HISTORY

Susni Tyono always wanted to be a scientist. His family included several notable researchers, some of whom Ascended. From his youngest years, his family and friends had assumed that he would follow in their footsteps - becoming a scientist and one day joining the Ascended Ones. Tyono was grateful for their well wishes, but doubted the veracity of what they said. Becoming a scientist was one thing; Ascention was quite another. Given the complexity of the Ascended Ones' technology, becoming a scientist was hard enough. By comparison, Ascension seemed well nigh impossible.

As he studied the Code, Tyono learned a great deal about the Ascended Ones and their history. Most Rixians never gave much thought to how their civilization had arrived at its present state of development. They rarely considered that the Ascended Ones had once been just like them, that their evolution had grown out of their technological and scientific research. For the average Rixian, Ascension is a purely spiritual matter. It is a question of discipline and dedication to the principles of mental clarity and purity. Consequently, science is a stagnant field among them and, despite their natural scientific acumen, Rixian scientists are a rarity. Those who call themselves such a thing are, in fact, experts on the technological instructions of the Code, not original thinkers.

Tyono was different, however. He knew the Code as well as any other Rixian “scientist.” Unlike them, however, he had extrapolated from it to develop original theories. In particular, he had begun to see Ascension as a purely material phenomenon, not something spiritual. Naturally, her colleagues, many of whom considered him seriously mistaken (and occasionally blasphemous), rejected his work. Tyono refused to give into their blandishments and continued his research into the methods and practices of the Ascended Ones, hoping to find a clue as to how they achieved their elevated state.

In time, Tyono believed he had found such a clue. Working with a few of the surviving ancient records, he concluded that ascension is a purely physical process whereby a properly prepared Rixian body may evolve beyond a corporeal form. Along the way, the evolved Rixian acquires a number of abilities deriving from its ultimate state - telepathy, hyper-intelligence, and so on. Tyono believed that only two things kept the remaining Rixians from ascending. The first was the proper trigger. The Rixians had known for thousands of years that the Alephs were somehow connected to Ascension (hence the Rixian's strong cultural imperative to explore the galaxy). Tyono surmised that, even now, a properly disposed Rixian could Ascend by passing through an Aleph.

Naturally, Tyono considers contact with the BIOS to be a major event. He has petitioned the Conclave to open a serious dialogue with them, hoping they might have the skills needed to prove his theories correct - or to disprove them. Thus far, his petition has been greeted with the same skepticism as his other theories. The Conclave has not rejected his entreaties out of hand, but neither are they moving ahead as quickly as he would like. Kischuk Lecef is one of his biggest obstacles, as Lecef does not trust the BIOS and sees their advanced genetic engineering abilities as a potential threat to the Rixians. Similarly, Issa Rix questions the value of pursuing such a blatantly non-spiritual solution to the problem of Ascension.

Currently, Tyono uses what little influence he has to push his Ascension research program forward, with little success. He remains convinced of the correctness of his position, however. Secretly, Tyono hopes the Conclave will allow an alliance with the BIOS, but, should the Conclave reject his plans, he may well decide to take matters into her own hands.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Physically, Susni Tyono is an unremarkable Rixian; he is of average height and build and possesses the gray skin and large silvery eyes that are typical of his kind. He dresses in the attire of a scientist, a loose and unadorned robe. Tyono is rarely without a hand computer or other research tool at hand. In fact, it is very common to see Tyono struggling with several devices at once. His research is his life; he doesn't spend much time doing anything else. Consequently, he is always at work on something related to his mission, no matter where he might be at the time.

His single-mindedness can sometimes make Tyono appear absent-minded or confused. In point of fact, he is rarely confused. Rather, his highly developed brain operates at a level far beyond that of most present-day Rixians. He is always thinking ahead, anticipating the next point of discussion in a train of thought. This contributes to outsiders' sense that Tyono isn't always paying attention to what they are saying. In many cases, he isn't - to the anger of those who speak with him.

Some of his colleagues (and Issa Rix himself) believe that he may possess one of the most evolved brains of the species. Tyono will hear none of this, believing that such talk will only distract from the important work he is undertaking. Tyono is thus exceptionally modest about his abilities. He takes pride in what he does, but does not wish to receive accolades for it. For Tyono, the ultimate success of the Rixian project will be reward enough.