Next, the guide talked about how a Formation Array was structured.
The most important part of a Formation Array was the Base. The Base was a centralized point in a Formation Array that basically ran the entire thing. If the Base were destroyed, the entire Formation Array would become useless. In a way, it could be viewed as a brain.
The majority of Formation Arrays only had one Base, but more complex ones could also have several. Some Formation Arrays even needed more than one Base to function.
Yet, even if a Formation Array didn't need more than one Base, it might also be a good idea to include more Bases. The primary reason was stability and redundancy. If one Base stopped working or if it were destroyed, another Base could take over, allowing the Formation Array to run without interruptions.
However, increasing the number of Bases also came at a hefty increase in price. With regular networks, making something stable and redundant roughly doubled the price, but with Formation Arrays, the price essentially increased tenfold per extra Base.
The reason for that was the way Formation Arrays functioned. As the name suggested, Formation Arrays needed to form a formation. Everything needed to be in a precise location to work. By adding another component, the formation, or diagram, wouldn't be able to show the desired effect. This meant that every additional Base represented restructuring the entire Formation Array, making it even more complex.
Another component of a Formation Array was its Energy Source. Usually, the Energy Source was placed directly below the Base, but it could also be somewhere else or even inside of the Base.
Most Formation Arrays worked by consuming Energy Stones, but very advanced Formation Arrays also included a second Formation Array that gathered Energy to power the primary Formation Array. Sadly, that Formation Array also had to be incorporated into the primary one, making it more complex.
From the Energy Source, Energy moved to the Base, which manipulated the Energy and sent it to the Nodes.
The Nodes were structures inside a Formation Array that manipulated the Energy and sent it to other structures. In essence, a Node was a dumb Base that was controlled by an actual Base.
The way the Energy traveled to the different components was by following the Connections. Connections were like cables that transmit electricity, except that they weren't necessarily solid and that they transmitted Energy instead of electricity. The Energy Source sent Energy towards the Base via one or more connections. The Base shaped the Energy and sent it to the right connections, which led to Nodes. The Nodes changed the Energy once more and sent the Energy to each other in a loop. The location of the Nodes, the properties of the Energy, and the formation of the Connections were what created the actual effect of the Formation Array.
The Energy inside the components and Connections affected the Energy in the surroundings, essentially changing the surrounding world. It was a bit like how a railgun or a maglev train worked. The magnets of the rail and train didn't touch each other, but still created movement.
Energy Source, Base, Nodes, Connections. These were the four things needed to create a basic Formation Array.
As Kyle finished reading the introduction, he thought back to some of the Formation Arrays he had seen.
'Star Genesis used one when we fought. I remember that she made these light points, which basically acted as Nodes. There were probably also Connections, but I didn't pay a lot of attention back then. Not sure if she used the Nodes themselves as an Energy Source or if she just used the Energy in her Center. As for the Base, she used her mind. She basically ran the entire Formation Array by simply telling all the nodes what they should do.'
Kyle remembered the couple of Concealing Formation Arrays he had seen. 'They are a bit different from each other, but every single one had a bunch of Connections and Nodes. Not sure about their Bases, though.'
'Things make a bit more sense now. You know, this is actually not as boring as I thought it would be.'
Kyle read through the introduction again before closing it. Sure enough, the document was gone as soon as he closed it.
Luckily, the end of every document said which document should be opened next.
Kyle opened the next one.
"Forms of Connections."
As Kyle read through the next document, he quickly realized that he had been mistaken.
'No, this is actually as boring as I had thought,' he thought with a sigh.
There was just a huge list of different kinds of Connections.
Reading through the document felt like reading through an encyclopedia of all kinds of cables and their properties.
Luckily, Kyle was used to forcing himself to focus on mind-numbingly boring shit.
When he was sure that he had remembered all the different types of Connections, he went to the next document.
"Forms of Connections. '
Kyle just sighed.
As he kept reading, he started to dissociate.
'If there were some kind of logic behind all of this, it wouldn't be so boring. I mean, yeah, there has to be some logic behind these effects, but they're not being explained. I just have to learn everything by heart instead of actually understanding the underlying concepts. I don't wanna know how to do something. I wanna know how it works!'
Kyle kept reading.
"Connections and the Base."
"Connections and the Nodes."
"Connecting Connections."
"Solid Connections."
"Ethereal Connections."
"Isolating Connections."
As Kyle kept reading, his mind started associating random things around him with Connections. He was reading so much about Connections that the word had long since lost its meaning.
Connections upon Connections.
'How can anyone talk so much about fucking Connections?' Kyle thought as he closed the next document.
Yet, when he saw the next document, his brows rose.
"What Is a Node?"
'No more Connections?' Kyle thought with a bit of excitement.
For just a moment, he looked through the names of other documents.
Yet, when he saw over 20 documents that talked about Nodes, he groaned.
'Now, it's Nodes. Sure, let's go.'
Nodes, Nodes, Nodes…
By now, Kyle had turned into a comprehension machine, just remembering stuff without even trying to understand it. As long as he could recite it, it was fine.
When he was done reading about Nodes, he read about Energy Sources. Luckily, there wasn't so much to learn about Energy Sources.
Finally, he came to the documents talking about Bases, and when Kyle looked at how many there were, he took a deep breath.
'Bro!'
'Dude!'
'1,985 documents about Bases?! There were just a bit more than 20 about Nodes!'
'I thought I would be done soon, but nope! Fucking Bases make up like 90% of the entire guide!'
Kyle took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a couple of seconds, and sighed.
'Here we fucking go…'
Then, he opened the first document about Bases.
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