Macrotechnicians
The Macrotechnicians are a young Methodology of Iteration X focused on architecture and other large-scale construction techniques.
History
The Methodology traces its roots back to the same builders, artificers, and engineers the rest of the Convention does. In the Renaissance and after, the High Artisans moved away from studies of civic engineering, metallurgy, and material science, leaving such things for their Craftmason cousins, and instead favored micro-architecture, computers, and cyborg science. Until recently, material engineering languished as a pastime for engineers among the Sleepers while It-Xers focused on computing and number-crunching.
With the pause in the Pogrom and the re-emphasis on human achievement, many Iterators have also stepped back from computer and weapons design, returning to substance analysis and development. The Hardsuit program, which replaces HIT Marks, requires new advances in materials, chemicals, biorecycling systems, and power supplies. Initiatives to end urban problems, reduce pollution, and find alternatives to current devices need innovators in large scale construction and vehicle engineering.
Founded in 2000 when the Convention finally recognized the need for a specific categorization of its engineers, mechanics, maintenance crews, chemists, and architects, the Methodology was born by separating out TM Managers and BioMechanics with these skills. While the initial split was hard and caused them to lose Syndicate funding, they quickly proved themselves and when it was recognized that all future Devices would be coming from them, their budget octupled.
Culture
Macrotechnicians rarely, if ever, create a new thing. Instead, they rethink what is and figure out how to do it better. To this end they often work with the Void Engineers' R&E, the NWO's Q Division, and more recently the Deviancy Scene Investigators of the Progenitors. The Methodology is split right down the middle, though, between the scientists and engineers on one side and the field agents on the other. The first tend to use computer modeling and heavy industry while the latter – technicians and combat engineers – take the tech into the front lines.
The Macrotechnicians are in a peculiar spot in the Convention. As a new Methodology, most of the higher-ups are all from either the TM Managers or the BioMchanics and bring those insights to their procedures. The TMMs insist they are necessary especially as the other Methodologies become more specialized. Someone has to do the hands-on work. They can at times, though, be seen as rejects from the other methodologies and it can lead to strong rivalries. The relations can be especially hard with the BioMechanics because the tools they make can often make biomechanical devices redundant or obsolete. Some whisper that making the new Methodology was a ploy to get more funding for non-cybernetic projects. Macrotechnicians are also often the recipients of elitist prejudice as they are seen to be working with "simplistic sciences" rather than "cutting edge computers" which the Convention has focused on for so long.
The Methodology does have a particular culture as well. They are more likely to reject the use of Implants. The have a pretty tightly-knit hierarchy. They also enjoy sharing their work both through academic papers and working together in their labs.
For all its struggles, the Methodology is proving itself time and again as a critically important part of the Convention.
