River Song's vortex manipulator
River Song was often known to travel by vortex manipulator early in her time stream. She acquired at least two of the devices over her adventures.
River had modified it to introduce a fast return switch and save work from her typewriter. (PROSE: The Ruby's Curse)
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
River began seeking a means of time travel after getting the painting The Pandorica Opens. After hearing that she was in search of time travel, the salesman Dorium Maldovar 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" (which wasn't quite true as, after examining the box, Dorium said "I said off the wrist," implying it had the hand with it). She used it to teleport to Planet One at some point in the past and then to 102 AD on Earth. (TV: The Pandorica Opens)
After the destruction of the TARDIS, the Eleventh Doctor used River's manipulator to teleport to Easter, 1996, and then back to 102 AD 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-travelled 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. (TV: The Big Bang)
River wore it while investigating the Silence spacesuit and battling the Silence, but never used it. River removed it again before the Doctor returned her to her cell in Stormcage. (TV: Day of the Moon) She later used it to meet up with the Doctor, Amy and Rory at Demons Run. (TV: A Good Man Goes to War)
When three Rivers ended up in the Doctor's TARDIS, the second one was travelling using a vortex manipulator and the Doctor sent her away before she or any of the other Rivers could see each other by activating her vortex manipulator and causing her to teleport away. (HOMEVID: Last Night)
When River and Missy were escaping the Bekdel Institute, the Time Lady scrambled the vortex manipulator's coordinates to force River to take her with her. Once the two had escaped, Missy again scrambled the manipulator to send River back to her cell in Stormcage. (AUDIO: The Bekdel Test)
After the crash of the Byzantium, River used her vortex manipulator to visit her parents on Earth and inform them that the Doctor was not actually dead. (TV: The Wedding of River Song)
River travelled back to New York City in 1938 with her vortex manipulator. Despite the TARDIS being unable to travel to that time due to time distortions, the manipulator was able to make the trip. River later used it to send a signal to the Doctor to act as "landing lights." (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan)
On one occasion, River used her vortex manipulator to transport herself and the Fourth Doctor back to the TARDIS, and away from danger. River also sent the Doctor away using her device, keeping him safe from the Discordia. The Fourth Doctor later planted the vortex manipulator on someone else to save Galerayna's life on Discordia Prime, losing it in the process. (AUDIO: Someone I Once Knew) She switched to stealing the Doctor's TARDIS and then returning it before he could notice. (TV: The Husbands of River Song)
River later acquired another vortex manipulator, which she customised with a weather app and a subspace galactic communicator. She it to contact Galactic Heritage (AUDIO: The Sonomancer) and tried to use it to escape the Time Lords, but the technology failed her as there was no longer a Time Vortex to manipulate. (AUDIO: Songs of Love) It was taken from her by the Nine and she left it in the Clocksmith's TARDIS, not knowing where he had put it. (AUDIO: Companion Piece)
The Nine used the vortex manipulator to set up a trap for the Eighth Doctor, Liv Chenka and Helen Sinclair. The Eleven pickpocketed it from the Nine and forcibly sent him somewhere at random. (AUDIO: The Odds Against)
