Hiya, the name's TacoWrath. I wrote Mass Effect: Murphy's Law. Might write something else, not too sure, taking a break from writing to relax.

My favorite books include most of the Halo and Mass Effect novels, Andy Weir's books, and I read Harry Potter a long time ago, though have a deep dislike of its fan base these days. Video games are my forte, the obvious favorite being the Mass Effect series. Other favs include all the Halo games developed by Bungie (Halo 4 and Halo 5 are abominations), all games developed by ID Software (Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein), all Valve games (except CS:GO and DOTA2) the Fallout series, and a few other games such as TimeShift, Deus Ex, Mirror's Edge, and F.E.A.R. as well. Factorio is a time sink, and I both love and hate it.

While I've seen plenty of sci-fi movies, I've been working hard on catching up on my sci-fi shows, considering I didn't have very good access to them growing up and was more focused on cartoons at the time. Currently, I've watched the entirety of Battlestar Galactica (2003), Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis, The Expanse, and most of the pre-Abrams Star Trek shows. DS9 was the best, though it started off kind of boring.

With Murphy's Law, I aimed to create a slower, more character-driven story with a semi-hard focus on scientific development. That means nothing outlandish like Dyson spheres, nanotech, or anything overly unrealistic like that. I tried to keep things as grounded as possible. The main goal was to build things up in as realistically as possible without making it feel unbelievable, and I think I managed to pull it off.

I will keep a list of the most basic Murphy's Law tech here, though a more detailed, up-to-date version can be found at the end of the story, with spoilers if you haven't finished reading everything.

ALSO: I'd be absolutely thrilled out of my mind if anyone was interesting in doing art for Murphy's Law. I know it takes a lot of effort and time, but if you like my story enough that you want to do art of it, just shoot me a message and I'll give you any information you need. I'm willing to pay for commissions too if my financial situation is stable.

MURPHY'S LAW TECH ADVANCEMENTS

POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T READ THE STORY TO IT'S CURRENT POINT.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Nemo-Michaels Reactor (NM) – An innovation created by Dr. Dan Nemo and Dr. Sean Michaels, the Nemo-Michaels reactor is an exotic hybrid of a fusion reactor and an Eezo drive core. It produces insane amounts of energy while using half as much helium-3 as traditional reactors. The fusion reactor feeds into the eezo core, while static produced from the Eezo core is discharged into the fusion reactor. This feeder loop creates high-reactive plasma that can be used to power variable-impulse plasma engines. If one core is damaged, the other can work independently from the other at the cost of helium-3, static buildup, and a lack of energy needed to properly operate a Gravity Drive.

(Note: The Nemo-Michaels Reactor needs to be in constant equilibrium for maximum power output. A serious imbalance between the two cores can create either dangerous static buildup or an uncontrollable energy influx. Either event can kill the crew and destroy ship systems without proper shielding.)

Gravity Drive – A revolutionary drive core developed by Task Force Cerebellum that violently manipulates gravity to achieve FTL speeds. Counteracts background gravity, causing the ship to effectively “fall” towards its destination without the threat of inertial force or time dilation. Unlike the Tantalus Drive Core developed between the Alliance and Turian Hierarchy, the Gravity Drive can propel ships at speeds comparable to those of Mass Relays. Gravity Drives can also function for longer periods by emitting much stronger magnetic fields at more consistent rate. These advantages are offset by the need for incredible amounts of energy and long recharging times, which are easily met by the inclusion of a Nemo-Michaels Reactor.

(Note: Gravity Drives need to be constantly calibrated and monitored. A damaged or improperly mounted Gravity Drive can cause irreparable damage or total destruction to a ship if its magnetic fields fail while traveling at FTL speeds. If a Gravity Drive is damaged, resort to the use of Mass Relays instead.)

Ionized Plasma Projector (IPP) – The brainchild of Dr. Sean Michaels and Dr Mara Ford, the IPP (more commonly known as the Plasma Gun) is a specialized weapon that harnesses the unique synthetic plasma created inside a Nemo-Michaels Reactor as ammunition. It fires fist-sized super-heated particles suspended in a shaped magnetic field at extreme speeds. It ignores any kinetic or energy shielding and impacts with intense heat, easily burning through traditional combat armor and cooking the target. The only major downsides to the IPP are that it requires oxygen to properly function, making it impossible to use in space or on low-oxygen worlds, and ammunition can become scarce during prolonged conflict.

(Note: IPPs have been successfully tested in a space environment by suspending the particles in an oxygenated field, though this method of projection is extremely wasteful and cost-inefficient. It is unlikely space-based IPPs will progress past the experimental stage.)