New Reality Seeds

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

This is something I'd like to see expanded... also a setting that I'd like to visit, or perhaps live in.

I'll do a little now, and later see about more later.

The discoveries of Jack Parsons hasn't effected all technology. It's still TL7 in 1970. Medicine jumped to TL7+2 between the late 1930's and 1943.

FDR lived to retire in 1947. Truman was elected president in 1948 and re-elected in 1952. Eisenhower, influenced by FDR, became a Democrat and won two terms starting in 1956. JFK became president in 1964 and is still president in 1970. Ronald Reagan is seen as likely to run in 1972, as are Gov. Rockafeller, and Sen. Goldwater Amoung the Republicans. Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy are the most likely Democrats. The USA has Socialised Medicine and a Social Democratic Welfare State. No oil shocks seem to threaten this parallel. Especially as Azothic Batteries function like TL12 power packs from 1943 on.

By 1937 Parsons has cheap powerful electric generation down pat. These are effectively TL7+5 Thorium generators with no measurable radioactive wastes. Anti-gravity is noticed soon after and Parsons keeps it under wraps with help from the millitary. In 1940 the first "Saucers" are up and flying. Mass production starts in 1941.

The early saucers have an odd side effect. They cause those travelling within their anti-grav field to have precognitive dreams. Rhine who knows some of the early pilots starts to examine the phenomena. Psionics becomes a branch of science.

A functional reactionless drive is developed by 1944. Earlier Saucers used props and other means of propulsion and mainly used high altitude flying to avoid combat. Outside of the atmosphere, this drive seems to be limited to 0.05 of C.

It is assumed that improved computors will be needed to crack a fuller use of the Azoth Drives potential.

Warp Drive (the standard name for FLT drives in this parallel) is possible only outside of the sun's (need alchemical term) zone. Warp factors are defined as C times X squared, were X is the warp factor. These factors seem to come in whole quantums only. By 1970 6 is the highest Warp Factor possible. Improved computing is assume to improve this, as it already has.

In 1970 medicine functions at TL7+5, but biotech is only TL7+1. Still genetic engineering is seen as the future of agriculture and industry.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Drifter

Sweet. This is a fun one, and you should expand on the setting - I have a question or two...

Does Parson promote Crowley's Thelema religion? Does he summon the goddess Babalon (aka Marjorie Cameron) to Earth? Is L. Ron Hubbard considered the Anti-Christ? In as much as he tried to dupe Parson and steal his would-be goddess...

Marjorie Cameron becomes a powerful Psion, from exposure to the Azoth Drive, and is busy promoting the study of Psionics. She uses ritual experience to aid Psions in developing their abilities. Hubbard is a popular Sci Fi and Suspense Author, there is no Scientology. Parson's interest in the Occult is now seen as just another Psion trying blindly to unlock his abilities. Occultism is seen as a sort of folk parapsychology.

Sounds like there is a Cold War after all, but the world is much more multipolar. With energy needs met and transport pretty easy, is it only ideology that divides the world?

The British Empire is still gone. But Britain is a major space power. The USSR is still around. The Azothic Generators have extended the period of Authoritarian growth. In our world the Soviet economy stopped growing in 1960, in this world they're still growing in 1970. However, even with new resources, the USSR still looks unable to deal productively with the oncoming information revolution which is perking along in this world's Silicon Valley.

With all power needs met there is no need to develop the Middle Eastern oil fields. Hitler and Stalin still murder a lot of Jews, so I would guess Israel is still established.

Yes, but there's no real Western interest outside of Britain's Arabists in being on the Arab's good side. And the Arabs have seen little benefit in allying with the USSR. The Middle East is a backwater.

If Doctor Who and Star Trek are popular, AND we have an FTL drive - how does that work? Writers usually can't come up with anything so interesting as reality. While DW is more "mythic" in scope and can avoid a lot of story problems, Star Trek might run into the problem of being overwritten by events on the ground. I suspect we haven't found any aliens yet, and we might not be so happy if we do find some.

The 1960's Star Trek had large numbers of impressive sci fi authors writing for them. They make do. besides, Star Trek is Mythic too.

[Drifter]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

besides, Star Trek is Mythic too.

Blasphemy!! :)

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Drifter

Blasphemy!! :)

You say that like it's a bad thing. ;-)

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

... Hubbard is a popular Sci Fi and Suspence Author, thier is no scientology. ...

Which hints that Heinlein and Hubbard never made that friendly wager, and Stranger in a Strange Land either remains unwritten or was a vastly different book ... or it's substantially the same book as in OTL, and Azoth-8 has a "hippie religion" that treats Heinlein as a prophet.

[Drifter]

Originally Posted by robkelk

Azoth-8 has a "hippie religion" that treats Heinlein as a prophet.

A hippie culture that venerates Heinlein? To paraphrase Professor Farnsworth of the Hippie Universe, that timeline is seriously freaked up.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by robkelk

Which hints that Heinlein and Hubbard never made that friendly wager, and Stranger in a Strange Land either remains unwritten or was a vastly different book ... or it's substantially the same book as in OTL, and Azoth-8 has a "hippie religion" that treats Heinlein as a prophet.

There is a pagan Church based on the ideas in that book. The Church of all Words is described in Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Drifter

A hippie culture that venerates Heinlein? To paraphrase Professor Farnsworth of the Hippie Universe, that timeline is seriously freaked up.

Yes, our timeline is seriously freaked up.

[Astromancer]

One major reason that Homeline, Centrum, and the Cabal, are all interested in Azoth-8 is the state of Psionics. The science is new but rapidly advancing. There is a great deal of useful data to mine here and little risk of being caught simply because most Psions have little or no skill. The few who have both power and skill, like Marjorie Cameron are generally tact free zones and easily avoided.

The Psionicists of Azoth-8 recognise three basic pools of psi talent. First, Proven, Fully Trainable: this includes Telepathy, ESP, Anti-Psi, and Probability Alteration. However, just because they can teach these powers to anyone with PSI talent doesn't mean they can teach them to use them very well. They are getting better, but it's slow, very slow. Second category, Proven, Semi-Trainable: the term is debatable, but Psychic Vampirism, Astral Projection, Psychokinesis, Physic Healing, and Ergokinesis, are practiced by known Psions. Some claim to be able to teach these powers, but the evidence is iffy. Teleportation is alone in the category, Proven, Untrainable. No Psion is known to be able to teleport at will. Only the Perks Coin Trick, That Extra Inch, and ExoFast draw are available to humans native to this setting. Although Warp has shown up as a case of spontaneous nonrecurring PSI.

There are rumors of Unproved PSI powers, most are said to be examples of other powers combined or at higher power levels. In truth, only Psi Perks, which are becoming common in Spacer, Academic, and similar circles, are all that reliable.

Actual magic spells seem to be unknown here, although most of this parallel is low Mana with areas of higher Mana. Alchemy seems to be the local magic.

[DocRailgun]

Oberon Zell (once called Otter) was at a pagan convention in Minneapolis in 2014.

Originally Posted by Astromancer

There is a pagan Church based on the ideas in that book. The Church of all Words is described in Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon.