The Rothski device is a type of thermonuclear weapon capable of delivering a localized explosion. It is supposed to be invented in 2040, although the Faction introduced the weapon decades earlier in their fight against Travelers still loyal to the Director. (S3E09: David)
Properties[]
The device appears as a steel box 1 ft. wide x 2 ft. long x 3 ft. tall. The outer casing is lined with lead. (S3E08: Archive) The top of the box hinges open, with one side secured by two screws, requiring a screwdriver or equivalent to open the assembly. Inside is a friction-fit shielding plate which can be easily lifted away, to expose the device interior. The nuclear material is a sphere at the center with an outer covering of two hemispheres, connected by two cylinders to brick-shaped boxes on opposite ends.
Thick cables out of the boxes feed the detonator and have been rigged with a tamper switch. A ground wire can be used to short the device, normally colored green or yellow-green and is the thinnest one directly connected to the casing.
The weapons created by the Faction has variant features. The device is connected to laser trips around the door of the archive vault they are supposed to destroy; if opened from outside it explodes. All the wires are black, although the thinnest one connected to the casing is still the ground wire. Cutting the ground wire triggers a nuclear meltdown; the separated hemispheres of the core join at the center and begin to glow brightly. It must be removed in order to prevent the explosion. Meanwhile, the laser trips are disabled upon entering meltdown phase.
The core is made from uranium and thus highly radioactive; handling it without protection will result in lethal exposure. The unfortunate victim's organs will begin to liquefy in a few hours and will result in death in a day or so unless treated with military-grade nanites.
Usage[]
The devices are assembled wholly or partially by the Faction cell under Ben and Dawn after successfully joining forces with their future leader 001, who has provided them with the necessary resources to continue waging their war. Four of these devices are deployed in 2018 against the Director's archives worldwide. Almost all are obliterated along with sizeable swathes of the cities they are in, except for the US archive which is only saved thanks to the efforts of David Mailer and the Core Traveler Team. However, David is exposed to lethal amounts of radiation after handling the core, and dies the next day. The US Rothski device was briefly handled by Tristen and Jeff Conniker before Dawn summoned them to other matters. (S3E08: Archive, S3E09: David)