The Relational Crucible: Deriving Spacetime Metrics and Variable Parameters from a Background-Independent N-Body Universe

Modern cosmological frameworks traditionally rely on background-dependent models where space and time serve as an independent, pre-existing container for matter. While mathematically robust, this approach introduces conceptual difficulties when defining physical parameters in isolated or minimalist systems. This paper presents a bottom-up, purely relational alternative. By examining a minimalist universe composed strictly of structureless entities and progressing to a macroscopic -body system, we demonstrate that spatial extent, duration, and local constants are not fundamental primitives. Instead, we show that a clock requires a repeatable difference between two events, a condition fulfilled by the chaotic intersections of matter. From these discrete relational events, a stable, self-calibrating macroscopic spacetime metric emerges naturally through statistical averaging. Finally, we apply this relational framework to provide physical, field-driven mechanisms for localized anomalies typically attributed to geometric space curvature, including variations in the Earth's rotation, orbital precession, and the deflection of light.