Portalium

If you know where to look, you can find these glowing purple crystals in almost any world of the Simulation. Just… don’t get too close without the right equipment — or at least a solid safety rope. Blink once, and boom — you’re no longer hiking through forest, but running for your life in a world where sentient tomatoes hunt people for sport. Yes, I’ve been there. No, I’m not going back.

Though Portallium looks like a rare mineral, it’s actually a piece of code — one that used to make my life a whole lot easier. Back in the carefree days when I still had full control over the Simulation, I had to jump between virtual worlds all the time. Each jump required a full system reboot — slow, boring, and guaranteed to eat a few hours of progress. So I wrote a script that could open safe passageways between universes (or “projects”, as I called it back then). It worked so well that I baked Portallium right into the Simulation’s core, making it generate naturally in every world. Basically, my personal cheat code for instant travel.

Too bad I didn’t consider that someone else might get their hands on it. After the whole Bug incident — and my rather permanent “vacation” inside the virtual realm — the inhabitants of the Simulation discovered Portallium and started experimenting with it. Some did it in labs, others with drums and chanting. Before long, there were more portals in the multiverse than holes in Swiss cheese. These days, everyone knows about Portallium. Whether that’s a good thing or a disaster… I’m still not sure.

On one hand, Portallium has caused plenty of trouble — world invasions, resource wars, catastrophic attempts to weaponize it… you name it. On the other hand, it’s what finally united the multiverse. It let the inhabitants of different worlds travel, meet, share knowledge, help one another, and realize just how vast and diverse the multiverse really is.

I guess there’s a silver lining to every glitch, huh?