Tachyon net
From Dune
This article or section refers to elements from both Original Dune and Expanded Dune.
The tachyon net was a galaxies wide instrument of communication and particle manipulation and envelopment developed by the Thinking Machines leaders, Omnius and Erasmus, after the re-birth of their Empire, thousands of years after the Battle of Corrin.
Contents |
[edit] Uses
[edit] Capturing Vessels [i.e. Ithaca]
First mentioned at the end of Chapterhouse: Dune, the elderly couple Daniel and Marty tried to ensnare the no-ship, the Ithaca, with their tachyon net. The net appeared as a series of non-organic gossamer strands that slowly wrapped itself around the ship, getting stronger as time passed. Eventually it would have encompassed itself completely around the giant structure and trapped those inside, had not pilot Duncan Idaho folded space to escape.
It was eventually revealed that it had been Omnius/Daniel and Erasmus/Marty that have been casting and controlling the net from their capital of Synchrony, in the heart of their Machine Empire. Though unsuccessful at capturing the Ithaca, the net kept Idaho, always looking for and trying to sense the net. Idaho used his unique sense of prescience to see the tachyon net time and time again, and folded space to get the Ithaca out of harm's way.
[edit] Communication and Manipulation
To keep up to date on the advancement of plans to dominate humanity, especially on the Machine-believed upcoming Day of Kralizec, the Machine rulers used the tachyon net. The rulers were able to communicate throughout the entire Known Universe, and used the net to communicate with their Enhanced Face Dancer leader, Khrone; while they were on Synchrony, and Khrone was hundreds of thousands of light years away on Caladan. Omnius and Erasmus were not only able to communicate instantly and without any difficulty with Khrone, but by adjusting the net they could manipulate Khrone's molecules which caused intense pain.
[edit] Activating the Kill Switch
After the Ithaca was captured and brought to Synchrony during the Day of Kralizec, Erasmus demonstrated another use of the tachyon net. When the Enhanced Face Dancers led by Khrone spoke of their rising up to take hegemony over the Known Universe, Erasmus used the tachyon net again. With motions guided by his flowmetal body, Erasmus activated the Face Dancers genetically placed "kill switch" using the net. Since the net was spread throughout the galaxies, tens of millions of them were killed instantly and simultaneously, ending Khrone's and the Face Dancers threat.
[edit] Damage and Later Use
The tachyon net used tachyon particles which can move faster than the speed of light as a basis for the technology. The net could have it's strands, which laid upon the "fabric" of the universe, broken and torn asunder. In these instances, the tachyon net would have to be drawn in back to Synchrony, and repaired. It was during such a time when Idaho severely damaged the net, when the Ithaca escaped from the Machine Rulers near Rikka's Planet, that the net was out of use for over two years.
After Kralizec, when Idaho emerged as the Ultimate Kwisatz Haderach and Evermind, he still used the tachyon net to communicate instantly throughout the universe, using the Erasmus-given machine codes to guide the thinking machines.
