[b]Downtown L.A.[/B]

The Reborn Craftmasons had their 'Master Lodge' in an old factory once used to create parts for Movie Sets in Hollywood. Gwen Strong could have afforded a much 'classier', 'swankier' place, but it was her intention that the Awakened would no longer hold themselves aloof from the Sleepers; separated, yes, but only for the necessity of containing Paradox. The official purpose for repossessing the old factory had been to refurbish it and get it running again with new technology and new workers; the current state of tariffs and tax cuts (for now) helped. And indeed, Gwen had further insisted that actual Sleepers should be brought into the surface level of the factory in the daytime/work hours.

This served a threefold purpose. The first was to get Mages working shoulder-to-shoulder with Sleepers in their mundane jobs to foster respect for the latter. The second was to secure the lower levels against infiltration by the enemy Magi; Technocrat and Traditionalist both. The third was to genuinely benefit the Sleeper Workers' lives by providing employment and fair wages; the second half of that is to prove that happy and content workers increased productivity - a lesson the big companies forgot or cast aside. Either way, Gwen Strong was determined not to live in an Ivory Tower, isolated from the world.

When separation [i]was[/i] necessary from the Sleepers due to secret projects and Mage convocations, the basements of the factory were repurposed and extended, retrofitted with stolen Technocratic tools and just blatant usage of Magic. This caused many of her followers to balk at first, but Gwen Strong knew that she had to get her former Technocrats working with former Traditionalists and Orphans/Crafts. She already had a set of founding, unifying principles, she told them. These would be submitted for their ratification in their first Convocation. They'll rival the Decleration of the Ivory Tower and the Traditions' Resolutions of Intent; she assured them. And they would, as she had taken wording from both.

[b]Basement of the Factory[/b]

In the very bottom of the factory was a large chamber, one obviously made through unnatural means, carved out in the shape of a large ampitheatre that shone with its own light, light that was bright enough to see in, but not so bright that it was uncomfortable. There was no adornment except the sign of the Reborn Craftmasons on the cieling; advice from Edwin, Meredith, and Lance. On a podium located close to the centre of the ampitheatre, Gwen would then speak as an invisible projector created a holographic screen behind her, one that showed ornate runes more associated with the Traditions than the Technocracy, her words firm yet smooth. "I submit these principles to this Assembly of willing partners, and ask for their ratification:"

"One, that there exists in this world Six Moral Foundations, which guide all cultures that perceive themselves as 'pursuing goodness'. These Foundations are Fairness, Prevention of  Harm, Purity/Sacredness, In-Group Loyalty, and Purity, and finally, Liberty versus Oppression, real or perceived. These Moral Foundations unify different cultures and religions in pursuit of what is 'Good', and they can do the same for Magi in their pursuit of the 'Optimal Reality'."

"Two, that all ways of pursuing this 'Optimal Reality' that fit all Six Moral Foundations are acceptable, until such time as Awakened and Sleeper alike can choose the shape of Reality through [i]True[/i] Consensus."

"Three, that Humanity will not be meneaced by madmen and beasts, that the world must be a place of [i]Kindness[/i] and [i]Clarity of Thought[/i]," the wording of the original Declaration of the Ivory Tower, only with 'Order' and 'Reason' replaced close to the end. That the governor of [I]Sapientkind[/i], which encompasses Humanity yet is different from Humanity, is Sapientkind itself, and that the Triumph of Humanity within Sapientkind would be [i]coexistence[/i] with the Supernatural world [i]and[/i] the realization of the Collective Will."

"Four, that War is to be declared on all those who harm the Sleepers; whether they be Sorcerers, Nightgaunts, Faerie, Boggies, Wytches, Dyvells, Changelings, Werebeasts, and all divers Creatures of the Night, including those among the Technocracy who, by their breaking of the Six Moral Foundations, are equivalent to the Creatures they hunt."

"Five, that these Resolutions are to be legitimized by three things; the Sanction of this democratic assembly, the Six Moral Foundations and our determination to act according to them, and the belief in Meaning and Indentity, which is not necessarily belief in the Divine." Gwen cleared her throat, then, and steeled herself for the final Resolution.

"And Six, that once the Traditions and Technocracy have been won over to our point of view, or overthrown, as well as any group that holds Humanity and Sapientkind back, the Reborn Craftmasons will work with the Sleepers to form a New Consensus, a True Consensus that will create a Reality that is inclusive to all yet abides by the Six Moral Foundations."

Once it was clear that Gwen had finished, applause resounded from the benches of the Ampitheatre; the next few hours were ones of ratification.

The morning after that, copies of the 'New Declarations of the Reborn Craftmasons' were released through the Virtual Adepts and Technocracy's own sections of the Digital Web. A new faction of the Ascension War had made its move.