The Downstreamers, also known as The Old Ones after the collapse of their multiverse, are a hyper-posthuman civilization. Born in the "primal universe," they are the first and oldest race in Manifold, and are in fact the creators of said Manifolds and the descendants of humanity in a sense. They survived the heat death of their universe, seeking to expand their possibilities in regard to the creation of life, and so reached back in time to send messages to the 21st century.