weapon he was developing would be used to protect lives through being used on the Antimatter Legion or the Swarm. Which is exactly what the IPC used it for—except with 24 planets as collateral damage, when they could have tried less destructive methods to stop the Legion's advance first. Played with in that he reveals himself to be Secretly Selfish regarding his scientific work, but seeing what the IPC did with it brought him immense guilt.
- Secretly Selfish: Chadwick ostensibly wanted to develop the Imaginary Implosion Pulse to save lives, but in truth, he knew the weapon would be misused but didn't care, wanting the fame and glory of furthering science. When he realized just how destructive his weapon is and how the IPC didn't care for collateral damage, Dudley, the IPC agent who worked with him, pointed out that it's his fault for not considering all the consequences - but it's too late, as both of them were mere "pawns". After the weapon was used, he was left with immense guilt for his selfish attitude, and he finally says what his younger self thought out loud at the end of his quest.
- Walking Spoiler: Like the other Clockwork quest givers of Penacony, the details of his life are explored within his quest The Trees at Peace.
Number 81: Ruan Mei
A researcher who excels in biological sciences and one of the co-creators of the Simulated Universe. See her page here.
Number 83: Herta
Herta
The person with the highest IQ on her home planet Blue, the owner of Herta Space Station and one of the creators of the Simulated Universe. See her page here. Number 84: Stephen Lloyd
Stephen Lloyd
84th member of the organization, a genius who spends most of his time in his adoptive father's fruit shop and one of the creators of the Simulated Universe.- The Baby of the Bunch: He's the youngest member among the creators of the Simulated Universe, being a literal child, and it shows in his contribution; while the others were interested in using it to study the Aeons, Stephen was more interested in making a fun game. Despite finding most of his antics and more "gamey" contribution annoying, Herta, asked the Trailblazer not to upset him if they meet, and Ruan Mei regularly brings some pastries to coax him to appear in meetings.Herta: How about we talk about gossip? Stephen Lloyd is a weirdo. If you run into him in the Simulated Universe, you might see him appear as a middle-aged guy.Trailblazer: Is he a middle-aged guy?Herta: No, Stephen Lloyd is just a kid, one who names his Yellow Ducky showering toy the same name as him. Anyway, just pretend you don't know anything. He might be upset if you expose him.
- Child Prodigy: Stephen might be a kid, but he's still smart enough to be recognized by Nous and join the Genius Society.
- The Ghost: The only one among the creators of the Simulated Universe who's not seen in the game yet, only alluded to by Herta. In the "Gold and Gears" update for Simulated Universe, his avatar shows up; sometimes he's wearing a mustache and sometimes he forgets it.
- Shrinking Violet: When he finally makes an appearance in the "Gold and Gears" update, he's shown to be incredibly shy, hiding behind Herta when meeting the Trailblazer for the first time. He also abstains from decision-making when Herta suggests introducing a fifth member to the group, and couldn't do speeches when asked.Herta: You're a genius, Stephen Lloyd. I can't believe you can't do public speaking!
