Digicyte

"Our unyielding acquisition of alien technology has come to fruition. We stand before a prosperous breakthrough, or as our Chief Technology Officer phrases it: 'A technological revolution of historical impact.'" -Randsome Shnack, former CEO of Mithras-Tech Industries Digicyte is an ethereal form of matter that can be manipulated using psionically assisted neural networks, the name specifically refers to its solid form. It was created by Mithras-Tech Industries in the closing hours of the year 2642.

Discovery
The creation of this substance was initialized in alien experiments that included Genexian forms being viciously torn apart then examined with the pursuit of inspecting their biochemistry. Only after months of state-funded expeditions into their physiology did the research wing encounter several promising leads.

These breakthroughs led way to a permit regarding trials on human subjects, which were unethically granted unknown to the public itself. The experiments were carried out and injections of Genexian central nervous fluids into human subjects were concluded with spectacular results. All of the test subjects, which were supposedly interns of Mithras-Tech Industries, responded with a temporary yet immense increase in their psychic abilities. A few of these subjects manifested themselves into an ethereal form composed of numberless particles of virtual matter, most palpable by other objects and fragile. Their bodies promptly collapsed into themselves and crubmled, the remains were thoroughly researched and guarded as they were sought after by other groups using the means of espionage.

After months of experimentation and testing an alteration to these materials were succesfully conducted, a primordial fluid of virtual particles were produced from which any material could be skillfully forged out of with psychic will assisted with advanced neural networks.

Solidification
The properties of this fluid was however quite inconvenient, the only forces that held it together were pseudo-molecular bonds that were subject to a high degree of fluctuation. The flux that could be attributed to this form was also highly corrosive since without molding it would constantly interact with any matter used to encapsulate it. It was only in the conclusion of 2642 that a stable diamond-hard solid state was achieved, utilizing psychic cryomancy to flash-freeze the subject and harden it immensely. It was then discovered Digicyte ceases its interaction with the surrounding matter if it is in a solid state.

Production
Soon after a public scandal the states that funded the project had to withdraw their support, making production from human subjects inconceivable. Mithras-Tech Industries then was forced to find an alternative to their inefficient method of production. Only after the emergance of ARDENT and the discovery of The Warp was an efficient method of extraction was conceived.

It was known that the psychic energies present within The Warp was where sapient souls originated from, therefore the need for a living vessel was eliminated. Chaotic energies could be siphoned from a sufficiently sized portal then shut down followed up with the injection of a modified biochemical concluding the ethereal masses transformation into liquid Digicyte.

This breakthrough allowed the mass production of this ludicrous form of matter in secured facilities with armed personnel ready to face off a lesser invasion. The additional resources required for a portal to persist without tearing apart the entire facility ensured that even in the fifth millennium only a hundred facilities could work at over 50% workload.

Properties
Digicytes inherit many properties from their ethereal roots, they are incomprehensibly light for their size yet almost indestructible by physical means. The only known methods for shaping them are specialized psykers assisted by advanced neural networks consisting of billions of neurons. Even though the ludicrous numbers of neurons are sufficient for self-awareness, the sheer complexity of Digicyte makes no space for conscious thought without failing to be shaped in the correct manner.

The causality of its nature is well known, it is the manifestation of souls into the real world in a physical state. It's ethereality comes from the fact that it is akin to a manifesting ghost molded into a shape.

Digicyte may be transformed into any composite or pure material by encoding an immensely large matrix describing the desired output into it, making it an excellent substance to forge armour, building materials, consumer goods and alloys from. It's existence however completely denies any precious metal industry their rarity, which is only hindered by the strict regulations on the production of Digicyte in of itself.