Hyperdrive Thoughts

[kmosiman]

Anyone have any theories about the ship's hyperdrive?

I'm not sure how or why the ship would have a compartment for the drive if the Pilot actually provides the ability. Rig should have recognized it if it was a just computer used to assist the Pilot. When Spensa made the jump the system went from online to offline fairly quickly, so I assume she had to be in the correct mental state for it to function. If this is the way the drive was supposed to work then small ships would always need pilots with cytonic abilities.

I have 2 theories about how this could be prevented.

The first is that the box was some form of relay. In DE the "equipment" used to route all the calls was a guy sitting next to a computer. The agent provided the ability and the system took care of the rest (or at least that's how i interpreted it). The drive could have had a similar function at one time. The box could have been a link back the cytonic who would actually power the drive. I'm not sure why the box would be mostly empty, but the display panel could have been a video link back the the person providing the ability. 

The other thought is that the box may have been a support environment for another life form with the ability. I've seen a few comments that this might be Doomslug, but this doesn't seem to fit. The Varvax were described as being fairly small inside their life support shells. A similar species could have an agreement to provide this service. The panel could have been a translation device to communicate with the Pilot and ship. When war started this being may have been recalled stranding the ship. 

I'm also wondering how the Planet plays into this. It seems odd that M-bot would have been there given the orbiting shells. Detritus seems mostly abandoned before the crash, so maybe they were on a mission of rediscovery. Something on the planet suppresses cytonic abilities. I'm not sure if this is intentional as part of the prison system or an original design feature of the planet. The suppression as part of the prison system is self explanatory, but having it as a design feature also makes sense given the defensive capabilities of the orbital stations. If this is the case, I assume that the original residents wanted to keep people out. Cytonic suppression equipment could shield the planet from interference and potentially keep unwanted guests from jumping in. 

[Amphisbaena]

I believe in the doomslug theory, Spensa mentioned at one point that the slug didn't move much when she was watching, she thought it was just moving very fast when she looked away.  But it totally was just teleporting when she wasn't looking.  Also, the hyperdrive just started working and Doomslug could've easily climbed inside.  I haven't read DE yet and doing that next so don't know a whole lot about this universe and other theories totally could be right, just the one that makes most sense to me right now.

[RShara]

The theory we evolved about Doomslug and the cytonic hyperdrive (which was fun, though I'm not sure I fully subscribe to it) is that the hyperdrive can be powered two ways. One by an actual cytonic human such as Spensa. Another is by another organic being providing the cytonic impetus, aka Doomslug. So perhaps, when the pilot is not a cytonic, the organisms like Doomslug allow cytonic FTL anyway, at least in smaller ships. I'm sure the larger ones like the main Defiant ship needed a fully sapient being in order to transfer.

Or the cytonic box is a decoy and the pilot was a cytonic. Which means he might still be alive, since Jason Write and some of his trainees lived to be well over a hundred years and still looked fairly young.

[ReaderAt2046]

22 hours ago, kmosiman said:

Anyone have any theories about the ship's hyperdrive?

I'm not sure how or why the ship would have a compartment for the drive if the Pilot actually provides the ability. Rig should have recognized it if it was a just computer used to assist the Pilot. When Spensa made the jump the system went from online to offline fairly quickly, so I assume she had to be in the correct mental state for it to function. If this is the way the drive was supposed to work then small ships would always need pilots with cytonic abilities.

I have 2 theories about how this could be prevented.

The first is that the box was some form of relay. In DE the "equipment" used to route all the calls was a guy sitting next to a computer. The agent provided the ability and the system took care of the rest (or at least that's how i interpreted it). The drive could have had a similar function at one time. The box could have been a link back the cytonic who would actually power the drive. I'm not sure why the box would be mostly empty, but the display panel could have been a video link back the the person providing the ability. 

The other thought is that the box may have been a support environment for another life form with the ability. I've seen a few comments that this might be Doomslug, but this doesn't seem to fit. The Varvax were described as being fairly small inside their life support shells. A similar species could have an agreement to provide this service. The panel could have been a translation device to communicate with the Pilot and ship. When war started this being may have been recalled stranding the ship. 

I'm also wondering how the Planet plays into this. It seems odd that M-bot would have been there given the orbiting shells. Detritus seems mostly abandoned before the crash, so maybe they were on a mission of rediscovery. Something on the planet suppresses cytonic abilities. I'm not sure if this is intentional as part of the prison system or an original design feature of the planet. The suppression as part of the prison system is self explanatory, but having it as a design feature also makes sense given the defensive capabilities of the orbital stations. If this is the case, I assume that the original residents wanted to keep people out. Cytonic suppression equipment could shield the planet from interference and potentially keep unwanted guests from jumping in. 

My guess would be that the mechanical apparatus "catches" the cytonic signal and projects it over the entire ship. So Spensa makes a cytonic jump, and the device makes sure that she brings the whole ship with her.

[kmosiman]

Not a bad thought. The usual fiction limitation is physical contact (hold my hand). What other objects are transported depend on the setting. Having a ship-wide interface would make sense. 

[Ari]

12 hours ago, ReaderAt2046 said:

My guess would be that the mechanical apparatus "catches" the cytonic signal and projects it over the entire ship. So Spensa makes a cytonic jump, and the device makes sure that she brings the whole ship with her.

That was my first thought.

My second, really crazy additional thought, was that Doomslug was the original pilot of M-bot and the empty space nearby is just a maintenance compartment for the pilot to work on the interface device.

[Sariel]

I thought the cytonic hyperdrive needed a power source and a directing mind, so Doomslug for the 'engine' and a pilot for the direction. 

When Rig fixed the ship he mentioned that the cytonic box was empty except for a screen on one side, or something like that. I thought Doomslug entered there (she can teleport inside, probably). 

[Turbor90]

Isn't it obvious??!! The hyperdrive was just a...control box/organizer, per say, for mental energy the pilot put out to jump space. So, when Spensa finally found a way to 'unlock' that part of her brain, the hyperdrive triggered. Or..., maybe, since Doomslug can move WITHOUT Spensa seeing it, it can teleport. She has never seen an animal like Doomslug before, what if it came with M-Bot and the ship, in the compartment, and it makes the ship jump. So when it is signaled by the Pilot, from the screen, it teleports the ship to the designated destination. Spensa had a mental "shiver" right? So what if Doomslug picked up on her brain waves, saw what was going on, and teleported them out of there? It is plausible.

Edited January 10, 2019 by Turbor90
spelling error

[Govir]

On 1/10/2019 at 4:07 PM, Turbor90 said:

Isn't it obvious??!! The hyperdrive was just a...control box/organizer, per say, for mental energy the pilot put out to jump space. So, when Spensa finally found a way to 'unlock' that part of her brain, the hyperdrive triggered. Or..., maybe, since Doomslug can move WITHOUT Spensa seeing it, it can teleport. She has never seen an animal like Doomslug before, what if it came with M-Bot and the ship, in the compartment, and it makes the ship jump. So when it is signaled by the Pilot, from the screen, it teleports the ship to the designated destination. Spensa had a mental "shiver" right? So what if Doomslug picked up on her brain waves, saw what was going on, and teleported them out of there? It is plausible.

I agree it's possible, and I espoused this theory for a long time (that Doomslug is the biological component of the Hyperdrive). However, during a reread, I have to reluctantly concede that Spensa is the biological component when we see the ship actually jump. I am still on board with Doomslug being *able* to be the biological component (i.e. for times when the fighter pilot is not a user of Cyto),

[Turbor90]

True, but what is Doomslug and how did it get there? Maybe it piggybacked on M-Bot, or maybe it is actually part of the ship itself. So what is Doomslug's purpose?

[Embrisk]

Her ancestors used the ability to bring the fleet. I assume that, like FTL communication in defending Elysium, all the faster than light communications are executed by one person, but they're not actively concentrating on each individual item. Rather, they link their mind with the machine, let the machine do the commands, and let the psionic execute or transfer that information.

M-Bot tells Spensa to teleport them a kilometre south, they teleport one kilometre south. That sort of thing.

Maybe the object to be teleported doesn't even have to be anywhere near the person.

This way, one person could move fleets of starships at any time, anywhere in the universe by the information going through a psionic.

Using a hard drive with psychic abilities, you could easily move a fleet of ships at once, with directions given by someone else. Maybe it's like plugging yourself into satellite 5 from doctor who.

Edited February 4, 2019 by Sharshiblarb