Holon Bubble

A holon bubble is a region of Unallocated Space which, though it may contain more than one instance within it, is temporarily or permanently isolated from the rest of the Matrioshka Multiverse.

Geography

Holon bubbles are created when portions of the Matrioshka's hardware suffer a loss of data connections with the rest of the megastructure, whether implemented through software or hardware changes.
Affected regions of Unallocated Space appear entirely empty, though travellers may notice a spacial discontinuity (colloquially known as 'jumping') effect when they try to pass through where the space used to lie. Choir blanks and others deeply attuned to the workings of the megastructure - as well as those well-versed in error-handling aspects of The Word - are quick to become aware of the nature of the phenomena and can, with access to robotic platforms in physical space, potentially resolve the issue.
To those trapped within a holon bubble, the portion of affected Unallocated Space appears to be the usual dusky purple nebula, but the only visible 'stars' are other trapped instances and the surrounding space appears dark. Because the black hole the powers the Matrioshka Multiverse still powers the affected hardware unless it is jettisoned (see below), the simulated orange 'sunlight' provided by it persists in the small pocket of accessible Unallocated Space.
Holon bubbles are different from aberrant flowerings and other patches of inaccessible space because, despite their inaccessibility, they may continue to 'function' normally as long as the underlying hardware is powered. For example, instances within the bubble experience the normal flow of time and, as long as supporting construct blanks are trapped as well, can continue existing without much apparent change for the lives of instance blank residing within. Holon bubbles are also distinct from holonomy traps in that, no matter how clever the work done by the residents, there are actually no routes in or out - obscure or otherwise - until the underlying issue with the structure of the Matrioshka Multiverse are resolved.
Holon bubbles are typically created accidentally as a result of physical damage to the megastructure, but, in rare occasions, they may also be intentionally created as a means of containing some malicious condition local to the effected area. For example, if an aberrant flowering cannot be contained through standard software and repair-based means, it may be safer for the rest of the Matrioshka to jettison the corrupted hardware module and rebuild it with captured asteroid minerals. Because any blanks caught wholly or partially within the module are likely to suffer true death - and any survivors are exiled from the Matrioshka for what could be eternity - this is considered an option of last resort. Residents of these doomed modules see the 'sunlight' fade as the black hole retreats into the distance, the hardware slowing simulation speed to conserve power until all function - and perceived time - eventually stops.

Ecosystem

Corrupted blanks and instances may appear at the boundaries of the holon bubble where they were cut into pieces by the sudden loss of connection. Even should the connection issue be resolved, these unfortunate creatures and spaces remain damaged and require ramediation by entities like the Allocator and agents of the Committee on Instance Design Standards. For this reason, if at all possible, construction generally does not occur at the boundaries in Unallocated Space between regions handled by different hardware modules; if there are no other options for a given project, redundancies are established at either side of the boundary to aid in repairs should a disconnection occur.

Location under

Unallocated Space