Time-Device

**The Time-Device** is a complex wrist watch device which granted primitive time travel via manipulations of its cogs and gears. It was invented by John Jones.

## Origin

Seeing that he was unable to remove the chip from his neck without killing himself, John recognized the dire need for time travel in certain situations. However, he was reluctant to make it, due to no current requirement for it, as he had gotten over Heidi's death.

The need arose when he and Emily discovered the presence of time criminals creating paradoxes throughout history. With little time left before the paradoxes caught up with them, John used his blueprints to invent the device. He was only able to invent one however. He later however scoured enough technology to build enough when his initial version was blown up by self-destruct. He dubbed it "Time-Device Mk.II".

With the device, the two spent six months going through the timeline (both forward and back in time) and catching them before they created one - thus correcting the paradoxes, and canceling out the one created.

## Abandonment

When he regained his time travel ability, John discarded the device, which would later be used by Emily to further their adventures.

## Additional Functions

The device's primary purpose is time travel, but also possesses other bonuses:

* **Travel Protection:** While allowing its user to access the Temporal Zone, it also protects them from the rigors of time travel.
	+ **Temporal Force-Field (Mk.II):** Other protection includes the formation of a "Temporal Force-Field" which prevents those not touching the device from entering within its field. John likely included this so that there were no unwanted hitchhikers from attempting to travel with them.
	+ **Force Negation:** While free-falling through the timestream, the watch also seems to exhibit an ability to negate the force of falling from infinite height, so that the users aren't injured when they land.
	+ **Locational Adjustment:** The Time-Device, as explained by John, has a built-in function to scan the intended location and land the user in the most optimal location of that time. This is so that the user(s) lands on the ground or a surface and not freefalling in the sky or stranded in the ocean.
* **(Early) Warning System:** The device also possesses a warning system so that the wearer is aware of multiple things. The lights under the gears will flash or turn certain colours to imply these certain states. The AI will state the problem when it occurs.
	+ **Charge:** When the watch is out of charge due to its intense use of Temporal Energy, it will remain on a static red. Generally the way to rectify this to charge it with more of the energy.
	+ **Temporal Disturbances (Mk.II):** The device will flash orange when the requested location has too many space-time warps within it to travel to. This means that there have been too many time travel alterations, and the utiliser must travel to an earlier time. This happened when John and Emily attempted to travel to 1963, and when John tried to travel to 2012 later on. It will flash for a longer time if there is just once known/located disturbance. The AI will additionally state which one it will be.
	+ **Chronon Overload:** If the user tries to travel to too many locations at once or tries to access too many of its functions at once, the device will flash a constant yellow. In this mode, the watch is inoperable and must be rebooted with an electromagnetic pulse. If the utilizer stopped using it at the right time, the result would be a flashing yellow "time-out mode", where it could be used but the wearer is discouraged from doing so. This meant the Time-Device could fully recover and be used again with no problem.
	+ **Access Denied:** The device will flash slowly between green and red when its utilizer isn't recognized.
	+ **Access Granted:** When the wearer *is* recognized, the watch will light up blue for a few seconds. This was intentionally chosen instead of green to confused a new wearer or inexperienced user.
	+ **Self Destruct:** When Self Destruct Mode has been activated, the lights will continually flash indigo, getting faster the closer the timer is to finishing.
	+ **Repairs/Being Repaired (Mk.II):** When in need of repairs, the device will flash a bright violet. When the watch is *being* repaired, and has been taken apart to an extent, the violet colour will remain static until repairs are finished.
	+ **Travel:** When the Time-Device is travelling through time, it'll glow a static white brightly, until the wearer has landed.
* **Security System:** The Time-Device has a vastly complex security system that ensures no one unauthorized is able to use it.
	+ **User Recognition System:** The device is fully capable of recognizing its user via the coding of the wearer's wrist. It'll take a small blood sample (so small it can't be felt), and sample their DNA. When it has gotten it, data will be taken from it unique to the user. This prevents unauthorized wearers from attempting to use it. John also once hinted it also had a fingerprint scanner somewhere in the device, although this wasn't fully confirmed. The watch will flash or light up certain colours corresponding to whether or not access is granted. John adapted this to include two irremovable imprints for two different people, himself and Emily.
	+ **Self Destruct Mode:** If required, both versions of the device allowed the wearer to activate the self destruct system which blew up the device after 30 seconds. When this occurred, it would automatically detach itself from the utilizer, flash indigo, and its gears would turn for each second. The radius and force of the explosion was changeable, varying from a small explosion, the force of an atomic bomb. The default was a small explosion - to prevent complete destruction so it was salvageable, and so no one would be hurt - but John changed it to its max to threaten Nix Vorha when he tried to use his spaceship to implode the Earth in 1987.
		- When he rebuilt the device, he added this mode again, and upped the ante of the explosion to four times stronger than before.
	+ **Possible telepathy and sentience (Mk.II):** John once described the Mk.II device as "always thinking" and "in tune with your thoughts", hinting some form of sentience and telepathy. If the Time-Device *was* telepathic, then this presumably added the extra of it being able to tell where you wanted to go with using the dials, but only for certain individuals.
	+ **Complexity:** For an extra layer of protection, John intentionally designed the watch to be incredibly complex, leading to its steampunk design. As such, if unintended wearers still somehow managed to use the device, then they would likely be unable to operate it.
	+ **Time Scatter Mode:** As a last resort, if the user(s) is in danger, the device can automatically displace them to a random point in time. If two people are travelling with it, both are scattered across time, but to different places.
	+ **Artificial Intelligence (Mk.II):** Added in the Mk.II upgrade, the watch possesses a primitive AI which does various things, including: stating certain problems; verifying the time and location the utilizer is attempting to travel to; engage in primitive "small talk" with the user; greet and bid farewell to them; access functions through voice command; and grant access through voice verification. The Intelligence, named Alayah, has shown the capability to recognize when the voice spoken is a recording, preventing the unauthorized from bypassing the security system.
	+ **Memory Flash:** An optional choice, the watch could emit a bright light that wipes the mind of the wearer to up to a few years. When enabled, this only occurs when the wearer isn't recognized.
* **One-use Invisibility (Mk.II):** If the need is urgent, then the watch could temporarily make the wearer invisible. This function is one-use only, and was created in the Mk.II version at the request of Professor Draux.

## Drawbacks

Even with its incredible ability to time travel, and its impressive, vast range of capabilities, the watch was not without its flaws. Such as:

* **Energy Consumption:** John never quite figured out how to prevent the watch from using up too much energy, as it needed it for time travel. The intense consumption energy meant it needed charging often.
* **Chronon Overload (Mk.I):** The device often couldn't handle the intense amount of Temporal Energy, causing it to be prone to malfunction. It would often overload, rendering it unusable unless repaired. It also would overload when the user travelled to too many locations. John improved this in the Mk.II version, using K.R.O.N.O.S.'s energy transponder, resulting in the watch being able to handle the energy better - no longer malfunctioning from it. It could still do so due to overuse, but this was additionally improved so that it would happen less often, allowing the wearer to travel to more places at once.
* **Complexity (Mk.I):** Although the complex nature of the device provided extra security, there was still the chance that authorized users could forget how to operate it properly, apparently making it redundant. However, the Mk.II added voice commands which offered an alternative options to choose where and when to travel, making this a non-issue.
* **Primitive Time Travel:** Time travel science is next to impossible to comprehend, so naturally the Time-Device does not grant complete temporal control. John was unable to travel back on his timeline, to events he had previously experienced. This prevented him from saving Heidi from being murdered by The Overseer. Additional properties of this means that even if he tries to prevent this from happening by going back to a possible point - and manipulating events - the outcome will be the same. No matter how much he improves the device, John will never be able to rectify his mistakes.