It starts with a thought

[verdeleonessa]

So, I know we have out hands full on Glatisant as it is, but I'd like to address something.

Many of you have likely heard about the war going on in one of the eras. Specifically the one in the past. I've talked to Thace's overlay about it and decided that I'm going to try and help design a few things to help them, since I can't go there and build stuff.

Then I started thinking... there's the ability to share your body with an overlay, right? I've heard about it-- even if I don't have the skills for that yet-- and it had me wondering. What happens when your overlay wakes up in the Waking Worlds? If I remember right, at least one of us was using this ability when we came here...

I know it's a bit of a long shot, but it would be great to gather information from the era itself.

Comments

[forcechanic]

Jey's from the future era, but if we want to find out what happens, I'm willing to help out.

[professorwolf]

I've done the half-infiltrating thing before, multiple times. I'm not this time, but from what I know about it, I do believe when you all wake up, anyone using that skill will most likely still be with their shared body.

... I'm not really sure if we should be mucking about with the past, however. The war with the Diabolin ends eventually, anyway. I'm not sure when, but by the time we hit the time frame of the Jaunt in space, it had been over for quite some time, and their empire was well in decline. And mucking about with the past could create some kind of paradox which makes it impossible for the other two timelines to exist, and make a mess of this whole Jaunt.

Depending on which theory of time travel you subscribe to, at any rate.

[verdeleonessa]

That would be great. It shouldn't be dangerous, considering you'd just wake up and then go back to sleep again there... but it might still be a bit risky. If something happens over there, we can't help.

[verdeleonessa]

That would really make sense to happen, yeah. It's still something that should be tested.

But what if this is all so that the past can happen like it should? What if they got help from here and without it the past wouldn't change? Both are equally possible.

Though it's not like I would come up with anything that would mess up with their time. Just a little help to make things easier and have less deaths.

[leftbehindagain]

It's an interesting idea.

This also raises the question of whether it'd be possible to deliberately partially infiltrate yourself during a jaunt, but I don't think this is one I want to experiment with that on.

[verdeleonessa]

That is a good question... and I understand why this Jaunt might not be one for experiments like that. I'd hate to be separated from my Spirit Companion and causing them worry, for example.

[leftbehindagain]

I also think I'm going to be of more use if I'm fully myself, and if the overlay I had last time is still around, he wouldn't really get us any new information.

[professorwolf]

Like I said, it depends on what your theory of time travel is, and which theory is actually correct in this case.

I'd strongly suggest we call in Davesprite and Colonel Tick-Tock before we do anything to change the past in the waking world, they're both professional time-travelers, in their own way.

[forcechanic]

Jey's got a lot of options for defending herself, so I should be okay even if we're out of psychic contact while I'm awake. She's still travelling with Riva, too, so she's not getting into anything alone.

[firstcreed]

I would not know about that, but tell me more of this war. I am a protector in my home, so I may be able to offer advice, if nothing else.

[otomechapilot]

...If we can do that, some of us helping Allura should probably hang out in the future and present so we can pass along information.

Like. Hecatites and humans would, uh, stand out in a factory full of elf slaves and Diabolin masters. We might be able to do more good passing info along than being Obvious Invaders.

[fridgeninja]

If this is something we're getting involved in... I'll help however I can. I can help design simple cybernetics they can craft and use without advanced technology...

[set_your_watches_for_fun]

[Colonel Tick-Tock generally utilizes a cheerful tone over the network, or at least something like a radio announcer, but now he sounds uncharacteristically serious and stern.]

The past musn't be changed in the waking world, it's a terrible idea. Even small changes can damage the timeline irreparably and cause paradoxes which can unravel time itself, and therefore reality. I will not allow that to happen.

[verdeleonessa]

Oh. Yeah, that makes sense.

Has it been a long time since the last time you were here?

[verdeleonessa]

What if that's what the Arcana sent us here to do? Help them out some way when they're looking for help here? What if we already have helped them in the past and now we just need to figure out how?

[verdeleonessa]

Excellent. Then that sounds like a plan.

[verdeleonessa]

Okay, so in the past, there's an Empire called the Diabolin Empire. They're oppressing elves and hecatites to be their slaves and do whatever they want with them like they're just things they own. The war is about trying to liberate the slaves from the Empire.

Diabolin can't dream, so Questing Country serves as a place to plot against them for those who can dream.

[professorwolf]

Maybe we ought to find someone who actually knows the history of this war, one of the natives from one of the future timelines, and ask what happened. If we were supposed to help, it ought to be in their history, shouldn't it?

[verdeleonessa]

The council of senpais. We should ask them about it once Glatisant has been dealt with.

[verdeleonessa]

That's definitely true. Passing on information is also a very vital part, after all.

I could hack onto Diabolin Empires computers, if I could enter the Waking World and provide help that way. Risky, yeah, but it would definitely be worth a shot.

[verdeleonessa]

Really? That's really neat. We should definitely brainstorm together.

[leftbehindagain]

Somewhere around two and a half years, from our perspective. Somehow it's only been one year locally, for the part of the timeline that overlaps.

[set_your_watches_for_fun]

That isn't how time works. It goes correctly on its own unless there are disasters or interference from outside sources, and I haven't felt anything like that. It's that sort of justification that makes time meddlers, and there's been more than a few messes I've had to clean up there. Revisional historians always do more harm than good.

[otomechapilot]

I think it would be a much better idea to get that information from the future and pass it to the past?

Like, get a history book with the layout of the base and secret letters from the Diabolin and send that through the Dream.

[otomechapilot]

...in the Waking world.

What about passing info in the Dream? Can you tell what's "supposed" to happen?