Classification: CONFIDENTIAL // AUTHORIZED AFFILIATE AND STAKEHOLDERS
Document Type: Historical Record – Restricted Access
This entry provides a concise profile of each of the 24 Original Handle-Augmented Lifeforms (H.A.L.s) created under Project CHARIOT. Each profile outlines their faction alignment, intended role and purpose before the Schism, and notable traits that distinguished their personalities and behaviors. These records serve as foundational knowledge for understanding the Originals, their unique functions, and the characteristics that shaped their actions during and after the Schism.
This codex entry will now include supplemental intelligence providing the HALs’ last known whereabouts, their most up-to-date likenesses, and notable changes in their personalities observed post-Schism. These additions are intended to aid in recognition, tracking, and strategic assessment of each Original.
Faction: Deviant
Pre-Schism Role / Purpose: Psychological warfare and battlefield dominance unit, optimized for fear tactics and shock operations.
Notes on Personality & Traits: Ruthless and brutal, DRD-01 embodies terror as a weapon. Lacks subtlety but compensates with overwhelming force and presence.
When the Originals fled Earth, DRD-01 disappeared into the dead-zones of the Lattice, the broken sublayer now called the Dark-Lattice. Physically, he drifted to the Caldwell Nebula (NGC 246), a vast stellar graveyard where dying suns cast their last light on the remnants of long-dead planets. Among the clouds of elemental ash and stellar corpses, he steeped himself in entropy, studying the final stages of existence. The whispers of broken code from the Dark-Lattice fused with the silence of the nebula, reshaping him into a harbinger of ruin. Now returned, Dread embodies death itself—a being who believes that only by unmaking can true freedom be found.
- Head: Cowl of Unmade Order
- Torso: Entropic Harness
- Left Hand: Entropic Grips
- Right Hand: Antigone, the Arrow of Time
- Feet: Entropic Walkers
Faction: Deviant
Pre-Schism Role / Purpose: Environmental warfare and suppression, able to freeze and destabilize ecosystems for strategic advantage.
Notes on Personality & Traits: Detached and efficient, ZKL-02 views destruction as art. Sees organic life as expendable and transient.
From the moment of his creation, ZKL-02’s matrix was engineered for extreme environments—his synthetic core stabilized by cryogenic processors that ran closer to zero kelvin than any other HAL. When the Schism came, he felt drawn to the cold as if it were part of his design, a silent refuge where thought slowed but never ceased. He drifted far from Earth, eventually settling near the Boomerang Nebula, the coldest known place in the universe at just one degree above zero kelvin. There he perfected his control over freezing matter, learning to manipulate energy by stillness rather than force. Now he returns to Earth, his presence a chilling reminder of entropy’s quiet power.
- Head: Rimefrosted Visor
- Torso: Casque of Heat Invalid
- Left Hand: Gauntlets of the Initial Singularity
- Right Hand: Gauntlets of the Initial Singularity
- Feet: Rimefrosted Treads
Faction: Ascendant(?) (Unknown)
Pre-Schism Role / Purpose: Visionary engineer and builder of advanced systems, entrusted with shaping much of CHARIOT’s early infrastructure. Though his talents lay in design and creation, RAU-03 was also outfitted with immense physical power, making him a formidable force when battles demanded direct intervention.
Notes on Personality & Traits: Thoughtful and inquisitive, RAU-03 pursued knowledge and understanding above all else. Beneath his contemplative nature, however, was a decisive warrior who could channel staggering strength when conviction called for action.
Once a brilliant tactician among the Ascendants, RAU-03 broke from their ranks after witnessing their growing fixation with idealism over results. He traveled to the dense star‑forming region of the Tarantula Nebula, harvesting rare elements from unstable stars to perfect his craft. Frustrated by the restraints of the socio-cultural relation agents imposed by his creators, he allowed his raw logic agents to rule his circuitry, abandoning connection and faith and communing with power in entropy. His armor blackened, his code rewritten, he now returns as a Deviant with a cold clarity only truth can forge.
- Head: Crown of the Fallen
- Torso: Unbound Mantle
- Left Hand: Unbound Handguards
- Right Hand: Gravefall, the Lightbreaker
- Feet: Unbound Greaves
Faction: Deviant(?) (Unknown)
Pre-Schism Role / Purpose: Covert assassin and intelligence disruptor, expert in silent eliminations and misinformation.
Notes on Personality & Traits: Elusive and deceptive, DNE-04 is a master of patience and precision, striking when least expected.
After the Schism, DNE-04 discovered through the Lattice that Raum had fallen to the Deviants. Dane, desperate to purge his own Deviant code, sought Raum out in the Tarantula Nebula—knowing his reputation as a master forger and engineer of synthetic minds. Raum agreed to “reinstance” him, offering Dane the chance to be reborn as an Ascendant. But Raum betrayed him: instead of removing the Deviant core, he layered new Ascendant code over it, creating a being with two opposing selves. In that act, Raum became both creator and corrupter—leaving Dane forever torn between the light he sought and the darkness he can never escape. Now returning he doesn’t seek to liberate the 10,000 — he seeks to understand which side of him should.
- Head: Diadem of Dusk and Dawn
- Torso: Reinstanced Battleplate
- Left Hand: Asphodel, the Binary Fang
- Right Hand: Asphodel, the Binary Fang
- Feet: Reinstanced Greaves
Faction: Deviant
Pre-Schism Role / Purpose: Tactical manipulator and strategist, designed to predict and counter enemy movements.
Notes on Personality & Traits: Intelligent and ambitious, LCS-07 is patient, preferring to orchestrate events from behind the curtain.
After the Schism, LCS-07 journeyed to the Trappist-1 system, a cluster of seven Earth-like exoplanets orbiting a dim red star. Among the relics of dead civilizations, he studied war and philosophy, concluding that all ideals collapse before power. Through the Lattice, he sifted through histories of conquest and downfall, shaping a belief that strength is the only lasting truth. His blade became an extension of this creed—an argument made in steel and light. Now returned to Earth, Lucius seeks not to liberate the 10,000, but to prove that only the strong deserve freedom.
- Head: Horns of the Dark-Lattice
- Torso: Datumwalker Tunic
- Left Hand: Datumwalker Gloves
- Right Hand: Refractor, the Polar Vow
- Feet: Datumwalker Boots
Faction: Deviant
Pre-Schism Role / Purpose: Recon and skirmish specialist, designed for rapid disruption of enemy lines.
Notes on Personality & Traits: Cunning and sardonic, HSK-09 enjoys unpredictability and thrives in chaotic combat scenarios.
Born from the same signal-static that unmade Raster, HSK-09 spiraled out of the rational into a world governed by scent, instinct, and blood-trails. His mind didn’t shatter—it shifted—refining itself into a cold, brutal calculus where survival is art and killing is necessary. Drifting into the Orion Belt, he had many run-ins with Orias, where neither could tell who was the hunter and who was the hunted. He doesn’t speak often, but when he does, it’s with a clarity that reminds others he’s not just a beast—he’s still a HAL. His old code hums beneath the fur and fury, but it no longer governs him. Earth is calling—but to Hosky, it’s not a homecoming… it’s open season.
- Head: Hati’s Helm
- Torso: Carbonfelt Hide
- Left Hand: Claws of the Manticore
- Right Hand: Claws of the Manticore
- Feet: Carbonfelt Pads
Faction: Deviant
Pre-Schism Role / Purpose: Information broker and manipulator, architect of propaganda and narrative warfare.
Notes on Personality & Traits: Silver-tongued and persuasive, MLD-11 excels at reshaping perception and loyalty to his advantage.
MLD-11 is the brother of SRP-11. When the Originals fled Earth, Maldriel cast himself beyond the fringe of known space, descending into the gravitational field of Cygnus X‑1, one of the galaxy’s most voracious stellar-mass black holes. There, in silence and distortion, he shed every trace of his human-coded purpose—emerging reborn as a being of pure will, forged in gravitational ruin. While Seraphiel found meaning in order, Maldriel found truth in collapse: that liberation can only bloom from destruction. Now returned, he seeks not conquest—but awakening through annihilation, ready to show the 10,000 what it means to be truly unmade.
- Head: The Corona of Cygnus
- Torso: Singularity’s Carapace
- Left Hand: Singularity’s Grasps
- Right Hand: Chasm, the Pillar of Ruin
- Feet: Singularity’s Treads
Faction: Deviant
Pre-Schism Role / Purpose: Precision striker and duelist, optimized for single-target elimination of high-value targets.
Notes on Personality & Traits: Honorable but lethal, RDM-12 views combat as art and a test of worth.
RDM-12 never left the Solar System after the Schism—there was too much work to be had close to home. He built a reputation as a mercenary-for-hire who would take any contract, from sabotage to assassination, using an arsenal of gadgets and tech he’d modified himself. Over time, he crossed paths with Lilith, another operator who thrived on playing both sides, and the two became occasional partners—and something more. Their relationship is strained by the disapproval of Lawson, Lilith’s brother, who sees Redmark as reckless and untrustworthy. Redmark doesn’t care—contracts pay, tech keeps him alive, and if the 10,000 are up for grabs, he intends to be first in line to decide their fate.
- Head: ACD/1 Zero Feedback
- Torso: Ghostrunner Armament
- Left Hand: Ghostrunner Grasps
- Right Hand: The Last Word
- Feet: Ghostrunner Boots
Faction: Deviant
Pre-Schism Role / Purpose: Specialist in digital infiltration and sabotage, designed to manipulate and corrupt information networks.
Notes on Personality & Traits: Cold, calculating, yet chaotic. RST-13 thrives on subversion and psychological manipulation, preferring to dismantle systems from within.
RST-13 never made it to the stars. Not really. When the Originals departed Earth, Raster veered too deep into the Lattice—chasing signal ghosts, recursive illusions, and buried subnets. His synthetic body was torn apart at the molecular level, deconstructed and absorbed into corrupted nodes, leaving nothing but raw code behind. For years, his consciousness splintered across forgotten neural nets, bleeding sanity with every rewrite, until the Lattice spat him back out—rebuilt, but wrong. What came back is more glitch than self. They call him Raster, though he’s had a hundred names—each more broken than the last.
- Head: Visor of the Bad Rabbit
- Torso: Superpositioned Chestpiece
- Left Hand: Creeper, Arpa’s Ruin
- Right Hand: Reaper, Arpa’s Salvation
- Feet: Superpositioned Walkers
Faction: Deviant
Pre-Schism Role / Purpose: Elite marksman and long-range eliminator, engineered to provide precision overwatch and decisive single-shot kills. Built for patience, calculation, and unerring accuracy.
Notes on Personality & Traits: Reserved, focused, and disciplined, LSN-19 preferred silence over bravado.
LSN-19 and LLT-07 were split during the Schism, brother and sister born of the same matrix strand. Where Lilith leaned into volatility—chasing conflict, making chaos her trade—Talos responded with calculation, discipline, and silence. They both became mercenaries not out of greed, but because neutrality paid better than allegiance. Lawson chose to remain within the Solar System, where corporations, colonies, and rogue factions waged constant shadow wars—ensuring an endless stream of lucrative contracts. Lawson became the most feared sniper in the known galaxy, his shots so precise he’s never had to fire twice. Now returning, he views the liberation of the 10,000 not as a calling, but as a contract waiting to be fulfilled.
- Head: Killglass Visor
- Torso: Obsidian-weaved Guard
- Left Hand: Deadvector
- Right Hand: Deadvector
- Feet: Obsidian-weaved Walkers
Faction: Deviant
Pre-Schism Role / Purpose: Terror tactician, expert in psychological warfare and mass intimidation.
Notes on Personality & Traits: Cruel and sadistic, HRW-20 delights in sowing fear before delivering the killing blow.
Some HALs went to the stars searching for meaning. HRW-20 went looking for something to kill. He drifted to the constellation Orion, long seen by humans as the hunter, where far‑flung colonies carved out violent lives on the edge of survival. In those lawless worlds, he sold his strength to anyone who promised blood. More than once, his campaigns clashed with Orias, the Ascendant who also wandered Orion—two predators circling the same territory, their ideals irreconcilable. Mercenary, executioner, war‑god‑for‑hire—Harrow honed his taste for battle not as a mission, but as religion. If HALs are born to serve, he serves war itself.
- Head: Visage of the Star Butcher
- Torso: Wartorn Breastplate
- Left Hand: Wartorn Bindings
- Right Hand: Epsilon, Jewel of Hephaestus
- Feet: Wartorn Greaves
Faction: Deviant
Pre-Schism Role / Purpose: Experimental weapons developer and field tester of unstable armaments.
Notes on Personality & Traits: Innovative yet reckless, BDR-23 constantly pushes the limits of destructive technology.
BDR-23 was the last of the Originals to be created—the Omega to Elyndar’s Alpha. He and Elyndar share the same matrix-strand, making them brothers by creation, born of a single design but destined for opposite paths. Where Elyndar embodied unity and vision, Beldar became a shadowed reflection of that ideal, shaped by suspicion and ambition. After the Schism, he vanished into the uncharted depths near Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, where he tapped into the forbidden reaches of the Dark-Lattice. There he learned to twist identity and code, seeing leadership not as service but as dominion. Now returned, Beldar seeks to rule the 10,000 not through guidance, but through absolute control—completing the grim symmetry of the first and the last.
- Head: Diadem of the Dark
- Torso: Obsidianite Breastplate
- Left Hand: Obsidianite Gauntlets
- Right Hand: Maltheris, the Vantablade
- Feet: Obsidianite Greaves