The world of IKAREE · Beyond the Union
The Custodians
Nobody has ever seen the makers, only their probes: black obsidian polyhedra about 30 metres across, with slowly changing glyphs of faint white light running across the surface. No engines, no emissions.
History
The first probe appeared in 2379 at the colony of New Bremen and spent eleven days motionless, reading. The Union has recorded 23 since. Each one scans an entire system down to the molecule, ships and people included, and then disappears. They have never fired. Twice they have held a ship in place with a force field until the scan was finished.
How they live
Unknown. The leading theory is an automated Archive of an extinct civilisation that collects copies of everything alive. The Skeyr say an archive doesn't need the originals. The Hallowed speak of demons.
Technology
Far beyond the Union: instant travel without warp, scans through shields, an impenetrable surface.
Ships
Only the probes. Nobody has seen anything bigger.
Why it matters to the IKAREE
Destroy the probes, study them, or try to make contact? And is an Archive a person under the Free Mind Act?