( un: kent | text )

[anewhope]

How familiar are people with the multiverse?

Any tips to spare?

Comments

[anewhope]

Why can't it split?

[quantumnomad]

It just doesn't. There's a time-travel project, we can track changes to the timeline but the changes rewrite history, they don't create branches.

[anewhope]

That is rather interesting. Theoretically, it means time is far more robust than we account for.

What changes do you make?

[quantumnomad]

Save a life, mend a relationship, prevent an injustice. Never anything as big as this.

[anewhope]

Not to impugn on the importance of those things, but . . . why?

[quantumnomad]

Why help people?

[anewhope]

Why cross through time to fix those things?

[quantumnomad]

I kinda jumped the gun. But we revived the project because we all wanted to make the world a little better.

[anewhope]

[ hm. he's not sold on it. but clark gets the feeling there's more to this that he can't see yet.

playing with time feels like playing god, even on a small scale. and he's rather tired of gods. ]

How do you choose the people?

[quantumnomad]

I don't. I can't control where I go or who I have to help, our quantum computer makes the calculations and I end up where I need to be.

[anewhope]

A computer.

[quantumnomad]

Yeah. Not unlike Aurora, I suppose. Except Ziggy doesn't talk.

[anewhope]

Who made it?

[quantumnomad]

A physicist and a programmer put her together about thirty years ago. I understand why you'd be suspicious, but there is no secret evil behind her. We understand how she was made and how she works, we just haven't figured out how to control where to go or how to get back.

[anewhope]

[ the premise feels hard to swallow, but clark doesn't want to be pushy about it just yet. ]

I'll take your word for it.

[quantumnomad]

[ it's so much worse than that. ]

Thank you.

Getting back to your original question, the premise here is that different events can split a timeline into different distinct universes.

[anewhope]

And those are the worlds in danger. Apparently.

[quantumnomad]

That's the official story, yes. Trimming a tree before the branches collapse.

[anewhope]

[ hm. ]

Perhaps we'll learn more in time.

[quantumnomad]

I can understand the logic, but in my experience the universe doesn't need external intervention to sort itself out.

[anewhope]

This is the culmination of many universes. Many experiences.

We may not know what it needs.

[quantumnomad]

Fair. Though the premise here is that it needs death, so I'm not entirely sold on it.

[anewhope]

No. I can't say that is one I can get behind.

[quantumnomad]

Someone asked me what would I do if that was the premise and I was the one in charge of choosing which worlds end.

[anewhope]

I rather it didn't come to that. For any of us.

[ though . . . he had. once. ]