[IC] New Crobuzon & the World Beyond

[Selina Parcellus]

The Wolf-Hound will happily accept Selina's attentions. 
 
Simon replies, "I believe Torque is a manifestation of both technological and arcane magics and neither.  So it's likely your friend [Nods to Betimi] would receive partial protection from its effects with her ability.  The Torque is profoundly chaotic in nature and seems to interact with random results whenever it has been tested.  If you've never heard of this energy I can only assume that in your world it has either never been discovered or it simply does not exist in your reality.  The latter would be consistent with what we know of the energy's chaotic nature and how its effects are so random.  I would also be interested in knowing if your world knows of some other exotic energies that were created in this world such as Possible Energy.  

Possible energy was discovered when powerful entities appeared and took over the whole planet for a period of 500 years. The Ghosthead, as these entities were known, originated on another world in a different plane of existence somewhere on the eastern rim of the universe. Seeking a milder place to live than their homeworld, which was torn between a vicious cycle of days and nights that created oceans of molten iron and froze the very atmosphere, the Ghosthead built a "metal fish" and used it to find this world. Their arrival created The Scar, a massive physical and dimensional rift on the planet's surface from which different existential possibilities leak. The Ghosthead harnessed the energy from The Scar with a process called "possibility mining", and used their power to gain control over all of the world, manipulating possibilities to their advantage. The Ghosthead Empire was ultimately destroyed by a rebellion called the Contumancy, followed by a period known as the Sloughing-Off. The Empire's history has survived long after its fall in documents such as the Imperial Canon, and in lost technologies and structures.  I have heard that scientists are even getting close to creating technology called a Possibility Engine.  Who knows what possibilities could be harnessed from such an incredible achievement!"

For some reason, Selina is beginning to form a tinfoil hat.  As she pets the wolf-hound to keep herself calm, all the exposition that she gets from Simon just keeps clicking with what she knows from their interactions with 'the Ambassador' and 'the Magister'.  If this world was truly so lost to the machinations of Chaos, it only made sense that they would seek to utilize it to undermine other worlds, planes, existences.  And it seemed that even those who were against this government had had the proverbial wool pulled over their eyes if there was this much excitement over something derived from the Chaotic energies of the Far Realm.  'Possible Energy'.  'Scar'.  'Possibility mining'.  'Possibility engine.'  Everything absolutely reeked of consuming the world in order to have the resources to pursue other worlds to vandalize.

"Indeed...who knows?" She muses aloud.  "Who knows how much awesome torment this world has already withstood from the dangerous use of this...Possibility Mining?  Who knows what creatures this government can create by 'Remaking' innocents with this Torque Energy?  This place..."  She shakes her head to clear it.  She knows how she would have finished that statement if she wasn't being artificially infused with peaceful feelings by the nearby hound.  She was quite angry at the entire situation and knew that, above all else, this was just another thing she felt honor-bound in rectifying...somehow.  The absolutely unmitigated temerity of the people in the positions of authority in this place.  The absolute vileness of the depths of their corruption.  She had to end it.  Somehow.  But first thing was truly first...she had to get back.  Finish one task before moving on to the next.