Poke

**Poke** was a Nomai who was responsible for recreating warp travel. Clary was her sister. She and Clary worked together with Root in the Black Hole Forge.

## Discovery of negative time interval

Poke was born in the star system and became an apprentice of Annona, the original Warp Core creator, at a very young age. Annona explained many of his designs to her, but Poke never saw Annona's warp core with her own eyes. After Annona's death, Poke managed to recreate warp travel with Clary and Root by building the warp core which connected White Hole Station to the Northern Glacier on Brittle Hollow. Poke discovered that Nomai were arriving on Brittle Hollow slightly before they departed from White Hole Station. She sent the records of this negative time interval to Pye and Ramie, who tested and confirmed Poke's findings at the High Energy Lab.

## The Ash Twin Project

Following this discovery, the building of the Ash Twin Project began, where probe data would be sent continuously back in time to find the Eye of the Universe. As an advanced warp core was needed to send this data 22 minutes in the past, Poke volunteered to craft this powerful core with Clary and Root. She did feel strange about recreating Annona's advanced warp core and still missed her old mentor deeply.

Besides building the advanced warp core, Poke also built the warp cores for the warp towers on Ash Twin which would connect the planet to all locations which were critical for the Ash Twin Project. Poke explained the warp tower alignment angle and alignment points to the other Nomai, as well as explaining to Root where he should bring the various warp cores.

Poke had a good relationship with most other Nomai who were involved in the Ash Twin Project, especially Clary and Pye. She encouraged her sister Clary's relationship with Yarrow, but also teased her about it occasionally. When the Nomai discussed building the Sun Station to trigger a supernova to power the Ash Twin Project, Poke expressed her confidence that the Sun Station would work because she believed in Pye's capabilities. However, she had frequent arguments with Cassava, who feared never finding the Eye of the Universe. Clary and Yarrow often had to mediate between the two of them. Due to their arguments, Cassava even thought it was possible that Poke purposefully built the warp core for the tower on Giant's Deep last, as this was where he worked at the Construction Yard. Poke denied this and claimed that the cores would have been built faster if Cassava hadn't interrupted her work constantly to ask for updates.

When the advanced warp core for the Ash Twin Project was ready to be installed, Poke believed the core's durability could still be improved and asked for more time. Nevertheless, because Clary knew that Poke valued precision too much, Clary told Yarrow that the core could be installed.

## The Interloper

After the Ash Twin Project was put on indefinite hold due to the Sun Station being unable to trigger a supernova, Poke went to investigate the Interloper together with Pye and Clary. They found strange energy readings coming from beneath the surface of the comet. Poke and Pye descended inside a fissure in the ice to investigate the source of these readings, while Clary remained behind in the shuttle. They quickly discovered that the stone casing inside the Interloper was under tonnes of pressure and contained a matter that was lethal upon contact. This matter would blanket the star system instantaneously if the stone ruptured. Pye told Poke to leave her equipment and run back the shuttle to warn the rest of the Nomai.

Unfortunately, Poke never made it back due to the casing rupturing just as she left the core chamber. She and the other Nomai were instantly killed due to the Ghost Matter spreading across the solar system. Her corpse can be found just outside the core chamber of the Interloper.

## Trivia

* Pokeweed is the common name of the *phytolaccaceae* family of flowering plants.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 CASSAVA: I imagine I’ve been hard on Poke, again. This in turn means I’ve made things difficult for her sister (Clary).
2. ↑ POKE: Still, all I can give is my best. And as Annona would say, should my best prove insufficient, then we will find another way to achieve what’s needed. I have Clary and Root in the forge, and I have my clan. I am not alone!
3. ↑ POKE: Was I wrong in volunteering to build it...? I was born in this star system, and never saw Annona’s warp core with my own three eyes. I only know what he taught me.
4. ↑ POKE: I feel strange, trying to recreate Annona’s warp core without him. At times, it still feels strange to no longer be his (very young) apprentice,
5. ↑ POKE: I believe I can be of use here! The Vessel’s warp core was created before my time, but Annona explained many of his designs to me.
6. ↑ CLARY: To our friends on Brittle Hollow: I just warped here from the White Hole Station (on the other side of Brittle Hollow’s black hole)! Our design worked; we’ve successfully recreated warp travel!
7. ↑ POKE: Wait, this can’t be correct. Clary, have you seen these readings? If they were accurate, they would violate causality. There must be an equipment error somewhere.
8. ↑ 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. 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. PYE: An update: Poke, the High Energy Lab is in the canyon on Ember Twin’s equator. Come here at once. You need to see this.
9. ↑ POKE: I would very much like to craft such a powerful core! More relevantly, I believe the Black Hole Forge crew and I could recreate the basic design.
10. ↑ POKE: I feel strange, trying to recreate Annona’s warp core without him. At times, it still feels strange to no longer be his (very young) apprentice, and for the Black Hole Forge to be in my care and not his. POKE: Hypothesis: This will always feel strange. Even though my time with him was short, I miss my old mentor, and deeply.
11. ↑ 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? CLARY: Poke, Root, and I can begin work on this immediately in the Black Hole Forge (this will keep us busy!).
12. ↑ POKE: We don’t need the alignment angle to be exact; it only needs to be within five degrees of the astral body’s center. POKE: Of note: This gives us a slightly longer warp window. I imagine this window will last roughly several seconds. POKE: As such, any Nomai stepping onto the warp platform during the active window will be immediately warped. We will need to be careful around the platform for the duration of the time it’s active to avoid accidental transportation.
13. ↑ POKE: Of note: Yarrow believes he spotted a flaw in the warp tower designs: namely, that one of the warp towers on Ash Twin will never activate, because its warp receiver will never align overhead. POKE: Does your romantic interest think a warp tower’s alignment point is its receiver? Does he not know that a warp tower always aligns with the center of its corresponding astral body?
14. ↑ ROOT: Where am I taking this first black hole core? (And where am I taking the remaining cores once they’re ready?) POKE: The white hole cores are for the warp receivers. Each of the six receivers are being constructed at different locations, so those deliveries will be a greater pain in your cervical spine. POKE: The tower designs in the High Energy Lab on Ember Twin reveal each receiver's location. Ask Yarrow; he is familiar with them.
15. ↑ POKE: Yarrow, stop using this scroll wall to flirt with my sister (in romantic matters, her density rivals a neutron star’s) and go meet her on the White Hole Station.
16. ↑ CLARY: Poke, I’ll return to the forge shortly; I’m going to catch up to Root and help him deliver the first core to Ash Twin, just to make sure Yarrow receives it.
POKE: Of course you are.
17. ↑ 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.
18. ↑ CASSAVA: Jokes aside, suppose my own fear of never finding the Eye prompted my argument with Poke. That would be immature of me.
19. ↑ CASSAVA: If Poke and I are oil and water, Clary is our emulsifier. She certainly makes us a better team than would mixing through shaking
20. ↑ YARROW: The important point is we are all connected through Ash Twin now, and also that I’m no longer needed for mediating your disagreements.
21. ↑ CASSAVA: Hypothesis: It was not by accident the core of our warp tower was the last to be forged.
22. ↑ POKE: Hypothesis: The cores could have been forged faster if Cassava had interrupted my work less frequently to ask for updates.
23. ↑ 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!). POKE: No, it isn’t! YARROW: Is everything well at the forge? POKE: The core’s durability could still be improved! I need more time!
24. ↑ CLARY: More accurately, I enjoy precision as much as the next Nomai, provided the next Nomai is not Poke.
25. ↑ CLARY: Ignore her, Yarrow. The core is finished. And if my sister tells you otherwise, then she will be finished, as well.
26. ↑ YARROW: We are halting our research into creating a supernova for this moment; a comet has newly arrived in this solar system, and we’re anxious to explore it.
27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 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.
28. ↑ 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.
29. ↑ 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.
30. ↑ 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?
31. ↑ PYE: This is orders of magnitude worse than I’d imagined. If this stone were to rupture, the lethal matter within would rapidly expand, completely blanketing this star system almost instantaneously. And the pressure is still building as the comet approaches this star system…
32. ↑ 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!