Proxy

The 8 proxies are the founders of the Psi Orders and the most powerful psions on the planet. While the proxies are gifted with abilities far outside the ability of norms or psions, they are still fundamentally human, with all the flaws and strengths which that implies.

The Proxies
Originally, there were 8 proxies:


 * Alex Cassel, the "Prexy" of Orgotek and Electrokinesis proxy.
 * Dr. Mathieu Zweidler, leader of the Æsculapian Order and the Vitakinesis Proxy.
 * Rebecca Bue Li, Minister for Psionic Affairs and the Telepathy Proxy.
 * Otha Herzog, Old Man of ISRA and the Clairsentience Proxy
 * General Solveig Larssen, general of the Legions and the Telekinesis Proxy.
 * S.K. Bhurano, the late director of the Chitra Bhanu and former Quantakinesis Proxy.
 * Guiseppe Del Fuego, pai de Norça and the Biokinesis Proxy.
 * Bolade Atwan, leader of the Upeo Wa Macho and Teleportation Proxy.

Since their revelation, two of the Proxies have died. Proxy Bhurano was killed during the Chitra Bhanu Purge, and Proxy Bue Li died during the outburst of noetic energy from Process 418. It should be noted that Proxy Bue Li has not allowed death to interfere with her work.

History
The eight Proxies were chosen by their "Benefactors" (The Doyen) as catspaws against the Aberrants. The Doyen, beings of Noetic power, were terrified by the potential demonstrated the Quantum-manipulators and outlined various strategies for dealing with their parent species. One faction won the debate by creating Psions. From the Doyen perspective, Psions are useful tools, and a psion cannot become an Aberrant, effectively converting unpredictable and dangerous H. Sapiens Sapiens into something both useful and predictable.

To that end, the Doyen approached 8 latents with progressive visions of danger to the earth and a slow triggering of their psionic abilities. In late 2102 and early 2103, these increased abilities and visions cause each of the candidates to visit the Moon, where they are met by Doyen representatives who tell them that they are the last hope for mankind. Jumping at the opportunity (each of these candidates is not only talented, but has a strong sense of responsibility), each candidate undergoes psionic surgery which melds Doyen genetic material with their own, turning them into inordinately powerful psions, second in power only to the Doyen themselves. Each candidate, now a Proxy for the Doyen to mankind, returns to earth with new powers and a nascent Prometheus Chamber to begin founding their Psi Orders.

The Proxies never reveal the Doyen publically, although they do refer to their "Benefactors" on a regular basis. While the Proxies are prone to thinking of the Doyen positively, events since then have sown doubt.

Each Order bears the stamp of its Proxy's personality: Cassel, a businessman, turns Orgotek into a corporation, while Larssen builds a paramilitary unit matching her mercenary training. During this time, the Æon Trinity makes contact with the Proxies, helping the Psi Orders while discreetly preparing them for public view.

Public view happened in 2106, when the Legions lead an attack on Aberrants at Sydney Spaceport. From that point on, the Psi Orders became public organizations, expanded in size and dealt with the consequences. The first of which was corruption in their own ranks: in 2109, the Chitra Bhanu order was found to be in league with Aberrants, and the other orders purged the Chibs, and destroyed the order's Prometheus Chamber.

Unknown to the Proxies, the Doyen had played them for fools. More than anything, the Doyen fear Quantum, and the Quantakinetic order had been controlled by the Doyen from the start - Proxy Bhurano was possessed by the Doyen from the founding of the Chitra Bhanu, and her order was shredded by the other Orders due to Doyen manipulation. Establishing that Quantakinesis was a threat, the Doyen telepathically manipulated the Proxies into believing that the Chibs were themselves a threat, and then stood back to watch the slaughter commence.

Since then, the Proxies have been hit with three other personal disasters. Fearing a reprise of the Chib Purge, Proxy Atwan forces all Upeo to flee following the Esperanza disaster in 2114. When the Upeo return in 2122, the order splits. A similar loss in faith hits the Æsculapian order in 2120, following the Huang-Marr Conspiracy and the evidence that despite Zweidler's genius, his lax control of his own order has led to crimes against humanity. Finally, when Process 418 hits, Proxy Bue Li, already sickly, dies due to Noetic backlash.

Powers
The Proxies are the absolute masters of their Aptitudes, with perfect control over every discipline within their Aptitude and able to execute multiple modes simultaneously. It is possible that Proxies are not only the most powerful Psions, but are also more powerful than any other Psion can be - their modification was directly by the Doyen, and may have other unknown strengths (or weaknesses). Proxies radiate power, and often bleed off noetic effects around them.

In addition, Proxies age at a greatly retarded rate, while they still appear to age (as opposed to Aberrants), their expected lifespan is unknown.

One thing that the Proxies do not know about their modifications is that the Aptitude division is an artificial constraint imposed by the Doyen as a safety measure.

Personalities
Unlike the Aberrants (and say, Divis Mal), the Proxies are still very human creatures, with very human concerns, worries, strengths and failings. Two examples of this are Proxies Zweidler and Bue Li.

Above all other things, Zweidler is a research physician, he has little time for anything else, and has practically no management skills to speak of. His opinion of people is fairly open and shut: they are researchers, Pierce Monaghan, Proxies or a waste of his time. As a result, he has a Psi Order without a leader, and his subordinates tend to wander around on their own with only minimal interference from Zweidler. Unless its something he cares about, in which case they get too much interference. This combination of apathy and micromanagement breeds corruption among his order, until several researchers are merging Aberrants and humans in terrifying experiments. Huang-Marr and the division between the Haitian and Montressor Clinics are all reflections of Zweidler's neuroses.

Proxy Bue Li is, among other things, a highly intellectualized Catholic; she may no longer be a formal member of the religion but she is still deeply spiritual. Since physically dying, she has used her telepathic mastery to skip through the bodies of her lieutenants in the Ministry. Possessed of all this power, the Proxy is now worrying deeply about the condition of her soul.