Hello, my name is Dr. Mehta.
...those same particles may begin to spin
clockwise on their Y-Axis in the presence of anti-Sothons. In short, they start behaving according to a different set of physical rules.
So when you encounter what appears to be a
fireball in the field, it's actually a small amount
of plasma transported to earth from a sun
(but not necessarily ours) through a wormhole. I like the
wormhole theory,
so that's what I'm going with for the
purposes of this talk. ...or if it actually opens a
wormhole through space
and/or time.
Our best explanation hinges on the existence of a hypothetical sub-atomic particle.
Let's call it the Sothon.
Also like the Higgs Boson, the Sothon's primary effect is on other particles.
What the exact effects are, we're still struggling to understand...
But it seems to regulate the behaviors of other particles, making it only detectible by it's absence.
It's therefore fair to think of the Sothon as the “Reality Particle”.
Like All other particles, the Sothon has an Anti-matter equivalent and we believe that the two are constantly being created, meeting, and annihilating each other, as with all virtual particles.
But, for the same reasons that we have a matter universe and not an anti-matter
Here's where it starts to get weird.
Although they produce
different effects.
“Different,” not opposite, like you'd expect from anti-matter.
Today, I’m going to explain how it’s possible for psychics
and maniac cultists to warp space and throw fireballs
around.
(I say hypothetical because, like the
Higgs Boson, no one's ever directly observed one.) Anti-sothons still interact with matter particles universe, we generally end up with more Sothons than anti-Sothons.
For instance if a regular Sothon causes
a given particle to spin
clockwise on the X-Axis...
This was accurate at the time of broadcast. The Higgs Boson was observed in 2012.
O.K. but how do humans create these wormholes, you ask?
Stay with me.
X-Sothons and Y-Sothons
respond to waveforms.
But only certain waveforms cause the Y-Sothons to separate from the X-Sothons instead of meeting...
...and instantly
destroying
each other. Sonic, electrical, magnetic, light... the medium
seems less important than the shape of the waveform in 10-dimensional space.
Once the waveform ceases, there's nothing stopping the natural attraction between positive Sothons and Y-Sothons.
They go back to destroying each other and everything returns to normal.
These specific waveforms can be generated
by the brains of so-called psychics...
...or sometimes by the chanting of cultists, usually by accident.
Even though you need the exact same acoustics, harmonics, et cetera to replicate any effect.
They keep repeating the same incantations over and over, hoping the “magic” will return.
They're almost completely wrong, except that regions exposed to high concentrations of Y-Sothons seem more likely to spontaneously open small wormholes.
We think this may be a function of waveforms echoing through time. We're not REALLY sure. These spontaneous wormholes are usually
just large enough, and last long enough,
for a single molecule to pass through or
from our atmosphere.
Unexplained high or low pressure fronts or
unusual concentrations of rare atmospheric compounds are common indicators...
...as are shifts in temperature. Cold spots seem to be more common than warm ones for some reason.
It should come as no surprise that a a good deal of these wormhole phenomena are mistaken for hauntings, U.F.O.s or other “paranatural encounters”.
These temperatures and weather anomalies
are some of the few indicators from which we can infer concentrations of Y-Sothons.
Some instances may be naturally occurring,
but most are the result of human activity.
or Doomsday cults trying to end the world...
Psychics experiment-
ing with their powers
...most of whom tend to believe they can open a wormhole large enough to let through whatever space god-monster they worship so it can destroy the world.
They're partly right, but the real danger
isn't from 7th dimensional monsters...
...it's that these idiots might accidentally transport the atmosphere somewhere into
outer space...
...or establish a wormhole to the sun that lasts long enough to raise overall planetary
temperatures just 50 degrees.
Admittedly,
the odds of any of those happening are really, really
low...
...but they go up a tiny bit with every instance of
psychic phenomena.
Which is why it's so crucial that we investigate
claims of supernatural activity. We may be all that stands between the human race and the
One of the principle discoveries stemming from researching the supernatural is that the more often an area is affected by supernatural phenomena, the more likely it is to experience even more supernatural effects. This has the potential of creating a snowball effect until reality as we know it unravels completely. The dimensional instability rating of an area is the measure of how likely this is to happen.
Dimensional instability is rated on a rough scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being a state of complete harmonious accordance with natural laws as currently understood by man, and 10 being complete dissolution of all of space-time into a soup of subatomic particles. Earth becomes inhospitable to life with an instability rating of 8 or higher. In most areas the instability rating is 0 or 1, but is known to be higher the following regions:
Places where psychics regularly use their powers (rating +2)
Mutants’ residences or places where large numbers of mutants congregate (rating +1 to +2)
Large cities; the concentration of large numbers of people makes it statistically likely that one or more of them are psychics or mutants (rating +1)
Nuclear reactors, particle accelerators, or other high-energy research facilities (rating +1)
“Haunted” houses and places with a history of supernatural phenomena (rating +1) The above modifiers are cumulative. The home of a powerful psychic (+2) living in a large
city (+1) near a positron super-colliding laboratory (+1) would have a dimensional instability rating of at least 4.
The most immediate effect of Instability is that it enhances psychic powers and makes them easier to use.
Zones with a dimensional instability of 2 or greater have the situational aspect Facilitates Psychic Powers with a number of automatic free invokes equal to the instability rating. The
first few uses of any psychic power (except Sothon Sight [see the power Sothon Sight p. 86])
automatically have the +2 aspect invocation bonus whether or not the psychic is even aware
of the aspect or pays a Fate point. After the automatic invokes are used up, psychics have to pay a fate point to gain the benefit as usual.
Once the dimensional instability rating reaches 2 there’s an increasing likelihood that small wormholes will spontaneously open on their own. For reasons not fully understood, these wormholes tend to let light in and/or heat out, creating strange lights and pockets of cold. Generally these effects are sporadic and short lived, but become more common and longer-lasting as the instability levels increase.
In areas with instability ratings of 4 or higher, sensitive electronic devices start to malfunction. Radios and cellular phones tend to have reduced reception and visitors tend to experience other phenomena such as disorientation, hearing strange noises, and the sensation of being touched. It’s unclear whether these effects are due to extremely minor alterations in the laws of physics, excessive electromagnetic energy disrupting radio signals and/or human brainwaves, some other unknown effect that induces auditory and tactile hallucinations, or a combination of all of the above. More unusual phenomena have been reported, but the above are the most consistent effects.