He really didn’t need them for the usual reason. It is just that he could see more this way. There were hidden objects and dimensional doorways which availed themselves to him which he would otherwise miss.
It was through one such doorway that he found himself in New Babbage. Distinct readings of chronoton particles led him through a void which opened up in a subterranean alcove of red brick and shallow seawater beneath Babbage Square. The readings persisted; it would take several moments to triangulate their point of origin.
He climbed a convenient ladder and pushed hard to displace a heavy iron lid, lifting himself out of a manhole to sit in the middle of a cobblestone surface. This appeared to be an industrial part of the city. A steamworks hissed on one side, a distillary on the other. There was not a soul on the streets, not even through the anagraphic lenses of his goggles.
The device indicated a signature to the east. He got up from the lip of the hole and dusted his coat off before briefly squatting to replace the lid. Then he straightened his collar and started on his journey…
Great introduction! I look forward to seeing how this plays out.