Substitute-Space

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A substitute-space is a sentient headspace (or a sector of it) whose role is to act in place of another headspace(s), meaning that they temporarily/permanently copy or act in place for them.

It is a subterm of Sentispace.

Causes
Many reasons exists as to why a substitute-space behaves this way:
 * Maybe a specific headspace is needed in emergency/for a reason but is not available at the moment, so the entity acts as a substitute for it.
 * It could also be because a headspace has changed a lot or ceased to exist, and they feel the need to bring it back to life. This reason could also have many reasons itself (e.g, maybe the entity is connected to a headmate through symbiosis, thus replicates the headspaces that appear in the symbiotic's thoughts/memories to act as a space-soother for example).
 * Maybe the sentient headspace originated from a fragment of another sentient headspace, thus feeling the need to look like it.
 * Maybe it's trying to mess around with a headmate for various reasons (e.g, to act as a protector to its symbiotics; to stop a threat from doing something by catching their attention).
 * Maybe a form of a fluidspace was very appreciated by the system, so the entity decided to act as a substitute of it to make this temporary headspace become permanent.
 * etc.

Identifying a substitute-space
Traveling through this type of headspace may make a headmate feel like something is not quite right, without being able to tell what is different.

There are many causes as to why it creates this type of feeling:
 * Some small details may not be very accurate due to the amount of energy this mimicry requires, and the brain would perceive it, so the headmate would know something is wrong yet not being able to tell what is wrong. (This is a bit like a gut instinct you get when meeting someone that feels dangerous without knowing why, due to microexpressions .)
 * Some parts may appear blurry due to the amount of energy this mimicry requires, making it look like a Matrix glitch that feels off.
 * The place may emit a particular energy/vibe/frequency that makes a headmate feel sick / act on a defensive mode.
 * etc.

Some clues may help to understand what feels different. Example: a headmate always feels a specific feeling when entering a headspace, yet when they entered in its substitute-space that feeling did not occur.

Related Terms
A substitute is a headmate whose role is to act in place of another headmate(s).

It is not to be confused with a mimic-space, which refers to a sentient headspace that changes the way it appears to imitate another headspace that exists or has existed. A term that is similar to a mimic, a headmate who can only appear as another member(s) of a system.

A fluidspace refers to a headspace that is constantly changing in terms of what it looks like and the locations available.

A shapeshifter is a headmate who has the ability to shift its form to look like any species/person/object.

History
This term has been coined on November 24th, 2023, by Pluralpedia user Oceanic-Lanterns. After a few months of experiencing this type of sentispace, they synthesized every interaction they had with it to coin this article. This was accomplished with a journal in which some system mapping had been done for the entire period of time.