I’ve developed some hypothesese about what the “Finite-Infinite” might be, why the Gleaned Directive refers to it, and why the Drifters decided to attack the empires.
First, what do we know about the Finite-Infinite?
It seems it could be something secret and very important to the Jovians, something that could have allowed the creation of their first empire and the two that followed, or that would have been very useful to those empires. It seems that the pattern Yosef Okada followed that led him to discover the Finite-Infinite may be revealed by Atavums. This could be linked to the hyperspace network with which the Atavums are connected.
Here’s my hypothesis: the Finite-Infinite may be the Warden or the hyperspace network itself.
Here’s why I think this might be the case:
-The Warden seems to be important to the Drifters and could have been their objective since their awakening. The Gleaned Directive may be the basis of the Drifters’ ideology and objectives, and perhaps the mention of the Finite-Infinite is evidence that its authors and adherents believe that regaining control of the hyperspace network, and possibly the Warden as well, is necessary to regain power. The Drifters appear to have survived the fall of the second Jovian Empire, and also want to recreate a new empire similar to the second, and the Gleaned Directive seems to date from the time of the second empire, or perhaps even its final days and fall.
-It’s linked to the hyperspace network and seems to be a sort of advanced hub allowing more possibilities than the technologies of the rest of the cluster, perhaps including Drifter technologies, which could explain why it would be a secret, like a significant part of Jovian science.
-The Drifters seem to make extensive use of technologies related to the hyperspace network, as the hyperspace telemetry used to predict their actions seems to be linked to it. It is possible that this network was also used by Jovian empires as an important component of their technology.
-The political structure of the first Jovian empire was based on granting great scientific freedom to the various enclaves that made up the nation so that the results of their research could make the empire more cohesive and possibly satisfy their scientists’ desire to discover and advance their civilization. This seems to have made the empire remarkably stable, and successor empires aimed to recreate similar stability as best they could. Perhaps this research included research on the network or hubs similar to the Warden. Perhaps the opportunity to study and develop a concept with such potential motivated enclaves to come together to strengthen the influence of this structure.
-Atavums were needed to “unlock” the Warden, so there may be a special link between them. maybe it’s a strong enough link to be able to discover the existence of the hyperspace network and the Warden with them.
Here are my hypotheses on why the Drifters decided to attack the empires and the Triglavians:
The Triglavians indirectly caused the escalation of the Empyrean War by invading New Eden. They left behind technologies that partially caused the escalation of the conflict between the empires, which allowed the Angels, Guristas, and the Circle to gain influence and ultimately take control of the Warden. It’s possible that this angered the Drifters, who may have sought to “punish” the civilizations responsible for this. The SoCT claims that the Circle caused this crisis, but it was the empires and the Triglavians who unwittingly and partially allowed the pirates to gain control of the Warden.
It’s also possible that they did this because the empires saw them as a threat, and the Drifters sought to fight them to ensure their survival, or to prevent them from researching the hyperspace network, which was beginning to be discovered since the discovery of the Atavums and the Warden. It seems that the Drifters want to prevent other factions from appropriating technologies they consider theirs and only theirs, or from discovering anything about them, so it’s possible they didn’t want the empires to do the same with the network and possibly the Warden. Perhaps after weakening or defeating the empires, they could have come into conflict with other organizations they saw as threats or competitors for control of Jovian technology.
They probably also wanted to end their war against the Triglavians, who clearly seek to destroy them.