Vortex manipulator

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A vortex manipulator was a form of basic time travel used by the Time Agency of the 51st century. It also had other abilities.

History

Although it was generally used by the Agency, the Family of Blood stole one to follow the Doctor around the universe. (DW: Human Nature/The Family of Blood)

Time Agents were each given a vortex manipulator. (TW: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) Vortex manipulators used and issued by the Time Agency were housed in leather wrist-straps with a covering flap, enabling the device to be worn conveniently by the Time Agent without drawing attention to the device itself.

The TARDIS controls included a vortex manipulator. (DW: Attack of the Graske)

The manipulator in the TARDIS was likely a similar, if less portable, device as the Time Agency's manipulator, performing the same function.

After Rose Tyler as Bad Wolf resurrected Jack Harkness following his extermination by the Daleks, (DW: The Parting of the Ways) Jack used his manipulator to travel from the Game Station, 200,100. Although attempting to reach the 21st century Earth, he missed and ended up in 1869. The manipulator burned out after this trip although Jack seemed to be able to use the other functions besides time traveling and teleporting. (DW: Utopia)

Years later, as Jack, the Doctor and Martha Jones were being attacked by Futurekind on Malcassairo in the year 100,000,000,000,000, the Doctor repaired the vortex manipulator with his sonic screwdriver, transporting them to Earth, 2008. The group later used it to teleport to the Valiant, from which Martha subsequently escaped, also by use of the manipulator. (DW: The Sound of Drums) the Master later used it to teleport to Earth, where he threatened to destroy the planet. The Doctor was able to use the manipulator to teleport them both back to the Valiant. Once the Master was defeated and Jack made his way back to the Torchwood Hub, the Doctor deactivated the manipulator, saying that he couldn't leave Jack with a time-travelling teleport. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)

Captain John Hart used a manipulator to reunite with Jack and then take him to 27 A.D. Gray used his manipulator to take control of the Weevils in Cardiff. (TW: Exit Wounds)

When the Daleks relocated Earth to the Medusa Cascade and invaded it, Jack used information from the UNIT Project Indigo (based on Sontaran teleport pod technology) to reactivate the teleport function on his vortex manipulator. He then teleported to find the Doctor, arriving just after the Doctor was shot by a Dalek, whom Jack then killed. (DW: The Stolen Earth) After the Daleks were defeated, the Doctor deactivated the manipulator again, saying "I told you, no teleport". (DW: Journey's End)

Time Field timeline

After hearing that she was in search of time travel, the salesman Dorium met with River Song in The Maldovarium bar to offer her a Vortex manipulator that was, according to him, "Fresh off the wrist of a handsome Time Agent". As payment, Song offered him a Callisto Pulse which could disarm micro-explosives from up to 20 ft. When he inquired as to what kind of micro-explosives the pulse could disarm, she responded by saying the kind that she had just put in his wine. He was then forced to give her the vortex manipulator which she used to teleport to Planet One at some point in the past and then to 102 A.D. on Earth. (DW: The Pandorica Opens)

After the destruction of the TARDIS, the Doctor used River's manipulator to teleport to Easter, 1996, and then back to 102 A.D. to affect the rescue of both his earlier self and of Amy Pond. Discovering the TARDIS to be caught in a time loop at the moment of its destruction, the Doctor was able to use the manipulator to transport himself into the TARDIS to rescue River. The Doctor later time-traveled back 12 minutes to fake his death after being seriously wounded by the Stone Dalek, buying himself time to get to the Pandorica. The vortex manipulator was then used to transport the Pandorica into the heart of the explosion of the TARDIS, thus 'rebooting' the Universe. After being brought back by Amy, the Doctor gave the vortex manipulator back to River Song. She used it to time-travel back to the Stormcage in the 52nd century. (DW: The Big Bang)

Abilities

The main function of a vortex manipulator was to transport the user through time and space using teleportation and time travel via the Time Vortex. (DW: Utopia, The Sound of Drums, et al)

The exact range of a vortex manipulator was uncertain; under normal conditions, one model could allow travel of a distance of nearly 200,000 years (although in this instance, said manipulator was burned out as a result). (DW: The Parting of the Ways, TW: Everything Changes) Following repairs with a sonic screwdriver, it was able to allow travel from the End of the Universe to 21st century Earth. It could transport multiple people if necessary, so long as they had some sort of physical contact with it. (DW: The Sound of Drums)

It must be noted and considered that the Doctor would know how to push the manipulator to efficiency way in excess of it's original 'factory specifications', and that 200,000 years could be considered as the usual maximum 'safe' operating range of a portable vortex manipulator.

In general, manipulators can be seen as an extremely precise form of time travel when properly used. Former Time Agent Jack Harkness' admission that he was unable to reach his intended destination when returning to Earth's past (DW: Utopia) was most likely down to the vortex manipulator being pushed to the very limit of its intended operational capacities, rather than any inherant instability or unreliability on the part of said manipulator. When the universe was a fraction of its former size, a vortex manipulator was able to facilitate multiple precise jumps with no apparent difficulty and extreme precision -- although admittedly, the distances and time differences involved were a great deal smaller. (DW: The Big Bang)

The vortex manipulator projected a temporal shield to protect its user from the side effects of an unprotected journey through the vortex. However, transporting more than two people would stress the vortex manipulator beyond its intended capacity, rendering the shielding less effective, and resulting in discomfort for the users. (DW: The Sound of Drums)

Given that the Doctor and the Master did not experience discomfort when transporting from the Valiant, it can be argued that the vortex manipulator was capable of transporting two people without difficulty, and it was only when transporting three people, that the device became strained, and the users experienced discomfort.

In addition to transportation, vortex manipulators had several other functions. These included:


Despite Jack's claim that the wrist-strap was DNA coded to him alone, the fact that the Doctor, the Master and Martha were all able to use the teleporter function, as well as its detection of low sodium levels in Rex Matheson, shows that the vortex manipulator is not 'locked technology' and it could be used by anyone.

Vortex manipulators were constructed from an as yet unidentified, but virtually indestructible metal alloy. One was easily able to survive the detonation of a bomb which obliterated the human wearing it, albeit at the cost of the leather wrist-strap housing the vortex manipulator itself. (TW: Children of Earth: Day Five) A vortex manipulator also survived the explosion caused by Big Bang Two by being 're-booted' from its original form. (DW: The Big Bang)

The Doctor considered it very primitive compared to a TARDIS, describing his TARDIS as a "sports car" to Jack Harkness' "space hopper". He also described it as "cheap and nasty time travel, very bad for you", and that he was "trying to give it up". (DW: The Big Bang)

When traveling through time with a vortex manipulator the users seem to use both the teleport function and time travel function depending on where they want to go. For example, when the Doctor, Martha and Jack traveled from the End of the Universe, they left from an alien planet and ended up on Earth. This indicates that the manipulator likely has a long teleport range. (DW: The Sound of Drums)

File:800px-Vortex Manipulator Gray.jpg
Gray's vortex manipulator. (TW: Exit Wounds)

Owners

Notes

  • Jack's Vortex Manipulator is used much in the same way as the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver in the context of Torchwood, being capable of doing just about whatever the writers want it to. It's only known limitation is being unable to time travel or teleport, both functions having been deactivated by the 10th Doctor.
  • It should be noted that while the Tenth Doctor forbade Jack from using the manipulator, the Ninth Doctor had no issue with Jack being in posession of a fully functional vortex manipulator, never once attempting to disable it during their travels. This is presumably an act of caution as Jack is a fixed point in time, such as when the Doctor tried to leave Jack as he was running to the TARDIS in DW: Utopia.
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