The Focus
The Focus is an abstract universal phenomenon that exists as something of a "metalayer" of living, perhaps even conscious energy. Its nature has been broadly studied and speculated upon by various scholars in any number of civilizations. Normally, the effect the Focus has on the material world is so subtle as to be completely glossed over even by the most observant scientists. Indeed, all of the cosmos's civilizations could easily come into existence and then fade away again without ever knowing about the Focus's existence, if not for the advent of Focus-sensitive people. Such people can not only confirm the existence of the Focus, but can connect their minds, bodies, or souls to it, and even draw from its indescribable layer as a form of magic. With such power, they can accomplish amazing feats, prime amongst which is the ability to understand the flow of time and events in limited but highly advanced ways.
Focus Sensitives
Though an extraordinarily rare trait overall, almost every part of every galaxy in the universe has given birth to at least one Focus sensitive sentient being. In fact, most species of civilized beings have had one or more Focus sensitive members, though whether that race was aware, or whether the sensitive member was even aware of what it was sensing may not always be the case. Some races are particularly apt to Focus sensitivity, though even in these races, sensitives are a tiny fraction of the populace.
Most sensitives grow into the sensations from a young age, having a preternatural sense of what will happen in the very immediate future. While they can't necessarily describe it to another person, they can react to it. Occasionally, it is mistaken for a weak form of psionics, as sensitives can often feel the general emotional environment around them. Where a psion simply "hears" such emotions as mental noise on a background, however, Focus sensitives will "feel" the emotions that take place around them. Particularly intense emotions can even cause them to be unconsciously emulated in the sensitive -- i.e. someone feeling a particularly powerful bout of anger may make a nearby sensitive also very angry, without realizing why they are feeling that way.
Sensitives can also sense the presence of other sensitives, if they concentrate. In particular, those who have specifically trained themselves to connect with the Focus can easily pick out all manner of other sensitives, and are themselves much easier to sense in this way. People who have connected in this way often form communities to share understanding and knowledge based on their experiences and discoveries, and help other sensitives become connected. In some parts of the universe, these communities are scholarly and simply try to understand the power they have become a part of. In the galaxy that Earth resides in, however, Focus sensitivity has caused a significant philosophical dichotomy which frequently results in violent conflict between members of differing standpoints.
