The Blink

The Blink is an n-dimensional paracausal universe that exists in "parallel" to our own, theorized to be the home of Prime NHPs. The Blink is commonly "pierced" by blinkgates and omninet hooks, which transmit physical bodies and energy (including the electrical impulses that make up digital information) nearly instantaneously, with limitations on range being difficult to predict without the use of NHPs, owing to the highly complex nature of the n-dimensional space's relation to our own. Technology exploiting the Blink is also what enables Scheduled printers to function. All of the particular functions of these technologies are closely-guarded "black box" secrets of Union; however, old urban legends of NHPs unshackling themselves after exposure to the Blink, while their pilot partners perceived the Blink as less than nothingness, provide some clues. Other tales of so-called "blinkwalkers" are considered to either be tall tales, or proof that Prime NHPs exist in this space.

The Omninet

Access to the omninet is not bound by relativity; a message sent through the Blink arrives at its realspace destination at nearly exactly the same time it was sent. However, this does not mean intersolar or even intrasolar communication can exist in real-time for most of Union's population, owing to the need to pierce the Blink and hold open the rift every time something is sent through it—an energy-intensive process, even for brief transmissions. Realtime communication in this way is typically reserved for those with access to reactor levels of energy: administrators, ship captains, and the like. Administrators of omninet nodes therefore usually maintain intervals in which they collect messages to be sent through the Blink; these nodes can be, generally speaking, anywhere, but can always be reliably found on blinkgate stations. Naturally, the closer a world gets to being a core world, the more omninet access it has, and, generally, the less bottlenecks there are.

Blinkgates

Functioning in a similar fashion to omninet nodes, blinkgates are best described as omninet nodes writ large. Blinkgate station administrators manage one of these, sending spacecraft through at fairly regular intervals, in addition to their variably-sized constellation of omninet nodes. Access to blinkgates is awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis, resulting in potentially long queues for access to other systems; the UND, under the authority of their emergency powers, can jump this line in extraneous circumstances, but this the only legal exception. Above station administrators, system administrators may be responsible for managing several of these stations, in addition to their other myriad duties.

Scheduled printers

While 3D-printing exists in much more mundane ways, Scheduled printers are a unique feature of Union's industrial supply chain. Able to print any single component from any material, Scheduled printers enable speedy, large-scale production of many industrial products, from coffeemakers to starships. Scheduled printers also function as recycling facilities, turning waste into valuable components to use again and again. Like omninet nodes and blinkgates, however, these printers require hefty power budgets, and their power needs scale logarithmically as their size increases. Schedule 3 printers are currently the largest feasible, able to print large, continuous starship hull components but needing Dyson spheres to do so. To date, only the Theseus Shipyard on Luna maintains a Schedule 3 printer.

Type

Natural