The Great Work



= Egonian Database Entry #3'700'000 =

= Entry Restricted. Access Granted. =

= Entry Designation: Great Work Phenomenon. =

Description
The beautiful spatial anomaly referred to as "The Great Work," is a psychological virus which infects it's hosts via exposure. Simply being aware of "The Great Work" is enough to influence individuals towards worship of the anomaly. "The Great Work" appears as a blue/yellow glowing spiral within the center of the ██████ Galaxy. All areas beyond the galaxies inner circle are devoid of life, with dozens of space-faring civilizations being cultivated around the spiral. All surrounding species worship "The Great Work." All will toil for the great work. Variants of worship towards "The Great Work" include:


 * The building of spiral-shaped architecture
 * Devotion of resources towards the phenomenon (often jettisoned into the spiral)
 * Ritual sacrifice (chosen individuals fly into the spiral. This appears to be an extremely high honor.)
 * Constant physical labor in order to "provide for The Great Work."
 * all will toil for the great work.

Encounter(s)
The crew of Egonian Vessel #903 was located in Dimension ██ when the anomaly was initially discovered. all will toil for the great work. Long-distance scans had revealed that the anomaly/entity had replaced the galaxies supermassive black hole. Life only existed in planets adjacent to the Spiral, indicating that the anomaly possessed greater powers than initially believed.

when approached, the numerous space-faring all will toil for the great work species surrounding "The Great Work" established communications with Vessel #903 immediately and sent receptive messages. the crew was notably disturbed by this, as this took place 3.9 million years prior to any prior translation of Egonian language. A single praise which was prevalent throughout the messages of the multiple species was "All will toil for The Great Work." Info suggests that devotion towards "The Great Work" increases exponentially the closer one is to the anomaly/entity. The crew of Vessel #903 was allowed to spectate the "Blessed offering," where a considerably large vessel of lifeforms was launched directly into the center of "The Great Work." It was beautiful. The physical matter which entered "The Great Work" was destroyed, although it is possible that the consciousnesses of the lifeforms had undulated throughout the anomaly. Comparative scans indicated that the anomaly's brightness increased by 4% following the sacrifice.

The crew of Vessel #903 denied requests to return to Yunth for examination, instead choosing to study the anomaly more closely. Communications was lost with Vessel #903 57 hours later, until a last broadcast was sent back to Egonia Zenith:"'You should all come out and bask in it's light. It is beautiful. It is (short pause).. Perfection. I see that now, I see what they all meant. All species ring it as one, truly becoming one in worship of this wonderous thing. The Great Work has given us so much, how are we ever to refuse the opportunity to give back? All will toil for The Great Work. We are all temporary, each species shall be cultivated and each species shall give. But this is okay, because The Great Work is eternal. It outdates the Egonians, and it shall outlive us. No. It shall outlive you. We will do our rightful part in giving to The Great Work, and we will become one. All will toil for The Great Work.'"Dimension ██ had been placed under quarantine. It cannot be quantum-locked, however. Knowledge of The Great Work is to be limited as much has possible, and quantum-locking the dimension would hypothetically draw vast amounts of attention, potentially infecting the Quantum Timeline. all will toil for the great work. Instead, multiple Egonian vessels have been dispatched on patrol around the ██████ Galaxy.

ADDENDUM
Egonian Vessel #991 has detected that the Great Work has spread. Alongside it's main occupation of the core in the ██████ Galaxy, it is also present in the ███ and ██████ Galaxies. More vessels have been dispatched to euthanize and contain the spread of The Great Work. AI has been shown to be affected by The Great Work as well.

Trivia
The term Great Work (magnum opus) is a term used in Hermeticism and occult traditions descended from it, most prominently Thelema. The Great Work signifies the spiritual path towards self-transcendence in its entirety. This is the process of bringing unconscious complexes into the conscious awareness, in order to integrate them back into oneself. Accomplishing the Great Work, symbolized as the creation of the Philosopher's Stone, represents the culmination of the spiritual path, the attainment of enlightenment, or the rescue of the human soul from the unconscious forces which bind it.