Glossary of Temporal and Altamerican Terms

Aeris

A form of temporis that allows objects (e.g., cars, vans, restaurants) to defy the laws of gravity with minimal energy. A fairly recent innovation that’s changed the world in short order.

Aerstraunt

A flying, rotating restaurant that circles high above scenic vistas

Altamerica

The narrative term for the United States of the alternate Earth. No one in the story actually calls it that.

Atropos

The abandoned aerport where the Silvers, Peter and Jonathan fought a crapload of Gothams and armed federal agents in The Song of the Orphans.

Augur

A person who can see various aspects and possibilities of the future, or a fraud who pretends to have that ability. There are fewer than 70 true augurs in the world, including Theo.

Battery Place

A short street of office buildings in Battery Park, Manhattan. This is where the Silvers had their final confrontation with the Gothams, the Deps, and Evan Rander in The Flight of the Silvers.

Breacher

Gotham term for the ninety-nine timebenders who the Pelletiers brought here from a parallel Earth—i,e., the Silvers and Golds.

British Dominion

The formal name for the British-ruled empire that encompasses Europe, Africa, Australia, the Middle East, and various parts of South America.

Cataclysm

The mysterious explosion that destroyed half of New York City on October 5, 1912. Introduced humanity to temporis and turned a small batch of infants into the world’s first chronokinetics. It has yet to be revealed what caused the Cataclysm, but you can be damn sure that answer’s coming.

Chronokinetic

Scientific term for a person who can manipulate the laws of time. Also known as timebenders.

Coppers

The seven young orphans who were given copper bracelets by the Pelletiers and transported to Altamerica. Though most of them are teenagers from the greater Seattle region, their leader is a twenty-year-old woman from Haiti. She rules and loves them like a matriarch, and so they call her Mother. The young Coppers, in turn, have adopted power-related codenames, like Sweep, See, Shade and Sky.

Though the Coppers had initially—and violently—resisted Zack and Mia’s efforts to recruit them in The Song of the Orphans, they found their way to the underland by the end of the book, along with the Irons and Platinums.

Deps

Informal term for agents of the Domestic Protections Bureau, a compartmentalized alternate version of the FBI.

Disparate

Gotham term for a chronokinetic whose temporal abilities are either too strong or too unique for conventional classification. Though often powerful, they’re considered misfits by the clan and almost universally maladjusted.

In The Song of the Orphans, the Silvers nearly died at the hands of Gemma Sunder and her deadly team of preadolescent disparates.

Domestic Protections Bureau

The official name of the United States’ top federal law enforcement agency.

DP-9

The Domestic Protections unit that investigates crimes involving temporal manipulation. DP-9 was initially responsible for apprehending the Silvers until the end of Book One, when the case was taken over by the National Integrity Commission.

Dropper

An extremely rare type of chronokinetic with the power to alter the molecular density of any person or object, rendering them intangible. Their targets are still susceptible to gravity, however, and immediately fall through the surface of the world, never to be seen again.

Aside from the Pelletiers, who have no qualms about dropping some poor soul into the bowels of the Earth, the only two droppers in the story so far are Jonathan Christie: a fellow orphan from the Silvers’ Earth; and Duncan Rall, a 12-year-old Gotham and disparate. Sadly, neither of them survive the events of The Song of the Orphans.

Dualer

Gotham term for a chronokinetic with two different temporal abilites, such as tempis and lumis. Though dualers have become increasingly more prevlant among the younger generation, they’re still fairly uncommon. And most of them are dramatically stronger in one power than they are in the other.

Only the Pelletiers have more than two powers each. In fact, they pretty much have all of them, which is why no one wants to mess with them.

Elders

The five ruling members of the Gotham clan: democratically-elected, and typically serving until retirement or death. Most of them are voted into power through their natural strength and self-confidence. The fact that some of them are assholes is considered a feature, not a bug.

Ghostbox

A temporal device that uses lumis to record and play holographic images of the past. Mostly used for eye-catching advertisements.

Ghost Drill

A state-of-the-art device that allows law enforcers to view local images of the past. Though an invaluable tool for crime-solving, many judges still dismiss it as a violation of the 4th Amendment.

God’s Eye

A special realm that exists outside of time, a place where chronokinetics (mostly augurs) can step back and view all the strings of the past, present, and future.

The Golds

The eight ill-fated orphans from the greater New York area, who were each given golden bracelets by the Pelletiers and brought to the new world. Six of them—including Zack’s brother—were killed by Rebel’s hit squad mere weeks after surviving the apocalypse. The other two, Jonathan Christie and the tempic named Heath, escaped to New York City and kept a low profile until the Silvers found them.

Sadly, Jonathan died at the end of The Song of the Orphans, leaving poor young Heath as the sole survivor of the group.

Gothams

A clandestine society of chronokinetics, currently hiding in plain sight in the suburban enclave of Quarter Hill, New York. Unlike the Silvers, the Gothams are all natives of this world. They inherited their temporal abilities from their grandparents and great-grandparents, all of whom were all developing in utero when the Cataclysm of 1912 struck.

In 1984, a former Dep named Alexander Wingo wrote a bestselling “exposé” about the Gothams that turned them into a national myth. Only a small number of Americans believe they truly exist.

The Gothams are the direct and distant ancestors of the Pelletiers.

Guildhouse

The Gotham clan has a handful of guilds where the possessors of a very specifc kind of power (e.g., tempics, augurs, turners, lumics) can discuss and practice their craft with one another. Each guild, in turn, has a dedicated building in the underland that only members are allowed to access.

All of the guildhouses are located on the same street, which is creatively known as Guildhouse Row.

Integrity

Short for National Integrity Commission. The government agency tasked with protecting the U.S. from foreign threats, including (as of now) the Silvers. They’re basically this world’s CIA.

Irons

The eight orphans from the greater Austin, Texas area who were given iron-like bracelets from the Pelletiers and shunted over to the new world. Though Theo has yet to meet any of them, he learned through Ioni that the Irons are alive and well, albeit separated into two splinter factions.

At the very end of The Song of the Orphans, four of the eight Irons found their way to the underland, with the other four presumably en route.

One of the Irons, a young ex-cop named Eden Garza, plays a significant role in The War of the Givens.

Juve

Kitchen appliance that uses temporal manipulation to restore food to a state of peak freshness. More formally known as a rejuvenator.

Looper

A chronokinetic who can send their consciousness back in time to a past self, allowing them to relive history and make new decisions based on prior knowledge. Extremely rare power. Evan Rander and Gemma Sunder are the only two known loopers on Earth, and the latter one is dead by the end of The Song of the Orphans.

Lumic

A chronokinetic who can see the past and recreate it in the form of three-dimensional images. There are roughly 150 lumics among the breachers and Gothams, including Yvonne Whitten and the Silver formerly known as David.

Lumicaster

A huge and extemely expensive device that the Gothams secured for the underland. When activated, it projects an ever-changing photorealistic sky over the village, helping occupants forget that they’re deep underground.

Lumis

A specific form of temporis that allows the temporal manipulation of light. Primarily used for reproducing images of the past, but can be fashioned for other purposes.

Lumivision

TV’s natural successor. The machine uses lumis to create stunning, lifelike images on a glass projection screen. None of this improves the God-awful writing of most Altamerican TV shows.

Mortis

A concentrated form of temporal energy that can be projected in solid masses, like tempis. But unlike tempis, this energy is deep black and incredibly corrosive, dissolving everything it touches in a matter of seconds.

In The Song of the Orphans, Esis Pelletier used mortis to reduce an entire government aership to dust, along with every living soul in it.

Orphan

The government’s blanket term for any chronokinetic who the Pelletiers transported from one dying Earth to another—e.g., the Silvers, Golds, Coppers. A much nicer word than “breacher” or “freak.”

Platinums

The nine young orphans from the central Florida region who were given platinum bracelets by the Pelletiers and brought to Altamerica. Led by Caleb Brooks, an ex-rabbi turned swifter, the group managed to make its way to the underland by the final chapter of The Song of the Orphans.

Like Eden Garza of the Irons, Caleb serves as a major new character in The War of the Givens.

Portals

The round white spatial warps that can only be made by travelers. These gateways in exist in two forms: teleportals and time portals. Teleportals allow travelers like Peter to jump from one point to another in the present moment. Time portals allow travelers like Mia to send small objects to her past selves, and receive them from her future selves.

Time portals are only safe for inanimate objects. Living beings can’t survive the journey, though the Pelletiers clearly found a way to travel to their distant past.

Power strain

A unique but debilitating condition that occurs when a chronokinetic pushes their temporal abilities past their body’s natural limits, resulting in all different kinds of damage. While some timebenders lose the use of their powers for a limited time, others suffer neurological complications that make their abilities deadly to use.

As a result of saving Theo’s life in The Song of the Orphans, Hannah has contracted a permanent case of power strain that gives her blinding headaches—plus a chance at a fatal aneurysm—whenever she uses her powers.

Primarch

The elected head of a Gotham power guild, such as the swifters, the tempics, the turners, and lumics.

We meet several different primarchs during The Song of the Orphans, though only one of them—Prudent Lee, leader of the augurs—survives past the end of the book.

Quarter Hill

Small, weathly town roughly 20 miles north of New York City. Secret home of the Gothams.

Red Sunday

The Gotham’s new name for the fateful day that occurs at the end of The Song of Orphans, in which two hundred armed Integrity agents laid siege to the underland, killing ten percent of the Gotham clan.

Reviver

Full-body medical device that uses temporis to restore injured people to a healthy state. Due to the serious and occasionally fatal complications it causes in some patients, the machine is typically reserved for life-or-death emergencies.

Rifting

When a human body is subjected to two conflicting temporal speeds. The results are gruesome, with victims suffering blood clots, embollisms, gangrenous limbs, or one of a dozen other maladies. Chronokinetics who work with open temporal fields (like Hannah and Zack) have the greatest chance of rifting someone. Rift wounds can’t be healed through reversal, and are fatal in most cases.

Shifter

Special technology that can accelerate time in an enclosed area, allowing busy people to cram more food, sleep, work and leisure activity into their 24-hour cycle. Shifters are often found in restaurant booths, movie theaters, and office cubicles.

Silvers

The Pelletiers chose 99 people from ten different cities around our world. The Silvers are the San Diego group. For mysterious reasons, Azral and Esis are paying special attention to this faction, especially Hannah and Amanda.

Solic

A chronokinetic with the ability to wield solic energy, which can temporarily block the power of other timebenders. The Gotham named Mercy Lee is one of the rare few solics on Earth. She even managed to depower Esis on one occasion.

Solis

A special form of energy that serves as a power source for all temporal devices. In high doses, the energy can inhibit all temporal manipulation in an area for a short period of time.

Speedsuit

A full-body shifter suit that allows the wearer to move at up to twenty times normal speed. Mostly used by law enforcement, postal workers, and certain kinds of criminals.

Strings

Another term for “timelines.” Every alternate version of history is considered to be a string of time. When the Pelletiers talk about strings, they’re usually referring to the sum total of all future possibilities, i.e., “I’ve looked to the strings and see great hope for the sisters.”

Swifter

A chronokinetic who can accelerate the fabric of time, allowing them to move faster than the people around them. Hannah’s just one of about 120 swifters.

Tempic

A chronokinetic who can create and manipulate tempic energy, usually in the form of white force projections. Tempis is by far the most common power among breachers and Gothams…and the most dangerous. There are roughly 400 tempics in the world, including Amanda.

“Tempic” can also refer to the nature of a device, such as a tempic wall or a tempic screwdriver.

Tempis

A hard white form of temporis that many people mistakenly called “solid time.” It’s actually just air molecules temporally manipulated to create a solid, malleable force. Tempis is a popular armor coating, since it’s weightless, versatile, and nearly indestructible. It’s primary weakness is solis which, in high enough intensity, can pop any tempic creation like a balloon.

Temporis

The overarching term for all temporal energy. Temporis was introduced to the world through the Cataclysm of 1912, then harnessed for use around the 1950s. All direct time manipulations, such as shifting and reversals, are done through pure temporis.

Terra Vista

A suburb of San Diego. The location of Sterling Quint’s scientific research facility. The Silvers spent their first six weeks there, until Rebel and his Gothams attacked the facility.

Terminus

The neurological disease that afflicts the Pelletiers and virtually every other human being from their era, an inevitable consequence to all who use temporis to extend or relive their lives. It’s a slow and debilitating illness that can either limit a person’s temporal abilities (like Semerjean’s foresight) or their mental faculties (like Esis and her increasing instability).

Terminus has proven impervious so far to even the most advanced scientific remedies, though the Pelletiers believe that a cure lies dormant in the DNA of their earliest chronokinetic ancestors: the Gothams, as well as the dormant timebenders of an alternate past (a.k.a. the Orphans).

Thermic/Subthermic

A chronokinetic who can either accelerate or decelerate the speed of air molecules, creating intense heat or cold. Hannah was nearly cooked alive by a thermic in the battle at Battery Place. Mia was almost flash-frozen by a subthermic when the Gothams first attacked the Silvers in Terra Vista.

There are 68 thermics among the Gothams and breachers, and 32 subthermics.

Tooping

The act of using a rejuvenator to create a temporal duplicate of an object. Highly frowned upon by the law. Kept in check mostly by the fact that tooped copies of most items (cash, gems, etc.) are inferior to the point of worthlessness. Still, many poor families get by on tooplicated food dishes.

Traveler

A chronokinetic who can generate portals, either for teleporting or for sending inanimate objects through time. The travelers have a strange psychic connection to each other, and are often able to feel each other’s portals across great distances. It’s through that strange rapport that Peter and Mia were able to exchange notes in The Flight of the Silvers, despite having never met.

Travelers are fairly rare among the breachers and Gothams. There are only 36 of them in total.

Turner

A chronokinetic who can advance or reverse time in a localized area, giving them tremendous power to heal or hurt people. In The Flight of the Silvers, Zack accidentally rifted Rebel’s hand, causing it to eventually be amputated. Azral used his turning ability to age a Gotham to dust.

There are roughly 180 turners on this world, including Zack.

Underland

The vast, dome-shaped underground refuge that the Gothams secretly built for themselves in the 1980s, after a former Dep nearly revealed their existence to the entire world. The underland is a technological marvel that hides an entire village to exist beneath the surface of Quarter Hill, New York, allowing the Gothams to use their powers without fear of public exposure.

Vivery

A private clinic that provides temporal reversal for anyone who wishes to reverse their body up to 24 hours for whatever reason they want: to remove a new scar, undo a bad tattoo, heal a broken bone the quick way, or cure a freshly-contracted disease.

While viveries on the surface world are powered by machines, the Gotham vivery in the underland is powered by living timebenders, and is used to treat more serious injuries than the typical boutique vivery.

X-Standard

A measurement system used to gauge the temporal velocity of a shifted person. A man or woman moving at twelve times normal speed is said to be operating at 12x.

No shifters are allowed to go beyond 24x, for health and legal reasons. The average swifter can reach a peak of 40-50x before they hit the limit of their power.