2: The Exoself and Divinity
Life has a supernatural component often described as a shadow that it casts on the surface of the universe. It usually cannot be detected, but as the intelligence of a species grows, so too does the size and complexity of the shadow being cast. The name given to this shadow is the 'Exoself'.
Intelligent species have complex exoselves which can begin to manifest phenomena such as psionics. This is the exoself reaching out from the wall to interact with the physical world. When the creature dies however, the exoself disappears. Exceptionally intelligent species however can create self-sustaining exoselves, and live on after death.
As mentioned, intelligence increases the complexity and interaction strength of an exoself. As a species evolves greater intelligence, their exoselves become more noticeable to themselves and others, and are able to start influencing the physical world in increasingly more complicated and powerful ways.
The point at which this occurs, when the exoself begins to interact with the physical world, is known as the Staging Point. It's when a two-way link is created between the creature and the exoself. Psionics become possible such as telepathy and clairvoyance/remote viewing. The mind expands to fill the exoself, which massively expands intellect. The exoself can also be expanded directly with exogenic energy being absorbed across this link into it from the creature, which accelerates the growth of its influence over the physical world. Eventually the direct manipulation of reality becomes possible, such as telekinesis, matter manipulation, and teleportation, and at the final stage is a fusion of the exoself and physical body into a hybrid form that exists beyond both - the stage where immortality and some form of godhood is achieved.
The level of intelligence required to get to the Staging Point however is high, and greater than that possessed by humans. The species of the Five seemed to luck out by evolving with higher levels of intelligence, possibly as a result of their harsh home worlds, allowing them to reach the Staging Point. Human evolution didn't bestow such intelligence however, and so humanity never made it there naturally.
It was still feasible via artificial means in theory however, and attempts were made to reach the threshold with little success. It seemed that the human mind either couldn't be improved, or its own level of complexity was too great for the human mind itself to grasp.
Finally however, after nearly two centuries of research, a breakthrough was made in intelligence enhancement. This advent however was made during a time of great decline in human society caused by a multitude of external and internal factors. The period of strife that precipitated the collapse of human civilisation lead to the rise of several authoritarian regimes, and the spread of misinformation lead to closed bubbles where populations became increasingly more isolated and extreme. The Staging Point was finally reached for the select few in power who utilised this technology, but rather than use it to uplift humanity they used it offensively against their opponents. Meanwhile, misinformation was leveraged by them to turn huge swaths of the general populace against the idea, saying that it should not be available to their enemies. Continued research on it was hence outlawed lest it proliferate into the wrong hands.
This lead to the creation of weapons that could sever still fragile exoself links, and were eventually deployed despite warnings that they could seriously and irreparable harm humanity as a whole, forever shutting humans out of the process. With a populace however fed with propaganda and misinformation, and authoritarian leaders anxious to strip rival nations of this power, these warnings fell on deaf ears.
When these weapons eventually saw use in an inevitable conflict, they predictably blew away the collective exoself of humanity. With this gone, it would no longer be possible for humans to reach the Staging Point. With the limitations of mortal existence closing the noose around humanity's neck, such as climate change and food shortages, as well as political turmoil, civilisation collapsed. The Five subsequently arrived shortly thereafter.
The species of the Five had long since reached the end point in the development of their exoselves, having fully merged with it. As a result they were effectively immortal, possessed powers humans could scarcely imagine, and were physically, mentally and cognitively far, far superior to humans, in every way; so much so that they were indistinguishable from gods. After their arrival they served as a continual bitter reminder of everything that humanity had lost access to and could never attain.