Difference between revisions of "Delver"

|universe=[[Skyward UniverseCytoverse]]

| Ancient things stirred. And in that moment between heartbeats, they not only saw me, but they '''knew''' me.

| [[Spensa]]{{book ref|sky1|54}}

Delvers can be seen by cytonics who attempt to use their powers. Initially, they appear as hundreds of pinpricks of light across a vast blackness, which open to reveal small, white eyes that watch the cytonic.{{book ref|sky1|43}} The effect is often compared the the attention of the entire universe suddenly focusing on the cytonic.{{book ref|sky1|40}} The longer one obsevesobserves the eyes, the larger they seem to appear.{{book ref|sky1|52}} Perceiving them leaves a person with a sense of cold that persists for hours afterwards.{{book ref|sky1|epilogue}}

| They would not ever leave me alone, and I wanted so badly just to smash them. To smother them beneath my foot so they'd stop piling, and crawling, and clicking, and snapping, and biting, and corrupting, and—

| Delver's thoughts, as perceived by [[Spensa]]{{book ref|sky2|25}}

* '''Illusions''': much like "mind holograms" used by the [[varvax|Krell]] to deceive human cytonics, delvers can create illusions for people that enter their mazes. The illusions are extremely chaotic, overwhelming and nonsensical; however, each is specific to a particular person. As such, two minds are required to discern them from reality.{{book ref|sky2|43}} Cytonics seem to suffer more from this ability, perceiving powerful emotions and illusions emitted by the delver.{{book ref|sky2|43}}

* '''Detecting cytonics''': delvesdelvers are capable of sensing other cytonics, both in nowhere and, seemingly, in physical space.{{book ref|sky1|54}}{{book ref|sky2|43}}

Additionally, delvers possess strong telekinetic abilties. They can somehow create and control '''embers''', large rocks akin to asteroids, and shoot them outside of themselves at targets.{{book ref|sky2|43}} Close by, as well as within their basethemselves, they have much greater control, and can use embers to chase down and destroy ships.{{book ref|sky2|22}}

| I saw planets, I saw star systems, I saw galaxies. I saw the scrambling, useless, tiny little insects that covered them like chittering hives. I felt revulsion. Hatred for these pests that infested the worlds.

| [[Spensa]] after experiencing a delver{{book ref|sky2|25}}

| Use physical cords for data transfer, avoid broadcasting, and put shielding around faster processors. To do otherwise risks the attention of the eyes.

| Instructions from [[M-Bot]]'s memory banks{{book ref|sky1|31}}

| Centuries ago, my kind learned firsthand how dangerous the delvers are.

| [[Cuna]]{{book ref|sky2|10}}

The first known appearance of a delver occuredoccurred during the second of the [[Human Wars]]. During that time, humanitymankind built faciltiesfacilities on obscure planets as part of a weapons program hoping to summon and control a delver, with [[Detritus]] being one such base.{{book ref|sky2|19}} They have also built stations to train people in handling the delvers.{{book ref|sky1|25}} Though their attempts were successful, the beings proved impossible to control, and in some cases, the cytoshields proved insufficient, leading to delvers destroying the very people who sought them out.{{book ref|sky2|4}}

| We '''don't''' need to defeat the delvers. We simply need to control them.

| [[Brade]]{{book ref|sky2|31}}

| In the panic of knowing she would die, Brade finally accomplished her goal.

| [[Spensa]]{{book ref|sky2|40}}

* The name "delver" is mentioned once in ''[[Skyward]]'' before being properly introduced in ''[[Starsight]]''; whenever the delvers are referencesreferenced in ''Skyward'', [[Spensa]] uses "the eyes" instead.

* Brandon once began writing a science fiction novella called ''The Eyes'', inspired by [[wikipedia:Fermi paradox|Fermi paradox]], the question of why we can't find any aliens despite the statistical probability of their existence. The story remains unfinished, although a chapter of it was posted as a reward on the [[Writing Excuses]] Patreon page.{{bws ref|state-of-the-sanderson-2016|State of the Sanderson 2016|date=2016-12-19}} Its setting was eventually absorbed into the [[Skyward universeCytoverse]], with one of its alien races appearing in ''[[Starsight]]''.{{wob ref|12197}} Given the title, it's possible that delvers originated from the story.