Quantum Energy

Summary
Quantum energy is a form of energy which is hypothesized to permeate all of space. It has never been harnessed by mechanical means. It seems only to interact with matter which for some unknown reason can absorb concentrated amounts of it and manipulate it directly. In general, matter which can manipulate quantum energy is called a Quantum Irregularity. Human beings who can manipulate quantum energy are called Detached, because they can use the energy to travel between universes in three-dimensional space.

Powerful Detached
Most Detached lack the ability to channel enough quantum energy to manipulate it in any useful ways other than traveling between universes. The small percentage who do have a talent for amassing energy rarely have an intuition for using it effectively. It's volatile and transient, like electricity.

There are a rare few, however, who can channel and manipulate quantum energy. These people are aggressively recruited by the Watchers, if not for their potential usefulness then for the purpose of being able to monitor their behavior at all times. Those who refuse to join the Watchers are assigned an Overseer or a Scout based on whether they decide to live in a Tower Universe or not.

Passive Channeling
Detached seem to passively channel quantum energy at all times, whether conscious or not. This, combined with the fact that Detached with greater talents for manipulating quantum energy also passively channel larger amounts than most others, causes people to believe that a person's abilities to manipulate quantum energy are fixed at birth. The basic argument is that your abilities are determined by some basic component of your physical makeup rather than your intellectual, emotional or athletic capabilities.

Besides fueling debates, passive channeling also makes it easier for Detached to locate each other. Once a Detached learns how to channel quantum energy, he or she tends to be able to feel the difference between an area that has a large concentration of it, and areas with very little of it. And in general, wherever you find high concentrations of quantum energy, you find a Detached. This helps the Watchers out a great deal in their constant mission to keep track of the behaviors of Detached across the multiverse.

Infinite Energy in the Multiverse
Because no machine yet has been invented that can measure or use quantum energy, knowing how much is in any given location is an art rather than a science. Still, any Detached who has lingered in the abyss that is the multiverse knows there's an overwhelming amount of it flowing around. Some believe the energy in the multiverse is infinite--the same amount everywhere all the time. But opponents of this theory bring up a basic physical concept: Thermodynamic Equilibrium.

Thermodynamic Equilibrium is, essentially, the state in which a system (such as a universe) cannot sustain processes that require differences in energy, such as basic things like motion. If everywhere in the multiverse has the same amount of energy all the time, it should be impossible to exist in the multiverse. Your heart should not be able to beat. Your neurons should not be able to fire. Yet these things happen.

Also, if the quantum energy inside a universe is what it absorbs from the multiverse, and the multiverse has an infinite amount of energy everywhere, then every universe should also have an infinite amount of quantum energy everywhere. Yet this is not the case. Older, larger universes have so much quantum energy that they are corrupted and uninhabitable. Extremely young universes have so little quantum energy that it is almost impossible to channel enough to escape from them.

The most compelling counter-argument to these objections is that the energy within a universe doesn't come from the multiverse at all, but from within the universe itself. The Quantum Leak theory states that all matter created at the birth of a universe contains quantum energy within it, and as time goes on it leaks more and more of it out into the universe. This would explain why older universes are brimming with it while young universes have barely any.

Quantum Energy As A Weapon
Some Detached learn how to manipulate their quantum energy in ways that can be deadly to others. They use their abilities to threaten other Detached or take control of societies in universes. See Detached more info. This is one of the major reasons the Watchers exist as an organization. In the modern universe, crimes of this sort are very rare, but they were once incredibly common.