Saiba Futurists

Saiba Futurists
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Futurist Operative.jpg}}|150px]]
History
Founded on	Towashi, Kamigawa
Status	Active
Membership
Leader	Emire
Notable members	Arima, Hideji, Kaito Shizuki, Katsumasa Kotori, Tameshi
Races	Humans, Soratami
Associated Colors

The Saiba Futurists are a group of Humans and Soratami working in Otawara on modern-day Kamigawa. Their director is Emire.

History

The driven, highly secretive Futurists are a technocratic elite at the forefront of technological innovation on Kamigawa. They believe strongly in innovation and pushing the boundaries of possibility, claiming impartiality to how the rest of the plane views their research. In theory, the Futurists obey Imperial restrictions on technological development, but in practice, they often dabble on the edges of the law—and in some cases step right over the line. Although many of their inventions have aided the entire plane, they often hoard the best knowledge for themselves to maintain power and status. Whispers say they've pushed the boundaries of technological development further than anyone can guess.

The Futurists are organized into divisions, each headed by a chief. All divisions have researchers and experimentalists, but some are secretive to the point of paranoia and employ agents of espionage known as Veilshapers to ensure Futurist secrets never reached outside ears. Projects are given cryptic code names and are surrounded in magical occlusion veils. The only person with complete insight into the entire organization is the head of the Futurists, whose identity is shrouded in mystery. Most Futurists prefer not to rely on kami magic because they see it as putting themselves at the whim of the kami. They would rather be free to experiment and explore on their terms. Occasionally, they'll consult with kami, but for the most part, they prefer to rely on their ingenuity to figure things out. Nevertheless, some individual Futurists have chosen to experiment with kami magic and the very forces that govern reality.

For much of Kamigawa's history, power was concentrated in the hands of the elite: the Imperials who ran the Plane with Kyodai's blessings, various warlords, and those who could channel the power of the kami. More recently, however, Kamigawa has found itself facing significant disruption to this status quo as innovations have made access to power more widely and cheaply available to all. Key among these innovations were two: enhancers invented by the akki artisans of Sokenzanshi, and the method invented by the Saiba Futurists of drawing power directly from the spirit realm.

The Saiba Futurists were conducting experiments with merges to test the nature of the spirit realm. As an unintended side effect, they discovered a way to draw on magic directly, without needing to form a bond with kami. Though the Sokenzanshi artisans and the Futurists weren't directly working together, these two technologies soon combined to form the basis of the boom in new technology that exploded across the Plane.

The Futurist development of cutting-edge technology was objected to by the more traditional Imperials. After the emperor vanished, the Imperials blamed the Futurists for the attack.

The Futurist prodigy Tameshi had discovered a way to connect tech and kami. It was also rumored that the Futurists were looking into illegal bio-enhancements that could mess with the physics of reality. This proved to be true when the Reality Chip was discovered.

In-game references

Represented in:

• Futurist Operative
• Futurist Sentinel
• Futurist Spellthief
• Saiba Cryptomancer
• Saiba Syphoner
• Saiba Trespassers

Associated cards:

• Kaito, Dancing Shadow
• Kaito Shizuki
• Kotori, Pilot Prodigy
• Tameshi, Reality Architect

Referred to:

• Access Denied
• Automated Artificer
• Essence Capture
• Living Breakthrough
• Mnemonic Sphere
• Organic Extinction
• Research Thief
• Universal Surveillance
• Virus Beetle