Waltz suggested I post what I've got about the Immortalists religion, so here's a big ol' wall of text that I'll update whenever I think of anything.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
The Immortalists believe the universe is a microcosm created by the Makers to uplift another species to a greater plane of existence. Nature alone is not enough to reach this point, humans must take ascension into their own hands through the use of synthetics and EVE-cores.
They see the Immortalists as the next step in human evolution, but not the final step.
To them, the Immortals should be respected and learned from, but not idealized. They must aim to surpass them, otherwise humans would grow stagnate and fail both themselves and the Makers.
The Immortalists have split into two denominations; The Anthroarchists and the Polycentrists.
Anthroarchistsbelieve that only race will be able to achieve ascension.
There are two competing theories within this branch.
Humans are the chosen race. The Makers created the universe solely for humans to reach their apex. The Adam and Eve are seen as proof from the Makers for this theory. Other sentient races are only challenges meant to the strengthen humans.
Only one race can achieve ascension. The others are competition and will be destroyed with the rest of the universe once the winners have ascended to the next plane.
Polycentrists believe that all sentient races can achieve ascension and that they should aid one another. The Makers created the universe to perpetually produced ascended races.There's a subgroup within this denomination that believes all life is capable of ascension and see it as their duty to uplift non-sentient life.
Opinions on non-immortalists vary from individual to individual but the general consensus. The general consensus is to respect their beliefs, but all humans should be working to improve themselves.
The Immortalists have their own language called ALIU (Al-loo-ee). In order to use it they have to alter the machine code of their implants, which stops them from using the software created for implants without creating a work around (Usually creating their own custom software or using an emulator) or getting someone else to do it for them. It also means that it's difficult for non-immortalists to understand since the Immortalists generally keep the code to themselves. The code was leaked and emulators were created from it so that ALIU could be translated.
ALIU itself is a low-level programing language (low-level is close to machine code, high-level is closer to normal languages) so that each message is a self-enclosed program. Due to its nature ALIU allows for zero ambiguity in its speech, forcing the speaker to be very specific in what they say.
It's also much faster than normal languages. This enables Immortalists to rapidly exchange information and allows them to act as parallel processors. Groups of Immortalists acting as parallel processors are actually able to reach supercomputer status; however it takes upwards of 200 individuals to do so. Distance also can affect their processing speed. In optimal conditions 200 members on the same planet is the baseline for supercomputing. The farther they are spread out the more members they require.
ALIU is rarely spoken aloud. It's easier to send messages mind to mind over wireless networks. It's not uncommon when communicating over the net or unsecured networks for these messages to be encoded with a cypher. When it is spoken there are two methods. The first is to recite each character individually, making communication extremely slow and difficult.
The second requires the speaker to have an implant that enables them produce a high frequency series of tones of varying pitch
There is another means of communication that requires eye to eye contact and all parties to have synthetic eyes. The message will be transmitted as a series of light pulses from the eyes. It is theoretically possible for the speaker to use another light source to transmit the data, but the receiver must have synthetic eyes or another implant capable of translating the visual data.
Among younger Immortalists it isn't uncommon for them to use a pidgin form of ALIU that combines ALIU with a common language between all parties. This allows them to be more ambiguous in their speech.
There's no clergy or organizational structure. Immortalists are very individualistic, finding it important to establish their beliefs for themselves. Despite this, it's very easy for them to organize gatherings with the use of the net. Gatherings usually involve linking their minds together for a rapid dissemination of information and ideas.
While their opinions may vary from person to person, these gatherings are how they have established their core tenets. When there is a split in opinion among the Immortalists they'll divide into subgroups (Like the Anthroarchists and Polycentrists), with all subgroups still attending gatherings together. Should differing opinions be resolved these subgroups will cease to exists and their members reintegrated into the whole.
Edit: Tried to make it a bit easier to read.
Update:The Anthroarchists and the Polycentrists are the two dominant subgroups. They may disagree on a great variety of matters, but there is no animosity between the two. They do organize themselves differently when not gathered together.
Anthroarchists have created two divisions within their group.
The Brains focus on academics, mainly researching and developing new means of human ascension as well as exploring what it means to ascend both literally and philosophically. Due to the freewheeling nature of Immortalists, they may go about this professionally or as hobbyist; alone, with other Immortalists or even with non-Immortalists.
The Brawn is their militant arm. Largely independent, they act in groups with their own goals. Usually defending other Immortalists or actively engaging alien forces in order to expand human territory. It is very rare for the militant arm to work as a whole and even then it is in the interests of all Immortalists, not just the Anthroarchists.
Polycentrists have two divisions as well.
The Tinkers are the same as the Anthroarchists' Brains. The two work together quite frequently. There is a large divide between the two however. Where the Anthroarchists seek only to improve humans, Polycentric scientists have been experimenting with the uplifting of non-sentient creatures and AIs.
The Branches seek to strengthen ties with alien races, striving for peace where the Anthroarchists' Brawn would use violence. They try to establish trade routes and academic exchanges with aliens.