[network] Event: Long & Lost [NIGHT 217]

[snowblindmods]

it's been so long between the words we spoke
will you be there up on the shore, I hope

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Comments

[mrcreamsicles]

well shit
mark me down as another time traveler
except the game was sburb and the goal was making a new universe
were you one of the people who could do the jumps or just another player along for the ride

[whatjupitercouldnt]

I was one of the two who could jump. Sigma too, though he tended to be better at keeping his memories of the other timelines intact between jumps.

[mrcreamsicles]

can i ask why you had that power
or what for
like beyond the whole training thing with the game i imagine there had to be some purpose to it

[whatjupitercouldnt]

If you're talking about where my abilities came from, I honestly don't have a damn clue.

As for what the game was for... the hope was that Sigma and I would jump back in time to stop a viral infection from breaking out and wiping out three fourths of the human population.

[There's a pause, before a second message comes.]

It's where I was supposed to be going, when I ended up here.

[mrcreamsicles]

jegus
ok yeah makes sense
sounds important
i think it kind of always falls to us time travelers to be saving people or fixing things
but theres no real knowing until its too late if you got it right

[He pauses, too. He keeps saying more than he means to, and it's frustrating as hell.]

how do the alternate timelines work in your world
i know it doesnt work the same in every one
but from what ive been through and heard other people say it isnt too kind about people messing with it

[whatjupitercouldnt]

Tell me about it.

[The "not knowing until it's too late" part. True, and Sigma could just... jump to another timeline then. But what happened to the timelines that got left behind? They didn't just stop existing.]

Are you familiar with multiple worlds theory?

[mrcreamsicles]

[He thinks a little. He's not sure how she means it, so—]

probably not the way youre thinking of
go ahead and explain

[whatjupitercouldnt]

It's an advanced physics theory.

Say back home, you're putting on clothes and you find you have two pairs of socks left, one grey, and one white. Which color do you pick?

[mrcreamsicles]

i dont have feet
but lets say white

[whatjupitercouldnt]

[Oops.]

Sorry. And thanks for not completely derailing the point of the question.

[She's had it happen before.]

So you've picked white. But you could just as easily have picked grey, correct? In the many worlds theory, there are now two worlds, two alternate universes, if you will. One where you picked white, and one where you picked gray.

Now just imagine every decision, everything that happens making different timelines like that. It's still a theory at this point, but my own experiences have been backing it up so far.

So when Sigma and I go back in time, there will be a sequence of events that leads to the Nonary Game happening. But there will be another where we succeed too, ideally.

[mrcreamsicles]

oh ok that thing
got it
the way time works where im from is kind of like that too
except we have one timeline called the alpha timeline which contains all the events that have to happen
basically all of reality relies of a shitton of stable time loops so if something goes wrong it means they cant be completed
and a failed time loop means a paradox
and a paradox means a doomed timeline
so every alternate timeline but the alpha is like slated to end
people in it die and thats that
i was a time player so basically it was my job to ensure some of those loops get completed the right way
your version sounds better if im being honest

[whatjupitercouldnt]

[She reads, considers what he's saying. And it makes a certain deal of sense. All of the timelines that ended with Dio's antimatter bombs going off, or with just a handful of them escaping, or being trapped in the bunker with all of them infected with Radical-6...

What happened to those timelines? Theoretically they'd just keep going, but without them all in it. And yet.]

For all I know that's possibly even what the older Sigma and Akane were trying to do. Create a new alpha timeline of sorts in our world, only one where the majority of humanity lives instead of dies.

She didn't exactly take the time to thoroughly explain herself before sending us back. It may even be beyond our scientific ability to prove at this point, as much science as we can apply to this kind of thing.

[mrcreamsicles]

damn
id try to offer advice but ive got none
i couldnt change the alpha
only do what was needed to try to make it go the way it had to
since it turns out trying to change the past generally just made it go the way it was supposed to in the first place
i dont have that kind of experience with a bunch of alternate timelines either
ive only been through two of them and both went off the rails for different reasons
but were also necessary for the alpha in the end so go figure how it all slots together
for what its worth i hope there is some way to fix your world and that you guys find it