Portal clock

Portal clock
General Information
Type	Portal Sentient being(?)
Uses	Instantaneous travel
Purpose	Links Theia to twelve different planets
Source	???
Side Effects	???
Organizational Information
Manufacturer	Guinevere
Used By	Samnsonite Ruby

The portal clock was a mysterious space-time anomaly that appeared in the third (and deepest) of the San Iujadis Caverns, beneath the ruins of the Flavros Project and almost 15km beneath the TERAPRO facility. It was labelled as a “clock” due to the systematic nature of the changing portal destination. Isla deduced that the destinations were all at 30 degree angles from each other (with respect to Theia), and the destination shifted clockwise after exactly 24 hours. Known destinations of the portal clock included the planets San and Doria, and previously unknown systems included Ankhes, Annadonia, Kemiya and Logos Minor. The Annadonians were allegedly well accustomed to this phenomenon, it being known to them as the Twelve-realm Gateway Offering, and feared it could bring about the end of time.

Each destination (bar previously known planets) seemed to harbor a new form of substance unknown to the TERAPRO scientists that studied it. The research and development areas of TERAPRO were immediately nourished by the discoveries of Alkemiya powder and the Logos particle, which drove significant technological advancement, although uses for other substances such as Ankhes water are yet to be revealed.

The portal clock was created in an unknown time in the past because of the destruction of the Flavros Project. This was learnt after the escape from Annadonia, when Black Opal helped the group to decode Sakura's testimony about the Annadonians and their relation to the twelve-realm gateway offering. This revealed that the entity who created the portal clock was the amalgamation of tens of thousands of deceased Diamond gems that were fused to power the Flavros Project's superweapon, who was revived as Guinevere when the Project was destroyed using a digiverse prism, subsequently shattering her across time.

The twelve-realm gateway offering

To the Annadonian people, the portal clock marked the arrival of a well-known ritual known as the twelve-realm gateway offering, which involved offering a valuable resource through the portal which would, in return, allow for a particular woman to ascend to godhood. According to the Annadonians, the gateway offering is so dangerous that they tamed the listanworms and manipulated their psionic fields to create the Otherworld, a psychic realm within the Noosphere, to prevent people from attempting to complete the ritual. Nonetheless, many people would return to the real world in time for the portal’s appearance (every twelve days) to stand guard and prevent anyone from doing so (in which they are known as the “tempted.”)

In 408 CE, Sakura accidentally encountered the portal clock and became stranded on Annadonia when she was brought into the care of Odric in the otherworld and barred from leaving. On the twelfth day of her captivity, Odric planned to incapacitate her to hide the nature of the twelve-realm gateway offering. She was unaware of the portal clock’s function, and Odric believed that any hope of returning home could lead to temptation from her. However, Samnsonite and Ruby emerged through the portal whereas Wisteria and Camellia had arrived from San via ship. During the escape from Annadonia, Camellia was nearly shot dead to prevent her passing through the portal’ to the Annadonians this would have completed the ritual.

Isla's drawing of the portal clock. San is considered the "twelve o'clock" however Annadonia (here represented as "Sakura?" as it was only understood as where she ended up) and Doria (from Camellia's testimony) were confirmed prior.