I have a main villain in my story who has the ability to touch any flat surface and "seed" it with a portal, and he can pick any two surfaces he's "seeded", from any distance, and make them open up into connected portals. Basically like the portal gun in Portal, except he can have way more potential portals at once (even if only one set can be open), they're invisible when they aren't active, and he needs to touch an object to make it portal-ready. Now, I need a signature tool of this guy's trade. An object it would be reasonable to be able to get his hands on a lot of in the immediate aftermath of a societal collapse situation (think zombie apocalypse or EMP attack), which he could put portals on to essentially be able to transport a portal around. Whether that be because there's something on the other end of that portal he wants to aim like a weapon, or he wants one of his minions to be able to place a portal somewhere without him being present, or he just needs to get a portal to somewhere he can't physically reach (like if he's throwing it). It needs to provide a flat surface big enough to house a portal a human could fit through, durable enough to be able to take a bit of a beating and still keep its shape, and, while super strength is somewhat in play here, lighter would of course be ideal so it can be carried around better. This feels like one of those things where the answer is obvious but it's just aggressively refusing to come to me. So I feel like I should step back and ask around. Any ideas?
Why can't the object create a portal larger than its surface area? I'd think about using something like a spray paint can, and he can 'draw' as big a portal as he wants. For fun he could go around tagging walls with portalized graffiti. Or maybe not...
Wheelbarrow. Flat surface on the bottom, big enough for a man to stand in. You can roll it almost anywhere and, in pinch, you can pick it up and carry it on your back (not sure about trying to throw one, though). And if the portal can be turned off or covered, you can also... carry things in it! Might look a little goofy to be wandering around a post-apocalyptic wasteland with a wheelbarrow. But surely no more goofy than wandering around in a friggin shopping cart. (Cormac McCarthy!)
Oh, better yet! Bottom of a large carpetbag! He could be an evil, post-apocalyptic Mary Poppins! That's not at all goofy.
An umbrella that can be opened into a broad portal-maker, or closed up for carrying convenience. "I'm Mary Poppins, Y'all!"
He needs a minion with a horrible abortion of a Cockney accent who can chalk out portals of his own. Because Mary Poppins actually, literally had that.
