anomaly

The anomaly (aka the fugue, the break, the rupture) is a complex, unpredictable, logic breaking and mysterious force in the universe. It has existed ever since the universe has. It can be manipulated but its unpredictability is always a threat no matter how skilled the manipulator is.

Nobody not even the smartest beings in the universe know or understand how exactly it works. Some speculate it is an intelligent god-like entity with a mind on its own, but there is no evidence for that.

what can anomaly do?

All forms of anomaly can break physics and minds in various ways.

• slow down or speed up time
• shift space in all kinds of odd impossible seeming ways
• teleport matter or energy
• change or invert gravity
• erase memories
• make one see things that don’t exist
• make one remember things that didn’t happen
• make one see things that happened far away and/or far back in the past
• make one lose consciousness or die
• can alter sound, light or radio waves or completely block them

what can’t anomaly do?

Despite its complex nature anomaly is still bound by physics to large extent.

• The anomaly cannot cause time travel in the past.
• Anomaly cannot create new matter or energy only teleport it.
• It also cannot completely delete matter or energy.
• Anomaly seems to have some kind of cap how far it can teleport objects and it generally cannot teleport anyone outside the Milky Way galaxy.

appearance

A lot of the time anomaly (fugue or rupture) does not have any specific appearance and is pretty much invisible and it has no color. However other times depending on its effect to a distant observer it can seem to appear in various different ways, sometimes in multiple at the same time. In case of fugue the effect will be permanent or slowly shifting while in case of rupture it will be a sudden quick glitch.

• when it bends or teleports light it will appear as kind of a visual glitch or distortion (think light passing through hot air above a campfire just way more pronounced) or a curved mirror. These are the most common effects and usually appear alongside the others.
• it can appear to emit light if it happens to open a portal to a location that is illuminated.
• It can appear as a kind of a floating window to another world
• It may also emit or muffle sound.
• It may appear as a hallucination completely rooted in observers psyche like a dream and invisible or appearing differently to others
• It can appear as simply black empty hole.

forms

There are three main ways anomaly can be observed and interacted with:

• fugue - which is an increased presence of anomaly in a certain location that could be anywhere in space.
• A break or rupture - sudden random unpredictable anomaly induced event. Usually happens in the presence of fugue or neurons but sometimes seemingly completely out of nowhere. Can be extremely deadly or peaceful.
• manipulation - a deliberate attempt to create a controlled anomalous rupture.

manipulation

The only known ways for humans to manipulate the anomaly is either by using Tsiktral’s neurons or by receiving the fugue gift from the hive. To use the neurons they must be mined and connected to users brain in a special operation. Usually the neurons get permanently attached to the patient’s upper back or even implanted under the skin there and connected to the brain using special artificial nerves. The operation to install the neurons is risky due to high chance of triggering a rupture so it has a high failure rate.

operators

The patients that have successfully received the operation are referred to as manipulants, while the ones that have received the fugue gift from Tsiktral are referred to as the Gifted. Everyone that can manipulate anomaly can be referred to as operators. Any intelligent biological creature with an independent intelligent mind can technically become a manipulant or Gifted and operate anomaly. Tsiktral is also an operator itself. Machines can never become operators because they lack a biological brain. Hive spawns also cannot operate the anomaly unless they become rogue (for example - rogue diplomat spawns), because their mind is not independent.

Operators can control the anomaly to a certain extent and create ruptures. For humans Gifted are usually slightly more powerful than manipulants due to the fact that their biological modification is more qualitative and gives them finer control while the artificial nerve connection of manipulants is somewhat flimsy. Manipulation requires a extreme focus from the operator - for a moment nothing will happen at all but once successful the result will happen instantaneously like a pop.

use cases

There are many things that operators use the anomaly for, those include:

• navigation (skilled operators may sense the presence of fugue fields to map out safe paths or understand their location)
• teleportation (both self and of other objects, including even a whole ship using anomaly FTL travel)
• telekinesis (by changing the gravity in an area)
• observing distant areas or past events
• stunning or confusing enemies by manipulating their minds
• blocking sound or listening to distant sounds.
  However all attempts to use it comes with a level of risk.

risks

All attempts to manipulate anomaly carry an inherent risk of unpredictable rupture. The risks can be minimized by focusing with no distractions, experience and careful training for operators. However it is never 0. Large portion of operators die from anomalous accidents. Teleporting somewhere with some of the body parts missing is unfortunately a common fate for operators. Common risks involve :

• partial teleportation
• inaccurate teleportation (for example teleporting deep underground instead of on the surface or somewhere completely else)
• loss of consciousness
• sudden death
• crippling from the bending of space
• getting stuck in fugue
• loss of memory
• loss of sanity
• hallucination
• falling into space due to inverted gravity
• attempting one kind of rupture but getting something completely different happen (you attempted telekinesis but got teleported instead)
• getting smashed, yanked or ripped apart by forces
  and countless other risks.

relevant factions

There is a small number of anomaly operators (mostly manipulants) among most factions but just a few factions are known for it:

• Fugue Cult - a group of science minded, knowledge seeking or simply adrenaline junky Nomads crazy enough to mine neurons, attempt to enter fugues and operate anomaly. They are probably the one group with the best understanding of anomaly aside from Tsiktral itself. Many of them become manipulants.
• The Hive - Tsiktral itself can operate the anomaly and it does so quite often. It is multiple magnitudes more powerful than any other operator on Euphrosyne. It can also grant the fugue gift to its non hive followers.
• Blue Palm - these clanfolk worship Anomaly like a goddess. They refer to it using pronoun “She” as if it was alive. They use a blue palm symbol to represent it and believe to be a sentient god often asking it questions using visions from it. Some of them go through ritualized operations to become manipulants which is a highly revered status in the clan.
• Bijou Clan - clanfolk who worship Tsiktral. Some have received the fugue gift and therefore can operate the anomaly.