BDM: The Engine that Drives the Hiberverse
The following is an excerpt from the scientific journal of Dr. Riarin before his tragic apostasy and end.
All of my existence has been defined by and built around a handful of presuppositions about the behavior of Biomimetic Dark Matter, otherwise known as BDM. I've been feed these immutable truths since I first became a researcher for the Remembrance Faction of the Hibernarii.
BDM does indeed abide by fixed and unchanging characteristics that allow it to be manipulated by those who are familiar with its nature. This has been proven by the Hibernal Technocracy of our race, of which class I am a part. All of the empirical factions of the High Hibernal Races understand BDM well enough to turn its power to their use. I myself have long revered Hibernal Technology (hibertech) as the pinnacle of all truth and with good cause.
My people have achieved what would appear to be immortality. We have become masters of our temporal frames--banishing death, sickness, and injury to the lower classes of humanity (the slaves and the blissfully ignorant Intramural Races of the many Hibernaculated Cultures throughout the Empires of Hiberspace on whom we depend for our continued existence and quality of life).
But I have reason of late to question my understanding of the substance that has become my people’s lifeblood. I have only ever interacted with BDM in a laboratory, where it is carefully controlled, maintained and manipulated. I have only ever beheld it through the medium of lenses and screens, never before with my naked senses.
I have observed BDM operating in its natural state for many months now, and have determined that our understanding of its character and behaviors is incomplete. I have added several key principles to the accepted view of BDM which are theoretical but seem to fit the observations I have made, delineating three that describe its nature, and four that describe its behavior. I shall attempt to describe them now, with the understanding that the descriptions are certainly incomplete and will need much refinement.
Characteristics: Infinitude
Biomimetic Dark Matter has no beginning or end, and cannot be created or destroyed. It is a universal substance, in that it exists everywhere in the universe. There is no place where it does not exist.
Sentience
This principle is perhaps the most surprising discovery to me, for it is opposite to the understanding of the Technocratic Elite. We have long treated BDM as just another dumb resource, like water or stone. It has properties that cause it to react to its surroundings and stimuli in consistent, replicable ways. And because its interactions never change or waver, we have always assumed that it could not be sentient. No being of higher intelligence is so consistent.
But I now believe this is a fallacy in our thinking. Simply because the only known sentient beings are wavering things, does not mean that all sentient things are so fickle. It is in our nature to project ourselves upon all that surrounds us, but having now interacted rudimentarily with the BDM on this planet it has become clear to me, beyond all doubt, that what we call Biomimetic Dark Matter is in fact a thinking being, and that its consistency is the result of its integrity to the ethics which it has embraced.
Benignancy
It has long been observed that BDM acts almost as if it were a slow-moving river of energy that flows through the void that exists between all things. It follows the path of least resistance. As other things push through it, it gives way easily, without any noticeable resistance. It has never been known to attack or infect or displace even one molecule as it moves around us, and it has never been observed to violate the boundaries of any living organism. This is the reason for one of the basic steps in the creation of Hibernaculated technology, which is to force BDM into a prepared Hibernaculum. It will not enter in of its own volition and so must be driven or entrapped (both methods are used, depending on the technology involved, and there are fierce debates as to which is most effective).
Behavior: APAE Cycle
The APAE cycle is the simplest way of describing the behavior of BDM in its natural state. APAE stands for Attraction, Permeation, Assimilation, Egress, Although I’ve added some qualifying adjectives to each of these to further refine the steps.
Sympathetic Attraction
The first step in the APAE cycle. In order to execute the cycle successfully, BDM must bond with other elements at least in a rudimentary way. At its most simplistic level, individual particles of BDM will bond with simple molecules before forming more and more advanced communities that are in turn capable of bonding with more and more complex organisms.
These bonds require an increasingly complex sympathetic attraction to take place. Early on, this attraction will exist between individual particles of BDM and virtually all basic elements such as helium, lead, etc. The more essence or "memory" the BDM acquires, the more finicky it will grow as the cycle restarts.
Sanctioned Permeation
In this step of the APAE cycle, the BDM passes through the boundaries of the sympathetic host, or it's molecular structure. It cannot do this without sanction from the host on some level. The sanction required will be less concrete for less complex organisms, and more concrete for more complex organisms.
Quintessential Assimilation
Once BDM has permeated the host, it begins to soak up the essence or "memory" of the element, matter, or organism. It will continue to do this for the entire life cycle of the organism if possible. This is the critical step of the APAE cycle in which BDM communities expand in complexity and understanding. During Assimilation, BDM essentially becomes the matter it is mimicking. It takes on all characteristics and qualities of the permeated matter.
Thus, arresting BDM during Assimilation by the use of nought modules allows for the transference of the host's characteristics. If BDM is harvested from water, arrested within a hibernaculum, and placed within another material, it will lend the fluid nature of water to it's new material host.
This is the root of all Hibertech.
Egress
The final step of the APAE cycle, egress occurs under one of two circumstances--Pre-Necrotic Egress, and Post-Necrotic Egress. At this point, the BDM can either scatter in search of other communities, or can remain together as a community and search out organisms it has yet to quantify. These temporarily unengaged communities of BDM, if unable to find sympathetic hosts, can become what is known as Vagabond BDM.
Natural Occurring States of BDM: Vestal BDM
Before a portion of BDM permeates a host for the first time, it is in a vestal state — it is virginal, not having accumulated any essence other than its own. In this state, it can permeate anything simplistic enough.
Charged BDM
After executing one APAE cycle, the BDM becomes charged with a new batch of quintessence. It has become more complex, and so as it seeks out a new sympathetic host, its options decrease slightly.
Replete BDM
The BDM continues to execute APAE cycles until it has formed a complex community, understanding or "remembering" a vast catalogue of life. Charged with a multitude of Quintessential aspects, it will have a very few potential hosts. Due to the characteristic of Infinitude, it can, however sense the presence of a sympathetic host through its link to the BDM cloud, (which is everywhere) and it can instantaneously leap through space to the site of the sympathetic host. This principle became the foundation of our current method of instantaneous travel through the jump gate system.
Eventually, (if given the opportunity) the BDM community will become Replete; so charged with Quintessence that it can no longer increase itself anymore. In this case, it will enter into one last APAE cycle with an extremely advanced life form. (This is strictly theoretical at this point, due to my inability to observe this behavior in the wild. But I am firmly convinced of its scientific merit.)
At Egress the BDM community will form what I am calling a Mimicron in combination with its final host — the culmination of its Quintessential Journey.
It is my belief that if this connection is strong enough, the host and the BDM will unify, thus becoming an eternal being and portion of the infinite BDM cloud. Perhaps someday, I will be given the opportunity to test this theory...
(While there are countless more pages of Dr. Riarin's journal, this will suffice for today. In conclusion, I'm forced to comment on the connections between the mysterious nature of Dr. Riarin's demise and the eerie ghosts one encounters within his own words. Did he ever test his Mimicron Theory? Did he actually die in the way Hibernarii history records? Perhaps we will eventually uncover the answer to these questions and others.)