Metaverse:Metaverse Travel
Metaverse travel is the process by which the consciousness, memories, and abilities of a person--the pilot--are inserted into the body of another person in another reality--the avatar. Avatars retain their existing personalities and consciousnesses, but the pilot identities retain ultimate control, allowing them to select their degrees of immersion on a moment to moment basis.
The process of metaverse travel is accomplished through the use of the metapod, a single occupancy chamber that maintains a pilot's body in stasis and manages all bodily functions while connecting the pilot to the target reality. Jebidiah Lexington has noted, however, that he is not sure how or why the pods work, despite having served as a technician on them.
Spoiler, Episode 8:
Worlds The base world containing the bodies of the pilots and the metapods is a version of Earth very like our own. All other [worlds] appear to be alternate histories of our own, with varying degrees of difference.
The Project
To date, no name for the metapod project has been given, nor have its authorities specified its purpose beyond learning about how other realities function.
Spoiler, episode 13:
Personnel
Currently, the project appears to be headed up by Col. Steven Richardson, Project Director, and Dr. Samantha Simkins, Chief Engineer.
Regular technicians and engineers are sometimes chosen to be pilots, though this appears to be somewhat rare. Pilots are also sometimes drawn from the general populace, be it by discreet invitation or blackmail and coercion. All appear to be either kept under containment or subject to Non-Disclosure Agreements.