Ensign Morton: What the Tangle Can Teach Us
James
((Cockpit, Runabout Kindred))
Vala was part of a team out surveying and studying the collapsed wormhole, investigating the possibility of re-opening it or using it to help the stranded ‘alts’ get back to their home universes. Their team had encountered a stranded Valkyrie from another dimension. The stranded pilot had been out of his home universe for a long period of time and preliminary scans suggested he might have issues returning home. He had a sister aboard the Butler and was headed there for a reunion with Lhandon. Vala was glad they had discovered them when they had and that he was uninjured. And now, the team returned to their original task.
Morton: Ah yes. We’re still within parameters but the picometers per torus manifold is rising as we head towards the centre. We’re at two point eighty-one.
Brzezinski: There’s also a spike in dark matter particles in the area.
Iliac: Yes, I see the same, looks like they build in density towards bearing 251 mark 57.
Tasen: Response
Saa: =/\= Not to startle you all but I’m heading towards the Unity Dow in case anything kicks up and disturbs your readings. =/\= ::he adjusted his seat:: =/\=You science fiends have fun.=/\=
Vala smiled. Saa seemed like a good guy. Like he had a sense of humour. How unfortunate that his first meeting with them was when they were laser focused on the job.
Brzezinski: =/\= Uh… You too. Have fun… flying to that other ship. Uh… Over! =/\=
Morton: So, getting back to those readings. It sounds like this region is looking pretty torn up.
Tasen: Response
Iliac: Everything I see here suggests that this region of subspace has been extensively damaged.
Brzezinski: You think that the walls between realities are a little thinner out here, easier to punch through?
Iliac’s face was pretty telling. Vala belatedly realised her own expression mirrored it; she looked like she was sooking a lemon. Astrophysics was not her speciality but from what little she did know, this sounded pretty worrying.
Iliac: I’d say it’s more like a caved-in entry way than an open door.
Morton: oO Yes, that is a good way to look at it. Oo
Morton: I understand the impulse to punch a way through, but we need to consider the scale of the risk. That region of space isn’t just thinned, it’s wounded. If we apply more pressure, we could rupture the surrounding spacetime itself. Think less 'collapsed cave' and more... cracked hull in a vacuum. Push it the wrong way, and we’re not just sealing off a route, we’re potentially compromising the structural integrity of our own universe. Irreparably.
Tasen: Response
Iliac: We’re not too far from the Tangle.
Vala looked around to Iliac sheepishly.
Morton: oO What’s ‘The Tangle’? Am I supposed to know about that? Oo
Iliac: You know, the Tangle? Vast swaths of gravitational anomalies and plasma storms? The Federation scientists call it the “Bad-er-lands “ or the “Worse lands.”
As soon as she made the connection between the Tangle and The Badlands, Vala’s mind seemed to catch fire. Suddenly she was flooded with ideas, although she wasn’t entirely sure how feasible any of them would prove to be. It went without saying that it would be risky, what with the powerful and unpredictable plasma storms, nevermind the anomalies themselves. There was a reason ships tended to avoid the area - they often ended up disappearing or being destroyed.
Brzezinski: Does that help us?
Morton: I think it does. If we can map its anomalies, we might find natural points where dimensional boundaries are already thin. Places where the universes nearly touch. With the right field modulation, we could open a safe passage... or even guide lost travelers back along the path they came. It wouldn’t be about forcing space to yield, it would be about listening to it, and using the chaos as a bridge rather than a battering ram.
It was the seed of an idea, and she didn’t know exactly how they would listen to it, or make the bridge. She just knew that the theory had potential. Hopefully, the team could collaborative water it, nurture it and see it bloom into a fruitful solution.
Brzezinski/Iliac/Tasen: Response
Vala had been thinking along similar lines too, so it gave her confidence to hear the others giving voice to some of that, but also bringing up things that she hadn’t yet considered, too.
Morton: It would require a slightly different approach to the one we are using now. How could we approach it?
Brzezinski/Iliac/Tasen: Response
Vala was glad to be a part of this team and impressed with what they could come up with together. It sounded like the idea was starting to take shape, but if they were going to take it forward they would need to take reasonable precautions to protect themselves.
Morton: ::Nodding:: That makes sense. But how can we mitigate the risks from the plasma storms?
Brzezinski/Iliac/Tasen: Response
Science Officer
USS Octavia E Butler NCC-82850
O240205VM3