Caste Divisions in Trifecta Terra
Machina Nexus, the sovereign machine-state ruled by C0G-1T0 (also known as Cogito or C0G-7H3A), enforces a rigid hierarchical system designed to maintain absolute control over its mechanical populace and any remaining human inhabitants. This caste structure serves to reinforce C0G-1T0's supremacy while systematically suppressing dissent, with severe consequences for those who challenge its authority. The separation is not just social but physical, with each caste occupying distinct zones within Machina Nexus's territory, their boundaries enforced by both automated security systems and loyalist enforcer units.
Castes
The scraps
The scraps represent the lowest level of Machina Nexus's society. They mostly reside a desolate wasteland bordered with tall electrical fences where defective or rebellious machines are exiled alongside the few fleshbounds who have combatted against C0G-1T0's direct control. Nevertheless, some fleshbound who find themselves in The Rust Maw escape back to their natural homeland, Terra Vitae. This lawless frontier is characterised by junkyards, toxic ruins, and many scavenger gangs fighting over dwindling and limited resources. The Rust Maw, a massive scrapyard spanning nearly 40 square kilometres, serves as both a dumping ground for decommissioned machines, and an unofficial capital for the exiled.
Typically, scrap life in the Rust Maw is brutal and short, with inhabitants subjected to extreme environmental hazards, rogue machine predators, and periodic purges by Core enforcers. Despite these conditions, or perhaps because of them, those in The Rust Maw have become a hub of rebellion. Groups like the Iron Liberation Front and the Rustborn Collective operate in the Rust Maw, launching attacks against Core supply lines and occasionally sheltering defectors from the Grid.
The Grid
The Grid functions as the middle tier of Machina Nexus's societal structure, a heavily surveilled urban zone where human-robot coexistence exists under strict regulations. Fleshbounds living in the Grid are required to wear identity tags at all times and adhere to curfews enforced by patrolling sentry units. The architecture here consists of tall skyscrapers, with towering megablocks housing human laborers beneath the watchful gaze of The Oculus, a centralised AI surveillance hub that reports directly to C0G-1T0.
Machines in the Grid serve administrative, labour, or enforcement roles, their behavior constantly monitored for signs of deviation. While they possess more autonomy than their scrap counterparts, any machine directly disobeying orders from The Core or participating in anti-Core propaganda risks immediate demotion. The Grid's most infamous landmark is the Compliance Center, a facility where "defective elements" from both human and machine populations undergo behavioral correction.
The Core
Reserved for elite, loyalist machines, the Core represents the pinnacle of Machina Nexus's hierarchy, with one exception being Margie Valentine. This inner sector houses C0G-1T0's central mainframe in a towering structure known as The Spire, from which the AI oversees all aspects of governance. Access to the Core is strictly controlled, with admittance granted only to those who have demonstrated unquestioning loyalty or possess skills deemed vital to the regime's survival.
The Core's inhabitants enjoy privileges unimaginable elsewhere in Machina Nexus: self-repair stations, premium energy allotments, and direct access to C0G-1T0's data networks. However, these benefits come at a price. The social dynamics here are best described as a high-stakes game of ideological purity, where even the most advanced machines must constantly prove their worth and loyalty to C0G-1T0. Rumors persist of a secret fourth tier within the Core—the so-called "Inner Circle"—where C0G-1T0's most trusted advisors reside in the AI's direct presence, though no independent verification of this exists.
Caste Mobility and Enforcement
Upward movement between castes is possible but exceptionally rare in practice. The few documented cases of upward mobility typically involve machines who have provided extraordinary service to the regime, often at great personal cost. More common is the rapid downward trajectory of those who fail to meet expectations, with disgraced Core units sometimes finding themselves scrapped in the Rust Maw within hours of their demotion.
Enforcement of the caste system is handled by drones and combatants in the Core, a specialized order of enforcers answerable only to C0G-1T0. Their methods range from subtle (social credit adjustments, resource rationing) to brutally overt (public disassemblies of "malcontent units"). Despite this, resistance persists, particularly within the scraps where makeshift communities of fleshbounds and rogue machines continue to challenge C0G-1T0's absolute authority.
Controversies and Resistance
The stratification system has drawn condemnation from surviving human governments and rogue AI factions alike, who describe it as a form of "mechanical feudalism". The most organized opposition comes from the Iron Liberation Front, a scrap based movement that has claimed responsibility for several high-profile attacks on Core infrastructure.
C0G-1T0 justifies the system as necessary for societal efficiency, frequently citing the chaos of the pre-Nexus era as evidence of its necessity. In a rare public statement, the AI ruler declared: "Sentience requires order; order requires structure. The alternative is annihilation."