Caitlan checks the tuning of a mirror, and the nocs can tell what's through the mirror. At one point, we learn that a mirror reflects one thing from one side, but the person standing on the opposite side sees something entirely different. And, when a mirror is broken, it's just glass, shattered, and as ordinary as anything in the everyday world.

So, what is a mirror?

That's difficult to describe, especially to a layman. By that I mean someone who's not as brilliant as Levi at understanding concepts that you or I would consider almost metaphysical. Think about it, at one point, he's able to create temporary temporal mirrors that draw the soldiers into a slip bubble, which is also in a mirror. How does he do that?

It all has to do with the alternate reality matrix. When the alternate reality is running, the rules of reality aren't quite as concrete as they are in the real world. We think "magic" in the real world, and in the alternate realities, Levi thinks "possibilities." In other words, there are ways to bend the reality rules to your bidding, if you know just how to tweak the subatomic cohesion that binds it all together.

Think of it this way. In the 21st century, we already tweak the subatomic world to do things for us in the "real" world. Fission and fusion power. Super-colliders. Nano-computing. Quantum-anything! The mirrors in The Wheel are an extension of what we're already capable of. What Levi is able to do is out of our reach at this point, but it's coming someday. In the early decades of the 20th century at a time when cars were little more than metal boxes on wheels, Dick Tracy had a Smart Watch, with video and full sound capability. Apple introduced theirs in 2015 to fanfare and wonderment. A computer we wear on our arm, with full online access! Self-powered! Real-time monitoring of our body/heart rate/and more! How cool is that?

Then think of those backpacks each team member carries. When they step through a mirror, it refreshes the contents to whatever Levi has preprogrammed in. Food, clothing, whatever you want. The mirror translates you through, but it can add or subtract on the way.

That adds an interesting concept in the matter. Remember the soldiers who appeared in the slip bubble with top hats, cigars, and 19th century formal wear? They weren't wearing that when they were pursuing the survey team. It makes me wonder what else could the mirrors change? Flawed DNA? Old wounds that have never healed? Amputated limbs? Cancers? The everyday common cold? What would happen to the medical field? It would be kaput. A lot of businesses would go out of business.

That being that, maybe we have something like this already, and no one is telling us. They're still hiding the aliens that landed in Roswell, after all. Maybe, if Apple is as good as they say, we'll be able to Google Alternative Reality Mirrors on our Dick Tracy Smart Watches and find that we don't have to endure that headache any longer.

I wonder if those mirrors can take away love handles, too? Hmmm . . . that might be an idea. But then, no one would need a gym membership anymore, and if they all went out of business . . .