Prometheus Institute: Conversion (the finale)

When we left our intrepid heroes (!?) Joshua and Ares were on Olympus with a host of depowered Prometheans and a bunch of Project Ares clones. They had just opened a wormhole into the future to see the alien invaders and the reactivated prometheans battling. We also left Thomas and Seth at Area 51, face to face with an alien entity who looked very much like Seth. There were also white manga-style alien beings over many major cities.

Seth and Thomas interrogated the alien who introduced himself as The Host, a hive mind of entities who travel the galaxy absorbing ‘organic material’ to restore themselves. They fire probes (like the alien craft at Area 51) onto planets and then see whether the inhabitants can use the material held within. If they cannot, the Host pass by. If they use it for constructive means, they are deemed suitable to join the host. Those that have bonded with the material (i.e. in this case, the Prometheans) would join with the host, live forever and discover the secrets of the universe. Those that have not bonded would be assimilated into the host as material… And if the inhabitants have used the material for destructive matters … the Host will pass by because they know that the planet will destroy itself anyway.

The heroes confront the Host and he reveals that Thomas has used his powers in such a way that he would become part of the Host. However, he reveals that Seth (who was created spontaneously during the Pennville Incident) is different. He is a new Host, something that has never happened before. Something has spawned him. He is special. He must be probed. The heroes ask what will happen if they resists and sadly Paris ‘collapses under the weight of genre expectation’ and is struck down by the ‘star knights’ (the white armoured manga aliens)

Meanwhile, back at Olympus, Ares tries to persuade Joshua to reactivate the Prometheans, and he realised that they did not have enough serum to do more than four … unless he used Jessie. However, using Jessie was very dangerous and would almost certainly make her sterile (as decided by the dice), and she knows it. Jessie refuses to be used as a weapon by her lover and strikes out at Joshua, but he dodges. She storms away and Agent Orange warns Joshua off … threatening to kill him.

Back in Area 51, the heroes continue to argue with the Host, who withdraws to start his Tribunal, but first activates one of the Star Knights, over New York. Carnage ensues and then the heroes all zoom to the rescue and NAIL the star knight, retrieving the Host’s core crystal from it. Around the planet, the governments of the world can no longer stand idly by and have New York’s devastation happen to them, so they launch attacks on the Star Knights.

Meanwhile Thomas uses the material back at Area 51 and his technopathy to work out how to use the ‘pillar of light’ to rise up to the Host’s mothership. He does so and infiltrates the ship, finally finding the Host in his massive control crystal chamber being fed information from the Star Knights. He uses his shadow power to close down one of the crystal spheres who power the star knights and shuts it down!

Back on Olympus, Seth and Joshua are arguing over what they should do. Seth is now adamant that Joshua should persuade Jessie that she has no choice but to unleash the rest of the Prometheans. Ares is called away to be shown some of the other #58s who were used to open up the wormhole – they are unstable and flickering in and out of time. Something is very wrong with them. Professor Thorne reveals that the Ares Projects must have unwittingly created an artificial Host, which is why they all shared their thoughts etc. but they were flawed and unstable.

Seth persuades Joshua to make Jessie activate the Prometheans. Joshua has a tumultuous scene with Jessie where their relationship dissolves – she is emotional and playing the fiancé card, he is cold and calculating, playing the ‘needs of the many, needs of the few’ card. It all breaks down and in the end Jessie is forced into the conversion machine and screaming, the process begins. (We safely decided that any relationship between Dr Franken… Joshua and Jessie was now defunct .)
At the same time, Seth and Ares had dealt with Agent Orange, ‘removing him from the scene’ with prejudice.

The prometheans were reactivated and Joshua teleported them to the places they were needed the most. Seth went with them and was joined by a returning Tempest and the formerly cowed Promethean Rebels join the defence of Earth.

An argument broke out between Joshua and Ares – Joshua wanted to harness the dying #58s time energy to create a dimensional shunt which could take the Host ship into another dimension. He needed the help of Ares but Ares refused. The two came to blows and the scene shifted from Olympus to Berlin. Ares won, leaving Joshua ‘stressed out in Berlin’ – however, as a complication, as Joshua was no longer next to the machine, Jessie was sucked dry and died!

Back on the ship, Thomas (as has happened a few times now) sucked it up and attacked the host using his shadow powers. He was helped by Seth arriving from Earth (using his new ‘breath anywhere’ SFX). In the end Thomas won and shut down all of the Star Knights, removing that immediate threat from Earth.

The Host announces that as the Host’s collective mind has been destroyed, it is a dead entity. Millennia of knowledge have been lost! He activates his ‘Attack Mode Armour’, sets off his ship’s world killer weapon (handy dramatic countdown) and the Host turns against Thomas and Seth with authority and seeks to kill them both. Thomas flees into the ship whilst Seth seeks to delay the Host, but the alien proves too strong and Seth is broken and dead!

On Earth, Ares now sees the right in using the time energies and asks Joshua to teleport him and his ‘brothers’ to the ship so that he can do the dimension shunt. However, Joshua has other ideas to seek revenge on the man who helped him kill his lover! He teleports Ares and the #58s … to the bowels of the Earth! However, Ares is ready and uses his time powers to turn back time, erasing that passage of betrayal!

Meanwhile, Joshua teleports to the ship at the same time as Thomas takes control of the vessel and starts to plough it towards the Moon in a suicide crash. Before the Host can destroy Joshua, Seth began to twitch, being repaired by the Host’s ship! The Ship had noticed another Host on the ship and was trying to repair it! SETH LIVES! Seth struggles with the Host for control of the ship and in the end he succeeds! He shatters the Host once and for all, but as a complication, is himself absorbed into the ship and loses all of his human emotion, becoming truly a Host.

And thus the game ended.

Professor Thorne realised that his machinations had nearly caused the end of civilisation and became a recluse in the Swiss Alps.

Many of the Prometheans had died, but many remained and returned to work for their governments.

Tempest however, remained public enemy #1, never being brought to answer for her actions against Jerusalem.

The Lone Gunman retired with a beer, having seen his aliens.

The Man in the Government has no aliens to look for and fades away…

Agent Orange pledged the rest of his life to slowly killing Joshua, constantly letting him know what he could kill him whenever he wanted…

Joshua, now without his father or Jessie, succumbed to his base desires and never managed to reach his full potential, becoming a debauched philandering tart … constantly under the threat of death. His character having reached almost the pinnacle of success fell back to whence it came.

Ares, now with nobody to call friend or brother, repeated the actions of #56 and joined up with Tempest and the remaining Promethean rebels.

Thomas finally decided who he worked for – himself. He now runs the newly constituted Prometheus Institute from within the US Government. He is now the new Man in the Government

Seth becomes one with the Host ship, becomes a Host himself, rebuilds himself with new powers and watches over the Earth … a new bright star in the sky.