Support Matrix
Far under the busy hypermetropolis that covers the Thanedom Technocratic Republics in all of it's extension, lies a massive structure, the single most titanic construction that can be found within the terrestrial federal interests. This is the Support Matrix, a project that began long ago and only now has been truly completed.
Origins
The Magocentric Federation of Technocratic Republics has always characterized for it's very small size (415,000 sq miles) and rapidly growing urbanized infrastructure. However, as population grow exploded and quickly broke the billion barrier, it became more clear than ever that the land was simply unable to sustain such amount. Mineral consumption skyrocketed, while land space became less and less available. Although the efforts to concentrate the population on highly dense urban centers were extensive, technology at the time was simply unable to keep up with the needs.
The once green plains and white mountains were quickly painted by progress. What was not occupied by sprawling arcology cities was home to endless lines of hydroponic facilities, generating the endless amounts of food required by the population.
However, space was not the only aspect to suffer from the national grow. As a nation highly dependent on industry, prime materials, from which almost the 100% were of mineral type, mining and extraction activities exploded. The national reserves began decreasing at alarming rates, as the authorities did what they could to regulate the industry. And even more difficulties arose. As mines expanded, the technical problems did too. There was no free land on the nation, thus mineral veins were hard to excavate without endangering the surface. And this issue, that would seem almost insignificant at first, was the major trigger for the creation of the Support Matrix.
In the coming years, technology gave birth to one of the marvels of engineering: Workable Neutronium, labbeled as Neutronia. The material took a stand inside the federal industry quickly and solidly, all thanks to it's great qualities: Incredibly resistant to stress and temperature, an elastic coefficient of zero and a nearly indestructible atomic structure. With Neutronia, they had the solution in hands: Instead of fearing massive land collapses due to excavations, the entire area could be reinforced and sustained by using a Neutronia skeletal structure, literally replacing earth and rock by structures. The idea proved to be good, and useful. And government support came quickly, as for the benefits of such project escalated far beyond mining industry. Being in a highly tectonically active zone, the Technocratic Republics were prone to constant earthquakes. Although nothing was being built without following strict anti seismic measures, the constant presence of tectonic movement and faults endangered several underground projects and facilities, such as the hypermatter waste disposal tanks.
The first area to be completely reinforced and cleaned of any land was the region under the federal capital city, Adranor. The first attempt to do so, however, ended almost in a catastrophe. The support structure had been wrongfully calculated, and it was not able to sustain the huge weight of the buildings above, so it collapsed. Thankfully, the structure was only a few meters in height, and most structures managed to resist the fall, although several hundreds of deaths were reported. This accident forced engineers to redesign the skeletal structure. It was changed from a square junctions to tripod systems, creating a type of self sustaining structure, that would finally send all the charge toward it's edges.
The original project was a much lesser form that what it would finally turn to be: It covered an area of approximately 20 sq miles and had about 100 meters in height. It was centered under Adranor's historical areas, deep inside the Core District. And it proved to be useful. By installing auto regulating magnetic pistons in the Neutronia superstructures, seismic movement was completely cancelled, and the precious minerals and archaeological resources under the Core District could be exploited without affecting the activity above.
The use of these basic type of support matrices expanded at a slow rate, being used only in very specific places. It wasn't until the enactment of the Seismic Nullification Law that the use of the support matrices became massive. This law specified that any structure built over qualified anti-seismic support systems could be designed without following the strict and cost-increasing anti-seismic measures. This law allowed to greatly reduce the cost of buildings of massive scale, that had become more and more common since the first SkyImpaler was erected, rocketing nearly nine miles toward the sky. This led to a massive expansion of the support system usage. Soon, cities such as Adranor, Caranoth and Dalador began showing sprawling subterranean structures. And, as their extension grew, so did it's deepness, as for the pressure that was being sustained by the rock beneath and around the matrix was immense. This forced engineers to make the structures much deeper, in order to equally distribute the pressure in a larger surface.
The Support Matrix had finally become a reality, one that would change the Federation permanently.
Current Days
The actual Support Matrix is the "big brother" version of the older one. Covering well over 500,000 sq miles of underground (and undersea) area, and projecting almost three miles deep, the matrix literally keeps the nations standing. With buildings surpassing the five miles in height being a most than common element in the hyperurbanized nation, the matrix has been redesigned countless times to provide the best security and utility to the cities above.
It has been often said that the Support Matrix is a nation by itself. Most, if not all, of the federal industry has been moved downward, since the ground above is used either for commercial or living activities. A large percentage of the mass transportation systems run between the mile long Neutronia beams, being very easy now to build them, as for the amount of free space (now that there is not earth nor rock) underground is simply immense. And the Support Matrix has also impacted heavily on society, specially since ProdClones are no longer seen in the surface. ProdClones are genetically engineered human forms, that are then highly modified for specific industrial activities. They are the backbone of the federal industry, but the are also the most neglected part of society, and thus people try to live as far from them as possible. Now that industry remains within the Support Matrix, the huge colonies of these ProdClones had been moved down as well. This has greatly relieved the government, that saw the genetic racism protest growing in intensity day by day.
Overall, the Support Matrix is a main part of the nation. Asides from serving as ground base, it grants enormous amounts of free space for industrial, waste, energetic and transportation activities. Mining industry, the harbringers of this project, have now moved either toward the planetary core or toward the out of Earth asteroids, thus not needing the support system anymore, at least not in a direct way.
Engineers now predict that the use of the Support Matrix will keep expanding, adding new uses and benefits. It is projected that, in the next twenty years, the matrix will allow to build over large areas of territory currently claimed by sea. And what else is to be done by this project, it remains unclear, but but most than certainly bring great benefits toward the Thanedom of Technocratic Republics.
