AIDA Cube

AKA "AIDA," or "Automatic Inter-Dimensional Apparatus." Mysterious devices shaped like small cubes, about four inches on each side and made of a dark blue metal. Each has a circular hole cut into one side, through which a small Crystal filled with potent Space Magic can be seen. They can be found across all of Zeta's Realms. The name comes from the same word engraved in the corner of each cube.

The AIDA is a uniquely powerful Magitech invention that can take the user anywhere in Zeta they wish to go, even between Realms. While this is typically a power only accessible to The Creator and The Hereafter, AIDAs are quite rare, and only have enough magic for a one-way trip.

Unique Magical Qualities

In the casting of a typical portal, the mage must have either been to their chosen destination before, or must be intimately familiar with it. Not even a photograph will do – finer details must be known, including a wealth of other sensory information. Otherwise, the portal will not open. AIDAs are unique in that they will simply make their best guess. While this helps their users overcome the limitations of a Space mage, many a Zetan has also been irreversibly abandoned in some hostile alien land. Light does not travel through portals, so their destination can't be seen from the other side.

Origins

The "AIDA" engraving is actually the name of the device's inventor, Aida, who calls them "portal agents." ("AIDA" itself is a backronym popularized by unscrupulous salesmen. Precious few know its true meaning.) Aida built all of the cubes by hand, including charging up each crystal using a Magitech technique no one has been able to replicate. However, all of the devices were lost in the Aida Spacetime Incident, to be found by unsuspecting Zetans throughout the universe's history.