Created Wednesday 19 May 2021
Mutite was a material able to change into almost any material it is exposed to in a process called 'programming.' Adranium was the only material that has no interactions with mutite, nor did it react with any other material.
Properties
Physical
Mutite was the most reactive material in Eros, permanently becoming any material it comes in contact with other than adranium. Mutite was an exclusively solid material, and did not react to change in temperature. Mutite was somewhat rigid, and based on research conducted on aspidene-coated mutite it was estimated that it could fairly easily be cut by a blade.
Visual
Raw mutite was usually seen as a deep cobalt blue, and generally had jagged, rocky edges and faces. Mutite emitted a dim blue glow when near reactive matter, with the effective distance proportional to the mass of the mutite sample. When in the form of stathene-supported mutite, it formed a distincive cubic pattern, with individual cubes averaging 1/4 inch in side length.
To say that mutite's color is blue was to be somewhat misleading. While almost always observed as blue, the actual color of mutite was defined exclusively by the color of light it was exposed to, in what quantity, and the length of time it was exposed. The reason for its blue coloring was because of the nature of early Eros. When Eros consisted of only mutite and adranium, there was no visible light, however adranium did naturally have very weak radioactive properties. This radiation affected the mutite for an extended period of time, and it manifested visually as the cobalt blue that is usually associated with mutite.
Occurrence
Mutite was among the rarest materials in Eros, as there were no ways to create more of it. It was impossible to reverse the programming process, meaning the amount of mutite in existence was always and exclusively less than or equal to the amount that Eros began with.
History
Origin
Mutite was one of the two rudimentary particles, alongside adranium. Before the formation of matter in Eros, there only existed these two materials, as well as space. When matter first manifested, almost all of the mutite programmed into matter. The only remaining mutite was protected by the nonreactive adranium.
Discovery
Mutite was initially discovered on Etheros in 3361 TEC by a farmer. This first sample was found in the form of a meteorite, consisting of a core of mutite and a complete outer shell of adranium. The first sample was believed to be unintionally destroyed by means unknown at the time after the discoverer struck the meteorite with a hammer, exposing the raw mutite. It was believed to be some form of magic that caused this, though in reality the first sample was not destroyed, but rather it was unintentionally programmed when exposed to oxygen, making it an invisible gas.
The second sample, discovered by scholar Randalfus, had the ability to remain unprogrammed after handling due to its coating of aspidene, an allotrope of adranium. As aspidene is both strong and flexible, this sample was able to be manipulated without accidental programming, though it was also accidentally programmed when Randalfus attempted to cut it, breaking the aspidene coating and starting a chain reaction that left the entire sample programmed into iron and invisible gas.
Several other samples were also found independantly, though all saw the same fate as the first two. It was not until Randalfus found a third sample that mutite could be thoroughly examined. This third sample, found in a significantly larger meteorite, consisted of particles of mutite encased within a diamond cubic structure of adranium known as stathene. This allowed for meaningful manipulation, as the cubic structure proved to be extremely strong, though its rigidity made manipulation significantly more difficult. Additionally, any break in the stathene's structure did not compromise the rest of the mutite, as the consistent structure prevented a chain reaction by isolating each particle of mutite. It was the stathene's rigidity that allowed this particular sample to become so large without being programmed by a stray particle (unbonded solid adranium is very soft, and therefore susceptible to stray programming). The reason this mutite remained stable was unknown at the time, so it was also simply called mutite.
The discovery of stathene-supported mutite (SSM) led to a boom in meteorite expeditions funded by nobles searching for new materials to forge weapons and armor. SSM proved to be extremely effective for defense, however its visibly cubic structure made it ineffective for usage in bladed weapons. Weapons such as maces and other blunt weapons did see SSM usage, though because blunt weapons were almost exclusively wielded by the poor such weapons forged with SSM were extremely rare. The irony of using SSM for defense and calling it 'mutite' is the fact that the mutite itself was providing none of the rigidity, and it was purely the stathene that made the material so effective at defense.
Space Travel
//See full entry:// Physical Phenomena:Spatial Phenomena:Transportation:Sub-Material Travel