The Martial Unity

The man glared at her for interrupting him during his spiel, heaving an exasperated sigh. ”It senses quantum entropy using matter that is very sensitive to it. Manifolds, especially greater manifolds that cover an entire part of the galaxy, allow quantum entropy to ebb and flow through certain minute openings. After all, I’m sure you’re aware of the second law of thermodynamics.”

”The entropy of an isolated system will always increase with time,” she muttered.

”Correct, and what would a fully sealed manifold be, effectively speaking?”

”An isolated system,” she realized.

”Yes, and in such a system, the entropy would increase at an especially high rate, since it is unable to radiate away heat into outer space. And that is something that the virus does not like,” the man remarked. ”It hates entropy.”

”Why does the virus hate entropy?” She frowned.

”Because entropy is the antithesis of the order that is consciousness,” the Psyker chose to reply this time, since the topic broached his specialty. ”The virus’s consciousness in an infected world operates through a network of deep-biosphere esoteric bacteria. This consciousness, this integrated information, is the pinnacle of order. And entropy disrupts that order with disordered heat.”

”So the virus needs to vent out the entropy within the manifold in order to preserve the integrity of its consciousness,” she realized with an anticipatory tone. ”So the manifold trees are programmed with entropy venting channels that allow entropy to exit a manifold!”

”Exactly,” the Esoterist grinned. ”And this satellite can detect the flow of quantum entropy quite well. It can identify non-continuous sources of entropy, which could potentially lead you to an entrance into the manifold.”

”That’s… that would allow us to enter a greater manifold and collect data that would prove that it is an infected world!” Ria’s amber eyes lit up before a frown emerged on her face.

Several things didn’t add up.

”Wait, if you have this satellite, then why haven’t you used it to find infected worlds?” she frowned. ”Couldn’t you scan every planet you come across and see if it has these entropy anomalies?”

If that were the case, then he would be able to identify all infected worlds by himself. He would be able to mine all of them himself, allowing him to swim in an ocean of esoteric matter. But he clearly wasn’t. That meant that there was a catch to the technology that made this impossible.

”This is why you should listen to technical explanations,” the man grumbled. ”The satellite uses a form of esoteric matter called tensor-decay evanescite. It’s essentially the purified extract of rare and high-grade esoteric matter. But unfortunately…”

The man spread his arms helplessly. ”It’s a one-use form of matter. It decays upon exposure to quantum entropy. Once the satellite scans a planet, you will need to replace it with more tensor-decay evanescite. And it requires a lot. Anywhere between zero-point-one to ten percent of what an infected world might yield. It’s extraordinarily precious because it allows us to measure chaos at the quantum level, something that nothing else can really do. So if we do use it on a planet that I think is infected but isn’t, then—”

”Then you have wasted a large amount of very rare and precious esoteric matter,” she realized. ”This satellite is only useful for detecting worlds with manifolds if said world actually has a manifold.”

”Which, most planets do not, even those with anomalies, simply do not,” the man continued with an excited grin. ”But you, you precious angel, you can confirm whether or not a planet has it.”

”So, we just need to scan a planet that I’ve confirmed in order to prove that it is infected?” She asked with an eager tone of voice.

If that were the case, then her job would be very easy. She would just need to set foot on a planet, use her senses to confirm that it is an infected world. Once that was confirmed, the satellite could scan it and identify the manifold entropy vents, and she could sell that information to the mining industry as indicators of an infected world.

”Not quite,” the man doused her ambition with cold water. ”An irregularity in the flow of quantum entropy is not evidence that a planet is an infected world. You will need to enter the manifold and gather incontrovertible proof that a specific world is infected, and only then can you sell that information to the exo-mining industry. If you tell them ’hey this planet has some quantum entropic anomalies,’ none of them will mobilize a mining operation. You will be booted out quickly.”

”Entropy is omnipresent, not an outlier,” the Psyker added knowingly. ”Planets have their own kind of consciousness, and many of them have their own entropic ventilation systems. You will need to identify which quantum entropic channels are organic and which are manifold vents.”

”And how can I possibly do that?” She asked with an exasperated tone.

The Psyker smiled at her.

”Causality, princess,” he spoke with a implying tone. ”Causality.”

Her amber eyes lit up at those words. ”…Causality?”

That word meant a lot to her.

It was the source of her power.

Her ability to discern causality was unparalleled. She could identify cause and effect with a glance, almost like it was intuitive, and she had systems of thought that allowed her to understand qualitatively and quantitatively. It allowed her to mathematically measure and quantify causality to create more precise predictions.

According to her most recent conversation with her father, this was due to her relationship with the universe, which meant that her affinity for causality could not be replicated through ordinary scientific means.

”Every event must have a cause,” the Esoterist continued with an equally implicative tone. ”The manifold vents that vent out quantum entropy are channels that connect the real world to the manifold world. An event that happens on one side of the manifold vent will cause something on the other side. Creating a flow of not just entropy, but also causality, however minute.”

He grinned at her expectantly.

”If you can detect a flow of causality along with the flow of entropy, then you will have identified a manifold entropic vent.”