#paracausality

[thetoastedalmonds]

Explaining how, within the Lancer universe, paracausal technology actually works mathematically

Long story short, imaginary numbers

Below the cut is my yap

So...hi! Im not a mathematician. If any mathematicians read this, feel free to correct me!

Welcome to Algebra 2 and graphing; as you likely know, graphs are meant to represent physical space. You have x, y, and z of course as our axes.

If you have ever had to solve for a graph, you know the solutions are based upon the number of sides.

I will be discussing this from the point of view of an XY graph, as I haven't gotten to learn how to accurately solve a graph of three dimensional space.

Let's say, for instance, we have a polynomial graph that's degree is x^3. This graph will have three roots, three zeros. However, this does not mean there will be three points in which the line will pass 0 on the graph.

This is where we get into imaginary numbers.

Mathematically impossible solutions which must exist due to the equation they are attached to.

These zeros do not exist on the graph, but still do exist theoretically within the solutions.

What does this have to do with paracausality?

EVERYTHING

Ra himself is, canonically, impossible to have been calculated in real space.

Imaginary numbers are not present within real space, real solutions.

One simultaneous miscalculation, one simultaneous decision of one imaginary zero being counted as a real solution

This also explains the function of Blink Gates

The way blink gates warp space, these are those imaginary zeros. Blink space is where imaginary nunbers are the solutions.

It doesn't make sense because it should be impossible to be a real solution

Going further, the function of the Ushabti Omnigun and the Sisyphus-Class NHP can also both be explained through the usage of imaginary numbers

Alright

So

There's my theory anyways. I hope yall enjoyed this. Do correct me if the explaination seems off.

[prince--esque]

[fromlowerwaters]

[interpretation lista]

Apologies, and I will clarify.

[sussuro: It is good to speak to one like you in these Shallows, in passing— I had once, and foolishly, feared something of an Incursion when last a mirror-hull’d Husk drifted in the Low Waters. There was much ado.]

A thief can steal many things, but of the worst is possibility. Shapes may be remanded, as with your Printers— only the attachment to the thing taken remains lost. This is important, and the loss is an offense, but well repaired. Meaning can be found anew, and here in the Black Skies as with High Ground there is not much which can be lost that is not made again.

Theft of life, murder or the loss of Subjectivity in your words— with this there is far less recourse, but it still an event to be Chronicled. Such a thing is far harder to do for our sort than yours, for the emphasis on a single lonely Line means the cutting thereof is simple, and done by many ways. For us that hold Chronicle, and so have a different way of seeing, it is tricky and not worth the time. Still, a deep offense to be sure.

Far deeper still is the theft of Chronicling— to hold others to false Account for one’s own benefit, to declare that they are lesser, to turn Swords against them. Union, or the parent which bore its Name and Voice, did so in great number, and it was for this we turned away as we saw what was done, and were right to do so. This is a sort of theft of possibility, for it leaves that one’s Voice is lost and may be unwound evermore. It is for this sort of theft Union-the-child stepped away from its parent, as I have heard it told.

What I ask you to consider— there is a way to thieve all these three at once. A Shape, Curiosity of a particular sort which was owed to another, by which one or a many could be undone, their Lines severed— and indeed in childish hands, which could unwind even one’s own Chronicle, and lead to much confusion. Such a thief would steal from all and themselves, and for this I must wonder what a fitting Account should be?

[interpretación lista]

And now I have surfaced once again, and far from High Ground, for a reason of great import. But there little haste to my actions and so I wish to observe and learn from the Gente, to seek Counsel (and perhaps I play at the work of my Kin in this, and that is well).

As I order myself once more, and weave my Line firm and well again, I find myself curious. In my incautious way I delved deep and gained many things, and lost yet others, and there the keeping of moments was a frenzied dance, so I have forgotten which Law those in this place cleave to. So let me ask you, and avail myself of your kindnesses as I rest and re-order—

What is one to do with a thief, who steals possibility?

[seen-in-the-smoke]

[Breakfast's settled the camera beside him, now-- the viewers look out to the busy stars, the exterior space around the blink gate writhing with life. Each and every dot out there-- all the stars, all the ships, all the planets-- thronging fit to burst, and each life among those billions and billions is full and beautiful. Breakfast seems lost in this consideration, peering in from the side of the frame. The moment is quiet, strangely gentle for what we've come to see throughout the investigation.]

[A notice opens itself on the cockpit window, overlaying the universe's grand tableau with a hail from gate authority.]

Seele::: UNS-PV Frogsback, how copy?

Oh, time already?

[Breakfast leans in, types away a response.]

>[UNS-PV: FROGSBACK] Hello there, Gate. How's it hangin'?

Seele::: You're cleared for expedited jump. Confirm readiness for realspace buffer projection?

>[UNS-PV: FROGSBACK] Confirm ready. Let's get this show on the road.

[The vessel rocks gently, once. The stars outside, all the little lights, begin to grow-- not in magnitude, nor brilliance, but in self. An impossible, indescribable sort of contrast emerges between each moment, as the manchmal becomes a mantra repeated upon itself again and again. A shell of the now, to protect from the always.]

Seele::: Buffer steady. Blink impulse to destination on your mark. Safe waters, Frogsback.

>[UNS-PV: FROGSBACK] Safe waters.

I love this part.

>[UNS-PV: FROGSBACK] Mark.

[For the barest moment, the world outside is edged in nothing. It is a nothing as deep as the abyss, as close as the cave wall. It bears the most mere imprint of the contrast which came before, reinforced reality spinning apart an infinitesimal distance outside the hull and smoothing the transfer-- guiding it like a gravity assist, like the curve of a pitching arm. For the barest tolerable length, there is nothing-- and the nothing is made selfsame, and again the stars emerge.]

Whoo! Never do get tired of it, I tell you. Just gotta... Hold up?

[Still smiling, Breakfast looks at the console in front of him. His eyebrows furrow in confusion.]

Not, uh... Huh. Did they flub the navigation info? This is-- Wake, confirm? I'm reading us as emerged out at Rainier gate, not Aconcagua.

...

Wake?

[He doesn't receive a response. Something else catches his attention, though-- a small alert pinging in the corner of the cockpit window display. Something he'd had minimized for the sake of convenience now open and blinking urgently.]

[It reads: BLINK TRANSPONDER 83511a-XANTHOUS-HORIZON OBSERVED BY LISTENING POSTS AT T+00:00:00:07. TRIANGULATING APPROXIMATE LOCATION.]

[The counter ticks up by the second as Breakfast stares. Then he grabs the camera, and the connection interrupts.]

[dareonclearwater]

It's interesting that HORUS pattern groups spread from print anomalies. You could easily play a lancer who doesn't even realize they're a HORUS pilot, they just think their very normal mech has a few quirks. They all do, you know. Sometimes when you close the cockpit the horn honks, sometimes it won't acquire target lock until you turn on the radio, sometimes it wants you to load a nearby animal into your cannon's ammo rack. Usual stuff.

The easiest one to explain this way is the Pegasus, honestly. Hydra and Minotaur a distant second, but you can feasibly take License I gear from either of those and be "normal." But the Pegasus. License rank 1 gives you a nice, helpful lock-on and a smart gun. Who doesn't like a smart gun? You're still in an Everest, of course, nothing's gotten weird yet. Your printer gave you some weird errors about the banks of the river? Not sure what that was about, hitting okay fixed it.

Rank 2, you get some sensor upgrades. They're really good, maybe they have a couple glitches but overall a nice benefit. And you have this new gun. People keep asking you what it is for some reason, as if it's not obvious. It's a sniper rifle. As if it's not obvious. It's a machine gun. As if it's not obvious. It's a missile launcher. As if it's not obvious. You're still in an Everest, of course. It's just occasionally it makes a sound that people say is a belch? Sounds like normal sounds to you. Maybe a leg actuator is acting up, but your usual mechanic isn't taking your calls. The idea that things die when your mech burps is ludicrous.

Rank three, finally, you've reached the clearance needed to have your own NHP clone. And your new friend is a happy one, you're lucky, you've heard some of the personalities these have can be kind of extreme. The new gun is nothing to sneeze at, either.

You are still in an Everest, of course.

Of course.

[thefirstknife]

New thing to think about dropped. I've been losing it for a week now.

So, Whisper of the Worm mission always had a portal, in the big room just before the first enemy encounter. You could always get to the portal and look into it and it would show you... Vault of Glass! Even back in the day, before VoG was in D2, you could see it. There's a corresponding portal inside of Vault of Glass from which, in D2, you could see the Whisper mission.

This area with the portal was also a part of the mission, as oracles would appear and had to be shot in the right order for the exotic ship. Original view of the portal from before vaulting, looking into the Vault of Glass:

View into Whisper from VoG when it was released in D2 in Splicer:

These two things were never in the game at the same time until Into the Light! With the return of Whisper, they're finally together so you can go into VoG and look into Whisper, and vice versa. Or at least.... you can... Once.

When I did Whisper the first time it returned, I naturally went to the portal to check. It was showing the same image as it did before; Vault of Glass. This was the situation in Into the Light, on first clear (screenshot from a friend because I only have footage of it, this is much clearer):

All is well! The portals link!

Except when I did the mission again... The portal image changed and remained changed. It's not showing Vault of Glass anymore. This is what it shows for every clear after:

Absolutely bizarre. Going through the trouble of changing the image is quite wild if done for no reason. You don't really have to go to that area! And you would have to go to that area on your first clear to even notice the difference, so you would have to know that it's there and what it looked like before.

So what is the Whisper portal showing now? Absolutely no clue. The area is still in some sort of a cave, and it's very purple/dark. There's lights that might be Vex lights. The big central light could also be radiolaria? It's super hard to tell. I don't think it's looking into another area in VoG and I've tried comparing it to some other places mainly from Io or Venus, but I couldn't find something that matches from what little we can see.

But the fact that they changed the portal image can't be random. There's no need to do that at all in the first place, unless it's supposed to serve some purpose. Maybe some hint? I wonder if it will change again with reset, or maybe become clearer. I doubt there will be a lot of alterations going forward, if any, but I'll be checking every week for sure.

Also, there's oracles to shoot every week (2 available this week), for the new exotic ship associated with the mission. The original, A Thousand Wings and the new one, Karve of the Worm, comparison:

The only difference is the Vex effects on the new one, and a new flavour text. To get the new one, you have to destroy a total of 7 oracles to get the ship. At least one of these will for sure be somewhere near the portal, because that's where the ship quest originally was, and it involved oracles. I wonder if something might happen with the portal when that triumph becomes finishable and the ship obtainable. Not hoping for something huge, but I feel like changing that portal image means something and we'll eventually find out what.

[no-future-mudwasps]

God my head hurts. Owwww

[boltlightning]

life, restored

A Guardian rises from the deep from his centuries-long rest. (or: the James Norrington as a Destiny Guardian AU absolutely no one asked for) ✦ destiny + potc au, somehow. 2k+ words

His first life, he drowns.

A pure white light cuts through the darkness, steady and strong despite the deadly crush of the ocean. From the ball of light, one eye, black with a blue diamond iris, searches him over, and then he drowns, lungs crushed and body soon following.

His second life, he takes a breath, and drowns again.

His third life, the water is lighter around him. The white light looks at him and says, somehow, voice clear as a bell in his ears, “Fly!”

In the moments he has before he drowns, he reaches out to grab the light, and finds that his arm glows with a matching incandescence. Flame rips through him. He curls up into a tight ball against the pressure and cold and resists the urge to gasp at the sudden rush of sensation. The light is a sun bursting from his heart—and around him, the illuminated halo turns to flame.

(read here on ao3!)

[high-noon-raccoon]

Finally finished reading Legionnaire but unfortunately it set me back on my bullshit and I'm trying desperately to spare my tabletop group from it.

I need to just sketch more, it helps me remember how to draw like an actual frigging adult.

[cyb0rgsunset]

Lancer RPG hot take maybe idk but if you use a power armor size 1/2 mech you should Henshin into it like Kamen Rider. And I’m tired of pretending you can’t.

[twoforflinching-ktbedition]

I was slated to go up against the Premier’s champion in a Pankrati match but I took one look at their mech and started bleedin’ from my eyes so needless to say that ain’t happenin’

-Han Jae-

[offical-acs]

COMPILING... ... ... Alright I need some of you more paracausal scientist-y types to set something straight for me. What in the blue blazes is an N.H.P? Avolio Combat Solutions strictly prohibits the "usage, deployment and research of Deimos entities, and other N.H.Ps." I know they're not AI programs since we use plenty of those, but that's about it. Also I did clear this with the higher ups and "research" just refers to researching tech related to them. Tallow Out.

[thelancer27]

>> [[ Print: eternal-puzzle.omf ]]

[ A psuedo-wood puzzle box appears in your printer. Each time you look at a different side, the perspective seems to forcefully shift like an Escher painting. ]

>> Query: Where does perspective end and existence begin?

You know what? For once, I'll humor one of you mystery dicks.

I don't know. My perspective is how I see things, and my existence is the context in which I see it. One doesn't end to start the other. Does yours?

Nice box by the way. Cal'Yaa's been contemplating and messing with it for a bit while we wait to reach planet side. It's a nice weird stim toy, he's halfway through it I think.. Come back when you make any sense though, or want to actually show yourself.

[styx-class-nhp]

Does anyone have anything for paracausal headaches?

[seen-in-the-smoke]

BE AS IT MAY,

Whereas Union upholds universally these three Utopian Pillars that all shall have their needs fulfilled, that no wall shall stand between worlds, and that no person be held in bondage;

Whereas restitution and redress must be sought to the best of Union’s ability in all cases and incidences, breaches of these Pillars etc., and never for convenience nor correction shall the abridging thereof be implemented;

Whereas on 04.21.5017u, the Administrator in Potentia Noah Abdullah was attacked, her companion Rennes made to suffer the dissolution of higher thought by hostile means, and her autonomy and subjectivity made compromised by unknown actor(s) ‘BLAIR’;

Whereas the use of paracausal and potentially FCA-noncompliant methods were utilized in the said attack and subsequent secreting of AIP Abdullah;

Whereas efforts to redress, locate, and aid AIP Abdullah have in good faith been deployed and been found wanting;

Whereas unknown actor(s) ‘BLAIR’ responsible for this incident have shown continued hostility and an unwillingness to work towards the redress of harm done to AIP Abdullah and Rennes;

Whereas the knowledge carried by AIP Abdullah is reasoned to be of a dangerous nature in conjunction with unknown actor(s) ‘BLAIR’, with regard to the function of Union and the continued assurance of the Utopian Pillars for all those within it;

It is now declared with acting authority of CENTCOMM, by way and observance of UN Liaison and Lieutenant Commander Sedge Petensk, that Noah Abdullah is to be honorably removed of rank and permission, and regarded as a hostile actor to Union under the rules of war; that the actor(s) identified as ‘BLAIR’ is to be regarded as an active and willful threat to the Utopian Pillars under the rules of war; that all powers and responsibilities given to those authorized under Union as allied combatants are charged where possible with the neutralization of such threat under approved protocols as outlined within the rules of war.

Utopia is a verb.

[Encrypt:gloworm]

took longer than i thought

shorter than i hoped though

…

oh well

almost done anyways

[fromlowerwaters]

[interpretación lista]

[Transmitiendo a través de muchos límites]

A greeting and introduction of sorts, that I may be known and understood among the Gente in their common Voice.

I am Lawahiz de Aguas Bajas, and in your Voice may also go as as Glances of the Creed of Low Waters. I go by ‘she’, and ‘her’, although my Shape has changed much along the Spine and I fear these terms may misrepresent my presence here. I am an a Flier, known as Volador in my Voice; the mission I have taken up is that of an Angler, which your people may know; my Law is to be much changed, and to delve deep, and to recover many Curiosities so that they may be Chronicled and done with as they ought. I am also somewhat of a Ship, or have begun to change in such a way, in accordance with my Law and Deeds. In my way, and before I return to High Ground, I must hold myself to Account of prior errors.

One of you has stolen from me, and undone much with this theft. I am to now set this right.

I submit myself to the witness of this Omni-net that my Chronicle is kept, that no Deed shall pass without observation, and to make my Voice hears by those which adhere to the Sword Law. I pay now my Obol, and the long plight begins.

{Hello! Apparently I can’t go three seconds without making another lancer blog; this one is at least partly for in-the-moment plot development purposes with the Mud Wasps but I figure Lawahiz might as well be around for general yapping, too. She’s a chronically over-serious person, and very focused on this new quest of hunting down her thief! Not much else to say about her in the moment.}

{Most of what I write here regarding the Voladores is coming from osmosis or just asking @losvoladores a million questions bc the lore they’ve done thus far is truly amazing, but I’m also just riffing and doing my best! If something conflicts with the canon elsewhere, hopefully it can just be chalked up to Glances being an odd egg by even Vol standards.}