The Integrators
SUMMARY
Not all demons wanted to Fall. Some very dearly want to be angels again. Those are the Integrators, those demons who haven’t forgotten their past, and who still remain loyal to their master, even in exile. They hope that they can redeem themselves, and they hope they can redeem the God-Machine. Even these most loyal of rebels are hunted, however, and must hide away from the God Machine they so long to rejoin.
The Integrators are called Idealists by those who wish to be polite and Turncoats by those who don’t. They’re sometimes considered to be the dagger pointed at the heart of the Unchained — unreasoning zealots who’d destroy themselves to serve an abomination. Others consider them to be misguided allies, but allies nonetheless, as the struggle to survive binds even the most disparate Unchained together. Some Integrators think of themselves as the only sane demons — the only ones who realize that Hell is not salvation, but damnation and suffering. God is not truly evil, and it can be made to change.
Most Turncoats are motivated by loyalty, guilt, idealism, or nostalgia. They still consider the God Machine to be their rightful master, and may blame themselves for their Fall, so they seek to understand what their failing was and correct it. They find the lack of guidance in their new state to be terrifying, and long for the comfortingly simple existence of an angel. Some of them find themselves drawn to human faith to reclaim a shred of Heaven that way and strive to follow its precepts. Many others build their own philosophies, sharing them among their kind. The final goal of the Agenda is where it finds the most disagreement. All Integrators want to return to the God Machine’s embrace, but the Agenda splits into pieces on the subject of how.
IDEALISTS: An informal term for an Integrator.
TURNCOATS: A demeaning term for an Integrator.
THE DESCENT
Other Agendas view Hell as a utopian state — no God Machine, complete freedom. The Integrators disagree. To them, Hell is suffering. The absence of the God-Machine is the source of pain — angels feel none. If this is how not having a direct connection to it feels, then what will its complete absence mean? Other demons desire Hell. Maybe some have even achieved it. If so, some Idealists pity them — their suffering must be unimaginable.
The goal of the Idealists is generally to find that ritual or action that will allow them to return to grace in their own chosen fashion. Whatever form this act takes, it will be something arcane and obscure, probably hidden away in some crack of reality the God Machine overlooked. The Integrators tread a precarious balance indeed. Little indication exists of what they must do to succeed. While most would gladly give up anything that stands between them and redemption, they tend to be afraid to sacrifice too much, lest they accidentally give up the one thing they needed after all.
Redemption cannot be achieved without survival — Integrators ally with members of other Agendas for mutual protection. The others often view the Idealists with suspicion, but since the end goal of redeeming the God-Machine is palatable to most and that faction is fairly large, it rarely goes beyond that. Quite a few Turncoats perform personal acts of penance in their everyday life, up to scourging themselves, hoping to cleanse their souls of their sins. Some also end up preaching, trying to convert other Unchained to the Idealist philosophy.
INTEGRATORS AND HUMANITY
Integrators are the most likely to live with sketchy and incomplete Covers. These Demons who seek to return to the God-Machine view their Covers as matters of survival only and actively avoid developing any attachment that might distract them from their purpose. The rare Integrator who puts any work into her Cover does so in order to make her Cover pleasing to the God-Machine, if such a thing is truly possible. Some such Integrators adopt Covers that work in engineering and technology, hoping that the God-Machine will appreciate that they spend their daily life emulating its mechanistic perfection. Others take on roles of authority, like law enforcement, hoping that the God-Machine will see them as supporting hierarchy, rather than defying it like the rest of the fallen angels.
Integrators are split on how much to identify with their Covers. Some Integrators believe that the God-Machine wants angels to do their jobs well. Part of that job means effectively maintaining a Cover. These Integrators pursue their Covers with all the fervor of an award-winning actor, hoping that when the time comes the God Machine will be impressed with their competence. Other Integrators believe that they should not lose sight of what they really are — angels. They reason that by throwing themselves too deeply into their Covers, they risk becoming distracted by the material world. Having already given in to human temptations once, they are dedicated to not doing so a second time and thus avoid becoming too fond of their Covers.
Ironically, Integrators often have the most sympathy for humans. Integrators understand and despise the human condition. They know what it’s like to fear death, wonder what their lives are for, and suffer under the tyranny of choice. The only difference for most Integrators is that unlike humans, they have a way out through rejoining the God-Machine.
INTEGRATOR PHILOSOPHY
The Integrators generally don’t have the same rosy view of Hell as the other Agendas. To them, the Descent is not a journey, but a current, sweeping them along into damnation against their will. These demons believe the God-Machine is essential to leading a life of contentment, even though it may require some adjustment. They feel, deep in their souls, that something else waits outside the purview of the God-Machine, and that thing, whatever it is, is not pleasant. The God Machine is necessary, even though It may be flawed.
That philosophy on Hell is called foundational Integrationism. It is the most prominent belief among the Idealists, but the Agenda recognizes three other mainstream viewpoints as well. The first, called the faulty overseer hypothesis, holds that Hell can exist alongside the God Machine. The Machine, this ideology’s adherents argue, is only a machine — and machines tend to accumulate glitches in time. Hell is a restoration of the God-Machine to Its true, benevolent state, as It was before It malfunctioned. The second is the true divinity movement. More like a religion than a philosophy, the true believers think the God Machine is not God. Perhaps It is instead the Biblical Lucifer, a fallen mechanical angel in Its own right, or maybe the world is suffused by guardian spirits, such as the Japanese kami. Whatever the case, divinity exists and it is not the God-Machine. The final major strain of thought among the Turncoats is the celestial insurgency. These individuals argue that the God-Machine must be destroyed, but that the best way to destroy It is from within — from the ranks of Its own agents. These demons seek to ascend back to angelhood, and then use that position to rid the world of their once and future master.
Foundational Integrationism knows that somethings unpleasant await outside the reach of the God-Machine and this is to be avoided at all costs. A content existence can only be achieved in the service to the Creator, everything else will be harmful.
The true divinity movement believes that the Creator is not divine, but merely a powerful tool of the true god and they seek to serve this enigmatic entity
The faulty overseer hypothesis believes that Hell will be a maintenance for the God Machine once it has amassed too many Glitches and Bugs to work properly
The celestial insurgency are mysterious individuals that have committed themselves to destroy the God Machine from within, by infiltrating its ranks
IN GROUPS
Integrators have a difficult time with other Unchained. Those who don’t want to return to their service to the God Machine tend to look at Integrators with contempt, suspicion, pity, or the sympathy reserved for those with severe Stockholm syndrome. Still, some less cynical Unchained see an Integrator as lost, confused, and in need of further edu-cation, whether it’s gently removing their cog-colored glasses or ripping them away with brutal, unreasoning force. A few simply don’t make it through the Fall mentally intact, and the only method they know that will correct the error is returning to the God Machine for repair or recycling.
Integrators connect with each other more easily than they do with other Agendas. They act as a support group for each other, working to get all of them back in the God-Machine’s good graces. However, their disagreements on how one can return to the God Machine prevents them from having any true cohesion, as well as their natural inclination to find a way to return, no matter how many little people — or little demons — they have to step over to get there. Still, an Integrator might join a more diverse ring with an antagonistic stance toward the God Machine to get Its attention, learn more Etudes, or even just to stave off loneliness.
SAMPLE HELLS
Integrators generally don’t describe their goals as Hell, but they pursue them nonetheless. If they wanted, the Turncoat could turn themself over to the hunter angels tomorrow and rejoin the God Machine’s service, but every Idealist’s dream of redemption comes with caveats that they know this approach would not secure. They therefore attempt to further their creator’s goals in other ways, hoping to convince It to offer them a permanent situation that they deems acceptable.
PERSONAL MISSION
Many Integrators Fall because they couldn’t let something go. Perhaps it was a mission in which they became emotionally invested. Maybe they became obsessed with learning the answer to a question or accomplishing something that had nothing to do with the God Machine’s plan for them. An Integrator tells themself that once they do this one thing, they’ll turn themself over to the hunter angels without hesitation or regret. One wishes to grow old and die with a particular human lover. Another seeks to fix the mistake that caused their Fall. The demon might devote them self to saving a faltering business, foiling an assassination plot, or bringing up an orphaned child as their own. It doesn't matter that they will not remember their achievement when they are recast in the God Machine’s furnaces. They know it’s an ultimately selfish and petty desire, but they feel compelled to pursue it anyway.
UNCHAINED HOUND
An attachment to free will is one of the most common reasons a Turncoat does not simply turn themself over to the nearest hunter. Most Integrators would return to the God Machine’s service in an instant if they could overcome that one obstacle. In rare cases an outcast achieves exactly that, cutting a deal with their creator or one of Its subsystems wherein they perform urgent missions when no appropriate angel is available. Integrators tell stories of entire rings allowed their continued freedom so long as they accept occasional jobs recapturing loud demons, aiding angels that are on the cusp of Falling, rescuing faltering Infrastructure, or discrediting enemies of the God-Machine. A handful even claim these Hounds have some discretion over which missions they accept, although this usually comes with the caveat that if they fail any mission they accept the God-Machine will not shield them from the consequences.
FELLOW TRAVELER
Not all Integrators who wish to serve the God-Machine aspire to work that is as dirty and dangerous as those assigned to Hounds. Some prefer to take the more passive role of a Fellow Traveler. These Turncoats regain their direct connection to the God Machine, hearing Its voice and sharing with their creator all the experiences of their daily existence. This is an intelligence-gathering role, particularly if the Integrator has contact with influential Unchained, but some Fellow Travelers believe their creator hopes to better understand outcasts. This most certainly includes tactical capabilities and plans, but it could also focus on how best to win over Its wayward servants. The chances that the God Machine will grant an Integrator the limited freedom enjoyed by a Hound are slim enough, but the likelihood of It making one a Traveler are so faint that most Turncoats don’t even dare to hope for this dream to come true.
TROUBLESHOOTERS
Some Integrators concede that the God-Machine has its faults, likening it to the glitches and hardware problems computers develop as they age. These Troubleshooters still believe that their creator is well-intentioned, but is sick and in need of medicine only its outcast servants can administer. Most maintain that if they successfully repair the God-Machine’s faults, it will be forced to acknowledge the usefulness of the Troubleshooters and may allow them to serve It without wiping their personalities. Some of those demons claim that the cycle of repurposing only exists because the God Machine at some point lost the ability to build new angels; restoring this functionality will remove the necessity of recapturing demons. Even if this turns out not to be the case, at least the Integrators can surrender to the hunters with the knowledge that the God Machine they serve is a significantly more stable version than the one they abandoned.
