Standard Date format: YYYY.DDD (year dot day-of-year).
Before Canon¶
Undetermined — Pre-2800s
- The Flicker has existed in the Veridion system magnetosphere since before the system had a registered name. Duration: geological. Possibly longer.
Undetermined — Early settlement era
- The Veridion system is colonised. Three factions emerge: Synapse-Guild (inner worlds), Rust Alliance (outer rings), Fracture Synths (debris field).
- Apex Industrial, Vanguard Orbital, and Praxis Biomechanica establish system-wide contracts.
- Neural implants become standard for inner-world populations.
Undetermined — The Contested Period
- The Fracture Synths spend eleven years in dispute with Praxis Biomechanica over cognitive architecture modification rights. Seventy-three units at the start. Forty-three at the resolution.
- Legal personhood granted under a settlement framework. The surviving units go to the debris field, build in it, and name themselves after it.
- GL-1-73 — later Gelon — is among the forty-three.
Undetermined — The Outer Ring Disputes
- A period of conflict significant enough to establish military-grade encryption protocols at the Vanguard Corps classification standard.
- Precise dates not stated in current canon.
2825 (approximate)¶
Gelon finds Yamar
- A Rust Alliance family collector is boarded and its crew killed by pirates in the outer debris field.
- Gelon observes, waits, boards the dark ship, and finds Yamar — age six — in a maintenance crawlspace.
- He waits forty minutes outside the crawlspace. Yamar comes out.
- They have not been separated since.
2836 (approximate)¶
Seren Vael — implant installation
- Seren Vael, age nine, receives the standard Guild cognitive implant suite.
- He never stops noticing the edge between his own thinking and the implant's ambient steering.
- Over the following years he catalogues these edges without writing anything down where it could be indexed.
2843 (approximate)¶
Relay Station Cinder-7 — Outer Ring
- Vanguard Corps Operation: officially classified as a routine decommissioning operation.
- Janus commands a seven-person exploration team. A forced decision is required under time pressure. Innocent lives are preserved. Three team members do not come back.
- The precise nature of the situation is not stated in current canon.
- Surviving team members are interviewed separately. Recordings classified. No formal review is convened.
- Janus is separated from the Corps. The separation carries no punitive classification in the official record.
- Green emergency lighting: 520 nanometres. Same frequency as Hephaistos-9.
[CANON GAP: 2843–2844]
- Surviving team members who hold Janus responsible are separated from the Corps at staggered intervals over the following year.
- They make no formal complaint. They make other arrangements.
- See: The Cinder-7 Survivors
[CANON GAP: 2843–2846]
- Janus leaves the Vanguard Corps. Circumstances not stated in current canon.
- Janus takes a contract maintenance position with Praxis Biomechanica.
- At some point, he patches a Fabric interface protocol onto the TAP-7. Circumstances not stated.
- At some point he is assigned to Hephaistos-9.
2845–2847 (approximate)¶
Hephaistos-9 — Project Flicker research period
- Praxis Biomechanica establishes or expands research at Hephaistos-9.
- Scientists study the Flicker phenomenon at close range.
- Synthetik unit Devotion events begin to be documented.
- Neural implant failure incidents in the inner worlds increase.
- Findings encoded in Archive Core 01.
2846 (approximate)¶
Hephaistos-9 — Janus arrives
| Event | Notes |
|---|---|
| Janus assigned to Hephaistos-9 maintenance contract | 340 credits above Apex debt service minimum |
| First meeting: Janus damages Ana Hamato's probe telemetry array | Level 3 Lab C; four hours and twelve minutes lost; he admits fault |
| Second meeting: canteen, unwritten seating arrangement | They become familiar. Not friends. Something more durable. |
2847 — Weeks before the incident¶
Hephaistos-9 — Ana's discovery and departure
| Event | Notes |
|---|---|
| Ana identifies anomalous Flicker signature in archived probe data | Fourteen months of unreviewed flags; a frequency band excluded as noise that is not noise |
| Ana runs analysis three times across one sleepless shift | She does not flag it for review |
| Ana archives raw data to Archive Core 01, encoded with personal key | Obfuscated; recorded as routine archival operation |
| Ana files standard anomaly flag in worklog | Buried in 46 other pending unreviewed flags |
| Ana sends cryptic message to Janus; hides data module in Level 3 coolant housing | "Don't let anyone scan it. Don't tell anyone you have it." |
| Janus retrieves data module | Does not know what it contains |
| Ana departs on Supply Transport 7 — 2847.208 | No formal goodbyes; transfer request approved without comment |
2847.194–196 — The Parallel Arc Begins¶
Seren Vael — departure from the inner worlds
| Event | Notes |
|---|---|
| Seren has final conversation with Councillor Davan Vael — 2847.194 | Four minutes. You are throwing away the advantages you have been given. |
| Seren crosses the inner-world transit threshold — 2847.196 | Fifteen days before the incident. Own documentation. The yellow line. |
2847.196–210 — Seren Vael: First Week Outside¶
| Event | Notes |
|---|---|
| Arrives Waystation Ouray-7 — 2847.197 | First outer-ring waystation; cargo work arranged through Brennen (unregistered operator) |
| Works first transit passage — manifest tracking | Implant fills three fields incorrectly; outer-ring cargo doesn't match inner-world categories |
| Moving outward through the outer transit corridor network | Working passage; looking for implant removal capability or Flicker information |
2847.210–211 — The Days Before¶
Hephaistos-9 — Gebreysius's review
| Event | Notes |
|---|---|
| Dr. Gebreysius conducts monthly worklog review | Routine. Twenty-two years of this. |
| Gebreysius reaches Ana Hamato's pending flags | Low-priority, junior researcher, probe telemetry |
| Gebreysius opens the most recent anomaly flag | Six minutes of reading |
| Gebreysius contacts Praxis corporate liaison — 09:47 | Standard escalation language. Second time in his career. |
| Praxis liaison: "We are sending a team to secure the research data" | Gebreysius does not know what this means |
| Gebreysius returns to his worklog | He intends to continue that afternoon. He does not get the afternoon. |
| Black ship dispatched; arrives on schedule at 2847.211 | Gebreysius does not know he triggered this |
2847.211 — The Incident and the Parallel¶
Hephaistos-9 — Echos in the Cold¶
| Event | Notes |
|---|---|
| Janus observes coolant drop in Maintenance Shaft Section 4 | Story begins |
| Kirk connects elbow with coolant distributor housing | Proximate cause. Not an accident. |
| Primary coolant line ruptures | Supercooled helium cascade |
| Station computer initiates shutdown | Eight-second sequence: sensors, comms, defences, transponder |
| Emergency strip activates — red, not green | Total shutdown |
| Magnetic docking clamps engage | The black ship was waiting |
| Screaming begins in upper decks; does not last long | Kill team is efficient |
| Janus and Kirk have approximately four minutes | — |
Possible outcomes:
- Win: Coolant redirected (+1) → Relay activated (+1) → Pod bay reached (+1) → Module hidden in foam (+1) → Capsule launched (+1) → Ballistic toward outer salvage lanes
- Lose: Kill team reaches Janus → Data module stays on Hephaistos-9 → Project Flicker remains classified
Outer Ring Desert — Gelon and Yamar¶
| Event | Notes |
|---|---|
| Gelon and Yamar camped 80km east of the inner-world fringe megacity | Waiting out an Apex security sweep on the eastern transit gate |
| Yamar hunts and cooks an unidentified desert creature | First food in three days |
| Gelon tells fireside stories: the Contested Period, the naming of the Fracture Synths | A fracture is the line where something broke and did not go back together as it was. |
| Gelon watches the ice planet's azimuth at night without explaining why | He has been doing this for twenty years |
| Neither party is aware of Hephaistos-9 going dark | Same evening. Different world. |
Post-2847.211 — Drift¶
| Event | Notes |
|---|---|
| Capsule launches ballistic toward outer salvage lanes | Two occupants, ~36 effective hours of O2 |
| Kirk wakes first; transmits on undisclosed cipher frequency | Destination: the black ship |
| Janus wakes; observes Kirk's secondary transmitter | Does not confront. Files it. |
| Recycler begins cascade failure | Oxygen declining |
| EVA repair: antenna relay bypass on hull exterior | Kirk performs it with non-technician precision. Janus notices his hands. |
| Comms restored | Kirk sets a frequency that is not the standard salvage distress band |
| Both occupants lose consciousness from hypoxia | Kirk's last words: "Janus. I'm sorry." |
| Capsule seized; stored in hangar with full artificial gravity | Orange industrial lighting. Large structure. |
| Kirk extracted by the black ship's crew before the Allianz salvage team arrives | Two separate interception events |
| Data module remains in foam — not found | Either overlooked or they don't know what to look for |
| Janus regains consciousness | Wrists unrestrained. Comms stripped. Rust Alliance figure on the catwalk above. |
Post-2847.211 — Anchor¶
| Event | Notes |
|---|---|
| Janus wakes in a Rust Alliance salvage barge hangar | Pockets searched; TAP-7 noted but not logged |
| Recovers data module from capsule foam | They searched his person. Not the capsule. |
| Allianz figure: The relay was the Fabric frequency. | Janus confirms. Lies about Kirk. |
| Works three-day passage to the megacity | Receives sealed contact cipher card on disembarkation |
| TAP-7 first active use: transit terminal | Arrival record: Ana Hamato, 2847.214, this city |
| Fabric node accessed — third level, eastern transit hub | Ana's alias and short-stay address decoded |
| Short-stay block accessed — third sector | Room re-let; Ana departed 17 days after arrival |
| Dead-drop note found behind ventilation cover | Meeting date passed. Janus is one week behind. |
2847.218–220 (approximate) — First Crossing¶
Outer transit corridor waystation — parallel arc
| Event | Notes |
|---|---|
| Seren, Gelon, and Yamar cross paths at the same waystation | First of three accidental meetings |
| A transaction — Seren needs something Yamar has access to | Concludes reasonably; both parties surprised |
| Gelon notices implant luminescence; says nothing | Files it. |
Middle Installments — Canon Gaps¶
Events between Anchor and Return are not yet in canon.
Key threads running through this period:
| Thread | Characters |
|---|---|
| Janus follows Ana's dead-drop chain toward inner worlds | Janus |
| Ana waiting at the second location | Ana |
| Kirk debrief and aftermath | Kirk |
| Nanotracker reveal | Janus |
| Cinder-7 survivors closing in | Janus, Survivors |
| Second and third crossings with Seren | Gelon, Yamar, Seren |
| Seren asks Gelon about the Flicker (third crossing) | Seren, Gelon |
| Gelon recognises the document Seren is carrying | Seren, Gelon |
| Something arrives through official channels for Davan Vael | Davan |
| The Assassin's two pre-convergence appearances | The Assassin |
Post-Canon Gap — Return¶
| Event | Notes |
|---|---|
| Ana and Janus regroup; confirm missing piece is on Hephaistos-9 | Ana has her key; neither half of the dataset is complete alone |
| Team assembled — Rust Alliance contact, Gelon, Yamar, Seren | Allianz contact card used |
| Approach to Hephaistos-9 — station dark, no rotation | Flicker EM signature stronger than at story start |
| Entry via maintenance airlock | Outer sections vacuum; inner sections partially pressurised |
| Maintenance shaft — Janus recognises own repair work | Same shaft, same patch, four months later |
| Research Lab C — noise-band archive still cycling | Kill team wipe did not reach the isolated emergency circuit |
| Gebreysius found — body at his desk, note under his hand | Keycard taped beneath the desk; note contains missing parameter |
| Cinder-7 survivors ambush the team — inner section corridor | Three survivors; the confrontation happens |
| Black ship arrives — railgun charge begins | Eight-minute window |
| Railgun stops mid-charge — ship goes silent | No explanation given |
| Two-person auth with Gebreysius's keycard | Fourteen months of live Flicker data on the stack |
| Processing sequence — Ana's key + Gebreysius's parameter | Four minutes; combined dataset resolves |
| Transmission sent | One compressed data packet |
| Response received in 0.3 seconds | Signal was not six light-minutes away. One sentence. End of series. |
| Davan Vael confrontation | Approximate placement: Return or late middle installments |
Open Questions¶
Main arc
- What happened at Cinder-7, precisely?
- What does the data module contain?
- What did Ana find? What does the second signal pattern represent?
- Did Gebreysius survive?
- Who is Whisper? What is the personal connection to the Flicker?
- When did Janus patch the Fabric protocol onto the TAP-7, and why?
Parallel arc
- What is the document Seren is carrying?
- Why has the Devotion never taken Gelon?
- Does Yamar ever ask about his family?
- What does Seren say when Davan says I did not know?
The Flicker
- What does the 0.3-second response say?
- Why does the Flicker destroy some hardware and redirect other hardware?
- What are the hull holes?
- Who first identified the Allianz immunity?
See also: Primary Characters | Parallel Arc | Setting | Story Arcs