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An Adult Sci-Fi Project (18+ only)
Anomalous Materials
Of all anomaly types, it is Fabrication events that pose both the greatest risk and yield the greatest rewards. Whilst the generation of stable materials can both be bust or boon, the generation of anomalous matter is of far greater importance. These materials present a sustained, on-going manipulation or ignorance of standard laws of physics and their presence is both a direct endangerment of the people around them and an opportunity to harness their capabilities. Many factions benefit greatly from the industrialisation of these materials and there are everyday benefits to their use that often go unnoticed within the universe, but would be strictly impossible without them.
These materials vary greatly in their industrial, personal, and research usage. With some being nothing but a threat to the entire universe itself and others forming the very foundation of great empires.
Novarium
Accelerator of all
Risk category: High to extreme
Industrial value: Extreme
Personal value: Limited to none
A brilliant orange and white crystal, Novarium is a heat intensifier, often heavy but malleable. Novarium generates heat as its warmed, allowing for infinite energy production if carefully manipulated, but it catalyses itself and has no upper limit on the amount of heat it can generate. Factions are always hungry for Norvarium as infinite heat generation is an extremely desirable quality but safety pre-cautions can never be overdone as a Novarium melt-down can become planet-ending should it spiral out of control. There is no shortage of ideas for the use of Novarium and its spontaneous generation is always hotly contested.
Plasmide
Endless potential, endless risk
Risk category: High to extreme
Industrial value: Extreme
Personal value: Limited to none
Plasmide is conductive mineral with a striking blue hue that can both generate and store an infinite amount of electrical potential. At first glance, it appears less volatile and easier to handle than Novarium but is deceptively dangerous as its lethality and range increase exponentially with time. Plasmide comets have been witnessed glassing the surfaces of moons as they pass by, vaporizing everything in massive arcs of white and blue plasma. In an industrial setting, Plasmide is very valuable as it skips the middle man and directly generates extremely useful electricity and has greater fidelity than Novarium, with even small shards of Plasmide retaining its infinite potential. Providing that it is maintained properly, its an invaluable asset to any growing faction.
Ubershards
Opposites brought together
Risk category: Low
Industrial value: Medium to high
Personal value: Medium
Ubershards are grey/black elongated, perfectly formed crystals that are able to absorb and dissipate any impact on their “Hard” sides, no matter the magnitude, but will shatter instantly and perfectly if something scratches their soft side. Each face of the crystal alternates between soft and hard, having a black colour if hard and grey if soft. They shatter in smaller Ubershards if broken. If properly engineered, Ubershards have amazing properties for defensive products but they can be difficult to work with, considering that the soft sides are appropriately named as you can break them with a simple human finger nail. Despite their somewhat dull appearance, there is a hyper expensive market for Ubershard jewellery. They also are perfect insulators, with no form of energy able to pass through one side of the crystal to another, making them exceptional for containing other anomalous materials.
Absolite
Eternally seeking warmth
Risk category: High
Industrial value: High
Personal value: None
Absolite is the polar opposite of Novarium, it steadily and rapidly consumes heat, bringing everything around it to absolute zero. The heat drained is lost forever, irrevocably destroyed. Needless to say, Absolite is remarkably deadly to living organisms, with direct contact being lethal within seconds and exposure varying in lethality depending on what equipment is available. As per usual however, there is plenty of use for such a material, specifically around any industry that views heat as a waste resource and needs to get rid of it quickly. Absolite heat-sinks and even circuit-boards for ultra-high end computing projects (Such as super computer projects aboard dedicated scientific stations) are always in extreme demand as they can solve difficult physical problems. Extreme care has to be taken at all times though, an uncontrolled Absolite mass might not have the same destructive spectacle as Novarium or Plasmide, its lethality is all the easier to underestimate because of it.
Cosmeium
Radioactive Inferno
Risk category: Medium to high
Industrial value: None
Personal value: High
Cosmeium is an ever burning rock-like material that emits massive swaths of radiation of varying forms. It cannot be extinguished by any means and its flames dance through the spectrum of viewable colours as it emits its electro-magnetic radiation. Eventually, Cosmeium dies a spectacular death, exploding violently and ceasing all anomalous behaviour. Its final goodbye is a beautiful, if dangerous multi-coloured rainbow nova. Unfortunately, Cosmeium's explosive goodbye is completely unpredictable, making it all but useless for most industrial applications. Furthermore, its radioactive emissions not only play havoc on most electrical systems but are also exceptionally deadly to most lifeforms. Cosmeium is one of the most common anomalous materials to be generated and has little industrial use due to its random, sudden volatility and hazardous nature. Despite that, most people enjoy seeing Cosmeium flares and comets from a safe distance, as their beautiful trails leave a remarkably colourful scene in the night sky.
Spectrilyte
Impossible beauty standards
Risk category: None to low
Industrial value: Low
Personal value: High to extreme
Spectrilyte is a beautiful, dark crystalline mineral that glows indefinitely and flows with a multitude of different colours at all times, moving over its surface like liquid. Those who stare at Spectrilyte for too long will grow new colour receptors in their eyes, allowing them to perceive more colours of the universe and that of the Spectrilyte itself. This effect is permanent but has never been harmful physically in any form of recorded history, although some people have felt uncomfortable and unnerved to have their eye-sight altered in such a way. Spectrilye also causes "Colour Contamination", causing deep, beautiful hues to seep into matter in direct contact, this effect is also permanent but non-damaging. As a result of its natural allure, there are those who are obsessed with Spectrilyte and claims its their “spirit mineral”, naturally it's wanted for beauty purposes and is highly sort after, but is one of the most rare anomalous materials generated and has zero industrial value beyond its colour contamination. That said, there have been experiments to increase the viewable spectrum of soldiers with the idea of increasing their battlefield awareness, but the results of this have been mixed.
Messiaryte
A gift from the heavens themselves
Risk category: Low
Industrial value: Extreme
Personal value: Medium
Messiaryte spawns in slowly growing fields of brilliant white, feather-like crystals. These fields are always immaculately clean as Messiaryte overrides gravity within its field of effect, slowly lifting and removing other entities from its home. This gravity manipulation can be tweaked and engineered by applying voltage to the crystals, allowing fine tuning of the effect. As a result, Messiaryte forms not just the back-bone, but the entire structure of artificial gravity across the whole universe. The material retains its anomalous property even when refined to the size of a grain of sand, allowing its fine use within a variety of applications. Its slow growth only requires solar radiation to cultivate, making Messiaryte farmable to even the poorest nomads, provided that they can find a growth of it. It should be noted however, only shards of a metre plus in size are able to grow, making the refined Messiaryte used to line spacecraft valuable, but unfarmable. With its almost universally applications, its value high and its natural form of growth, Messiaryte has gained an exceptional reputation across all categories and is a regularly traded commodity within the universe.
Severmeld
All consuming
Risk category: Extreme
Industrial value: Low to none
Personal value: Low to none
Severmeld is a highly erratic and unstable goo-like substance that attempts to absorb and digest anything within its distance, slowly duplicating more of itself as it consumes. Severmeld is extremely difficult to destroy and can eat pretty much anything that exists naturally, with only a couple of other anomalous materials able to resist its all-consuming touch. Once it touches surface with a planet, unless action is taken immediately to deal with it, it's incredibly likely that the entire planet is lost. Once in large enough quantities, Severmeld begins to form "boils" that pop and spit small amounts of Severmeld in all directions. A planet sized volume of Severmeld would produce an boils strong enough to project pea sized amounts at other celestial bodies. Thankfully, the sheer distance between entities in space greatly limits the spreading speed of Severmeld, but it can be absolutely devastating in tightly packed territories, eating through space stations, ships, planets, moons and people alike. Severmeld can be destroyed with enough concentrated energy but is unaffected by the cold. Most major factions keep answers to Severmeld infections in their back pockets, but the sheer amount of damage this material can inflict is almost second to none.
Jankeryde
Paradoxical beyond point
Risk category: None to low
Industrial value: None
Personal value: Low
Jankeryde is a bizarre yellow liquid metal that seems to understand the intentions of living creatures around it. Any creature that attempts to do anything other than observe it, will find themselves infuriated by it, as the Jankeryde will always do the exact opposite of what the manipulator wants, within reason. Trying to outsmart the Jankeryde always fails as it seems to be one step ahead at all times, even more bizarrely however, Jankeryde will slowly melt away into nothingness if it isn't interacted with, ceasing to exist entirely if left alone. It has been a topic for debate if Jankeryde has an intelligence to it, but attempting to study it always results in inevitable frustration. Other than that, its completely harmless and often short lived, one the universes more weird creations.
Etherelk
From death, comes life
Risk category: None
Industrial value: Low to medium
Personal value: High to extreme
Etherelk is gently glowing cyan crystalline structure that often resembles the antlers of a deer and only grows in places where massive amounts of life has been lost. Formed under horrific circumstances, its effects are subtle and immensely positive for those fortunate enough to find it. Those within its influence will feel 'lighter', happier, will literally see health improvements due to it and can even improve psyonic prowess. Good fortune seems to follow those who carry Etherelk and there are generations of families who keep small pendants to pass from parent to child to keep them safe. There is a minor side effect however, those who sleep around Etherelk will often have dreams of dying, but these dreams do not appear to cause any psychological distress, bizarrely. A wonderfully pleasant material with a passive enrichment to those around it, its existence is steeped in controversy due to its steep prerequisites for formation. Many factions, including the Universal Council have launched a massive disinformation campaign to hide its true nature, with the intent of dissuading those who would attempt to brute-force its growth, no matter the cost. Etherelk isn't guaranteed to form at areas of mass death, but its the only place it can do it.
Teleshards
Never seperated
Risk category: None
Industrial value: High
Personal value: High
Teleshards are long, glittering, monochrome crystals always found in conjoined pairs or sometimes more. Fiercely magnetic, separating the crystals must be done with care or they'll end up attracting one another and shattering on impact, Teleshards are brittle and will lose their anomalous effect if fractured to any degree. Aside from physical movement, any effect applied to a Teleshard will always effect its twin in the exact same manner, including vibrations, heat and electrical current applied, regardless of the distance between them. Besides doubling energy applied, the instantaneous nature of the duplication gives them a variety of incredible uses, but mostly for super long distance communication, as they are extremely precise in their replication and conductive. You can be separated by several galaxies and a Teleshard will allow you to communicate with its twin in real time. Absolutely prized by all factions, Teleshards are extremely expensive and highly saught-after but several have been lost in unfortunate accidents due to their extreme attraction when in close proximity to the twin crystal. They sit mid-way between most common and most rare in terms of anomalous generation, but there can never be enough of them.
Infinitum
The journey is the destination
Risk category: None to low
Industrial value: Medium to none
Personal value: Low
Infinitum is a clay-like material that refines into a metal as its worked with. Over its life, Infinitum will slowly accumulate density and physical toughness with there being no upper limit on its growth. Eventually, the Infinitum will reach a point where it can no longer be refined by physical materials and is essentially unchangeable, if it reaches this point in a worthless form, than its practically the universes toughest doorstop. Its also completely sterile and kills any cells or microbiology introduced to it, to the point where its painful to hold without protection. Infinitum is a material that is theoretically extremely valuable but in practice ends up being more trouble than its worth, as the time, care and effort required to cultivate its strength is better used elsewhere, even if the result isn't as potentially powerful. A lot of factions and Terra-corps steer clear of the stuff, but there can be a lot of value in a well crafted Infinitum weapon, even if they are impossible to repair.
Astralyte
A friend from beyond
Risk category: None to medium
Industrial value: Medium
Personal value: Extreme
Astralyte is a regenerative mineral that is typically found as frozen crystals but reverts to a liquid form once warmed to room temperature, it is usually more viscous than water and has a deep violet colour to it. Astralyte is likely the universes most potent healer, making contact with it as able to bring those near death back to a healthy status within minutes of introduction. In comparison to Etherelk, Astralyte doesn't passively benefit people but provides an impossible degree of medical restoration, to the point where its nearly impossible to die if in-contact with it, further more, those in direct contact with Astralyte do not age whilst touching it. Thus, there have been Astralyte implants for those able to afford it, essentially completely halting their ageing and completely rejuvenating their health. The healing process does not deplete Astralyte but it should be noted how addictive the healing is and how badly obsession with the anomalous material can impact lives. Concerningly, Astralyte can be contaminated if its brought into contact with Jankeryde, turning it into Severmeld. Due to this, Astralyte is always monitored closely, although the only instance of this happening was in strict testing conditions, the very fact it can happen at all is extremely concerning.
Ohbeyde
Impossible to resist
Risk category: High
Industrial value: None
Personal value: None
Ohbeyde is a remarkably pretty crystalline arrangement, usually cyan or sapphire coloured, that grows both in thick layers across surfaces and in larger, more traditional protrusions. It grows organically and without any requirement but at a slow rate. Its anomalous effect is both in its unsubstantiated growth and its effect on living organisms within close proximity. It releases airborne wisps that can infect living people and transform them into zombified protectors, completely killing higher brain function and turning the person into a personal guard for the anomalous crystal growths. This infection process has no known cure but doesn't result in a dramatic increase in stats or strength, other than a complete halt to ageing and providing their victims with unlimited energy, allowing the enslaved victims to guard the crystals forever.
Ohbeyde would be rated higher on the risk category if it wasn't for how easily it can be disposed of and prevented from infecting others. Although low and civilian grade hazmat suits will not protect you from the airborne infection, mid grade suits and higher suits are effective, meaning pretty much all factions have the capability to prevent infection once its identified, as long as procedures are adhered to and proper care is taken. The crystals can also be destroyed with heat, allowing relatively low cost neutralisation and by non-anomalous means. Large scale Ohbeyde infestations can be intense to deal with but there are a lot of soldiers who relish the challenge to gun down crystalline zombies and burn out the anomalous infection. Ohbeyde is relatively common in terms of random generation, but infections are generally uncommon in most sectors.
Kinargus orbs
A glitch in the system
Risk category: High
Industrial value: None
Personal value: Low
Kinargus orbs, sometimes called Storm Orbs, are spherical amber orbs that cause extreme kinetic distortion in anything that makes contact with them. Initially mis-catagorized as artefacts, they float naturally and are usually found in the centre of self generated storms. Anything that makes contact with a Kinargus orb will be subject to massive bursts of chaotic kinetic energy, hurling it around with vicious force. If a living creature touches one, they'll usually be torn to pieces in seconds, as the forces coursing through their body will rip them limb from limb as they slam into walls and whip through the air. The effect does wear off after a few minutes but most people are long dead before that point. Due to their contact effect, they are extremely dangerous, as touching the walls or floor of a containment cell will end up tearing the entire complex apart in mere seconds. There have been successful storage attempts however, in vacuum sealed chambers as even the air around them is kinetically charged. They can be destroyed with enough explosives, however, the resulting singularity that occurs afterwards is akin to a miniaturized black-hole and although temporary, is extremely dangerous. As a result, they're either locked up and left to collect metaphorical dust or detonated in the middle of nowhere.
Anchor stones
Portable wormholes
Risk category: Manageable
Industrial value: None
Personal value: Extreme
Anchor stones are generated in grape-vine like arrangements, each one resembling a black, eye-like orb. Each one can be plucked and used individually but before so, it must attuned to an area, which is easy enough to do, only requiring some voltage applied directly to the stone. Once attuned to an area, the Anchor stone must be shattered to enable its anomalous effect, doing so causes a small wormhole to open at the shatter location which directly links to the attuned location, allowing instantaneous – if uncomfortable – travel between the two destinations. The larger the stone, the larger the wormhole and longer it lasts. Small stones will only last a couple of seconds, but most will only last a few hours and some have even lasted up to a week. The only danger they possess is if multiple attuned stones shatter in the same place, as the overlapping wormholes become extremely unstable and will kill anyone who attempts to pass through. This never happens as the stones are always separated once they've been attuned. As a result of this, a bunch of Anchor stones are worth a nearly uncountable amount, corps and empires like will fight bitterly to secure them and for good reason, some of the most important and privileged figures in the various factions will carry an anchor stone as a form of escape, with a sizeable garrison waiting on the other end, in case the would-be attackers attempts to follow.
Voltynite
Violent and unpredictable
Risk category: High
Industrial value: Low
Personal value: None
Voltynite is another “Energy generation” anomaly that starts off as a dense black liquid at cold temperatures and solidifies at higher ones into perfectly formed, sharply shaped, obelisk-like entities that grow in sporadic, sudden bursts. It will periodically unleash massive blasts of energy in various different forms around it. These can be heat blasts, plasma surges, physical shock-waves and radiation novas. The larger a Voltynite Obelisk is, the more powerful and more frequent its disruptive behaviour becomes. Small amounts of Voltynite has been used for energy generation, but their unpredictable nature makes them exceptionally difficult to work with and as a result, only the truly desperate or deranged will seek it out for their own purposes. Although highly dangerous to be local to, Voltynite can be neutralised by physical destruction, ceasing anomalous behaviour entirely once damaged enough, although its tough, most factions will have access to sufficiently powerful arms to destroy it.
Abhorricite
You will answer
Risk category: Extreme
Industrial value: None
Personal value: None
A highly disturbing and extremely dangerous material, Abhorricite is known for its “Abhorricite abductions” which anomaly control agencies are always on the watch for. This insidious material can only grow within sheltered spaces, unable to take hold anywhere within range of light spawned from stars. Physically it is a desaturated, amorphous crystalline growth, eventually forming "mouths" of stalagmite teeth.
Within its local area of effect, Abhorricite will quickly drain and kill anything living, directly depleting soul energy at a steady pace. When it does kill someone in this manner, it grows in size but this is the only way that it can do so. Those killed by this material will leave no trace behind as their form crumbles away, feeding the dreaded thing further.
This wouldn't be so bad as the local area of effect is usually only a few hundred meters at most, but it has one further, mortifying capability. Abhorricite can to call to people well beyond its local area, convincing them that they must immediately visit the nested area. How it selects it victims is unknown but it has extreme range, able to target people multiple solar systems away, it does however give its victims a deadline, usually six weeks, if the victim does not make it to the location within that time frame, the effect ceases immediately, during this time-frame however, it will be almost impossible to convince the victim not to go. Victims will become compulsively obsessed with reaching the Abhorricite node and in most cases, physically restraining the victim is the only way to prevent them from reaching the node.
It is able to be destroyed by sustained physical damage but it has limited regeneration capabilities and will not cease anomalous activity unless completely destroyed. Due to its draining nature, most Abhorricite is handled remotely via drones to prevent risk to staff.
Shadowmire
Watch it closely
Risk category: High
Industrial value: Medium
Personal value: Medium
A dark purple, translucent series of crystals with extremely sharp edges and points. Shadowmire flickers in and out of sight constantly and is completely undetectable to machinery, it must be observed by a living person to be confirmed. Shadowmire crystals will violently repulse each-other with considerable force should they be brought too close. Its points and edges are tremendously sharp and will cut through most known materials with ease. Slipping, falling or walking into Shadowmire will eviscerate the individual unlucky enough to do so. A combination of Shadowmire being invisible for short lengths of time, completely undetectable by non-organic sources and its incredible sharpness make it dangerous to handle or harvest. There have been instances of workmen cutting their own heads off by accident by walking into invisible blades and crystals. It is incredibly tough however and can be made into excellent weapons if handled and refined properly, but care must always be taken near it due to their repelling nature. Occasionally, when unobserved, Shadowmire will duplicate, so most factions will keep a careful watch on their Shadowmire stock. You can imagine how dangerous it would be if a Shadowmire crystal duplicated and repelled one another...
Due to its very nature, Shadowmire is often found in sparse clusters, with crystals deeply embedded in walls and ceilings, repelled and flung away by their duplications. The result of this is a network of razor sharp, flickering, invisible crystals that can slice off a limb in the blink of an eye. One wrong step harvesting Shadowmire and you're dead.
Apollyon Core
Anti-life
Risk category: Extreme
Industrial value: High
Personal value: None
One of the more complex anomalous creations, Apollyon Cores are small, bright red spheres that begin approximately the size of a marble. The core will produce wood-like growths immediately upon birth and will form a sapling, as it continues to grow, it matures into a tree and eventually expands into a Apollyon sphere. It grows this wood without requirement and slowly expands itself as one might expect of a traditional tree at first, its branches and body have a very dry oak-like appearance, no foliage and a twisting, knotted and almost demonic air to its creeping architecture. Initially, Apollyon saplings pose little threat as it grows upwards, thickening its trunk and primary branches, although extremely tough, the wood is able to be damaged by conventional means and this is by far the best time to deal with it. Once it reaches maturity however, the Apollyon Core forms the first of its head sized crimson orbs that hangs from one of its branches, akin to a fruit. The formation of this fruit-like artefact signals the next stage of the Apollyon Cores progression, it is hypothesized that the orbs have an intelligence to them and actively watch the area around the tree for aggressors and opportunities to reproduce.
When threatened or when it sees an opportunity, the Apollyon Core will sever one of its own branches, which will shatter into perfectly formed splinters and stakes. These spines will hurl themselves directly at living creatures/threats with tremendous force and lethal accuracy, the older/larger the tree, the more dangerous its spines are. In the event of a miss, these spines will cease anomalous activity, but in the event of a successful kill on a living creature, they will begin to grow a brand-new Apollyon Core. The wood will grow extraordinarily quickly through living flesh, consuming the corpse within minutes will start an accelerated life cycle immediately.
As the tree continues to grow, its rate of growth increases and it will sprout more fruit to accelerate its growth further, the larger formations are able to regrow massive branches severed for weaponization in a matter of minutes and will send flurries of giant stakes hurtling miles through the air to spread their roots further. They will become more aggressive with larger size, seeking to reproduce and will actively assault any living creatures in range with their spine hails.
Although they can only replicate by killing living creatures, there is no upper limit on the size of these Apollyon trees and they will continue to grow and wrap around themselves, eventually forming planet-sized masses that will fling spines at other space born objects to continue their spread. There have been reports of planets pulled out of orbit by massive networks of Apollyon Wood that spreads millions of miles between planets, linking them in what appears to be a gnarled, twisted network of “dead” wood, punctuated by crimson “fruit-like” orbs that hang freely from its horrifying network of entangled branches.
Because of their extreme danger to life, Apollyon Cores and trees are always dealt with by overwhelming force, because in the event the attack fails, the result could be hundreds of new Apollyon Cores. But despite their active hostility, once the cores have been neutralised, the massive amounts of dead wood they leave behind is surprisingly useful. Some factions, such as the Cold Ones even use the dead wood planets as a base for their hives.
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