Electrical Flectetium Drive (EFD)

An Electrical Flectetium Drive, or EFD, is a device that is generally used for quick and efficient space travel. An EFD modulates electrical current from an outside source through varying amounts of Flectetium in order to warp space around a craft to travel large distances with minimal fuel usage. Similar to the theoretical Alcubierre drive, an EFD differs in the fact that it cannot be used to travel faster than light, and for safety reasons, generally operate at less than .2 times lightspeed at maximum.

Utility

EFDs aboard commercial starships are generally also used for artificial gravity generation. Most orbital space stations are also fitted with rudimentary EFDs for artificial gravity, however, these are generally incapable of providing motion. Another form of EFD is used in wormhole stations to bend space into stable wormholes, however, the amount of flectetium and power generation needed to create wormholes ensure they can only ever be affixed to orbital stations. According to urban legend, EFDs with their safety limiters removed can create black holes, but this is unsubstantiated. Some have speculated that these rumors were started by EFD manufacturers to stop consumers from installing third party software on EFD processors, but this is also unsubstantiated.

Manufacturing

EFDs are generally composed of refined flectetium rods encased in glass tubes, (also known as flectetium cells) inside a steel casing. Copper wiring connects the rods to a craft's power generator, usually a nuclear reactor, through a central power junction, controlled by the EFDs central processor. Flectetium cells are universal, and can be replaced fairly easily by a technician with the proper tools. Flectetium cells can wear out and become unusable, and while most EFDs have built-in redundancies to prevent the device from becoming completely nonfunctional with a broken cell or two, consumers are generally recommended to replace broken or worn cells at their earliest convenience. EFDs usually come with software to notify users when a flectetium cell is becoming worn and should be replaced, but many consumers have taken to installing 3rd party software instead, as the manufacturer's software will often notify users to replace cells that are still in good condition, to incentivize the purchase of more cells.

Access & Availability

Virtually every commercial starship is fitted with an EFD. It is a quintessential element of modern spaceflight, as trips that might take 4 months under chemical or ion thrusters are shortened to 4 hours or less with an EFD, and mass becomes less of an issue than surface area and volume. The Velari had at one point cornered the market on EFD designs, but as soon as schematics were leaked across known space, every aerospace manufacturer now has their own brand of EFD.

Complexity

Due to how flectetium induced gravity fields work together, EFDs require precise computations to account for the surface area of the craft, its volume, orbital trajectories, and the speed at which the craft is "moving." (The craft is, if fact, stationary relative to where it started, but space moves around it.) All EFDs are fitted with rudimentary neural net AIs to deal with the intense computational processes of operating the device. If these AIs should fail, results can range from sections of a craft being sheared off and/or disintigrated, to complete molecular rearrangement of the craft and its contents. the current failure rate of an EFD AI is currently approximately 1 in 2 million, but 500 years ago, it wasn't uncommon to hear of unrecognizable chunks of metal debris coming into port with a fully intact and operational EFD aboard.

Related Materials