I really like this one. shout out to all my homies on the irc that helped with feedback
I based this around some various Sumerian texts I've been reading.
There is a lot of subtext here and in the personal log.
Since I had to cut it down, I'll put the fullish story here:
Thousands of years ago, a civilization of hyperadvanced humans thrived on a planet orbiting the star Nibiru. A wrathful god attempted to wipe them out by causing another planet to collide with theirs.
Using their anomalous, advanced technologies, they created fleets of ships made of clay and stone (the temples) in order to transport large amounts of people off their planet and to another dimension. They ultimately failed in doing so, and only a handful of people made it through. They left them with the altars, which would let them come back if they could somehow find a way to save their homeworld.
Sumerian mythology states that there were seven gods and fifty lesser gods. The burden of existence was placed on humans upon their creation, in order to lessen the toll it placed on the gods themselves
Anyway, the lesser gods, The Annunaki, blessed fifty individuals with immortality, because death was considered the ultimate punishment in Sumerian religion. There is no heaven or hell, there is only suffering after death, above and below.
Fast forward to the present, and another ship randomly appears in White Sands. The thing is tied to their gods, their dimension, and shadows of the dead are occassionally seen.
In Sumerian lore, the underworld denies entry to specific people and specific items. Weapons, articles of clothing and such were cast out.
They discover that on a rare occasion, useful items can cross over.
Around this time, Omega-Zero, who are constructs, disembodied consciousness of the once-alive, plagued to exist forever and trapped within the foundation databases, came across this article and attempted to interact with the altar. Due to the anomalous nature of the technology, their consciousness can traverse the dimensions freely. In the afterlife, they possess their physical forms. Still dead, mind you. That's why you never see them return.
The alternate destinations reference the Garden of the Gods, the Underworld and the Homeworld, all connected by a single point.
So, they investigate. Larenz either goes mad or makes a realization that he is one of the fifty. After Fontaine is annihilated, he seeks the same fate, because many of them actually want to die. (Which I felt was a good spin on the MTFs constantly dying trope.)
And of course, there is O5-11 and his hidden agenda, which is his quest for immortality. It's a continuation of the skip where he dies and experiences years of sustained agony. Obviously his intent was to find a way to preserve himself forever.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Ziggurat_of_Ur.JPG
