Parachronic Detectors

A “parachronic detector” is a device that can detect an incoming
jump. To do so, it must be on the same reality as the jump, and the
jump must occur within its range (see below). Roll against the opera-
tor’s Electronic Operations (Sensors) skill. Success gives a bearing. Two
or more stations within range can triangulate and determine the
jumper’s location to within a few percent of the actual range.
The sensor also records the jump’s reality disturbance. An hour’s
analysis and a successful Physics (Parachronic) roll will reveal the
source of the jump – conveyor, projector, or “anomalous” (e.g., a spell)
– and its quantum of origin. A day’s work and a roll at -5 identifies the
reality of origin, if the researcher is familiar with it.
The portable unit most often carried by Infinity Patrol agents costs
$560,000 and weighs 56 lbs.; it the size of a large backpack, and has a
1,000-yard range. Larger models are $1 million and 200 lbs. per mile of
range.
When Infinity or Centrum takes over a timeline, standard operating
procedure is to deploy a network of long-range detectors. However,
their expense means that few worlds have total coverage. It is general-
ly only cost-effective to deploy them in major centers.
2 – Trip takes centuries, or even mil-
lennia, from the viewpoint of the
shipment. Much less time passes
for the “outside” world. Survival of
living beings is unlikely – they
might arrive and then crumble to
dust! Rather than killing off PCs,
the GM is free to substitute other
temporal oddities, such as aging in
reverse. Finding a cure could be an
interesting adventure.
3 – Trip takes a very long time from
the passengers’ mental perspective,
but no time from their physical per-
spective. Each passenger gains 3d
points in assorted mental quirks
and disadvantages, assigned by the
GM in accordance with the passen-
ger’s personality. (This has hap-
pened twice.)
4 – Signal error. Living things arrive
safely . . . except that everyone’s
mind ends up in the wrong body.
This may be permanent, or it might
wear off in 1d days. See Mind
Transfer (p. 296) for the effects of
mind swapping.
5 – Tau-factor error. Shipment
appears as a “mirror image” of
itself.
Ores
are
unaffected.
Foodstuffs are inedible. Living pas-
sengers acquire the Restricted Diet
and Unusual Biochemistry disad-
vantages, and require a special diet
to survive. If they are far from
Homeline, all Survival rolls are at
-5, reduced to -2 once someone
realizes (from GM clues) what has
happened. (This has happened
twice, and is suspected in two
other cases where the crew of a lost
conveyor starved in “friendly” sur-
roundings.)
6 – Frog error. The shipment arrives in
a rain of tiny frogs, or some other
bizarre “Fortean” phenomena.
(This has happened six times, and
four Infinity researchers have gone
mad trying to explain it.)
7 – Bio-field error. All nonliving mate-
rial in the shipment – including the
conveyor – disintegrates or is lost
elsewhere. This can leave travelers
embarrassed or stranded, depend-
ing on whether they were arriving
at a projector stage or leaving one.
8 – Living beings experience brief
telepathy. Each passenger acquires
20 points worth of Telepathy abili-
ties (see Chapter 6); the GM assigns
these randomly. These last 1d days
– roll separately for each person.
(This has happened twice . . . that
Infinity knows of.)
9 – The shipment appears twice, 1d
minutes apart. (This has happened
once; fortunately, it was an
uncrewed conveyor. The second
conveyor displaced the first one
when it was partially unloaded.
Was the duplicate some sort of
“mirror” effect, or was it from
another timeline? It is unknown
what would have happened had
there been passengers. Would they
have been duplicated?)
10 – The shipment or conveyor is
switched with a very similar ship-
ment or conveyor belonging to
Centrum (or to Homeline, if the
mission was Centrum’s).
11 – The shipment or conveyor is
switched with a very similar ship-
ment or conveyor belonging to
some other, as yet unsuspected,
race of crossworld travelers.
12 – The shipment or conveyor is
switched with a shipment or con-
veyor belonging to some completely
alien dimension-traveling culture.
Mass is unchanged, but nothing
else need be the same!