Flux Destinies (Concept & Mechanics)

A flux destiny is a pocket dimension created through strong karmastry manipulation.
==Overview==
Flux Destinies must be made on Canvases or Fishbowls. 
Flux destinies are the pinnacle of karmastry’s potential, allowing Escape Artists to create pocket dreamworlds where anything they can dream of becomes a reality. They can be small enough to fit in your hand, or large enough to cover an entire city.
However, no matter the size, there's always something slightly "off" about a flux destiny as despite the best efforts of the most talented Escape Artists, they can never match the fidelity of the reality of the real world. Despite this, they can be incredibly detailed and immersive—like a snow-globe or pop-up book come to life.
==Creation & Mechanics==
To create a flux destiny, an Escape Artist must harness the power of karmastry to direct karma into a gearbox, which becomes the nucleus of the flux destiny. This process requires a significant amount of positive karma, which only experienced Escape Artists can channel.
Once a flux destiny is created, it exists outside the reach of the Great Machine, allowing Escape Artists to create without fear of payback. This is why only Escape Artists are allowed to create flux destinies, as they have the training and experience to manage the risks involved. Anyone who attempts to create a large flux destiny without the necessary knowledge runs the risk of dangerous malfunctions, fatal collapses, or extreme payback.
===Gearboxes===
When a flux destiny is created, a central structure called the gearbox is formed. This is like the engine that powers the entire flux destiny, controlling its different elements and making sure everything runs smoothly. The gearbox is responsible for managing the various gears that make up the pocket reality, with each gear controlling a specific aspect of the flux destiny's operations. 
The size and complexity of the gearbox depend on the intricacy of the flux destiny. A smaller flux destiny may only require a few gears, whereas a larger one may require dozens or even hundreds to manage the various systems required for the creation of the pocket reality. The gears are each responsible for different aspects of the flux destiny, such as the environment, physics, weather, design, flora, and fauna. They must work in harmony to create a cohesive and believable world that is both functional and enjoyable for its inhabitants.
=== Dream-seams ===
The "dream-seam" is the visible boundary where the real world and flux destinies meet, often appearing as a shimmering line to observers. Despite advances in karmastry, elements within flux destinies still emit an "otherworldly" essence, distinguishable from our reality. This uncanny discrepancy underlines the limits of even the most skilled Escape Artists, emphasizing the distinct separation between our world and the constructed realms of flux destinies.
===Creating Sophisticated Flux Destinies===
The most sophisticated flux destinies require the expertise of Escape Artists with different specializations. Creating a sophisticated flux destiny is an intricate and collaborative process that requires the expertise of Escape Artists with different specializations. Environment, physics, weather, design, flora, and fauna are just a few areas where specialization is needed. 
Each Escape Artist contributes to the creation of the flux destiny, resulting in a detailed and cohesive world. Each specialist's contribution is crucial to the overall success of the flux destiny and requires extensive collaboration to ensure that the world is cohesive and believable.
* Creative Karmastry specialists are responsible for the overall design and aesthetic of the flux destiny, creating an immersive experience that can transport visitors to another world. 
* Clockwork Karmastry specialists are essential in the creation of the most sophisticated flux destinies, as they have the ability to set and control fundamental forces such as karma, light, sound, electricity, magnetism, gravitation, and spacetime. With their expertise, they focus on the mechanics and intricacies of the flux destiny's internal systems, ensuring that everything runs smoothly and efficiently. This includes setting up how the flux destiny "works," as well as controlling custom world physics, and environmental factors such as weather and plate tectonics.
* Bio Karmastry specialists contribute to the creation of realistic and interactive flora and fauna, making the flux destiny feel more like a living and breathing world. For example, a flux destiny that is designed to be a futuristic cityscape would require Creative Karmastry specialists to design the architecture, while Clockwork Karmastry specialists would design the custom physics and environmental systems, and Bio Karmastry specialists would create the flora and fauna unique to the environment.
The creation of a sophisticated flux destiny is not only an artistic endeavor but also a technical one, with each Escape Artist working to ensure that the flux destiny runs smoothly and is sustainable. They must take into account the constant influx of positive karma required to maintain the integrity of the flux destiny, the size of the canvas needed, and so on.
Despite the challenges, the creation of flux destinies remains one of the most awe-inspiring accomplishments of karmastry and mankind itself, showcasing the incredible power and potential of this ancient practice.
=== Dimensional Expansion ===
Flux destinies can be bigger on the inside than their exterior dimensions suggest. This phenomenon, known as "Dimensional Expansion," is a highly advanced aspect of karmastry taught to the most skilled Escape Artists. By carefully manipulating the flow and density of karma, practitioners can create spaces that defy the natural constraints of the physical world. However, this ability comes with significant risks, requiring exponentially increasing karma, constant maintenance to prevent destabilization, and even the risk of payback if the canvas containing the flux destiny begins to "leak."
=== Karma Drilling ===
Sustaining the wonder of flux destinies requires a steady influx of karma, making karma collection and distribution key to their existence. Firms like Graywyler lead in this field, managing vast fields of giant toruses to extract karma from the environment. 
These organizations channel the gathered karma into the network of flux destinies, ensuring they remain operational and safe. The importance of these karma supply chains cannot be overstated, as they prevent the potential collapse of these crafted worlds, safeguarding both the fantastical creations and the real world from unintended consequences. This careful balance between harvesting and supplying karma demonstrates the intricate link between our world and the crafted universes of flux destinies.
===Collapsing a Flux Destiny===
Flux destinies can be collapsed manually in a few ways: destroying its gearbox, draining its source of karma until it can no longer sustain itself, overloading it with positive or negative karma until it short-circuits, or overwriting it with a competing flux destiny.
== Practical Uses for Flux Destinies ==
Flux destinies have revolutionized the way that Escape Artists approach problem-solving. Because they exist outside of the constraints of the real world, they offer endless possibilities for practical applications.
=== Construction ===
Escape Artists use flux destinies to construct a wide range of structures and environments limited only by their skill, imagination, and the availability of karma. These self-contained worlds can take the form of entire cities, futuristic landscapes, or high fantasy realms with fantastical creatures and environments.
Some Escape Artists construct elaborate entertainment complexes with rides, attractions, and hotels, while others create individual houses, office buildings, and even stadiums within flux destinies.
=== Entertainment ===
Flux destinies have even found their way into the world of motion pictures, with filmmakers utilizing them to create incredibly detailed and immersive sets. With the ability to manipulate every aspect of a self-contained world, from the weather to the architecture, flux destinies offer filmmakers a unique and unparalleled tool to bring their visions to life on the silver screen.
=== Other Uses ===
In addition to entertainment and construction, flux destinies are also used for more practical purposes, such as containing a dangerous situation or imprisoning criminals. Extremely skilled Escape Artists can even create pocket flux destinies to serve as storage spaces they can access at will.
== Limitations and Dangers of Flux Destinies ==
While flux destinies are impressive feats of karmastry, they have their limitations and dangers. Nevertheless, Escape Artists continue to find new and exciting ways to harness the power of karmastry and create incredible flux destinies. Here are some to consider:
=== Constant Karma Requirement ===
Because flux destinies are separated from the Great Machine, they can't tap into the natural flow of karma generated by the universe. Therefore, they require a constant influx of positive karma to maintain their integrity or risk collapse. When a flux destiny collapses, people and objects within it disappear forever. Flux destinies have caused problems due to their insatiable need for positive karma to maintain their integrity. This has caused widespread karma energy crises in some areas of the world, particularly in Fortuna, where the proliferation of flux destinies has reached unprecedented levels. 
=== Karmic Dissonance ===
Karmic dissonance acts as a natural safeguard within flux destinies, ensuring that these pocket dimensions cannot be exploited to avoid the consequences of karmastry actions. This inherent feature causes significant discomfort and impairs karmastry abilities for individuals attempting to hide from their accrued payback within a flux destiny. The level of discomfort and impairment escalates in direct proportion to the magnitude of the payback owed, becoming unbearable for those with substantial debts. Furthermore, the severity of a payback evader's discomfort and impairment increases the longer they try to artificially delay having to face their payback by remaining within a flux destiny. This mechanism compels individuals to exit the flux destiny and confront their payback in the real world, thereby preserving the balance of karma and consequence across the universe. 
==Canvases and Fishbowls==
Canvases and fishbowls are essential tools used by Escape Artists in the creation of flux destinies.
===Canvases===
A Canvas is a specially-designed fabric with a flux destiny contained within it. This prevents payback or the Great Machine from destroying or collapsing it. It is made from a special, rare crystal only found in certain regions of the world. The most prominent of these regions is the pacifistic nation Tranquility. Tranquility fiercely guards this resource from other, greedy nations.
Canvases are generally expensive, and as such the fabric is only really used for large-scale projects like the construction of buildings within flux destinies.
Lately though, modern science has managed to develop synthetic canvas at a much cheaper cost, for use in home building and similar tasks. This has the result of making the creation of a flux destiny more accessible to middle class citizens. However, there is a great risk to synthetic canvas. If it is torn or otherwise poorly made, the flux destiny within could collapse in on itself, potentially harming anyone nearby or inside.
===Fishbowls===
A Fishbowl is a small, less than five feet square, inexpensive crystal like a snowglobe. They’re primarily used by young children preparing to use karmastry, but are also used by enthusiasts of all ages. Fishbowls can contain extremely small flux destinies without the risk of payback, serving as components to karmastry “chemistry” sets. Aspiring Escape Artists will generally begin with experiments using a fishbowl before moving on to larger, more complex flux destinies and canvases.
The main issue with a fishbowl is that they do not have a very large karmic battery. They need constant recharging with good karma in order to prevent the flux destiny contained within from collapsing.
Once a fishbowl approaches five feet in height or width, it becomes a proper flux destiny, albeit a small one.
==List of Flux Destinies==
* Mukyū Destiny (Large neighborhood district in Andromeda Metropolis)
*
Category:Karmastry