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HRogge

This is a wiki entry (I will push it to the wiki tomorrow) which will explain some things I want to be out before I post the next story (maybe tomorrow or Sunday). Have fun to read and comment it.
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Element Zero (Eezo)

»Eezo is the first unique invention made by Catgirl Industries, which shaped the form and function of many products afterwards.«
- From the CI history holo, 2068 edition

»I cannot comment on the creation of Element Zero, its a trade secret, but mixing up Handwavium with hydrogen as a replacement core definitely wasn't a bright idea. Or a very bright one if I look at the video of the explosion.«
- From 'Repairing Handwaved Engines', Mars bulletin board 2017

»Oh, shiny!«
- Catgirl after accidentally producing the first batch of Eezo, December 2015

Element Zero is a strain of Handwavium that follows the story of the Mass Effect universe. In its natural form its a blue glowing liquid substance. Like its role model it reacts to electrical currents, creating zones of changed gravity. As most Handwaved based substances, its detailed mechanism is unknown, but its said that it generates or repels dark energy to influence the basic workings of physics.

Eezo or Mass Effect fields can not only propel objects at high and even superluminal speed, it can also create impact barriers, similar to the particle shields of the Warsies. Element Zero is not used up while creating this fields, but needs a constant input of electrical energy.

Eezo does not replicate as easily as some common handwavium strains and its production seems to be difficult, because Catgirl Industries seems to be always low on their stockpile. It can only be obtained at Catgirl Industries, mostly built into the drones they sell. There has been a request by the Lensmen for a combined research project about the possibility of creating ‘Bionic implants'.

Mass Effect field drive

» Central Mass Effect core deployed, shield up and stable, active defenses fully charged... let us give them a nice welcome present. «
- Cortana, during the second attack of The Tanglewood Boys in 2017

Drive type: reactionless dark energy drive
Drive rating:
1st gen cruising speed 0.1c, sprint speed up to 0.12c
2nd gen cruising speed 0.11c, sprint speed 0.14c
roughly 500c outside the Limit

Element Zero can be used as the core of a reactionless drive system. The so called ‘Mass Effect' wraps the target into a shell of Dark Energy, which moves forward at great speed. When energized by an electrical current an Mass Effect core can manipulate the mass of objects within the drives effect. This effect create a speedy drive, which allows the ship or drone to quickly reach the maximum speed, cutting the electricity drops the ship down to normal speed quickly.

It also can be used to create artificial gravity fields within a limited radius. Increased gravity can be inconvenient to people inside, but mass effect fields have never been observed more than 3g or 4g, which limits the amount of damage it can do. It is assumed that this is a manifestation of the slapstick effect.

The largest first generation Mass Effect drive ever sold by Catgirl Industries, which were developed in winter 2015, is able to only accelerate a body up to a diameter of one meter. The drive can also project a single circular forcefield surface with a diameter of 90 cm, which can protect the interior of the drive field against kinetic damage from one direction.

Unhappy with this, Catgirl Industries continued to focus on a research project to create a better iteration of the drive. In 2017 Catgirl Industries released the first drone with a second generation drive. This new generation not only pushed the maximum field diameter to two meters, it also included the forcefield protection into the drives engine field, allowing a full 360° protection. The protection is still mostly limited to kinetic weapons.

Trivia:
  • The energy consumption of the drive peaks quickly when going beyond cruising speed. Most drones built by Catgirl Industries cannot store enough energy for sprint speed for more than a few seconds. Other drones are even limited to lower speeds to conserve energy.
  • Mass Effect drives always seem to produce a spherical drive field, even if the drone has a different shape.
  • The forcefields glow bright red when hit by a projectile until they regenerated their strength. They can be overloaded by multiple smaller impacts.
  • Pure gravity generator Mass Effect cores cannot produce forcefields, but can cover a much larger area than the full space drive.

Quirks:
  • Funny looking cat! Mass Effect drive fields sometimes produce a static charge during long operations.
  • Fireworks. Mass Effect drives produce a lot of light when the ship engage its drive at superluminal speeds.
  • Game Mechanics. The shields of a mass effect field does not begin to recharge until it got some time without further impacts.
The Lensmen aren't really into bionics... The Cyber Confederation would be a better match there.

Other than that, I don't see anything wrong with this.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
I'd swear that somebody already claimed eezo, but I need to check...
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
A portable shield generator like that might be a helpful thing for a powered armour... even without the acceleration drive requirements.

Riot sheilds.... even a pinpoint barrier for Fencraft. 90cm diameter is more than enough to at least protect vitals, and give something to hunker behind.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

HRogge

M Fnord Wrote:I'd swear that somebody already claimed eezo, but I need to check...
I think I found a single posting in the forum mentioning Mass Effect tech, but it never got anywhere. So I decided it would be okay to take it.

robkelk Wrote:The Lensmen aren't really into bionics... The Cyber Confederation would be a better match there.

Other than that, I don't see anything wrong with this.
Okay, I will fix this... I thought Biotics would be close to the psionics the Lensmen are looking for.
Pinpoint barriers? SOLD! Mayonaka would love this.
M Fnord Wrote:I'd swear that somebody already claimed eezo, but I need to check...
IIRC, during one of the semi-RP threads that have popped up Someone asked that question. As in, "What is Handwavium?"

Since Handwavium responds to the user's thoughts the various analyses came up with various results. One of which was litterally Element Zero, an electron in an orbit around nothing. (I think the Soviets' analysis was some fractal nanomachine that went smaller beyond the Plank scale, A.C. got fuzzy images when she tried to scan them, etc...)

So by that reconning Eezo is just a strain of Handwavium.

HRogge

Cobalt Greywalker Wrote:IIRC, during one of the semi-RP threads that have popped up Someone asked that question. As in, "What is Handwavium?"

Since Handwavium responds to the user's thoughts the various analyses came up with various results. One of which was litterally Element Zero, an electron in an orbit around nothing. (I think the Soviets' analysis was some fractal nanomachine that went smaller beyond the Plank scale, A.C. got fuzzy images when she tried to scan them, etc...)

So by that reconning Eezo is just a strain of Handwavium.
Just to make sure you understand me...

Eezo is just the name CI gave their Handwavium strain, because it behaves according the things described in the Mass Effect games (not quite the same but similar).

Its a name similar to "Seibertron"...