Latch

A Latch is device that feature in the movie Morlocks.

History
Latches were devices constructed in the early 21st century as part of a series of experiments by modern humanity in order to create viable time travel technology. It was based on the designs of the scientist Doctor James Radnor who had developed devices that were able to open rips in the timeline allowing travelers to move from one point in time to another. After an explosion, the project was meant to had been discontinued but the military continued its development. This was because they felt the potential benefits that could be reaped by journeying into the future and bringing them for reverse engineering by the United States government as part of Project E.L.O.I.. An expedition of soldiers sent with a Latch departed to a future point in the timeline where it was seemingly after the end of the human race. There they encountered Unknown Biological Entities that killed the members of the expedition thus stranding the Latch in the future. This led to the project seeking out Dr Radnor in order to enlist his aid in getting options. As a result of the lost Latch, rips had been frequently at random moments in the present where became larger as well as lasted longer on each occasion. Thus, if not stopped, the rips would eventually grow to consume the research base to eventually the country and in time the entire world as it linked the present with the future on a permanent base. From the rips, U.B.Is began to emerge into the present thus highlighting the dangers of a lost Latch. Initially, they asked Radnor for assistance in building a new Latch but there was no guarantee it would link to the timeline where the lost Latch was located. Thus, it was decided a group would be sent through the rip to locate and repair lost Latch but Radnor refused to assist the endeavor as he was disgruntled over the failure as well as dangers of the project which he departed initially.

However, he changed his mind and revealed what was wrong with the Latch as well as possibly had a means of fixing it. Thus, he was part of an expedition to travel into the future with the first priority being to retrieve the device and bring it back to modern Earth. They managed to successfully retrieve the Latch but were under attack by Morlocks when Radnor and his team were trapped in an elevator where they activated the machine to return to base. Before he could destroy the Latch, the commanding officer of the base forcibly relinquished the machine from his custody as they intended to continue with the program. This was due to Colonel Wichita's desire to save his diseased son by finding a cure for his condition which he thought possible through the use of Morlock DNA. Radnor with the aid of his ex-wife attempted to find a means of shutting down the project due to the dangers associated with it. During this time, Dr Felix managed to study the recovered Latch and learnt that the future timeline visited by the expedition was in fact 68 years in the future. Thus, they determined that the tragedy that devastated the Earth was in the near future. Radnor's ex-wife Angela attempted to retrieve the Latch but Felix took custody of the machine where he incidentally moved close to the recovered body of a live Morlock. This specimen woke where it killed Felix and damaged the Latch leading it to activating where it brought hordes of Morlocks into the present. The Latch turned out to be badly damaged but the freed Radnor along with his colleagues created a plan to destabilize the large rip thus stopping the invasion from the future alongside the Project E.L.O.I. headquarters.

Overview
These machines were small handheld devices that had a keypad interface on its surface that allowed for the activation of a rip. Each Latch was keyed to a particular moment in the timeline which meant that they were forever linked to that point. This was important as it allowed travelers to move through any rip and return to their point of origin. Each Latch were linked to a completely different point in history and thus no two Latches traveled to the same point. Thus, the recovery of a lost Latch was important as a replacement device had no surety in linking to the time period where it was missing. This brought new dangers as bringing a Latch through an open rift can lead to an explosion. A lost malfunctioning was equably dangerous as it could lead to random rips effecting the origin point that could eventually permanently link two points in the timeline. The rips would form randomly where they became larger and lasted longer as if they fed on one another. If a Latch was damaged whilst in use, it possibly meant that the users would be stranded in the other timeline.

Specific EM scanners were able to register the spike from a Latch within a 100 yards radius.

Appearances

 * Morlocks: (2011)