Iterators
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Code by FallingFeathers
Basic Iterator Info
This bit of information shows how I think of Iterators, a bit of how they function, Saint Spoilers, and The Great Cycle. This section will differ to others view of Rain World, so some things only apply to my perceived version of Rain World. Do NOT take my ideas as canon as they are only my headcannons of the game.
The Great Problem was the issue of not being able to die permanantly, where everything is stuck in a loop of life and death. How the cycle works is that when someone fully dies, the world continues on, and the once dead being wakes up in the next time cycle as if nothing ever happened to their body, except they and every witness to said death has the memories of said death. Iterators are exempt from this, as Ancients built them to only guide others to ascension, hence why Iterators are stuck in boxes locked inside themselves, and have many taboos to prevent self destruction/ascension. The only way to get an iterator to ascend is if the puppet falls into the void sea, or a specific small green creature comes along to ascend them.
Iterators are purposed organism super computers which created by the Ancients to solve The Great Problem/The Main Cycle, but also sometimes were created to store information, or provide entertainment. Each Iterator has a Prime Administrator who would usually speak to them on the regular to track the Iterators progress on The Great Problem. Alongside this, due to Iterators using water to breathe, it's caused the rain to become heavier and heavier, creating destructive rains near iterators structures. Due to the crushing rains, it caused the Ancients to live on top of the Iterators structures to avoid it, causing each iterator to have a city.
Due to time passing, the Ancients grew impatient that no solution was found yet and eventually they all Mass Ascended, leaving Iterators to solve The Great Problem for no reason, other than thats what they were purposed to do, and to chat with each other until communications eventually break down.
Iterators are giant living buildings that have their concious stored in their puppet, while the rest of them, their structure, is a necessary extension of them that helps their thoughts flow freely. Without their structure, Iterators are not able to think properly, and are unable to do anything other than look around, read pearls sometimes, and talk if they have the proper tools to keep their puppet somewhat functioning (Except if an Iterator is ascended).
After the Mass Ascension, an Iterator by the name Sliver of Straw foud the solution, but when investigated, it was found out that Sliver was confirmed dead, so it remains a mystery on if Iterators can ascend, and if Sliver of Straw really found the solution.
Base Iterator information from the official Rain World Wiki.About
Warnings:
Isolation and abuse.
Most Ancients were very reliant on tradition, and were very considerate of where they placed their iterators, but for Group Alpha's local group, this tradition was shattered and lost to time. The Ancients of Group Alpha placed eight iterator sGroup Alphas Iterators quickly fall out of what is considered normal for iterators, even more so being extremely unsafe due to their placement, and how certain structures are made to accomodate for how close the local group is to each other. Group Alpha's local area contains 8 Iterators placed closely together by the Ancients of Group Alpha, and were placed near the edge of an ocean so the iterators had a permanant source of water. How Group Alpha is alive is through the functions of the Pump Station which allows each iterator to breathe regularly, and the Great Basins, which allow a backup in case of Pump Station failing to do it's job as well as functioning as a way to clean slag buildup forcefully. This slag buildup ends up falling into Toxic Marsh, which ended up as a toxic wasteland due to the high concentrations.
The reason that no Iterators have talked about Group Alpha or their unsafe placement is because of the Ancients of Group Alpha, who did everything in their power to isolate Group Alpha from the world. They suceeeded in this to the point that Group Alpha didn't know that other Iterators outside of their local group existed, as they thought they were completely alone. This changed long after the Mass Ascension when Thirteen Elder Stories, Group Alpha's senior, got the Triple Affirmative message. During the message, Storied found out that other Iterators existed, and told his local group. Many of the Iterators of Group Alpha came to the conclusion that many outside Iterators are gone, and that they have to find the solution themselves.
Due to secrets hidden from Group Alpha, a hybrid of everything, in the base form of a Slugcat, knocked down one of their towers, which caused voices to come through in the radio waves.