Metacosmos Briefing I

__TOC__

''CRI: Elvis Charlemagne Confucius''

(You may open the booklet and begin reading.)

=== What is reality? ===

“Reality” for the purposes of Lost &amp; Found, encompasses everything that might exist. To understand what that means, let’s start small.

(If you have aphantasia, ask the attendant for a pencil and some paper.)

Imagine a dot. It is a location, but it has neither height, width, nor length. It has no dimensions and 1 vertex (2<sup>0</sup> = 1).

Stretch the dot into a line 10 centimeters long. The line has length, but no height or width. It is a one-dimensional object with 2 vertices (2<sup>1</sup> = 2).

Imagine extending the line 10 centimeters sideways, making it a square. The square has length and width, but not height. The square is a two-dimensional object with 4 vertices (2<sup>2</sup> = 4).

Now extend the square upward, until you have a solid cube. The cube is a three-dimensional object with 8 vertices (2<sup>3</sup> = 8).

Imagine extending the cube outward, until you have a solid hypercube. The hypercube is a four-dimensional object with 16 vertices (2<sup>4</sup> = 16).

Repeat this process until you have a thirteen-dimensional object with 8192 vertices. Each vertex is a nexus of probabilities for a ''potential'' universe.

Each of these vertices ''might'' be the location of a universe; in reality, there are usually 169 universes, and there are rarely more than 171.

=== What is a universe? ===

Picture a spherical cloud. The dense center of the cloud is composed of the most likely realities for that universe, and the cloud thins toward its outer edge as the realities become less probable. Each vertex is a nexus of every permutation of every alternate timeline or parallel universe which might exist at that point.

=== What is alignment? ===

[[Lost & Found:Alignment|Alignment]] is the set of organizing principles which define and enforce the consistent behavior of a particular universe. There are three organizing principles around which most universes align:

* '''Amplified physics''' (incredible materials and energy sources, time machines, faster-than-light travel) prevails in about one third of extant universes.
* '''Quantum physics''' (semiconductors, electron microscopes, nuclear weapons) prevails in about one third of extant universes.
* '''Semantic physics''' (magic, faith, homeopathy) prevails in about one third of extant universes.

Absent the influence of one or more of these organizing principles, Newtonian physics applies. Newtonian physics works in every known universe.

=== This is the Meta ===

When we refer to all of reality, we mean every universe that exists, and every universe that might exist. The term we use for this is the Metacosmos, or “Meta”. Protecting the stability of the Meta is the core purpose of Lost &amp; Found.

It is important to note that while the Meta is usually ''imagined'' as a thirteen-dimensional object for convenience, this is not ''literally'' true. The Meta is to a thirteen-dimensional object as a planet is to a two-dimensional world map.

(Close the booklet and wait for instructions.)



[[Category:Lost & Found]]
[[Category:Supers]]