The physical world operates on a reliable set of biological and kinetic laws. If you want to move from the Capital to the Eastern Wilds, you simply step through a localized spatial tear in the shadows, or calculate a digital reality patch.
But the deep cosmos does not obey terrestrial physics. It is an absolute, hostile vacuum.
In the high, rocky ridges miles above the Oakhaven valley, the night air was biting and thin. Orion, Elara, and Zenith stood on a flat plateau overlooking the sleeping continent. Above them, the sky was a breathtaking canvas of indifferent, freezing stars.
"Standard spatial transit is impossible," Zenith reported, his breath pluming in the cold air. He tapped his celestial steel Logic Rod against the frost-covered stone, projecting a highly detailed, rotating diagram of a spatial tear.
