To bend space-time is a relatively simple matter. Available to many civilizations that have barely industrialized, the mere bending of space-time is but nothing compared to the technology of today's civilizations. At the current level of civilization, total mastery of space is unlocked and with it comes fabulous technology such as full utilization of the SICTIRIAD process.
Superspatial Inner Curve Transformational Inflation Ring Intersect Alteration Distortion is a process mostly used for the mass-transport of freight. The planet-spanning megastructures required to sustain this technology are available to only worlds willing to spend the vast sum for construction. The benefit is access to interstellar trade on levels unseen before this technology's invention.
he devices which use this process are massive space-stations requiring the energy output of whole planets to operate. While numerous ancient civilizations have developed the process independently, in modern times, the technology was first widely used in Aylathiya in 84,071 CE. A project meant to support military logistics, SICTIRIAD would go on to become the dominant form of mass travel in Aylathiya. Once civilians had access to the technology, trade, and immigration greatly increased.
Currently, SICTIRIAD technology is rapidly replacing Hex Drives for FTL travel. As energy-cost increases with the exponentially with distance, travel between somewhat distant areas is predicted to never be practical. It is estimated that by 101,000, most infrastructure designed for mass travel would use the SICTIRIAD process.
The SICTIRIAD Process[]
Cosmoria can be thought of as a very large bubble. This bubble has five dimensions to it (at least as far as SICTIRIAD is concerned, in reality it has several more irrelevant ones). Three of which are spatial and two of which are temporal (although this second one, much like higher spatial dimensions, is "scrunched up"). For the sake of simplicity, Cosmoria will be further represented as a circle. Everything that lies within it can be thought of as being on the surface of this circle.
Our universe can be imagined as a circle
When a large amount of exotic matter is gathered in one place, that is, matter with a negative mass, and oriented in a specific way, space time warps enough to pinch a small amount of it off of the main universe. This pinched-off mass forms what is called a Surface Travel Bubble. A helpful analogy is how a cell splits during mitosis, the only difference being that the volume of a Surface Travel Bubble is often infinitesimally small compared to the main universe.
A way to visualize our own universe and a newly created STB (not to scale)
When the Surface Travel Bubble first comes to be, it undergoes a period of rapid expansion. From the perspective of the main universe, this STB expands to larger than Cosmoria in a matter of minutes. However, were someone within this universe, nearly a googol years would have passed by. Within the center of the STB is a "white hole." A white hole, in this case a virtual white hole, is the opposite of a black hole; it is a region of space nothing can enter. White holes have a functionally negative mass, rather than slowing down time as black holes do, they accelerate time.
The STB expands to be much larger than our own universe in a matter of minutes in our time
What creates this white hole is the exotic matter used to created the STB itself. The technology for creating an STB requires for a large amount of exotic matter to be put into it. The negative mass of the white hole causes the the STB is become far larger than the regular universe. This highly expanded STB is so much larger than Cosmoria that it intersects Cosmoria across a wide area. Where the STB intersects the universe is often mega-meters across with a larger STB correlating to a larger range for the ship that travels through it.
Once it has fully expanded, a ship will enter the newly created "universe." Usually these ships are specially equipped to handle the stresses caused by crossing into another universe and reemerging into the main one. The bubble analogy is particularly useful when picturing how one could travel between out own universe and the STB universe. Essentially, exactly like how two bubbles can clump together and form a ring, a region of space separating these two universes. This region of space is called a Membrane Intersect Ring, or MIR. The MIR this three dimensional universe appears to be a large sphere stretching.
The ship will travel in a straight line in the STB, but over a large distance in our own universe. This creates a short-cut in space-time. Time generally goes by much faster within the STB, causing most STB-traversing ships to be centered around an artificial black hole to make the subjective time aboard the ship take only a weeks subjective time.
How our universe and the STB interact are very similar to two bubbles sticking together like this.
The Leftover STB[]
By the time the ship exits the Surface Travel Bubble, this bubble is already destabilizing. The STB continues expansion, however, once pierced by the ship, it begins a rapid process of destabilization. The SICTIRIAD generators are designed to make the STB last about as long as it takes the ship to fly through before, afterwards, they "pop." This popping causes all matter within the STB to invert, becoming antimatter with a negative mass, while all exotic matter within the STB during the pop will be re-inverted back to standard matter. This matter would be flung back into the main universe, as it seems that existing within Cosmoria gives the matter a lower energy state than existing outside of one.
Using this Process[]
A machine able to create an STB is very advanced, out of reach for all but the larges to civilizations. A group of black holes are made to surround a large mass of Exotic Matter. These black holes serve to bend space, while a large mass of exotic matter amongst them expands space. When such extreme gravitational warping takes place over a small area, the space-time very quickly pinches off to form an STB. The black holes are usually carefully controlled Kugelblitz black holes, that is, a black hole created by shining a ludicrously large amount of light into a single area.
SICTIRIAD Generators[]
The energy required to generate these black holes as well as keeping the exotic matter in place is immense. The enormous generators allow for truly massive ships to pass through. This massive craft can carry vast amounts of cargo, nearly whole asteroid's worth. SICTIRIAD has the largest throughput for long-scale trips, making it the number one choice for international trade.
Approaching one of these gates one would see something that appears to be a small blue star orbiting the parent star. Looks can be deceiving however, as this is simply the waste energy of the SICTIRIAD generator. If the large light can be overlooked, a queue of massive ships will be seen waiting to enter the device. Within each one is a black hole, making most of its passengers wait outside of the ship until just before departure. Large megastructures accompany these ships for the purpose of loading. These freighters would have millions to billions of smaller objects accompanying them, piloted by computers to minimize the chance of collision. A ship seeking to use the generator will wait in queue depending on where they want to go, normally docking within the large ships which will be traversing the STB. The longest one would normally wait for a popular destination is twelve hours from arrival, however, obscure destinations, while serviced, typically only have a handful trips taken to them.
Additional Uses[]
Hypothetically, one could create an entirely stable STB, such a universe would be called a Seed Universe, a universe that is capable of remaining stable throughout the entirety of its existence. For these universes to be useful, time would need to pass by at a similar rate. Otherwise, communication or travel between the two may be impossible. Of course, a universe where time passes by at a slower or faster rate could have uses, such as isolating a civilization forever or acting as some sort of containment space. Currently, such universes are theorized to be possible, however, doubt remains as to what the practicality of such a universe would be.
History[]
The devices seem to have been used by most major civilizations throughout history, from the oldest civilization known, such as the Lareas Alliance, to modern ones such as the Greater Martial Consilium or The Lewis Nations. However, the technology took quite a while for modern nations to develop.
The modern nations of Aylathiya first developed this technology in 56,000 CE. The technology was highly inefficient, causing the amount of energy needed to be too much for all but the smallest of experiments with the technology. This is where the technology remained until 71,000 when recent advances in kugelblitz technology allowed for the energy demand of the device to fall into a feasible range.
Before the War of the Ancients, the Quintet Payotari Association had essentially cornered the market for the SICTIRIAD process. Centuries ahead of other nations in its area, the QPA was the only nation with access to the lucrative technology. The true potential for this advancement was not realized until the War of the Ancients, when it was used to great effect against the QPA's enemies. At once, huge sums of money went into developing the technology, what would have taken the rest of Cosmoria another millennium to develop and implement only took two centuries. They were able to create a sufficient network of SICTIRIAD devices quickly enough to create a stalemate in the war.
After the war, many took note of the increased safety and efficiency and soon, various governments began creating large numbers of these devices. Travel to almost anywhere one desired was possible. Even so, few were quick to leave to some far-off point on the other side of space. These devices were one-way trips, in order to have a round trip, one would need to go to use conventional forms of FTL to return. As more of these devices are built, round-trip travel times to nearly any point have continued to drop.