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The second snip in a day! This snip was written by Roaming Bunger. I have done no edits save for altering the paragraph breaks a little.
APOCRYPHA: A Report on Chaos Energy – by Roaming Bunger
Somewhere Deep within a secret STG lab a team of Salarian scientists were given the god-forsaken task of trying to understand Earth and its many anomalies, The following file is the first record of their findings as well a start of their descent into madness.
[File 1, What is Chaos Energy?]
It had been a few years after Earth made first contact with citadel space, and even years after the climactic entrance of Earth onto the galactic stage there was still very little known about the planet itself. Or rather it was less that the STG didn't know what was on earth and more a problem of not being able to understand what the hell they were looking at. Thus this project was formed to try and change that. Our group was made of the finest minds the STG could offer.
[Study #1 Chaos Energy]
Now when studying something new and unknown most scientists would typically rely on and follow the Scientific method. Observation/Question, Research, Hypothesis, Experiment, Data Analysis, Conclusion, and Communication.
It was a tried and proven process that Scientists of all species used all across the Galaxy to discover and better understand the universe around them. So, in theory, one would expect it to be the logical first step in studying the many strange phenomena of Earth.
But when our team started our study into chaos we quickly realized that in most cases the scientific method was either unhelpful or straight-up useless in helping us understand it. This was because unlike everything else in our universe. Chaos energy didn't seem to follow or even be bound by the laws of the universe.
Chaos energy can and does alter the universe around it in ways that should be impossible. It can bend Space, Time, and Gravity, and if rumors are to be believed even able to create matter out of nothing! There seems to be no limit to what Chaos could do! Yet at the same time, there was also almost no understanding of how the hell Chaos Energy actually did it.
Nonetheless, our team was determined to try and figure it out. The following is the first attempt to compile our research on Chaos energy to understand the nature of Chaos.
Question: What is Chaos energy and how can it be used? (Avoiding the questions of how the hell a rock can somehow generate or contain a literally infinite amount of energy for now.)
Research: Chaos energy, seems to be a type of energy which as far as we are aware, is solely generated by the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald. However, it is clear that chaos energy does not behave nor act like any other known type of energy in existence. Very little is currently understood about chaos even by the peoples of earth. But our current known knowledge of it is summed up below.
Chaos as an Energy source.
Chaos energy on top of being able to alter the world around it has the potential to be channeled into tangible energy and can be used as an immense if not theoretically infinite source of clean energy. However, it is ill-advised for true chaos emeralds to be used as a power source, For Chaos energy when not contained within an emerald or safely channeled into a vessel (person or machine) capable of controlling it. Becomes unstable, unpredictable, and highly dangerous to everything around it. And since even a single emerald is somehow capable of containing an infinite amount of power. it is a very real possibility that a large enough amount of energy could theoretically accidentally be released and destroy an entire planet.
Thus to safely utilize Chaos as a power source the peoples of Earth created a form of technology known as a Chaos Drive. Invented by the infamous Gerald Robotnik. A Chaos drive is a device that contains a static crystallized form of Chaos energy. In this state, The energy acts as if it is contained within an emerald and thus stable. The energy within this faux crystal is then safely channeled into the device it powers in small controlled amounts.
Thou it is important to note that the Crystal of a Chaos drive is not a true Chaos emerald. As It can not produce nor hold an infinite amount of chaos energy. Indeed a Chaos drive is far more liken to a battery than a true generator, thou admittedly a massive battery with an absurd long battery life. They can be made in various sizes from small enough to power cars and robots, to large enough to power entire cities. When a Chaos drive crystal eventually runs out of power the Crystal can be recharged with an influx of energy or simply be replaced by having another crystal slotted in.
How a Chaos drive is created is currently unknown to us as it appears to be one of the few secrets the people of Earth want to keep secret. Our attempts to reverse engineer this technology are unfortunately currently at a dead end, however, our attempts have indicated that the method of their creation likely involves somehow capturing and condensing chaos radiation. (Ah, I just realized I have yet to cover that.)
Chaos Radiation
Chaos Radiation is a form of radiation given off not by Chaos energy itself but rather by the Chaos and Master Emeralds. Much like Chaos energy, Chaos radiation does not seem to follow nor is bound by the laws of the universe. Thou it is far more predictable than Chaos energy.
Yes, It is important to note that Chaos radiation is not the same as Chaos energy... ( We think). As is not volatile once outside an emerald nor dangerous to one's health despite being ... literal radiation.
The range of how far each emerald emits this radiation is unknown as we have still yet to acquire one to test. However, it appears that Earth in its entirety is covered by this radiation. So it is safe to assume the range of each emerald radiation zone is massive with the master Emerald alone probably being large enough to cover the entire planet by itself.
Like all things Chaos, Chaos radiation does not act like any other form of natural radiation. It is not affected by any outside factors or other forms of radiation. Chaos radiation also cannot be shielded from as no material not even lead can keep it out or contain it. And while Chaos radiation does prompt mutation, it seems to somehow only prompt beneficial mutations. In fact, in some reported studies from Earth, it was claimed that direct exposure to a Chaos Emerald and its radiation actually repaired the DNA of the cells it passed through instead of damaging it.
How the heck it can do that is unknown, but regardless it raises some rather disturbing implications. It implies that Chaos radiation or perhaps the Chaos Emeralds themself are somehow self-aware of the world around them. ( but that line of questioning is about the emeralds and not chaos energy itself so it will thankfully be covered in a different report solely covering the Gems of Earth.) logically one would assume that Chaos drives would also admit this radiation. But no they don't. Unlike true Emeralds, Chaos drives do not appear to admit any amount of chaos radiation, even though logically they should but whatever, it's Chaos, And the only rule Chaos seems to follow is that it doesn't follow logic.
It is also widely believed that Chaos radiation is partly responsible for the comically massive number of sentient races native to Earth as well as the driving force for creating individuals who are born with chaos-based powers and abilities or as we have come to call them "Chaos empowered".
At first glance, those who are Empowered by Chaos seem similar to people born with Biotics. Indeed one could even be forgiven for assuming a chaos empowered individual was a Biotic. But take a closer look and it quickly becomes clear Eezo has nothing to do with it.
For much like Chaos Energy itself, those empowered by it are given powers or abilities that seem to defy the laws of the universe. Examples of this include limbs being able to stretch and bend to impossible lengths without breaking or being able to fly despite being anatomically impossible. And of course, there is the most famous example of an empowered individual who was both able to move and had reflexes faster than the speed of sound.
While I could go into more detail on the subject of them I am again getting off topic. This report is about Chaos Energy itself. Those empowered by it will be covered in a different report.
The natural states of Chaos Energy
During our research into Chaos energy. We were thankfully able to grab research data from many studies and experiments already done on chaos from Earth. Admittedly the data we acquired answered very few of our questions some of the data seemed so crazy we doubted if they were even true.
One research paper, for example, implied that Chaos energy has the ability to become charged into two specific varieties: positively and negatively. Now upon hearing those terms, one mind might jump to the conclusion that chaos energy is able to hold some type of specific charged energy like an ion. But No, of course, that is not what the research was referring to. Were studying Chaos remember? and when has Chaos ever approached anything close acting like a natural phenomenon?
No the terms positive and negative in this case aren't referring to Chaos energy holding or being ionically charged, but rather that the Chaos energy is capable of holding an emotionally charged state.
I am not making this shit up. This is how just baseline insane most earth of this Earth research papers were. See apparently when someone wields a Chaos Emerald, The emerald and I Quote this straight from the document's own words "reads their heart" and produces the type of energy in accordance to the feelings of the wielder.
Positive feelings such as joy, friendship, and caring will bring out positively charged energy while negative feelings, such as hatred, anger, and the desire to destroy, will create negatively charged energy.
The exact differences between positive and negative Chaos Emerald energies are not clearly defined, as both energies regardless of charge seem to act and behave the same way.
There is one possible noticeable discovery from this report if true, however, as it claims that Positive and Negative charged Chaos energy appear to be able to neutralize each other.
But, whether any of this data is actually true or just some earthling fucking with us is at this point impossible to tell. Because when it comes to Earth and especially when it comes to Chaos anything seems possible.
In either case, I am closing our report here, While I could go on about the practice and military applications of raw chaos energy or the ability Chaos energy seems to grant to those who can wield an Emerald directly with "Chaos control" I rather hold go into those topics in different reports.
As for the next step in the scientific method. We cannot perform any real experiments on Chaos at this time. what we can do with our chaos drive is limited. I feel our team won't be able to acquire real hard data on Chaos Energy until we get our hands on an actual emerald. and At the time of writing the likelihood of that occurring seems slim.
I can report that based on all the Data we have acquired our team has created a Hypothesis on we believe what chaos energy is and its purpose in our universe, but before I state it I want to reiterate that our team has not "Caved in" and that Our Group still firmly stands by our belief that Chaos and other earth phenomenon is Not Magic. However, it would be foolish to claim that Chaos energy does not seem to have some form of ... Supernatural element to it. Thus are Hypothesis is the follows.
Hypothesis: Chaos energy appears to be a seemingly all-powerful type of energy that can bend and even break the law of our universe. Despite this, we believe chaos is a naturally occurring force in our universe and exists for one very important reason. To help keep our universe in balance. Before finding Earth we foolishly believed we had a great understanding of our universe and how it works. But Earth's discovery has humbled us and proven there is a great deal about the universe we have YET to understand. Chaos whether it is truly self-aware or not, seems to be an active force in protecting the existence of our universe and all life in it. And while the threat of it being used in the wrong hands is great. Greater is the threat to our universe without it.