Marius
Names: Mariusthe representativethe Accelerator representative
First appears in Book 1: The Dreaming Void, chapter 2 (1)
Appearances
What you know
Book 1: The Dreaming Void
- Ch 2Marius is the ANA Faction representative; he is dangerous, richly enriched with advanced biononics, and offers support for Pilgrimage.
- Ch 2Marius says ANA wants the Greater Commonwealth's status quo ended, citing species survival through evolution.
- Ch 2Marius has been seen on Ellezelin, apparently to support the Cleric Conservator, though the exact nature of his support is unknown.
- Ch 4Marius is a Faction representative who has channelled EMA funds to Troblum's private projects in return for demands on his time.
- Ch 4Marius shielded the café table from eavesdropping and warned Troblum that ANA:Governance must not learn of his detailed Dark Fortress examination.
- Ch 4Marius says the Faction cannot influence the Navy directly because of Kazimir, but some external members of the review committee are sympathetic to them.
- Ch 4Marius wants Troblum not to protest if the review recommends no further action; Troblum may resubmit after the Pilgrimage and continue his drive project quietly.
- Ch 6Marius agreed to the acquisition of the ship and the funds were put in Troblum's account.
- Ch 6Marius put Troblum and Emily Alm in touch.
- Ch 6Marius is the Accelerator Faction representative, has eerie green eyes, and appears to control Troblum's funding and the Navy's support.
- Ch 6Marius offers Troblum extra EMA funding and Bradley Johansson's genome, preserved from rejuvenation at a clinic on an Isolated world, in return for work on an ftl drive.
- Ch 8Marius pressures Troblum, and sends Lucken as a passenger, which Troblum suspects is meant to stop him flying away.
- Ch 10Marius and the Delivery Man are watching the clinic from outside; Paula suspects the Accelerators and Conservatives.
- Ch 10He treats Troblum with contempt, calls him useful, and brought the Cat to the station as a guest needing a ship.
- Ch 14Marius is an Advancer with Higher field functions who sprints at huge speed; furious at Troblum's escape, he blames the failure on Neskia.
- Ch 14Marius asked the Cat to find and eliminate Troblum, noting that exposure to ANA could end the Advancer Faction.
Book 2: The Temporal Void
- Ch 8Marius is a Higher representative of a faction that helped Ethan become Conservator and offered ultradrives for the Pilgrimage ships, without ever stating its objective.
- Ch 8Marius asks that two or three observers, described as scientists, travel unsuspended on each Pilgrimage ship, along with a cargo hold of equipment to study the Void.
- Ch 8Marius offers force fields the Raiel cannot penetrate, to let the Pilgrimage ships pass the Raiel defenders.
- Ch 8Marius tells the Delivery Man that their faction's centuries-long operation is in its last stages and any interference will not be tolerated.
- Ch 8Marius represents the Accelerator Faction and has just arrived on Ganthia, over two hundred light-years from Pulap.
- Ch 11Disguised using neighbors' data, Marius visits Chatfield after Paula leaves and orders him to move to the next stage early.
- Ch 11Marius has green eyes, which give away his disguise.
- Ch 11Marius watches Pulap spaceport and, via agents, learns Araminta escaped Living Dream's team at Bodant Park on Viotia.
- Ch 11Marius works with the Cat, is irritated by her, and manipulates her; he tells her Oscar Monroe seems to be working for Paula.
- Ch 11Marius says the destroyed stealthed ship was waiting in Ellezelin orbit to deliver defense systems once the Pilgrimage ships were complete, and fears ANA examining the wreckage.
- Ch 11Marius arranges for a friend to contact Ethan's wormhole technicians to help with the wreckage, threatening that the Pilgrimage will collapse otherwise.
Book 3: The Evolutionary Void
- Ch 3Marius is downgraded for the Chatfield failure and the Cat's unpredictability, and reassigned to track the Delivery Man on Fanallisto under threat of bodyloss.
- Ch 5Marius, an Accelerator high in their hierarchy, told the Delivery Man that Sol was imprisoned in a powerful force field like the Dyson Pair, and that its people were safe.
- Ch 5Marius says the Accelerators can no longer accept interference from ANA or the Conservative Faction, and that they will enter the Void; he threatens to destroy Gralmond.
- Ch 5Punished over Chatfield, he is seeking redemption by tracking the Delivery Man on Ilanthe's orders.
- Ch 5Marius follows the Last Throw in another stealthy ultradrive ship and could destroy the asteroid, which has no force field.
- Ch 10Marius, an Accelerator agent, got past the borderguards and lurks in stealth in the debris cloud above the Anomine homeworld, watching Last Throw.
- Ch 20Marius wants to stop Gore's plan to reach the Heart, believing it endangers everything, and attacks the Delivery Man's ship with quantumbuster missiles.
- Ch 20Marius's quantumbusters are shot down by a borderguard, and he sends his starship to attack it.
- Ch 20Marius fires novabombs into the Anomine system's star to destroy the power station feeding the elevation mechanism and stop Gore going postphysical.
- Ch 20Marius believes the Anomine elevation mechanism is the only thing left that could threaten Fusion, and considers the Accelerator objective safe after the novabombs.
- Ch 21Marius flees to the Leo Twins; he is wanted for genocide and must leave the Commonwealth, but Admiral Kazimir disables and arrests his ship.
Connections
- member ofANA
- related toTroblumFaction representative funding and directing Troblum's workconceals his activities from Marius
- member ofAcceleratorsrepresentative
- ally ofLuckensent by Marius's Faction
- member ofAdvancers
- enemy ofTroblum
- member ofIlantheserves Ilanthe's Accelerator faction as a likely representative
- ally ofEthanMarius's faction facilitated Ethan's rise and offers ultradrives
- enemy ofDelivery Manopposing factions; he tails Marius
- ally ofthe Cat
- ally ofLiving Dream
- ally ofIlantheworks within the same operation; she restricts his freedoms
- related toValeanreplaces and outranks him
- enemy ofGore Burnelli
Key moments
- Book 1 · Ch 2Marius offers ultradrives
Marius congratulates Ethan and renews ANA's offer of ultradrives for the Pilgrimage ships; Ethan accepts but will also build conventional drives.
- Book 1 · Ch 2Warning about Marius
On landing at Riasi, the Conservative Faction calls to tell the Delivery Man that Marius has been seen on Ellezelin, unsettling him.
- Book 1 · Ch 2Delivery Man departs
Warned about Marius, the Delivery Man scans for him, finds no sign, and boards a flight to Akimiski.
- Book 1 · Ch 4Marius warns Troblum
Marius meets Troblum unannounced at a café, says his Dyson Pair theory is believed but his knowledge of the Dark Fortress must stay hidden from ANA:Governance, and asks him not to protest if the Navy review declines.
- Book 1 · Ch 6Troblum's hangar and Emily Alm
Troblum's secret hangar at Daroca is described, along with how Emily Alm came to help him with novabomb technology.
- Book 1 · Ch 6Marius offers Troblum a deal
Marius visits, offers funds and Bradley Johansson's genome in exchange for Troblum's work on an ftl drive; Troblum gets forty-eight hours before leaving for the Accelerator assembly station.
- Book 1 · Ch 6Delivery Man observes the hangar
The Delivery Man watches Marius leave and reports to the Conservative Faction, which decides to research Troblum further using passive observation.
- Book 1 · Ch 8Troblum prepares escape
Troblum removes Emily Alm's glitches, builds a planet-shifting ftl engine, loads it onto his ship and plans to flee to the colonies, adding his own glitches to the blueprint.
- Book 1 · Ch 8Journey to the station
Marius forces Troblum to carry Lucken to a secret station at a red dwarf; there Neskia reveals he must help build ultradrive engines for the Pilgrimage fleet.
- Book 1 · Ch 10Troblum meets the Cat
Marius brings the Cat to Troblum in the saloon; he recognizes her, is paralysed with fear, and retreats to his quarters, disturbed that the Accelerators revived her.
- Book 1 · Ch 14Troblum's escape
Marius attacks Troblum's suite but finds only a solido projector decoy; the ship in the airlock is also a decoy. Marius sends the Cat to kill Troblum.
- Book 2 · Ch 8Marius requests observers on the Pilgrimage
Marius meets Ethan, reveals the Ocisen destruction of a navy ship, and asks to place unsuspended scientist observers and equipment aboard each Pilgrimage ship, offering force fields against the Raiel. Ethan agrees.
- Book 2 · Ch 8Delivery Man confronts Marius in a tavern
Marius spots the Delivery Man shadowing him; over drinks in Ysidro they argue about Fusion and Hanko, and Marius warns of an end to their rivalry. The shaken Delivery Man says he cannot continue.
- Book 2 · Ch 11Marius sends Chatfield to the next stage
Marius, disguised as a neighbor, meets Chatfield, confirms the cover story fooled Paula, and sends him to Frost station and then toward Ellezelin.
- Book 2 · Ch 11Bodant Park battle
Agents clash in Bodant Park; Araminta escapes with Knights Guardian help, and Marius reassigns the Cat toward her.
- Book 2 · Ch 11Ethan imposes quarantine
After the stealthed ship is destroyed over Ellezelin, Ethan orders a quarantine around the surviving ship and is pressed by Marius to help conceal the wreckage from ANA.
- Book 3 · Ch 3Valean demotes Marius
Valean meets Marius in space, downgrades him for the Chatfield and Cat problems, and assigns him to track the Delivery Man on Fanallisto.
- Book 3 · Ch 5Sol sealed in a force field
The Swarm materialized around Sol and imprisoned the system, with ANA and the deterrence fleet, cutting it off. The Delivery Man learns this while arriving on Gralmond.
- Book 3 · Ch 5Delivery Man takes the ultradrive
The Delivery Man reaches Purlap, is shadowed by Marius, takes flight command of the ultradrive ship and, pressed by the unknown executive, sets course for the Leo Twins.
- Book 3 · Ch 5Departure for the Anomine homeworld
Gore collects five confluence nest satellites and flies Last Throw into hyperspace while Marius pursues on Ilanthe's orders.
- Book 3 · Ch 10Search for the elevation mechanism
The Delivery Man and Gore examine another Anomine device, find nothing, and Gore proposes stealing the Anomine's knowledge if the remaining sites fail.
- Book 3 · Ch 20Marius attacks the Delivery Man's ship
Marius fires quantumbusters at the ship in the star; a borderguard destroys them. Gore is exposed and the elevation mechanism denounces his hostile infiltration.
- Book 3 · Ch 20Marius novas the Anomine star
Marius fires novabombs into the star to destroy the power station feeding the elevation mechanism; the Delivery Man barely escapes in the Last Throw as the nova begins.
- Book 3 · Ch 21Marius captured
Fleeing near the Leo Twins, Marius's ship is forced out of transdimensional flight and disabled; Admiral Kazimir arrests him.