The Hunt for Dark Infinity

A Glossary of People, Places, and All Things Important

Atticus Higginbottom — A Realitant from the state of Washington in Reality Prime.

Alterant — Different versions of the same person existing in different Realities. It is extremely dangerous for Alterants to meet one another.

Annika — A spy for the Realitants who was killed by a pack of fangen.

Barf Scarf — The red-and-black scarf that Tick wears to hide the ugly birthmark on his neck.

Barrier Wand — The device used to wink people and things between Realities and between heavily concentrated places of Chi’karda within the same Reality. Works very easily with inanimate objects, and can place them almost anywhere. Humans must be in a place with concentrated Chi’karda (like a cemetery) and have a nanolocator that transmits their location to the Wand in order to be transported. Useless without a Chi’karda Drive, which channels and magnifies the mysterious power.

Benson — A servant of Reginald Chu in the Fourth Reality.

Bermuda Triangle — The most concentrated area of Chi’karda in each Reality. Still unknown as to why.

Billy “The Goat” Cooper — Tick’s biggest nemesis at Jackson Middle School.

Chi’karda — The mysterious force that controls quantum physics. The scientific embodiment of conviction and choice, which in reality rules the universe. Responsible for creating the different Realities.

Chi’karda Drive — The invention that revolutionized the universe, the drive is able to harness, magnify, and control Chi’karda. It has long been believed that travel between Realities is impossible without it.

Chu Industries — The company that practically rules the world of the Fourth Reality. Known for countless inventions and technologies, including many that are malicious in nature.

Command Center — Master George’s headquarters in the Bermuda Triangle, where Chi’karda levels are monitored and to where his many nanolocators report various types of information. Heavily damaged by the forces of Mistress Jane and currently under repair.

Darkin Project (Dark Infinity) — A menacing, giant device created by Reginald Chu of the Fourth Reality. May be the source of a plague of insanity sweeping the Realities.

Earwig Transponder — An insect-like device inserted into the ear which can scramble listening devices and help track its host.

Edgar Higginbottom — Tick’s father.

Entropy — The law of nature that states all things move toward destruction. Related to fragmentation.

Fangen — The sickening abomination of a creature created by Mistress Jane, utilizing the mutated version of Chi’karda found in the Thirteenth Reality. Formed from a variety of no less than twelve different animals, the short and stocky fangen are bred to kill and ask questions later. They can also fly.

Fragmentation — What happens to a Reality when it begins losing Chi’karda levels on a vast scale due to entropy. Can no longer maintain itself as a major alternate version of the world, and will eventually disintegrate into nothing.

Frazier Gunn — A loyal servant of Mistress Jane.

Frupey — Nickname for Fruppenschneiger, Sofia’s butler.

Gnat Rat — A malicious invention of Chu Industries in the Fourth Reality. Releases dozens of mechanical hornets that are programmed to attack a certain individual based on a nanolocator, DNA, or blood type.

Grand Canyon — A satellite location of the Realitants. Second only to the Bermuda Triangle in Chi’karda levels. Still unknown as to why.

Grinder Beast — An enormous, rhinoceros-like creature with dozens of legs. Found in the Tenth Reality.

Hans Schtiggenschlubberheimer — The man who started the scientific revolution in the Fourth Reality in the early nineteen-hundreds. In a matter of decades, he helped catapult the Fourth far beyond the other Realities in terms of technology.

Haunce, The — A mystery of the Realities that Master George has yet to explain.

Henry — A boy from the Industrial Barrens of the Seventh Reality.

Hillenstat — A Realitant doctor from the Second Reality.

Jimmy “The Voice” Porter — A Realitant from the Twelfth Reality. He has no tongue.

Katrina Kay — A Realitant from the Ninth Reality.

Kayla Higginbottom — Tick’s little sister.

Klink — Guard of the Execution Exit at the End of the Road Insane Asylum.

Kyoopy — Nickname used by the Realitants for quantum physics.

Lemon Fortress — Mistress Jane’s castle in the Thirteenth Reality.

Lisa Higginbottom — Tick’s older sister.

Lorena Higginbottom — Tick’s mother.

Mabel Fredrickson — Tick’s great-aunt in Alaska.

Master George — The current leader of the Realitants.

Metaspide — A vicious robotic creature from the Fourth Reality that resembles a spider. Chu’s security force.

Mistress Jane — A former Realitant and ruler of the Thirteenth Reality. Has an uncanny power over Chi’karda.

Mothball — A Realitant from the Fifth Reality.

Ms. Sears — Tick’s favorite librarian.

Muffintops — Master George’s cat.

Multiverse — An old term used by Reality Prime scientists to explain the theory that quantum physics had created multiple versions of the universe.

Nancy Zeppelin — A Realitant from Wisconsin in Reality Prime.

Nanolocator — A microscopic electronic device that can crawl into a person’s skin and forever provide information on their whereabouts, including Chi’karda levels.

Nonex — When Alterants meet, one disappears and enters the Nonex. A complete mystery to the Realitants.

Norbert Johnson — A post office worker in Alaska who helped Tick and his dad escape an attack by Frazier Gunn.

Paul Rogers — A Realitant from Florida in Reality Prime.

Phillip — Owner and operator of The Stroke of Midnight Inn in the Sixth Reality.

Pick — Master George’s nickname for a major decision in which Chi’karda levels spike considerably. Some Picks have been known to create or destroy entire Realities.

Priscilla Persephone — A Realitant from the Seventh Reality.

Quantum Physics — The science that studies the physical world of the extremely small. Most scholars are baffled by its properties and at a loss to explain them. Theories abound. Only a few know the truth: that a completely different power rules this realm, which in turn rules the universe: Chi’karda.

Quinton Hallenhaffer — A Realitant from the Second Reality.

Ragers (Static Ragers) — An advanced weapon that harnesses extreme amounts of static electricity. When unleashed, it collects matter in a ball that can shatter whatever gets in its way.

Realitants — An organization sworn to discover and chart all known Realities. Founded in the 1970s by a group of scientists from the Fourth Reality, who then used Barrier Wands to recruit other quantum physicists from other Realities.

Realities — A separate and complete version of the world, of which there may be an infinite number. The most stable and strongest is called Reality Prime. So far, twelve major branches off Reality Prime have been discovered. Realities are created and destroyed by enormous fluctuations in Chi’karda levels. Examples:

Fourth — Much more technologically advanced than the other Realities due to the remarkable vision and work of Hans Schtiggenschlubberheimer.

Fifth — Quirks in evolution led to a very tall human race.

Eighth — The world is covered in water due to much higher temperatures caused by a star fusion anomaly triggered in another galaxy by an alien race.

Eleventh — Quirks in evolution and diet led to a short and robust human race.

Thirteenth — Somehow a mutated and very powerful version of Chi’karda exists here.

Reginald Chu — Tick’s science teacher in Reality Prime. His Alterant is from the Fourth Reality and founded Chu Industries and turned it into a worldwide empire.

Renee — An inmate at the End of the Road Insane Asylum.

Ripple Quake — A violent geological disaster caused by a massive disturbance in Chi’karda.

Rutger — A Realitant from the Eleventh Reality.

Sally T. Jones — A Realitant from the Tenth Reality.

Sato — A Realitant from Japan in Reality Prime.

Shockpulse — An injection of highly concentrated electromagnetic nanobots that seek out and destroy the tiny components of a nanolocator, rendering it useless.

Shurric — Short for Sonic Hurricaner, more powerful version of the Sound Slicer. Shoots out a heavily concentrated force of sound waves almost too low for the human ear to register but powerful enough to destroy just about anything in its direct path.

Slinkbeast — A vicious creature that lives in the Mountains of Sorrow in the Twelfth Reality.

Snooper Bug — A hideous crossbreed of birds and insects created by the mutated power of the Chi’karda in the Thirteenth Reality. Can detect any known weapon or poison and can kill with one quick strike of its needle-nosed beak. Pets of Mistress Jane.

Sofia Pacini — A Realitant from Italy in Reality Prime.

Soulikens — A mystery of the Realities that Master George has yet to explain.

Sound Slicer — A small weapon outdated by the much more powerful Shurric.

Spinner — A special device that shoots out a circular plane of laser, displaying video images on its surface.

Tick — Nickname for Atticus Higginbottom.

Tingle Wraith — A collection of microscopic animals from the Second Reality, called spilphens, that can form together into a cloud while rubbing against each other to make a horrible sound called the Death Siren.

William Schmidt — A Realitant from the Third Reality.

Windbike — An invention of Chu Industries, this vehicle is a motorcycle that can fly, consuming hydrogen out of the air for its fuel. Based on an extremely complex gravity-manipulation theorem first proposed by Reginald Chu.

Winking — The act of traveling between or within Realities by use of a Barrier Wand. Causes a slight tingle to the skin on one’s shoulders and back.