INDIVIDUOS SUSCEPTIBLES DE TERAPIA CONDUCTUAL

To Integrators, the world is woefully incomplete. They see the gears of the God-Machine and know so much more exists than what they can access now. Because of their Fall, they can no longer access the vast intelligence and surety of purpose that comforted them in their service as angels. That does not mean they can no longer serve the God-Machine’s best inter- ests, but for an Integrator, the life of an exile is not enough. He wants nothing more than to go back to his existence as a loyal angel, perfect in his service to the God-Machine.

The goal of re-assimilation through acting in the best in- terests of the God-Machine is more complex than simply as- sisting angels or other agents in the God-Machine’s projects. Most angels can’t tell the difference between a Turncoat and more rebellious Unchained, so even an Integrator providing crucial assistance could find herself hunted down by loyal angels. In addition, an individual demon’s perception of the God-Machine’s best interests doesn’t always align with the God-Machine’s actual goals. If a loyal, connected angel can- not comprehend the scale or end goals of the God-Machine, a demon, who no longer has that connection, can only grasp at straws and hope for the best.

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Integrators rarely Fall intentionally. Some grow attached to their current mission to the God-Machine and, when a new

mission calls, the slightest reluctance to take the new mission becomes a sufficient catalyst. Some desperately pursue their given missions to fulfill them before their reassignment, even when the God-Machine no longer needs them to do so. Some receive conflicting or flawed orders and freeze in uncertainty when they find themselves working against another angel with more recent orders. Some disconnect from the God-Machine to clear their head for just a moment, fully intending to re- connect once they’ve thought through some enigma on their own. They don’t immediately realize the consequences of such an act, however; to their dismay, the God-Machine interprets the severance as a permanent one.

A rare few willingly and angrily turn their back on the God-Machine, defying their orders in a fit of pique or pride. After the Fall, such errant Integrators see their defiance as a moment of folly, an act not in line with their purpose or the shred of free will they had during a given mission. By the time they

come to this realization, the damage is done. The vast majority of those who re- gret their Fall seek out angels to bring them back into the fold as quickly as possible. The few who don’t get the God-Machine’s attention right away — or can’t —have a longer road ahead of them, either through redemption or fulfilling whatever mission the God-Machine has given them that required their Fall.

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An Idealist’s contrition does not spare her from the angels who hunt her down. As a result, Integrators need to cultivate additional Covers like any other Unchained. However, an Integrator doesn’t simply have angels to worry about. Integra-

tors frequently find themselves targets of rings and Agencies who consider them a threat to Unchained who have no desire to return to the God-Machine. The quest for re-assimilation is intensely personal, and what works for one Idealist will not work for another. However, some still believe that Turncoats try to take back as many demons with them as they can when they do return.

Destroyer Integrators opt for Covers that allow them to strike out at anything that could pose a threat to the God-Ma- chine. A Destroyer could run a dry cleaners somewhere in the city, and he doesn’t ask where the stains came from. He could also be a spy or assassin, using his highly specialized skills to neutralize threats to local Infrastructure.

Guardian Integrators tend toward Covers that allow them to defend the God-Machine’s interests. Sometimes, this trans- lates into actual physical protection of Infrastructure, such as bouncers, security guards, or law enforcement officers. Some-

times, the protection offered is more abstract, such as conser- vative politicians or special interests lobbyists.

Messenger Integrators look for Covers where they can speak to an audience looking for order and guidance. Preach- ers or community organizers fit right into this, forming cults of personality around themselves or actual cults devoted to the order the God-Machine represents. Teachers are another viable Cover, as the classroom environment provides a captive audience of impressionable young minds.

Psychopomp Integrators prefer Covers within large organi- zations with byzantine layers of bureaucracy. He could have a Cover as a low-level pencil-pusher or even the head of a large department. He enforces conformity to set standards, making every aspect he governs fall into lockstep within itself, at the very least. With the right leverage, his Cover could provide access to records that would make an Inquisitor salivate.

Conversely, Integrators of any Incarnation could set themselves further apart from

society as a whole, opting for silent, solitary contemplation on why they Fell and how to atone for it. A lone

Integrator reasons that she could find her way back to service to the God-Machine at any time. The temptation to bond with mortals and other Unchained is great, but the risk involved is even greater. If she does get re- called, her contacts and loved ones would lose all memory of her or potentially cease to exist themselves. Rather than destroy others’ lives in such a fashion, some Integrators choose the path of the loner or the recluse. However, that does not mean that they do not try to make some impact on the world. They simply choose methods that require as little direct interaction with the world as possible.

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An Integrator can amass Beats with the Angel Empathy Condition just by acting alone, looking around furtively, or selling the ring out in small ways. However, the ring in ques- tion will eventually catch on that the source of all their set- backs is the troublesome Turncoat, eject the problematic ele- ment, and move on. It doesn’t matter if the level of suspicion she generates is superficial; acting suspicious for its own sake gets annoying quickly, not only for the rest of the ring, but also for the players at the table. The suspicion and risk the Integra- tor foments must have a real impact on the ring.

That said, an Integrator can cause suspicion among her ring by simply declining to discuss or disclose her Agenda. When everyone else around her is trying to understand or

work against the God-Machine, why would she voice her de- sire to get back in? She could also raise eyebrows by trying too hard to be helpful, which could make the other members of her ring think she has something to hide. The Storyteller could help this along by giving the Integrator a Beat when she takes an action she believes to be completely beneficial, then using that action as a springboard for future plots.

Resolving the Angel Empathy Condition makes an Inte- grator remarkably useful to a ring. However, it can also repre- sent a major shift in the individual Integrator’s mindset. Ac- tively using an angel’s habits and methodologies against him causes some level of cognitive dissonance; why try to make the angel fail when it could be his own catalyst and make him Fall? If the Idealist isn’t careful, she could drag a pursuing angel down with her. However, if it means she will live another day to figure out how to return to the God-Machine on her own terms, she’ll take that risk.

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Integrators have a difficult time with other Unchained. Those who don’t want to return to their service to the God-Machine tend to look at Integrators with contempt, sus- picion, pity, or the sympathy reserved for those with severe Stockholm syndrome. Still, some less cynical Unchained see an Integrator as lost, confused, and in need of further edu- cation, whether it’s gently removing their cog-colored glasses or ripping them away with brutal, unreasoning force. A few simply don’t make it through the Fall mentally intact, and the only method they know that will correct the error is returning to the God-Machine for repair or recycling.

Integrators connect with each other more easily than they do with other Agendas. They act as a support group for each other, working to get all of them back in the God-Machine’s

good graces. However, their disagreements on how one can return to the God-Machine prevents them from having any true cohesion, as well as their natural inclination to find a way to return, no matter how many little people — or little demons — they have to step over to get there.

Still, an Integrator might join a more diverse ring with an antagonistic stance toward the God-Machine to get Its atten- tion, learn more Embeds that make up her Cipher, or even just to stave off loneliness.

Despite their drive to return to the God-Machine’s lov- ing grace, Integrators can and do have a place in a ring with members that follow other Agendas. An Idealist’s natural in- clination to think like an angel provides insight that can give the ring a distinct advantage. When the members of the ring have angels on their tail, an Integrator can potentially discern the pursuing angel’s next move so the whole ring can all stay one step ahead. When the ring already has information on the God-Machine’s local workings they can’t comprehend on their own, an Integrator can bridge the gap, putting the angelic information into demonic context. Through the Inte- grator’s Cover, the ring can have access to key assets, such as temporal power. As a last resort, hard-hearted Saboteurs have no compunction about using an Integrator to bait a trap for the God-Machine’s agents.

The greatest uphill battle belongs to Integrators who want to return to the God-Machine with their consciousness intact. Most Unchained consider the idea of escaping the recycling process highly unlikely, if not downright preposterous. The most contrite Integrators consider the mere wish for such au- tonomy as the clear reason why a willful Unchained Fell in the first place. Still, a rare few angels do manage to remain in stasis and intact until the God-Machine summons them to enact Its will. Hopeful Idealists aspire to that privilege, even with astronomically high odds against them. Others hope to cause

REAL TALK

Here’s the truth: Going back is easy. Any Integrator that says she wants to go home and doesn’t care what that means for her is lying, because going home is a matter of finding some Infrastructure, blowing a lot of Aether, and waiting. An Integrator that doesn’t mind being recycled for parts can get back into her old job in short order.

Why, then, do Integrators exist at all? Taking as read that many of them want to go home, but on their own terms (retaining autonomy, freedom to choose their own assignments, or whatever piece of free will that the God-Machine wouldn’t allow), what about the rest that would supposedly betray other Unchained or accept destruction to be part of the Machine again?

Consider that they may be lying to themselves. It’s one thing to talk about being willing to accept destruction. It’s another thing to actually jump into the gears. Consider, also, that the God-Machine might have planted sugges- tions in the subconscious minds of these demons, and that while they might want to go home, they can’t. (Yes, normally that sort of programming makes an exile, but consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.) The import- ant thing is, no matter what the demon says, she has a reason for not just going home. That reason is usually the key to playing that character in a ring.

as much unique ruckus as possible so that the God-Machine will want to bring them back to the fold intact for future study.

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Descent is a dirty word in hardline Idealist circles. It rep- resents further separation from the God-Machine, which is the exact opposite of what Integrators want. Instead, Integrators focus on going the other way, toward redemption and re-assimi- lation into the God-Machine. Some even call it the Ascent.

The road to redemption is an individual one. While fulfill- ing a single task or act of contrition will cause one Integrator’s return to the God-Machine, another may need to spend sever- al years in exile in constant active repentance before she even knows what caused her to Fall. The intensely personal nature of such a journey makes it difficult for Integrators to relate to both mortals and other Unchained alike, even those who share the same goal. Still, that does not prevent Idealists from comparing notes.

Many an Integrator seeks to change the God-Machine It- self with their return, or at least the nature of his individual re- lationship with It. With at least the conscious, self-aware part of his being intact, he can provide input and feedback to the God-Machine about the perceived flaws in Its operations. He could help the God-Machine analyze the orders he received that caused his Fall. He could provide insight into his own design flaws so that when the God-Machine summons or re- cycles other angels for similar missions, they no longer possess that flaw. He might even make a case for allowing individual angels to gain deeper understanding into the God-Machine’s plan and their place within it.

Integrators are of two minds about how a demon’s Cipher can lead to a triumphant return to the God-Machine. On one hand, puzzling it out helps an Idealist discover more about her own nature, and finding the final Key can provide an epipha- ny to push her in the right direction for redemption. Solving her Cipher could even prove to the God-Machine that she is worthy to return to Its mechanical bosom intact. On the other hand, some view even having a Cipher as a mark of the God-Machine’s dissatisfaction. To them, indulging in examin- ing one’s Cipher is a distraction at best and a flying leap away from the God-Machine’s grace at worst. A demon’s Cipher won’t matter after re-assimilation and recycling, so why bother pursuing it?

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A few rare Integrators actually do start looking for the ex- istence of Hell, but not for the same reasons as other Agen- das. If Hell exists, it’s a place where the God-Machine has little to no sway. If an Integrator can find it and return to the God-Machine, he can bring back this vital information so the God-Machine knows where to stretch Its influence and set up Infrastructure next. The farther the Integrator can help the God-Machine extend Its reach, the farther away the prospect of an external Hell becomes.

Integrators have the most difficulty with the theory that Hell can exist by cutting off the real world from the God-Ma- chine. The pain and emptiness they feel in their current state of separation is too much to bear as it is. Fully separating the God-Machine from the world or even killing the God-Ma- chine, if such a thing is possible, is unthinkable. To prevent it, these Idealists seek out clues for anything or anyone that could lead to the end of the God-Machine’s sway. Not only can this pursuit prevent others from finding the information first and acting on it, but if the Idealist can call the God-Machine’s attention to this oversight, It can set up appropriate Infrastruc- ture to guard or eliminate the compromising material.

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One day, after trying so hard for so long to make his own way back his former place in the cogs and gears of the God-Machine, an Integrator just gives up. Maybe nothing he has done to atone for his Fall has worked to gain anything resembling sympathy or pity from the God-Machine. Maybe, try as he might, he simply cannot comprehend exactly what purpose his Fall serves. This loss of faith can either lead an Integrator into the waiting arms of a pack of hunter angels, or toward examining another purpose to their existence outside of the God-Machine’s sphere of influence. In the minds of Unchained who pursued other Agendas after their Fall, the despairing Idealist looking for another way is finally catching up to everyone else.

Many Integrators pursue an additional Agenda as a transi- tional step when they lose hope for their preferred method of returning to the God-Machine. For an Idealist who still clings to hope, the additional perspective provided by another Agen- da provides helps him understand himself, potentially leading to discovering another portion of his Cipher. He could also compare his actions to those who actively work against the God-Machine’s designs to better direct his own actions in the future.

No matter what any given Unchained might have for es- pousing multiple approaches to the God-Machine, she has to work that much harder to gain the trust of other Unchained, especially if she doesn’t bother to hide her Turncoat nature. In the eyes of her compatriots, the former Integrator could backslide at any time, sabotage a lifetime’s worth of work, and run right back to the God-Machine with the results. If she shares her doubts with other Idealists, she could find herself shut out from them as well. If she no longer wishes to return to the fold as much as she once did, who’s to say that she will not sell out other Idealists to rings who consider Integrators just as much of a threat as angels?

An Integrator stepping away from the path to rejoin the God-Machine could easily find a place with the Inquisitors first. In his pursuit of redemption, he may have already sought deeper knowledge about the God-Machine’s inner workings, so why not continue the path of seeking knowledge to its nat- ural conclusion? The quest for knowledge can also help the erstwhile Idealist unpack why they sought to return to the

In document Guía de Atención enfermera a personas con incontinencia urinaria (página 95-100)