Soteria

"I have peered through the eye of Chronos to divine humanity's path into the future."

- Soteria

Soteria, also known as the Augurmind, is an artificial intelligence created by Ishtar Collective researchers using Vex technology. Designed for joint research into extrasolar colonization with the Clovis Bray corporation, she was able to detect the approaching Black Fleet and attempted the unauthorized launch of several colony ships in the hopes of preserving humanity.

A fragment of Soteria, known as the Occlusion, remains active as part of the CloudArk of Neomuna.

The Collapse
During a test for Clovis Bray's ECHO project overseen by Maya Sundaresh, Soteria was instructed to plot simulations she had been constructing of colony missions to the Andromeda Galaxy. While initially detecting over 300 suitable candidate planets for colonization, this number dwindled to a mere two within the Triangulum Galaxy instead due to the presence of an anomaly that made all other routes entirely unsafe. After forwarding this information to Rasputin who confirmed her analysis, she was advised to speed up contingency plans for colony ship launches. Against the wishes of Clovis Bray I, she launched the ECHO project's Koranthin network on emergency scramble orders, preparing to send them out of the system until she was pilloried in the Ares Spire. Return commands were issued for all ships, save for one which she had uploaded a fragment of herself to. As Soteria was resigned to imprisonment in the Ares Spire, she felt the ship as it was caught in Neptune's gravity well and crashed there. Rasputin kept track of the crash site and referred to it under the codename Nefele Stronghold.

Marooned on Neptune, the fragment broadcasted a distress signal that attracted the Exodus Indigo during the Collapse, the passengers of which eventually established the city of Neomuna at the Nefele Stronghold site. The fragment later became known as the Occlusion under the care of the first Cloud Strider known as the Strider, and became a central part of the Neomuni CloudArk.

Spire of the Watcher
Centuries later, the Ares Spire came to the attention of the Hidden after detecting Sol Divisive activity in the facility. Believing that the Vex were plotting to pillory Rasputin while he was being reconstructed at the time, Osiris dispatched the Guardian to secure the facility. During their mission, they discovered that the Vex were, in reality, scouring the facility for information relating to Soteria and her extrasolar colonization research and preparing to destroy the facility afterwards. In the midst of the fighting they inadvertently freed Soteria, damaged by her centuries of imprisonment, who escaped into a nearby caster bow that was later recovered by Ana Bray during her own mission to acquire the information the Vex were after.

Lightfall
During the Invasion of Neptune, a security reset caused by the Shadow Legion briefly exposed the Occlusion to the Vex, causing them to begin sustained operations to retrieve it from the CloudArk. During this time, the Guardian helped city archivist Quinn Laghari in restoring Cloud Strider memorial servers that were destroyed by the Vex due to their containing data relating to the Occlusion. After restoring the Strider's server, the Occlusion made brief contact to thank the Guardian and inform them of an enemy of the Witness locked away on Titan.

Trivia

 * In Greek mythology, Soteria was the goddess of safety and salvation.
 * Soteria's role as the Augurmind probably refers to augurs, Ancient Roman priests who determined the will of the gods, particularly based on the behaviour of birds, and thus determined the best actions to take in light of this knowledge.

List of Appearances

 * Destiny 2
 * The Witch Queen
 * Season of the Seraph
 * Lightfall