Pads

First drawings of a Pad, 1994

The almost ubiquitous Alliance technology. "All roads lead to the Pad. Unless they lead to an airlock and a cold and lonely death."<ref="fts-04"> Faith in the Service, Chapter 4/ref>

History

Developed in 102 BA, just over a hundred years (101) after the Well drive, which was the technology on which the Pads were based. Pad technology made the Medimage platform possible; since they're based on the same technology, technicians can service both as long as they're aware of the differences between them.

Some companies refuse to ship via Pad because they claim it affects the product, particularly foodstuffs, as with the chocolate Vasiht'h used to make Jahir's drink when they first met at the university.

Economics

Pads are expensive; because of that there are ubiquitous in the Alliance Core, on old and developed worlds, and almost unheard of on colonies or on the fringes. Likewise, only government ships (Fleet mostly) and ships with wealthy owners will have them; other ships rely on shuttle transfers, or direct docking. Some jobs, mostly on Core planets, are sufficiently high-paying/prestigious that they give or lend employees who live in distant locations a Pad for their household, to remove the commute.

Public Pad stations will ask users their destination (and are rarely manned, except by a few oversight/managers/technicians).

Technology

Quantum tunnel. In the initial days of the Pad's development, energy weapons of any kind (palmers, holoblades, etc) didn't make it through the quantum tunnel without damage. You couldn't bring a Pad through a Pad tunnel either, at that time; now, it is possible, as long as the Pad you are transporting isn't powered. Pads can be folded or rolled, depending on their design.

They can be used to send people and material to a location that does not have a receiving Pad, but you have to have a Pad to go from the location.

Range is planetary, and orbital. I don't believe we've seen interplanetary distances done? Hypothetically pads can be chained between stations. Shorter distances are less energy-intensive and safer, making hubs economical.

Destinations can be reached via coordinate or stated landmark/destination.

Pads can be blocked by shields (which can be created by a portable shield generator, or generated by ship or building) or by a sensor scrambler.

Sanitation

Pads can also be used for sanitation and disinfection; stepping over one set to that setting will remove foreign particles and any dangerous microbes/pathogens listed in the Pad's internal file system (which is updated regularly by hitting the u-banks, unless this setting is disabled). For sapients of unusual body shape or size, Pad bathing can be more effective than anything other than full-body immersion, particularly since in many places, shower cubes are designed for an average biped.

Design and Visuals

Pads can be configured with varying levels of feedback, but staring at someone directly as they pass through a Pad-to-Pad tunnel causes a momentary flash, in which the person is seen as a silhouette. When people appear via a Pad-to-non-Pad transition, looking directly at where they are can be nausea-inducing in some individuals.

Pads have diagnostic/status lights: one for power; one to indicate the status of the tunnel - waiting, searching, stable (blue), unstable. The light flashing indicates incoming traffic. . A third light is used for security alerts--an orange light there indicates the Pad is locked for security reasons. Pads, unless changed, can be addressed by vocal commands.

Pads ship with aural feedback as well, though this can be disabled or configured to suit the user. Arpeggios (rising for incoming and falling for departing) are common,<ref="fts-09"> Faith in the Service, Chapter 9/ref> as are series of chimes.

Terminology

• Fleet calls the compartments with pads in them 'pad rooms'; they are usually 'pad stations' if on a large/static asset like a base or space station.
• Pad hub stations are usually planetary establishments.

Other Species

The Chatcaava have some equivalent of Pads, though it is unclear whether it has similar properties to the Alliance version. They are a matte black in color, and flatter than the Alliance variety.

Pads are used as part of space battles for Chatcaava. Chatcaava will Pad to a crippled ship, with Pads, rather than launching fighters which are primarily used to disable enemy vessels to enable boarding. "Chatcaavan fighters were single-occupant craft, and on their carriers their pilots entered through a hatch in the belly. But such fighters were intended to harry their prey to the point of dropped shields, and then to commit their pilots to boarding actions staged via the single-person Pads in each vessel."