tushanshu | o3 ☽ video;

[Catty is looking totally relaxed, leaning forward with her elbows on the desk, and her chin resting on her hands]

Hey, so, I can timetravel. [Yup just slamming that out there] And even though it's gone super weird here and I can't touch anything when I got back, or even have anyone notice me, it's still good for overhearing things. [A beat] Which, um, I haven't done to anyone here. So you know.

But I was thinking, there has to be some point in the past where things related to us were discussed, right? And if no one can see or hear us...well, we might be able to find out something interesting. Or important.

[She sucks in a breath, straightening] But I don't want to keep this to myself. So I'm asking for volunteers who don't mind stepping into a tunnel between space and time and exploring history. Vanessa'll tell you that it smells like cabbage, but she's kind of finicky. It's totally safe, and it doesn't smell bad at all, I promise. [yes it does] I think I'll be able to take four people back? My only real thing is that, if you come, you have to share what you find. It's not fair, otherwise.

[She gives a casual salute] Okay, Catty out! Just let me know if you're interested, okay?

[OOC: If your character is volunteering, please read this and sign up!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She switches privacy modes before replying. Maybe a bit late, but what the hell.]

You might say it's what I do for a living when I'm not here. I found my time machine at the last landfall before this one, but the instruments refuse to behave here.

...How do you make a living out of time travel? I mean - you don't have to tell me if you don't want, but I'd definitely be interested. [She frowns, tapping her lower lip] Did it come back with all its parts?

No, it's all right. I'm ... part of a group of explorers, essentially. We map out what we can of Time and share our knowledge, and while I'm at it I try to make myself useful to the people I meet, wherever I end up.

Anyway, it's got all its parts. Best as I can tell, the navigational instruments have come uncalibrated; they're not picking up the readings that they should. I've made a little progress, but it's slow going.

...How do you map time? Because that sounds amazing. Doesn't trying to help people like, make a whole lot of paradoxes, or something? Or does time just alter with the changes you make?

Oh. That sucks. I'd offer to help, but everything I know about time travelling is completely to do with me, no machines.

It's not easy. One of my friends has developed some hand-drawn charts, and another has a bank of computers for the purpose. We're still making it up as we go along, arguably.

So far as we've been able to observe, some more robust time-streams resist meddling, but others simply splinter off, as it were. Simply put, for example, there's one timeline where ... oh, I don't know, you had coffee in the morning, and another where you had tea. Sometimes the divergent timelines recombine, sometimes they branch out in separate directions. Quantum physics has been a boon and a giant headache all at once.

Well, if I can get this thing working before your expedition, I might be able to accompany you on my own. Not that I'm holding my breath, but it's a thought.

Sometimes that's the only way to do things. Making them up as you go, I mean. [She grins]

Oh! So you end up with like, parallel time-streams or something? Two different versions of things happening at once, but in different times? [That totally made sense don't even] Back home, everything just recombines. Sort of. Sometimes people would make comment about how long a day felt, or get confused about whether they'd seen me somewhere else, when I took a lot of trips.

...Which makes the idea of yo doing that way more interesting, to be honest. What happens when we use two different kinds of time travel? Would we end up in the same place and time, or would we go back to two different versions of the past?

Got it in one. We keep inventing and re-inventing metaphors for Time as we develop our theories—branches, streams, and so on. [She totally follows you, Catty.] Déjà vu and so on has also been known to happen in the words in which I operate, so I know what you mean.

As for different time-streams—that's entirely possible, now that you mention it. [A slight frown.] That could make things a little too interesting.

My favourite is lake. [Catty smiles happily. She likes having someone she can share time metaphors with] You know, time pretty much exists all at once, it just depends on where you jump in. And I'm glad I'm not the only one the déjà vu thing happens with, it used to really freak out Vanessa.

[She laughs] I don't know, I don't really think there's such a thing as 'too interesting' anymore. But maybe we can keep each other updated, just in case.

My friend Bastable calls Time a field, in which everything happens all at once. I'll have to pass the lake idea on to him, though; I expect he'll appreciate it.

Anyway, yes—I'll keep you informed of my own progress, and if I can help with yours, don't hesitate to ask me, all right?

Oh, that works too! And thanks. [A soft, genuine smile] I've never really met anyone who's a timetraveller before. It's nice talking with someone who understands.

[Una's answering smile is equally warm.] It's a pleasure for me too. Usually when I talk to others, it's because there's something going dreadfully wrong with the megaflow, or because I'm having to rescue someone who's gotten lost.

I've never actually gone looking for someone in time before. I mean, I know I can do it, otherwise I wouldn't risk this. But no one's actually been dumb enough to let go of me before. [She seems a little subdued] Things, sure, but not people.

[She notices the change in Catty's mood, but doesn't pry yet.]

The people I help are usually those who have slipped out of their usual zone through no particular fault of their own. Often they can't be returned to their own time, but they can learn how to negotiate Time on their own, so I try to help with that too.

Why can't they be returned to their own time? Is there some kind of...rule that prevents that?

A rule, an effect, a phenomenon ... call it what you will. Once a person has become displaced in Time, it's difficult for them to remain anywhere for long, particularly not in their zone of origin. So you have to learn to become something of a nomad.

That's...really sad. Is that what happened to you?

Something like that. I met one of my closest friends, Oswald Bastable, when he became lost. He slipped through a metatemporal gap in his own world and woke up in another. Luckily I was able to find him and help him as he slipped from one world to the next.

That's something, at least. Does that happen often? Metatemporal gaps just opening and closing all over the place? Or are they like, always there, or - I don't even know what the options are, here.

In the grand scheme of things, I wouldn't say they happen often. Just enough to be noticeable. Some are fixed gaps, like ... wormholes, I suppose. Others are temporary, caused by disruptions in the megaflow, that kind of thing—storms or waterspouts, if you will.

I make it sound much more dangerous than it is. The vast majority of people will never encounter anything temporally aberrant in their lives. [A small, self-deprecating smile.] Some of us just seek it out.

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