The Reactor is the core technology of the Belluaire Component, but it cannot operate alone. Every other part of the Component exists to support it. This chapter describes the Component parts: the Platform, the Walls, the Dome, the Tunnel, the Altar, the Source, and the Collector.
None of these parts has a purpose independent of the Reactor. Each enables the Reactor to function — to be driven, to resonate, to couple to the activated medium, and to deliver its motion to the Collector. The Altar is present in every Reactor, in two configurations; in the IR+, its active configuration is the Source.
The Platform is the floor of the Belluaire Component.
It is a single structure shared by every Reactor in the installation. It is pierced with one hole for every Reactor — the Source at its centre and each Reactor of the array around its perimeter. Through each hole, an Altar is seated, and each Reactor’s Pedestal is then lowered through the Altar into an individual chamber beneath the Platform.
The Platform is the dividing line of the Component. Above it sit the Resonator and the Collector. The Altar seats within each Platform hole at the dividing line itself — its lower portion aligns with the Platform, its presence framing the Resonator from below. The Source coils are housed in the Altar of the Infrasonic Reactor +Source. Below the Platform sit the Pedestal, the Tuning Mechanism, and the chamber that houses the Tuning Mechanism.
The Platform is not merely a floor. It is an engineered component. It must support the weight of every Reactor and the Source, maintain the geometric precision required for the Collector to hover correctly over each Load, and allow each Pedestal to move freely along its axis for tuning.
The Walls enclose the resonant volume.
They contain the acoustic field within the space where the Reactors operate. They prevent the field from dissipating into the surrounding environment and protect the Reactors from off-frequency external noise.
The Walls’ acoustic properties matter. Their material, thickness, and internal surface treatment determine how much acoustic energy is reflected back into the volume and how much is absorbed or transmitted. For the Belluaire Component’s infrasonic operating range, the Walls must be massive enough to reflect low-frequency energy effectively.
The Dome is the ceiling of the Belluaire Component.
It is hemispherical, or approximately so. A hemisphere is the optimal enclosure shape for minimising the surface-to-volume ratio, which reduces both the structural mass of the Dome and the area over which acoustic leakage can occur. The curved surfaces also distribute structural stress uniformly, allowing thinner Walls without risk of structural failure.
The Dome’s acoustic function is to concentrate acoustic energy at its focal point. When a sound source is placed at the centre of a hemispherical enclosure, the reflected waves from the curved inner surface reconverge at the centre — the focal point. Energy that would otherwise disperse in three dimensions is redirected toward a single point. The acoustic energy density at the focal point is higher than the energy density at the same distance from the Source in open air.
This focal concentration is why the Source is positioned at the centre of the Dome. The Dome concentrates the field at the point where the Source drives its Resonator, and the activated medium distributes that field to the surrounding Reactors.
The Tunnel is the connecting passage between rooms.
It is a hallway with a semi-circular ceiling. Its dimensions and internal geometry determine how it transmits the acoustic field between the spaces it connects.
The Throne interfaces the Pedestal and the Platform.
It is the structure through which the Pedestal passes as it enters the Platform. The Throne is surrounded by the Altar.
The Altar is the annular structure seated in the Platform at each Reactor’s hole. It is present in every Reactor in the Component. Its opening matches the profile of the Platform hole, and the Pedestal passes through it. The Altar completes the contour of the Resonator’s base — it frames the lower section of the Resonator from the Platform level — and stabilizes the Reactor by constraining lateral movement where the Pedestal meets the Platform.
The Altar has two configurations. In its passive configuration, used in every Reactor that is not the Source, the Altar promotes resonance without driving the Resonator. Its geometry and material reinforce the acoustic conditions at the Reactor’s base, creating a resonant seat that supports sympathetic oscillation. In its active configuration, the Altar is the Source. The coils that constitute the Source are housed within it.
The name carries its meaning. In Latin and its descendants, alter denotes change — alteration, transformation. The Altar is the place of alteration: the site where the initial energy, electromagnetic, is changed into acoustic motion capable of resonance. In the active configuration this transduction is direct — the coils embedded in the Altar convert electrical impulse into a magnetic force that sets the Resonator into acoustic oscillation. In the passive configuration the Altar remains the threshold, the interface where the field meets the Reactor and resonance begins.
The Seat is the lower terminus of the Pedestal shaft inside the chamber.
It sits at the base of the chamber, below the Platform. The Pedestal descends through the Altar and through the Platform into the chamber, where its shaft comes to rest in the Seat. The Seat anchors the Tuning Mechanism and defines the resting position of the Pedestal shaft.
The Source is the active configuration of the Infrasonic Reactor +Source, located in the Altar. It is not a separate structure sitting on the Platform — it is the coil assembly housed within the Altar.
The Source consists of a pair of complementary semi-circular electromagnetic coils, electronically controlled, embedded in the Altar structure and flanking the Resonator’s lower section. The two coils are energised in alternation. Each generates a magnetic field that pulls the ferromagnetic Resonator toward that side. As the first coil’s field collapses and the second energises, the pull reverses, and the Resonator is drawn back the other way. Repeated at the Resonator’s natural swing frequency, this alternating pull sustains a continuous, self-reinforcing oscillation.
The Source does not yield electricity. It drives the Resonator of the Infrasonic Reactor +Source, and that Resonator establishes the key signature in the activated medium that triggers all the other Reactors into sympathetic resonance. Those other Reactors each carry a passive Altar — one that promotes resonance rather than inducing it.
The Collector is the part that yields the electricity.
It is distinct from the Reactor it is mounted to, for the same reason the Source is distinct from the Resonator it drives. The Collector houses the coils that receive the changing magnetic flux from the Reactor’s Load. As the Resonator swings, the Magnetic Interface at its crown sweeps through an arc, and the Collector’s coils, positioned along that arc, experience a changing flux that induces an electrical current.
The Collector is lowered over the Load. It is loosely coupled — it does not touch the Load, and it does not add significant damping to the Resonator’s oscillation. The loose coupling allows the Magnetic Interface to pass through the Collector’s influence zone with minimal drag, preserving the Resonator’s oscillation amplitude.
The Collector stands on its own support, fastened to the Wall or the Platform. It is made to hover over the swinging Load. It is not attached to the Reactor itself. This independence allows the Collector to be positioned precisely for maximum flux coupling without interfering with the Resonator’s motion.
The Collector has no named sub-parts. It is described by its function: the housing for the coils that receive induction from the Reactor’s Load.