Interstate Portal System

The Interstate Portal System is a network of magical portals, mostly placed in government installations around the U.S., by which Department of Integrated Services officials and other mages can travel quickly from city to city.
All state capitals and most major cities have Interstate Portals. Major military bases, especially those with Embedded Mages, also have Interstate Portals. Smaller cities are gradually being added to the system.
All Interstate Portals are housed in secure locations, often with DIS buildings or within magical law enforcement centers.

History

During the Cold War, it was feared that a nuclear war would limit the United States' ability to communicate and to move people and goods. In the mundane world, this resulted in the Interstate road system (to move people and goods) and what would eventually become the Internet (to ensure communication and information exchange). The Talented world needed such a system as well, and to accommodate this need, the Department of Integrated Services created the Interstate Portal System.
To ensure that people and resources could move through the Interstate Portals even if some Portals were destroyed by nuclear or magical attack, each Portal was connected to at least three or four other Portals directly. From another Portal, one could eventually reach the final destination. In other words, the Interstate Portal System gives mages a way to reach their destination, directly in peacetime, and indirectly in case of disaster or destruction. For example, if one were to go from Boston, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C., one would take the Portal through Hartford, Connecticut, to New York City, to Baltimore, to Washington. But if, for instance, New York City were unreachable, one could take the Portal to Albany, New York, then to Philadelphia, and thence to Baltimore.
The Interstate Portal System requires a great deal of power to operate. The Department soon found that it takes twenty mages to power one Portal, and of course, each mage can only activate the Portal a few times before becoming exhausted. Because so many mages were required to run the Interstate Portal System, the Portals were not being used to their potential, and the DIS was beginning to experience worker shortages since the Portals required so many resources. Therefore, the Department set about finding a way to power the Portals directly. The results of more than ten years of experiments are the Sunstones.

Operations

The Interstate Portal System uses the complex Portal Spell, permanently cast on stone archways set with several Sunstones. A conductor sets the destination, then activates the enchantment. The traveler(s) then step through the archway to the archway at their destination. Most travelers compare the sensation to hurtling through a dark tunnel on a roller coaster. A DIS conductor and a co-conductor must be present to operate the Portals. Each must use a Focus to do so, as activating the Portal takes powerful magic. Even with the Sunstones' power boost, this magic requires energy and a great deal of concentration. Conductors and co-conductors typically switch their respective positions during a shift to avoid exhaustion.
Computer programs make the calculations for destinations and passengers and goods.  These calculations are routed to a permanent magic circle on the floor around the physical Portal.  In the past, this was done by interchanging elements in the floor (something like movable type), but now all operations are digital.
As with the Portal Spell, trip time varies by destination. The trip from Boston to New York takes less than a minute. The trip from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles takes about ten minutes.

Access & Availability

All members of the Department of Integrated Services have access to the Interstate Portal System for work purposes, including travel for meetings, conferences, and other official business. DIS employees may also use the Interstate Portal System to commute from home to work, but often this involves a car, bus, or walking commute to and from the Portals on at least one end of the journey (much like taking public transit).
Members of the Talented public may also use the Interstate Portal System by booking in advance and paying a fee--much like buying a plane ticket in the mundane world. Many mages prefer to drive, especially for shorter trips.

Complexity

Creating Portals and maintaining the network takes a great deal of time, skill, and magical energy by Talented engineers and artificers. Conductors operating the Portals must complete special training, but most conductors say that operating the Portals is not difficult once a person learns the system.