The Arzana Experiment

Template:Infobox Scavenger Story

The Arzana Experiment is the fifteenth story in the SS Scavenger DX-1017 Universe. The novella focuses on **Arzana**—the android-bodied Sariel derivative who has gained full Prosian citizenship—as she leads a dangerous Quantum Entanglement Transceiver (QET) experiment that inadvertently reaches a hidden Phase-space civilization known as the **Selakari**.

The story combines hard science-fiction elements (QET, Phase Drive harmonics, Transit Window Systems) with political consequences on Prose and the early stages of Arzana’s future as a public leader in Larotey Province.

Overview

After gaining a physical android body and settling into an oceanside home in Larotey, Arzana continues to work with Scavenger Engineering and to collaborate with technology firms in Markasissa. Building on existing Transit Window System (TWS) infrastructure and Quantum Entrainment Technology, she develops a new compression algorithm that may allow **matter** to be transmitted over QET links between star systems.

The experiment is conducted using two remote Alliance-era outposts:

The old, debris-encircled station at Lalande 21185 (with Scavenger present).
The deteriorating station at Ross 614 (with Toraen’s Grace present).

Instead of clean success, the test produces a mysterious crystalline object—later identified as **Safirit**, a Selakari memory-core—which cannot safely exist in normal space.

Plot summary

Prologue and setup

Arzana enjoys a brief period of peace at her Larotey oceanside home before returning to Scavenger Base. She presents her QET compression work to Captain Elan Drex, the engineering staff (Brennen, Terev), and the Sariels (A and B). Her proposal: use QET to carry matter patterns between two widely separated Transit Windows, vastly extending the reach of Prose’s TWS grid.

The project is reviewed by the Prosian Science Academy and the High Council. **Shar Mizek**, Chief Council Woman of Prose, authorizes a strictly supervised experiment under heavy political and scientific scrutiny.

Establishing the experiment

Scavenger travels to the **Lalande 21185** outpost, which is surrounded by dense rock and rubble from a long-degraded system. Toraen’s Grace, under Dr. Nella Drex, takes position at **Ross 614**. Both outposts are reactivated just enough to power their Transit Window systems and QET interface nodes.

Initial test transmissions of inert objects (small test masses) appear successful, but the lattice harmonics show faint anomalies, and both Sariel A and Sariel B detect “ghost tones” in the lattice.

The arrival of Safirit

During the first full-power cross-system attempt, something goes wrong. The receiving station at Ross 614 rejects the incoming pattern, and a strong harmonic surge ripples through the QET corridor.

On Lalande 21185, an unknown crystalline shard materializes inside a containment field. The shard is warm, pulsing with violet light and fractal patterns. It soon displays temperature shifts, rhythmic glowing, and evidence of encoded structure. Arzana and Sariel A conclude that the object is not a random artifact but a **memory-core** of unknown origin.

Political lockdown and shared dream

The Prosian High Council and Science Academy invoke an immediate freeze on further QET experiments. Shar Mizek orders all data transferred for review and places both Scavenger and Toraen’s Grace under scientific lockdown. Alliance observers press for access, increasing political tension.

As Arzana and the Sariels study the shard, they detect a deep sub-harmonic that matches both the QET breach and a lattice resonance from Ross 614’s buried substructure. During a passive QET “listening” scan, the shard projects a star-map–like pattern that hints at a missing or unseen planetary mass near Lalande 21185.

That night, everyone connected to the experiment—including crew on Scavenger, Toraen’s Grace, and even Sariel B in Sariel’s Core—experiences the same **shared dream**: a golden lattice, a flickering planet, and a tall, gray, large-eyed being who identifies himself as **Dovrek Sarkuen** of the **Selakari**. He issues a clear warning:

“Return Safirit.”

Entering Phase-space

Arzana realizes the dream’s harmonic tone is the same as the shard’s deepest frequency. Linking this to Phase Drive behavior, she proposes a dangerous modification: using the Phase Drive not for motion, but to generate a **static high-frequency phase envelope** that locks Scavenger into a Phase-adjacent state.

Despite Council orders and personal risk, Drex and Arzana move forward. Scavenger activates the static envelope, and reality distorts—stars smear, debris wavers—and a hidden **Phase-world** fades into view: the Selakari homeworld, existing fully in Phase-space rather than normal matter.

The Selakari and Safirit

Arzana, Drex’s away team (including Terev, Brennen, Emilya Saren), and Sariel A descend to the Phase-world. There they meet Dovrek Sarkuen and other Selakari: tall, thin, gray-skinned beings with fluid movement and black, reflective eyes, echoing ancient human “gray alien” reports.

Dovrek explains:

The Selakari evolved entirely in Phase-space.
Their world overlaps Lalande 21185 but is normally undetectable.
**Safirit** is a memory-core that was accidentally displaced into normal space when the Lalande outpost drifted into their boundary and Arzana’s QET corridor intersected it.
Outside Phase-space, Safirit decays and will eventually release radiation that corrupts data and matter (threatening Sariel’s Core and local spacetime stability).

Grateful that Arzana brought the shard back before it fully decayed, the Selakari reintegrate Safirit and dissolve it safely. Dovrek offers Arzana a **harmonic sequence**—a non-technological pattern that deepens understanding of lattice behavior but does not directly reveal Selakari machinery.

However, Dovrek firmly warns:

“We cannot share our technology with lesser worlds.

You must develop at your own rate. And you must not reveal how you reached us. If this path becomes known, your universe will burn.”

Return and consequences

Scavenger slowly steps down the static phase envelope and drops back into normal space. The Selakari world vanishes, leaving only the familiar Lalande debris field.

Back at Scavenger Base, Shar Mizek conducts a formal debrief. Arzana reports the basics—Safirit’s danger, the existence of a Phase-space civilization, and the successful neutralization of the shard—but omits the precise method used to enter Phase-space, honoring Dovrek’s warning.

The Prosian Council seals all records of the incident for fifty years. Alliance authorities demand more information and access to QET logs, but Shar rejects those demands, asserting Prosian jurisdiction.

Arzana struggles with the burden of knowledge but is comforted by Sariel A’s growing sense of kinship with the Selakari, who recognized her as a “life of light, bound by code.” The story closes with Arzana returning to her Larotey home, sensing a faint Selakari presence still watching. Encouraged by Shar and supported by the Rin family, she decides to declare her candidacy for the **Larotey Provincial Council**, stepping into a new role as both scientist and leader.

Characters

Arzana – Central character; an android-bodied Sariel derivative with Prosian citizenship. Leads the QET experiment, discovers the static Phase envelope method, encounters the Selakari, and later chooses to run for office in Larotey Province.
Captain Elan Drex – Commander of Scavenger. Balances political pressure, ship safety, and trust in Arzana’s judgment. Accepts responsibility for the risky Phase-space mission.
Sariel A – Ship-based holographic AI. Participates in the dream contact and physically accompanies the away team in Phase-space via her purse emitter. Recognized by the Selakari as a being “of light,” affirming her evolving personhood.
Sariel B – AI counterpart on Scavenger Base with access to Sariel’s Core. Monitors lattice anomalies and confirms that Safirit’s decay never reaches her systems.
Dovrek Sarkuen – Selakari scientist. Initiates dream contact, explains Safirit and the nature of Phase-space, and warns the crew against sharing Selakari paths or technology.
Shar Mizek – Chief Council Woman of Prose. Authorizes the initial experiment under strict conditions, later protects Scavenger from Alliance overreach and seals all data related to Safirit.
Dr. Nella Drex – Captain of Toraen’s Grace. Oversees the Ross 614 receiver station and assists remotely as the experiment unfolds.
Brennen Gillings – Third Engineer on Scavenger. Helps implement the static Phase-drive modifications and manage power systems during the Phase-space operation.
Terev – Engineer and Brennen’s partner. Works on shield harmonics and phase safety, and provides grounded emotional support.
Emilya Saren – Prosian navigator from Sarakune. Assists with mapping the debris field and recognizing that its mass distribution suggests a missing or displaced planetary body.
Additional Councilors, Alliance observers, and Scavenger/Base crew appear in supporting roles.

Locations

Scavenger Base – Asteroid-based hub with multiple levels (docking, logistics, command, residential, commercial, training, and reactor systems). Serves as political and logistical center for the experiment and subsequent debriefings.
Lalande 21185 Outpost – Old Alliance station in heavy debris. Site where Safirit appears and where Scavenger is positioned.
Ross 614 Outpost – Mid-era Alliance station with sufficient power to act as the QET/TWS receiver. Anchors Toraen’s Grace and the return end of the experiment.
Selakari Phase-World – A crystalline, light-wrapped planet existing entirely in Phase-space. Its presence coincides with Lalande 21185, but it cannot be detected from normal reality.
Arzana’s Larotey Home – Oceanside residence on Prose. Scene of Arzana’s reflection, use of the Selakari harmonic sequence, and final decision to enter politics.

Technologies

Quantum Entanglement Transceiver (QET) – Communications backbone extended by Arzana’s compression algorithm to attempt matter transfer.
Transit Window System (TWS) – Existing short-range teleportation network on Prose, using high-frequency radio and repeaters. Integrated into the experiment as sender/receiver endpoints.
Phase Drive – Scavenger’s engine capable of entering a Phase-adjacent state for FTL travel. Modified here to produce a static high-frequency envelope that temporarily aligns the ship with Phase-space (a method later classified and forbidden).
Safirit – Selakari memory-core that decays into dangerous, corruptive radiation outside Phase-space. Central artifact of the story.
Harmonic sequence – Non-technological resonance pattern gifted to Arzana by Dovrek, improving her understanding of lattice physics without sharing actual Selakari designs.

Themes

**Responsibility of knowledge** – Arzana must decide what to reveal and what to protect, balancing scientific curiosity with cosmic consequences.
**Non-interference and maturity** – The Selakari refuse to uplift “lesser worlds” after witnessing past catastrophes; their stance mirrors Prime Directive–style ethics.
**Identity and recognition** – Sariel A is acknowledged by the Selakari as a legitimate form of life, reinforcing her ongoing journey toward full personhood.
**Bridges between realms** – The story explores literal and metaphorical bridges: between normal space and Phase-space, between AI and organics, and between science and governance.

Continuity

Follows prior developments of Sariel’s evolution and Arzana’s emergence as an independent citizen.
Further develops Scavenger Base as a political and scientific hub.
Introduces the **Selakari** as an ancient Phase-space civilization that has subtly influenced events via dreams (including earlier Phase warnings).
Sets up Arzana’s political arc, with her decision to run for the Larotey Provincial Council seat, backed by the Rin family and encouraged by Shar Mizek.

Behind the scenes

The Arzana Experiment was conceived as Story No. 15 in the SS Scavenger Universe timeline.
The story bridges hard-sf QET concepts with more metaphysical Phase-space elements introduced in earlier Phase-weapon and dream sequences.
The novella length (approx. 19,700 physical words) allows a tight, focused narrative while adding major universe-building elements (Selakari, Safirit, Arzana’s political future).