Item from dark-forest by
Strong Interaction Probe — a three-meter mirror-bright teardrop that ate two thousand warships in fifteen minutes and now hangs in geosynchronous orbit over Earth.
The droplet's surface is held together by strong-force interactions — atomic-bond strength bound at every point — making it functionally indestructible by anything humanity can fire. Its propulsion is unknown to humans even after the battle. It does not communicate, refuel, or behave like a vehicle. It rams. Each pass through the Combined Fleet snapped a kilometer-long warship like a popsicle stick. Nine such droplets eventually arrive; in Book 2, the first is the only one anybody sees.
A tear-shaped projectile roughly three meters long and one meter at its widest, surface so smooth and reflective that human instruments first read it as a flawless mirror. Faint distortions of starlight at the bow when it accelerates. Flies in absolute silence. No exhaust.
Also known as: Strong Interaction Probe, Shuǐ dī, 水滴