As the Energon Empire spread throughout the Energon Galaxy, communication became a more and more important facet of life. In the early days of interstellar travel, most communications were done on the scale of planetary or star system using electromagnetic communication systems (typically via wires or in the wavelengths pertaining to radio and sometimes visible light). While these systems were satisfactory for most communications (planetary messages would be nearly instantaneous, whereas interplanetary messages might take hours), the messages traveling at the speed of light would require years to cross the interstellar voids.

The first advancements in interstellar communications followed along the same principles of ancient mail travel, but now at beyond light speed. Ships traveling between the stars would collect together messages and carry them with them as they blasted beyond light speed using dimensional fields. While this courier method was useful, it was not as fast and free as communications needed to be.

As the availability of energy in the Empire grew, engineers developed a whole new method of communication. Scientists had been experimenting with superspace, the nickname for higher dimensions where the laws of physics are slightly different, and had already been able to create interdimensional gates that would allow ships to leap from the third dimension into what mathematics calls Dimension 3.000151 (more commonly known as Communication-Level Superspace). It cost great amounts of energy to perform such a task, but as science grew, the necessary energy became available. Soon small gates into superspace were developed, and interdimensional communication buoys were developed.

These buoys hang away from treacherous gravitational wells and hold gates open continuously. Part of these buoys hang in normalspace and listen to nearby light-speed communications. According to codes designed by the Energon Council of Communication, the beginnings of transmissions that require transport through superspace have a special code. The buoys read these codes, process the transmissions into superspatial transmissions, and then broadcast them into superspace. Buoys across the Empire read these transmissions, noticing the second string of code which tells where the transmission needs to go. If the code does not pertain to the buoy, the buoy simply ignores the message. The buoy with the corresponding code takes the message, processes it back into transmissions suitable for normalspace. It then broadcasts the transmission in normalspace for receiving.

Since their invention, the automated buoys have been essential to Energon communications. The buoys have been built in trillions of positions around the Empire, relaying transmissions at super-fast speeds. It is estimated that a moderate-sized transmission can cross from one frontier of the Empire to the farthest point on the other end in only fifty seconds. Thanks to the amazing speeds of Communication-Level Superspace, most of this time is spent in processing in the buoys’ computer systems.

To this day, the buoys are continually maintained, upgraded, and replaced. While some of these buoys are private, using special codes and encryptions to maintain secret transmissions for military and economic uses, the vast majority of them are public and used for the nearly unending communications of the Empire’s populace. One might ask from where the funds for these buoys come, and the answer is public taxes or fees for exceptionally large transmissions.

After the success of the new transmission systems, the Empire flourished like never before. While the Empire’s borders expanded and trade was being established, other scientists were busy working with these systems. Eventually, the next step in communication evolution was created: the Intergalactic Communications Network, or simply the InComNet. From its envisioning, the InComNet has been the mainstay of communication, offering everything from entertainment to interaction to information. Computers all around the Energon Empire are tied together by this network of communication, binding the Empire together. It is quite common for a student in the Pyrus Galaxy to learn about robotics from instructors many, many light-years away in the Lapidare Galaxy, or for a youngster on the frontier of some distant sector in the Clusters to be penpals with a youth living in the world-city of Energus.

One of the greatest versatilities of the InComNet is its varieties of interaction. Based on the kind of reception technology one uses, he can view information in nearly any way imaginable. With virtual reality gear, a user on the InComNet can walk through an artificial world, interacting and learning in first-person chat rooms, theaters, and market-like online stores. There are many other, less interactive techniques including holographic projectors, two-dimensional screens, telepathic receivers, and even mist-like molecular generators that produce stenches for smelly interactions.

However, the InComNet is not a complete boon to the Empire. It is often plagued by deciphers, code-manipulators who sometimes intercept sensitive transmissions or sneak into the computer systems. These deciphers are the villains in a digital world that is protected by advanced coding and encrypting, as wells as the Energon InComNet Defenders, a kind of elite programmer-police.  Working under the Imperial InComNet Management Coalition, these police take part in a never-ending digital battle against the criminals of the InComNet

Even with its darker side, the InComNet serves as the nervous system of the Empire. Whenever anyone calls for communication or information, the InComNet is where they will turn. And, even though it is updated as quickly as new technology is developed, the Imperial populace is continually calling for more.