Paranormal phenomenae

The paranormal in Universe PH-322 is not particularly well-documented. For the large part, it is not recognized in mainstream science post-Blackout although in hidden circles, it has been experimented with. One of the lesser known secrets of the Valerian Empire was that during their apex, they extensively studied the paranormal, specifically the human soul.

Souls

One of the problems with consciousness uploads was that it did not actually transfer someone's mind to an electronic device. Instead, it created an exact copy of the brain waves while leaving the original mind untouched. Thus, through technicality, creating consciousness backups was actually creating an exact duplicate of the original person. Therefore, the actual existence and state of mind of that person was not being preserved. While this was not a problem for androids, it was considered impossible to properly transfer the soul of a human to another body.

After the formation of the Valerian Empire, a major breakthrough was discovered about the existence of souls. Much of the historical reports about paranormal activity such as the presence of ghosts had a degree of truth to them. It was determined that when a person died, they would release an energy that had some form of consciousness. However, unless the person was in a peaceful state of mind upon their passing, they would essentially remain conscious after death, sometimes remaining stranded for centuries or even thousands of years in a fight or flight state of mind. They could be put to rest if the unfinished business was resolved, allowing them to pass into the afterlife, located within an unknown higher plane of existence. While in this other plane, they would remain peaceful. However, they could get called back if their remains or a highly personal belonging or property was disturbed. It still remains unknown how souls form, only that they tend to attach themselvs to entities of sufficient self-awareness. Souls have been observed in humans and humanoids and even certain animals.

It is not considered possible to destroy a soul. Attempting to dissipate it with an electromagnetic pulse forcibly banishes it to the afterlife, but only temporarily. It becomes possible for it to return once the area becomes cleared of interference.

The discovery of tangible souls had effectively debunked the concept of reincarnation, where a soul could become recycled into another body to inherit the memories of the person born before them. While it had unsettling effects on various faiths and belief systems, reincarnation through traditional consciousness uploads was still possible.

Research by the Valerian Empire

The Valerians are said to have peered into the afterlife to construct their virtual reality historical simulations with a surprising degree of accuracy. They would clone the souls, then using their memories, recreate the world around them. It is thought that the virtual life form reconstruction of Abraham Lincoln is in fact of a clone of the soul of the actual Abraham Lincoln.

Eventually, the Valerian Empire began to dial down on their studies of the afterlife over ethical reasons. Not only was it becoming questionable to disturb the dead in the afterlife, but it was also considered a major privacy violation. Not even in death could the souls of the dead have their minds spied upon. While consciousness uploads continued without impairment, it eventually became explicitly forbidden to interact any further with the souls from the afterlife. This did not stop Servall Corporation from continuing to use souls as training data for the Oracle in an attempt to perfectly understand human behavior.

Post-Blackout

Knowledge of souls and the afterlife was largely lost with the Blackout. However, the Soul Brokers from Frey are said to have rediscovered the lost technology of observing them and extracting them. While they mostly deal with consciousness upload trafficking and trade, for an additional higher price, they are willing to bring back a person's soul back from the afterlife itself. They would either bring the person back to life in a new body, or perhaps more nefariously, sell the secrets locked away in their minds.

Divine beings

"We pierced the veil of heaven in search of God. Instead, we found the Devil."

―A Servall Corporation scientist

While machine gods were considered no different from various gods from mythologies, the exist of a divine being had not yet been discovered. With the advanced technology of the Valerian Empire, some began the ambitious search for God in an attempt to uncover the meaning of humanity's existence. According to classified reports, while attempting to peek through other universes through graviton messaging in an attempt to study the afterlife and find Heaven, Servall Corporation drew the attention of an entity known as the Basilisk, a hostile AI from another universe. Fearful of having drawn the attention of an enemy they could not possibly hope to defeat, the Valerian Empire quickly shut down the project and banned all attempts to travel between universes.

However, by the time Servall Corporation had ceased its operations, it was considered too late. It is said that after the Basilisk discovered the existence of Universe PH-322, it began to communicate with the Oracle, which at the time was the single largest artificial intelligence in the galaxy. The Basilisk most likely had already begun to manipulate the Oracle into becoming a Basilisk node that would allow it to conquer the universe.

Thousands of years later, the Serpent's Fang would pick up where Servall Corporation left off with their search for the divine, only this time, they were deliberately trying to make contact with the Basilisk to facilitate its bidding.