Empty Plague

The Empty Plague is a superweapon developed within the Weave designed to erase entire Bound species from reality. Used as a way to efficiently destroy aggressive hegemonising swarms, the Empty Plague is heavily prohibited from most forms of warfare.

## Description

The Empty Plague in its inactive form is usually stored in an octohedral canister. The plague itself is brown in appearance, and takes the form of a viscous liquid. Upon activation, the plague itself glows and evaporates into a gaseous form that engulfs its designated target.

## History

During the Weave's initial expansion, the question of aggressive and hostile self-replicating swarms became relevant on multiversal scale. In order to conceive a solution for the Bound version of such entities, Metasoft produced several blueprints for potential solutions to such a problem. Among these solutions was what would later be named the Empty Plague. For a while these solutions were left on standby, until it came time to produce a prototype and begin testing them.

Such a problem rapidly came up in the form of the Ein-Id Collective, a swarm of self replicating weapons that had taken over their native universe and spread to several dozen others. The original creators of the Ein-Id had lost control over their creations early on, leading to the uncontrolled consumption of resources to fuel the swarm's growth. Their creators escaped to adjacent universes in hopes of escaping what they had unleashed, but were quickly caught and consumed as mass for the swarm's growth.

As the Weave's forces cordoned off the infested realities, the various commanders in charge of the quarantine decided that this would be an ideal time to test their solutions. These commanders requested Metasoft for the solutions they conceived of, with the conglomerate responding by creating and sending over several of their prototypes. The Empty Plague was the first such solution to be produced, a prototype manufactured moments after the request.

The pieces were set and the testing of the weapon had begun. The Weave set the Empty Plague into one of the realities that the Ein-Id had expanded into, observing its effects on the swarm. The weapon had worked brilliantly; the plague traveled both backwards and forwards in time, and across into adjacent universes by following the paths that the swarm had taken. In a matter of moments, the entirety of the swarm were wiped out.

In light of the results, the Weave begun to place regulations on the tool and the appropriate situations in which it may be used. The rules of its usage would be codified within the Ebony-Gold Convention, whereupon the previous rules of engagement and war would be reexamined and evaluated to account for changes in new technology.

From this point to the present, the Empty Plague would be most often used to efficiently clear away uncontrollable self-replicating swarms with minimal resource cost, though rumours would often arise of its usage against less threatening Bound civilisations.

## Mechanism

The plague itself is a nanoweapon consisting of three components; a time travel device, a manufacturing suite and a Poem of Ending. Once it has reached its designated target, the plague replicates, sending the new portions forwards and backwards along the timeline, then activating its Poem of Ending and destroying the target. This rapid reproduction allows the for the quick eradication of self-replicating swarms in a universe and its surrounding realities.