Hardlight

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In 2035, nuclear scientist Laban Bacha from Indonesia discovered that the light emitted during a fusion reaction behaves strangely for just a few milliseconds. This new, ephemerous state of matter, is called "altered photons", or "hardlight".

By using these altered photons, it is possible to create tangible holograms, like an instantaneous 3D-printer, or a CRT television. But because the altered photons decay into regular photons in a fraction of a second, the construct needs to be rebuilt over and over again, tens of thousands of times per second. And as soon as the beam of altered photons creating the construct is shut off, the construct disappears.

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Sub-reactors & hardlight. Normally, sub-reactors use the hardlight they generate to create a self-sustaining nuclear reaction. It is possible to instead use this light to create hardlight constructs, but doing so takes away from the sub-reactor's own supply, and quickly results in the reaction shutting down.

Before the Fall, this wasn't a problem: you could turn the sub-reactor back on by simply bringing it to a nexus. But nowadays, when a sub-reactor goes out, since most nexuses have shut down or are under the control of various factions, turning a sub-reactor back on after it has turned off, is almost impossible for most survivors.

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Prisms. In order to shape a beam of hardlight into the desired physical shape, the beam has to pass through a prism. Each prism is a laser-etched piece of glass, resulting in a unique shape.

The more prisms one finds in the wasteland, the more shapes they can use, and the easier of a time they will have overcoming the different obstacles the Age of the Flare puts in front of them.

People who have cultivated the skills to create prisms are called "sculptors". They are exceedingly rare, and their services are heavily valued - it is not rare for two factions to go to war over a single sculptor.

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Appearance. As the heavy photons making up a hardlight construct decay into regular photons over time, any object made of hardlight glows. It is possible to change the color and opacity of a hardlight construct - most sculptors incorporate motifs and colors in their design to communicate their personal brand.

After the Flare, most sub-reactors are a bit glitchy, and so are the hardlight constructs they create. It is not rare to see a shape flicker in and out of existence, or get distorted a bit from its blueprint.

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Physical properties. Hardlight has roughly the same weight as aluminum, and is affected by gravity and air resistance, the same as any other solid. It is slightly warm to the touch, and makes almost no sound when struck.

Because hardlight structures are replaced thousands of times per second, they are virtually indestructible: any damage they take is undone after a few milliseconds.

However, after the Flare, most hardlight generators tend to be glitchy. Damaging a glitchy structure too much can overload a generator, and eventually cause it to shut down. The more glitchy a hardlight construct is, the more fragile it is. Generators with no glitches whatsoever are extremely valuable in the wasteland.

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1d10	Adventure Seeds
1	You need a top secret blueprint, which was kept in a military facility.
2	The murderer you are chasing took refuge in a former arcade building. Their base is a holo-game: a room full of hardlight generators which would transport kids into a fantasy world so they could have wacky adventures. The murderer has hacked the game and removed all safety features.
3	You found out about a doomsday prepper who owned an underground bunker. With some luck, they might have a fully intact hardlight generator. Or, they might have defenses against scavengers like you. Probably both.
4	The hardlight generator of your holo-train broke down. You'll need to find a replacement, or you'll be stuck in place.
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