[video; open]

[51stcentury]

[Viewers are greeted by a charmingly dashing white smile, easy and confident without being cocky, shining blue eyes and the face of a 1950's matinee idol. He's dressed in his customary outfit of braces and greatcoat, his very presence commanding your attention]

Hey there, kids. So it's come to my attention that there are some of us a little more used to this whole traveling in space thing, am I right? I mean. There are some of us on here who have literally never even heard of the idea, which. Is charming, really it is. But that means that this whole Tranquility thing has gotta be more than a bit of a shock. So here's where I'm going to be taking a poll.

How many of you are familiar with travel in space? How many of you have heard of it, but never dreamed you'd do it yourself? How many of haven't even dreamed of traveling the stars?

I figure if we cover that much at least, we'll be able to determine how many of us need a bit more explanation than the fact that we seem to be on some sort of large passenger vessel traveling through some undetermined part of some unknown galaxy. Vague, I know, but I haven't exactly found a viewing screen yet, have you? That's where the rest of us come in. Maybe, with your help, we can figure this all out.

[He goes to reach forward to turn off the video feed, before a thought comes to him and he stops, a more mysterious look in his eyes as he does] I don't suppose that any of you are familiar with time travel...?

Comments

[laufeysons]

But you are human, yes?

[51stcentury]

Mostly, yeah.

[laufeysons]

I see.

[ It's not like the fact that a mortal has mastered something so advanced bothers him or anything. Definitely not. ...Maybe a little. ]

What is a time paradox?

[51stcentury]

Time is tricky. You can change some things and not have it effect all that much. Mess with other parts, and you can rip a hole in space and time itself. Like meeting yourself when you don't remember meeting yourself in the past, for example. Opens up a whole can of worms that you really don't want opening up.

[laufeysons]

[ That sounds like utter and delightful chaos to Loki. Though it doesn't carry through his text message, he's kind of grinning to himself over here. ]

And do you, with your many years of experience, often encounter this problem?

[51stcentury]

It's not really a problem you want to encounter, considering it means the end of everything in that dimension, including yourself, so no. I can't say I've dealt with it too much.

[laufeysons]

Then how do you learn how to circumvent it?

[ Is it all theory, no learning-by-doing? ]

[51stcentury]

I'm not quite sure what you're asking here.

[laufeysons]

My apologies. It is just that it sounds so complicated, how do you learn how to avoid creating a time paradox when there is little to no margin for error?
Do you go into it knowing for certain what will create them, and what won't?

[51stcentury]

It's kind of touch and go. Mostly, you don't want to change too much about the past. Try to be unassuming, don't stand out. It's been a while since I've had the training, though. Don't go messing with big events in history, and don't go changing your own timeline. Those are the basics.

[laufeysons]

[ He's thinking. Even so there's not much of a delay between messages. ]

So it is not a skill specific to you.
There's an organization.

[51stcentury]

Yep. There's an organization.

[laufeysons]

[ Fascinating. ]

On Earth?

[51stcentury]

The Agency? No, not Earth. That'd be a bit too limiting, if humans were the only ones allowed in.