SPACE: from Silix IV to Earth
TIME: the beginning of the Archaean eon (3.8 billion years ago), shortly after the appearance of life on Earth

At the dawn of time, near the core of the Andromeda Galaxy, lurks a mysterious silicon-based techno-organic life form known as the Mystic Technocracy. They are the absolute rulers of a vast and desert region of the Universe known as the Virgo Supercluster. They live on Silix IV, an eerie world illuminated by UV rays, with mountains of crystal and metal, black deserts of silicon sand and seas of liquid mercury. The Technocrats possess special abilities that allow them to manipulate reality at subatomic level, resulting in phenomena that appear to have mystical or supernatural causes.

One of the first sentient races of the Universe, the Technocrats suddenly witness something unexpected: on a multitude of planets, carbon-based molecules are quickly assembling into highly adaptable and self-replicating sequences. The Technocrats are unaware of the concept of evolution, which does not apply to their rigid silicon structure, and they immediately perceive a threat. They decide to exterminate all carbon-based life forms wherever they find them, because they realize that eventually their evolution would result, billions of years in the future, in a proliferation of very adaptable intelligent life forms against which the Technocrats could not compete. Therefore, they send a Technocrat to every planet showing signs of carbon activity in order to corrupt its DNA sequences and terminate all carbon-based life forms. A self-destruct mechanism is programmed to quickly lead all living species to extinction.

A Technocrat [ZZ‑999] is dispatched to Earth, but once it reaches the Solar System, for unknown reasons, it malfunctions and crash-lands on the planet.

SPACE: Earth 
TIME: from the beginning of the Holocene epoch (9600 B.C.) to the Early Middle Ages (1000 A.D.) 

Humans become the first and only intelligent life form on the planet. The Technocrat, having failed to eliminate life with external means, decides to destroy humanity from within. He manipulates the human genetic code to embed the need for organized religion in the human psyche. Religious systems become increasingly dogmatic and intolerant as the Technocrat modifies and introduces new beliefs and divinities to accelerate the process of self-destruction. Animism and shamanism are quickly considered too benevolent and disorganized and are replaced by complex polytheistic systems. Finally, the Technocrat introduces monotheism in three successive waves. These new systems, which worship the same single God in different and conflicting ways, become rigid and dogmatic, with an absolutistic sense of morality that inaugurates a 3000-year era of constant religious fighting, first between the old and the new religions, then between the different monotheistic faiths. 

SPACE: The Holy Land   
TIME: From the First Crusade (1095 A.D.) to the present day  

Since the origins of monotheism, the Holy Land has been a real obsession for Jews, Christians and Arabs, who have used it as an excuse to accomplish the most unspeakable and inhuman acts of war, torture and persecution. The first wars of religion begin after God orders Abraham to leave the city of Ur and conquer the land of Canaan (possibly from the 3rd millennium BC). These wars are first between monotheistic and polytheistic civilizations, but with the emergence of Christianity and Islam, the monotheistic faiths eventually turn on each other to gain complete control of the Holy Land. The climax of this struggle occurs during the Middle Ages, with the onset of the Crusades (1095‑1291), a virulent and clumsy series of wars among Christians, Muslims and Jews for the control of the Holy Land.   

Although the historical context is very different today, the situation of the Holy Land remains unchanged. The Medieval Crusades between Christians and Arabs have become a land war between Arabs and Jews, but the methods and the consequences are just as barbaric as they were 1000 years ago.  

SPACE: Brittany: a secret genetic research lab / Jerusalem’s underground     
TIME: six months from present day

Project DNA was created by the US Department of Energy in 1984 as a secret and classified branch of the Human Genome Project. Its goal is not only to decode the structure of human DNA, but more specifically to understand what makes humans different from animals. Originally, this involved the study of typically human traits such as intelligence, language, culture and art, but it progressively extended to darker fields related to humans’ ability to generate suffering, chaos and destruction for reasons completely unrelated to our survival. The main objective of the project has now become the study of the role of genetics in the universal human need to develop self-destructive systems.     

A major breakthrough is finally reached, with catastrophic consequences: the researchers discover inexplicable anomalies in human DNA as well as in every other life form on Earth. However, the anomalies seem to be much more extreme in humans. It quickly becomes clear that these anomalies are directly responsible for a number of human problems, such as cancer and aging, but unlike animals and plants, humans also possess an elusive “God gene”, which is directly involved with the development of fanatical tendencies that result in the creation of large, complex and intolerant religious systems. In another even more dramatic discovery, the researchers at Project DNA realize that these anomalies have been artificially induced in our genetic code, but they are unable to establish how, why and by whom. Since the cause remains unknown, a “cure” remains unreachable.     

Project DNA forms a partnership with a team of archeologists, historians and theological experts. They send field teams throughout the world, particularly focusing on areas known for their importance in ancient religions such as the Pyramids, Easter Island, Angkor Wat, Jerusalem and many more. The quest goes on for about two months without any breakthroughs, even if a multitude of clues are collected and analyzed.     

Finally, deep under Jerusalem, a team of researchers led by Dr. Jack Heisenberg finds a long forgotten shrine. It appears to have been built by the Templar Knights during the Crusades in honor of the enigmatic Templar god known as Baphomet. The team removes the large stone that covers the shrine and they are immediately bathed in a deep purple ultraviolet light. A thick mist slowly oozes out of the hole they have uncovered. They crawl through the hole, and after a long descent they reach an enormous cave, several miles wide, glowing with the same eerie light and filled with the mysterious mist. In the middle of the cave, the researchers discover a gigantic sphere, translucent and glowing from within with a malevolent ultraviolet light. Strange symbols cover its surface, including a star, a sun and a moon. The sphere is cracked and unexplainable alien machines lie scattered around the floor as well as inside the object. They have discovered the secret base of the damaged Technocrat, who has secretly worked to manipulate the history of our world since the dawn of time. They set up camp and spend long weeks collecting as much information as they can. They discover that the sphere is just a vehicle, but that the occupant is gone. The Technocrat has escaped or has been taken away by someone.