Negative gravity generator

While AG generators tried to increase local gravity for crew longevity and comfort, a team of scientists based in the mega-city of Sydney in the Eastern Collective tried to develop the reverse effect—decelerating the perceived passage of time by reducing the four-dimensional potential energy in a defined area. This energy could not be destroyed but rather transferred into a collection area known as a gravity sump. The first application of the technology was both successful and an infamous failure, now known as the Sydney Incident, in which an entire block of the mega-city was ripped from the ground and catapulted dozens of kilometers into the air. The Sydney accords forbid the use of NG within a planet’s gravity well but pushed forward the application of NG to space travel. While the names of the scientists who discovered NG have been forgotten by most, an NG generator is still poetically known as an Icarus engine, because they flew too close to the sun.