Cult of Shi
The Cult of Shi is a hostile organization and a dealer of the illegal digital drug cybernephrine. Having ties to Taranis, they operate mostly within the Condemned Zone near Port Oraulan on Yeddo. They are believed to have ties to the Serpent's Fang. The Cult of Shi keep various virtual life forms in captivity, actively harvesting the cybernephrine from them. They are also responsible for having held Twinkle captive before he was rescued by Sophia Delphi.
Due to the Cult of Shi's location within the Condemned Zone, law enforcement can do very little against their presence. As such, it is recommended to take extreme caution when traveling the area. They will attack passerbyers on sight and will attempt to abduct any virtual or synthetic life form they come across.
Overview
Led by a werewolf named Rark, the Cult of Shi's base of operations is located in the Geothermal Engine located deep underground. Hundreds of virtual life forms, mostly those considered animals, are kept within several mainframes. Their cybernephrine is distilled and harvested. While it is of a lower quality than that of the Aether Cartels, it is significantly cheaper due to being produced locally on Yeddo rather than being transported all the way from the gas giant Aether. Because of the Cult of Shi's small reach, the Aether Cartels do not consider them a large enough competitor. However, various mercenary organizations within the rogue nation of Taranis are common clients where the drug is used to enhance their awareness of the vrNet, giving them levels of perception of energy that rival that of trained technokinetics.
Unlike the Aether Cartels which produce cybernephrine purely for profit, the Cult of Shi seeks to create it for spiritual reasons. They believe that by attempting to develop and create more cybernephrine, they are finding ways to become closer to the ancient machine gods that they worship. The Cult of Shi holds the belief that cybernephrine is not only a digital encoding but also a metaphysical soul that gives virtual life forms their sentience. They believe that a similar soul essence fundamentally makes up human life as well. As such, they belive cyberneprhine is the bridge that allows both organic and synthetic life to be considered alive.
Naturally, Rampants are a byproduct of their experiments. Whenever a virtual life form becomes drained of cyberneprhine and turns into a Rampant, the Cult of Shi chooses to release it back in the wild. Dsetroying the Rampants they create often proves an inefficient use of resources due to the strength required to actually obliterate them. Among other causes, the Cult of Shi is heavily responsible for the Rampant infestations near Port Oraulan.