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.

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.

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.

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.

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 (think they have them in the fighters, that's in Only the Open somewhere, look it up). Chatcaava will Pad to a crippled ship, with Pads, rather than launching fighters which are primarily used to disable enemy vessels to enable boarding.