Sublimation

Named for the phase transition from solid directly to gas, the Sublimation-class refinery processes raw ore through biological catalysts that other empires cannot synthesize. Metals emerge from the refining chambers with crystal structures that should require pressures found only in stellar cores. The Collective's materials scientists describe the process as "persuading matter to remember what it could be." Yield rates are consistently above theoretical maximums, which the Collective attributes to "cooperative thermodynamics."