Technology Terminology

A continuation of the Terminology page due to the length and relative importance of this particular section.

Technology

Black Technology: Black Technology refers to technology developed by the organizations Mithril and AMALGAM for use by their personnel, derived from technological and scientific advances brought about by Whispered, humans who are connected to a vast array of advanced scientific knowledge. The systems listed here, for the most part, are exclusive to these organizations.

• Lambda Driver: Officially called the "false axis repulsive field generator system", the lambda driver is a pure Black Technology device capable of exerting mechanical force against space with no observable physical interaction. In practical situations, Lambda Drivers have three primary effects. The first is the generation of a shield of "solidified space" that provides high-level protection against physical and directed-energy attacks. Bullets and rockets literally are torn apart on contact with a Lambda Driver shield. A Lambda Driver can be used to add additional impact and penetration force to ranged attacks. When coupled with the spatial distortion effects, a bullet enhanced by this ability can penetrate armor without any decrease in velocity. Finally, a Lambda Driver can be used to enhance melee attacks, even to the point of causing the impact force of an attack to propagate at a different point in space than the actual impact site; for example, a Lambda Driver-equipped Arm Slave can punch at one Arm Slave, and the impact force can manifest completely on the other side and impact an Arm Slave standing directly behind it.
• Electronic Conceal System (ECS): A form of active camouflage, an active ECS confers near total concealment from RADAR and related electromagnetic detection. Initial systems are said to have had limited capabilities that only masked millimeter wavelength microwaves and later, infrared signatures. More recent systems are more powerful, and is capable of masking signatures in the visual range of the electromagnetic spectrum. The system works by utilizing a rapidly oscillating laser screen to project some sort of distortion around the concealed object. Specific details are not described, but has shown adaptability to sudden and violent changes in ambient conditions and the ability to see out from within the concealment, making the system suitable for combat deployment. The view from within an ECS field is washed out and tinged in violet and red. Recent developments in countermeasures include the ECCS (Electronic Conceal Counter System) designed to detect ECS signatures.

Crossgate Technology: Balmarian technology adapted to universal and pan-dimensional travel due to Vector's UMN, Crossgate Technology allows its users to travel to almost anywhere in any universe, provided data can be accessed, and with the UMN, it can. Proliferation of said technology is the basis being Asgard's formation.

• Jumpgate Technology: Asgard's variation on Crossgate technology. Portable generators of Jumpgate technology can be installed on ships and suitably powerful individual mecha, like the Buster Machines, to allow them cross-universal travel capabilities on a ship by ship scale, bypassing the need to open a large Crossgate.
  

GN Drive: A GN Drive is a semi-perpetual generator, scaled for installation in a mobile suit, which harnesses the byproducts of baryonic decay as an energy source. Like every other power source, a GN Drive has a limited moment-by-moment output; however due to its very nature a GN Drive will continue to supply power for a theoretically infinite period of time, so long as the GN drive is not pushed to breaking limits.

• GN Drive Tau: GN Drive Taus (or pseudo solar furnaces) are imitations of real GN Drives and while they are able to perform the same functions as real GN Drives, they are incapable of semi-perpetual energy generation or storage because they lack TD Blankets, a component relevant to GN particle generation and utilization. The GN particle energies that derive from such drives disperse orange-reddish hues. The earlier Tau Drives that appeared in A.D. 2307 produced GN Particles that are optimized for beam weaponry but produced a toxic form of the particles when exposed to high concentrations of it in beam weapons.
  
• Trans-Am System: When Trans-Am is activated, the GN Drive operates at full power by releasing all of the stored particles and increasing the GN Drive operation rate to its maximum output. From this, it is speculated that suits equipped with Trans-Am system have extreme high speed and maneuverability, along with unlimited bursts of accelerations. This improves the MS's defense and at the same time, increases the amount of thrust produced. Overall, Trans-Am increases the suit's speed, attack and defense by 3 times its normal specifications.
  

Healing Pods: A mainstay of Celestial Being, healing pod technology puts the body in a controlled, isolated environment and accelerates the body's natural healing processes. This allows pilots to recuperate from minor injuries in a day or so and even major but non life-threatening injuries in days instead of weeks.

LCL: LCL is an amber-colored, translucent liquid, which allows an Eva pilot to mentally link with their Evangelion Unit. The Entry Plug of an Eva Unit, containing its cockpit, is completely flooded with LCL, and, because it is oxygenated,[1] upon being submerged Eva pilots can "breathe" the liquid. It is stated several times in the series that LCL smells "like blood". LCL is, in fact, the blood of the Second Angel, Lilith, which is restrained in the deepest level of Nerv HQ, "Terminal Dogma". The "LCL Plant" in Terminal Dogma is actually an entire lake formed from the blood of Lilith.

Machine Cells: Machine Cells are self-replicating, self-regenerating nanomachines. If injected into an organic body, Machine Cells extend its longevity by a large factor. These nanomachines can also be injected into technological matter, enhancing and transforming them into more powerful machines, along with the ability to regenerate damaged mechanical parts. The Thrudgelmir is one mecha that is infused with Machine Cells.

Metatron Technology: Metatron has been used to generate a wide range of technological advances by the time of the late 22nd century.

• Metatron Quantum Computing: Because of Metatron's self-structuring properties, the development of Metatron-based circuits has revolutionized computer technology to the point that reasonably sophisticated artificial intelligence can be mass-produced, and top-tier systems can even synthesize and support a full human psyche. This is due to the "massively parallel" nature of Metatron circuits, which also makes them ideal for real-time data analysis in applications such as military sensor suites.
  
• Neural Interface: Metatron is able to react to a focused human will, although this is one of the most puzzling and least understood phenomena associated with the material. However, it allows for a pilot or "Runner" of a Metatron-based machine like an Orbital Frame to synchronize directly with the machine's systems, providing nuanced and extremely fast reactions. Some pilots go so far as to give themselves Metatron implants in order to improve their synchronization rate still further, although most find this to be excessive; similarly, Metatron-based prosthetics are expensive but highly effective.
  
• Radiative Emission: Metatron can be energized such that it emits various forms of radiation in large quantities, with near-perfect power conversion. This allows for Metatron-based laser and plasma weapons, as well as plasma-engine propulsion and Metatron-based explosives.
  • Photonic Reactors: The most advanced power plant available on 22nd century Mars, the photonic reactor is a Metatron-based power generator based loosely on the physics of the Casimir Effect and Hawking Radiation, dynamically altering spacetime in order to generate a net power output. Photonic reactors are expensive, however, making up much of the cost of mass-production Orbital Frames, but produce tremendous amounts of power for their size with no need to carry fuel mass. In theory a photonic reactor can produce power indefinitely once activated.
    
• Self-Supporting Armor (SSA): Another result of the self-structuring properties of Metatron is that Metatron-based armor is able to repair itself, although this produces some amount of power drain. The result is that unless specific key systems are damaged, any minor damage to a Metatron machine can be automatically repaired within seconds, assuming the power is available.
  
• Space Compression: Perhaps the best-known effect of Metatron is its ability to alter spacetime geometry. Collectively known as "space compression," this effect has been used in many different applications.
  
  • Compression Bomb: Only one compression bomb has been attempted. Known as the Aumaan Project, if successfully activated, the massive compression bomb built inside the Martian moon Deimos would at least theoretically have destabilized the solar system. Because its activation was interrupted, however, it only smashed Deimos into gravel and caused tremors across Mars.
    
  • Compression Shield: Standard in even mass-produced Orbital Frames following the reverse-engineering of Anubis' systems, compression shielding "pinches" a region of space, causing incoming attacks to be deflected or destroyed. However, the power output of the shield system limits the power that can be deflected, and concentrated attacks with heavy conventional weapons can routinely break all but the most advanced compression shielding.
    
  • Urenbeck Catapult: One of the first and most famous uses of the space compression effect, the Urenbeck Catapult creates a "compression corridor" in which the effective distance from the catapult to the target is reduced, allowing ships to travel a shorter effective distance as long as they stay within the corridor. Note that exiting the corridor is extremely dangerous until the corridor has begun to decay, due to the very high spacetime shear present at the edge.
    
  • Vector Cannon: A Vector Cannon uses space compression to generate a concentrated beam of unidirectional, high-tension spacetime. The effect of this is to disrupt any spacetime geometry effect through which the beam passes, making it an extremely effective barrier-breaker. However, the Vector Cannon interacts relatively weakly with normal matter, and its beam is only a few meters wide, so its ability to damage armor is scarcely better than concentrated heavy conventional weapons. Although it is still somewhat effective due to its very high rate of penetration (most materials look almost transparent to a vector beam), it is by far most effective against spacetime phenomena such as Vector Shields, Vector Traps, and Compression Shields, and possibly including other phenomena such as crossgates.
    
  • Vector Shield: The Vector Shield operates by wrapping whatever it protects in a "bubble" of spacetime whose geometry only permits motion perpendicular to the line between the center and the edge of the shield; this means that conventional matter and energy can only deflect or graze along a Vector Shield, and trying to punch through it is like trying to punch outward from inside a black hole's Event Horizon. However, this effect can be disrupted by certain powerful, concentrated space-compression effects, particularly a Vector Cannon. In theory, other effects which could rip holes in spacetime could also rip holes in a Vector Shield. However, Vector Shields are very bulky, hugely expensive, and extremely power-intensive, making them practical only for special purposes like high-security bases and the reactor cores of battleships.
    
  • Vector Trap: A standard device on elite-tier Orbital Frames but not employed in mass-production models such as the Raptor, the Vector Trap is a relative of the Vector Shield used for storage rather than defense. Matter can be stored inside the Vector Trap and then released at a later time, although the Orbital Frame will feel the weight of the material stored in this way. The most advanced Vector Trap system on record was employed in the Orbital Frame Anubis, whose Vector Trap could absorb and re-emit energy attacks, as well as executing a Zero-Shift maneuver as detailed below.
    
  • Zero-Shift: A unique function based on principles from the Urenbeck Catapult and the Vector Trap, the Zero-Shift effect can be achieved in different ways by different machines, although only a handful are known to have exhibited it. Notably, Jehuty performs a Urenbeck Catapult-like Zero-Shift, using a burst of compressed space and a compression corridor to travel at extremely high speeds for a brief time, appearing to 'teleport.' Anubis used a refined version of an earlier experimental Zero-Shift (a concept first employed by the Orbital Frame Hathor), employing its hyper-developed Advanced Vector Trap to enfold itself in one location and eject itself elsewhere, bringing it much closer to a true teleportation effect.
    

Minovsky Particles: The main use of the Minovsky particle was in combat and communication. When the Minovsky particle is spread in large numbers in the open air or in open space, the particles disrupt low-frequency electromagnetic radiation, such as microwaves and radio waves. Because of the way Minovsky particles react with other types of radiation, radar systems and long-range wireless communication systems become useless, infra-red signals are defracted and their accuracy decreases, and visible light is fogged. This became known as the "Minovsky Effect".

• Minovsky Craft: Since it is made up of charged particles, the I-field is unable to penetrate metal, water, the Earth's surface, or other electrically conductive materials and can be shaped simply by trapping it in an electromagnetic field. Thus, at low altitudes it is possible to generate an I-field cushion between the underside of a vessel and the ground, yielding a gravity-countering buoyancy. This principle is used in the creation of the Minovsky craft system, which allowed a spaceship or heavy ground vehicle to "fly"/hover on Earth.
  
• I-Field: An I-field is used to to deflect enemy mega particle beams. When the generator is activated, the I-field forms an invisible barrier around the mobile weapon, protecting it from incoming beam attacks. However, this barrier has no effect against solid objects like missiles and projectiles, and beam weapons can still be used at point blank range within the barrier's boundary.
  

Phase Shift Armor: Phase Shift, or "PS" armor, is an armor system that uses electricity to reduce the damage from all forms of physical attacks although in most practicalities, PS armor makes a mobile suit virtually immune to solid body impact attacks.

• Trans-Phase Armor: Trans Phase Armor (TPS), which improved on PS Armor by only activating at the point of impact. Because the PS armor consumed large quantities of energy non-stop until it is turned off, it rendered most mobile suits at the time with a very limited operation time. This also left little energy for the power-hungry beam weapons. TPS armor was developed to solve this problem as it only activates upon contact, enabling the mobile suit to conserve energy while not in use.
  
• Variable Phase Shift: Variable Phase Shift allows the MS to automatically alter the strength, and by extension the power consumption, of a Mobile Suit's PS Armor, depending on what combat configuration that MS is in. As a result, the MS's colors changes. Unlike Strike Rouge's color-shifting PS, VPS is capable of changing its strength in the field.
  

Planet Defensors: The "planet defensors" are small disk-like drones that can be separated from mobile suits and can arrange themselves to deploy an electromagnetic forcefield that would protect the mobile suit. The OZ-13MSX2 Mercurius mobile suit was developed as a testbed for the planetary defensor system by OZ. The Mercurius' forcefield was so strong that it was even able to block a shot from Wing Zero's buster rifle although a subsequent shot could penetrate the weakened shield. The defensors were carried over into the OZ-02MD Virgo mobile doll (though it appeared less powerful then one used by the Mercurius), which combined features of the Mercurius with some from its offense-focused counterpart, the Vayeate. A Virgo on its own can only generate a shield that protects from fire in one direction (as one Virgo only carries four defensors) - however, three Virgos working in concert can deploy their defensors in a globular shield, as can the Mercurius (which carries ten defensors.) OZ later developed an advanced variant of the Virgo, the WF-02MD Virgo II, which carried eight defensors per unit; this machine was stolen by the rebel group White Fang and is often associated with them.
Capable of defending against both projectile weapons and particle beam weapons, older laser weaponry was deployed that could penetrate the field. However, the reason the lasers were no longer in use was due to extremely rapid overheating in combat, often leading to the weapon exploding in the Mobile Suit's hands. Planet defensor fields were also breached by melee attacks, suggesting that it takes a certain amount of force (either constant like a weapon attack or focused like a laser) to break through the field.