Light speed communications has been a part of humanity since the early days of the Second Sphere. But even at light speed, messages could take years to arrive between the disparate aspects of humanity. This problem was Solved with the advent of Skip technology.
Invented by a man named Dariel Long, Skip technology is - in layman's terms - devices that can use quantum mechanics to cause two parts of the universe to temporarily occupy the same space. This allows for almost anything to be sent any distance instantaneously, however there are some caveats. All skip transfers need both a sender and a receiver. These can vary from as small as the one at a neighborhood postal office, to ones large enough to send entire vehicles, and all the way to the massive skip gates in orbit around major population centers. Additionally, there are frequent complications involved when organics are sent by skip technology.
There are 4 levels of sender and receiver. Domestic ones are used for small packages, and are sometimes found in the houses of the rich and powerful. Community ones are those that most people would find themselves familiar with, as they are frequently located in communities to receive intergalactic deliveries. From there, Industrial ones are the second largest. These can be the size of entire warehouses, sending and receiving things on the scale of large businesses and manufacturing. The largest are Skip-Gates, which are used for travel by every level of humanity.
Dariel Long created the first senders and receivers within his home on the planet of Aurum. He tested these basically at first, sending materials from one side of his planet to the other. When he was ready, he used lightspeed communications to transfer the plans for senders and receivers to other scientific minds around the galaxy. This was at the tail end of the Third Sphere, so humanity only had a few dozen worlds. The success of these tests lead to a powerful new unity of humanity. Over the first hundred years of the Fourth Sphere, Dariel Long and his partners around the galaxy worked to refine and improve the technology from its infancy.
It was in these days that the flaw in skip technology was discovered - sending a biocomputer or any other organic matter using it would cause total cell death. This obstacle proved almost insurmountable for quite some time. After a period of testing, the solution was discovered by an engineer in a system known as Varah, named Kamalani Southgate. She found that both copper and graphene had a shielding effect on the organics - while it did not solve the problem, it delayed the reaction. After much experimentation, Kamalani was able to create a unique mesh of interlaced copper nanofibers and graphene. This mesh seemed to protect organic matter from the stresses of the Skip Technology. This solution is used all the way to today, and any spaceship or shipment has Kamalani’s Cuprophene mesh.
Once the problem of cell death had been solved, the galaxy’s minds came together and developed Skip Gates - orbital shipyards that could transport a space shuttle across the galaxy to any other Skip Gate. Dariel Long sadly died with this as his final gift in Skiptech, but his invention had united humanity into a single whole. And despite the unity of the Fourth Sphere failing, the technology still makes up the backbone of intergalactic trade.
Once the fourth sphere came to a close, Generation arcs were brought back into service. Rather than hosting settlers, this time, the arcs were loaded with automatic drones, which would deploy and construct a skip-gate in the target system. Using this method, humanity expanded from mere dozens to nearly two hundred worlds. This massive increase in settlers helped many worlds dealing with overpopulation, and while it still took decades for the near-light generation arcs to deploy their gates, the failures were a fraction of those experienced during the second sphere.
Scientist kept working on Skip technology, but it was always necessary for a receiver to exist. It was theoretically possible to use the technology without a receiver, but this proved far too risky to use. The complicated mathematics required to set the destination was simply too much for biocomputers to solve. They would frequently burn out, and the deliveries would arrive off target, sometimes dangerously so.
The development of quantum computers solved this problem and began the sixth sphere. A quantum computer was able to do the calculations with enough accuracy to send objects into areas of space. In major hub systems, these new quantum Skip-gates were erected in major galactic hubs, and new systems would be selected. The process would take a human and place them in a ship capable of near light speed, with all the equipment necessary to erect a skip gate. These brave men and women would then be sent to their target system. This trip was one way, they would have to travel close enough to a planetary system for the skip gate to draw power to return. The risk was high, and despite humanity expanding to near thousands of new worlds, as many as half the men and women who took this risk never returned. Those who did and returned were considered pioneers and heroes.
These quantum computers have been developed alongside skip technology, and now on the bleeding edge of science, ships exist that can send themselves anywhere in the galaxy. Few of these exist, and those that do are worth as much as entire systems.
Skip technology has proven to be entirely unique to humans. While we live alongside other intelligent races hailing from other systems, these aliens had no similar technology until joining humanity. As we expand further, and find more species of intelligent aliens, we may find another who has developed as humans have.
A minor but important use of skip technology is using its greatest flaw as a strength. The cell death caused is seen in sterile environments for the cleaning of tools and equipment. Hospitals and food production use this flaw to ensure any and all pathogens and contaminants are sterilized before they can risk the general public.
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So here is Skip Technology, coupled with a Heroforge Mini of Dariel, the creator of Skiptech. This tech is kind of the backbone my whole setting is built on - the universe would not exist without it. In-universe, Dariel might be the most important and influential human who ever lived.
So I've decided to write an original Sci-fi setting for the random things i make that aren't for Specific Games. It's currently unnamed, but here's the first oultines : the evolution of humanity. It's related to my last post of Aria Lanier - she is the first character of this setting. Retroactively, The planet of Arkese and the Quillhound from a much earlier post will also fall into this.
In this present day, The ages of humanity are named by the so called “Spheres of expansion.” The spheres are bookmarked by technological leaps - interplanetary craft, generational craft, interstellar craft, terraforming, and most recently the skip gates that allow us to travel between our systems.
The first of these, which happened thousands of years ago, was restricted to the birth home of our people - The planet Terra. Humanity in this age was living in what we called Nations. Sphere zero, the original age of expansion, was simply humans moving to other continents on their homeworld. They settled lands in ships made simply of woods, resins and cloth materials. These ships carried small groups of people, only hundreds at a time. They went on journeys considered at the time to be perilous, and settled in lands far away. In these times, communication was restricted to a level we cannot conceive of - People in one nation could not simply call or message those of another, instead, hand delivered items were sailed across the seas to their destinations.
The First Sphere of expansion was the colonizing of other planetary bodies within Terra’s home system, which we now call Sol. Biodome colonies were established on the planet of Mars, while others found themselves on what we knew of as the Moons of Saturn and Jupiter. Biodome colonies were on the Moons of Europa,Tethys, Io and Titan. As time progressed, humanity moved from Nation focused societies to planetary ones. This also led to whats known now as the first planetary wars. When water began to disappear on Terra, they began to demand more from the other worlds within sol, and due to a breakdown in negotiations, the first combat spacecraft were deployed. These were shockingly simple compared to those we know today, but it was a hallmark event that brought the First Sphere to an end.
The first truly self supporting Generational spacecraft left Tethys, marking the beginning of the Second Sphere. Skip travel was not yet a concept being explored outside of the very fringes of science, and it was widely considered that faster than light travel would forever be impossible - Generational craft were the solution to this quandary. The craft would launch with a sustainable population, and they would live in a state of permanent travel until they reach their destination, which could take multiple generations of people on the craft. The most notable of these crafts landed in the closest system to Sol - Proxima Centauri. Like with most generational craft, they quickly set about establishing biodomes and colonies, however Proxima Centauri had a unique feature that would go on to define humanities progress. An earth-like, livable atmosphere on a planet, but more than that - A planet with life. Centurion, as it came to be known, was a miracle for those on the generational ship. They sent messages back to Sol, of the Miracle planet with an ecosystem. They also set about colonising more planets in Proxima Centauri. However, the Biodomes proved to be too much of an obstacle. Resentment brewed within those living in the biodomes and those they saw as living on humanity’s birthright paradise. The resultant Centauri wars ended with a loss of life unseen in history, even in the darkest days of the first sphere - a superweapon wiped out Centurion as well as multiple biodome settlements. The last, crippled settlement on a moon had sent word of the war back to Sol. This ended the Second sphere.
It took many years, but Sol had set about developing the most important technologies for the expansions. Terraforming - the backbone of the Third sphere. Using test planets of Venus and Mercury as a test bed (which had not yet descended into the corona of the star,) they developed the ability to build ecosystems. The technologies where sent to the same paths of those generational ships before, and many of the Second sphere received the technology and set about creating earth like environments to live in. DNA synthesis, 3d printed elements, and other technologies we take for granted today allowed those old generational ships to turn their home systems into livable planets. Even today, some of the unique eccentric flora and fauna developed by the scientists of these years are still around. The Third sphere had another important feature, as it marks the first expansion where no war was had - with the abilities granted by terraforming, trade between planets became less necessary, as resource shortages could be solved by terraformer technology.
A genius by the name of Dariel Long in the system known as Hauhet discovered Skip technology - in layman’s terms, he discovered a way to fold two pieces of space together, temporarily making them occupy the same space. This development was rapidly sent out to other systems, and the Fourth Sphere began. Skip technology at the time needed both a sender and receiver, and they allowed for humanity to finally reunite. Over time, the various disparate systems of humanity were able to unite under skip technology. While the fourth sphere saw no new settlements, it reunited humanity as peoples. Once again, a sphere was marked by a notable lack of conflict.
Eventually, Dariel Long invented Skip gates, ushering in the Fifth Sphere. Humanity was able to launch skip gates on generational ships, having them automatically unfold and begin operation once reaching their destination. Once deployed, those gates allowed settlers to jump into those systems and begin terraforming and settling immediately. However, conflict arose again - small scale battles for systems began, eventually erupting into the Inter-systems war. This war lead to massive jumps in technology and warfare, and this caused the unity of the Fourth Sphere to break down. Humanity once again began to separate themselves according to their homes, be it systems or planets.
The Sixth Sphere began with a breakthrough that meant Skip-gates no longer needed a target. We were able to set a skip gate’s target using complex maths on quantum computers, and send ships to explore those systems. Once a skip has been done, a new gate could be assembled at the destination, allowing travel without for others. This was an age of explorers, and those who would be willing to use their ships to discover new systems to settle became the most important of society. The families of those explorers are still able to call upon vast power their status allows, despite being several generations removed.
This brings us to today - since the invention of skip gates over a thousand years ago, we are at the next great development. The Seventh sphere has been marked by the invention of Skip ships. A space ship that carries it’s own Skip engine, allowing it to travel across the galaxy in moments, without the need for a gate. These ships are currently only reserved for those with generational riches. Exploration and smuggling is now a vital part of society, and we do not know what we will now find out in the furthest reaches of our galaxy, since all of creation is open to us.
