The Aether System
A fusion of tech mana, skill trees, and mech stats. The Aether System powers every individual in this world. It blends human potential with their Gearu+ machines, leading to a unique combination of abilities and tactical advantages. The system's progression follows a tiered structure, reflecting a user's ability to synchronize with and enhance their Gearu+ through time, training, and experience.
Let's start with the first question... What is a Gearu+
A Gearu+[1] is a machine that is synced to every human through the Aether System. These machines are the backbone of every single human's power. Every human is born with one, and your mastery over it depends on how early you started training.
LEVEL TIERS:
⚙️ Boot Tier (Initiation Phase)
Status: Gearu+ is inactive.
Abilities: None.
Details: Every human begins in the Boot Tier. At birth, Gearu+ is dormant, inactive, and unlinked to its user. There are no abilities at this stage. The human body is still adjusting to the genetic blueprint that will eventually allow synchronization.
Example: No abilities or enhancements.
⚙️ Awakening Tier
Status: Gearu+ begins to awaken.
Abilities: Limited combat functions and basic neural sync.
Details: The Awakening Tier marks the early stages of synchronization. Gearu+ starts to function at a very basic level, providing passive assistance. In this tier, their Gearu+ is more of a dormant assistant than a combat partner. It's the stage where users first experience the very basics of Gearu+'s potential, but it's mostly limited to minor assistive functions like aiding with movement or monitoring health.
Critical Point: This is also the stage where humans choose their initial specifications for their Gearu+, deciding on broad categories like combat role (e.g., melee, ranged), special abilities (e.g., flight, stealth), and primary function (e.g., offensive, defensive, support). Their choices here will shape their progression and potential in later stages.
Example: Basic assistance (like movement help), early-stage neural link, and users may feel a connection forming with their Gearu+.
⚙️ Spark Tier
Status: First true sync with Gearu+.
Abilities: Access to basic systems (movement assist, HUD vision, scanner), initial combat functions.
Details: Now that users have made their initial choices about Gearu+ specifications, the Spark Tier marks their first true synchronization. The Gearu+ becomes fully functional and unlocked with the first layer of combat capabilities—users can now move more freely, see tactical data through a heads-up display, and activate basic combat systems like enhanced strength or speed. At this stage, users unlock the full range of possibilities within their initial specifications, meaning they can start adjusting combat settings and equipment.
Example: Enhanced vision modes (night, thermal), basic weapon usage (small guns, knives), basic mobility enhancements (jump boost, speed assist).
⚙️ Drive Tier
Status: Combat modes unlocked.
Abilities: Drive-based combat modes (e.g., Burst Drive, Phantom Gait). Secondary functions like drone control or weapon shaping.
Details: Users at this stage unlock powerful combat modes and can push their Gearu+ to greater levels. The user's Gearu+ begins to adapt and evolve with them, gaining new combat systems like phase shifting (Phantom Gait), weapon augmentation, or even drone support. The synchronization is becoming more fluid, and users begin to exhibit true combat potential.
Example: Burst Drive, weaponized transformations, and movement enhancements.
⚙️ Core Tier
Status: Full synchronization.
Abilities: Gearu+ begins fusing with the body or worn tech. Aether fields affect reality (magnetism, heat fields, stealth cloaking).
Details: Gearu+ merges with the user's physical form, allowing for extreme enhancements. This tier brings out the first real battlefield capabilities, allowing users to manipulate reality on a small scale—whether that's altering magnetic fields, creating heat or electrical fields, or activating stealth cloaking abilities. It's a sign of a true merger between user and machine.
Example: Ability to generate magnetic or energy fields, cloaking, enhanced senses.
⚙️ Overclock Tier
Status: Pushing beyond normal limits.
Abilities: High-speed combat, adaptive weaponry, but with a low risk of burnout.
Details: Users at this level push their Gearu+ beyond typical parameters, enhancing their combat speed, strength, and tactical abilities. At the same time, they can modify their weapon systems on the fly, adapt to changing battle conditions, and unleash devastating attacks. However, there's a high risk of burnout or system failure if not managed carefully.
Example: Overclocking weapons, extreme speed enhancements, energy drain.
⚙️ Eclipse Tier
Status: Near-sentient Gearu+ abilities unlocked.
Abilities: Territory-level abilities, summoning of large-scale warforms.
Details: Only the elite users reach this stage. At the Eclipse Tier, Gearu+ gains sentient properties, allowing the system to make decisions, adapt to threats, and act autonomously. Users can deploy devastating area-wide attacks or summon massive combat warforms. Gearu+ at this stage transcends just being a tool and becomes a partner with almost independent thought and action.
Example: Summonable mechs, area-of-effect attacks, and autonomous combat decisions.
⚙️ Crown Tier (Legendary - Few Exist)
Status: Complete fusion of user and Gearu+.
Abilities: Gearu+ becomes an extension of the user's mind and will. Override tech, command swarms, rewrite protocols.
Details: Crown Tier users and their Gearu+ act as a single entity. They possess the ability to override any technology in their vicinity, command swarms of machines, and rewrite protocols in the world around them. The fusion between the user and Gearu+ is absolute, allowing them to bend the environment and tech to their will. These individuals are living legends—almost godlike in their influence over the world.
Example: Commanding fleets of machines, rewriting tech commands, and controlling entire battlefields.
Legendary Figures in the Aether System:
Veynon Aleria - The Seventh Sector's guardian
Tier: Crown Tier
Abilities: As a Crown-tier user, Veynon Aleria possessed a unique mastery of both combat and tactics, able to summon colossal mech warforms and manipulate the environment around him. His death at the fall of Sector 7 marked the end of an era but left behind a legendary legacy that would forever shape the future of the Aether system.
Additional Notes on Progression:
Neural Syncing: Each user's Gearu+ is synced with their neural patterns, evolving alongside their mental growth and abilities.
Training and Time: The progression from one tier to the next takes significant effort and time. Those who train intensely and modify their systems early have a better chance of mastering their Gearu+ faster. It's a race to the top—those who fail to train effectively risk falling behind. Each tier has 5 levels, called stars, and with each tier upgrade, the user's strength doubles.
Gearu+ Variations: Different Gearu+ units may have unique functions or specialties based on the user's race, background, and specific talents. They may also have different personalities as well as skills. Some may specialize in combat, others in support, while rare ones may have abilities no one has fully unlocked.
[1] Pronounced *gearuplus*