Levitation Platform

Definition: A device which uses anti-gravity to move through space.

Notes: Levitation platforms are used as short range planetary transports of both people and things. Though transports are, indeed, levitation platforms, there is a distinction made nonetheless. Unlike transports, levitation platforms are not enclosed, nor do they possess interplanetary capabilities.

Description: There are many different types of levitation platforms, from the single-occupant platforms to the long, rectangular execution platforms, however, they all have several components in common.

The small, single-occupant levitation platforms are disc shaped with a bubble-like appendage on their undersides. They look very much like a flying saucer turned upside down. The bubble is actually the anti-gravity mechanism. Inside of the bubble is a spinning sphere in which are a series of gravitational magnetic discs which also spin at high velocities while being pumped with high voltage direct current at high frequency. The magnetic discs are arranged in the x,y, and z planes so that some of their sides face left and right, some face up and down and some face front and back. Additionally, the whole of the sphere is encased in a magnetic field and spun, left to right, front to back and top to bottom, at a high velocity.

The effect that this has is to stress the Æther indirectly, so that it pushes in the opposite direction of the stress in a vain attempt to realign itself. By adjusting the amount of voltage, the speed of the spinning discs, which discs actually receive voltage, the frequency involved, and the strength of the magnetic field, the Æonans are able to control in which direction the levitation platform gets pushed by the Æther and at what velocity.

Single-occupancy levitation platforms have one bubble on their undersides. However, as the levitation platform gets larger, either the bubble compartment increases in size, or additional bubble compartments are found on the underbelly of the platform. The largest levitation platforms are the barge platforms and are not disc-shaped, but rectangular. They can hold hundreds of robots.

Levitation platforms can operate while turned upside-down with no apparent loss in motive power. The top surface of the platform is magnetized, allowing an Æonan to remain attached to it while standing "upon it" upside down.

Normally radio-controlled via extreme short range radio, an occupant need not use any console for maneuvering. However, for platforms in use in warfare, an appendage may be attached into the top surface which is adjustable according to the height of the occupant. At the top of the appendage is a piloting console. This console has a handle-like projection which allows the occupant to control the direction and velocity of the levitation platform with one hand. These additions are necessary when using a levitation platform in an area of activated jamming devices and also when fighting upon one. Because only one hand is needed to control the vehicle, the free hand can be used to wield a sword or other weapon.

Barge platforms are used for transporting large equipment over land, transporting prisoners, and initiating execution. Because barge platforms can be controlled via long range radio, the Æonans can load up the platforms with heavy equipment and transport the barges across great chasms while they themselves remain at a safe distance. Barge platforms can also be pre-programmed for a transport run. They may also be manually maneuvered like any levitation platform. During times of war, they serve as prison transports by placing bound and gagged prisoners upon the platforms and magnetically locking their feet to the surface, then transporting them to the destination. Additionally, prisoners and others have often been executed by maneuvering a barge levitation platform over a Magma Pool and, via radio control, turning the platform upside down, then de-activating the magnetic surface, so that the prisoners fall to their deaths. When used for this purpose, barge platforms are called execution platforms.

When a levitation platform is hovering at rest (they hover when not in use), a user contacts and activates the device via radio communication. Because Replicators range from 9 feet tall to 36 feet tall, one size does not fit all. However, just as the Replication Technology has allowed Replicators to grow and shrink in size, so does the application of it to these devices allow a platform to grow in size to accommodate the very largest Replicators, and then when no longer in use, they shrink again to the size sufficient for use by a 9 footer. Before the Replication Technology was discovered, each levplat (as they are often called) was made at the specific sizes of The Replicators. That meant creating a whole bunch of different-sized levplats, which took up much more space. However, this is no longer done. Replication Technology has been incorporated into the levplats and now they grow and shrink.

Upon a Replicator radioing a levitation platform, information is transferred to the machine (via the radio signal) about the size of the Replicator user. The platform then grows to the appropriate size. The platform surface has sensors that detect where the feet of the occupant are. Once located, the magnetism of the surface is focused only on the location of the feet. The person who first uses the platform is considered the occupant. Therefore, if another Replicator were to stand upon the same platform as the first occupant, his feet would not be magnetized to the surface. The magnetic bind is controlled via radio communication of the occupant. Just as it is impossible to separate a Replicator from his sword (because of a magnetic bind), once an occupant has his feet on the platform, they won't budge as long as he continues to maintain radio contact with the machine, commanding it to remain magnetized.

Unlike humans, whose muscles are often weak and need to brace themselves against acceleration or the inertia of space by use of seat backs or other supports, Replicators are not weak and can remain upright and in any position they desire when maneuvering these devices. They don't need supports.

Normally, when in ready mode outside of a Levitation Tube, levitation platforms hover. However, when stored away in a storage facility, the sphere on the bottom of the device recedes into the body of the platform and they are stored like flat pancakes. This is known as its storage mode.

Levitation platforms can be operated in any environment, even in the vacuum of space, though they are not designed to overcome completely the gravitational push of the Æther upon a planet and thus cannot travel from planet to moon and vice versa. For trips such as that, special levitation platforms are designed, which are called transports. However, a simple levitation platform which cannot overcome the gravitational field of the massive planet Æonos, can, in fact, overcome lesser gravitational fields of smaller mass planets, such as Mercury or Pluto.