Net, the/XD



The Net, or Tachyon Net as it came to be called, was a galaxies wide instrument of communication, particle manipulation, and entity envelopment developed by the Outside Enemy. The elderly couple Daniel and Marty tried to ensnare the no-ship manned by Duncan Idaho, with their tachyon net. The net appeared as a series of non-organic gossamer strands that slowly wrapped itself around the ship, getting stronger as time passed. Eventually it would have encompassed itself completely around the giant structure and trapped those inside, had not pilot Duncan Idaho folded space to escape.

History
The Enemy were the Thinking Machines leaders, Omnius/Daniel and Erasmus/Marty, after the rebirth of their Empire thousands of years after the Battle of Corrin. They had been casting the net from Synchrony in the heart of their Machine Empire. Though unsuccessful at capturing the no-ship, the Ithaca, the net kept Idaho always looking for and trying to sense enfolding apparatus. Idaho used his unique sense of prescience to see the tachyon net time and time again and folded space to get the Ithaca out of harm's way.

Communication and Manipulation
The Machine rulers used the tachyon net to keep up to date on the advancement of plans to dominate humanity, especially on the Machine-believed upcoming Day of Kralizec. The rulers were able to communicate throughout the entire Known Universe and used the net to communicate with their Enhanced Face Dancer leader, Khrone, while they were on Synchrony and Khrone was hundreds of thousands of light years away on Dan. Omnius and Erasmus were not only able to communicate instantly and without any difficulty with Khrone, but by adjusting the net they could manipulate Khrone's molecules which caused intense pain.

Activating the Kill Switch
Erasmus demonstrated another use of the tachyon net after the Ithaca was captured and brought to Synchrony during the Day of Kralizec, when the Khrone-led  Enhanced Face Dancers spoke of rising up to take hegemony over the Known Universe. With motions guided by his flowmetal body, he used the tachyon net to activate the Face Dancers' genetically placed "kill switch." Since the net spread throughout the galaxies, tens of millions were killed instantly and simultaneously, ending Khrone's and the Face Dancers threat.

Damage and Later Use
The tachyon net was based on tachyon particles which can move faster than the speed of light. Its strands, which lay upon the "fabric" of the universe, could be broken and torn apart. In these instances the fragments would have to be drawn back to Synchrony and repaired. The net was out of use for over two years after Duncan Idaho severely damaged it and the Ithaca escaped from the Machine Rulers near Rikka's Planet.

After Kralizec, when Idaho emerged as the Ultimate Kwisatz Haderach and Evermind, he sent the Erasmus-given machine codes through the tachyon net to communicate instantly and guide the thinking machines.