The Firmament

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<infobox> <title source="name"><default>The Firmament</default></title>

<image source="image"><default>File:Placeholder location.png</default></image> <header>Basic Information</header> <image source="map"></image> <label>Type</label> <label>Location</label> <label>Teams</label> <label>Inhabitants</label> <header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label> </infobox>The Firmament or The Shardspace<ref name="II18.z">Radiation 18.z</ref> is the dimension that serves as a physical representation of shard-connections.

Geography/Description

The Shardspace is a dimension full of fractal dark-red crystals that are borderline incomprehensible to the human mind. The crystals glow dimly.<ref>The cold air from above was seeping into this void, which was more temperature-neutral. Where the cold air from our world met the neutral air of this world, it formed vapor, that hung over the plain like a fog, and settled onto the crystal as a frost or beads of moisture.

Barely any light from the crack above us. Most of the illumination came from the crystal itself, like it was all lit by light from a light turned to the lowest possible setting on a dimmer switch, tinted red. It colored the fog, moisture, and frost. - Excerpt from Infrared 19.7</ref>

It is at least a semi-virtual space where real distances are inconsistent with distance traveled. How much of it is physical, and the degree of interaction with the real physical space is questionable.

The Shardspace is divided into islands over bottomless darkness. Each island represents a specific shard and its host, and houses Endbringer-like shard-avatars. Islands can be merged or bridged by power interactions in real-space. Presumably, the crystals forming each individual island is the real body of a shard.

The space between distinct islands is filled with un-distinct connective tissue, which can be claimed by individual shards or several. After Zions's death those claims became chaotic and overburdening, leading to mechanical conditions that produced Broken Triggers and Titans.<ref>“This landscape added up once upon a time,” she said. “Everything interconnected, it fed more easily. Now it’s… a hundred hard drives crammed into one computer’s housing. Each agent lays some claim to real estate, builds their houses. But when information isn’t flowing freely, and some houses get built on broken or missing ground…”

“Broken triggers,” I said.

“And Titans, when there’s enough support from the system to keep them propped up." - Excerpt from Infrared 19.7</ref>

Interaction with Parahumans

The firmament is essential as the diagnostic and the information-gathering tool for when a shard triggers and decides the parameters of the powers it grants,<ref>Chiro
I was wondering as of late, why Taylor can't control Breed's parasites? Is it because they as lifeforms don't fall into the portfolio of creatures Taylor controls, or because Breed controls them already?

Kyakan
might be as simple as them not being around when Taylor's power was defining what counted as "bug"

Wildbow
Kyak has it right. Bonesaw talks about how shards conceptualize their idea of what X is when the trigger happens.
It's why Taylor's notion of what a 'bug' is remains pretty nebulous, including some things (crabs, earthworms, arachnids, insects) and bypassing others (skin mites, bug case 53s).
And it's not just Taylor- it pulls from the shard network of wider human knowledge across hosts. - Discord conversation Archived on Spacebattles.</ref> as well as the modeling structure for Precognitive abilities.<ref>It's worth stating that a lot of the simulation is only possible because the shards are already there, gathering, sharing, and collating data. - WB on reddit</ref>

When a group of capes entered the shardspace through a dream room of the Mall Cluster, they were de-powered and constantly sent out visible pings of light to the avatars of their agents. The intensity of pings seems to vary depending on distance or their mental state. The hosts and agent-avatars, presumably, can voluntarily merge when nearby.

The hosts are also semi-immortal while inside the shardspace, since they always can get a new, memory-based "body" from the crystal surface. However, fatal wounds still can sever the connection and render them brain-dead in real space.

After reality broke, cracks opened into the world that allowed anyone to enter the shardspace. When entered this way, the capes in question retained some of their abilities, though they become significantly weaker, the further they are from the conventional reality. The Wardens deployed artificial portals to provide power-support for their capes forced to act inside the Firmament.<ref>“Don’t stray too far from the portal!” Moonsong called out to Furcate. The portal near the center of the work site was their lifeline, feeding them their powers, in this place where powers were dampened or gone. - Excerpt from Infrared 19.e</ref>

Notable Residents/Points of Interest

• Grasping Self
• Anguished Heart
• Fragile One

History

Background

The Shardspace is an important part of the Cycle, being created when Scion and Eden distributed their shards into multiple different dimensions.

Post-Gold Morning

Suffered extensive, but unspecified damage, that impedes its functions since that event.

Post-Time Bubble Pop

Teacher had uncovered a portal to the shardspace.

Post-Attack on Teacher

Breakthrough alongside Tattletale, Decadent, Syndicate, Chicken Little, Love Lost, Colt, and Damsel of Distress III broke into the Shardspace through the Mall Clusters dream room. There, they witnessed several shard entities including Grasping Self and others from the Mall Cluster, several shard entities from members of the Taught, Tattletale's shard, the Wretch, and Teacher's shard entity itself.

Post-Ice Break

When the ice broke, dimensional rifts opened up throughout the City and other Earths. Through these dimensional rifts, the Shardspace was visible.

Ten patrol officers with dormant Corona Pollentias, including Gilpatrick, were tinker-linked by Lookout to Rain, allowing them to invade the virtual side of The Firmament. Two of the officers were impersonated by Matryoshka and Bijou.<ref name="II19.b">Infrared 19.b</ref>

On Victoria Dallon's advice the Wardens organize a mass incursion into the Shardspace. It instantly agitates the nearby Titans, <ref name="II18.10">Radiation 18.10</ref> and Ziz<ref name="II18.z"/> The sabotage succeeded in temporarily weakening Titans.<ref name="II19.2">Infrared 19.2</ref>

Breakthrough, accompanied by Chris Elman and Harbinger V, visited Contessa's seat of power inside the Shardrealm.<ref name="II19.7">Infrared 19.7</ref>

Trivia

• Black and red are common as colors of power manifestations in the story. A lot of villains also favor those colors in their costumes. It may be that this aesthetic is a default influence of shards in some form.

References

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