Cipher

Ciphers are interlocked Embeds that Demons can utilize. A Cipher always contains up tp for Embeds.

Ciphers are personal. A given demon’s Cipher might include one Embed from each category, four from one category, or any other combination. The only way to discover the Cipher is to learn more Embeds and then try them in combination with the ones the demon already knows. When a demon discovers one of these Embeds (called Keys), she undergoes a transcendental, life-altering moment of awareness. This might be blissful, or it could be so shocking that the demon withdraws from all contact with others for a week. In any case, when a demon uses a new Key, she always knows it.

As demons progress, they learn how Embeds work and uncover more about the mystical subroutines put in place by the God-Machine. Some of these subroutines seem familiar or instinctive. These feelings, halfway between déjà vu and enlightenment, can lead a demon to her Keys. These pathways do not come from the God-Machine, though. The God-Machine is not a teacher attempting to help demons on their way, and neither is it trying to lead demons back into its services (though some demons believe\ exactly that). By investigating her own Keys, a demon is moving further away from the God-Machine on her very own Descent.

The fact that a complete Cipher always involve four Embeds is not lost on the Unchained, and demons often wind up superstitious about geometric and mathematical expressions involving the number. This isn’t always wise — the God-Machine is quite capable of exploiting a demon’s dependence on a pattern or confirmation bias about the number. Realizing this, some demons continue looking for a fifth Key to complete a circuit. Adding a fifth Embed to a Cipher, though, invariably causes it to fail spectacularly and break the demon’s Cover. In some Agencies, demons known to attempt to add a fifth Key are viewed as dangerous instigators.