Oracle of Time

The "Oracle of Time" myth is a legend which centers on a rumored Hexamite relic known by the same name, said to be a paleotech device capable of time travel. In the myths which circulate about it, it will be alleged that travelers crossing the ruins of Hexamite space have stumbled across this Oracle and used it to view their futures or alter their pasts. Credentialed xenologists consider these to be baseless stories, as there is no evidence the Hexamites ever managed to accomplish what is known in the popular imagination as "time travel".

Variants

One common version of this myth recounts the story of an adventurer exploring Hexamite space in a ship, who either found the Oracle of Time or was found by it. The traveler, upon using the device, sees something disasterous is about to befall them in the near future. (Usually this is taken to be rival treasure hunters who intend to murder the protagonist upon his return to the Starweb and seize his loot for themselves.) Armed with this knowledge, the traveler is able to prevent the event from occurring, in effect swerving away from the "fate" which the Oracle had shown them.

In another version, the Oracle shows the traveler a past event which they regret, such as the death of a child or a break-up with their spouse, and allows them to change the timeline such that this never happened. The traveler is then left as the only person who remembers the "original" unaltered events.

In both cases, the device is depicted as having a mind of its own, using its time-travel powers to set up encounters with travelers from the Starweb according to its own inscrutable ways. Sometimes, in the future-seeing case, the Oracle is depicted not as a time-viewer but instead as a superintelligent entity capable of predicting what will happen with near-infalliable accuracy.

Effects

Breathless tales of the Oracle have inspired multiple known instances of treasure-hunters and Hexamite cultists mounting expeditions into Hexamite space in an attempt to meet or retrieve the device. A significant fraction of them never return, presumably being devoured by cosmosynths, falling victim to some still-active piece of technology, or otherwise perishing in their pursuit of an object which few believe to exist.