The Thread Engine
May the fates weave safe harbor for those who have done no wrong, calm winds for those who I've yet to meet, and a noose for those who mean me harm.
Once the damage that the Alchemy Engine causes was revealed to everyone still alive, it was rendered obsolete. Not that it functioned in the immediate aftermath of the Visitation in any case.
This left humanity without a means for stellar travel that would allow for prospective travelers to arrive at their destination before dying of old age ten generations before their arrival. A rather perilous situation, especially for planets that weren't able to feed their populations without imports. Some found their way, but many descended into chaos and further destruction in the dark age that followed. Outside of the planets that were destroyed by the newly sprouted anomalies, many other simply ceased to function, and their human populations simply went extinct.
For the rest of us, salvation came in the form of the Thread Engine.
Designed almost in concurrence in several parts of the galaxy, and operating in several varieties, you could make the argument that the engine is simply a classification as opposed to a specific design.
The common through line is the material that gives the engine its name, Thread.
By definition, an anomalous piece of equipment, the functions of the Thread Engine are vast and varied, while equally poorly understood. Famously, while it is able to turn galactic-scale travel into a more palatable affair, it also works to repair the damage the Alchemy Engine caused over time. It uses Thread to quite literally sow the fabric of the universe back together, and that action is also what propels it and its passengers to their desired locations.
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