The Type-40 TARDIS, meaning Time and Relative Dimension In Space, is a semi-sentient bio-synthetic
gallifreyan spacecraft capable not only of travelling through space with near-instantaneous
speed, but also of traversing the dimensional plane known as the Time Vortex, to facilitate
travel both backwards and forwards in time from the point of departure.
Though unimaginably advanced to the average observer, the type-40 was in fact considered
woefully out-of-date by Gallifreyan authorities, with the model having been pulled from general
service on gallifrey due to an extensive array of technical faults, ranging from malfunctioning
controls to an occasional inability to arrive at the desired time or location.
Like all TARDIS’s, the Type-40 is equipped with a Chameleon Circuit, a device which allows
the craft to alter its external appearance whilst landed, in order to blend in to its
environment, and avoid detection.
The Type-40 TARDIS used by the Timelord known as the Doctor, has famously lost its ability
to change disguise, leaving it with its outside appearance locked to that of a 1929 Police
Public Call Box.
This faulty disguise is less of an issue than one might imagine however, as the Doctor’s
Type-40 is also equipped with a Perception Filter, a telepathic device which misdirects
the senses of outside observers, making it highly difficult for them to notice the vessel,
even when it was in plain sight.
Though Dimensional Compression technology allows the ship’s perceived exterior to
be relatively small, the vessel’s interior is vast, housing an essentially infinite and
completely variable selection of internal compartments, utilities and systems.
In its default undisguised form, the compressed exterior of a Type-40 TARDIS represents a
featureless grey cylinder, with a single sliding door.
This entry point traditionally connects directly to the configurable primary control room,
but thanks to the completely adjustable nature of the ship’s interior dimensions, this
doorway can be connected to almost any aperture within ship, altering the vessel’s point
of entry.
At the relative centre of all TARDIS interiors, lies a mathematically modelled duplicate of
the Eye of Harmony, a timelord power source responsible for the gallifreyan’s mastery
of time travel, from this duplicate eye, vast amounts of raw atron energy radiates, and
this energy is absorbed and monitored by the TARDIS’s living consciousness, and channelled
to allow manipulation of the time vortex, and by extension, time travel.
Though an unmodified TARDIS was generally unarmed, the vessel featured many countermeasures
and defensive systems.
It’s interior was held in a state of Temporal Grace, which allowed the craft to remotely
disable small arms weapons used by any intruders, and the ship was able to enter a so-called
siege mode, which prevented all access to the craft, and layered its exterior in a sheet
of heavy armor to protect from external impacts.
The TARDIS used by the doctor was also outfitted with a macro-kinetic extrapolator, acquired
from Blon Slitheen, this device provided the craft with a defensive energy shield, capable
of surviving even direct impacts from Dalek torpedoes.
Beyond those already mentioned, the Type-40 TARDIS, and especially the modified TARDIS
used by the doctor, possess a number of utilities and features so great that they are almost
beyond counting.
From cloaking devices, to oxygen bubble projectors and even a botanical garden, the TARDIS is
truly one of the most complex and versatile spacecraft in existence, and the ship serves
not only as a powerful tool for its Timelord pilots, but as a profound testament to the
power and innovation of Gallifreyan civilisation.