Ætherside

The Ætherside is an overarching term for describing areas where Depth reading is at 1 in subterranean, surface, atmospheric, and orbital regions of Talos-II.

Overview

“	The Ætherside is an overarching term for describing areas where Depth reading is at 1 in subterranean, surface, atmospheric, and orbital regions of Talos-II. Given the time scale of Talos-II, the Ætherside is currently overlapping with realspace. Flow of matter and energy between the two dimensions has been verified. In Talos-II, the barrier between the realspace and Ætherside may sometimes rupture to create an inter-spatial conduit (and in rare occasions, disrupt the very time scale itself) colloquially referred to as the "rift". Depth readings near rifts typically approach 0.5, which also means that Active Blight has a higher probability of occurring at these places. Unlike matter, Ætherside energy can flow into realspace via potential transformation. This energy flow can occur even without the rift and scientists have used this phenomenon as the basis for creating the experimental Æthercell. Mysterious Æther manifestations that occasionally appear in realspace may also be caused by the said phenomenon as well. When Æther flow into realspace exceeds a particular threshold, an uncontrollable explosion may randomly occur. Without the physical presence of the Endministrator, Protocol-Originium will only function in areas with spatial and temporal properties that allow the existence of Æther.	”
	—Nexus Files

According to Yvonne, Terrans initially had only a basic understanding of the Ætherside, but after arriving at Talos-II, the field became much deeper. She noted that many ancient ruins on the planet contain residual Æther energy.

Depth

Depth is a standard measurement index to numerically represent the degree of Æther influence. The Depth Reading typically ranges from 0 to 1. A reading of 0 means the area is entirely in realspace, while a reading of 1 means the area is fully in the Ætherside. Originium has been observed to reduce Æther influence.

Æthermorphs

The Ætherside is home to entities known as Æthermorphs. Laevatain refer to these entities as "demons", an archaic Terran term for Collapsals.

Trivia

• The Chinese term for the Ætherside is 超域 (chāo yù), where 超 means "transcend" or "super", and 域 means "region" or "domain".
• Prior to the Global Tech Test and the official translations, this concept was known in the community as the "Super Domain", due to translations provided by Google Translate.