Year: 910
Research programs in progress: MEC (3/10), Avatar (1/10)
Territorial control: Temple 19, TOL 0, Omega 0
Underground bases: Temple 0, TOL 9, Omega 1
Teams under control: Temple 32, TOL 25, Omega 5
A few people, including San Francisco refugees, are very interested in resuming a space program. A few early attempts were accomplished, which gives you an idea of the scope of the problem: the water canopy means that instead of a standard orbital insertion, you will have to build a rocket that goes straight up, splashes into the canopy, pushes against it to accelerate, and then takes off from the canopy's exterior... if there is one.
Simply being able to have vehicles skimming the inside of the water canopy using cavitation would give you eye-in-the-sky advantages similar to a satellite network.
MEC production continues apace; the egg timer is replaced by a simple mechanical watchdog switch that turns the Metabolic Extension Controller back on after six seconds of inactivity. MEC agents that want to enter low power mode have to click this off.
Quinn takes the risk to show herself and other MEC agents, just for a few moments, when Ely Rahab LeVey preaches. While they pass as human most of the time, they can easily choose not to by showing their cybernetics and unnatural pallor. This unnerves the elderly missionary greatly; she's seen these same people getting smote, after all.
Coordinating with the Underground Railroad proves fairly easy; they're not a combat force, and mostly want to be left alone, but agree on the possible use of finding some safe space.
Between this and further MEC production, you've gained another cabal (mostly Underground Monorail people who are a bit too hotheaded for theat group).
Base construction in the Tokyo ruins begins. You estimate that it will take five years to have a facility up and running; this is a long time, but it needs to be somewhat concealed and independent when it comes to power and water.
Not much happens in the way of R&D. The Other Light leadership has to remind their people that direct military action right now is not advisable. Believers worldwide feel secure in knowing that even what was clearly a trained attack force was unable to stop an elderly missionary.
Quinn looks decidely more voluptuous than Harriet Tubman, but is honored at the association otherwise. She's now 10 years into her second life, but does not seem to have aged significantly more than non-Glorified believers do; her tissues are in good shape, and MECs mostly only need maintenance on their mechanical parts, and power for the MEC unit itself.
Revenant technology moved forward really quickly after they became fully conscious, Mischlitt thought. That makes sense; it's easier to debug a system if it can tell you what's wrong with it. A semi-dormant psi algorithm brought to her mind the parable of exponential growth - if a lily pads in a pond double every day, and they fill the pond on the thirtieth day, when have the filled half the pond?
She noted with a bit of annoyance that the year had no Temple report in it; truth was, most of the Millennium had been a time of peace and quiet, to hear it from believers, or stagnation, to hear it from unbelievers.
Why the note about the boatellites, though? That had been around a long time, no? Korolev and Hassid's work was well known, of course. "System, CHECK ACCURACY of the strategy reports."
"These reports are from the point of view of the Omega. For the full historical documents, please see the Ethernet Archive project at universal resource locator..."
"Okay, thanks. Resume."
It sounded more a case of the Omega being able to understand boatellites, than them being re-invented. Sun Tzu tells us to know ourself and know our enemy. But then how can any war be won against the omniscient?