Anti-hedrons

Life in the Concordant Zone requires an ident-a-hedron. You need one to cross borders, to ride the rails, and for banking. The anti-hedrons live in the Zone without hedrons, which should be impossible. Most are barely aware that they do.

"They pull out a piece of your soul! They use it to mark you! They use it to track you! Why don't you see how wrong that is!

— Young Anti-hedronite"

The founders of the movement believe that manipulating the soul in any way is a sin. They consider the very creation of the ubiquitous ident-a-hedrons from soul shards as a violation. They avoid it whenever they can and find ways around it when they can't.

Despite their beliefs, it is almost impossible to get into the Zone without having an ident-a-hedron made. Anti-hedrons destroy theirs, reclaiming the bit of their soul in it, as soon as they can. They choose to live off the Orrery. The very few who have avoided ever having a hedron made are called the Untouched.

They have methods for getting around Zone Authority checkpoints: off-road trails, hidden tunnels, and bribed officials. The ZA and the Anti-hedrons constantly play cat and mouse, the ZA closing off holes in security, and the anti-hedrons making new ones.

When all else fails, they have figured out how to make counterfeit ident-a-hedrons.

Soul Scapegoats

Some members of the anti-hedrons, known as soul scapegoats, live in normal society, complete with functioning ident-a-hedrons. They do this, knowingly taking on sin so that other members can use copies of their hedron and remain sin-free.

They take a drug known as soulastemer that allows their souls to stretch. Their ident-a-hedrons are magically copied. Members of the anti-hedron can use the copies to cross borders and pass security as long as they look like the sacrificer. The normal 30-foot range of a hedron from its bearer can extend as far as 10 miles for those using soulastemer.

However, each hedron copy takes a piece of the sacrificer's soul, most can only make 5 or 6 without dying. They charge as much as they can, literally selling their souls to the highest bidders.

Avoiding Corruption

Anti-hedron methods and their ability to avoid the ZA have, of course, come to the attention of the criminal underground. However, the anti-hedrons desire to avoid sin and corruption puts them at odds with the very thought of working with criminals. They spend as much time running and hiding from those who would exploit them as they do hiding from the Authority.

Despite their best efforts, soul scapegoats and supplies of soulastemer frequently go missing.

Edges of Society

The anti-hedron cannot cross borders in the Zone without somehow causing sin, so they do it as little as possible. They limit their lives.

Secret ghettoes of self-sufficient anti-hedrons exist within city wards. Others live in the wilderness between the Inner and Outer Rings of the Kirinal Railway. They leave only to approach the Kirinal Pit to worship on the day of Heaven.

Close to Heaven

"Sin and immorality stain our souls. But we are washed clean every seven days on the day of Heaven.

— Anti-hedron Founder"

These devout people, nice and accurate worshippers of a variety of gods, suffer the indignities of the Zone. But that's the price they're willing to pay.

The gods withdrew from the world in the year 3060. However, on the seventh day of every week, the Kirinal Pit manifests one of the Upper Planes, heaven literally comes to earth. The anti-hedrons make the pilgrimage as often as they can afford to pay a scapegoat to cross the fortress borders.