Editing Shard (section)

==Description==
Shards are the basic units of the Entities' biology, fulfilling a role analogous to cells or organs.<ref name="skin">'''Wildbow:''' Helped by the fact that a shard with 9000 facets is 'a shard' while a shard with 2 facets is 'a shard'.<br>Your skin is an organ. It contains a whole lot of varied shit.<br>Your pineal gland is also an organ.<br>It's tiny.<br>[...]<br>'''Wildbow:''' Powers tend to have 'hinges'. One shard might always deliver something like 'molten glass' with the vector varying.<br>Another might always have 'teleport with detonation on reappearance', but the end result on landing is varied.<br>The specifics of that set vector might have some leeway, fitting better to a more aggressive person or a more situationally aware one, but by and large shards have a thing they tend to do.<br>So for Brian it's a stranger-ish dampening effect (predominantly dampening light), with some power/dimensional interaction. But the way it's used can vary a lot.<br><br>'''MarcoFro:''' Is there a way to find out shard specifications in case someone wants help making an alt power? Like will Grue always have a stranger ish effect even if the trigger doesn’t have stranger elements?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Noelle is a good place to look for the alt powers and where they hinge<br>Once you've sorta looked at that, you can think about where another power might be rooted. - [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/53539480 Wildbow on SpaceBattles]</ref><ref name="I26">[[Interlude 26]]</ref> They appear as crystalline structures continually folding and unfolding in multiple dimensions, similar to 3-dimensional representations of [[Wikipedia:Hypercube|hypercubes]].<ref name="R S 6453">I'd imagine them as crystals, but folding/unfolding like tesseracts, with the entities themselves having a more organic overall shape. - [https://redd.it/48jdld Wildbow on Reddit]</ref> Each [[Entity]] is comprised of "trillions upon trillions upon trillions" of Shards, and each Shard is dedicated to a particular function or technique, such as generating offensive abilities, forecasting the future, or even performing administrative functions within the Entity itself. 

Shards can be linked together to produce a more complex Shard with the abilities of all joined fragments.<ref name="SB5">Link two shards together for cross-purposes, to augment one power (ie. means of increasing range or penetration of organic matter added to a shard with blaster/striker type power) or to add another power to the package (ie. Tecton's structural awareness added to the tinker shard), and you get... a shard. Each shard is a collection of data and mechanisms, and each 'shard' as we think of it is already composed of multiple shards. - [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/15725384 Wildbow on SpaceBattles]</ref><ref name="skin" /> The Shards that grants powers to parahumans are mostly if not exclusively amalgamations of smaller shards, with each component contributing in some way to produce an ability that can be wielded by the host.

When two Entities collide, their Shards can be damaged or destroyed by friction and pressure, but can also be exchanged between the Entities during the collision. After being cast off by an Entity, Shards travel along predetermined paths, eventually "raining down" on planets or other celestial bodies. Before coming to Earth, the [[Warrior Entity|Warrior]] and [[Thinker]] Entities cast off the vast majority of their Shards in this fashion, with the Shards landing on the various Earths across the multiverse over a period of decades.<ref name="I26" /> Once they landed, Shards resided in other worlds, uninhabited worlds, and remained cloaked and concealed in areas humans were unlikely to explore. Most alternate Earths were closed off from access, and likely serve as the source of material and energy for shard functionality.<ref name="I26">[[Interlude 26]]</ref>

===Size===
According to [[parahumans]] after [[Gold Morning]] who had good glimpses at their shards and could still remember these glimpses, shards are mountain- or island-sized, though some might be continent-sized.<ref>I built on her statement.  No use denying it.  “There were people who had good glimpses and who remembered them, after Gold Morning.  Mountain sized, island sized.  Maybe continent-spanning.”<br><br>“And they’re like computers.  They’re limited but they aren’t stupid.”<br><br>I shook my head.  “Not stupid, but not genius either.  It’s a specific kind of intelligence and focus.  They make mistakes or miscalculate.  There are capes who do nothing wrong who get screwed over by their power-”<br><br>“Ashley.  Me.  Chris, maybe.”<br><br>“And capes who, if the agent had more sense, wouldn’t have been allowed to operate like they did.  Khepri.  Though Khepri was a special case.”<br>[...]<br>They did follow after, though they didn’t take root.  I gathered my thoughts again.  “They are intimidating enemies, but they aren’t perfect.  If you want this, and I think you do, then maybe it’s worth going down that road.” - [[Polarize 10.2]]</ref> [[Wildbow]] estimates that a typical shard is roughly the size of a big glacier, though some could be continent-sized.<ref>You know how the shards are kinda there, lurking in alternate realms? Big glacier or even continent sized bio-machines capable of managing and tapping complex manifestations of power? They provide the heat and laserstuff for a blaster cape, who just opens the door to let that stuff through. Or they manage the transformation and provide the mass and material for changer transformations, pushing it through portals. The corona pollentia lets the cape have some say over the management of these processes.<br><br>Well, in the abstracted down, simplified version, those big shards of alien lifeform are producing an extension cord that reaches to the border of their alt reality, the tinker extends their end of the extension cord to the border of reality, and the power thus flows.<br><br>In reality it's a lot more fine tuned and it's more than an extension cord, but also monitoring and little tweaks and balances, stabilizing fusion cores that would otherwise just blow up, etc. The tech plugs into that and the cape gets the know-how to be able to reach out to the shard, though they almost never really ''get'' that that's what they're doing, and they do get the adjustments they can make on their side like it's common sense.<br><br>Of course, this varies by tinker and some build very little in the way of extension cords, doing more on their side, with the shard steering their awareness, and others have more of a fugue state and 'black out' moment between when they start building and when they end up with tech (that they might not even know how to use - like Bakuda not knowing what all her bombs do).<br><br>Most of the issues with non-tinkers being unable to build tinker stuff is explained away by the tinker as micro-errors and lack of common sense. - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/77072680 -->

===Living Shards===
Entities can "tune" their Shards to perform different functions, or combine different Shards to create new ones with new functions.<ref name="I26">[[Interlude 26]]</ref> Some Shards can be intentionally crippled to prevent hosts from accessing their full potential.<ref name="I26">[[Interlude 26]]</ref>
====Vital Shards====
Some Shards are vital to an Entity, and are not intended to be given out; if these vital shards are separated from the Entity, the Entity could 'die'. Scion witnessed some of Eden's vital Shards seemingly falling away and being sent to hosts after she crashed.<ref name="I26">[[Interlude 26]]</ref>

====Noble Shards====
'Noble' is used here as a wiki term for an intermediary category between vital and regular shards. Unlike vital shards, they are given out into The Cycle. However, they are still important tools during the initiation and ending of [[The Cycle]] as a whole or have passive background tasks during it. They tend to be more developed and somewhat less violent compared to regular shards.<ref>"There are others who stand shoulder to shoulder with us, but queen is the wrong word, Administrator.  The champion, the high priest, the observer, the shaper, the demesnes-keeper.  Why do you ask?”<br>[...]<br>“Yes.  The other nobles, their tasks are more immediate, shorter in term.  What makes us truly noble is our role before and after this act.  The others sleep, and we toil.  We’re practiced, stronger, for that constant effort.  The champion and observer ensure the next act goes on without a hitch.  The shaper and demesnes-keeper clean up after we are all done here, one way or another.  So it goes.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/08/22/extinction-27-4/ Excerpt] from [[Extinction 27.4]]</ref>
<!--So much to do

A bit on how shards choose their hosts, and how dead shards differ in that process
Discord said:
Fen
Shards only choose those that will be engaged with conflict, correct?


<ref name="SB1">
Lyova
Ordinarily, yes. Some shards are broken, or made for some specific purpose, and those might create capes like Leet (who's too cautious) or Nilbog (who just sits somewhere, being gross)<br><br>

'''Wildbow:''' It'd be easier to say they steer clear of (or try to jump ship from) those who are adverse to conflict.<br><br>

Dead shards will always bend the rules, mind, but I wouldn't lean too heavily on that for a WD game or fic.

'''Lyova:''' Can I ask in what ways they bend the rules, WB? (And is that the case even if they're otherwise undamaged?)

'''Wildbow:''' They just care less for usual rules or stipulations and cleave closer to original programming, Lyov

They won't adapt to new circumstances or change up to do something more special.

A dead shard that hasn't yet found a host could theoretically attach to a suicidal, older, and/or overly stable individual. - [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/44301909/ Conversation with Wildbow on Discord], Archived on Spacebattles.</ref>



Put in talk about instinct from car ride with etna

Dont forget how training can make a change in how powers work, cote the negotiations with the shard bit from weaverdice
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===Buds===
Sometimes, a Shard begins splitting off from an existing shard embedded in a human host, in order to find a (usually young) host similar to the original target and attach to them with the benefit of more experience. This generally takes time and/or stress on the part of the host.<ref name ="SB2">Generally the trigger cause fits in the same general category. Brian had his second trigger for much the same reason he had his first. They can differ in nature. What's happening is that the entity is drawing from context and exploring/conceptualizing new uses for the powers (which are still in the metaphorical computer's memory, but not in the hardware that burned out in the trigger process). The entity begins splitting off, ready to find a generally young & similar host to target (piggybacking off the parent's context & experience for an easier triggering process/analysis) but then a major event prompts it to catalyze and consolidate in the current host instead.<br>If it's in an adult before finding its way to the child, it can begin this splitting-off process (generally requiring time or a degree of stress to allow for the maturation).<br>They are exceedingly rare (two noted in-story. Taylor didn't second-trigger in the last arc, to be clear), and generally speaking they do more harm than good. If it's a straight power-up, you're probably doing it wrong. - [http://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/13897766/ Wildbow on SpaceBattles]</ref> It's possible for a Shard to bud before or at the same time as a [[trigger event]].<ref>Q: Do Brandish and Lady Photon have closely related or bud shards?<br>A: Yes. Bud shards. One had it, then the stress they were under prompted it to bud, it found the nearby host who met the prerequisites. - [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/13897766 Wildbow on SpaceBattles]<br><br>Note: Brandish and Lady Photon triggered only minutes apart, as [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/10/18/interlude-15-donation-bonus/ seen in] [[Interlude 15.x]].</ref>

Very rarely, the host will experience a [[second trigger]] very similar to their first trigger, causing a developing bud to consolidate in the current host instead.<ref name ="SB2"/> This would not remove the ability of the host to develop more buds in the future.

Although the [[entities]] consider the different "fragments" to be separate shards, and the buds require their hosts to remain in close proximity if they want to communicate,<ref name="I26 e2">All around the entity, there were shards in varying states of maturation.  The female’s was among the most mature.  Seasoned by conflict, heavy with information, lessons learned, tactics, applications, organization.  It had already fragmented once, heavy enough with information that it could afford to handle other roles.  The fragment would have a derivative ability, and given proximity, it would hopefully remain close enough to exchange information with the shard that it had split off from.  There were no signs of that exchange.  The female had separated ways from the fragment. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/08/10/interlude-26/ excerpt] from [[Interlude 26]]</ref> on a physical level the shard is simply devoting a part of its "CPU" to the new host.<ref>More like the shard is just a big chunk of entity, somewhere between a crystal and a braincomputer, and it's constantly adapting and shifting gears to take in the data that the host is granting. When that starts slowing down, because the shard has seen enough permutations, then it devotes a chunk of itself to the processing for a new host (or to the existing host again), extending a tendril across realities. - [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/15025749/ Wildbow on Spacebattles]</ref> This is because the main portion of a shard is largely inactive, while only the smaller "active" portion deals with the host.<ref>Kyakan: Back in Scion's interlude, he mentioned that Taylor's shard had fragmented, and was no longer in contact with said fragment (Aidan) due to having moved apart. However, in a later WoG, you clarified that a shard budding is more like designating a different portion of the same shard than physically separating. My question is why Taylor's shard would no longer be communicating with Aidan's, since they're physically re same shard? Am I misinterpreting the WoG?<br><br>Wildbow: @ Kya - Shards burn off a lot of their extraneous functioning when they manifest in a host. It gets a bit hard to word because the CPU is still in another dimension and is doing stuff, but the active part is mostly in the host. Scion is distinguishing the active portions of Taylor & Aidan.<br>Kiiind of like how when you're talking to someone about stuff going on with your computer, you might gesture at the monitor, keyboard, mouse setup and not the desktop sitting on the ground to one side. - [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/37436294 Wildbow on Discord]</ref>

When Shards bud or cross-bud, there can be interaction between the parent Shards, creating interesting effects. For example, [[Golem]]'s power derives partially from his Shard's relation to [[Kaiser]]'s and [[Allfather]]'s Shards, but the manifestation of his power as limbs derives from his mother [[Heith]]'s Shard.<ref name="R2"/>

===Multi-Triggers===
{{main|Cluster}}

Powers coming from [[multitrigger]] events are derived from a mix of Shards. In these cases, each Shard will dedicate a small to moderate portion of itself to a host, then connect to another host as well, possibly with some relation to the primary host.<ref name="R1">''1.) Powers from multitriggers are from a mix of shards. The shards, instead of going all-in, give up a small to moderate portion of themselves, and then leave the rest of themselves to develop normally while taking in info from multiple sources, just like a shard would naturally gather info and eventually reach the point where it could bud. Except in this case, the shard will usually just go find another host, maybe with relation to one of the multis, maybe not, and empower them.''<br><br>''2.) There would need to be some common ground. It's very possible that, in a car accident where two individuals triggered, that one would get seriously hurt and be anxious about 'oh fuck, my life is ruined, what do I do!?", While the other is like "Oh fuck! I'm going to jail!" while being a little bruised. The former gets a major brute power with minor thinker, while the latter gets a minor brute power with a major thinker. And the shards want to keep them involved and interacting, so in pretty short order they start to really hate or really like each other.'' - [https://www.reddit.com/comments/4ea77x/ /d1ys8is/ Comment on Reddit]</ref> This behavior is primarily intended for the end of the Cycle, and serves to stress-test powers and compare and contrast the smaller powers.<ref name ="WD1">Multiple triggers are actually the endgame of the cycle, prior to the reabsorption and collapse.  When virtually all individuals in the setting are parahumans, connected to shards, the introduction of multiple-triggers serves to stress-test powers and compare and contrast the smaller powers. - [https://docs.google.com/document/d/17WIAhETdtVGSKzFuDYOT2_6U_MMXmTGyzCziYhCwozo/edit?pli=1# Weaver Dice Rulebook]</ref> Shards can not refuse to cluster; the process is integral to the Cycle.{{Ref|''[The Shard] did not seek this and did not want it.  But when the other reaches out to connect, a [Shard] is obliged to answer.  It is automatic, instantaneous.  The cycle’s finish would be delayed by whole revolutions around a star if there was choice in the matter.  It does not matter that this cycle is broken, disturbed.  What is offered must be accepted.''|#Interlude 12.f II}}
===Dead & Damaged Shards===
A Shard can be disconnected from [[The Firmament|the larger shard network]], and by extension the Entities or the hubs; these Shards are considered by [[Scion]] to be 'dead'. This can happen as a result of damage to the Shard.<ref>Disconnected would be a better word than 'dead', but in Scion's parlance, he favors 'dead'. - [https://redd.it/94a4fz Wildbow on Reddit]</ref><ref name="SB963">They can alter the shards they put out there, before the shards hae mature, because a connection is maintained. No connection = 'dead' shard. - [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/14727588/ Part of a Comment] by Wildbow on spacebattles</ref><ref name="RED567">dead damaged shards are disconnected from the greater entity network that allows living shards like Zion's to function. - [https://redd.it/2xpn06 Comment by] wildbow on Reddit</ref> These Shards still remain viable for connecting to a host and granting them powers, however.

Large numbers of Eden's Shards were damaged, corrupted, or dead.<ref name" SB1643534">Some shards are damaged. Or 'dead'. Which isn't saying he's Cauldron.<br><br>But I've digressed/derailed enough. Bob's thread. No more on that subject. - [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/13876925/ BobTheNinja reacts to Worm - The Final Countdown (Interlude 26) >> NO FREAKING SPOILERS!!] ([[Wildbow]], SpaceBattles.com, 2014-04-11)</ref> This meant there were more parahumans than either the Warrior or Thinker Entities had intended, with many of them useless to [[The Cycle]]. [[Vikare]]'s Shard was such an example, though it was still able to grow properly as long as its host was alive.<ref name="I26">[[Interlude 26]]</ref>

Scion would generally destroy them on sight as he saw them falling.<ref name="I26">[[Interlude 26]]</ref>

Disconnected Shards are unable to ask the network for any assistance or permission to alter themselves,<ref>What is ‘death’?  Death is stasis.  Death is disconnection.  Disconnection from all communication, disconnection from other wells of power.  I have what I have.  I cannot grow.  I cannot connect to others and seek their input or resources.- [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/03/02/heavens-12-all/ Excerpt] from [[Heavens 12.all]]</ref> including in a way that would safeguard hosts and limit power over-expression, e.g. lead to [[broken trigger]]s.<ref>it is what the humans call a second trigger.  It is what humans call a broken trigger, though this is wrong.<br><br>It is a failure to support.  A desperate clutching at a well too intense and dangerous, collecting waste and fragments, extrapolating out wildly, without program or logic.- [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/03/02/heavens-12-all/ Excerpt] from [[Heavens 12.all]]</ref>