3 TIMESHIP STRUCTURE
Central to the construction of the TARDIS's outer-hull is the mastery of the zeroth state of matter -- cold plasma. Objects constructed from cold plasma are normally prefixed with the adjective plasmic, hence plasmic-shell. Cold plasma is not necessary cold to the touch, compared to room-temperature solids. The key importance in using plasmic materials is that they are considered to be greatly more durable than normal solids.
The outer-hull is composed of three distinct and separate layers of material, all sandwiched together in a space of around 15cm. These layers are:
The outer-hull of the TARDIS is not indestructible, though for most environments and situations it may be treated as such. Refer to the list below.
Not only do physical extremes affect the interior, but the exterior environment also influences the nature of the interior environment, whether the doors are closed or open. This may come to a surprise, but this is only the rule whilst the environment systems are shut-down. In the event of a power-cut to the environment systems, the outside environment -- exterior gravity, air pressure, air tempperature and air humidity -- will affect the interior environment. However, with the environment systems functioning normally, the interior environment should remain stable regardless of the extreme outside, although there are exceptions. (See: 6.6.)
Although the TARDIS can withstand great assaults to its exterior, the force of the attacks will be felt from the interior. Not only could this be stressful or even harmful to the occupants, but more critically, it could be fatal to the TARDIS systems. The list below summarises the effects of exterior energy waves on the interior.
The following example illustrates a major point:
A fission grenade is placed next to the TARDIS and detonated. Although the exterior is not harmed, the shock waves caused by the bomb have damaged the central control console, knocked the occupants senseless and taken down some interior wall. The outer plasmic shell was not harmed by this explosion, but the resulting shock waves were passed through to the interior causing a considerable amount of damage.
The discussion of shock absorption can be split into two categories: shock absorption during flight and shock absorption whilst landed. Travelling through the space-time vortex does subject the TARDIS to a large amount of stress. Whilst in flight, the TARDIS experiences a variety of extremes, including quasi-gravitational forces, time winds, and a wide range of forces resulting from general acceleration. Without the transcendental interior, not only would the occupants of the TARDIS experience great stress and physical distortion, but all equipment and computer systems would also be affected, which could result in malfunctions.
Not all of the shock, inertia and momentum is absorbed during flight. Such is the nature of the TARDIS's travel that linear velocity and acceleration, or more generally, linear geceleration, presents neither discomfort nor stress to the TARDIS and its occupants. However, an exponential or sudden change in velocity or a non-linear change in acceleration will produce a force that will be felt from the interior of the ship. Examples of these include course changes, violent changes in speed, emergency flight termination, the effect of time winds, and collisions with objects within the vortex. Within normal operating parameters such events rarely occur and the ship will travel without any movement discernible from the inside. However, it is normal for a slight vibration to be felt during flight: this is the effect of the power-drive, and not the ship's movement.
Once landed, the TARDIS will experience forces as any other object would. However, artificial gravity generated by the environment systems will mask the affect of external acceleration, regardless of the whether the acceleration is caused by gravity or some external propulsion. There are a few situations when abnormal behaviour may arise, these are briefly discussed below.
If the TARDIS is in the vicinity of a massively dense object, it will experience gravitational attraction as any other mass would. If the magnitude of the exterior gravitation rises above a certain threshold, the interior gravity will no longer mask the effects, and the weight of the ship and its inhabitants will increase. However, this situation rarely occurs except when in the presence of the massively dense objects such as a black hole.
Any collision or impact felt whilst landed will be felt inside, and a momentous collision could damage the ship's systems, or harm the occupants. However, such collisions are buffered and dampened to an extent, due to the transcendental nature of the ship's interior and the generation of artificial gravity.
3.4 THE DIMENSIONAL BRIDGE & EXTERNAL INSTRUMENTATION
A dimensional bridge is a path or route between two different dimensions. The TARDIS has two such bridges, the primary one is the main door, and is technically known as a portal. The secondary bridge is known as the dimensional bridge, and is a permanent opening between the outside world and the interior of the ship. The dimensional bridge will remain stable over a wide range of environmental extremes.
The dimensional bridge allows various instruments to monitor the world outside the TARDIS. It also allows some matter transfer, for example, air, to reach some of the ship's internal systems. The dimensional bridge works like the main door by selectively excluding limbo barriers from key positions. This could be dangerous, but the defensive shield mechanism creates a shielded area over the opening of this bridge, allowing a limited number of particles to enter, including air. In addition, the barrier is one-way: neither matter nor energy can seep out. However, the key exceptions to this are the scanner circuit and the instrument pallet sensors, which can probe out through the shield and return data to the ship's systems.
The opening to allow air to enter and sensors to reach out is called the dimensional bridge opening (DBO). The opening is not discernible from the outside, and will appear to look like part of the object the ship is currently modelling as its outer-hull. The opening is approximately 5 cm wide and 7 cm in length, and is usually placed on the `roof' of the ship, close to the beacon. To gain access to the circuitry and workings of the DBO, the ship is simply unlocked, which allows the patch concealing the DBO to be swung open. The patch will automatically close and re-seal once the door is closed and locked.
One device located externally is the beacon. This can either remain hidden or it can be disguised, just as the rest of the ship is disguised when the chameleon circuit operates. The beacon sends time-coded signals with a unique frequency when requested by another TARDIS to do so. Advanced equipment can detect this signal, locating and identifying the TARDIS. The ship's central computer automatically scans for this signal, by using the virtual particle scan. As well as acting as beacon, the device can also function as an external light.
Several circuits have sub-systems located within the DBO, or are entirely located within the dimensional bridge. The scanner circuit and the microphone workings are located behind the access point of the DBO, and the sensor pallets are located here in part. The dimensional integrator has a sub-circuit placed here, and the oxygen intake pipes, which channel filtered oxygen to the main environment processing bank. Scanner linkages visually carry data in a two-way (duplex) fashion across the dimensional bridge.
In the event of the defensive shield mechanism shutting down, the TARDIS could suffer from fluid intake, such as water and waste gases whilst landed, and random energy or delta particle invasion whilst in flight. (See: 4.2.2.)
Entry to the TARDIS is gained by use of a simple but unique key. The key identification is based on light refraction, so different keys refract different patterns of light onto the sensors. The lock is fitted such that only the exact kinds of keys will fit, and only the owner and companions of the operator may have those keys. Duplicates will be slightly different in design, requiring a different set of light gates to activate.
The door is an example of a dimensional bridge, a path between two dimensions. Technically, the ship's door is referred to as the exit portal, the term ``dimensional bridge'' being reserved for the secondary dimensional bridge -- the DBO. The bridge between the real world and the ship's interior is very stable and will not collapse under normal operating conditions.
The door exists in two different worlds, the outside world and the interior of the ship. From the inside, the door's dimensions are 1.6m x 0.5m x 0.1m for each half. The doors will look like the rest of the interior, complete with roundels. From the outside the doors can be any shape and size but no bigger than 1.6m x 1m. The doors, viewed from the real world, look like what the current entry form on the chameleon circuit is set to. The doors viewed from the interior look the same on the both faces. It is impossible to try to see both dimensions of the door, to do so results in only seeing the disguised door if standing outside and observing the interior-look door if standing on the inside. If one attempts to straddle the two dimensions, no discomfort will be felt but one will be unable to ascertain the exact nature of the doors: the two differing images will metamorphose into one. One will find it impossible to look at both images at the same time, this phenomenon is related to the uncertainty principle found in quantum physics.
The passage between the interior and exterior dimensions is achieved by the permanent removal of limbo -- the fabric of space-time -- from that area. This process is done from the interior. The work of the void locker and dimensional integrator combine to achieve this effect. In essence, limbo separating the interior dimension from the primary spatial dimensions of the real world has been removed.
The door itself it composed of the same material as the rest of the outer-hull, hence breaking down the door is something very difficult to achieve, as one must overcome the sub-atomic bonding of the outer-hull. However, in theory it is possible for the door to be forced open. Generally, it is possible for any part of the outer-hull to be breached, although such an event requires a great deal of energy. In such scenarios, the energies released would disturb the field of dimensions inside the ship, which can have a range of catastrophic effects. (See: 3.8.)
On closing the door from the outside, the doors from the inside are also closed, because they are in fact the same doors. When the door is locked on the outside, it closes the door switch inside the ship, having the same effect of closing the doors from the interior with the switch. When the doors are closed from the interior, from the outside it appears as if the doors of the exterior shell -- whatever they may look like -- are closing by their own accord. When the doors do close, the lock activates. The door can also be set to automatically close after exit, see below. The door itself contains the complex lock mechanism which is also described shortly below.
A feature unique to the mark III is the seal cabin-to-interior door function. The utility will seal off the interior from the main control room. However, the interior access door must be closed for this procedure to work. The function cannot be overridden; it must be switched off before the door can be used again.
The mark III has several interior doors which can be activated via the central control console. Both the computer-bank alcove shutter and interior fire doors can be operated from the control room. The shutter, normally concealed, descends from the ceiling and prevents access to the computer bank area. The fire doors, on the other hand, are made of translucent aluminium, and will open and close when approached. The function of these doors is only to prevent the spread of toxic smoke and fire through the ship.
The defensive shield mechanism operates across the door area whilst the door is open. The shield is designed to separate the interior and exterior environments, preventing cross-contamination. In particular, interior air pressure will be maintained when the doors are opened in a near-vacuum such as outer-space. The shield may be discernable in that travellers walking through the doors may experience a pressure change. Such an environment change may be fatal, and it is reccomended that atmospheric density jackets are worn are worn in extreme pressure conditions.
The door closing systems can be automated by the use of the automatic door mode switch. When all movement in the control room has ceased the doors will automatically close, this effect is observable from the exterior as well as the interior. If the automated systems are switched off the door will have to be closed manually before being locked.
The doors may be safely opened once landed, although it is advisable to check the surrounding environment before doing so. The doors are automated and will either unlock and open when activated, or else close and lock, depending on the status of the door.
The mark II, III and IV models all feature an emergency exit which may be used if for some reason the main door is not accessible. The emergency exit opens a disguised door at the rear of the TARDIS. The door functions as an exit only, and will automatically close after being used. The existence of the emergency exit does entail the creation of a third dimensional bridge.
The emergency door-lock activate function, a mark III utility, overrides the door opening mechanism so that the door may not be opened in flight. This is very useful as an accidental door opening may cause unpredictable problems. The release main-door pressure switch, found on the mark II models, will unlock the doors but will not open them. The doors will open only if forced from the outside or pulled from the inside.
In the event of a power failure, the main door is powered via the external magnetic field, if one exists. In the absence of this, and as a last resort, the doors may be powered via directed artron energy. Embedded artron inducers located on the interior side of the door will react to a directed artron energy and will unlock and open the doors.
3.6 THE DOOR LOCKING MECHANISM
The door locking mechanism, situated within the right-hand side door when viewed from the exterior, is the name given to the system that controls and operates the closing and locking of the ship's doors. The mechanism is operated when either the door switch is activated from inside the ship, or the key is used to operate the lock from the outside. If per chance someone attempts to lock/open the ship's door from the outside at the same time as someone inside activates the door switch, the locking mechanism will ignore the use of the key.
If the signal is sent for the door to be locked, from either the control panel switch or the from a signal from the light gates from within the lock, then the door is physically sealed at the atomic level. The door's atoms bond with the atoms of the doorway edge, effectively enabling the door to now have the same physical attributes as the rest of the exterior shell; the door now is as strong as the rest of the ship's hull. Although the probability of breaking in is constant, no matter what part of the hull is attacked, the consequences do vary, depending on whether or not the door was breached. (See: 3.7.) When the signal is given for the door to be unlocked, then the above process is reversed.
The door switch motivates the doors through use of an electromagnetic field manipulator, a device which generates electromagnetic wave energy which is then channelled through wave-guides in the door hinges. The outer part of the hinges have an attraction to the inner part, and so the door opens, albeit slowly. The same principle is applied when the door is closed.
It is impossible to pick the ship's lock, because of the physical light refraction method. The object inserted into the keyhole must be the correct shape otherwise the wrong pattern of light is projected onto the sensors. It is not movement of `tumblers' that activate the lock, rather it is the physical shape of the key and the light patterns it makes whilst turning.
The door locking mechanism has a selection of working parts which are electrically live, these shield the back of the door lock mechanism and protect the inner parts from dirt, dust and intrusion. The latter deterrent works by electrocuting any thief who attempts to mechanically alter the locking mechanism. Providing the thief is grounded/earthed, this will function as a painful deterrent giving little permanent damage to any person who attempts to fiddle with the locking mechanism.
In addition to the above precaution, the door locking mechanism is protected by a shield generated by the defensive shield mechanism. Since the mechanism is not part of the exterior-hull, is does not have the same strength and durability and is henceforth protected from hostile environments and attacks.
As a safety precaution the ship will not dematerialise with either the door left open, or with a key left in the lock. This cannot be overridden from the inside, and is a permanent feature of the door locking mechanism.
There are actually four variations of the ship's door locking mechanism, the locking mode may be set using the chameleon circuitry controls. (See: 4.2.3.) The four locking modes are the removable lock, the normal lock, the secondary lock and the metabolism detecting lock. The various locking modes are described in the following subsections.
The default locking mode, this simply detects the use of the TARDIS key, and then locks or unlocks the door. No lockjamming (see below) in this mode.
This locking mode is perhaps one of the most secure, as after the TARDIS has been locked, the entire locking mechanism is removed! The locking mechanism in this mode takes the form of a cylindrical electronic unit, once removed by use the TARDIS key, the door is permanently locked. The door cannot even be opened from the inside, until the locking mechanism is replaced. Obviously this mode presents several risks, as losing the locking mechanism places the ship's users in a terrible dilemma. The lockjammer, described below, does not operate in the mode, however, the space left by the removal of the locking mechanism is vulnerable and is shielded by the defensive shield mechanism.
This mode is informally known as the ``twenty-one keyhole choice''. Its purpose is to deter a potential thief from opening the TARDIS if they have the key. The system works by giving the key's user a choice of twenty-one keyholes to choose from. The extra keyholes are accessed by inserting the key into the normal lock and turning the key around in a clockwise fashion. The whole lock will come away from the door, revealing a choice of twenty-one keyholes. Only one of these keyholes operate the second locking mechanism. If the key is inserted into the wrong keyhole then the lock will jam and the key will become stuck. This is known as the lockjammer effect.
The set of the twenty-one keyholes use the normal light refracting method of identifying the key or object inserted, similar to the light refraction method that the primary lock uses, although the second lot of locks require a more complicated set of light gates and transmitters to work.
Dealers on Gallifrey will inform pilots of the factory-set keyhole to use. This can be changed from the inside, and it is advised that this is done so, in case the someone connected with the TARDIS construction tries to steal a TARDIS. To change the correct keyhole, the complete lock unit must be taken out. Behind the twenty-one keyholes, there are two multi-spectrum light-gates, one on the vertical axis of the lock unit and one on the horizontal axis; these line up to set the activating keyhole.
3.6.4 The Metabolism Detecting Lock
This locking mode is similar to the normal locking mode, except that it involves the use of a metabolism detector. This sensory device attunes itself to the pilot when the TARDIS is configured. It acts similar to the isomorphic control mode, only letting the pilot use the key. As this is very restrictive, the mode will also allow anybody who the pilot does not object to entering the TARDIS to successfully operate the lock. However, this depends on the distance between the pilot and the TARDIS, ambient artron levels, the state of mind of the pilot and the will-power of the intruder attempting to use the key to enter. Use of this locking mode is risky: it could refuse entry to those who may have good reason to enter the TARDIS, and at the same time it could allow a potential thief to gain entry. On the other hand, it could prove very useful, allowing friends of the pilot to enter the ship, but screening out enemies and intruders.
The lockjammer effect is the result of the intentional jamming of the ship's locking mechanism; it will not accept, release or allow any movement of the key, and it works it tandem with the secondary locking mode. When the lockjammer operates, the lock and key are effectively jammed, both are now useless. The purpose of this effect is that if any intruder tries to gain access to the TARDIS and fails, they will not be able to try again. The downside of this effect is that no-one can now enter the TARDIS, not even the proper owner.
The lockjammer device simply creates a low powered forcefield within the lock, by focusing the light beams through a set of small crystals. The light beams are usually used for identification of the key, but with amplification can be used to create a low powered force-field. The force-field ensures that the lock is impossible to activate.
If the locking mechanism becomes jammed or damaged then the TARDIS must be taken back to Gallifrey for repair. Most of the locking mechanism repairs can be carried out by the owner of the TARDIS if they understand the principles of the lock. However, great knowledge of the individual locking system in required. If the TARDIS keys are stolen, the whole locking system must be realigned and reset, and new keys cut to fit the new lock, as if the key has been stolen it may have been copied, and this allows the thief another chance to break in, thus violating Time Lord regulations. The ship provides a facility for cutting new keys; a key-cutter is pre-installed and is located in the central lobby. The machine has the ability to cut several shapes of key, all of which fit and operate the lock.
The main door leads into the control room, from which double doors lead to the lobby. From the lobby the living quarters and other interior rooms can be reached. The size of the ship's interior is around 100m x 50m x 3m (length, width, height). All of the ship's important rooms are outlined below.
The Mark II, III and IV models feature the following additional rooms:
The inside of the TARDIS exists within a world separate but relative to the exterior. This relative world exists in what has been called the fifth dimension. This section will attempt to explain the creation and sustaining of this fifth dimensional space. Although the creation of the interior dimension was outlined in Section 1.5, the subject will be discussed again, with more attention being paid to the fundamental physics of the operation.
The theory of an artificial dimension is based on the fact that a dimension is anchored in place by means of a natural coordinate. This is a phenomenon thought to be connected with delta particles, an energy released when delta particles changes their energy state.
The first step in extra-dimensional or transcendental space creation is to have a device which alters the coordinates of the fifth dimensional limbo barriers, the barriers which hold together the dimensions. The dimensional shifter is the circuit which does this function. The process is carried out by the creation of a limited electromagnetic field around a pre-defined space. The condensed field does not exhibit the inverse square law behaviour, as the field has only a small area of effect. This is achieved by bending the field back into itself, thereby confining the electromagnetic field area. The dimensional shifter only operates for around a nanosecond, and the distortion produced does not create a fifth dimension, rather it only shifts the position of the current normal space plane. Once the dimensional shifter operates the flux automatic charger (FAC) activates to assist the dimensional shifter.
The FAC increases the energy input to the dimensional shifter to enable the ship's interior to be shifted into the fifth dimension. Without the energy boost, the dimensional shifter cannot generate a distortion strong enough to break the plane free from natural coordinate interference. After the successful operation of the FAC, the dimensional control comes into play. play. The circuit generates a natural coordinate signal for the fifth dimension to `lock onto'. Without this signal the fifth dimensional plane would slip back to normal space, being attracted to its natural coordinate. However, the fifth dimensional plane will not naturally home into the natural coordinate signal, rather it will hover around the area defined by the natural coordinate. To `fine tune' the fifth dimensional space, a circuit named the void locker operates. A permanent artificial alternative dimension (PAAD) has now been created.
The size of the PAAD will initially be the same size as the original interior of the ship. However, by default the dimensional control expands the interior space, in such a way that the ship's interior appears to be larger than the ship's exterior. Of course, the two spaces are no longer directly connected. Although the boundaries of the interior and exterior are shared, the space inside the ship now exists within the fifth dimension, and within reason there exists the freedom to define the shape and size of the interior in any fashion. In practice this is not possible: the dimensional control sets the initial size of the interior, and this cannot be changed without replacing the dimension control. One point to stress is that the outer-walls of the ship are not moved when the PAAD is created. The walls may be scaled in size from an interior perspective; the space in between the walls is `scaled-up'.
Finally, the dimensional bridge and exit portal (main door) are created, with help from the void locker and dimensional integrator. First, the void locker will physically remove the limbo barriers which separate the outer and inner dimensions. This creates a dimensional bridge between the ship's interior and the outside world. The dimensional integrator will then perform some pan-dimensional wizardry in order to properly maintain the field of dimensions (see below). In essence, the dimensional integrator provides a stable, indiscernible portal between the worlds inside and outside the TARDIS; it safely connects the interior to the interior. In addition, the circuitry is responsible for the isomorphic door mapping, the trick of having the door look different on the outside compared to viewing the door from the inside.
The term field of dimensions is used to describe the relationship between the interior space-time, the isomorphic mapping of its boundaries onto real-space, and the non-contiguous condition of its boundary. An isomorphic mapping of boundary space is the phrase used to describe the situation when objects such as the main door exist both without and within the field of the interior space, in essence, the same object is defined twice, once in each dimension. A non-contiguous field-space is any non-closed space; a closed space is completely contained within its boundaries. The ship's exit portal - the main door - and the dimensional bridge are not contained entirely within the ship's interior, and hence the interior space is non-contiguous.
Certain phenomena and events can disturb this field, which may distort or destroy the PAAD, warp or destroy the exit-portal and dimensional bridge, or create a new exit portal, or destroy or severely damage any edge point of the interior part of the ship. In the event of local space distortion, the dimensional stabiliser may operate, to try and cancel out foreign signals which could mask the signal produced by the dimensional control.
In the unlikely event of the destruction of the PAAD (removing the dimensional control will achieve this), the interior dimension will physically shrink in size and slip back into normal space, scaling down the ship to fit the constraints of the outer-hull. This may happen because of a malfunctioning dimensional control. In such a case, the interior may be re-opened by visually linking the circuits of the dimensional integrator via the DBO, and creating a temporal dimensional stabiliser, although care must be taken not to damage either the dimensional stabiliser or any other of the instruments and circuitry placed within the DBO.
A breach in the hull will cause dimensional instability and disturb the field of dimensions, and apart from everything else, will destroy the PAAD, and possibly result in the break-up of the ship. Another scenario where the field of dimensions will be disturbed is when the door is forced open. This is not as catastrophic as the hull being breached, but is still very dangerous, resulting in destruction/re-sizing of the PAAD, or instability within the dimensional bridge and the main door space.