The Four Greats
The four greats were a group of scientists and engineers operating out of the Old Earth nation of Morocco, they are credited with the development of the earliest generation of the Standard Build Templates, an enormously influential piece of technology that remains important to the very core of galactic civilization to this day. As a result they are often lionized as important figures to this day, and have even been deified by the largest known techno-cult, Opus Dei.
The Individual Greats
Aicha bint Lahad Bakr: Also known as the Chief Datastician, Aicha Bakr was responsible for leading the team coding the original SBT. As a result the initial foundation of the entire project was the result of her, and her circle of data scientists. Aicha was also credited with being the first of the Four Greats to conceive of the idea of a universal tech database. She is therefore considered the most important member of the four greats in most Opus Dei circles. Binyamin ibn-Abdullah Ahl-Huk: Also known as the Chief Architect, Binyamin Ahl-Huk was a civil engineer in his prime, and was responsible for the design of many of the early building designs, as well as a lot of the basic infrastructure. He is generally regarded as the patron of the wanderer, as his designs help those without homes build new ones among the stars. Nurul Abulafia: Also known as the Chief Agronomist, Nurul Abulafia was a skilled agriculturalist, and led a team to develop certain spaceworthy group seeds, as well a leading a separate team to develop advanced agricultural tools that were key in the planting, tending and harvesting of those spaceworthy crops. Nurul is generally considered the matron of the starving for her role in developing the means for interstellar colonists to feed themselves. Nurul was also known as an artist in her time, and some of her more recent works have survived to the present day. Ghaib ibn-Malik Alkhamis: Also known as the Chief Designer, Ghaib Alkahmis was the most widely divided member of the initial four chief scientists behind the creation of many mining, manufacturing, and other similar devices put into the original SBT. These devices often helped kickstart the development of simple industry, ensuring that new colonists could manufacture any supplies they needed. Ghaib is considered the patron of the builder for his tool’s many uses in the construction of a new world.Artifacts
The Four Greats are known for a number of artifacts. However, the most important, by far, is their hand in the development of the Standard Build Templates, known to Opus Dei as “The Great Work”. These devices allowed for the jumpstarting of any self-sufficient colony, and ensured that many colonies that arrived to unexpectedly marginal worlds could even survive in the first place. Even as the colonization of other stars became a more mundane activity, the SBT continued to be an enormously important part of engineering in the galactic community, forming the basis of most of the manufacturing and logistics within even the relatively mature Stellar League.
Aside from this, each of the four greats also directly designed various devices whose descendants are still utilized today. Aicha Bakr’s computer code was enormously influential in the development of early AI, and is still utilized in any robots that aren’t explicitly modeled after Parditech AI design. Binyamin Ahl-Huk’s standardized housing design was eventually applied to reinforced hulls and utilized for deep space planetoid habitats to this day. Nurul Abulafia’s genetic work was utilized in the creation of the first hybrid terragenic/xenogeneic hybrid plants such as Supermaize. Lastly, Ghaib Alkhamis created a method of container standardization that was adapted in every generation of SBT and is still used by some bulk haulers carrying large cargos throughout the galaxy.
Holy Books & Codes
The Four Greats were not known to be seeking deification and left no text of their own volition to be used for religious purposes. However, with the advent of Opus Dei the surviving academic works of the Four Greats too have been venerated. Though few of these works have survived to the modern day, and fewer still exist in a language that is readable to the majority of people, at least thirty academic treatises between the greats have been identified, preserved, and copied. The most intact of these Considerations on Alpha of Python Version 7: Thesis on Novel Code Bases in Long Term Data Storage, is often considered the most important scientific text in the entirety of the Opus Dei canon. Other works, often fragmentary, are also considered important though study of them is more difficult. To a lesser extent non-scientific works, such as the collected surviving poems of Binyamin Ahl-Huk, or the last surviving artistic works of Abulafia are considered sacred, though not nearly to the same extent as the scientific works.
The Four Greats: (Clockwise from top left) Doctor Aicha Bakr, Doctor Binyamin Ahl-Huk, Doctor Nurul Abulafia, Doctor Ghaib Alkhamis
Divine Classification
Deifed Historic Figures
Church/Cult
Children
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