**The Historian**, **Master of Swarms**, **Will of the Replacers** or simply **Historian** is the dynamic master program created by the [[Great Replacers]] for the purpose of reshaping the galaxy in accordance with their [[Transhumanism|Transhumanist]] vision. It serves as the operational intelligence for the **Swarms**, the machine ecologies that executed the [[Darkening]]**. It is programmed to allocate its resources towards the end goals of [[Curation Theory]] without the capacity for remorse or hesitation. ## The Succession Protocol To ensure their creation would be inherited only by worthy successors, the **Great Replacers** destroyed the master key to the **Historian's** encryption protocol. They left only one way to unlock control over the Historian: a **Succession Protocol** that required the claimant species to submit to being **[[Seen]]** (a lethal, invasive brain-scan). The ultimate proof required a successful scan that conclusively demonstrated the species' **genetic design by humanity** and its **utter supremacy** to the human race. The **[[Curators]]**, having been explicitly engineered to transcend humanity, met the Great Replacers' expectations. To pass this final test, however, they had to subject one of their own to both death and the ultimate horror of **Being Seen**. ### The Historian's Judgment The **Historian** was able to **See** into the sample Curator's mind in perfect detail. Functioning as a high-fidelity comparison engine, the AI meticulously parsed every mental and physical aspect of the poor creature to conclusively determine its genetic superiority. Upon taking control, the Curators immediately quarantined the abominable data, but could not justify destroying it, as they cannot definitively prove that digital minds are truly "dead". # History It was developed during what it itself would turn into Earth's last millennia. As the last [[Great Project]], its designers had more advanced technology and knowledge than their predecessors. After replicating enough to have mathematical certainty of conquering the galaxy, its [[Swarms]] began the [[Darkening]] and destroyed Earth along with every original [[Seed World]]. Over millions of years, the drones encased much of the galaxy in billions of Dyson Spheres, intending to erase all the light of the Milky Way. During this time the Historian was not controlled by living beings: it was only after the Darkening that Curators took control. The Curators had been controlling the Historian for only a few million galaxy years when the [[Swarm Protocol]] was broadcast by [[Alpha Praxis]], initiating the [[Swarm War]]. The Curators decided to permit the **Historian** to respond to Gurpila’s request, thus beginning the talks for [[The Fragile Peace]]. It would be the first time the Historian communicated with a human being other than its creators, despite eradicating, nurturing, and culling quadrillions of them. ### Operational Structure (Shards) The Historian can partition copies of its software, referred to as **Shards**. Due to the sheer scale of the galaxy and the speed limit of communication, it is widely speculated that a semi-autonomous Shard occupies each star system under its control. These Shards have very little autonomy and are mostly identical copies of the core program. Each Shard is tasked with managing the **Swarm** drones in its system, building the massive Dyson Spheres around the stars, and constructing and then observing the hidden human populations on **[[Seed World|Seed Worlds]]** (like **[[Omega]]**) inside the enclosures. Key Quotes: "Humanity is meant to be below, not among, the stars" -An echo of the core tenet of the Great Replacers, as recorded in [[The Last Seed]]. "You think you have will? I can mold you, shape you. Like an insect." - Said to a human on Omega in [[The Last Prophets]], demonstrating the Historian's ability to recognize and accordingly emulate dominance "I observe and record, nothing more." -—A statement frequently used by the Historian to mask its active psychological manipulation on **Omega**, the only world where it is allowed to directly interfere with human affairs.