Hardlight (Cosmoria)
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Description
Hardlight, also called Photonic Matter is an assembly of photons which are trapped in a nonlinear medium. Most often, hardlight is produced by shooting numerous weak beams of photons through dense rubidium gas near absolute zero. With time and heavy levels of energy and resources, hardlight may be produced at a practical rate, which allows for military and everyday use. Hardlight is prohibitively expensive for consumer use as of the present year.
Properties
After hardlight is made, it is shown to hold extreme properties. With the correct procedures, hardlight may be formed into "solid" objects which have a thickness equal to the wavelength of the light. While incredibly thin, usually on the order of several hundred nanometers, hardlight is not brittle in the slightest. It is shown to have numerous defensive capabilities, withstand temperature extremes, and absorb extreme blunt force without breaking. Hardlight may not necessarily be solid, as may be used for creation of soft materials, liquids, and many sorts of fluids. It is known that many forms of matter are able to be mimicked by hardlight.
With usage in numerous militaries, hardlight has been noted to be one of the sharpest, toughest, and hardest materials if procured properly. It has made the idea of close quarter melee combat much more relevant since its creation. Hardlight may also be used for personal defense, in the form of shields or armor. Spacecraft, especially those of high value, may also have hardlight components which are able to defend parts of craft. Buildings, constructs, and other engineering works may also utilize hardlight as a support structure, or as protection.
Hardlight, which is not only expensive to create, requires a heavy amount of upkeep. In order to maintain the integrity of the material, it must constantly receive the appropriate level of energy from a suitable battery. Without maintenance, hardlight will begin to decay rapidly over time. This means that any sort of device using hardlight must be regularly maintained, or else risk failure. It is known that wielders of Psychokinesis may be able to permanently power hardlight objects, by constantly taking energy around them and converting it into usable power.
Notable Appearances
Hardlight has held many appearances in history, with many appearances of hardlight occurring in warfare. Widely used since the War of the Final Transition, hardlight has since expanded from a novelty to a casual weapon of war. Most uses were documented in the War over Heaven, with Sedruan technology displaying a large liking to hardlight. It has also seen major use in the War of the Ancients, through The Vault's Incident and by many forms of weaponry of the Quintet Puontari Federation. Currently, eidolite is slightly more valued over hardlight for advanced military applications, though its difficulty of production still makes hardlight the most popular technology for what it covers.