The Autarch and the Emissary

For all his grip on galactic society, the Autarch remains an enigma---a being around which much conjecture, even entire schools of thought, has been built over the millenia. For a subject and a being so impossibly powerful and complex, we require a simple dissection of pertinent information.

The Emissary

What is Known
Relatively little is known about the Autarch with certainty. His species is not known. His likeness is not known. His region of origin, true agenda, or assets are not known. His lifespan is not known. His whereabouts---most tellingly---remain unknown. Whether or not the Autarch is a singular consciousness, a corporeal being, an extradimensional construct, or inhabiting some other paradigm are not known. What is known is this.

• Despite countless efforts at capture of the waygates, he retains total control.
• Despite countless efforts at replication, only the Autarch, of all known species, possesses the power to fold space through the waygates.
• All pan-galactic communication is facilitated by the waygates through the feed; thus, the Autarch controls the flow of all realtime information.
• An Emissary of unknown species appears at times claiming to represent the interests of the Autarch; this Emissary does not engage in negotiation or diplomatic niceties. His arrival is considered an extinction-level event, in that species who have refused his proposals have unilaterally disappeared.
• Records of appearances by the Emissary date back some one hundred sixty thousand years; there is archaeological evidence from past civilizations that suggests that the Emissary may have appeared, claiming to represent the Autarch, more than four million years ago.

What is Speculated

Entire civilizations have devoted themselves to the study of the Autarch, his waygates, and his Emissary. Ironically, the feed itself is used to disseminate the hypotheses generated by such groups. Either the Autarch does not monitor the feed, or he does not care about their efforts, or their educated guesses are so wrong that he feels no need to intervene. In any event, here are some popular speculations---some so much so that they have become fact in the court of public opinion in some sectors.

• The Autarch is a transcended being, having achieved at some point in the dim past a technological event horizon---a singularity---and passed into a metaphysical realm of understanding. As a transcended being, the Autarch is either carefully guiding the growth of galactic civilization, or cunningly stunting that growth.
• The Autarch is not a single being, but a race of beings who exist in a different quantum reality than our own. Perhaps they live in the non-regions of foldspace itself. 
• The Emissary is offspring or extension of the Autarch himself. 
• The Black Fleet is subject to, or an extension of, the Autarch's will.