| 1 The Technocrats are the 'Bad Guys' |
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Despite what Mage players generally tend to think, the Technocracy is not the evil, inhuman, dispassionate goon squad
it is often portrayed as. Sure, from a mage's perspective the Technocracy is bad news, but the way the Technocracy
sees it, it's the mages who started it. They are dangerous, uncontrollable, often criminal and at best just plain weird.
Additionally, the Technocracy is dedicated to helping humanity to achieve self empowerment, to throw off the shackles of
superstition, fear of the unknown and helplessness against the supernatural forces that prey on them or try to control them.
Mages, Vampires and other supernaturals are in the way of that goal with their self-righteous power trips.
That's why the Technocrats fight them.
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| 2 The Technocrats are the 'Good Guys' |
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The above statement is clearly positively biased towards the Technocracy. The way things really look, the Technocracy itself
bacame what controls and rules most sleeper's destinies today. The power of those who kept humanity under their thumbs is largely
broken in this day and age. In the course of their struggle the Technocrats have forgotten what that struggle was meant to achieve.
The betrayal and routing of the Craftmasons in the 17th century can be considered the first step into that direction.
From then on the Hybris affecting all mages when they grow more powerful took hold of the Union as a whole.
Since they saw themselves as the salvation of humanity, they considered themselves the final arbiters of what's good
for the Sleepers. Looking at the big picture, the whole 'Good Guy' - 'Bad Guy' question boils down to one answer. There are neither in Mage. It's all ethical shades of grey. The Technocracy has done - and still does - great things for humanity, but they also cause a lot of problems with their actions. The same goes for all the other mages. Sure, an Euthanatos knows when it's time for someone to die, but tell that to the recipient of that Good Death. The Verbena may be the saviours of nature, but they are not above human sacrifice and the Cult of Extasy may seem peaceful and benign, but if they had their way, reality would dissolve into a drugged haze full of pointless self indulgence. The list goes on. Point is, neither of the factions of the Ascension war can be considered good or bad, except maybe the Nephandi. Still, even the Nephandi are beyond mere evil, embracing demons and commiting evil deeds is just the first step on the path of Descension. |
| 3 The Technocracy is winning the Ascension War |
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Fact is, nobody is winning the Ascension war because nobody can win it. The Technocracy may dominate at the moment
but that can't go on forever. Since they are representing an aspect of the metaphysical trinity (Stasis-Entropy-Dynamism)
they are bound by the greater laws of the Tellurian. In an ideal condition, reality would be in equilibrium
and thus it always tends to that state. The amount of Nephandi corruption and the encroachment of the Wyrm into the world show clearly
how the increase in Stasis also causes an increase in entropic influence on such static structures. The fact that the Technocracy itself
created the most dynamic of all environments known today - the Digital Web - also clearly shows that static concepts may spawn dynamism
if they want it or not. The balance may shift over time, yet no one can be the ultimate winner - not without the Universe ceasing to exist.
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| 4 The Technocracy controls reality |
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They would like to, yes. Actually they don't by a long shot and they never will completely control it (see above).
In fact it isn't mages who control reality at all, it's the consensus of all people which does. The Technocracy merely has
a major influence on that consensus. They themselves couldn't do without it. Even if all the mages in the Union worked together
they couldn't achieve a consensus as powerful as one created by 6 billion Sleepers. The major advantage of the Technocracy is
that they realized this fact and so they began manipulating how everybody views reality. The majority of other mages have failed
to see the significance of this or chose to ignore it.
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| 5 The Technocracy is immune to Paradox |
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Of course they are not immune to Paradox, they just go great lengths to avoid it. By controlling or at least manipulating the
consensus, they managed to pass off their own brand of magick as 'normal' science and technology. The difference between what is
possible today and what wasn't earlier shows that clearly enough. Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade describes how heavily susceptible to
Paradox the creations of the Order of Reason were back in the Renaissance and how even the most enlightened Artificer gunsmith couldn't imagine a thing like an assault rifle. Today every sleeper can operate one without danger of Paradox whatsoever. By adhering to that Paradigm,
the Technocracy manages to keep it's workings coincidential most of the time, their more ambitious creations still bring down Paradox
in large amounts. Despite SciFi movies plasma rifles and Qui La Machinæ are still quite vulgar on earth.
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| 6 The Technocracy controls the world's governments |
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As much as they would love to, they don't. The Union simply lacks the numbers to really control even the major
world powers completely. Sure they have a large influence in the USA, Canada, Western Europe. East Asia and Australia, but that's only 20-30% of the world.
Most of Africa, South America and Asia are beyond the influence of the Union, not to mention the vast reaches of Antarctica. |
| 7 The Technocracy controls the world economy |
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Like with the one above, their numbers are still not enough to really controll all of it. Sure the Syndicate controls a
large share of big business and the world economy, but then there are the Giovanni Vampires, the Glass Walker Werewolves and of course Pentex.
Even all those taken together do not control all of the world's economy, but between the four of them they do control a large
part of it with the Syndicate and Pentex being on the top of the group. What the Union - and within it the Syndicate - does influence
is economic dynamics themselves. The way markets behave and don't ... those things are largely - still not entirely - under
the Technocracy's control.
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| 8 The Technocracy wants to kill, neutralize and destroy all other mages |
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In the past certain factions within the Union had this simplistic view which was called the Pogrom: Deviation has to be eradicated, period. Now most
Conventions, in particular the New World Order, would rather convert other mages than kill them. The Syndicate also considers
the Pogrom as unnecessary waste of resources, after all a mage killed is one mage less, but a mage converted is one less on the other, and one more on your side.
The Void Engineers were never really fighting the other mages, for them the Pogrom is mainly a waste of time when there are much greater things
to be done. When it comes to Nephandi and Marauders, though, all bets are off.
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| 9 The Technocracy wants to 'outlaw creativity' |
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Even though it says so on the back of the "Technocracy Assembled" books, this is far from the truth.
Like someone wrote in a review of those books, if the Technocracy would actually 'outlaw' creativity the Traditions would sidestep them
in no time. Fact is, that creativity is what the Technocracy needs most. Innovation and technological development at sometimes
breakneck speed is the name of the Technocracy's game. That would be impossible without creativity. Not even Iteration-X - the most
'inhuman' of all the Conventions - wants to destroy the creative potential of humans. They merely want to control it and employ it
for their purposes alone.
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| 10 The Technocracy destroys the 'human soul' |
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Another misconception printed on the back covers of the "Technocracy Assembled" books. Nothing could be further from the
truth. Fact is, the Technocracy is all about the human soul. Not in any esoteric or religious sense, but metaphysically speaking
it is. Where the Traditions believe in the Avatar - a shard of godlike power - that awakens in a human to make him a mage, the Technocracy
believes in humanity's self empowerment. In opposition to the view that some higher power imbues the mage with the ability
to shape reality, a Technocrat takes destiny in his or her own hands. So most Traditions believe themselves to be something
more than mere humans, while the Technocracy wants to improve and develop that which is humanity.
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| 11 Technomancers practice something called Technomagick |
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Maybe the Virtual Adepts or the Sons of Ether do, the Technocracy doesn't, period. Although many Mage:The Ascension
publications are written like that was the truth, the Technocracy mages do not just practice magick with a technological focus.
To them, what they're doing is Science (with a capital S). Extremely advanced and sometimes even quite esoteric Science,
but Science none the less. The "Guide to the Technocracy" is the only book which emphasizes that correctly by stating that
90% of the Technocrats don't even know that they're influencing reality. They just apply the advanced knowledge
and training they have received.
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| 12 Pragmatism and rationality rule the Technocracy |
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Sure, that's the Paradigm and it may even be true on the surface, still, the way things really work is quite different.
Technocrats are only humans, and as such they have their personal agendas, their feelings, their own view of right and wrong
and their own concept of Ascension as mages. So the Supervisor of an Amalgam may send her Operatives out into the field
for reasons of her own even though she will hide it behind a smokescreen of protocol interpretation and cited necessity.
The Progenitors are well known for internal backstabbing out of academical pride if nothing else and the so called 'glass ceiling'
seperating the Union's upper ranks from the lower echelons is another manifestation of bias beyond rational consideration.
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| 13 The Technocracy is an 'Equal Opportunity Employer' |
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Like the last point this is a matter of real facts standing against the party-line. Sure, on the paper the Technocracy doesn't
discriminate against women, ethnic minorities or people of different sexual orientation. Ask anybody in the Union and they
will confirm that (and if they didn't share the opinion they wouldn't say so openly). Still, the 'glass ceiling' is firmly in place.
Most of the ruling elite are still around from a time when the meritocratic pragmatism of today wasn't established yet.
Back then it was mostly white males who held the highest ranks, and they didn't step down just because women's rights came around
or people with another ethnic background achieved university degrees too.
It's not only that though. Despite the emphasis on equality, most high ranking Technocrats still tend to favour their own kind, and
as stated above, that means white males ... sad but true.
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| 14 You can leave the Technocracy |
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Contrary to the way the Traditions handle such things, the Technocracy is not an organization that one can just
quit from. Not if you are privy to what really goes on. Sure, the large number of Sleeper Citizens who do not
know what or whom they're really working for may quit the job they have ... everything else would be too suspicious.
Those who belong to the Enlightened - the mages - or those citizens who have been officially integrated into the Union
are in for life. Nothing short of a complete brainwash and memory eradication or even death may allow such a person
to opt out. Once you've taken that final step there's no return, only forward.
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| 15 The Technocracy has one unified agenda |
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Tradition mages may perceive it that way, mainly because they are only subject to a certain part of the Union's
activities. Generally speaking this is truth, yes: there's one Paradigm, one common goal and there's one general
basic protocol. Still, each one of the Conventions has it's own vision of Ascension, sometimes even Methodologies think
differently about what Ascension is and how to achieve it. Even single Technocrats may have their own views
(as long as they don't force the issue and end up in PsychOps reconditioning). So behind that monolithic facade
the Technocracy presents to the rest of the supernatural world, there's a lot of arguing, plotting and counterplotting
going on about each Convention's particular goals. The Void Enginners may be the most obvious example of an agenda
different from the main goal set for all the Conventions, but that's just one example out of five.
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| 16 The Union always consisted of five Conventions |
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Actually there has been quite a lot of change in the composition of this organisation. When the Order of Reason
was established, it consisted of eight Conventions: The Artificers, the Craftmasons, the Cabal of Pure Thought, the Hippocratic Circle,
the Celestial Masters, the High Guild, the Ksirafai and the Void Seekers. They even accepted the Solificati into their ranks
for a short period of time in the 16th century. Later on, the Order was reduced to seven Conventions when the Craftmasons were betrayed
by the Guild and the Solificati disbanded. The restructuring of the Order and the reorganization into the Technocracy under Queen Victoria
shuffled the cards again. The Ksirafai had already vanished into obscurity, the Void Seekers and Celestial Masters became the Void Engineers
, the Guilds reorganized into the Syndicate and the New World Order emerged from the remnants of the Cabal of Pure Tought and maybe even some
of the former Ksirafai and Craftmasons. Around the turn of the century, the five were expanded into seven again when the
Electrodyne Engineers and the Difference Engineers were formed. Their membership was short lived though.
By the second half of the 20th century, the five Conventions we know today remained.
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| 17 Technocratic methods have always been like they are today. |
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Definitely not. Many Traditions may have kept their old ways since the beginning. The magick of the Verbena,
the Order of Hermes or the Dreamspeakers haven't changed much since those Traditions were conceived. The
Technocracy however has modified it's methods a lot during the past six centuries. Back in the days of
the Order of Reason, the paradigm has been a lot more mystically inclined. Ancient gifts, the power of
faith and even hermetic scriptures were part of the Order's set of belief. Sure, reason was the central
pillar of the Order's consensus, yet many methods came into use which modern Technocrats would discredit as
'Mad Science' or even as deviant magick. Where knights of the Cabal of Pure Thought may have invoked the
wrath of God to strike down an opponent, modern Space Marines couldn't care less about something like faith.
They rather rely on plasma rifles and force accelleration to win a fight for them. Back then Science was yet another
more or less mystic and esoteric thing in a world full of such forces. Today, it is the only truth which remains.
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| 18 Of all the Technocrats, the Void Engineers are the 'nicest' |
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True enough, Void Engineers don't primarily seek out tradition mages to destroy or kill them. The may even cooperate
with Sons of Ether out in Space and with Virtual Adepts in the neon world of the Digital Web, still, the sheer
destructiveness of the Void Engineers is not to be underestimated. In a somewhat naive or maybe even arrogant way, the
Void Engineers destroy many sources of power and lifeforce for spirit beings on their path out into the Void. To power
their ships they drain nodes and sanitize them to set up their constructs. The very act of exploration and mapping of the Void
annihilates the wonder and fascination of the unknown. Their space telescopes reduce wondrous umbral realms to mere lifeless
and inhospitable planets. The moon is a perfect example of such devastating activity. In their rampant crusade of exploration
throughout the Universe, the Void Engineers leave a trail of destruction through the mystic umbrascape and beyond the horizon.
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| 19 The Technocracy has less to fear from the Nephandi than the Traditions |
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Despite their highly structured organization and the seemingly ubiquitous surveillance and screening of personnel,
the ranks of the Union are definitely not safe from Nephandi infiltration. Following the metaphysic explanation from above,
stasis will ultimately attract and breed entropy through it's very nature. Where patterns become more and more defined and static
, decay and corruption will seep through the cracks. After all, when there's nothing to break apart or dissolve, what would the forces of entropy
act upon? There isn't a more tempting target for the Nephandi than the Technocracy.
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| 20 The NWO rules the Technocracy |
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Contrary to their own party line, and contrary to the impression one might get looking at the Union from outside, that isn't true.
The NWO does have a lot of control about what the Paradigm is. They are the driving force behind spreading belief in
science and technology among the masses and therefore hold the keys to the Union's major advantage in the Ascension War.
Still, the self-absorbed almost religious zeal of Iteration-X, the ancient tradition of the Progenitors and their use and provision of cloning,
the independent determination of the Void Engineers and finally the bid for a new Paradigm made by the Syndicate all serve to
undermine the amount of control the NWO has. As of now, they're still hold most positions of administrative importance,
they largely control the flow of information within the Union, and they do most of the internal policing.
The Syndicate, however, is close to openly oppose the hegemony of the NWO with their control of all things economic.
An internal struggle for the top position in the Technocracy is bound to happen soon.
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| 21 The Technocracy knows everything |
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Of course they don't. The main reason why they don't know many things they would have the means to find out, is because they just
refuse to believe in it or underestimate it's significance. The Union doesn't know much about Vampires or their internal politics
for example. They just consider them to be largely independent cults of supernatural deviants who actually believe they are hundreds of
years old. Nothing more. The worlds of the Spirits and all other Umbrood remains a secret to them too.
First of all, most Technocrats don't know much about Spirit Magick, and those who do tick the whole issue off by
classifying such beings as alien lifeforms or psychick manifestations. Ultimately there's always the fact that information
is much too volatile and dynamic to be controlled and classified by the Technocracy in it's entirety.
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| 22 The Traditions don't stand a chance against the Technocracy |
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The way they're acting right now they don't, period. The internal struggles, the backstabbing, mutual alienation
and lack of consent among the Tradition mages goes a long way into messing up their chances. But think of it,
Even the Virtual Adepts alone manage to tie up many resources of two Conventions (Iteration-X and the Void Engineers)
and threaten the stranglehold on information the NWO has. So the Traditions sure don't lack the power to topple
the Technocracy's throne, but they sure as hell lack one thing the Technocracy has despite their own internal differences: Unity and a common goal.
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| 23 The Technocracy doesn't exist |
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It's all just in a game. It's all just make-believe, a world-wide organisation just for conspiracy freaks to get high about.
There's no such thing like one world-wide conspiracy. At least that's what they want you and everybody else to think, don't they?
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