PsiPog.net : Force Bubbles by Rainsong

# Force Bubbles

by Rainsong

A force-bubble is a variant of Shield construction in which the shell actually pushes outward. The construction of a force bubble requires skill in both construct-making and macro-psychokinesis. The shell itself may be solid or semi-solid, often having the consistency and approximate appearance of forensic gelatine. However, because of the psychokinetic outward push, such solidity is not required for an effective bubble.

As a small point of trivia, when a semi-solid or solid bubble is shattered, it actually leaves shards of the shell scattered on the ground. They eventually dissolve and dissipate, of course. My experience is that they do so in less than twenty-four hours. I've never been sufficiently bored to just sit around and watch this happen; the shards are simply gone less than a day after they are cast. I've also never kept a functional force bubble intact for more than a minute, that I recall, although practice bubbles are sometimes held longer.

For practice purposes, start small. These are quite energy-intensive, and using large bubbles to learn is exhausting. So, to start with, keep them "softball" size or thereabouts. And, of course, when first learning how to make a force bubble, do it step by step. Short-cuts and speed come after accuracy and effectiveness have been mastered.

First of all, make a psiball, a small spheroid psi construct. It doesn't need to glow or give off heat or do anything else; just a standard, run-of-the-mill psiball.

Once the psiball is nice and steady, hollow it out, moving all its psi to the outer shell. A ping-pong ball, a tennis ball, or something of that sort would make an adequate model for visualization. If you want to solidify it, now would be the time. Likewise, if you feel like adding any flashy special effects such as sparks, colours, and so on, do it now. As I mentioned earlier, such special effects are entirely unnecessary for the bubble itself. However, sometimes they are wanted: for intimidation, as a show-of-force, or simply for their "coolness" factor, "Hey, Mum, look what I can do!"

To turn this shell into a small Shield, program it as you would for any other Shield; with effect, duration, shape, etc. To make it a force bubble, though, you will add a final step to this. The shell must push outward on contact with another object, physical or otherwise. This is where the PK comes in. The idea is to have the shell push harder, according to how much resistance it meets. The harder you push on it, the harder it pushes back. You may overlay the PK on the regular Shield-programming, or you may do it as a separate function. Try both a few times and see which works better for you. Either will work.

Force bubbles, psionic and otherwise, are popular in science fiction and assorted fantasy, so finding an appropriate model for visualization should be fairly simple. There are also some excellent models in real-world science. For example, observe the repulsion between two magnets held together with like poles facing each other. For my own use, I favour an image from a "fanfic" based on an early anime series that happened to rely heavily on forcefields of various kinds. The forcefields in that series were rather ugly, looking like a cross between glass and raspberry Jell-o, with uneven spots that resembled bubbles within the shell itself, which was roughly six inches thick. That particular image, from a specific scene, came to mind when I was in need of a force bubble, so I went with it. Hideously ugly, but effective.

And what can force bubbles be used for? Defense, obviously. It is a Shield, after all. Other uses to which they can be put are more in the lines of practical jokes and cheating at games: put a few on a pool table and watch the billiard balls bounce off, for example, or cast one around a net in a basketball game. Use your imagination, and I'm sure you'll come up with many fun ways to practice your force-bubbles.

- Rainsong

Last Modified on September 14 2002

All Content, Images, Video, Text, and Software is © Copyright 2000-2006 PsiPog.net and their respective authors. All Rights Reserved.

You must agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy to view this website. Click here to contact the webmaster.