Here Soonchanged

Here Soonchanged, born Hereward of the House of Mot, was a posthuman Free Captain of Vorgossos, captain of the Azoth, and former Master of the Sanctum at Alexandria within the Holy Terran Chantry. His organic body -- a dwarfed, malformed chrysalid -- floated in xanthous fluid inside a sealed bell jar mounted on a mechanical chassis of Vorgossos manufacture, compatible with Demiurge's systems by shared origin.

Born in Washington on Earth to a father from an old Avalon family and a mother who was high priestess of the temple of Nut at Phoenix, Hereward rose through the Chantry's hidden Order -- the true power behind the Chantry's public face -- before joining Kharn Sagara and transforming himself into an Exalted chrysalid. He and Sagara fought the Watchers across the ages and accumulated deep knowledge of both Chantry operations and the nature of the Monumentals. While a prisoner aboard Demiurge, he offered Hadrian an alliance of this knowledge in exchange for freedom, but the offer remained unresolved.

When Hadrian requires a strike against the Chantry's datasphere, Soonchanged -- reluctant but motivated by the prospect of attacking his former masters -- transmits his thoughtform via tightbeam to the Chantry vessel Ararat, builds a beachhead in its systems, and succeeds in extracting all of the Chantry's data. The Chantry's daimon counterattacks and brain-kills him, destroying his organic mind while leaving his machine implants intact. His body is taken into HAPSIS custody so that the stolen data can be extracted from his neural implants.