Based on the content of Fractured Echoes, here is a glossary of terms, slang, and technologies specific to the world and mechanics of the book.
Drive (Retrieval Drive): A small square device worn on a chain around an agent’s neck during missions. It records data from the past to be compared against company files upon return. If the data matches, the timeline is considered stable; if not, the agent may be sent back to correct it.
Proximity Chip: A security device embedded in an agent. It acts as a fail safe for the retrieval pod. If anyone without the correct chip touches the pod, a one minute timer triggers, causing the pod to disappear to prevent technology theft or discovery.
Retrieval Pod (or Capsule): The vessel used by agents to travel through time. It requires specific landing coordinates and is designed to remain hidden in the past until the agent returns.
Time Shard: A combat and escape tool resembling a long glass cylinder. When smashed against a surface, it bursts into white light and creates a localized temporal distortion, slowing down enemies to a sluggish, near frozen state while allowing the user to move at normal speed.
Water Acceleration Vest: A piece of survival gear stored in the retrieval facility (and likely other outposts). When activated, it emits bubbles and propels the wearer rapidly through water, allowing for high speed water travel.
Clocked Out: A euphemism used by the Time Retrieval Office for when an agent is “phased out” or killed. This happens when an agent makes a mistake, is discovered, or loses their retrieval device. The agency treats these deaths as “unexplained anomalies” to minimize timeline ripples.
Integration: The process of acclimating a woman retrieved from the past into the modern society of 2089. This involves adjusting them to future technology and culture before they are settled into a new life.
Map Updates: Adjustments made to the landing coordinates for retrieval pods. In the story, these updates are manipulated to trap agents or alter the past by sending them to sabotaged locations.
Time Retrieval Office (or Center): The governing body and facility that manages time travel operations. They regulate the retrieval of women from the past to maintain population stability in a future where women are scarce.
Hooker Phone: Slang used by the character Don to refer to a burner phone (a non-company issued device) used to communicate secretly without the agency’s surveillance.
Wife Lottery: A term used in the altered timeline to describe the system where wealthy or powerful men purchase or are assigned wives retrieved from the past.
The Disease/Sickness: A plague mentioned that wiped out the majority of the female population in the late 21st century (around 2079), leading to a 10:1 male to female ratio and necessitating the time retrieval program.
The Club: A reference to the elite group of billionaires and CEOs (including Ramses) who manipulated the timeline to hoard resources and women for themselves in the altered reality
