Collapse and Reassembly

Instead of exploding or melting, affected material ceases to exist, as if pulled into an uncharted void beyond three-dimensional space. However, Collapse is not always permanent. Days, weeks, or even months after an event, fragments of displaced matter begin to reappear.

Buildings, machinery, and even human remains materialize in open space—often exactly where Elysium Prime once stood. But time has not been kind to this returned matter; structures emerge mangled and shattered, bodies frozen in grotesque states of agony.

The Horror of Temporal Echoes

Beyond its staggering power, the Dissociator leaves behind a fractal aftershock. While some objects and individuals are lost forever, others unpredictably resurface—drawn back into existence by unknown forces.

No patterns or rules govern these returns. Some wreckage phases in and out of reality for weeks before stabilizing, while other debris remains absent for months before reappearing, sometimes partially embedded in celestial bodies. Derelict ships have even reported collisions with materializing wreckage—hulls breached by fragments of buildings or bodies caught mid-scream.

The Physics of Collapse

The Dissociator is powered by an ultra-dense nanomachine lattice that converts kinetic and electromagnetic energy into a high-frequency, extradimensional field. When activated, this field generates a controlled spatial distortion, unraveling the atomic bonds of matter caught in its radius.

Instead of releasing energy as heat or concussive force, the process displaces matter into an unknown spatial dimension—effectively removing it from reality. Observers have described the effect as if reality had been “edited,” leaving behind perfect voids where structures once stood.

What makes this mechanism even more terrifying is that its impact isn’t limited to the moment of detonation. Interactions with high-density matter, such as reinforced armor or planetary surfaces, create unpredictable spatial instabilities, with residual Collapse effects sometimes spreading for several seconds after activation.

With no conventional countermeasures—armor, shielding, and regenerative materials prove useless—the Dissociator doesn’t damage; it removes.

Weaponization and Deployment

Early prototypes of the Dissociator were unwieldy, requiring massive energy reserves to function even briefly. Mounted only on capital-class warships or planetary installations, these early versions were impractical for direct combat.

Over time, Elysium Prime’s research teams refined the technology, miniaturizing its core systems to create handheld versions—rifles and specialized melee weapons capable of inducing localized Collapse.

To operate the Dissociator, an operator must interface directly with its nanomachine lattice, synchronizing their neural processes to the weapon’s field harmonics. However, this synchronization proved too unstable for any known Elysium-born Nephilim. Without the proper neurological framework, the weapon’s energy signature could bleed into the user, risking accidental self-disintegration.

It soon became clear that a specialized user was needed—someone who could naturally harmonize with the Dissociator’s unique energy output. Thus, the search for an external candidate began.

The Cataclysm

K-07’s final deployment was intended as a controlled field test—an opportunity to demonstrate the weapon’s precision under live combat conditions. But as the Dissociator reached full charge, something went terribly wrong.

The energy lattice surged beyond its projected limits, and K-07 became the epicenter of an uncontrolled breach. Within moments, the colony’s containment fields failed. Matter in the surrounding sectors began to unravel, collapsing into the fourth spatial dimension.

Facilities, personnel, and entire districts vanished without a trace—consumed by an anomaly that defied the very laws of physics. Despite desperate emergency measures, including the initiation of last-resort containment protocols by OLYMPUS, nothing could stop the cascade of destruction.

The final transmission from within Elysium Prime read simply: "They are still here, but they are not."

Aftermath and Legacy

Elysium Prime no longer exists in any conventional sense. The remnants of the colony are classified beyond top-level clearance, with reports of its structures flickering in and out of existence—trapped between dimensions.

The technology behind the Dissociator was declared forbidden, yet traces of its schematics were smuggled off-world before the catastrophe. Now, deep-space black markets buzz with whispers of rogue factions attempting to replicate this reality-breaking weapon.

The Mystery of the Returned

Even years after the Collapse, anomalies continue to manifest. A derelict Nephilim cruiser—long presumed erased by the Dissociator’s effects—was recently discovered floating near the original event coordinates, its interior eerily preserved, its crew frozen in their final moments of terror.

Could the Dissociator’s effects be unstable? Are these fragments of Elysium Prime returning naturally, or is some force pulling them back? And as for K-07—they were never found. Whether consumed by the breach, ascended beyond normal space, or still lingering between dimensions remains unknown.

One thing is certain: if the Dissociator ever resurfaces, it will not just mean war—it will mean erasure.