"Was the one the Necrons captured really the Star Map?" Horus asked with a frown. "It was floating right there. Why couldn't the Insight Engine detect it?"
"Because the Star Map is like a part of the Real Universe. A detection device can detect a planet, but would it classify that planet as a C'tan in its scan results?" The Chronicler answered.
Horus pondered for a moment, then asked, "The Star Map can directly manipulate the Real Universe. It can't possibly be this weak, to have been captured by a Necron fleet in less than ten minutes."
"Manipulating the Real Universe is the Star Map's trait, just as every other C'tan has its own trait. It can take a portion of the Real Universe and turn it into the strange spectacle we see before us. Because of this trait, it is detected as part of the Real Universe itself. But what else can it do?"
The Chronicler paused, then continued.
"C'tan can generally forcibly warp reality, except for the Star Map. Because of its trait, the Star Map cannot twist reality into something impossible. All it can do is mold the clay called the Real Universe like putty, while strictly obeying its rules."
Hearing this, Horus nodded. C'tan really were strange creatures.
The Chronicler stared at the strange object left behind by the Star Map: a ten-meter cube molded from a portion of the Real Universe, with an escape pod inside.
"There is a story here." As The Chronicler spoke, it projected its reality-warping power onto the strange cubic object. The object began to break apart, and the escape pod within was extracted.
As The Chronicler manipulated the strange object, all the stars and planets within it were released and transferred through its dimensions into the void outside. Once released,