Spacetime Technology

Spacetime technology is capable of altering reality in drastic ways. It is largely unheard of among the general populace, and little is known to Base about how exactly it works. Instances of this technology have been used for time travel, teleportation, duplication, and consolidation. It can be activated using the Security.exe program at O.V.E.R. or by using a calculator. Other access points may still be unknown. This technology is instrumental to the operation of WOE.BEGONE and the Flinchites.

Calculators
Calculators are a type of interface for activating spacetime technology. They have the physical appearance of a graphing calculator, such as a TI-81, and can be programmed with the appropriate code. The user interface of these devices is opaque, however, and the precision they require can easily lead to mistakes. For example, the input of coordinates needs to account for the movement of the Earth traveling around the sun.

The Flinchites refer to these devices as "Handhelds" and keep a number of them within a storage room.

Corrections
A correction is the use of time travel to go back and preempt a mistake. This process can be more difficult that it might initially appear, as making alterations to the past may simply result in an undesired result of a different kind. In some cases, attempting a correction may even result in multiple overlapping attempts.

Iterations
Iterations (also called "duplicates" by the Flinchites) are the multiple copies of a person duplicated by spacetime technology. Characters such as Mike, Hunter, Edgar, Anne, and Ty are known to have multiple iterations. Different iterations can form different memories, develop different priorities, and acquire physical differences such as haircuts and scars. Beliefs about whether iterations should be considered "different people" differ significantly across characters.

The word "iteration" has also been used more abstractly to refer to, for example, versions of organizations from other timelines or whole timelines themselves.

Consolidation
Consolidation is a process by which multiple iterations are merged together, mentally and physically. This is done by transporting someone to the exact same physical location as their iteration. Even a slight misalignment can result in two bodies physically conjoined or neurological damage. The exact results of consolidation are very often unpredictable.

The Flinchites are pursuing potential medical applications of consolidation. The consolidation of someone with an uninjured iteration of themselves results in partially healing the injuries. Repeated consolidations may then be used to nurse an individual back to health.

For Base, consolidation is considered highly experimental and dangerous. Reactions by future iterations of Mike suggest that consolidation is a process that future Base largely no longer considers viable.

Connectivity
Connectivity refers to the ability for actions taken in the past to affect future iterations. In other words, it is the factor in whether an event that happens a younger iteration will have happened to an older iteration. The line between two iterations being connected or disconnected is not a binary, and is described as a spectrum that is often unpredictable.

Connectivity is a setting on certain pieces of spacetime technology; that is, it is possible to travel through time in either connected or disconnected ways based on settings entered at the point of travel. Intention is another key aspect of whether events will be connected or not. Notably, the connected results of an action carry forward from when a decision is made rather than when an action takes place.

Connectivity Strike
A connectivity strike is the term used by Base to refer to killing all known iterations of a person in order to ensure their continued death. There have been two connectivity strikes seen so far: the first was Base's connectivity strike on Hunter, which was later corrected, and the second was Ty Betteridge's attempted connectivity strike on Kasimieras Berzina, which was either corrected or unsuccessful. Michael also implies Base has carried out another connectivity strike within his timeline that nobody else remembers.

Tracing
Tracing is a term used to refer to the tracking of objects and persons as they move through time and space. The Flinchites are particularly interested in developing this technology, and have a department for its research. Certain protocols have been set up apparently to deter tracing, such as the use of numerous random coordinates in quick succession.