Rift

A rift is a rarely occuring phenomena observed in intergalactic space, and consists of a temporary disruption in the fabrics of spacetime. This 'hole' acts as a two-way passage between a pair of coterminous verses. The discovery of rifts was imperative to the development of technology necessary for widespread galactic colonization and development of macro-civilizations.   Dark rifts, that create a passage between realverse and darkverse, is the only currently known and recorded variant. There are numerous hypothesis surrounding the existence of additional verses and their corresponding rift variant.  

Etmyology & Definition

'Rift' is the official terminology for the phenomenon regardless of origin, although its become increasingly popular to refer to the artifically-induced-only, terrestial analogy as a 'tear' instead.  

History

 

Origin

Rifts are considered to be an inherent natural feature of the Rosepetal, and possibly other galaxies too.  

Discovery

The discovery of natural rifts and their properties is attributed to the lusoyan astrophysicist Oomarut, and they are also credited as the co-inventor of the reality cutter technology that made it possible to artificially open dark rifts.  

Localization

Natural rifts appear to form spontaneously in the vacuum of space, in regions with a low density of ordinary and dark matter. They usually only persist for a limited time before closing again on their own. They've never been observed to naturally form inside solar systems or inside clusters of matter such as nebulas or asteroid fields.   The Maelstrom, another major but poorly understood stellar phenomena, is known for having a significantly higher frequency of dark rifts spawning in and around it. These rifts tend to also be unusually large and last longer, making the area even more dangerous to approch and nigh-impossible to traverse at all.  

Manifestation

A natural rift can be difficult to spot without specialized equipment, unless one is very close to the phenomena. It usually appears as an indistinct warping of a localized area of space, often as a spiral/tube, sometimes shaped as a cone, when viewed from the side. When viewed straight ahead it can look like a semi-opaque to opaque, bulbous black blot. The side-view appearance is thought to be a visual effect created from electromagnetic radiation bending around the phenomena.   Larger rifts can be mistaken for black holes on initial observation due to a similarity in physical appearance, but are otherwise easily distinguishable due to their lack of any form of gravitational pull. Normal-size rifts can be tricky to identify in time, as space around them will appear normal unless they're viewed from specific angles.  

Effect/Purpose

A rift creates a temporary disruption in the fabrics of spacetime, allowing matter and energy to be transfered between two coterminous verses. It's not entirely known why or how a natural rift is created, except for it involving an imbalance in the interactions between different types of matters.   The most plausible theory is an unnatural congregation of negative mass and/or energy that 'pushes away' other types of matter.  

Culture & Society

 

Misconceptions & Superstition

Since the tasivian scourge many have begun to attribute previously unknown-of-origin species - such as the ahn kereuh and uyetsoubs - as extradimensionals that may have arrived to Rosepetal incidentally or purposefully through natural rifts.  

Significance

The discovery of rifts, their function and the invention of the reality cutter was instrumental to achieving superluminous communication and travel. Despite having a significantly smaller spacetime continuum, the darkverse still maintains a consistent one-to-one point localization with realverse. This effectively leads to distances being smaller and time passing faster in the darkverse.  

Utilization

Rifts can be artificially created through the use of a reality cutter and high amounts of energy. As only the initial opening of a rift appear to be extremely energy-intensive, it's been possible to efficiently keep them open indefinitely afterward using riftgating technology. This led to the creation of an infrastructure of fixed gates and guarded 'lanes' between habitated solar systems.