Project Pendulum was the code name for Luther Clockwise's study into the old Keeper ruins beneath his house. The Project was dedicated to studying the connection between the Keeper's Glyphs and the elements of space and time, as well as the possibility of time and dimensional travel.
Background[]
After Baron Elias Northcrest cut his funding for the automaton project, Luther Clockwise continued his research from his house on Muddler's Row. Soon after, his son Jasper died, and Clockwise had just enough money to bury him.
Clockwise continued to work on his machines, and at some point he discovered an underground chamber beneath his house, which contained a number of mysterious symbols. As the research continued, Clockwise theorized that all points in time are connected, and believed that the Keeper's magic would allow him to step through time, in order to resurrect his son.[1]
In his final diary note, Clockwise claims to have finally learned how to open these dimensional gateways, and believes that he has at last found the location of his son in time. Upon his return, however, Clockwise's body collapsed from the strain, and he died in his own laboratory.[1]
Notes[]
- Clockwise's notes speak of the City as being fluid, almost alive, and changing over time, mentioning its shape and pathways, possibly without human intervention. This mirrors similar concepts hinted at by Orion, Elias Northcrest, and the Queen of Beggars in regard to the Primal.
- The Queen herself tells Garrett that if the Primal were to die with Erin, the City itself would cease to exist.
- Clockwise constructed the trick walls in his home in an attempt to reflect this fluidity of time and space.[2]
- Clockwise was in contact with an unnamed Engineer, who seemed to have been pushing for the automaton technology to be completed for ulterior motives.
- This same individual is credited with the creation of the Soul of the Automaton, which, like the Automaton's Heart, appears to use Primal energy to give the automatons life.
- If the ancient Keepers were capable of controlling time and space using Primal/Glyph magic, this would explain how the original Sneak Thief was able to leave behind a Montonessi painting in the Men's Ward of Moira Asylum, despite the artist not being born until approximately a century later.[3]
- It is known that in their time, the Keepers were able to use Glyph magic to create and open secret doors throughout the old City.[4]
- This connection is further supported, if not outright confirmed, by the fact that the tile puzzle in Clockwise's Project Pendulum chamber contains many of the Keeper's original Glyphs.[5]