Perispike

Sketch of a Perispike

## Information

### Description

A Perispike looks like a long spike with a mechanical hammer at the top and a tapered tip at the bottom. Along its shaft are handles and a set of plasmic ports.

### Function

The Perispike is used to temporally align a Var with Griddish so that a Slipshot portal can be opened.

The **Perispike** enables Slaves to travel from the Vars to Griddish. The Perispike temporally aligns a Var to Griddish, thereby allowing a Slipshot portal to be opened.

### Description

The Perispike is a spike approximately 2 ft. in length. At its top is a hammer mechanism that, once initialized, causes the spike to burrow into the ground. At the bottom is a tapered end that facilitates the burrowing process. Along the center of the Perispike is a gripper so that the bearer can hold it while it burrows into the ground. A skirt near the tapered end prevents it from burying itself too deep. A set of particle accelerator ports at the center along the shaft emit plasmic arcs that connect with other Perispikes to create an azure colored dome. The minimum number of Perispikes that are required are five, although it is thought that as few as three are enough to initialized a Perispike dome, also called a Perispike barrier.

### Function

Only a Slave is able to initialize a Perispike Dome, since the Perispike itself is a Node in the Tenddrome, thereby providing a way for Slaves to interface with it. Perispikes have been hacked, however, to override their standard restricted access, thus providing a way for Varlings and Engineer Class Citizens to use them.

The Perispike, along with a set of five other Perispikes arranged in a pentagonal pattern, is a prerequisite to opening a Slipshot portal on a Var. After the first Perispike in the array is ignited, it releases a plasmic arc that connects to each Perispike in the series. After all five Perispikes are connected, an azure colored, transparent dome is formed.

    The Perispike dome temporally aligns the Var with Griddish, thereby allowing a Slipshot portal to be opened. Oftentimes, the effect of initializing a Perispike dome is a radical deceleration of time in the Var outside of the dome. Time is not affected inside the dome. Outside, otherwise moving objects appear frozen.

Fredrick grimaced as he struggled to decipher Matere’s words. He almost wished he had said them before he opened the Slipshot. He sniffed. The air smelled of burning metal. He glanced towards the sky, past the dome of azure that covered them. He saw a bird, frozen in the heavens, still, unmoving. He glanced towards the street, empty, silent.

Dr. Jeremiah Onu is the only person to have been known to break through an initialized Perispike Dome. To so so, he would have had to reach an inhuman level of speed.

> A figure. Fredrick squinted. He looked up at the bird, which barely moved, and then again at the street, beyond the Perispike barrier. Past the azure barrier, it advanced towards them, sluggishly. Its form was human. It stepped closer until it stood just outside the barrier, its head down, leaning forward as if struggling against a powerful wind. It lifted its hand and pressed it against the outside of the barrier.
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> And then, a flash. The azure Perispike barrier fizzled and crackled. Arcs of plasma licked the ground, streams of light spluttering like rainfall. A wind rushed past Fredrick. He lifted his arms, crossing them in front of his face, as he stumbled backwards.
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> The figure was a man. His legs stretched forward as he dug his heels into the cobbled surface. Leaning backwards, his hands clawed against the streets as he slid forward and then dragged himself to a stop.
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> He stood up and brushed his hands against his shirt and then his trousers. He glanced at Matere and Betel. He looked at Fredrick, then Jillian. A wide smile crossed his face.
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> “Dr. Onu?” said Fredrick, his eyes wide.
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1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Aibo. (2023). *Slipshot* (1st ed., Vol. 1, p. 226-227). Mint Cookie Industries.