Of all the Riotspolis Council members, Prof Balthazar was one of the rare few to see the opening up to the outside world as a positive thing. And indeed the discovery of vortex portals and strange dimensional faults appearing sporadically in Clint City had allowed him to develop new advanced theories on the time-space question (theories which were then applied by Prof Hartnell to his clock). But Prof Balthazar wants to go much further and create an independent portal generator, so not only can he can become the first Kaironaut, but also the first to cross an artificially created real "vortex". And thanks to thermonium, all this is now possible, but does it not also risk setting off a time travel paradox with potentially devastating consequences?