Musings And Inferences About The Lattice Builders

The Number Seven

Instances of the number 7 are prevalent in the Lattice, including:

• The number of computer terminals in the Core: 7 rings of 7³ terminals.
• The number of characters in the Lattice Builder's writing system: 105,413,504 = (7+7)⁷
• The ratio between Lattice World diameter and Core diameter: 16807km:343km = (7x7):1
• The number of Teeg Wires on each Teeg.

Unfortunately, no evidence of a base-7 (heptal) counting system has ever been discovered -- the Lattice World computers operate on pure binary. Still, the proliferation of sevens has led to speculation that the Lattice Builders might have seven-fingered hands, or their equivalents, or perhaps even seven individual hands.

Why Iron?

Iron is an inconvenient material from which to build a planet. Its poly-atomic matrix is brittle, it is susceptible to magnetism of all sorts, and it readily oxidizes. Still, the Lattice Builders used it for 99.999999999% of the mass of the Lattice.

Only one half-reasonable theory exists as to why the Lattice Builders should create their worlds from iron: it is the first element in the series of stellar fusionables (H-He-Be-O ... Fe) that undergoes an endothermic reaction. If enough worlds of the Lattice collapse into each other, their mass will fuse in a heat-consuming process, and will not form any sort of new star.

Of course, some problems arise with this theory.Why should the Lattice Builders care whether or not the result of a collapse should be visible as a new star? On a supergalactic timescale, the eventual state of any sufficient mass is either a black dwarf, a neutron star or a black hole, and any main-sequence-like fusion before the final result is mostly irrelevant. Additionally, iron seems to have been too dense for their purposes, and so they infused their iron with vacuum-bubbles to reduced its mass per volume ... and all the while, they might (supposedly) just as easily have used a lighter element such as magnesium, aluminum, silicon, calcium, titanium, vanadium, or chromium. Speculation abounds as to what properties iron has, or what properties these other elements lack, that might have led to the final decision of the Lattice Builders to decide on their curious iron foam.

A Failed Experiment?

The curiosities and inconsistencies of logic in the design of the Lattice have given rise to the idea that the Lattice Builders might not have presented us with their magnum opus, but merely the leftovers of a discarded exercise. Some fanciful tales even dare to suggest that immature members of Lattice Builders' race (children!) built the Lattice as a plaything.

One fact remains indisputable: there is no evidence that the Lattice Builders ever occupied the Lattice, or used it any way for which it seems intended (i.e., living-space).

When They Return ...

The superiority of the Lattice Builders' technology to that of any species in the Milky Way is undeniable. If the Lattice Builders return, we can only assume that they will behave however they please, and do with us what they will. This humbling reailty has caused much turbulence in human history, including (some say) the Veritadeo Movement.