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
Augur A person who can see various aspects and possibilities of the future, or a fraud who pretends to have that power. 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 all the timebenders who were brought here from a parallel Earth, such as the Silvers.
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.
Chronokinetic Scientific term for a person who can mentally manipulate the laws of time
Deps Informal term for agents of the Domestic Protections Bureau
Domestic Protections Federal law enforcement agency with nine independent units. This world’s FBI.
DP-9 The Domestic Protections unit that investigates technological and temporal crimes. 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.
Fourp A curse word meant to indicate a person or thing of vastly inferior quality. See also: Threep.
Ghostbox A temporal device that uses lumis to record and play holographic images of the past
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 Pelletiers chose 99 people from ten different cities of our world. The Golds are the New York group. Zack learned in The Flight of the Silvers that Rebel killed six of the eight Golds, including Zack’s brother. No one knows the whereabouts of the two surviving members.
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.
Integrity Short for National Integrity Commission. Government agency tasked with protecting the U.S. from foreign threats, including (as of now) the Silvers. They’re basically this world’s CIA.
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.
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 David.
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 programs.
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.
Quarter Hill Small, weathly town roughly 20 miles north of New York City. Secret home of the Gothams.
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.
The 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.
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.
Threep A mild curse word meant to indicate a person or thing of inferior quality. See also: Fourp.
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.
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.