Measurements of Time in The Delta Space

Founder's Era Galactic Time

Current Year in the Founder's Era Galactic Calendar is 3673

Founder's Era Galatic Time began upon the official arrival of the humanoid species known as the Founders, into the stretch of space that would become known as the Delta Space. The Founders were a group of cartographers seeking to map the universe and eventually found themselves settling and mapping out the Delta Space. The Founder's Era Galatic Time or Founder's Time is both a calendar and universal timing system used across Delta Space. It is currently the most commonly used timing device/mechanism in space for business, trade, and short-range space travellers moving along the more popular highways.
The number, while it may seem to indicate how long the Founders have been in the region of Delta Space may or may not be accurate as historical data from the original arrival of the Founders is spotty at best. So, the 'years' which are currently being counted are an educated guess as to the rough arrival of the group.
Founder's Time is meticulously managed and counted by the use of several intricately and precisely timed clocks, with several stationed in each governance. Each is nearly the size of a fully-operation station, some in fact are fully operating trade stations. And each is meticulously kept and synced with the other so that accurate time can be broadcasted to ships, stations, and planets.
This is done as opposed to basing the passage of time against an orbital system which allows for time passage at the same rate between systems. Making business and trade between systems easier to conduct. While some governments dislike this system for stripping them of their autonomous local systems, it provides several benefits both for local businesses and for the Territorial Governances themselves. As the governing body of The Founders Era Galatic Time pays hefty sums in order to continue operating these station-sized clocks in each participating territory.
Any ship entering a Territorial Governances space from another can send a deep space communications request to one of these clock stations and eventually receive an updated log of what the current time is in Founder’s Era time. Of course, the limitations of long-range communications technology, especially on smaller ships, means that receiving up-to-date calendar information can be delayed or even impossible depending on how great the distance is between the ship and the station. Many stretches of Delta Space have dead zones where no up-to-date information can be received, forcing travellers to stay within strict distances of these clock stations if they wish to have accurate Founder's Era time.

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Variance Time

Current Year in Variance Time is 2894

This time period is a bit more mysterious, as no one really knows how or why it functions as it does. Officially Variance Time was 'founded' shortly after the discovery and inhabitation of the The Variance space station. Those that began to inhabit the space station discovered that no matter what they set their clocks to whether it be Founder's Time or any other, their clocks always mysteriously reset themselves to a seemingly random number.
However, this number was not random at all and it was eventually noticed that all clocks on the Variance would sync to the same time. Even stranger still, if someone were to take a clock off of the Variance and install it into their ships it would continue to tell time based on what soon came to be called, Variance Time. No matter the distance or time away from the station. One of the more peculiar aspects of Variance Time is that of its current calendar year. Since the Variance seems to be dictating its own time, no one knows why the Variance chose the beginning of its calendar as it did. Currently, for example, in Variance Time, it is the year 2894. But no one really knows what that is counting from. People theorize that these years are a rough estimation of when people began to inhabit the station, with the station somehow acknowledging that and ticking time forward moving from that point. But this has never been confirmed, as no one can remember the exact details of its founding outside a few lingering pieces of legend and rumour.
Regardless, of its calendar's mysteries, it is a far more reliable measurement of time for long-distance travel than Founder's Time, as it does not rely on constantly updating information sent out by the Founder's clocking stations. This makes Variance Time the more popular choice for those that spend long stretches of time in remote locations, or on long-distance travels away from clocking stations, which makes it a favourite for Space Cowboys, adventurers, pirates, and other wandering space farers; as well as all of those that live on the Variance space station.
However, there are some strange downfalls for those that use this system. The clocks will occasionally shift back and forth several hours, our occasionally will jump forward a number of loops or cycles, on rare occasions the year has been changed suddenly. Also, when clocks are taken aboard ships the ships tend to become more prone to Abnormality Events, which can often pose a serious danger to those aboard if they aren't careful.
Most businesses due to the aforementioned quirks continue to rely on Founder's Time, as it runs primarily focused on shift work and shared business hours amongst the MegaCorpos.

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Examples of a standard clock

Both Founder's Time and the alternative Variance Time take place with shifts and loops in place of a standard 24-hour day. Each loop (day) consists of three shifts, with each shift representing roughly 10 hours (the average working shift in most areas) for a total loop of thirty equivalent hours. Further to this daily tracking system, are cycles which consist of 10 loops and are the equivalent of a workweek. Six cycles then culminate in a radial, the equivalence of a month. And finally, ten radials, equate to a galactic year.
Or otherwise said;
Three shifts (ten hours) culminate in a loop (day) and ten loops equal a cycle (workweek six cycles equate to a radial (month) and ten radials tick the calendar into a new calendar year.

An example of a clock readout may look like the below;

S1:3:8 - L3:10 - C2:6 - R4:10 - FY:3673

Reading this style of clock interface can be challenging and is a trained skill

Broken down that means; Shift 1 of 3 - Hour 8 of 10 - Loop 3 of 10 - Cycle 2 of 6 - Radial 4 of 10 in the Founder’s Year of 3,673 Due to the nature of work life and business hours in the Delta Space, loops, cycles and radials do not carry names but instead are only designated a corresponding letter and number to help identify where it falls in the equivalent shifts, loop, cycle, radial, and year.
A simplified clock may not include the placement of the current time in the larger scheme, and may not necessarily include the year.

For something akin to;

S1:8-L3-C2-R4

Summary

There are two primary and concurrent markings of time in the current era of Delta Space, Founder's Era Galactic Time and Variance Time.
While there are still numerous local planetary calendars and markings of the passage of time the two described in this article are the most commonly used amongst space farers and inter-governance businesses.

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Table of Contents

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An example of a digital time readout

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