Space-Time Cube

The Space-Time Cube is the first working result of the Awakener Association's World Time project. More than one prototype exists: Athena uses one for repeated temporal regression and emergency teleportation until it shatters, while Perses operates another for long-range movement and disaster deployment.

History

The World Time prototype

Francis presents the first completed prototype to Ares. He demonstrates its spatial function by sending the cube through a portal and into Ares's hand, then leaves the choice of operator to him. Ares assigns it to Athena for the effort to protect the Child of Mana. (Chapter 245)

Athena's regressions

Athena uses the cube's first ability during the confrontation with Neo. Each activation sends her thirty seconds into the past while preserving her knowledge of the failed sequence. She repeats the battle forty-three times, allowing Ares's side to test different strategies, but the use exacts a physical toll because Athena does not possess Time affinity. By the time she admits what she has done, blood is running from her nose and she is struggling to remain upright. (Chapter 249)

When Athena decides to aid Neo, she uses the cube's second ability to teleport the surrounding Awakeners away from the confrontation. The repeated regressions and that large transfer push the prototype toward failure: cracks form across it, its energy becomes unstable, and Neo warns that it is about to break. Athena later reaches Broome with its shattered pieces in her hands, confirming that the unit fails during the long-range escape. (Chapters 249–251)

A second cube

The destroyed device is not the only prototype. Ares correctly infers that another unit was retained. Kronos summons that cube and gives it to Perses with Gaia's location already entered. Perses uses it to reach her, although an imperfect calibration nearly makes him crash into her. (Chapters 251–253)

The second cube cannot teleport directly into the Savage Expanse because Typhaon controls the space within that region, but it can place travelers outside the boundary. Perses begins activating it for that journey before Gaia turns on him. Later, Kronos instructs him to use the same device to move Awakeners to cities threatened by the World Core's disasters. Its final fate is not supplied. (Chapters 253 and 271)

Properties and use

• Thirty-second regression: The first function returns its user thirty seconds into the past, allowing information and decisions to carry across repeated attempts. (Chapter 249)
• User strain: Time travel injures an operator without Time affinity. Athena's forty-three regressions produce bleeding and severe exhaustion. (Chapter 249)
• Teleportation: The second function transfers people across space and can be used on multiple targets in a single activation. (Chapters 245 and 249)
• Coordinate programming: A destination can be entered into a cube before transfer, although poor calibration can produce an inaccurate arrival. (Chapters 252–253)
• Territorial limit: It cannot place users inside a region whose space is controlled by Typhaon, though it can reach the exterior. (Chapter 253)
• Finite durability: Heavy temporal and spatial use cracks and eventually shatters Athena's prototype. (Chapters 249–251)
• Multiple units: The name denotes a prototype design rather than one unique cube. Athena's destroyed unit and Perses's later unit must not be treated as a single continuously transferred object. (Chapters 251–252)

Ownership and custody

Connections

• Athena: Uses the first cube to learn from dozens of failed timelines, then sacrifices its remaining durability to remove the Awakeners and help Neo.
• Ares: Selects Athena as operator and attempts to use her retained knowledge to continue the fight.
• Kronos: Controls the second known prototype and deploys it for pursuit and disaster response.
• Typhaon: His control of the Savage Expanse's space creates an explicit boundary the cube cannot cross directly.