Super-alloys

Back to Technological level

While real-world materials such as steel remain widely used in the setting, several new ones are in play:

• Omni-metal is the most common. In reality, it's a misnomer - what the public commonly refers to as "omni-metal" is in reality an alloy of omni-metal (in a proportion slightly below 1%) and iron. It is about twice as strong as the strongest steel, for roughly equivalent densities and nearly twice the production cost. Omni-metal is produced in massive amounts by Omnicorp, which has made a fortune through their monopoly on this material; they hope to eventually replace the steel industry with it.

Though the popularity of omni-metal is spreading, over 90% of the amount created on Earth is currently located in Megalopolis. This is due to the safety regulations passed by Megalopolis's city hall, which demand that every building created in the city use omni-metal reinforcement. To be fair, this has made the buildings substantially more resilient - which is rather important in a city that sees that much superpowered activity.

• Pure omni-metal is about ten times as strong as the more common omni-metal alloy. This means that object made of it are almost indestructible. Alas, it is also very expensive; as such, pure omni-metal is used far more sparingly.

One well-known use of pure omni-metal is Omnicorp's Mecha-Tanks, whose hull is made entirely of the super-strong material.

• Carbosteel is a creation of Venture Industries. It requires nanotechnology to produce. It is as strong as pure omni-metal, while also being lightweight - its density is inferior to that of most plastics. This makes it very interesting to the aerospace industry.

Unfortunately, carbosteel is even more expensive to produce than pure omni-metal. The nanomachines involved in its creation can only function in zero-gravity, meaning that the only factory is currently located in Venture City. There is, however, one massive structure built out of megatons of carbosteel: The Tower of Babel, which was created by The Avatar rather than manufactured.

• Mega-molecules: This unusual and still highly prototypical type of matter is inspired by a simple observation: The links between the atoms of a molecule are stronger than the links between the molecules of an object. Following this, scientists have created mega-molecules - objects large enough to be seen with the naked eye that are comprised of a single, gigantic molecule.

The full applications of mega-molecules are only now starting to be explored. Some experimental objects built with them have displayed strength on a level beyond even carbosteel. Notably, Techno-Paladin's armor is a mega-molecule.