Page 175 - Chronicles of Darkness

the right place at the right time and arrange or move them
in the right way to achieve an outcome. The structure that
generates the result is the occult matrix. Using Mortal Infrastructure
An occult matrix exploits a tiny exception in the laws of
physics as humans understand them. The degree of preci- The God-Machine piggybacks on mortal infra-
sion the God-Machine must maintain in order to make use structure when it can. Sure, the God-Machine
of an occult matrix makes rocket science seem forgiving of could create some occult method of delivering
errors. Oftentimes if the God-Machine’s timing or place- orders to its mortal agents, but the postal system
is often just as effective and does not require
ment is slightly off, the occult matrix fails. Although it is additional Infrastructure. This also makes it harder
conceivable that it instead does something the God-Machine for meddling mortals to rip up that communica-
didn’t intend, in almost every case a failed occult matrix does tion system, because by doing so they would be
nothing at all. destroying something upon which they themselves
This is one reason why the God-Machine takes so many depend.
steps to avoid attention. If a coterie of snooping vampires The same goes for most of its mortal pawns. Why
shows up at the critical moment and disrupts the matrix, the summon beings from beyond this world to guard
God-Machine has wasted all the effort it put into carefully delicate Infrastructure when it can be hidden in
arranging matters in the first place. What’s more, it usually a top secret military facility where soldiers shoot
can’t make a second attempt because timing was just as im- intruders on sight? This adds an additional element
portant to the matrix as the placement of materials. of horror to a God-Machine chronicle. These are
A successfully-formed occult matrix generates an Output. ordinary people who are just going about their
Usually this involves bringing an angel into the world. The business. Interrogating them is futile because they
God-Machine can summon powerful (and lesser) entities have no idea that they’re pawns of the God-
from other dimensions, open portals to distant times and Machine, much less what role they play in its
worlds, and do any number of other things even the most current project. Killing these unwitting servants of
powerful supernatural creatures on Earth would regard as the God-Machine has Morality consequences, to
say nothing of the legal repercussions. Besides,
impossible. Perhaps they share a common origin or purpose, it’s amazing how easily the police find damning
or perhaps something else binds them, but the angels appear evidence against those who kill mortals the God-
to be unfailingly loyal to the God-Machine, and this is prob- Machine was using to complete one of its projects.
ably the reason it prefers to use them in its projects. Angel or
otherwise, the God-Machine nearly always uses the Output
of one occult matrix in the Infrastructure of another project.
Every Output makes a more complex Infrastructure possible,
and the more complex the Infrastructure, the more powerful notice. Even if it builds them out in some wilderness where
the Output of its occult matrix. no one ever goes, the necessary movement of people and
For example, the goal of one of the God-Machine’s materials will still leave a trail. Someone might get close
projects is to bring a particular kind of angel into the world. enough to interfere.
That is the project’s intended Output. To accomplish that, This is where concealment Infrastructure comes in. In
six people must be simultaneously and ritually murdered at spite of its patience, the God-Machine cannot erase all traces
the foot of each of six identical obelisks. This combination of its projects. However, it hides one obelisk in the lobby of a
of conditions is the occult matrix required to generate the newly constructed luxury hotel. It instructs a wealthy resident
Output. Obelisks don’t build themselves, however, so the to donate land to the city as a park, creating an excuse to
God-Machine must first create Infrastructure to bring about erect an obelisk there under the pretense of being some kind
those conditions. of war monument. A magical illusion hides the third from
Logistical Infrastructure will factor heavily, as it usually view. The spire of a local church mysteriously collapses, and
does. The God-Machine must acquire the land, collect the the fourth obelisk hides within its replacement. Suddenly,
materials, and construct the obelisks — not to mention instead of six painfully obvious, mysterious obelisks the God-
organize the sacrifices. This will require it to work through Machine has four carefully-hidden obelisks and two obvious
intermediaries. Servants with money or influence bankroll ones that do not suggest the full pattern.
the project or blackmail local governments into doing so. The God-Machine also deploys defense Infrastructure
Pawns haul materials and build the obelisks according to around each of the obelisks, especially the two visible ones.
the God-Machine’s specifications. Cultists kill or die for the A gang of mechanical teenagers prowls the park by night, and
object of their devotion. park security polices it by day. The new assistant pastor of the
The God-Machine prefers to be subtle, however. It doesn’t church is not human. The cult that will perform the sacrifice
want anything disrupting the delicate occult matrix. If it at one obelisk will not allow any outsider near it. Each cult,
simply builds six mysterious stone edifices in a handful of each group of servants, knows only about the obelisk it serves.
small towns, some occult investigator out there will certainly They have no knowledge that the God-Machine has carefully
coordinated the rituals they will perform.
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the face in the mirror Characters