Ansible Network
The Ansible Network is a system of instantaneous communication. No one theory on how the stones stay in sync has been able to accurately and consistently explain the physics-defying properties.
Origin
The first Mother-stone's origin is a mystery; however, the origin of how it was used for communication is well known. Feldharr the Builder sent his son to survey the mighty Rhyno Confederacy . As a parting gift, he gave his son a 'gem which came from the heart of a dying star.' Moved by the generous gift, his son split a piece of the gem and made a necklace for his father. Throughout his travels, he said he could hear his father's voice echoing in the stone. Once home again, they realized the reverberations in his vocal cords and chest were vibrating the stone across the void of space.
The stones themselves have all simply appeared in legend. Found on beaches, or in a comet streaking to a planet, each one came in its own way. The only consistency is the inconsistency of their origin. Many believe they are living organisms with long crystaline lives. They make their way endlessly through the cosmos until they are captured by a planet's gravity well.
The truth may be more spectacular, or much simpler, but without any observable proof the only known fact about their origin is their existence and physics-defying power.
Characteristics
When a mother-stone is carved, each fragmented piece retains a bond to the mother-stone. These fragments are often called Quesee. The Quesee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "QC" from the words "Quantum Consanguinity." Indescibably, these fragments obey a Quantum Law of Consanguinity; the piece of the whole represents the whole. When any Quesee is struck, all Quesee (including the mother-stone) are struck instantaneously, no matter their place in the universe.
Tapping a Quesee causes vibration in the mother-stone, slowing binary communication down significantly. In SY 2190, it was discovered that a light shown through a Quesee would show through all Quesee, migrating communication from taps to fiber-optic. Instantantaious intergalactic communication was now being performed at the speed of light, with the only bottle neck around the five-stone limit.
All communications are usually encrypted with a key the only the recipient can decode, allowing for a degree of privacy in an open network.
Mother-stone
There are only five mother-stones in the known universe. Each stone has been given a name and is effectively an independent network.
Ettenite
Known as the Queen-mother stone and the primary communication conduit for the Omni-web. While the Omni-web maintains millions of localized caching servers, the primary syncing nodes of the Omni-web are powered by Ettenite and her Quesee. Ettenite is the smallest of the mother-stones because so many slivers of her surface were removed to create Omni-web Quesee.
Hauembite
When Skywatch fell, Hauembite disappeared. Lost in the bombardment, many fear she was broken into dust. Still, others fear communication on Hauembite is dangerous as anyone can make a new Quesee from her and work out the decryption. Quesee from Hauembite have become popular collectibles by occultists and Neodahl as a popularly held belief is that Hauembite died and she communicates with the afterlife.
Gahnxite (Starchild)
Oldest of the mother-stones, Gahnxite was the first stone discovered. Legend says she was plucked from the heart of a star just before the fusion reaction died. Logic and practicality refute this origin. However, the legend persists. So pervasive is her nickname, *Starchild*, that many don't remember her proper name. Gahnxite was purchased by the Rogers Gaming Commission, and using a specific vibration pattern, they could track down and acquire what they believe to be every one of her Quesee. RGC uses the Starchild Network nomenclature for its marketing material.
Sulfonezite
Known as the Embassy Stone, Sulfonezite is a conduit for official and government communication between the Stellar Empires. Each empire, and many of their local authorities and subsidiaries, have access to Sulfonezite's Quesee. Fiber optic communication has alleviated the significant bottleneck that formerly held up galactic negotiations.
During a Nothonian skirmish, one of the warring Warlords used a constant steady tap on Sulfonezite's Quesee, interrupting and blocking all other communication. The interruption was so disruptive several galactic powers came together to stop the Warlord. This resulted in the ITFoC Accords, which were drawn up to prevent similar denial-of-service attacks from being allowed during wartime, making such action akin to crimes against sentience.
Clarellite
Youngest mother-stone ever discovered, having only made planetfall on Teslaron in SY 3299. Her origin is as mysterious as her sister's, and there is a debate on who should have access to Clarellite to make Quesee. Only sixteen Quesee have been made from her so far. Each Quesee has been inscribed, marked, encoded, and forged into a seamless ingot with internalized radios by the Institute. This is their attempt at creating a sub-carrier on the Mother-stone/Quesee network.
Quesee
Quesee are, by their nature, precious and dangerous artifacts to own. Their crystal structure makes them tiny windows into every other Quesee without any preventative measure.
With the discovery of Clarellite, the Institute took possession and responsibility for making Quesee. They developed a *Power Over Quantum Consanguinity* system or POQC. This allows the application of a constant electrical charge to Clarellite, providing power for every Quesee. Building a fiber optic receiver and adding a short-range input/output device, the researchers could power the module and seal the Quesee in a seamless ingot. This provided additional privacy, reduced interference (as only communication conveyed by their device would pass through), and allowed the Institute to know *precisely* where each Quesee was. This also gave the institute the ability to sell galactic communication services.
The institute implemented a receptor, decoder, and portal tied to a hardwired privacy key to effectively sell Quesee to competing companies, governments, or armies, and they wouldn't be able to spy on each other's communications.