Catalog of the Weird Parallels

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

Originally Posted by PTTG

In Luggage, some strange outside force grants everything with human-like intelligence at least a few levels of extra-dimensional Payload.

Do the young women of this world carry giant mallets in ther extra-dimensional spaces?

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by PTTG

In Luggage... However, a professional teamster can increase that to around fifty pounds per point of IQ...

There are limits, of course. Any one part of the payload must be physically lifted by the bearer, and can't rest even partly on the ground or in someone else's hands. ....

How do these two parts mesh? Very few humans can lift 500+ lbs fully off the ground.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2

Do the young women of this world carry giant mallets in ther extra-dimensional spaces?

The only known parallel where local woman don't have a problem with store bought clothing lacking pockets.

It would be weird for visitors to see pure affectations like purses. But maybe they're just for snacking or tiny pets.

Smuggling of small valuable items like drugs would be utterly unstoppable making for a very different culture and legal system.

[YankeeGamer]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

How do these two parts mesh? Very few humans can lift 500+ lbs fully off the ground.

Quite easily. The payload might well be many smaller objects.

[dcarson]

Originally Posted by PTTG

In Luggage, some strange outside force grants everything with human-like intelligence at least a few levels of extra-dimensional Payload. This Payload cannot be detected or manipulated in any way except by the person to which it belongs. One may "reach" into this space and pull items out freely, at any time.

What happens to the Payload contents if they die?

And what level is human like. Can chimps do the same trick for example, or dolphins?

[PTTG]

On brain death, the contents of one's payload precipitate back to reality in a nearby area. As for "human like," I'd say it's normally just humans, but if your crosstime team includes robots, elves, or uplifted chimps, they can do it too.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by YankeeGamer

Quite easily. The payload might well be many smaller objects.

Then it's not one payload. It's many smaller ones. I don't see what you mean.

[YankeeGamer]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Then it's not one payload. It's many smaller ones. I don't see what you mean.

Looking at the Payload advantage, it seems to be defined as how much you can carry internally, but not how you load it. A semi has a huge payload, but even with a forklift, you can't load the entire payload in one move. A person with a 1000 pound payload might be in the same situation.

[Emerald Cat]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Smuggling of small valuable items like drugs would be utterly unstoppable making for a very different culture and legal system.

Drug smuggling is only the tip of the iceberg. Luggage would have problems as soon as weapons of mass destruction or bioweapons were developed. Closed borders and aggressive patrolling would be the most likely response. Countries that allow international trade would require that payloads be unloaded for customs to inspect prior to being taken into the country by a third party who lives in the country.

International tourism would only occur between countries that both had lax border policies.

[Emerald Cat]

Spam-1 is a TL8 Quantum 5 myth parallel in the local year 2020. Infinity has determined that this is a low mana world with no psi-activity. Here, what would be scams on Homeline are all true. There really are Nigerian Princes who want to give you large sums of money for a small processing fee. You really did receive a large inheritance from a relative you didn't even know about. The President really is personally reaching out to give you the $50M that the government owes you.

This isn't all sunshine and rainbows, though. For example, the IRS really will send voicemails threatening to suspend your SSN if you don't pay your back taxes. And they will carry out that threat if you don't pay them in gift cards!

The historical record shows that this phenomenon has been going on since ancient times, with the earliest archaeological evidence dating to around 2500 BCE in Egypt. Strangely, history, political borders, and linguistic evolution all have high inertia despite the inhabitant's bizarre behavior.

Infinity researchers have determined that the only limitation on the "scams" on Spam-1 is that they have to be possible within the mundane laws of physics. Economic and financial considerations do not appear to prevent the "scams". How the inhabitants of Spam-1 manage to form functional economies and governments defies comprehension.

Naturally, the "scams" have started operating over the internet. Centrum isn't a problem here because they don't have a reliable way to access this world. Even if they did, this world's utter irrationality would throw Centrum for a loop. The Cabal is quietly researching whether the inhabitant's bizarre behavior has a supernatural explanation.

Infinity's main concern on this timeline is preventing identity theft. Usually, this involves Homeline families swapping their gullible/vulnerable loved ones who keep falling for scams for a Spam-1 version. That way, "their" loved one gets to enjoy financial success while the "copy" suffers the "inevitable" bankruptcy quickly. Darker minds simply kill the Spam-1 version and seize the Homeliner's assets when they can be declared dead in absentia.