Tacitus

The Tacitus is an ancient and extraterrestrial data matrix containing vast knowledge of tiberium's origins, purpose and use. It is structurally similar to tiberium itself, since it has been described as a crystal lattice with massive amounts of alien data embedded in it. Originally observed to be a greenish glowing spherical object with strange symbols covering its whole surface, the Tacitus later appeared to be fiercely glow orange, with the diagrams, images and data visibly fluctuating within it. It is intimately linked to Kane's Ascension Prophecies and his plans for a tiberium world. Among its secrets are the blueprints for creating tiberium-based life, engineering data for constructing interstellar craft, vast information on the Scrin civilisation and technology, and data on the use of tiberium to ultimately dominate worlds or, possibly, to control the entire Universe.

Though it was originally thought to belong to the Scrin, taken from an alien craft in the Second Tiberium War, it is more likely that most of the device was in Kane's hands for centuries, with the other segment being kept by a small cult in a heavily tiberium-contaminated region of Colombia near Bogota. Tratos, the mutant leader, remarked that Kane gained the ability to create tiberium-based life using knowledge from the Tacitus, and because those Divination projects were underway in 1997 it is likely that Kane possessed the device as early as then.

Timeline
The timeline of all known events regarding the Tacitus is disputed, but the following events are attributed to the Tacitus:

Pre-1995: Kane already had foreknowledge of tiberium's secrets and claimed prophecy of it, indicating that he possessed the Tacitus as the source of this knowledge

1997: Project Regensis was launched using the knowledge to create tiberium-based life, which could only have been derived from the Tacitus

1997: The Tacitus was lost deep beneath the ruins of the Temple of Nod at Sarajevo, at the end of the First Tiberium War

2030: GDI came close to excavating the Tacitus from the site of the Sarajevo Temple

2030: When Nod attempted to secure the artefact by attacking removing GDI from Sarajevo, Mutants stole it and escaped, bringing it to Tratos

2030: Nod pursued the Mutants, leading them to their headquarters, attacking it in the guise of GDI, capturing both Tratos and the Tacitus (though the latter was not known to Slavik)

2030: Kane made Tratos translate the Tacitus for him, granting him the knowledge to create tiberium based life and transform the Earth with a single World-Altering Missile

2031: Tratos was freed by GDI and provided information on Kane's plans for the device

2031-2033: Kane successfully constructed the WAM and more Divination technology using the Tacitus' knowledge

2033: Kane was defeated at Cairo and GDI took the Tacitus from him

2033: The Tacitus was inside the Kodiak when it crashed, but was reclaimed by GDI in a tactical operation (it may have been damaged in this incident)

2034: Tratos was assassinated by NOD, forcing GDI to capture a CABAL core to translate the Tacitus

2034: GDI used the captured CABAL core to attempt Tacitus translation- which failed due to the device being incomplete, with a second segment existing near Bogota, Colombia

2034: GDI raided an ancient temple dedicated to the Tacitus and retreived the missing segment; GDI united the Tacitus segments within a CABAL core and CABAL subsequently betrayed its GDI and Nod victims alike, taking the now complete Tacitus for itself



2034: CABAL defeated- GDI took the Tacitus and were able to translate it properly, gaining enough data to limit tiberium contamination to forestall humanity's extinction (Dr Boudreau had earlier predicted that in one year Earth's atmosphere would be 100% toxic to humans)

2035: GDI moved the Tacitus to an InOps Intelligence Centre in B-2 for continued study, and discovered a hidden warning about a future Alien invasion by a race known as the Scrin

2047: The Scrin invaded Earth after being drawn to a liquid tiberium explosion, verifying the warning within the Tacitus

2047: NOD forces commanded by LEGION intercepted and captured the Tacitus while it was in transit in China, inside a GDI MCV; as Nod prepared to link it to LEGION, Alexa Kovacs betrayed Kane by infecting LEGION with a virus, preventing the operation, and the device thereafter seems to have fallen back into GDI's hands (though it is not clear how this happened)

2047: The Tacitus was placed within a special housing facility in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, heavily defended by GDI energy barriers and bases

2047-2052: GDI conducted hazardous experiments on the Tacitus at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, rendering it dangerously unstable

2052: The Marked of Kane stormed the Cheyenne Mountain Complex and retreived the Tacitus; Kane then immediately linked the device with LEGION, giving the Brotherhood full access to an impregnable Scrin Threshold Tower in the Mediterannean Red Zone with the assistance of the key code from a previously captured relay node, purportedly fulfilling Nod's Ascension Prophecies

Origins
Kane is widely (and evidently mistakenly) believed to have acquired the Tacitus briefly, from an alien ship, but the best hypothesis now is that the Scrin ship was not the source of the Tacitus, as GDI secret research has confirmed that the Tacitus is not a Scrin artefact at all regardless of the linquistic similarities found (showing there may have been "ancient contact between their two cultures").

Instead it makes more sense to look to Sarajevo as the original home of the Tacitus: when reclaiming the ruins of the Temple of Nod in the Second Tiberium War, Kane stated that "GDI is excavating and is getting dangerously close to something they must not discover!'. At the time, it was not known what artefact Kane referred to, but he clearly regarded it as something of the utmost importance. When Slavik's forces arrived, they overheard a mutant transmission state "hurry, before they see us. We must get this to Tratos immediately" referring to an unidentified artefact.

The mutants subsequently escaped the grip of Nod, likely bringing the as yet unidentified item to their headquarters. It is noteworthy that if it was indeed recovered from deep beneath the ruins of the Temple, this proves that it is likely that it was in Kane's hands in the First Tiberium War (technology was likely not advanced enough for him to make sense of its secrets then). Nod reports in the 2030s also referred to Kane's "centuries of work"- most likely regarding the Tacitus, indicating that he indeed possessed it for centuries (in accordance with the evidence of his own agelessness or immortality). Kane would later introduce the Tacitus to Slavik stating "its tiberium serets can make or break empires!" and this was part of a Nod effort to regain it, though Kane preferred not to frequently discuss the device with Slavik. The Nod focus was on the Mutants, with Nod making an assault on the Mutant headquarters in the guise of GDI which led to the capture of Tratos. This would have been the point when Kane's servants reclaimed the Tacitus without even Slavik being informed, allowing Kane to resume his work on the World Altering Missile and Divination projects.

With the conclusion that the Tacitus was already in Nod's possession in the First Tiberium War, and was not Scrin derived, it is conceivable that Kane possessed the device all throughout the Brotherhood's existence, which according to them dates back to the murder of Abel by the biblical Cain. Directly correlating with this is the fact that a second segment of the Tacitus was not possessed by the Brotherhood, and was instead guarded by a cult in South America, where a GDI archaologist discovered an ancient Precolumbian temple which existed solely for the Tacitus and housed the missing segment, with ancient text upon it reading 'Temple of the Tacitus'. The Tacitus therefore presents a similar mystery to Kane and the Brotherhood itself, with it being possible that the three date back several millennia. This ultimately leads back to the oldest text believed by some to make mention of Kane and Nod- the Bible's Book of Genesis.

If the Tacitus is mentioned within Genesis, then it could be that the Apple of Knowledge of Good and Evil refers to the device, since the Tacitus does hold great knowledge that can be used for good or evil, that Kane believes can unlock mankind's destiny.

Interestingly enough, the smaller segment of the Tacitus draws parallels with the piece Eve broke from the apple to offer to Adam, who accepted, thus causing the Fall of Man.

Kane's work
Kane knew that the Tacitus was critically important, and while he could translate it himself, he enlisted the services of the mutant leader Tratos to help him with the translation. Other than Tratos, CABAL was the only entity other than Kane that knew how to translate the Tacitus. Kane used technology gleaned from the data matrix to research several important pieces of technology, such as the Banshee aircraft or the secrets of Tiberium, which allowed him to create a World Altering Missile. However, before he could use the missile, his temple was overrun by GDI forces, who discovered the Tacitus in the wreckage of Kane's Temple of Nod.

Another technology Kane developed was the liquid Tiberium utilization tech, which in addition to allowing the Brotherhood to develop an arsenal of new weaponry, allowed him to lure the Scrin to earth to acquire their teleportation Thresholds.

CABAL
After GDI procured the Tacitus, they had great difficulty translating it. However, they realized that it was the source behind the Tiberium missile, and possibly several other weapons. At the beginning of the Firestorm Crisis, it was their only lead to prevent the atmospheric contamination caused by Tiberium from reaching critical levels. To this end, they attempted to have it transferred from the Cairo Temple to a GDI research center and delivered to Tratos for decryption.

Before that could happen, CABAL had Tratos assassinated, and GDI was forced to capture CABAL for translation. CABAL informed them that a second piece of the Tacitus was needed to complete the translation. Once GDI recovered the second piece, CABAL turned on his former masters, intent on using the Tacitus for himself. By the time the Firestorm Crisis had been dealt with, Cabal had used the Tacitus to create a second doomsday weapon, the incredibly powerful Core Defender. GDI was able to recover the Tacitus after destroying both CABAL's core and the Core Defender.

GDI discovered that with the addition of the second piece of the Tacitus, no decryption or translation was necessary. With this data, GDI was able to use its sonic emitter technology to break down Tiberium, decontaminating Red Zones into Yellow Zones and eventually the Blue Zones. The emitters were also used to decontaminate the oceans, which were fouled with Tiberium Algae. Ironically, the sonic technology needs Tiberium-powered systems to work.

After the breakthroughs by Doctor Gabriella Boudreau, the processing of Tacitus data slowed significantly, especially when GDI began testing the device, which led to its destabilization. The scientist theorized that while it was in his possession, Kane removed an unknown quantity of data from the Tacitus, though the purpose of this data is unknown.

The Warning
Both Kane and GDI acquired information about the arrival of an advanced alien species on Earth, in the event of a liquid Tiberium explosion. GDI saw this as a warning, while Kane viewed it as instructions on how to "invite" a race of beings with great knowledge of Tiberium to Earth. Although he saw the Scrin as "visitors", Kane took the liberty to prepare specially designed missiles for use against them. The GDI modified the Ion Cannons, allowing them to engage non-terrestrial, high speed targets, possibly due to this information. When the Scrin themselves were detected approaching Earth, GDI's acting Director, Redmond Boyle interpreted this as an invasion, and opened fire on the Scrin. Decrypted Scrin transmissions and data files recovered from Scrin structures indicate that this may have been one of the reasons the aliens' invasion was so violent from the moment they landed.

The intelligence about the Scrin is incomplete, even though GDI has spent years studying the Tacitus. It is clear that whatever race designed the Tacitus was different from the invaders, but referred to them as "brother", "ascended", "enemy", and finally "Scrin". Although it seems unlikely the Tacitus was a direct product of the Scrin, it is fairly obvious that the makers were aware of them, or even related to them, perhaps a case of divergent evolution from a common ancestor.

The Tacitus was being researched in China, but GDI felt the need to transfer it to North America, where it could be better guarded. ZOCOM forces were entrusted with the convoy carrying the device, but were intercepted by LEGION-led Nod forces. While successful at capturing the device initially, due to Alexa Kovacs's interference LEGION was shut down, and Nod troops escorting the device lost their uplink to Nod command. This allowed GDI to take back the Tacitus and move it to North America.

LEGION
The Tacitus, safely contained within GDI's Cheyenne Mountain Complex became unstable, and GDI eventually stopped tests on the device for fear of its destruction and loss of invaluable information. Kane, infuriated at the GDI scientists toying with what they barely understood (Kane described the situation as "...like children playing with a nuclear weapon; they have no idea of what they have, no idea of it's power!"), ordered the reactivated LEGION to locate and activate the Marked of Kane, so that they could invade the Rocky Mountains and secure the Tacitus. With help from the Black Hand 2nd Armoured Regiment, and a smaller Nod Strike Force, The Marked succeeded in their mission.

While the device was still unstable, Kane was pleased with the success, as it allowed his plans for LEGION to bear fruit. He connected the device to the AI's receptacle, allowing it to tap into and absorb the knowledge contained within it.

Naming
Kane named the alien data matrix after Publius Cornelius Tacitus, a well known Roman historian known for his works, the Annals and Histories. This is similar to Kane's claim to have named Tiberium after the Roman Emperor Tiberius.