The clock face has three rings of lights: the outer shows seconds, the middle ring minutes, and the inner ring hours and quarter hours - the image on the previous page shows 3 o'clock precisely. It is a true mechanical clock but with the escapement clearly visible and the escape wheel teeth around the outside of the face. The progression of time is controlled by the Chronophage creature, evolved from a grasshopper which was the term used by John Harrison, the famous English designer of the nautical clock, to describe his famous escapement mechanism invention.
As the Chronophage 'walks' on the top of the clock, it is moving its feet in and out of contact with the escape wheel teeth to control the speed of rotation of the clock's mechanisms. Each second, the light rushes rapidly around the outer ring then appears to pause for a moment as the pendulum reaches the limit of its swing. Where that pause takes place on the clock face shows the number of that second in each minute. The sense of time racing away is very evident. The minutes are similar - at the completion of every minute the lights rush round the whole circle and push the total forward by one space into the next position.
Every hour the clock strikes - with a great rush of lights, as bright and fast as a cascade of
fireworks. For each stroke of the strike, the lights of the hour ring rush backwards around a
full cycle and then forwards again for another cycle. It takes exactly one second to perform a
backward circuit and another second for the forward circuit. The accompanying sound is that of
iron chains rattling on a wooden coffin with a hammer beating on the lid.