Orbs

One of the Orbs being studied.

The Orbs were mysterious, powerful artifacts sought by John Bly, among others.

Appearance and abilities

Chinese workers touch the Orb rods before breaking their shackles.

The Orbs were spherical and colored gold, with dozens of protruding rods littered across their surface area that could be removed by pulling them out.

They possessed the mysterious ability to grant superhuman strength to anyone who touched one of the many rods contained within them; however, there was a catch: anyone with evil intentions was quickly and painfully killed by the Orb upon touching them, such as when Randall Thorogood came into contact with one.

History

Origins

According to time-traveler Karina, the Orb was "a man-made electromagnetic wave particle net that capture[d] energy at certain nodal intersections of the space-time grid." There were actually three different Orbs that were sent back in time from the year 5502, in order to aid the advancement of mankind.

John Bly

John Bly, himself a traveler from the year 2506, wished to possess the Orbs in order to gain the power to rule the world. He came to 1893 to seek the artifacts, as that was the year that all three were known to be found at the same time.

Fate of the Orbs

One Orb was damaged and ended up self-destructing. The other two were taken back to the future by Karina.