Page 244 - Chronicles of Darkness

superiors begins even earlier. Otherwise, he never realizes the scientific community ignored Joseph’s theories, things
the dangers of the blue light, but by the 1940s he has noticed that live outside of time and space took notice.
other problems with his superiors’ plans. At this point, Dr. Joseph’s appointment at the university was for teaching
Girard decides that the safety and survival of humanity is only, so his research and equation calculating was mostly ac-
more important that either his superiors’ ambitions or the complished after hours in his office. Joseph was on the verge
plans of the God-Machine. of finishing his mathematical calculations for defining time,
and was attempting to correlate the time particle with light
Virtue: Hopeful as both a photon and a wave. During one of his late-night
Vice: Greedy sessions he was certain that he had finally finished his equa-
tion and was double checking the math when he heard a
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 5, Wits 3, booming voice. The act of finishing the equation and putting
Resolve 3 into mathematical language what was only a thought before
Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 3, had opened a small hole in the space between this world and
Stamina 3 the next, in which time is infinite and fleeting. Joseph was
Social Attributes: Presence 3, Manipulation 2, at first terrified of the voice, but after a few moments he was
Composure 2 intrigued. He had made contact with the God-Machine, or
Mental Skills: Academics 4, Crafts 4, rather, it had made contact with him.
Investigation 3, Occult (Arcane Devices) 3, Politics The proposal was simple. Joseph’s understanding of
2, Science (Engineering) 5 true time had made him aware of the things outside of time
Physical Skills: Drive 1, Firearms 1, Larceny 2 and space. His awareness conveyed receptiveness to under-
Social Skills: Empathy 1, Expression (Lecturing) standing the machinations of something much greater than
himself, which was mind breaking. Instead of losing his
2, Persuasion 2, Socialize 1, Subterfuge 4 mind, Joseph was offered the chance to become one with the
Merits: Contacts (Academics, God-Machine God-Machine and work its will on earth and within this time
Cultists) 2, Hardy 2, Language (English, German; particle. Joseph couldn’t really say no. With all that he could
native French) 2, Resources 4, Striking Looks 1 see and understand, he was in danger of losing himself to
Health: 8 the infinite. In that instant of forever, he gave himself over.
Willpower: 5 Now he is nothing more than a singularity of time express-
Integrity: 6 ing both himself and the God-Machine in this time and all
others. While he still looks and acts like a human being, he
Size: 5 is so much more.
Speed: 10 The God-Machine uses Joseph as a point of entry into the
Defense: 3 world, and has his mind working on calculating time points
for Infrastructure for angelic entry into the world.
Initiative: 5 Description: On the surface, Joseph seems like a normal
professor. He wears glasses and button-up shirts over corduroy
JOSEPH MOORE pants. He has short, unkempt black hair and his eyes are a
piercing deep blue which look almost black in the dark. He
often smells of pipe smoke and cinnamon. When he speaks,
The God-Machine’s gateway into our world. it is often very low, and his voice is a rich baritone. Joseph
carries the mind and soul of an unknowable entity, which
Background: Joseph Moore was a theoretical physicist of
no real note. He worked in a state university and theorized causes his speech to be halting and broken. When teaching,
he seems more at ease and his lectures are engaging and full
that black holes and white holes are a single gravitational unit of life. His students never seem to fall asleep in his class, and
that expresses itself through time. His theories assumed that he has the highest pass rate of any physics teacher in the area.
time is not linear, and instead a particle intricately bound to Outside of class, Joseph seems distant and distracted. He can
space that is manipulated by the larger gravitational pull of barely carry a conversation, and wanders off abruptly if not
the astral bodies. He speculated that the time at which the directly engaged.
hole was glimpsed determined if it was a black hole in which Storytelling Hints: Joseph is hard to talk to unless the
matter entered but could never leave, or a white hole in which conversation revolves around time or the physics of time.
matter left but could never enter. Momentary particles were He is a conduit of the God-Machine’s power on Earth, and
either coming or going, but the gravitational entity is always therefore not really there anymore. His body is simply a hu-
expanding and contracting as though it were a living thing. man face for a much larger entity. Joseph’s translations of
Joseph defined such phenomena as both infinite and definite the God-Machine’s concepts are far from coherent. If Joseph
at the same time. His mathematical models for time as a par- is engaged in a conversation about quantum physics or time,
ticle were extraordinarily complicated and are still unfinished. he becomes much more alert and understandable. These are
As such, he never published his work. Though members of
the things he is being used for, and these are the things he
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NPCs