The new direction of the Technocratic Union is embodied in the Royal Society, a collection of the best scientific minds in the British Empire. Actually a number of organizations including the Royal Astronomical Society and the Royal College of Surgeons, this mortal institution unites the secular technocrats just as the old Masonic Lodges lend identity to their opposition. Primarily composed of members of the New World Order, Void Seekers, Hippocratic Circle, and the newly formed Electrodyne and Difference Engineers, there are also a few modern thinking Artificers and Guild members who join, though they are very much in the minority of their Conventions, at present.
The goal of the Royal Society is to expand and formalize the scientific process, so that new technology and theories can be more easily controlled and released to the public as deemed safe. Unlike the Masons, who are organized primarily in opposition to them, the Royal Society is first and foremost about advancing the paradigm. All other considerations are secondary. Only one Convention thinks differently and this is the New World Order. As their continued existence depends greatly on usurping the social and political control that their predecessors have, they tend to expend their efforts (and those of the society) towards discrediting and undermining them.
Unbeknownst to all but Victoria and her inner circle of advisors is that the New World Order is headed by the last remaining members of the Ksifari, and its actual purpose within the new Union is to serve as this mysterious group did in smoothing the progress of its agenda. It is for this reason that they are spending much of their time and energy eliminating the old school and the rest of it laying the groundwork for social and political acceptance of the technology which the Royal Society is producing.
The social philosophy of Utilitarianism was developed by one of these leaders, by the name of Jeremy Bentham, who had been charged with finding a new way of thinking which would facilitate a faster, smoother implementation of the plan. His philosophy is the end result. Based on general social and political needs, it is setting the stage throughout this era for the Technocracy of the 20th century, and its willingness to sacrifice any minor concern to advance its ultimate agenda.
One of the two newer Conventions, the Electrodyne Engineers were formed out of a new breed of scientist, willing to go beyond conventional thought and practice to discover new truths. Innovative and brilliant, they are the driving force behind the Royal Society, even though the more conservative elements of the organization wish they would move more slowly and now flaunt the basic tenets of scientific method quite so often.
The shining star of this unpredictable Convention is Nikola Tesla, the man who will eventually lead them in their defection. A brilliant, if unconventional, scientist, his primary interests are in ether theory, a subject which also fascinates many of his contemporaries. The leadership of the Union is very uncomfortable with the directions that Tesla is taking his research and is considering whether or not to pull the plug on his research. Fortunately, he has recently relocated to the United States and so the Society has been able to put him out of mind... for the moment.
Indicative of the new direction of the Union is the work of the Difference Engineers and the Void Seekers. The former are hard at work correlating massive amounts of information collected by the New World Order into a massive Correspondance effect whereby criminals and undesireables can be tracked and identified from clues left at crime scenes and descriptions given by witnesses. Central to this effort are the fantastic machines of Convention founder Charles Babbage. Able to collate and organize incredible amounts of data in a short period of time, many within the Society see them as part of the new direction which will lead the Union into the future.
Currently, the work of this Convention is being kept very quiet. Publically, Babbage's machine has been discredited, much to his chagrin. However, given its potential and its current usefulness, the Union is unwilling to introduce it until the full ramifications are considered. In the meanwhile, the handful of Difference Engineers at Somerset House work on one of the more ambitious projects of the century, unknown to all but the members of the Society.
With the Age of Exploration waning, those members of the Union who once plied the waves in search of new lands raise their eyes to the stars. Two Conventions, the Celestial Masters and the Void Seekers, recently merged when the interests of the two groups became so similar as to make it pointless to remain apart. With the great majority of the world mapped and cataloged, the Union is now turning its attention to the next great frontier - space. Laying the groundwork with fiction like that of Jules Verne, they prepare to take to the stars and define them with the same methodic effort that they have mapped the world.
This is not to say that the effort on Earth is entirely finished. The ocean depths, for one, are still a mystery and demand further exploration. Also, there are many dark corners left in the world, particularly at the poles and in darkest Africa, which require further treatment. As these efforts continue, the artifacts continue to come back to London, where they are numbered and stored for later reference. Of particular interest are the treasures of Egypt, just recently come into the hands of the British Empire. So compelling are the sands of this ancient land, that many members of this Convention have looked away from the stars, if just for a moment.
Making progress in leaps and bounds, the Circle is still aware of the long distance still to go in alleviating the suffering of the Sleepers. While medicine is advancing at an astounding rate with the discovery of penicillin and sterilization, there are still more quacks than surgeons and more false elixers than true medicine. Urging the Union to take more control over medicinal substances and encourage the adoption of health codes, they struggle to keep ahead of the latest maladies.
Surprisingly, despite this the Circle is one of the more vocal critics of the new Utilitarian philosophy, pointing to the very real harm to the health of the people which is the result of unchecked progress. With minimal interest in actual technological progress, they are less willing than other Conventions to sacrifice the well-being of anyone to its further development. However, this is merely the majority opinion. There is a growing contingent who sees great opportunity in this new way of thinking for advancing their research, which the rest consider an irresponsible attitude and utterly deplorable for a doctor.