Subspace-Crossover Events

“You don’t see it at first. You feel it. Like the echo of someone screaming in another room—only there's no room, no person, and the scream is yours from tomorrow.”
~Excerpt from Redlight Protocols, Vol. 7

Subspace-crossover events describe escalating levels of interaction between Redspace and realspace. These are not mere technological accidents or isolated psychic disturbances, but moments where the boundary between dimensions thins, tears, or in the worst cases, collapses entirely. Most of these events begin subtly, and are dismissed or misdiagnosed until the situation becomes catastrophic.

Stage 1: Infestation

Infestation is the most passive and insidious level of Redspace interaction. At this stage, a Redspace Adversarial Intelligence (RAI)—usually Verminous or Minor class—has latched onto a realspace subject or location. The RAI is not actively hostile, nor is it manipulating events directly. Rather, it functions as a psionic parasite, passively feeding on ambient neural emissions associated with Vice-aligned brainwave patterns.

Detection at this stage is extraordinarily difficult. Advanced instrumentation rarely registers anything beyond normal background noise. However, sensitive individuals—especially empaths, psions, and certain Seeker-trained mystics—may report instinctive feelings of dread, malaise, or ‘being watched.’ The RAI at this point may be dormant, testing boundaries, or simply lying in ambush for greater feeding potential. Some infestations remain in this stage indefinitely, particularly when the host environment is not ideal for further escalation.

Stage 2: Oppression

Oppression marks the transition from passive presence to active hostility. The RAI begins exerting environmental influence, usually focused on one or more victims within proximity to its anchor. Targets experience sleep disturbances, headaches, nausea, anxiety, sudden illness, and in some cases, hallucinations. Relationships begin to strain under emotional instability and outbursts. Isolation becomes common—both self-imposed and socially reinforced.

Oppression is detectable with proper subspace scanning arrays or dedicated Redspace energy monitors, though the signal is still faint. At this stage, Redspace fungi, corrosion, or anomalous EM field patterns may begin to appear. Early intervention is critical, as Oppression typically precedes full psychological compromise. Some researchers believe this stage is an intentional ‘softening’ phase, wearing down targets to make them more susceptible to further influence.

Stage 3: Obsession

Obsession occurs when the RAI pierces the victim’s inner thoughts. Unlike Oppression, where harm is mostly external and ambient, Obsession enables the RAI to implant thought fragments, compulsions, dreams, and emotional distortions directly into the mind. Victims may report voices or waking dreams, intrusive thoughts that feel “not their own,” and urges they struggle to explain or resist.

The RAI grows more focused and its activity intensifies. Instruments may register frequent psionic fluctuations around the host, particularly during sleep. Classic signs of Obsession include the onset of mania, insomnia, sudden ideological shifts, and changes in creative output—often seen in artists and scientists who begin producing unsettling or incomprehensible work.

Stage 4: Possession

Possession represents the RAI’s move to secure a vessel. Selection is often strategic: RAIs prefer individuals with social influence, emotional vulnerability, or unique access to systems of control. A sentient RAI will typically choose the person whose body and network would most benefit its goals, while Verminous RAIs, operating more like a swarm, often rush into the weakest available host.

Possession often manifests in phases. The initial phase resembles Obsession, but intensifies rapidly—extended blackouts, missing time, erratic behavior, sudden fluency in unknown languages or technologies, and a lack of emotional congruence. In the final stages, the host begins exhibiting the Dark Tetrad traits (narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, sadism), with an uncanny intensity and a terrifying absence of empathy. Once the RAI has fully overwritten the host consciousness—becoming what’s known as a Perfect Vessel—removal is nearly impossible.

Stage 5: Redspace Breach

A Redspace Breach is the catastrophic fusion of realspace and Redspace. Unlike possession, which compromises a person, or infestation, which compromises a location, a breach compromises reality itself. Redspace and realspace are not fully separate realms, but vibrationally distinct dimensions with overlapping frequencies. A breach occurs when these frequencies are forcibly aligned or inadvertently “locked,” causing a sustained point of contact between dimensions.

Most breaches are not natural. While theoretical physicists suggest that spontaneous overlap could occur, no such natural event has ever been observed. Instead, breaches almost always result from:

• Malfunctioning Waygate Equipment intended for paraspace travel,
• Illicit Redspace Experiments, or
• Deliberate Interventions by Supersentient RAIs.

Waygates—devices used to stabilize portals for safe FTL and subspace travel—sometimes fail when their vibrational tuning crosses into Redspace harmonics. If the gate remains open, even for a fraction of a second too long, it can allow hostile intelligences to seep or surge through. In some cases, Hellfire Cabal or rogue technologists have intentionally tuned waygates to these frequencies, hoping to summon or bargain with RAIs directly. Such events are considered Level One Cosmic Violations under Concordium law and typically result in the deployment of military intervention and authorized exo-temporal strikes.

During a breach, multiple RAIs may arrive at once. Redspace terrain begins to imprint upon the physical world: gravity warps, time loops, non-Euclidean architecture manifests, and the laws of thermodynamics can falter. Possession, mutation, mass madness, and even physical reality alterations become widespread. In the worst cases, entire cities have been lost or quarantined due to cascading ontological collapse. These full breaches will be explored in more detail in the companion article, "Redspace Breaches: Causes, Classes, and Countermeasures."