Megastructural Engineering[]
Various space-bound megastructures fill the space above the planet's top surface and hold host to low-gravity manufacture facilities, computer nodes, and specialised extracutaneous habitats. They could be considered the planet's "moons". Some of these structures are also found in the Void Mantle, but have to be redesigned to account for the fact that no orbits are stable.
Structures are classified based on their function, presence of artificial intelligence, and the number of individual megastructures that may be included in the total structure.
| Class | Function | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Seraph | Generic, multiple megatructural bodies | Mikha'el, Grand Strategist of the Civilization |
| Cherub | Generic, single megatructural bodies | Space probe sphere, single sentient Matrioshka Brain |
| Throne | Simple machine with no intelligence | Nicoll-Dyson beam, Shkadov thruster, raw computing engine |
| Ophanim | Experimental structure | Psionic Experimental Sphere |
| Chalkydri | Power generation | Power-generating Dyson sphere, Penrose generator |
| Iyr | Observation outside Virgonian space | Mirus, Selten, and Krothul Virgonian outposts |
Dyson Spheres[]
A Dyson sphere built around an M5V-class stellar object.
A Dyson Sphere is a shell of material constructed around a star that is able to capture 100% of the stars energy. However, in the case of the Virgo Birch Planet, these stars are usually artificial. Uses for this energy include computation in Matrioska brains, moving stars as in Shkadov thrusters, and/or as a weapon with Nicoll-Dyson beams. A Dyson sphere can be built around a star of any size. A Dyson sphere can be decommissioned and the stellar and shell materials recycled to be used for something else. Dyson Spheres can also be built around more extreme objects like degenerate stars and quasars. Planets and even other megastructures can be constructed inside the sphere in orbit of the star, including planets.
Dyson spheres form a major component of the planet's Void Mantle and orbital infrastructure but may be embedded in a few million layers of the crust. They are disfavored for habitation however, as all but the equator must have artificial gravity, which is energetically expensive. That said, many utiility spheres will have a "green belt" around the middle which can have livable area that slightly exceeds that of a ringworld.
Shkadov Thrusters[]
A Shkadov thruster is a specialized Dyson designed to direct all the star's output in one direction out of the sphere. This creates thrust which, due to the gravitational attraction between the shell and the star, moves the whole sphere through space. These devices were used by the Builder Civilisation to collapse the Pristini Galaxy into its core during construction of the planet. Many spheres associated with the planet have been seen moving at great, even superluminal speeds. This suggests that propulsion technology has evolved since the planet's construction to employ some kind of clarktech.
Nicoll-Dyson Beams[]
A Nicoll-Dyson beam is a weapon that directs the whole output of the star into a single stream that is aimed at a given target. This can completely destroy a planet in a matter of hours. Using an array of wormholes, the Birch planet can combine the outputs of hundreds of spheres and materialize the beam right next to the target, rather than letting it traverse the intervening space. This allows a target planet or even star to be destroyed quickly and with little warning.
However, the lack of large natural large objects near the planet in modern times means these weapons are seldom used.
Other Megastructures[]
Alderson Disks[]
Alderson Disks are solid disks of material that exist at approximatly the habitable zone of a star. The disk is illuminated by the star and day/night cycles may be simulated by a smaller disk that rotates over the star and bounces light down onto the main disk. The small disk is a statite, meaning that it does not orbit the star, but is held up by the radiation pressure on it. An Alderson disk can have upwards of 1.5 billion Earths of livable area considering both sides of the disk are habitable. Due to this large area, the surface of the disk may be divided into multiple scapes, like the surface of the planet itself. The gravity on the disk is provided by streams of matter under the surface so the surface gravity can be tuned for high or low-gravity life. The Virgo Birch Planet has 1000+ Alderson disks in orbit and some in the Void, tethered to the underside of the crust.
Ringworlds[]
A ringworld has less surface area than an Alderson disc. These are rings that encircle a star with their habitable surface facing inwards and have a variable surface gravity provided by their rate of rotation. Day/night can be simulated by having a smaller ring closer to the star with holes cut out to let the light through to the surface of the ring at only certain times of the day. In the case of the Birch planet, these also will absorb solar energy when not letting it through and use it for computation, often to regulate the ringworld.
Bishop Rings are a smaller structure that simply exists near a star rather than encircling it and thus have an even smaller surface area.
Artificial Moons[]
Artificial round moons can be constructed around the planet also. These can have a variety of sizes as the surface gravity is determined by a core black hole, in the much the same way as the actual Birch planet but on a smaller scale.
Other Objects[]
Many other structures exist around the planet. These come in a variety of shapes including cubes, toroids, spheres, icosahedra and others. They also can have a range of power sources be they stellar objects, degenerate stars, or black holes.
A megastructure of unknown function glimpsed by the Waptoria Alliance nearby four artificial moons.
Ministructural Engineering[]
Nanomachines[]
The planets makes use of speptendecillions of nanomachines, making them as common as bacteria on it's surface as well as the surface of its satellites. These have every imaginable function including repairng and maintaining systems, manipulating weather and environment, adjusting the physiology and psychology of the Virgo System's inhabitants., and most importantly, constantly monitoring and reporting on every square centimeter of the planet.
Utility Fog[]
Utility Fog is simply a denser cluster of nanomachines that is airborne and can perform all the functions at a faster and more coordinated rate. Weather systems that have large amounts of utility fog as a constituent may be programmed exhibit unnatural behavior such as sapphire rain, or tornados that actively avoid artificial structures.
Djinium[]
Djinium is the name given to the miraculous material that composes at least part of the many of the surface machines on the planet. This "genie metal" is so named because djinium can tune its properties and structure to match the desires of the user, programmed through brain-machine via nanites. However, it takes extreme intelligence and precision to make the substance do exactly what the user wants and organic beings seldom posses enough.