Negative Energy Technology

Negative Energy is a natural phenomenon linked to gravity and the curvature of space.  It has a number of practical uses, from creating artificial gravity fields, to hyper-efficient refrigeration and noise-cancellation systems, to some of the most powerful weaponry in the galaxy.  It is also the key to spatial compression, the primary FTL (faster than light) technology in human-controlled space.  It even impacts the world of communications with spatial compression radio technology.

The generation of negative energy is generally accomplished through the use of Casimir Stacks (a device that operates on the Casimir effect ), or through the squeezed light technique. 

Manipulation of negative energy often requires the use of time crystals, exotic objects that never reach thermal equilibrium, as well as nega-conductors, special materials that can transmit negative energy.

Negative energy can also be stored in an anticapacitor.  When charging, anticapacitors are said to "charge down", rather than charging up, as one might think of a normal energy storage device.

Negative Energy Hazards

A negative energy field counteracts positive energy that it comes into contact with, so a common injury from exposure to excessive negative energy is frostbite, as it absorbs the heat in the environment.  An environment rich in negative energy is one with dim light or darkness, little or no sound, and cold temperatures.  All movement slows down in its presence.  Electronics often fail in such environments as well.

This feature also makes negative energy based weapons the preferred armament of assassins and spies.  Where a conventional weapon would give away its presence with emitted light and sound, a negative energy blaster or blade blocks out light and sound, making its use harder to detect.  

Negative energy systems have to be carefully shielded and insulated. If they aren't, the area around the equipment can quickly become hazardously cold.

The Maenads of Troniac

The Maenads of Troniac (named after the maenads from Greek mythology) are humans (or other intelligent life-forms) who have been parasitisedby specially engineered virobots.  First deployed during the robot wars of late Era-0 and early Era-1, they were developed by the forces of General Zarlok, and saw their fullest use by the Engine of Negation in their ongoing attempts to rid the galaxy of organic life.

Instead of having their hosts build more virobots, the virobots used to create maenads are designed to drive their hosts into a berserk rage, focused on injuring or killing intelligent life.  Mostly used as a weapon of terror, maenads occasionally played bigger roles in thinning out the populations of cities before a direct attack.  This was generally accomplished by aerial bombardment, using munitions stuffed with virobots that could be scattered in population centers.

Virobots

Based on an original concept by TR Merchen

Description

Virobots (short for Virus Robots) are small robots that attach themselves to intelligent life-forms in order to have those life-forms build more of their kind. This is usually accomplished via neural probes that connect to the host's brain or spine.  The Virobot then communicates the idea to build robots, and the plans to build its offspring directly into the host's nervous system.  The effects vary by strain.  The most common Virobots give their host a quirky hobby that can last for several weeks.  The more dangerous strains can be fatal, causing the host to obsess over the construction process while neglecting to eat or sleep.  Most strains of Virobots stick to a single species of hosts, although cross-species infection is not unheard-of.

Sometimes, during an epidemic, star-ships are found drifting through space filled with Virobots, the entire crew dead from converting the life-support systems into Virobots.  At one point, an exploration mission from the Planetary League even found a planet with the crumbling remains of an advanced civilization thickly infested with Virobots.

History

Nobody knows for sure who built the first Virobot or why, but most speculation points to the Cult of Troniac.  The first known outbreaks of Virobot activity in the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns date to the middle of the 1,000 Years War.  

The first cases in human-dominated space were in the corporate state of Gazillion, but they rapidly spread to the Planetary League and beyond.  

Midway through Era-1, scientists at the University of Aldebaran 2 discovered several methods of altering Virobots to  perform more precise forms of mind-control.  It became common for mental health patients to have Virobots attached as part of treatment.  They also saw wide use in the criminal justice systems of the more advanced cultures.  

During Era-2, The Holy Empire of Man used Virobots to enhance the fanaticism of its followers, and to enforce it in dissidents.  

During Era-3, the Galactic Republic specifically engineered strains of Virobots to enhance the mental capabilities of its citizens.  These custom-designed Virobots became fashionable, and functional appendages to many life-forms.