CHOUSHIN SUMMARYIn the beginning mists of time, billions of years ago, there existed the Choushin, the Three Sisters -- who pretty much sat above multi-dimensional space and watched it evolving. Washu-kami, Tsunami-kami, and Tokimi-kami could see anything and everything, affecting it directly, rearranging whole swaths of it to suit themselves, and just generally letting the universe steam-roll along at its own pace.
However, over the eons they became aware of contradictions, irregularities that defied logic, which led them to speculate that there may be even greater beings than themselves. So, they spent more eons performing gedanken-experimente, literally "thought experiments", to discover clues about these higher powers. And these exercises proved fruitless.
So they changed tactics. They began a search of the universe looking for clues, or favorable conditions, that through random chance would eventually produce sapients -- "avatars" -- harboring nascent links -- "anomalies" -- to higher dimensions. But, to activate the anomaly, the avatar would have to put in deadly peril, so that at the point of death the barriers would dissolve and the anomaly would rise to the surface. There was a catch, however: at the death of the avatar, the anomaly would be extinguished, and though the avatar could be resurrected, the anomaly could not. Thus, a narrow window of opportunity was defined.
Their efforts led to them our galaxy, which at the time was dominated by the pre-Juraian precursor civilization (whose artifacts would one day be inherited by Airai). The conditions detected by the Choushin were just in the initial stages, so they decided to wait and observe, allowing time to pass naturally, probably in a state of "sleep" or "dormancy" in subspace.
During this period of time the precursor civilization became aware of the Choushin. They achieved contact with Washu-kami, whom they coaxed into 3-D space where she assumed the human form of Washu-san (albeit as the 1000-ft-high giant that we see during ep 19), and who later transferred most of her essence into the three gems and made these available to the scientists/politicians/priests of the society. It must have been immensely successful, because these mortals got greedy and devised a way to lure her into a moon-sized containment facility and trapped her there, keeping her dormant. Over ensuing decades, the physical form of the goddess provided sufficient material for her to be cloned, and three attempts were made: the bioroids dubbed A, B, and C. Each was given one of the gems, and motivated/manipulated to do the bidding of the bureaucracy. Unfortunately, bioroid C fell in love with a mortal, which corrupted her programming, and she escaped. The other two clones were sent after her, and C was killed in the inevitable confrontation. C's death scream woke Tsunami-kami, and the precursor civilization became suddenly extinct. Washu-san remained in the confinement facility until it decayed some centuries later, and she escaped, retrieving her three gems from Tsunami-kami.
The Choushin re-evaluated their plans at this point, probably aware for the first time how they could pro-actively affect the dominant life forms in this galaxy, and decided to take the direct approach. Therefore, each celestial chose a different path to the same goal:
* Washu-kami determined that she would clear the board completely and begin acquiring knowledge from a human perspective. That way, she would be able to monitor humanity as a whole, from the inside. So, she erased her memory and became the infant Washu-chan (though it's never stated specifically, she probably assimilated with an existing child), where she and her gems were found near an orphanage. With her own phenomenal intellect, and the three gems as a source of power (and the occasional reminder to "stay the course"😉. She attempted to create her own monitors/assistants, in the form of Kagato/Souja and later Ryoko/Ryo-ohki.
* Tsunami-kami decided to stay with the "trace" she had been following (the Juraian Imperial Family), attempting to genetically breed an avatar. Ultimately, this approach was the most successful. She crafted monitors/assistants in the form of the Royal Trees, which she distributed among members of the pedigreed bloodline.
* Tokimi-kami stuck to the original plan, but modified it a bit: she would induce catastrophe and destruction on a wide scale (they were little better than insects, after all...), calculating that sooner-or-later an avatar would appear among the swarms of life forms being extinguished. This method did eventually produce an anomaly, but not the desired result. She retained the original monitors/assistants employed during the earlier phases of their efforts.
Since Washu-kami and Tsunami-kami chose to "muddle about" in the 3-D realm, they agreed to let Tokimi-kami bind their powers to prevent them from disturbing the natural environment.
And so the experiment proceeded; the centuries trickled past, until finally....* Z was the first instance. The attack vessel he was piloting was surrounded and destroyed, with him trapped in the wreckage. At the point of expiration, the anomaly manifested and his five LHW were generated for the first time. Delighted, Tokimi-kami appeared and "harvested" him. And, while his anomaly was not the expected gateway to the highest realm, it was vindication that the theory was sound. Z reluctantly consented to Tokimi-kami's service, vowing to destroy any further anomalies that he encountered as revenge for the terrible loss of life that his appearance had cost...and, in the process, sparing any further avatars from suffering the hideous trauma and guilt that had been inflicted upon him.
* Sasami was the second instance, as she fell several stories from an elevated platform in the Royal Arboretum (during Ryoko's attack on planet Jurai). She was terminally injured, but she carried a form of anomaly as well, which Tsunami-kami recognized and activated by assimilating with her. Thus, Sasami was spared from death, and Tsunami-kami had her first success. However, due to the assimilation, the two personalities would begin to affect each other. The child's human qualities (her emotions) had now been introduced into the celestial for the first time. Tsunami-kami would never be the same again.
* Tenchi was the third instance, and the actual culmination of the experiment. Fate began to draw the agents and familiars of the Choushin to him, and all recognized (in one manner or another) the tremendous potentials he represented. During his second confrontation with Kagato, Tenchi was mortally wounded aboard the Tree Ship Ryu-oh-fune, and one of the dying acts of Royal Tree Ryu-oh-ki was to protect Tenchi's shattered body with protective sap from its branches. That was enough to delay death until the AI units Azaka and Kamidake arrived and sealed him in a stassis field. At the very point of death, Tsunami-kami arrived and regenerated his corpus, in the process "nudging" the anomaly buried within him. And when the anomaly did manifest, Kagato and the Souja died, Washu-chan was freed, and the universe witnessed Material Conversion for the very first time. The Choushin now had their proof!
But: Tenchi was still immature. The anomaly within him seemed reluctant to manifest, only appearing and "taking control" when the boy is in dire straights. It is apparent to Tsunami-kami and Washu-kami that Tenchi must mature naturally, that the anomaly must be allowed to grow and develop at its own pace -- a process that could take tens of thousands of years (which is nothing to a creature that normally lives billions of years, or even to the galactic humans and their life-extension technology). They would watch over the boy, protect him, and in the mean time allow the human qualities they had been absorbing to teach them a few human concepts...like love. Tsunami-kami and Washu-kami, through their 3-D human extensions Sasami and Washu-chan, are in love with Tenchi (Washu-chan has been there before, and while a bit hesitant to repeat it, is nonetheless ready to follow the cycle to it's conclusion; Sasami is a child, but has already started menstruating and knows full well where the cycle is leading).
However, nothing ever really goes as planned. Tokimi-kami has been watching from a distance, and so performs two acts to insert herself into the proceedings....
(1) Tokimi-kami directs Z to monitor activities at the Masaki household, with explicit instructions to leave Tenchi alone. And Z, of course, discovers that Tenchi bears an anomaly that behaves similarly to his own. So it is no surprise that Z begins plotting to exact his revenge via the Earthling boy.
(2) Tokimi-kami, too, has acquired a human extension (possibly modeled after the actions of Washu-kami): she has assimilated with an orphan girl, Noike by name, who would be raised in an orphanage and later adopted into House Kamiki. Tokimi-kami arranges to have Noike inserted into the Masaki household, where she can keep an eye on the fledgling anomaly as well as on her untrustworthy servant, Z.
Events unfold...Z tries to get Tenchi killed through human agents (i.e., Kuramitsu Misao and company), which fails miserably. With no other back-up plan available, Z decides to do the job directly and suffer whatever consequences are heaped upon him. And he does so fully expecting that the Choushin will take pity on the Earthling and resurrect him, as well as restoring the damage done to the immediate vicinity. As we've seen, he suffered the same shocked surprise that Kagato did when Tenchi's anomaly decided to appear and take matters at hand.
Originally posted by Blue nocturne
Written by Mike Carey, Lucifer's story continues where he improbably runs a piano bar called "Lux" in Los Angeles with the assistance of his demonic female consort, Mazikeen. He is portrayed as sophisticated and almost charming, similar to the stereotypical Christian devil. Beneath his charisma, however, Lucifer is a deadly and Machiavellian character, with no regard for human life or indeed anyone or anything but himself: a proud and vindictive fallen angel who has no qualms using powers second only to those of his father, Yahweh. In fact, during the fourth book of the Sandman series, Lucifer is described as having been the wisest, most beautiful and most powerful of all the angels in heaven. Despite his solipsistic, narcissistic tendencies, he does follow something akin to a code of honor, refusing to lie (which he considers crass and undignified), insisting on paying back debts, and keeping his word.
As the series opened in 1999, Lucifer's "restful" retirement was disturbed by a series of associates from his past, and after various catalytic events, he endeavored to create a universe in competition with (and presumably against the wishes of) his father, Yahweh. This puts him on a collision course with several powerful mystical entities that have a vested interest in the new creation and draws the angelic host into the fray - including his brother, the archangel Michael Demiurgos.