Catalog of the Weird Parallels - Page 90

Astromancer · 07-06-2018, 01:34 PM

A type of weirdness traditional to fiction is the world/society where a given activity or custom is vastly exaggerated in importance. Example: a world were Chess is as important and defining as religion was in Medieval Europe or India. An alternative might be a world were an important aspect of society like government or religion was simply missing.

Ottriman · 07-07-2018, 03:02 AM

Flex-1

The people of this timeline had an interesting divergence sometime in the 17th or 18th centuries that derailed all notions of normal technological progress. Instead of undergoing the industrial revolution, they instead discovered superpowered physical training.

So instead of factories or big machines they developed physical bodybuilding good enough to let people do those tasks. Instead of tanks or airplanes they developed super athlete juggernauts/jumpers instead. Basically any mechanical technology got a bodybuilding training regimen equivalent.

This even extended to them developing powerbombers of mass destruction in the 20th century, which could pick up and powerbomb buildings hard enough to destroy towns.

There is currently a state of Cold War between the United German Flexmuscles in Europe (Led by Arnold Schwarzenegger) and the Mighty Musclerica Republic in North America (Led by Teddy Roosevelt). The posturing flexing between their leaders is said to be so great it can be felt across the world, and set off the little proxy conflicts between them.

It is unclear how much of that is just metaphor for their state of cold war.

Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2 · 07-07-2018, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ottriman

Flex-1
<snip>

HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!! <gassp> <faint>

PTTG · 07-07-2018, 12:57 PM

Jinn-3(b) is a world where every eight year old gets a pony.

The pony appears the moment the child turns eight, somewhere nearby that is safe for both the pony and any nearby humans (no appearing on the freeway or inside a rickety attic). It is a real, permanent, living small horse.

For years, scientists were baffled. Culture was distorted weirdly, and industry sprung up to care for (and dispose of) ponies that were not really practical for families to own. Horses are rapidly becoming the largest portion of animal biomass on the planet. Eventually they determined that there were about two hundred "models" of pony, and through a series of experiments known as the "Birthday Surveys," researchers eventually pinned down a dramatic energy burst tied to the pony manifestations.

The inhabitants are dangerously close to discovering the Secret, and they also have a sensor network set up to detect new ponyfalls. The appearance of a conveyor will definitely set that off....

Culture20 · 07-07-2018, 02:49 PM

The team shows up on Jinn-3(b) and is greeted in four minutes by an animal control officer looking for a pony. Hijinks ensue?

AlexanderHowl · 07-07-2018, 03:47 PM

Switch-1

Switch-1 was the first Q5 weird parallel discovered by Infinity around twenty years ago, but they did not understand how weird until a year after its discovery, when Infinity banned any contact with Switch-1 because of North America Arbovirus-13 (NAAV-13). Since then though, Infinity has had to deal with periodic outbreaks of NAAV-13 throughout Q5. Anyone infected with NAAV-13 is dumped on a quarantine timeline known only to the I-Cops, where they are monitored by select researchers.

NAAV-13 is descended from an arbovirus indigenous to the ticks of Eastern North America. In 500 AD, a mutation changed its ancestral viruses into NAAV-13. NAAV-13 causes dramatic positive changes in the neurology and physiology of any human that became infected with the virus, is sexual transmitted, and passes through the placenta to infect the fetuses of any pregnant infected female.

When infected with NAAV-13, humans undergo a change in biological sex after a month long incubation period. Female humans become male humans while male humans become female human over a month long transformation period. Pregnant females delay their transformation until two years after they give birth or a month after a miscarriage or stillbirth, and they are infertile during that time period.

During their first transformation they develop 1 level of a random psionic talent and 10d points of random psionic abilities distributed among their psionic talents. After their first transformation, they may develop their psionic abilities normally and their biological sex remains stable for 2d years. After their stable period, they undergo another month long transformation of biological sex, gain another 1 level of a random psionic talent and another 10d points of random psionic abilities distributed among their talents. Children born to infected mothers are infected, so they are born with 1 random psionic talent and 10d points of random psionic abilities within their psionic talent and have 2d years before their next change of biological sex.

Switch-1 otherwise appears to be a normal timeline. Native American explorers infected every population of human on the Earth with NAAV-13 by 1000 AD, when the history of Switch-1 diverged dramatically from Homeline. The current year is 1533 AD, Christianity and Islam are extinct religions because they not could adapt the changed by NAAV-13, and the existing nations are surprisingly equalitarian, as anyone can randomly change sex and develop potent psionic abilities. While there are dozens of powerful nations, the Great Powers are China (which never suffered the Mongol Invasions), India (which repulsed the Muslim invaders in 1100 AD), and France (which controls Britain, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain under its renewed Celtic Paganism).

Infinity keeps a careful eye on Switch-1 through robotic probes but, due to a quirk of the virus, none of its victims seems to develop Dimensional Travel or Time Mastery. Infinity is worried, however, about outsiders illegally transporting infected natives to other timelines or becoming infected themselves and transporting the virus. Its fears are not unfounded, as there have been forty outbreaks of NAAV-13 outside of Switch-1 over the past twenty years, but the I-Cops have managed to keep NAAV-13 contained so far.

TGLS · 07-07-2018, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Culture20

The team shows up on Jinn-3(b) and is greeted in four minutes by an animal control officer looking for a pony. Hijinks ensue?

Better send in Agents Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Switch-1

Switch-1 was the first Q5 weird parallel discovered by Infinity around twenty years ago, but they did not understand how weird until a year after its discovery, when Infinity banned any contact with Switch-1 because of North America Arbovirus-13 (NAAV-13). Since then though, Infinity has had to deal with periodic outbreaks of NAAV-13 throughout Q5.

Infinity is worried, however, about outsiders illegally transporting infected natives to other timelines or becoming infected themselves and transporting the virus. Its fears are not unfounded, as there have been forty outbreaks of NAAV-13 outside of Switch-1 over the past twenty years, but the I-Cops have managed to keep NAAV-13 contained so far.

That's... Pretty improbable. Between all the tourists, colonists, academics, criminals, and terrorists running around Quantum 5, outbreaks could spread like wildfire with nearly no control. How are you supposed to deal with any of the ticks who spread from timeline to timeline (I doubt the criminals or the terrorists care about decontamination protocols)?

AlexanderHowl · 07-07-2018, 06:53 PM

Well, the natives are fairly capable of defending themselves against outsiders since the average 35 year old inhabitant possesses six levels of psionic talents and 210 points worth of psionic abilities. There are so many telepaths and espers that they will probably know what outsiders are up to (or what will happen if they sleep with the outsiders) that it would be really difficult for outsiders to trick the inhabitants of Switch-1 into infecting them. The real source of the infections would probably be the former Infinity agents who avoided quarantine and have been dodging I-Cops by jumping from one Q5 timeline to another through using black market conveyors.

Flyndaran · 07-07-2018, 06:57 PM

Being sexually transmitted would drastically slow accidental spreading.

AlexanderHowl · 07-07-2018, 08:45 PM

Which is why there have only been 40 outbreaks in 20 years.

07-06-2018, 01:34 PM	#891
Astromancer Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: West Virginia	Re: Catalog of the Weird Parallels A type of weirdness traditional to fiction is the world/society where a given activity or custom is vastly exaggerated in importance. Example: a world were Chess is as important and defining as religion was in Medieval Europe or India. An alternative might be a world were an important aspect of society like government or religion was simply missing. __________________ Per Ardua Per Astra! Ancora Imparo

07-07-2018, 03:02 AM	#892
Ottriman Join Date: Apr 2015	Re: Catalog of the Weird Parallels Flex-1 The people of this timeline had an interesting divergence sometime in the 17th or 18th centuries that derailed all notions of normal technological progress. Instead of undergoing the industrial revolution, they instead discovered superpowered physical training. So instead of factories or big machines they developed physical bodybuilding good enough to let people do those tasks. Instead of tanks or airplanes they developed super athlete juggernauts/jumpers instead. Basically any mechanical technology got a bodybuilding training regimen equivalent. This even extended to them developing powerbombers of mass destruction in the 20th century, which could pick up and powerbomb buildings hard enough to destroy towns. There is currently a state of Cold War between the United German Flexmuscles in Europe (Led by Arnold Schwarzenegger) and the Mighty Musclerica Republic in North America (Led by Teddy Roosevelt). The posturing flexing between their leaders is said to be so great it can be felt across the world, and set off the little proxy conflicts between them. It is unclear how much of that is just metaphor for their state of cold war.

07-07-2018, 12:57 PM	#894
PTTG Join Date: Feb 2011	Re: Catalog of the Weird Parallels Jinn-3(b) is a world where every eight year old gets a pony. The pony appears the moment the child turns eight, somewhere nearby that is safe for both the pony and any nearby humans (no appearing on the freeway or inside a rickety attic). It is a real, permanent, living small horse. For years, scientists were baffled. Culture was distorted weirdly, and industry sprung up to care for (and dispose of) ponies that were not really practical for families to own. Horses are rapidly becoming the largest portion of animal biomass on the planet. Eventually they determined that there were about two hundred "models" of pony, and through a series of experiments known as the "Birthday Surveys," researchers eventually pinned down a dramatic energy burst tied to the pony manifestations. The inhabitants are dangerously close to discovering the Secret, and they also have a sensor network set up to detect new ponyfalls. The appearance of a conveyor will definitely set that off....

07-07-2018, 02:49 PM	#895
Culture20 Join Date: Feb 2014	Re: Catalog of the Weird Parallels The team shows up on Jinn-3(b) and is greeted in four minutes by an animal control officer looking for a pony. Hijinks ensue?

07-07-2018, 03:47 PM	#896
AlexanderHowl Join Date: Feb 2016	Re: Catalog of the Weird Parallels Switch-1 Switch-1 was the first Q5 weird parallel discovered by Infinity around twenty years ago, but they did not understand how weird until a year after its discovery, when Infinity banned any contact with Switch-1 because of North America Arbovirus-13 (NAAV-13). Since then though, Infinity has had to deal with periodic outbreaks of NAAV-13 throughout Q5. Anyone infected with NAAV-13 is dumped on a quarantine timeline known only to the I-Cops, where they are monitored by select researchers. NAAV-13 is descended from an arbovirus indigenous to the ticks of Eastern North America. In 500 AD, a mutation changed its ancestral viruses into NAAV-13. NAAV-13 causes dramatic positive changes in the neurology and physiology of any human that became infected with the virus, is sexual transmitted, and passes through the placenta to infect the fetuses of any pregnant infected female. When infected with NAAV-13, humans undergo a change in biological sex after a month long incubation period. Female humans become male humans while male humans become female human over a month long transformation period. Pregnant females delay their transformation until two years after they give birth or a month after a miscarriage or stillbirth, and they are infertile during that time period. During their first transformation they develop 1 level of a random psionic talent and 10d points of random psionic abilities distributed among their psionic talents. After their first transformation, they may develop their psionic abilities normally and their biological sex remains stable for 2d years. After their stable period, they undergo another month long transformation of biological sex, gain another 1 level of a random psionic talent and another 10d points of random psionic abilities distributed among their talents. Children born to infected mothers are infected, so they are born with 1 random psionic talent and 10d points of random psionic abilities within their psionic talent and have 2d years before their next change of biological sex. Switch-1 otherwise appears to be a normal timeline. Native American explorers infected every population of human on the Earth with NAAV-13 by 1000 AD, when the history of Switch-1 diverged dramatically from Homeline. The current year is 1533 AD, Christianity and Islam are extinct religions because they not could adapt the changed by NAAV-13, and the existing nations are surprisingly equalitarian, as anyone can randomly change sex and develop potent psionic abilities. While there are dozens of powerful nations, the Great Powers are China (which never suffered the Mongol Invasions), India (which repulsed the Muslim invaders in 1100 AD), and France (which controls Britain, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain under its renewed Celtic Paganism). Infinity keeps a careful eye on Switch-1 through robotic probes but, due to a quirk of the virus, none of its victims seems to develop Dimensional Travel or Time Mastery. Infinity is worried, however, about outsiders illegally transporting infected natives to other timelines or becoming infected themselves and transporting the virus. Its fears are not unfounded, as there have been forty outbreaks of NAAV-13 outside of Switch-1 over the past twenty years, but the I-Cops have managed to keep NAAV-13 contained so far. Last edited by AlexanderHowl; 07-07-2018 at 03:50 PM.

07-07-2018, 06:53 PM	#898
AlexanderHowl Join Date: Feb 2016	Re: Catalog of the Weird Parallels Well, the natives are fairly capable of defending themselves against outsiders since the average 35 year old inhabitant possesses six levels of psionic talents and 210 points worth of psionic abilities. There are so many telepaths and espers that they will probably know what outsiders are up to (or what will happen if they sleep with the outsiders) that it would be really difficult for outsiders to trick the inhabitants of Switch-1 into infecting them. The real source of the infections would probably be the former Infinity agents who avoided quarantine and have been dodging I-Cops by jumping from one Q5 timeline to another through using black market conveyors.

07-07-2018, 06:57 PM	#899
Flyndaran Untagged Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon	Re: Catalog of the Weird Parallels Being sexually transmitted would drastically slow accidental spreading. __________________ Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check.

07-07-2018, 08:45 PM	#900
AlexanderHowl Join Date: Feb 2016	Re: Catalog of the Weird Parallels Which is why there have only been 40 outbreaks in 20 years.