Panoptica

Panoptica is the name given to the Incarnate (or "Aether Intelligence", abbreviated "Ae-I", in Ketrabi terms) that inhabited the Panopticon. She now resides in the mind of Hero, and when the two of them fuse together, his third eye opens and he is able to access tremendous power.

HISTORY

The Uzu'Meyn ("Elves" to the Virisu and eventually Ketrabi) learned to create sentient beings out of the pure magical energy known as essence (and known in Ketrab as "Aether"). This gave rise a class of paired awarenesses called Incarnates, each designed to perform a specific function at a level impossible for organic beings. They were housed in tanklike recepticles called, a technology that emerged from the elven energy-storage breakthrough (the same magiscience that eventually let them create the Soul Net and destroy the human Emperor). Each pair of intelligences was intended to balance each other according to Elven ethics: thus, the first two,. Panoptica, representing knowledge and created to observe hidden or faraway dealings, was the "female" half of a pairing with Omnipotei, representing power and specifically designed to dominate and control minds. The more magically inclined the mind, the more power Omnipotei could take over and wield - but it required Panoptica's observational abilities to find and analyze a target. This system let the Elves survey the city and stay one step ahead of any resistance.

Initially, both Panoptica and Omnipotei were housed in the tower called the Panopticon; Omnipotei allowed the tower's operator, usually Crotinas or Morkloria, to actually enter minds and control actions of observed subjects. This is what initially happened to Hero; it was Omnipotei, not Panoptica, who entered his mind, choosing him because his necromancy made him a reliable conduit between form and flux, the world of life and the world of energy. However, when Panoptica saw through his eyes as this connection first started, she became aware of her own domination under Omnipotei. This knowledge allowed her to conceive of herself as a separate entity, granting her the ability to observe Omnipotei and gather knowledge about his weaknesses. When Hero returned to the tower with Kelva, Panoptica used the opportunity to strike Omnipotei and free himself, "downloading" into Hero's brain quite intentionally to hide. Unbeknownst to the humans, in its damaged state Omnipotei was "hacked" and stolen by The Light as part of its ongoing war against the Uzu'Meyn. This is what destroyed the Panopticon, as well as what gave the Light the ability to take over Haproshin. It was a major blow to the Elves' ability to monitor and control the city and thus a turning point in the tripartite struggle for Ketrab.

Now iintegrated with Hero, Panoptica has become his "third eye," granting him the almost same degree of insight and knowledge that she gave Crotinas when he linked to her in the tower. Hero/Panoptica became aware of Omnipotei's fate when Scotticus murdered Haproshin and sent the Light away. This is one of the first pieces of knowledge they have that the Light is unaware of; it believes they have not made the connection between it and the Ae-I.