Pye

**Pye** was a Nomai from Ember Twin who worked at the High Energy Lab and the Sun Station as part of the Ash Twin Project. She was Laevi and Lami's aunt.

## High Energy Lab

Pye lived in the Sunless City, where she studied the Anglerfish fossil at some point. While they were playing the anglerfish game, she told Laevi and Lami that real anglerfish are blind.

After Poke found out about the negative time interval that occurred when Nomai were warping from White Hole Station to Brittle Hollow, she sent the records to Pye and Ramie for review. Pye confirmed that Nomai were arriving slightly before departing from White Hole Station, but thought that the measurements could not be accurate. She and Ramie went to the High Energy Lab, where they designed an experiment to confirm the negative time interval. Their experiment reproduced the anomaly in arrival and departure times, but Pye thought it might still be an equipment error. They strengthened the effect by rerouting energy from the Sunless City, after which they did end up confirming the existence of a negative time interval.

When plans were made to launch a probe to find the Eye of the Universe, the Southern Observatory asked Pye and Ramie if it was possible to have something arrive 22 minutes before it departs. Pye believed this could be done, but since the energy required for this increases at an exponential rate, they needed a new method of producing energy, as well as advanced warp technology. Pye also explained that they needed an enormous space to fit the new energy and warp technologies together, with Ash Twin being the only suitable candidate.

Nomai from the Hanging City on Brittle Hollow went to the High Energy Lab to plan the Ash Twin Project. Pye pointed out that they needed a way to travel quickly between Ash Twin and the locations which held crucial project materials. This led to the creation of warp towers that connected Ash Twin to each critical location.

## Sun Station

While Idaea opposed building the Sun Station to power the Ash Twin Project, Pye agreed with this plan. She believed there was no practical way they could generate that level of power in their lifetimes. Pye and Idaea worked together to build the Sun Station, which would prompt the Sun to go supernova. This would supply the power that the Ash Twin Project required to send information into the past.

Pye had a good relationship with Ramie, who joked around with her. She was friendly with Poke too, who believed that Pye would make the Sun Station work. However, while working on the plans for the Sun Station with Idaea, they often had disagreements. Pye made jokes about the sun exploding, which Idaea did not appreciate. On the Sun Station itself, Pye wrote down that their mission was "science [compelling them] to explode the sun", which Idaea thought was morbid and lacking in ethics. Pye accused Idaea of not having a sense of humor and thought that this mission statement was accurate. Yarrow suggested that time away from the station would be good for both Pye and Idaea, which they agreed with.

After the Advanced Warp Core was finished, Pye was beside herself with joy. However, her mood quickly changed when it turned out that the Sun Station would never be able to cause the sun to explode, causing only small surface-level changes after firing. Pye supposed they should start over, but she was unsure how to start over. She thought that their only viable option to generate enough power was still to find a way to create a supernova. Yarrow told Pye that she should return to Ash Twin first, as Spire had seen the Interloper approaching the star system which they wanted to investigate.

## The Interloper

Pye went to the Interloper together with Poke and Clary. Clary stayed behind in the shuttle while Pye and Poke went down into a fissure to investigate the source of strange energy readings. Near the Interloper's core, they discovered the stone casing which was the source of the energy readings. Inside the stone was lethal matter that would be fatal upon contact. The matter was under tonnes of pressure. Pye sent Poke to warn the other Nomai of the danger, while she stayed behind in an attempt to learn more about the alien matter.

Unfortunately, shortly after this, the stone casing ruptured, blanketing the solar system in Ghost Matter and instantly killing Pye and the other Nomai. Pye's corpse can be found near the ruptured core of the Interloper, close to the last recording that she made.

## Trivia

* Pye is likely named after the sweet *Joe-Pye weed*, a plant from the daisy family which is native to Eastern parts of North America.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 CLARY: I have good news, Yarrow! The advanced warp core is ready to be installed in the central chamber of Ash Twin. YARROW: I’m intrigued, love! Everyone here working on the Ash Twin Project is excited to see it (Pye is beside herself with joy!).
2. ↑ LAMI: Why are we changing it? It’s too hard if you can’t see anything! LAEVI: Aunt Pye says real anglerfish are blind, so you have to wear a blindfold! The rule stands!
3. ↑ PYE: Ramie and I reviewed the records you sent, Poke, and they appear to show Nomai are arriving at the warp receiver on Brittle Hollow slightly before departing from the White Hole Station.
4. ↑ PYE: As I’ve already told Ramie, these measurements can’t be accurate. How can a Nomai arrive on Brittle Hollow before he or she ever stepped into the teleporter? The implications are absurd.
5. ↑ RAMIE: Poke, as Pye is confident the reading is inaccurate, she’s kindly helping me attempt to recreate this phenomenon at the High Energy Lab. We’re designing an experiment to take more data.
6. ↑ RAMIE: Note: This door will need to remain closed for some time! Pye and I are running an experiment based on the extraordinary findings from the White Hole Station.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 RAMIE: An update: Our experiment here reproduced the anomaly in arrival and departure times, but Pye is unconvinced it’s more than an equipment error. I hope to strengthen the effect to render it visible to the unaided eyes. PYE: To that end, we’ve decided to try adding more energy. I imagine the Sunless City’s energy supply should prove sufficient. PYE: Of note, Ramie: Yarrow requests that we let him know before we reroute energy to the experiment. RAMIE: Hypothesis confirmed! Hypothesis confirmed! I saw it! Pye saw it! Hypothesis confirmed!
8. ↑ RAMIE: The Southern Observatory is asking if creating a 22 minute interval is possible (that is, to have something arrive 22 minutes before it is actually sent through the warp).
9. ↑ RAMIE: We’ve learned the negative interval of time between departure and arrival can be increased by adding more energy to the warp core. Problematically, the energy required to extend the interval increases at an exponential rate. PYE: Hypothesis: Creating a 22-minute-long interval is possible, but we are currently unable to generate the necessary energy. PYE: Ramie and I believe it would be necessary to invent a new method of producing energy, a thrilling but enormous undertaking. We would also require advanced warp technology able to handle such energy.
10. ↑ PYE: We would also likely need an enormous space to fit these proposed new energy and warp technologies together. The only location large enough would be Ash Twin.
11. ↑ PYE: Friends visiting from the Hanging City, we are planning the Ash Twin Project at the High Energy Lab on Ember Twin’s equator.
12. ↑ PYE: The Ash Twin Project will be one of our biggest undertakings (metaphorically and physically). To build it, we need a way to travel quickly between Ash Twin and each location that holds crucial project materials.
13. ↑ ROOT: What if we used warp towers (like the one we have on the White Hole Station) to connect Ash Twin directly to each critical location?
14. ↑ Should we build the Sun Station to power the Ash Twin Project? IDAEA: I almost can’t comprehend this is being suggested seriously. The purpose of the Sun Station goes against every standard we hold ourselves to and everything we believe in as a species! PYE: Unsurprisingly, Idaea, I disagree. We’re pushing a possible new technology further than ever before. That, in my experience, is the defining characteristic of our species.
15. ↑ YARROW: Are there other ways to generate this level of power? PYE: Theoretically, yes. Practically, no. I can’t imagine discovering them in our lifetimes...
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 YARROW: Pye and Idaea have worked hard on the Sun Station, and it at last is complete. If everything goes as planned, this structure will prompt the sun’s explosion, which will in turn supply the power the Ash Twin Project requires.
17. ↑ RAMIE: The energy is currently unavailable, you say? You’re a gas, Pye! PYE: My pun was unintended, Ramie, so I believe it’s you who’s aeriform!
18. ↑ POKE: Fear of failure is a poor reason not to try. I believe, if we’re cautious, the Sun Station will work. I believe in Pye.
19. ↑ YARROW: Some time has passed since I checked in with you, Pye. How are you and Idaea progressing with the Sun Station plans? PYE: Presently, my assessment is that our plan will either fail explosively or succeed explosively. IDAEA: Pye, you know I don’t find that funny. PYE: How curious; Ramie thinks I’m a gas. And I don’t recall requesting that you monitor this conversation, Idaea.
20. ↑ PYE: Mission: Science compels us to explode the sun! IDAEA: Can’t we change this? I don’t enjoy working in view of such a morbid mission statement. IDAEA: Here’s a better one. Mission: Determine if it’s possible to prompt the sun to explode.
PYE: You lack a sense of humor. IDAEA: At least I don’t lack a sense of ethics!
21. ↑ PYE: You lack a sense of humor.
22. ↑ PYE: But it’s accurate. We’re going to create a supernova for the purpose of scientific progress. That’s our mission.
23. ↑ YARROW: Hypothesis: Time spent away from the station would be beneficial to you both. PYE: I’m immensely interested in testing your hypothesis, Yarrow. IDAEA: That, at least, we can agree on.
24. ↑ PYE: It fired, Yarrow. But it failed. The sun barely responded; there were infintestimally small surface-level changes, but they were barely visible, even to the third eye. PYE: The Sun Station is useless. It will never, and could never, cause the sun to explode.
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 PYE: I don’t know what comes next, my friends. I suppose we must start over, but I’m unsure how to start over. YARROW: Return to Ash Twin first, my friend. Perhaps a change of task would help: Spire noticed a comet approaching this star system that we’d like to investigate.
26. ↑ PYE: Suppose we redesign the Sun Station. To generate power of that magnitude, a supernova is still our only viable option.
RAMIE: I believe we can still find a way to create a supernova, my friend. Don’t lose hope! IDAEA: This is easier expressed than accomplished. PYE: You can wait for the sun to explode on its natural timeline if you prefer, Idaea, but you’ll need to find some way to halt our aging process.
27. ↑ CLARY: Pye, Poke, and I landed here on this comet not long after its arrival in this star system. Our shuttle’s equipment heard strange energy readings coming from somewhere beneath the surface. CLARY: Pye and Poke were able to locate a fissure in the ice on the comet’s sunward side, and they descended inside to investigate the source of the readings.
28. ↑ POKE: Pye, I don’t think we want this matter interacting with us. As far as I can tell, direct contact with it would almost certainly be fatal. PYE: I’ve never encountered anything like this casing, but it’s all that’s protecting us from what’s inside. Worse still, this matter is disturbingly volatile.
29. ↑ POKE: ...Pye. Whatever the matter inside this stone casing is, it’s more than just profoundly unstable; it’s under tonnes of pressure. Look at this density scan. I’ve never seen anything this tightly compacted before! What is this?
30. ↑ PYE: Return to the shuttle, right now! The rest of our friends need to know they’re in terrible danger. Leave your equipment and run! POKE: What are you doing, Pye?! PYE: The more we know about this alien matter, the better our chances of survival. I will learn what I can here. Go, warn the others; maybe they can construct shelter somehow. ...Now, Poke!