Secret of Frost and Moon

Manefestational Ether

Alaia Skyhawk: Ok, here's the rest of what would have been in the other chapter :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood, or any related characters etc. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes.

~(-)~

Chapter 79: Manefestational Ether

There was a sort of hushed anticipation following his statement, all eyes watching him as the gathered people waited for him to continue. What had already been revealed, was world-changing. What could he possibly say that was bigger than that?

Bunny let them wait, just for a few seconds, but long enough that he knew he had their complete and utter attention. The last time he'd done a talk on the Manefestational Ether, it had been to a seven-year-old Pooka while acting as their private tutor. That memory, and the thought that he might get to teach Pooka kits again someday, made him smile as he at last resumed talking.

"Among you lot, there should be a group from the field of quantum particle research. When you consider the mish-mash of people we invited to this, even so that group is a bit of an odd addition. Except when I get down to the most basic fact about the Ether... What I call the Manefestational Ether, is what you guys call Dark Matter." At the chorus of gasps, he grinned. "That's right, the unseen, undetectable matter that you've theorised the existence of for decades. Which makes up the majority of the mass in the universe, and which stops it all from flying off in different directions."

He went to his projector, bringing up a new diagram on the screen.

"The Ether is a vast and mostly inert sea of particles, that don't react with each other in any way save to conduct resonance over a limited distance, and to passively interact with more regular matter in the conduction of the gravitational forces that hold the universe in shape. But what's really special about the Ether, is that particle interactions among normal matter cause it to resonate on specific frequencies. The range of frequencies upon which the Ether will react, range from around a thousand hertz all the way up to billions of hertz. Most of those frequencies, however, have no natural force that triggers them. Instead, it is possible to build things that cause resonance on those frequencies, and to even cause them to resonate with the power of the mind."

Bunny gazed out across the hall.

"Right now, you lot are doing just that. By the alteration of your perception, caused by you believing that Jack and I are really here, you are causing the Ether to sympathetically resonate on each of the unique 'fingerprint' of frequencies that we've been connected to. Think if it as being like Schrödinger's imaginary cat, which you can't tell is alive or dead without opening the airtight box it's in and looking. Just as shining a light on an electron will cause it to change its speed or its orbit, the perception of you the 'observer' is what causes the Ether to react in those otherwise inert ranges."

He changed his diagram again.

"Every Immortal, be they a Legend or Natural, is at the moment of their creation assigned between twenty and thirty of the unused frequencies. To be theirs to tap into within their planetary region. The more people who believe in them within their region, the greater the amplitude of resonance on those frequencies becomes, and the greater amount of power generated that they can tap into and use. Think of the Ether as a giant wall-socket, with billions of holes for pins, and that each Immortal is assigned their own unique 'plug' to put into it. Legends are only ever linked into the unused frequencies, but Naturals get a second 'plug' that hooks them up to frequencies that resonate in reaction to the natural forces they are to preside over in their territories."

Bunny gestured to Jack, who blinked at suddenly finding himself as a lecture prop.

"Take Jack, for example. As the Spirit of Winter, he is connected to every single frequency that resonates with the compound weather phenomena known as 'winter' for this planet. The reason he's plugged into all of them, is because he's in the top tier for his kind of immortal. By contrast, any lesser Winter Natural will only be connected to a selection of them. Wind resonates across about fifty frequencies, but lesser Naturals who deal with wind will typically only be connected to about two or three of them. Jack has the full whack."