This page aims to describe the world the player experiences in Beneath The Order. If you’re interested in what happened until the point the player enters the world, head over to the history page.
The page and all content is work in progress and subject to change at any time! Please note that reading through these details may give some spoilers on the gameplay.
The Aegis
When mankind had to fight against the universe’s raw power, special facilities were built all around the world, constructed to withhold extreme conditions.
“Aegis” was the codename of secret efforts conducted by the US starting in 2035 when the Zeta-1 instability was detected. Between 2035 and 2037, construction for eleven deep underground Aegis shelters was started, with each meant to house up to 5,000 people in a safe and sustainable closed-loop ecosystem.
Realizing that only a tiny fraction of the population could be saved, a distressed construction worker, Carlos Mendoza, turned to the media, sparking public outrage and panic. His revelation ironically caused a massive delay in the completion of the Aegis shelters and similar projects around the world, as secrecy was blown and citizens mobilized across all countries in search for shelter construction sites. This chaos further jeopardized the already limited chances of survival for many.
Eventually, only one Aegis unit could be fully constructed, provisionally equipped and occupied by select individuals: Aegis 9, located in the remains of the Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota. This is where Beneath The Order plays.
Vitae
When the gamma-ray burst struck Earth, it caused unprecedented changes to its geology and biochemistry. The intense radiation caused a series of complex nuclear reactions, synthesizing a new and potent power source from previously dormant mineral deposits.
The new substance was discovered by surviving scientists and engineers as they started expanding the Aegis horizontally. The green glowing crystals were highly radioactive, with their luminescence being a byproduct of their radioactive decay. Initial tests revealed its potential as an energy source, leading to the establishment of improvised mining and refining operations.
With conventional energy sources depleting, all utilities, machinery, and the very infrastructure of the Aegis were converted to run on the harnessed energy of this refined material. It became universally known and accepted by all inhabitants as Vitae.
The extraction and refinement process presented significant challenges, not only because of the radioactivity but also due to the fact that it attracted deadly mutants known as Rots, who lived beneath the Earth’s surface and frequently caused fatal incidents in the mines.
Parties
Subsumed
The limited resources of the Aegis made it impossible to establish adequate occupational health and safety measures for the dangerous Vitae mining and refinement process, which led to growing reluctance among the inhabitants to continue working in the mines.
In order to ensure the continued existence of Aegis, the Eminents resorted to drastic measures: under the guise of an anti-radiation measure, they implanted a Neural Regulator into the workers which stripped them of their fear and resistance and created an obedient workforce required to sustain the mining operations and secure the Aegis’s future.
After subjugating the first generation of Subsumed, the Eminents introduced a ritual where every young person underwent implantation, marking their transition from childhood into the working society.
The Subsumed can be identified by a green glowing, Vitae powered part of the Neural Regulator sticking out of their neck.
Eminents
One cohort of the select people who were able to move into the Aegis shelter comprised leading politicians, renowned business people, distinguished artists, and top scientists and engineers. In addition, the group also included high-ranking military officers, medical professionals, and prominent intellectuals and academics. This comprehensive representation of the most experienced, powerful, influential, and resourceful individuals was deemed essential for rebuilding and maintaining society.
This elite group was entrusted with governing the Aegis, overseeing its operations, and preserving the knowledge and culture necessary for the continued survival and prosperity of their community.
Initially, it was simply known as the “Founders.” As years passed by and the Aegis society stabilized, a clear distinction between the ruling class and the general population became more pronounced. The Founders’ descendants viewed themselves as the rightful stewards of society, tasked with preserving order and guiding the less fortunate inhabitants.
The process peaked when the elite subjugated the lower classes by introducing the Neural Regulator implants, a measure which was justified as necessary for the greater good, maintaining order and ensuring the Aegis’s survival.
To solidify their status and differentiate themselves from the rest of the populace, the ruling class adopted the title “Eminents.” This term reflected their self-perceived elevated status and their crucial role in maintaining balance within the Aegis.
The Unbound
The Unbound emerged from the cracks in the meticulously controlled society of the Aegis, a resistance born out of quiet defiance and sheer willpower. Its members are those who, by chance or rare malfunction, remained unaffected by their Neural Regulator implants, or those who managed to evade implantation altogether. Operating in the shadows of the lower levels, within abandoned tunnels, forgotten storage areas, and collapsed mines, they are a fractured yet determined collective united by one goal: freedom from the Eminents’ control.
The Unbound operate in secrecy, relying on clandestine communication networks, concealed hideouts, and trusted operatives, who infiltrate the daily life of the Subsumed disguised as one of them. They work tirelessly to disrupt the Eminents’ machinery of control, sabotage critical infrastructure, and, most importantly, recruit individuals who still show signs of curiosity, independence, and resistance before their implantation date arrives.
While their numbers are small and their resources scarce, the Unbound’s spirit remains unbroken. They represent a flicker of hope in an otherwise suffocating system, driven not by guarantees of success, but by the simple, unyielding belief that life should not be lived under a yoke of obedience.
Rots
The Rots are a grotesque consequence of the world outside the Aegis – a grim reminder of what humanity has become in the wake of the gamma-ray burst. These mutants, once human, are the product of intense radiation exposure combined with long-term environmental toxicity. Their bodies are twisted and malformed, their minds reduced to primal instincts, driven by hunger, aggression, and an unnatural attraction to Vitae.
While the exact nature of their relationship with Vitae remains a mystery, the glowing green substance seems to draw them with an almost magnetic force. They are often seen swarming towards active mining sites, breaching barricades, and overwhelming Subsumed workers in search of the substance. Some theorize that Vitae sustains them, while others believe it accelerates their mutation even further.
Encounters with Rots are violent, chaotic, and almost always fatal for the unprepared. Their feral intelligence allows them to exploit weaknesses in the Aegis’s defenses, moving with unnerving coordination when attacking en masse. Individual Rots vary in form and ferocity – some are barely recognizable as human, while others retain haunting fragments of their former selves, including partial speech or eerily familiar gestures.
Despite their terrifying presence, the Eminents use the threat of the Rots as a tool – reminding the Subsumed of the horrors that await beyond the safety of the Aegis’s walls. This carefully maintained fear ensures compliance, as the alternative to life underground seems far worse.
In the grand narrative of survival within the Aegis, the Rots represent an ever-present external threat, a force of nature that cares little for the walls of the Aegis or the orders of the Eminents – a brutal mirror reflecting humanity’s fall from grace.
Implantation
The implantation process, known as Subsumation Day, is a universally accepted ritual in the Aegis, seen as both a rite of passage and a health measure to protect against Vitae radiation exposure. Questioning its necessity is unthinkable, and it marks a Vessel’s transition into adulthood and society’s workforce.
Held in a ceremonial square near the housing blocks of the Lower Aegis, the event is overseen by the Priestess and the Mayor of the Lower Aegis. At the ceremony’s center stands the implantation seat, elevated above barrels of refined Vitae. The Priestess delivers prayers, while the Mayor formalizes the proceedings.
The actual implantation is performed by an autonomous drone, embedding the Neural Regulator – a glowing green implant – into the base of the Vessel’s neck. The procedure is swift and precise, leaving the candidate pale, emotionless, and ready to serve as one of the Subsumed.
For the ruling Eminents, Subsumation Day ensures absolute control and compliance, maintaining the Aegis’s fragile balance between survival and submission.