- "Matter and anti-matter can't co-exist. Bring the two of you together, and the fabric of the universe starts to come undone."
- ―Drew Monday to Zak Saturday in Black Monday
Background[]
The Smoke Mirror is an ancient Aztec artifact imbued with dark magic, the main function of which is to act as a viewing mechanism, and a portal, into a polar opposite anti-matter dimension.
The mirror may only function as a portal when two of the same objects from each side, such as Zak Saturday and Zak Monday, are near the mirror.
In the Series[]
The laws of matter and anti-matter function somewhat differently in the Saturday dimension though this may be the magic of the mirror affecting the science. In the Saturday dimension, two opposing people or items must come into close proximity for irregularities to occur, again such as Zak Saturday and Monday. At this point, the laws of physics begin to break down, causing the environment around the two people or objects to warp and distort. Being in direct contact with one's opposite doesn't seem to exacerbate these effects.
The warping of reality will occur even without the counterpart present if the amount of material is great enough, and will cause wide-scale chaos, as seen in Paris is Melting.
The Smoke Mirror was shattered to dust in And Your Enemies Closer, making it useless going forward.
The Shadow World[]
"The Shadow World" is a term coined by Zak Saturday to refer to the world on the other side of the Mirror. Not much is known about it, although it lives up to its name in terms of coloring. When Zak goes inside of it in Paris is Melting, everything is smoky, dark and tinted red, and the night/day cycles seem to be reversed between worlds, as it went from the middle of the day to the middle of the night when Zak crossed over.
No people other than the Saturdays are seen, but it can be inferred that there are others and a justice system of some kind, as Zak Monday says, "They don't like us very much in there," implying that criminals (such as the Mondays) are widely looked down upon.
Apparently, there is no hot chocolate in the Shadow World.
Trivia[]
- The Mirror still functions even after being shattered.
- It's possible that the Mirror has a limited form of self-defense, as when it was about to hit the ground and shatter, a cushion of feathers materialized beneath it.
- In ancient Sumerian mythology, "Kur" was actually another name for the underworld, where all who died ended up regardless of how they lived in life. It was described as dark and shadowy, with nothing to eat except for dust. It's worth noting the similarities to the Shadow World, as well as the fact that the Mirror was inactive for centuries until Zak (who is Kur) happened to touch it.
- In reality, any form of anti-matter coming into contact with any form of positive matter causes instantaneous annihilation and one-hundred percent energy yield, typically resulting in explosions some twenty times or more powerful than modern nuclear weapons.