Fiction:Motive/Technology

Excerpted from Imperial Intelligence Database, 10-04 600

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IRON AXIS - TECHNOLOGY - OVERVIEW [3.1]
Motive technology appears to be largely convergent; that is, compared to the generally homogenous technology of the rest of the galaxy, Motive arrives at the same functions from a relatively different set of principles. This is believed to signify that almost the entirety of Motive's technological base was developed in isolation. It is the product of their science alone, with no interchange from other nations.

Estimating Motive's overall level of technological capability is difficult. It is the view of Imperial Intelligence that Motive constitutes a Stage 4 civilization due to its power generation, macroengineering, and supermaterial fabrication capabilities. This estimate is complicated by the existence and widespread use of technologies either far beyond Stage 4 or wholly unknown to the Odryva Stage System.

Motive technology can thus be divided into two categories: Conventional and Esoteric.

Conventional
Conventional technology is Motive technology that is based on clear scientific principles. These technologies are either currently used by or could feasibly be developed by the Bidonite Empire.

What follows is a list of salient Conventional technologies. Matter-conversion= The Matter-Conversion Forge, or MCF, forms the core of Motive's resourcing operations. The MCF is a crude but effective form of molecular assembler that converts matter into energy and back, transforming it into a wholly new material. This not only allows Motive to make use of materials it otherwise has no use for, but also to recycle its own waste materials into constructive forms.

This atomic transmutation is not wholly efficient. The process loses some of the energy as heat, so a corresponding amount of the original matter is lost as well. Still, the ability to make inert mass into viable supply remains extremely useful to Motive, allowing it to make the most of any given astronomical body.

The MCF is also limited in that it cannot (yet) replace conventional manufacturing techniques. It is only capable of changing matter from one form to another, and cannot assemble that matter into new shapes, or produce more than one kind of matter at once. In other words, it can only create raw material; finished goods still require all the usual in-between assembly. Junctions= One of the most visible aspects of Motive technology. While it certainly possesses the means to do so, Motive finds conventional planetary colonization inefficient and insufficient for its purposes. Instead, almost all of its population is housed in colossal orbital megastructures known as Junctions.

Junctions are best understood as the archaic concept of the company town taken to a vast extreme. The average Junction is an enormous artificial ecumenopolis given over almost entirely to industry. Junctions are not a single, coherent structure; they are a complex, interconnected aggregation of structures in a state of constant growth. No attempt to simulate a natural environment is made. All available space is utilized. Both gravity and light are simulated; Junctions are completely enclosed.

After a certain point in their growth, Junctions become known as Terminals. The exact criteria for this change are unknown, but it signifies that the former Junction has achieved a level of industry and productivity that allows it to bring forth a new Monitor into the galaxy. This, in turn, means that the former Junction has become one of Motive's prime power bases. It takes many centuries for a Junction to become a Terminal, and it may take centuries more for a Terminal to construct its patron Monitor.

Why it takes centuries for a Terminal to build a new Monitor when it only takes decades for a Terminal to rebuild a destroyed Monitor is yet another bothersome Motive mystery (as is why it takes decades for a Terminal to rebuild a destroyed Monitor when their shipyards only take days to construct the largest Motive warships). Macrodemolition= Motive's macroengineering techniques are not only used for construction, but also for demolition. Junctions require a literally astronomical amount of resources to construct, and to obtain the required materials, Motive must consume entire planets. With Motive's usual grace, this generally amounts to strip-mining on a colossal scale. The main difference is that nothing it digs up gets wasted; besides useful ores and elements, the overburden can simply be passed through a MCF until it becomes useful.

Depending on the size and type of the planetary body involved, full disassembly can take anywhere between decades to centuries, which is still astonishingly rapid given the scales involved. Motive has several millennia of experience in such matters; it has developed many tools and techniques to expedite the process.

This can and frequently has been weaponized. Mining operations on Motive-occupied planets go forward immediately. However, this appears to be primarily a practical concern; its military applications are secondary to securing the resource base necessary to dig in and fortify. Wormhole gates= Motive hyperdrives are pretty poor -- they make up for it with wormholes Power generation= Two main systems, others exist

Solar: dyson shells overlap with macroengineering, distributed throughout Junctions & used for most industry, also antimatter production

Dark energy reactors: mostly used for starships Pharmacology= Standard-issue performance enhancers (see history of prototypes)

Esoteric
Esoteric or Tangent technology is Motive technology that operates according to principles unknown to Bidonite science. The possibility that at least some of the following devices are utterly unique to Motive cannot be ruled out.

What follows is a list of salient Esoteric technologies. For a full list of identified Motive technologies (civilian and military), see document 3.3.1.
 * Sound-bombs
 * Psychic nullifiers -- also eavesdroppers
 * Hyperspace-topology manipulator