Tens of thousands of light-years from our Earth, a race of sentient mammalian bipeds became the dominant life form on an Earth-like planet named Kobol. These mammalian bipeds were indistinguishable from the humans of Earth right down to the cellular level. Their DNA was even compatible...they were actually human - the result of an astonishing parallel evolution of human beings on both Kobol and Earth.
The humans of Kobol achieved dominion of their world long before the humans of our Earth even developed language. Eventually the people of Kobol developed a civilization with all the amenities of an advanced society (e.g. automobiles, television, advanced medicine, etc.). They even created artificial life forms such as sentient machines. Known as "Cylons", these artificial life forms served as a slave caste. At some point, they rose up and waged war against their masters.
Eventually, the war so devastated Kobol that both humans and Cylons fled the planet. Using a space-folding drive that enables space ships to make instantaneous "jumps" across vast distances in space, the humans went on to colonize twelve separate worlds in a single star system, becoming the "Twelve Colonies of Kobol". Simultaneously the Cylons colonized a planet they named "Earth". On this Earth, a race of biologically-reproductive organic humanoid Cylons became the dominant species and they enslaved mechanical Cylons.
Eventually, history repeated itself and the mechanical Cylons rose up and waged war against the organic cybernetic life forms that were their masters. During this war, a unique type of Cylon that had progressed to the point where it was able to exist as virtual 'software' on a higher plane of existence observed the conflict. Because this entity existed on another plane, it had a non-linear perception of our space-time continuum, allowing it to see future events. A benevolent being, this virtual Cylon Entity created other virtual beings to serve as its messengers. Some of these messengers came to view the Cylon Entity as a "God." However it did not like to be called by that title. The messengers appeared to five humanoid Cylon researchers and warned them of the impending destruction of their planet's population. After a nuclear conflagration that did indeed destroy the planet's population, the only survivors were the five researchers. They survived by re-inventing a technology from Kobol called "organic memory transfer." This technology "resurrects" a Cylon upon their body's destruction by saving their consciousness and then "downloading" into an identical clone body.
These Final Five surviving humanoid Cylons realized that the humans of the Twelve Colonies would continue to create artificial life. So they headed for the Colonies to tell the humans to treat their creations well and keep them close. Because their people hadn't developed jump drives, the Five's ship traveled at relativistic, but subluminal speed. Time slowed down for them, but thousands of years would pass before they finally reached the Colonies. Along the way, they stopped at the Temple of Hopes, a temple that was created by their ancestors where they prayed and got a sign that led them to their "Earth."
The humans on the Twelve Colonies initially lost most elements of civilization from Kobol after they settled on the twelve worlds. However, Kobol-evolved humans possess a capacity for genetic memory. This genetic memory does not take the form of passing on personal memories, but of an unconscious knowledge of certain invented concepts and ideas such as technology, language, engineering and even fashion and music along with various other aesthetic cultural aspects.
Over a period of a couple thousand years, all the technological and cultural aspects form Kobol completely reconstituted because the genetic memory of these concepts and ideas 'leaked' into the subconscious minds of various people who gradually and collectively reinvented these aspects of Kobol society. Eventually, even the genetic memory of the concept of artificial life in the form of Cylons was reconstituted in the conscious minds of such men as Daniel Graystone and Tomas Vergis.
Eventually these new Cylons were used as slave labor within the Twelve Colonies. As had happened before, they eventually rose up and waged war against their masters. By the time the Final Five humanoid Cylons arrived at the Colonies, the humans had been fighting the Cylon Centurions for over twelve years. The Centurions were already trying to make flesh bodies. They had created the "Hybrid," but nothing that lived on its own. Remaining a secret to the people of the Twelve Colonies, the Five offered the Centurion Cylons a deal: if the Centurions agreed to end the war with humanity, the Five would create organic humanoid Cylons for them. The reason the Five were so willing to create new humanoid Cylons was that the Centurions had developed a belief in a single loving God. One of the Five, Ellen Tigh, believed it changed everything; if the Cylons embraced love and mercy, then the cycle of violence could end. The Centurions agreed to the deal. With the reason being kept secret from the Colonials, the Cylons agreed to an armistice with them and left the system.
The Five and the Centurions then withdrew to a mobile space station called The Colony placed beyond the Armistice Line. The Five then developed eight humanoid model Cylons, which were designed upon their own physiology. They created "Number One" first and named him John, after the father of Ellen Tigh. He was also made in the image of Ellen's father. John helped the Five build the other seven humanoid models. Ellen was close to Number Seven, Daniel, and John, out of jealousy, contaminated the amniotic fluid in which the Daniel copies were maturing and then corrupted the genetic formula. This wiped out the copies permanently.
John rejected mercy. He had a twisted idea of morality, so he turned on the Five. He trapped them in a compartment and then he took the oxygen offline. John boxed the Five at first but ultimately unboxed them and downloaded them into new bodies, but he blocked their true memories and implanted false ones and introduced them one by one into the colonies. He introduced Saul Tigh first, not long after the Cylon War ended. Several years later, he introduced Ellen Tigh. Over the years, he gradually introduced Galen Tyrol, Samuel Anders, and finally Tory Foster. Cavil put the Five into the human population in order to truly show them what humans are like. He hoped that when they died and resurrected (which would restore their real memories) they'd be ready to admit they were wrong.
John erased all knowledge of the Five's identities from the minds of the other surviving active humanoid Cylon models. Although the other six knew about the existence of the "Final Five", they did not know their story, what they looked like, and were even programmed to never speak of the Five or search for their identities. Only the Number One models knew the truth of the Final Five; a fact unknown to the other six models.
Adopting the name "Cavil", the Number Ones still wanted justice for the enslavement of the Centurion Cylons and convinced the other Cylon models to the same thinking. During their forty years of isolation, the seven active humanoid Cylon models never stopped hating humanity. For them, the war never ended. It had simply evolved as they had evolved.
The humans of Kobol achieved dominion of their world long before the humans of our Earth even developed language. Eventually the people of Kobol developed a civilization with all the amenities of an advanced society (e.g. automobiles, television, advanced medicine, etc.). They even created artificial life forms such as sentient machines. Known as "Cylons", these artificial life forms served as a slave caste. At some point, they rose up and waged war against their masters.
Eventually, the war so devastated Kobol that both humans and Cylons fled the planet. Using a space-folding drive that enables space ships to make instantaneous "jumps" across vast distances in space, the humans went on to colonize twelve separate worlds in a single star system, becoming the "Twelve Colonies of Kobol". Simultaneously the Cylons colonized a planet they named "Earth". On this Earth, a race of biologically-reproductive organic humanoid Cylons became the dominant species and they enslaved mechanical Cylons.
Eventually, history repeated itself and the mechanical Cylons rose up and waged war against the organic cybernetic life forms that were their masters. During this war, a unique type of Cylon that had progressed to the point where it was able to exist as virtual 'software' on a higher plane of existence observed the conflict. Because this entity existed on another plane, it had a non-linear perception of our space-time continuum, allowing it to see future events. A benevolent being, this virtual Cylon Entity created other virtual beings to serve as its messengers. Some of these messengers came to view the Cylon Entity as a "God." However it did not like to be called by that title. The messengers appeared to five humanoid Cylon researchers and warned them of the impending destruction of their planet's population. After a nuclear conflagration that did indeed destroy the planet's population, the only survivors were the five researchers. They survived by re-inventing a technology from Kobol called "organic memory transfer." This technology "resurrects" a Cylon upon their body's destruction by saving their consciousness and then "downloading" into an identical clone body.
These Final Five surviving humanoid Cylons realized that the humans of the Twelve Colonies would continue to create artificial life. So they headed for the Colonies to tell the humans to treat their creations well and keep them close. Because their people hadn't developed jump drives, the Five's ship traveled at relativistic, but subluminal speed. Time slowed down for them, but thousands of years would pass before they finally reached the Colonies. Along the way, they stopped at the Temple of Hopes, a temple that was created by their ancestors where they prayed and got a sign that led them to their "Earth."
The humans on the Twelve Colonies initially lost most elements of civilization from Kobol after they settled on the twelve worlds. However, Kobol-evolved humans possess a capacity for genetic memory. This genetic memory does not take the form of passing on personal memories, but of an unconscious knowledge of certain invented concepts and ideas such as technology, language, engineering and even fashion and music along with various other aesthetic cultural aspects.
Over a period of a couple thousand years, all the technological and cultural aspects form Kobol completely reconstituted because the genetic memory of these concepts and ideas 'leaked' into the subconscious minds of various people who gradually and collectively reinvented these aspects of Kobol society. Eventually, even the genetic memory of the concept of artificial life in the form of Cylons was reconstituted in the conscious minds of such men as Daniel Graystone and Tomas Vergis.
Eventually these new Cylons were used as slave labor within the Twelve Colonies. As had happened before, they eventually rose up and waged war against their masters. By the time the Final Five humanoid Cylons arrived at the Colonies, the humans had been fighting the Cylon Centurions for over twelve years. The Centurions were already trying to make flesh bodies. They had created the "Hybrid," but nothing that lived on its own. Remaining a secret to the people of the Twelve Colonies, the Five offered the Centurion Cylons a deal: if the Centurions agreed to end the war with humanity, the Five would create organic humanoid Cylons for them. The reason the Five were so willing to create new humanoid Cylons was that the Centurions had developed a belief in a single loving God. One of the Five, Ellen Tigh, believed it changed everything; if the Cylons embraced love and mercy, then the cycle of violence could end. The Centurions agreed to the deal. With the reason being kept secret from the Colonials, the Cylons agreed to an armistice with them and left the system.
The Five and the Centurions then withdrew to a mobile space station called The Colony placed beyond the Armistice Line. The Five then developed eight humanoid model Cylons, which were designed upon their own physiology. They created "Number One" first and named him John, after the father of Ellen Tigh. He was also made in the image of Ellen's father. John helped the Five build the other seven humanoid models. Ellen was close to Number Seven, Daniel, and John, out of jealousy, contaminated the amniotic fluid in which the Daniel copies were maturing and then corrupted the genetic formula. This wiped out the copies permanently.
John rejected mercy. He had a twisted idea of morality, so he turned on the Five. He trapped them in a compartment and then he took the oxygen offline. John boxed the Five at first but ultimately unboxed them and downloaded them into new bodies, but he blocked their true memories and implanted false ones and introduced them one by one into the colonies. He introduced Saul Tigh first, not long after the Cylon War ended. Several years later, he introduced Ellen Tigh. Over the years, he gradually introduced Galen Tyrol, Samuel Anders, and finally Tory Foster. Cavil put the Five into the human population in order to truly show them what humans are like. He hoped that when they died and resurrected (which would restore their real memories) they'd be ready to admit they were wrong.
John erased all knowledge of the Five's identities from the minds of the other surviving active humanoid Cylon models. Although the other six knew about the existence of the "Final Five", they did not know their story, what they looked like, and were even programmed to never speak of the Five or search for their identities. Only the Number One models knew the truth of the Final Five; a fact unknown to the other six models.
Adopting the name "Cavil", the Number Ones still wanted justice for the enslavement of the Centurion Cylons and convinced the other Cylon models to the same thinking. During their forty years of isolation, the seven active humanoid Cylon models never stopped hating humanity. For them, the war never ended. It had simply evolved as they had evolved.
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