Anyone explain this engine-wise?
EDIT: Here are some pics on it (using 3.6.10 MVP's, and I constantly increase time compression so don't be surprised if the dialogs don't match what's actually happening):
At a billion meters per second, it goes like this:

NOTE THAT THE DIRECTIVES BOARD IS A LITTLE TO THE RIGHT!
The Iota transport, about a distance greater than an address in meters away, does its humble job:

How about firing a Shivan beam? (Notice that the gas clouds have increased so large in size that the entire hud is covered: but actually you could only notice this in a brief moment - try it on your own to find out what I'm talking about):

A little later, the nebula clouds "wrap around" and form a kind of orb/sphere, with the planet in the middle:

Moments later the "background size lagging" (the background increases and decreases in size very rapidly, as it became from huge, filling the entire hud, to tiny like this) cause the nebula and planet to shrink immensely:

Well, that's all. I simply don't get what you mean by "cosmic spider" or "the universe talking to me". (BTW: NOTICE THAT THE ORB-LIKE FORMATION OF THE NEBULA RESEMBLES A DEMON DESTROYER IN SHAPE

)