Cross-time Adventure Seeds

[Flyndaran]

I vaguely remember the alien girl being surprised by the bionics of Summers saying that they don't have anything like that. It implied that they weren't that much more advanced that locals in some fields at least.
That easily allows their entire group to be cross timers that either lied or really believed they're "aliens".

[Astromancer]

Try this one...

Their are many Teslas in the multiverse. A few are successful, most die in obscurity. Homeline, the Cabal, and Centrum, are in a competition to gather up the papers of as many Teslas as they can. Of course Nikola Tesla's papers can end up in many odd and tricky places across the multiverse. Retrieving the papers without getting agents killed won't be easy, especially if the completion doesn't want it to be.

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

A I-COP team returns to discover by accident that one of their number had been replaced by an android copy, perfect in enough detail to fool a biometric security check, complete with memories. (Insert possible combat scene.)

The only possible place and time the substitution could have been made was in during their last mission. But that world is in the 19th century, and the technology of the android surpasses Homeline. Not to mention that there have only been two other missions to this world, both in the past week.

Who replaced their teammate? How did they? And why? And what nefarious scheme do they have brewing?

(This was originally postulated as a Wild Wild West crossover, but other adventures are possible.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I vaguely remember the alien girl being surprised by the bionics of Summers saying that they don't have anything like that. It implied that they weren't that much more advanced that locals in some fields at least.
That easily allows their entire group to be cross timers that either lied or really believed they're "aliens".

I don't recall the episode that well, but we're talking about 'aliens who look just like humans,' right? That makes it even easier, and may have been something Infinity used early on to keep the Secret before they had more advanced methods (of course, if the aliens had a working flying saucer, it probably wasn't Infinity in that episode, but there are other options).

[Flyndaran]

That would be a valid defense against the truth coming out. Don't try to stop it, at least not too ahrd. Either discredit the source, or saturate the scene with "bad proof" of whatever the locals consider a kook theory.

[Astromancer]

Try this one...

There are many people throughout history of which we have no reliable portraits and very little biographical data. A notorious example is William Shakespeare. There is no reliable picture of the man and our biographical data is slight enough to be fodder for conspiracy theorists.

Thus Oxford and Cambridge have sponsored teams of intertemporial agents to get both multiple images of Shakespeare and solid biographical data, including a complete list of all the man wrote (it's reasonable to assume we've lost both early plays and several collaborations).

Two important things to remember. First, Shakespeare often traveled with groups that were shady at best. Not only will the agents have to deal with the crooks and ne'er do wells that Shakespeare is hanging with, doing their job sloppily could get Shakespeare's throat cut. Second, if they give Shakespeare a swelled head or false sense of either importance or persecution, he might never become the great playwright we know.

Be careful and through.

[Astromancer]

The FBI has asked the ICOPS for help. They'd like some surveillance of major and minor crime figures in the past. They know none of that is admissible as evidence in a Homeline court of Law, but simply having good details on the past actions of major crime families and gangs can give them valuable clues and insights.

Basically, they want you to spy on powerful and violent mobsters without either the mobsters or the local police (many of which were in the pockets of the Mobsters) know you're there. That's dangerous enough in our world, being an out timer makes it worse.

[Dr. Beckenstein]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Basically, they want you to spy on powerful and violent mobsters without either the mobsters or the local police (many of which were in the pockets of the Mobsters) know you're there. That's dangerous enough in our world, being an out timer makes it worse.

This is good. This is really good.

Another one: The US Marshal Service also asked the ICOPS for help, and law enforcement agencies around the world followed their example.

Basically, ICOPS does two things for them.

From time to time, they transport dangerous criminals from Homeline. For example, Marshals take a prisoner from a prison on Homeline and take him to the next projector. Infinity sends them to another timeline (usually one without natives) , where the marshals and the prisoner travel to the equivalent place of a court where the prisoner has to appear. Here, they are transported to Homeline. On this transports, the marshals get at least a small "honorary guard" from the ICOPS, more, when the timeline is dangerous or inhabited.

The other kind of favour is witness protection. Witnesses from homeline are handed over to the ICOPS, who hide them on another world. Usually, they are dropped on Coventry for a while. If they are nice people - or have to hide for a longer time -, they are given a new life on more hospitable timeline with friendly natives and running water. The ICOPS shepherd them for a while, until they decide the witnesses have adapted to their new life. From then on, they drop for an unannounced visit from time to time.

Both methods are considered rather safe. Few criminals from Homeline have the resources to intercept missions on other worlds. Everybody hopes.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Two important things to remember. First, Shakespeare often traveled with groups that were shady at best. Not only will the agents have to deal with the crooks and ne'er do wells that Shakespeare is hanging with, doing their job sloppily could get Shakespeare's throat cut. Second, if they give Shakespeare a swelled head or false sense of either importance or persecution, he might never become the great playwright we know.

How much does that actually matter? Yeah it might eventually shift the echo you are doing the research on, assuming you do go for an echo and not a parallel, but so what?

Though honestly even in a genuine time travel setting, rather than an infinite worlds one, any set of rules that allows you to insert agents into the past without erasing everything has enough "resistance" or "inertia" or other choice of buzzword that "strangers are wandering around asking questions about you" isn't likely to change anybody's actions enough to shift the timeline.

Seems like a simple mission really, find somebody who can convincingly play a contemporary rich young fan - can't be hard university theater programs are probably full of people who genuinely are enthusiastic fans - send him or her in after Shakespeare has done most of his work but before his death (1613 to 1616), befriend him and get him to tell you stories while you buy the rounds of drinks. This probably works even in a time travel setting - it's not like we have a list of Shakespeare's visitors or drinking buddies in the last couple years of his life for this to conflict with. Admittedly he might not tell you the *truth*, but should be more than enough to target follow on missions to check up on anything that seems questionable.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by malloyd

How much does that actually matter? Yeah it might eventually shift the echo you are doing the research on, assuming you do go for an echo and not a parallel, but so what?

Though honestly even in a genuine time travel setting, rather than an infinite worlds one, any set of rules that allows you to insert agents into the past without erasing everything has enough "resistance" or "inertia" or other choice of buzzword that "strangers are wandering around asking questions about you" isn't likely to change anybody's actions enough to shift the timeline.

Seems like a simple mission really, find somebody who can convincingly play a contemporary rich young fan - can't be hard university theater programs are probably full of people who genuinely are enthusiastic fans - send him or her in after Shakespeare has done most of his work but before his death (1613 to 1616), befriend him and get him to tell you stories while you buy the rounds of drinks. This probably works even in a time travel setting - it's not like we have a list of Shakespeare's visitors or drinking buddies in the last couple years of his life for this to conflict with. Admittedly he might not tell you the *truth*, but should be more than enough to target follow on missions to check up on anything that seems questionable.

Perhaps I simply can't imagine cheating others world's of Shakespeare. But what you say about an agent playing a well heeled fan willing to buy drinks for stories by and about the great man makes sense as reconisance.

Then, after getting the stories straight from the horses' mouths, learning at length of how faulty and convenient memory can be should be hilarious.