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Old 07-11-2018, 07:20 PM   #908
Varyon
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Re: Catalog of the Weird Parallels

Not certain of a good name for this one (Deathclock, maybe?), but at first glance it looks like a simple echo of Homeline, circa the 1990's. However, later analysis discovered something very strange - everyone on the worldline who has ever died has done so at 19:44 GMT. There are no known exceptions. In a freak accident, a homeliner was actually decapitated while on the worldline, and his heart continued to beat - and indeed his eyes continued to twitch similarly to being in REM sleep - for over 5 hours, until suddenly stopping at 19:44 GMT.

The significance of 19:44 was initially lost on Infinity, until a similar parallel (Deathclock-2?) was discovered. In this worldline, death only occurs at 4:44* AM local time, meaning in theory someone who is mortally wounded could be transported from a timezone where it is 4:00 AM over to one where it is 5:00 AM, skipping the death time, to extend their life.

An even more bizarre parallel (Deathclock-3) was also discovered, where people only die at 19:44 GMT on April 3**, and at no other time during the entire year.

In all of these worldlines, all humans (only - this doesn't appear to affect animals, plants, etc; nobody has tested to see if human-like people, like elves, are affected) are treated similarly to having Unkillable 2, but still must roll for Death Checks. If a character dies, their death doesn't actually come into play until the death time rolls around. In many cases, medical assistance prior to this can save the patient, as their vital functions needn't be restored so long as enough damage is repaired prior to true death.

*19:44 GMT is 4:44 Japan Standard Time, and 4 is often regarded in Japan as an unlucky number. One of the manners of pronouncing it, shi, sounds the same as a Japanese word for death.
**19:44 GMT on April 3 is 4:44 on April 4 in Japan.
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