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Project Circe
Topic Started: Feb 2 2016, 06:15 PM (4,032 Views)
Flisch
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Disclaimer:
This story may contain adult themes* and violence that might not be suited for younger members of the forum. Keep reading at your own discretion.


*Adult refers to sexual themes, though not (intentionally) pornographic ones.





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In order to prevent the story from being broken up too much, please post comments, questions or suggestions in the OOC thread. Thank you. :)
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Subject: No subject
 
Date: 2019/11/18
Time: 16:51
To: Staff

So I heard a decision has been made to continue Project Circe. I am not entirely sure what I am supposed to feel about it. On the one hand this is big. On the other hand this is exactly what worries me. It could be too big to handle.

But at least we have a plan now. I can't say it's a particularly stable plan, considering it builds on nothing definite other than "Maybe this works.". Project Circe is steering towards an uncertain future and I hope our plans with A. Johnson will not end in tragedy, should he even accept, which is far from assured.

I also want to take this moment to remind everyone of how serious the situation is. This was not a minor setback. We lost two good people, because we weren't prepared. We should not make the same mistakes again. Even if Johnson is indeed as good as it is claimed, we should double up on our efforts, triple up if possible.

We are not only testing new technology and learn more about the history of our planet. We are also gambling with people's lifes here. Whenever we send someone back, there is a good chance they won't return. I want everyone to remember this, to internalize this.

Personally I can live with the shut-down of Project Circe, but I don't want to be responsible for another person's death. I hope we all see eye to eye here.

Regards,
C. Peters, Head of Research
Edited by Flisch, Apr 9 2016, 05:41 PM.
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The plane has landed.

Finally!

I can take a lot, physically and psychologically, but a nine hour flight borders on torture. I wonder for a moment if it shouldn't be added to the Geneva Conventions.

Whatever, it's over now. My lungs need fresh air and my legs need space. I have already packed my stuff in anticipation of the landing, so I unbuckle my seatbelt, get up, grab my bags and-

I wait.

Of course. Wherever there are people, there are slow people. The corridor is blocked by those who start packing their bags now, now.

I roll my eyes and continue forward anyway. I'm not really in a hurry, there is nowhere I need to be soon, but I also don't see why I have to wait several minutes if I could be out in a few seconds.

Most people have the common decency of making room by themselves as I approach. I guess my rather impressive frame makes people nervous.

But then there are those who just have no regards for their surroundings, so absorbed by themselves that they don't even notice others around them. Or maybe they just don't care. I can't really tell what's worse.

But humans are just like any other animal. Once you know which buttons to push, they do exactly what you want them to do.

There's a certain space around each person, like some invisible boundary. The distance is of course different for each and everyone and may even differ culturally, but once you invade that space people get uncomfortable, very uncomfortable.

I prop myself up, standing upright, moving as close as needed and - voila, suddenly these people notice they are not alone on the plane. Nobody should ever say I'm not useful. Afterall I'm teaching these people important life lessons.

Of course, life lessons are never appreciated. I get some grumblings and an old lady even scolds me, but I don't care. I will most likely never see them again and if I ever do, the chances of them remembering me are smaller than the other way around.

In the end they all move aside and I smile to myself as I realize my own god-like powers of parting the crowd.

Well, maybe not quite god-like, it still takes me ten times as long as I would have liked, but we all have to start somewhere.

As I step outside and down the ramp I breathe in the fresh air and scope out the crowd below me. Great, more crowds.

In some distance I see people holding up signs with names on them. One of them is very likely for me.

Once I'm at the bottom I move towards the signs. It feels a bit like walking past shop windows, inspecting them all until you find what you're looking for.

Ah, there it is, some guy in a suit holding up my name. Wait a second, "Alan Jonson"? This is the first time anyone has ever misspelt my name. For a moment I consider just walking past him out of shame, but I didn't endure a nine hour flight just to take the next plane back home again.

I approach the man and ask him if he's looking for an 'Alan Johnson', like with an 'H' in the last name. Confused, he turns the sign around to take a look. Oh, please don't let him tell me he wasn't even aware of the spelling error on the sign he was carrying around for longer than it took me to exit the plane.

He does.

Again I consider just walking away at this point, but then I think of the nine hours and- Nope.

He extends a hand and tells me his name is Stuart Templeman and he's my contact person. Yeah, as if I remembered the name they sent me. I decline his handshake and instead ask him where I can claim my baggage.

He tells me that first he needs to see my ID, so he can confirm my identity. All standard security measures he assures me. I narrow my eyes. He's so lucky I'm not living on this side of the ocean.

After seeing the card we turn to leave. He tries to have some smalltalk with me as we walk, asking me how my flight was. He doesn't even stop talking while I pretend to be concentrating as I wait for my bags to arrive on the conveyor. I always thought pleasantries are supposed to be pleasant.

After that we continue to a black car. If I was a car person I could probably tell if it's a short limousine or just a long car, but I get in anyway. At least they got that covered.

Scratch that. There's no champagne.

There's talking though. Lot's of it. I zone out halfway through. If there's one thing I am good at then it's ignoring unimportant things. And Steve, or whatever he's called, is not exactly a fountain of information. Infact, he lets me know that he can't tell me anything, until I've signed a non-disclosure agreement.

I find the irony of this to be amusing. I tell him that this is far from the first such agreement I've signed and yet half of what they have in my file is information they shouldn't have access to. He pauses for a moment but before he can continue I interrupt. The leaks of such information rarely if ever come from the person signing the contract.

He is ready to object but I reassure him that I will sign their contract and keep to it, just as I have to the others. I'm not sure why, but he remains quiet for now. Maybe he's somewhat new in the business and has just received a useful life lesson.

Looks like I'm on a roll today.
Edited by Flisch, Feb 3 2016, 06:23 PM.
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The ride is starting to take longer than I hoped. I consider taking a nap, but I already had plenty of sleep on the plane so I just sit there and take in the city.

As it's getting darker outside, the houses become smaller. We're leaving the city. I ask Stan how long the trip will take. He tells me his name is Stuart and about three hours.

Three hours?! Are they mad? I just spent nine on a plane. Admittedly, it's nicer in the car than on the plane. There's more space and less people, but... I'm starved.

As if he could read my mind Stu asks me if I'm hungry. Hell yes, I am. He wants to know if I want to stop to eat. I say yes. Now he asks what kind of food I'd prefer. Before I commit to anything I want to know if they will pay for the meal and after a short pause he confirms. I let him off the hook and tell him that I don't really care, as long as it's edible. Somewhat relieved, he suggests a diner, half an hour down the road. I agree and lean back, looking forward to some nice food.

Stu and me go into the diner, while the driver stays in the car. A shame really. I liked the fact that he didn't talk, at all. Why can't Stu be like that? Okay, to be fair, he was like that most of the ride, but first impressions are hard to shake off.

Stu is the milkshake person, I knew that before he orders it. I on the other hand go with two double cheese burgers and an extra large side dish of fries. He gives me a skeptic look, his eyes asking me if I'll actually eat all that. What, does he think this body subsists on nothing but thin air?

While we wait for my food, I ask Stu about himself. Apart from correcting me about his name again, he stonewalls me with the classified information dance.

Fine, I don't really care about him anyway.

Once I get my food, I change my approach. I want to get to the meaty parts. What's this thing I'm going to work on, what is this mysterious organization that wants me to work for them without telling me a single thing? Why exactly do they need me?

I ask him what kind of job it is they want me to do. He takes a look around, but there was nobody, apart from the diner's waitress, who was way too occupied cleaning up the counter and at the other end of the room. Plus the music would have prevented us from being heard anyway.

He tells me that he can't say anything yet. That's fine though, he doesn't have to say anything in order to tell me what's going on.

I nod to the outside and comment on how we're not exactly in the middle of nowhere, even with a three hour drive, we'd still be far from a true wilderness. I ask him what kind of use they would get out of a survival expert.

He dodges the question but something in his eyes is telling stories. I ask if someone died already. A short glance to the side and then back to my eyes tells me more than he could have said.

I may not be a people person, but I can read humans fairly well, a skill that becomes more important the less you interact with them, ironically enough.

I ask if they need anything infiltrated. He shakes his head and I wonder if he is even allowed to tell me what I am not going to do. Surprisingly he also says that it's actually some sort of research project.

Furrowing my brow I ask him if they want to do any experiments on me. He says it's nothing like that, not really. Not a very satisfying answer, but I ask him why I should be part of a research project. I'm not a teamplayer, I do best when I'm on my own.

His face freezes and says that they know and that this is precisely the reason why they need me.

Intriguing. I decide to end the questioning. It's unlikely I'll get any details, not before I sign that contract.

I finish my plate and let him pay the bill. I remind him to give a generous tip, the burgers were really good. He rolls his eyes. Oh, he likes me already.

We go back to the car and I greet the driver, who is taking a smoke. He doesn't reply. Wonderful, this is my man.

Fully sated, I decide to take a nap for the next two and a half hours.
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I wake up a few minutes before we arrive. The change in speed and a slightly rougher ride tells me that we left the main road before I even take a look outside the window. That probably means we're close. I fake a short cough to let Stu know that I'm awake and sure enough he tells me that I'm lucky to be awake as we arrive soon. I tell him it has nothing to with luck. Taking note of your surroundings while asleep is one of the first lessons you have to learn when you try to survive on your own. He acknowledges my lesson monosyllabically and leaves it at that.

We arrive at a small fenced off area. The parked vehicles and equipment lying around indicates that this seems to be at least partially occupied by the military. Makes sense, if it's a secret research project. I take note of the surrounding area. We left the cultivated lands a while ago, but this is still far from the kind of environment you need a survivalist expert for. The forests around us are used for wood production and there are no big predators living in this area. In terms of danger, this land is about as tame as someone's backyard.

Our car approaches the base and we are stopped by the guards at the entrance. After a quick identity confirmation we are allowed in and park the car on a small lot, which is largely empty except for three other civilian cars. Once I'm out of the car I notice several buildings, most of which are probably too small to serve any important function for the research. They're most likely just for the military - security checkpoints, storage, stuff like that. The only building I see that seems to be big enough to contain a laboratory and housing is the one we're headed towards.

We move into the foyer, where we again are greeted by security. I say a quick goodbye to the driver, who I nicknamed Bob, but there is no reaction. Meanwhile Stu talks to the reception and tells them to inform a certain Mrs. Lang about my arrival. The receptionist says she's on her way and we take a seat in the lounge in the back of the room. I take note of the fact that Stu doesn't say anything while we wait.

I hear Mrs. Lang approach before I see her. High heels, what a cliché. That and the way she's dressed tell me she's not part of the research group. She looks more like a business person, probably management. She introduces herself to me as Mrs. Caroline Lang. I ask her if she is the research project's supervisor. She confirms and casts Stu a questioning glance. She asks him what else he told me. Oops, I guess I was not supposed to know yet that this was a research project. I do realize that Stu made a mistake, but considering the fact that he told me next to nothing, I don't think he deserves any harsh reprimands. I intervene and tell her that there was no need to tell me anything, it was easy enough to figure it out by myself. I doubt she fully believes me but the subject is dropped anyway.

She signals us to follow. While we walk she tells me that she presumed I wanted to get over the formalities quickly and has already prepared the required documents, such as the non-disclosure agreement. At least someone did not only read my file, but also understood what kind of person they'd deal with. Stu will get there eventually, maybe.

We get to a small room that has nothing but a table and chairs inside. It looks a bit like an interrogation room. On the table the documents are already prepared. Mrs. Lang gestures me to take a seat, while she and Stu sit down across from me. I grab the papers and sift through them. Mrs. Lang starts rattling through the wording, but I interrupt her. I have heard this more times than I care to remember and I want the quick rundown. She gives me the important points, all of which I can recite word for word. Seems like there's nothing extraordinary going on and I grab a pen. After she shows me where I should put my signature, I sign and hand her the papers. I can tell she's a little bit startled at how quickly I went through this, but she retains her composure.

After she hands the papers to Stu, we leave the room. As he walks off, Mrs. Lang offers me to get introduced to the project. I agree and she makes a quick call, telling the person on the other side and a Mr. Green about my arrival and that they should prepare everything for the introduction. As we walk, I ask her if she can give me at least a quick overview, as I don't like to be kept in the dark. She assures me that she would, if it was possible, but the nature of the research makes it hard to put into a few words.

Despite my annoyance I can't help but wonder what could possibly be so difficult to explain. I guess I will know soon.
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Flisch
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Mrs. Lang and I arrive at our destination about a minute later. Two men are already waiting for us, now this was fast. One of them has a file tucked under his arm. He introduces himself as Carl Peters, head of research and the other as Thomas Green, expert in theoretical physics. After this Mrs. Lang tells me she will see me tomorrow morning and leaves.

The two scientists and I enter a room and sit down, both of them across from me. Without saying a word, Peters drops the file onto the middle of the table and slides it towards me, rotating it so I can read the cover. "Project Circe". I open the file and sift through the papers. It contains a schematic drawing of something that reminds of a sunbed. Another one has a table with numbers on it. One is basically a bar with dates on them, ranging in the millions of years ago. Most however contain text. One that catches my eye is titled "Temporal Displacement of Energy".

I cast the two men a questioning glance. Peters opens his mouth to explain but stumbles. It seems like he doesn't know where to begin. Green beats him to it and simply blurts out a single sentence.

They have invented timetravel.

There are some emotions for which there are no real words and right now I'm feeling one of them. I'm not confused, or surprised or in disbelief. I just keep looking, trying to process the information I was just given.

Meanwhile Peters adds that it's basically timetravel without travel. This brings me back to the scene in front of me and I want to know what that is even supposed to mean. Green explains that they are able to create a link in space-time to the past. Unfortunately it is impossible to send back matter or other things based on particles, like light. What is possible however is to send back other forms of energy, like electromagnetic patterns.

Peters points at the schematics of the sunbed and tells me that this is where the neural projector, or 'timepod' as they call it, comes in. He says that it maps the brain activity of the user inside and anchors it to another one in the past, essentially sending the consciousness of the user back several million years without physically leaving their own time. I assume that this user would be me, which they confirm.

There is a short break as I take it all in. Mrs. Lang wasn't kidding when she said that this too complicated to explain in just a few words. Timetravel without physically being sent to the past, now that's a concept to wrap one's head around. But wait, if I wouldn't have a body, how do I-

I ask them what they meant by mapping my consciousness to another one in the past. Would it mean I'd take control over another human? Peters and Green exchange a glance, looking like they are unsure how to tell me the next piece of information.

Eventually Peters brings himself to provide an answer. The timeshift is more stable the farther back one goes and becomes increasingly unstable in more recent times. The threshold for operational range would be at least five to ten million years, far before there were actual humans. He makes a short pause and I realize the implications before he says it.

They'd put me into the body of an animal.

This is apparently the big reveal, the moment where they either make it or break it. Now everything hinges on whether or not I reject the whole premise of their timetravel. Both of them have an unsure look on their face, almost a little sheepish. But I want more details. I have plenty of questions in my head so I just ask them to elaborate.

Peters explains that I would be in full control over the body, there is no internal fight with the animal mind or anything. I would effectively replace the animal. I ask if the animal's mind would be erased. This is apparently something they do not know yet, because nobody is around to check what happens to the animal, once the user's consciousness leaves.

I want to know how they choose where I'd appear. Green explains that all they can do is pick the time and let an algorithm pick a suitable 'mental pattern' to latch onto. This is a tricky part, because they cannot tell what animal a pattern belongs to. The algorithm attempts to pick more complex or 'clear' patterns, which usually lead to higher animals, such as birds or mammals as opposed to insects. This however is not perfect, because it also depends on the distance from the scanning area.

He brings up a simile of an algorithm picking the largest animal in a random photograph. In most cases this would lead to bigger animals, often one of the birds that flies through the sky, but it could happen that an insect is very close to the camera and would therefore be selected. Similarly, if the scanning area is devoid of more complex animals, the neural projector would select a simpler animal.

I don't like the idea of being stuck in a bug's body and ask them what the lower limit would be, like a slug or a jellyfish. They say that as far as they can tell an animal needs to possess a somewhat centralized nervous system, or brain, to serve as a host. This would exclude some very simple animals such as jellyfish and worms, but the line is still ambigious. They cannot tell me with certainty whether a slug would qualify or not. Either case, it would be a rather improbable scenario.

Bugs do seem to be on the table though, which raises an interesting question. Since some animals have very strange bodies and limb configurations, I ask them if I'd first have to learn to control the new body. Peters explains that while the animal's consciousness is overlaid by the user's, muscle memory is still intact. I would be able to walk and use the limbs as if I'd have inhabited that body for my entire life. The same goes for chemical memory, apparently I can tell by subconscious associations with certain smells or tastes what things I can eat and what I should avoid.

I'm sifting through the questions in my head but something is dawning on me. There seems to be something they're not telling me right now. What's the reason behind hiring me? Couldn't any random scientist do the job? I ask them why they need a survivalist expert. Their faces go dark, it reminds me of the face Stuart made in the diner. I seem to have hit the spot.

Peters explains that during the process the user's consciousness is linked or rather anchored to the animal's consciousness. This means that if the animal's brain activity ceases, because it dies, so does the user's. It means that if I die in the past, in the body of the animal, I also die in the present, my human body going braindead.

I ask them if this has happened before. Not that I don't already know, Stuart basically told me. I get a sober affirmation from the two men. I ask how many. It was two. Peters explains that after the first time they didn't know what had happened. The person simply died in the timepod, just like that. First they believed in a malfunction of the equipment and upgraded with additional sensors, meant as a warning system in case such a thing happens again, so they can shut off the neural projector. Unfortunately this didn't quite work out, but after the second death they analyzed the data and found out that it's likely linked to the death of the animal.

This is where I come in. They need someone who not only knows how to survive under unknown conditions but also someone who doesn't rely on others for survival. Someone in the military might be able to survive well in the wild but ultimately they are trained to work as a team. I am literally the only person who can do the job. The only person, huh? Looks like I have quite the advantage when negotiating my salary.

After a rather long pause Peters tells me that I don't have to decide now. They don't want me to make any hasty decision and rather sleep over it. He hands me the file and says I can keep it if it helps me come to a decision and he wraps up the conversation by asking me if I have any more questions. I do have hundreds, but none I want to ask right now.

I grab the file and leave the room together with Peters and Green. Outside Stuart is already waiting for me. I say goodbye to the two researchers and follow my contact person, who wants to show me my place for the night.

We come to a hallway with several doors that are locked with a keycard scanner. I assume all these rooms are used for housing. Stuart opens a door and we enter a room with a couch, a small table and a kitchenette. I inspect two doors, which lead to a bathroom and a separate bedroom respectively. I wonder if all appartments are this roomy, or the big ones are reserved for special personnel, which I kind of believe I fall into.

In front of the couch I can see my bags. Wow, I totally forgot about those. Guess this mystery hunt had me quite occupied. Stuart hands me the keycard and asks me if I want to know anything else. I only ask him if they have a gym here. He tells me that they have a small one in the basement and gives me the directions. After that he leaves.

I decide to do some workout now rather than in the morning, I need to clear my head. While I train I think about the conversation with the two scientists and the project. Timetravel. I have seen and heard a lot of things, but this... I can still hardly believe it.

I do not need to sleep over it. I come to a decision as I approach the end of my workout session. Being part of history before history even existed as a concept? There's no way I'm going to turn this one down, even if I have to put with being a bug for a while. Plus, it sounds pretty exciting.

Back in my room I take a cold shower and head to the couch afterwards. I don't sleep in beds, they give off a false sense of safety and it takes too long to get up in the morning. A couch is just comfortable enough to sleep easily but uncomfortable enough to get up quickly.

I collapse on the cushions, both physically and mentally. This was quite the day. And to think the next days are going to be even more exciting...
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I wake up early in the morning. I dimly remember a dream about a witch who owns a sunbed salon on a lone island that turns people into animals, but the dream fades away quickly. After I return from the bathroom I leave my room and go to the reception to ask where I can get something to eat. The receptionist gives me the directions to the cafeteria, which apparently has already opened, or maybe it's just open around the clock.

The cafeteria is smaller than I expected, but then again there's probably not a lot of staff. Infact, the room is largely empty apart from a group of men I identify as members of the military and two other people, one of which is a woman and the other is... Stu. I pretend not to have seen him and head to the counter. Apparently there's a menu and the meals themselves are free, as well as the drinks. I go for the "Farmer's Breakfast", which is apparently some sort of bacon and potato omelette. I receive my food very quickly and sit down in a corner of the room.

While I eat, Stu finishes his meal and notices me on his way out. He tells the other person to go ahead and sits down across from me. Apparently he has regained his chattiness from when we first met as he voices his surprise that I am awake already and asks me if I had a nice rest. Bah, if there's one thing I can't stand early in the morning it's smalltalk. Though to be fair I can't stand smalltalk no matter the time. I ignore his questions and instead ask him when I can talk to Mrs. Lang about my decision. He lets me know that they are only waiting for me. As soon as I am ready, they can gather everyone.

I ask him who 'everyone' would be. Stu tells me that some people of the project will be there, so they can introduce themselves. It was rather hectic yesterday, so I wasn't able to meet everyone yet. Fair enough. He says that they can arrange the meeting in an hour, if that is alright with me. I nod and expect him to leave.

He doesn't. Instead he just sits there, investigating his now slightly nervous hands. I stop my fork mid-air and look at him, waiting for any reaction. He goes on to tell me that I saved him from some trouble yesterday. He was asked about what information he had told me on our way to the facility. He gave them the true story and although there will be consequences, it won't be anything big. He believes that what I said convinced them to be less harsh.

I cut him off right there. I tell him that I have no intentions to be friends. I may not be a people-person, but I am not needlessly cruel and I didn't believe the little vague hints he told me were worth getting in trouble over. I don't care about him any more than I care about anyone else, but I'm also no sadist. Without looking up he says that he understands and before he leaves the table he informs me that he will pick me up at my room in an hour.

One hour then. Looks like I have some time to kill. I go back to my room and unpack some things. Not that I have a lot to unpack, it's mostly clothes. The other part is some items I have collected over the years. For some they might look like souvenirs or mementos, but for me they are lessons. Each of them is linked to a certain event, that got me almost killed, because I was careless or not prepared. I keep them to remind me what mistakes I should not repeat.

Dead on time Stu knocks at my door. He tells me that everyone is ready and leads me to a large meeting room. There are several people inside, some of which I already know, like Mrs. Lang, Peters and Green, but there are also a few others I haven't seen before. Mrs. Lang gestures me to take a seat at the end of the table.

After we got the greetings out of the way, she introduces me to the people. I already know Carl Peters, head of research and Thomas Green, expert in theoretical physics. Then there is Zach Edwards, chief engineer, Quinton Ross, advisor for palaentology and a team of three researchers, who I will work with together closely: Josh Fradley, Chris Jameson and Amy Ratner.

Last but not least there is Michael Dale, psychologist. A shrink? I tell them that I don't need a shrink. Peters tells me that due to the nature of the technology they are dealing with, the mental state of each timepod user needs to be monitored. Afterall they do not know yet if there will be any longterm consequences. Mrs. Lang affirms that the goal is not psychotherapy, but evaluation of the mental state throughout the study. Dale, the psychologist, adds that I don't have to worry: We won't talk about my mother during the sessions. Very funny, looks like we have a comedian on board.

After a rather awkward silence Mrs. Lang asks me if I have come to a conclusion yet. I wait for a moment, not because I am unsure, but rather to take in the moment. There is suspense in the air. Everyone is leaning ever so slightly forward to hear my answer. They said I'm the only one who can do the job. What would happen if I declined? The project would probably have to be shut down or postponed until they can arrange something else.

I blurt out that I want a test run. Everyone takes a breath, partly in relief, partly in disappointment that I did not fully commit yet. Peters says that they need to do some test runs anyway, tuning the neural projector to my brain waves. I ask when we can do that. He says everything is set up, we can start as soon as I am ready.

Good, that means we will start immediately.
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Interesting idea. It's kind of like what Assassin's Creed would be like if I were in charge of it.

Question: Can the scientists still communicate with our protagonist while he's in the mind of the animal? Can they see what he sees?
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Turns out 'immediately' isn't quite immediately. I first have to sign some more papers, basically contracts, certain waivers for compensations. Basic stuff really, at least in this kind of job. Once I'm done, they tell me I need to take off any metallic objects, which would include the zipper and button in my jeans and jacket. I make a quick stop at my room to put on some workout clothes. Stu then shows me the way to the lab.

On our way he asks me several times if I'm feeling well enough to undergo these tests. At the sixth time I have enough. He has been somewhat annoying since we met, but now he's seriously getting on my nerves. He reminds me that I've had a nine hour flight just the day before. I say that I don't believe in jetlag, but he insists. They have a physician which I should check, before I climb into the timepod. This is enough.

I stop in the middle of the hallway and tell him that I've done things, survived things that would make him piss his pants just hearing about it. I once spent almost a week in a glacial crevasse and climbed out with a broken leg. Another time I fought with a crocodile that had ambushed me at the water's edge, with nothing but a knife. I tell him that I know my limits better than anyone else knows their own. When I say I'm ready, I am.

He acknowledges my point with a nod and we continue in silence. Just when I think I can enjoy the quiet, Quinton Ross, the palaeontology guy is heading toward us shouting my name. I throw back my head and let out a slight moan, but he continues. He wants to give me some information about the time I am going to visit. I let him continue, at least this is some useful information.

He says that they are going to send me back to a time they call the Palaeocene, not that the name tells me anything, but Ross is so helpful to elaborate. Apparently it is just a few million years after the dinosaurs died out, about 1 to 9 million years since the extinction event. He says that they specifically chose that time, because the numbers of carnivores is possibly somewhat reduced, depending on which time I end up at. There would still be predators, but the ecologies on the planet are still recovering, so there shouldn't be too many, especially not for bigger prey. This should reduce my chances of encountering danger, especially if I end up in a larger animal.

I ask him what kinds of animals I could encounter and he explains that they chose that time over other great mass extinctions on purpose, because the world should be somewhat familiar. There are no dinosaurs or giant insects. The flora would be reminiscent of today's. There would be birds, most of which I could already classify as modern groups, probably. Then there are lots of mammals, though the biggest are no larger than a sheep and most are probably the size of a squirrel. He tells me that some might look familiar, but modern groups were just starting to develop. He says that there would be some orders of mammals that are extinct today, like Multituberculates, but quickly adds that I probably couldn't tell the difference, more to himself than to me.

I ask him about reptiles. I get that dinosaurs are dead, but what about others. He gives me a look as if I said something wrong and starts to open his mouth, but seems to change his mind. He tells me that most if not all modern reptile groups would exist back then, such as crocodiles, snakes, lizards. He says that the global climate is somewhat tropical, so it's not unlikely I will encounter more and larger reptiles than what I am familiar with. There might also be some marine reptiles.

This raises a very interesting question. I ask him if I could also end up in a fish or another swimming animal. He confirms that this not at all unlikely. I want to know if there is anything to know about the seas. He tells me that the oceans should look largely modern, as there'd be no ammonites and the big marine reptiles of the mesozoic have died out. A questioning glance from my side makes him realize that I don't know what any of that was. He quickly adds that everything I know of today should exist back then. There would be bony fish, sharks, rays. Probably squids, but he isn't so sure what happened to them as the fossil record is a bit shaky. He adds that whales will not have evolved yet, so it could be that the largest marine organisms are sharks.

As we are entering the lab, I ask Ross if there is anything else I should know. He starts talking about some flightless birds and bats, but is interrupted by Peters, who is talking to Mrs. Lang, while the scientist team takes some final notes. Peters says that Ross doesn't need to go too much into detail. The durations will be very short and I won't have enough time to roam far anyway.

I ask him exactly how short the duration will be. He says that they will actually start with really short sessions, which don't even last a second. These will be used to calibrate the systems to my neural patterns. I will get only very brief glimpses, almost like single snapshot of the environment. Once the equipment has been tuned to my brain waves properly, they can increase the duration to a few seconds. I ask them why they don't do minutes, but Peters assures me that there will be a time for everything, but we need to start small. He agrees to provide a longer trip at the end of the test run, if I wish.

I tell them I am ready and one of the scientists, Chris, opens the timepod to let me inside. It really does look like a sunbed, though a bit darker and flatter. It also lacks any blinking lights that you often see in science fiction movies. Seems like reality is always a bit more boring than fiction, but then again I am about to travel through time, so there's that.

I lay down on the inner surface of the timepod. It's cold and could use some padding, but I'm not here to take a nap anyway. Chris tells me to relax and closes the lid. I hear them talking about the startup sequence, initializing a ping of 1, whatever that means.

I hear a faint humming coming from the machine. One of the scientists, I believe it's Josh, is starting a countdown.

Three.

Two.

One.
Edited by Flisch, Apr 9 2016, 05:45 PM.
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I feel a moment of vertigo as the surrounding changes. The humming of the machine gives way to the background noise of a jungle. I look around and I am no longer in the lab. Instead I see only trees. I am somewhere on the ground, I feel fallen leaves under my feet.

Then I return to the present. The chirping of birds becomes a low hum again. I hear one of the scientists, Amy, say that my brain activity is normal. Chris asks me if I'm up for another round. I confirm, but more to myself than to the scientists. I doubt they heard me, but Josh starts another countdown.

Three. Two. One.

Another moment of vertigo. I'm back in the jungle. No, it's not the same one. It looks different, more colourful. I see fruits and flowers. Instead of birds, I hear crickets. It seems to be evening.

I'm back in the lab. My eyes are open, staring at the lid above me. Another countdown. Three. Two. One.

The feeling of vertigo this time clashes with the sensation of being underground. I can't see a thing, but I feel the earth above me with the hairs on my back. Around me the world vibrates. There are different spots I can feel through these vibrations. Some are small, others are big. The largest are above me, but there are some delicate movements I can feel in the earth around me.

In a flash all the individual vibrations are gone and I can only feel the machine's hum. Three. Two. One.

I am soaring through the sky, a sea of green passing below me. There are trees as far as my eyes can see.

I return to the lab, trapped in the timepod. It feels almost as if the lid is pressing down on me. Luckily I hear another countdown. Three. Two. One.

I'm drifting through a cold darkness. It's not freezing, not even uncomfortable, but it's not warm water. Water. I'm in the deepsea. Above me I can see various black shapes against a dim blue background. I can feel my arms trailing through the water as I'm swimming backwards.

I'm pulled back to the present. Chris opens the lid and asks me how it was. As I am propping myself up, I'm thinking about something to say. How was it? I can't think of a word to describe it, so I settle by saying it was good.

Peters tells me that this was all the technical test runs. They now want to try a longer time, about half a minute. This test run would be mostly for me to get used to the feeling of being in a different body. Two or three should suffice, he says. After that we could do a real test run. I lay back down on the timepod and tell them to get started. I can see Chris smile as he brings down the lid.

Peters tells them to initialize a ping of 6 and Josh is starting the countdown again. Three. Two. One.

I can hear the waves before I see them. Below my feet I can feel fine sand getting between my toes. I'm on a beach, a tropical one it seems. Looking back, I can see my traces going along the entire length of the strand. The sand grains and taste in my mouth tell me that this animal was scavenging for some beached fish and clams. Speaking of which, I decide to take a look at my body. It has some resemblance to that of a fox, though my tail is not nearly as bushy and my legs a bit shorter. Furthermore my coat is grey with dark spots, and stripes on the legs. I can't see my head though, so I could look less like a fox and more like a cat.

I decide to test out my body. I try to move my tail, which I figure would be one of the trickiest body parts to move as humans don't have one. To my surprise it does exactly what I want it to do and there is a certain familiarity with it, just like I could move my arms. Arms which I don't have currently, as I just realize. I walk a few meters to see how it is to walk with four legs. I'm amazed at how easy it is, how naturally it comes. My limbs automatically assume a gait without me thinking about the details of walking. It shouldn't feel amazing, as that is how I walk every day, and yet it does.

Looking at my paws taking one step after another gives me an idea. I try to retract my claws to see if I'm a cat. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to work. I guess I have to ask Quinton later about it. As I have not kept track of the time, I decide to try out the rest of my body. I play around with my ears, pointing them at different directions, laying them close to my head. Next thing I'm trying to do is jump up.

Before I land, I'm pulled back into the present. Like waking from a falling nightmare, the sudden feeling of a solid surface on my back before I anticipated the landing startles me and I bump against the lid. Alarmed, Chris pulls it up and asks me if everything is okay. I say that I'm fine, but the scientists give me a concerned look. I repeat that really, I'm fine and after exchanging looks, Peters asks me if I had any problems. I tell him that there were none at all. I could control the body as if it was my own. He tells me they want to make just one more short test run, just to be on the safe side. I agree and lie back down.

Chris lowers the lid. Josh starts the countdown. It almost feel like routine by now. Three. Two. One.

I'm inside a jungle again, though this time I'm somewhere in the canopy. I quickly look at myself and realize that I resemble a squirrel, except that my tail is not quite as bushy, with only a tuft of white hair at the tips. The rest of my fur is black. I take a look around and notice how my field of view is larger than I'm used to. My eyes must be farther on the side of my head, letting me see more. It is both a strange and a familiar feeling.

I decide to climb up the tree. My balancing sense intuitively prevents me from falling down and I do not even have to take care in order to avoid missteps. Good, I'm glad that I don't have to worry about all this. I do wonder for a short moment how it'd be like to be in the body of a young animal, but my train of thought is interruped as I pass a bunch of grapes, or grape like fruits at least. They are actually elongated and look like black bananas without a peel. The fruits at the top of the cluster are still greenish. I am a bit put off by the colour, but the smell tells me they're edible. Hell, even if they're not, I won't be around long enough to care about that anyway.

I pluck off one banana-grape and put it into my mouth. With it I run up the branches until I breach through the canopy. I sit there, with the banana-grape in hands, nibbling on the deliciously sweet flesh, as I take a look around. There is green as far as I can see. I'm thinking about what Quinton told me. This is apparently the time right after the dinosaurs, right after that asteroid hit earth. I always assumed the time after that would be more desolate and dark, but it's as vibrant as any tropical rainforest of today. Well, my today. It's hard to imagine the ground was littered with dinosaur corpses not too long ago and that the sun was blocked out by ash and dust.

My thoughts are interrupted as I return to the present. Chris opens the lid and asks me again if everything is okay. Goddamnit, would everyone please stop asking me that? I don't feel like snapping at them right now though, so I just answer that I'm fine, though with a slightly annoyed undertone letting them know that I'm getting tired of the question.

Peters asks me if I had any problems. I did not actually try out a lot this time, but I think back at how easily I moved through the branches. I tell him that I did not have any problems at all and that I am ready for a real test run. After a moment he asks me what I think about 14 minutes. I'm confused as to why he chooses such an odd number, but I agree.

I lie back down and watch the lid closing. Peters tells the scientists to initiate a ping of 11. I really need to ask them what that is even supposed to mean. Josh starts the countdown.

Three. Two. One.
Edited by Flisch, Feb 16 2016, 07:22 PM.
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I find myself in a jungle again, sitting on a thick branch. I'm starting to wonder if there's nothing but rainforest during this time. The only things I can hear are crickets and an occasional frog. It appears to be nighttime, though I can't see the sky above me through the canopy.

I take a look around and although it is night, I can still see everything with full clarity. The moonlight certainly helps, but I suspect this particular animal has good night vision. Speaking of which, I quickly take a look at myself, though I already know most details from merely feeling my body. A relatively long body, short but powerful legs with strong claws and a long tail make me look like a marten, though I feel like my jaws are a bit too big for that. I'm probably some other animal that just looks like one.

I decide to take a stroll around the branches, moving from tree to tree. I'm not after anything in particular, though I am somewhat hungry and thirsty. Although I'm only here for the next 14 minutes, I feel like I should do something about it. I'm not sure what this animal would eat. The strong jaws and canines seem to imply it is a carnivore, so I guess I'm after some small animals.

On the ground I can see several other animals walk around. Most of them seem to be mammals and remind me of hybrids between rats and bears, or badgers with long tails. I also spot a bird, some sort of pheasant on long legs and without the long tail feathers.

While I am focused on the ground I am caught offguard by two large eyes staring at me from a few meters away, at the end of a branch I just wanted to cross. Startled I take an uncoordinated step backwards and almost lose my footing. Good thing I have twice as many feet as I'm used to and a balancing tail to prevent me from falling down.

I look at the animal the two huge reflecting rings belong to. It seems to be an owl, although it has a longer neck and its naked legs stick out of the plumage. Its body proportions remind more of a falcon than an owl, but it does however make the same rotating head movements of the latter as it loses interest in me and continues scanning the ground. Looks like I'm not the only one on the hunt today.

This falcon owl is smaller than me and does not seem to pose much of a threat, so I continue forward. The bird focuses on me again, its huge saucers give off a creepy vibe in the eerie moonlight. I slow down a little bit, giving the falcon owl time to leave. Sure enough, after a few more steps, the bird gets the hint and silently flies off to look for another branch.

After a few more trees I see some movements on the trunk below me. There are small animals holding onto the bark with unproportionally big hands and feet. They have small conic heads with large ears swiveled to the side and a long thin tail. These little creatures are just small enough to serve as dinner and their huge hands look like they'd hinder any fleeing attempts.

As quietly as I can I climb down to catch them by surprise. As I get closer I can see that they are mammals, despite their somewhat frog-like appearance. Their body is covered in short fur, including their big flat hands and feet. Their heads remind me of bats, although their noses are not flattened and resemble that of shrews.

As I move closer, I can see these frog bats constantly shift the positions of their hands and feet, almost like scanning the surface of the tree. Occasionally they move one of their hands aside and pull out some larvae or other bugs from under the bark.

I'm now ready to attack and focus on the frog bat closest to me. I do not pounce, which would be difficult on the vertical surface, but instead just climb down quickly. Judging from their huge hands and feet they shouldn't be able to escape.

But then they just jump off the tree. I'm surprised and watch them glide through the air to nearby trees and branches. Glide? It appears that they use their oversized hands as parachutes to slow down their fall as they steer towards nearby branches. Perplexed I watch them escape to the other trees and I realize hunting them is probably a waste of time.

I continue my journey through the treetops, but over time it feels like the canopy is coming down, as if the trees become shorter. Finally I can see why that is. There is a river ahead of me, making the trees form a wall of leaves at the water's edge.

Still thirsty I decide to climb down onto a thick branch that's dipping into the water. Once I'm there I take a look around me. The river is wide and not particularly fast moving. Maybe it's close to the coast. Maybe I actually am inside a river delta without knowing.

I move to the edge of the branch but suddenly I stop. At the edge of my vision I can see ripples in the water reflecting the moonlight. They are faster than the normal water turbulence and I quickly see why. Just below the water surface, about a few meters away I can see a dim silhouette of something long and big, illuminated by the moonlight. I can make out a long triangular snout, two bright spots on top of it and a long barrel-like body behind. I quickly take a few steps back, climbing back up to a height I feel save at. I suppose I just got extremely lucky. If it weren't for exactly the right angle of the reflection, I wouldn't have seen the ripples in the water and the crocodile below the surface.

I spontaneously decide I am not thirsty anymore and climb back up the trees, though I take a different route this time. I don't have to wait for long until I spot a new potential prey animal. A small mammal that looks like a shrew is climbing through the branches some meters away from me, apparently unaware of my presence.

With all the stealth I can muster I stalk towards the shrew. It still seems to be completely oblivious. I just hope there won't be any tricks like the frog bats played on me. I get as close as I can without revealing myself. It is only half a meter away by now. I wait for the right moment and then-

I'm disoriented. The crickets fall silent and my body feels different. It takes me a moment to realize I'm back in the present. Chris opens the lid and asks me how it was, clearly excited. I take mental note of how he doesn't ask me if I'm fine. That's good. We're making progress.

I sit up without saying a word. Being back in the present feels almost surreal. When I was in the past everything felt so much more... tangible. The sounds, the smells, the feeling of the rough bark on my skin. But here, I'm in a sterile room lit by artificial light and all I can hear is a mechanical hum.

I finally bring myself to answer. I tell him it was good. I'm not sure if it was a lie. It was mostly just to say something, though it's not technically true. But then it isn't false either. It wasn't good. It was different. It was exciting, amazing. I can't put it into words, so I don't even try.

Mrs. Lang is approaching me. Apparently she and Stuart, as well as Quinton have been watching the entire time. It must have been no more than twenty minutes, but it feels like I've spent days inside. Even the short glimpses at the beginning feel like half a life in retrospect.

Mrs. Lang cuts to the chase and asks me if I want to continue with the project. I can only manage to nod, followed by a sober yes. It feels like I have taken some part of the past with me, yearning to go back.

Peters and Mrs. Lang continue to tell me the plan for the next days. I am going to have lessons in palaentology and I need to visit the psychologist for an introduction session. Later I move to my room and sit down on the couch.

I remain in silence for the next hour as my brain is trying to process the events of today.
Edited by Flisch, Feb 20 2016, 09:31 PM.
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Subject: Psychological Evaluation - Session AJ-01
 
Date: 2019/11/23
Time: 14:45
To: c.lang

As per your request my evaluation of A. Johnson after the first session is attached to this mail.

Sincerely,
M. Dale

PS: Due to the nature of our research I recommend weekly sessions rather than monthly ones.

PE_AJohnson_191123.doc


Subject: Re: Psychological Evaluation - Session AJ-01
 
Date: 2019/11/23
Time: 15:32
To: m.dale

Weekly sessions are approved. Mr. Templeman will take care of the scheduling.

-C. Lang

Subject: Psychological Evaluation - Session AJ-01
 
As per your request my evaluation of A. Johnson after the first session is attached to this mail.

Sincerely,
M. Dale

PS: Due to the nature of our research I recommend weekly sessions rather than monthly ones.





C:\Users\qross\Documents\PalaeoNotes\Johnson_2019_11_23.doc
 
Timeframe: 65 mya - 57 mya
Era: Cenozoic - Palaeocene
Session Length: 5x 0.82sec; 2x 26sec; 1x 14min
Location: Various

Today was Johnson's first trip to the past, well trips, really. I suggested the Palaeocene, because I think it might have fewer carnivores relatively speaking than other times. Plus, it would be somewhat familiar with what we have today. Again, relatively speaking.

Interestingly, picking that time as the first trips has its advantages and disadvantages when it comes to information. On the one hand it's not a very well-known time and this is a really good excuse to get some information, especially when it comes to how fast the ecologies are recovering and which disaster taxons are especially prolific, information that we could use to work backwards to reconstruct the K-T extinction event.

On the other hand, the first trips are always very short. Heck, the first five were less than a second. There is next to no information to be gained. There was one interesting tidbit though. In the 5th trip, Johnson was put into a squid and from his descriptions it must have been deep-sea. This somewhat confirms that squids lived in the deep-sea back then already, but that's hardly surprising information. I probably wouldn't even categorize it as a piece of trivia, but I take what I can get.

The next two trips were a bit longer, about half a minute. Again, not really enough to get a lot of information. Johnson described the animal in the 6th trip as some sort of fox. I told him that it was most likely a creodont, which were pretty much the carnivores before there were carnivores. I don't know if he quite understood what a creodont is. It's hard to explain to people that even while an animal looks exactly like another that doesn't mean they're related. I brought up thylacines to explain to him how two completely unrelated animals can still look almost exactly the same based on evolutionary pressure. He just said that he always assumed thylacines are just carnivores with pouches.

I almost wished we could get some researchers into the timepod, but then I remembered Carlos and also Nathan and I realize why we need some military guy doing the dirty work, so to speak. Maybe one day they find a way to make the whole process safe. But I digress.

It's interesting to note that almost all environments Johnson ended up in were tropical rainforests, or at least tropical regions. Not that this should be a surprise given the global climate back then, but I wish I could have seen what the temperate forests at the poles would be like. Or maybe some arid regions. We know grasses existed back then, but were there grasslands too? Oh well, maybe we'll find out eventually. That mystery has to wait though, as the researchers want to change the time frame in the following sessions. I guess that's fair. As much as I'd love to find out more about a particular time, in the end the research into the technology has priority. And if it helps making the whole thing safer, they have my support.

In the 7th trip Johnson described the animal as a squirrel. I doubt it actually was a squirrel, but there is nothing he could tell me to pin down the animal's affinity. Infact, don't even know if it was a true rodent or a multituberculate. Or even something else entirely. It's frustrating really. Actually watching live animals in the past even through second hand sources is so much more revealing than studying fossils and yet every trip seems to raise more questions than it answers.

The 8th trip was a lot more informative, but it was also 14 minutes long. Johnson described his animal as some sort of marten, only with a bigger jaw. Again my guess is that this was a creodont, nothing fancy, and also kind of to be expected, really.

More interesting however were the other animals Johnson encountered. He described a bird that sounded pretty much like some proto-owl. Most of the owl features were already present, like the huge forward facing eyes and even the soundless flight. The proportions seemed to be off though, more like that of a falcon. It's possible that owls actually did evolve from falcon-like birds that adapted to a nocturnal lifestyle. Or maybe that particular owl is just an off-shoot from a basal group.

Another, even more interesting find was what I can only describe as bat-ancestors, or at least close relatives. From his descriptions, these animals seemed to be bats with a shrew-like head and instead of wings they had big flat hands and feet. Oddly enough the membranes between their fingers were also covered in fur. Of course it is possible that these animals were not actually related to bats, but the similarities that he described seem too fitting to be a coincidence.

However it should be noted that even if they are indeed related to proto-bats, they are most likely an off-shoot and not a direct ancestor. They had not only flat hands but also feet, which doesn't seem to fit into the evolution of bats as we know them. It is very likely that these frog-bats, as Johnson called them, split off very early and only share the most basal traits with the crown group.

The behaviour he described was also peculiar. Apparently they used their flat hands and feet to scan the surface of trees for insects and other invertebrates moving below the bark. Their membranes are probably very sensitive that can feel the vibrations through the wood. When in danger their flat hands and feet also double as a gliding membranes, similar to those of flying frogs. Infact this makes the name frog-bat even more fitting.

The most interesting question for me is, which of these two behaviours is actually the ancestral one and which is derived from the pre-adaption of the other. It is commonly thought that proto-bats evolved these membranes to glide, but multiple other mammal groups show that gliding membranes usually form between the arms and legs, rather than between the fingers, which makes sense as a webbed hand would not be useful for grasping and holding onto branches. Plus, these skin folds are unlikely to evolve into true wings due to their structure.

Now that I know of these frog-bats I think it's possible that these membranes evolved as a sensing organ, that was later adapted to gliding and from there to actual wings. Maybe the first step wasn't even a sensing organ, but a gecko-like hand to hold onto smooth surfaces, which got later adapted into a "bark-skanner". Who knows, maybe the sensitivity of the membranes allowed bats to evolve proper echo-location. Would that even work? I guess I'll have to ask some specialist about this.

Speaking of which, I need to convince Lang to bring in more palaentologists. Knowing the scientists, I believe we will stay in the cenozoic for a while and then move onto the mesozoic, so it would be a good idea to have some experts for those eras.


Subject: Additional Advisors
 
Date: 2019/11/23
Time: 19:16
To: c.lang

Dear Mrs. Lang,

considering the fact that we need to prepare Mr. Johnson for the times to which we send him, I suggest we invite additional advisors, particularly for the mesozoic and the cenozoic. It is especially important to have an expert for the latter soon, as that will be the time for the next trips.

As you may know my area of expertise is phylogeny with a focus on the palaeozoic. As such I do not believe I can properly advise Johnson for the trips to the cenozoic and later the mesozoic. I can cover the basics, but an expert in the field would be invaluable.

I already have a list prepared with possible candidates. I know all of them personally and find them to be trustworthy and competent. Please let me know if you want me to send it to you.

Regards,
Q. Ross
Edited by Flisch, Apr 9 2016, 05:44 PM.
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I wake up the next day as if nothing had happened. Well, that's not quite true, I act as if nothing had happened. I go work out, have breakfast at the cafeteria, but all the time I am thinking about the events from yesterday. Though the strangest thing about it is that I want to go back. It's not that I don't mind. It's that I'm looking forward to todays session. I just shouldn't mention that to the shrink or he'll go full psychologist on me.

There's too much talking already anyway. Mr. Psychologist said he wanted to meet me on a regular basis, though he couldn't disclose what regular means. If it was up to me it'd be yearly or once per lifetime, but I have the feeling they will make us talk every week. And then there's the reports as they call them, which is basically just Peters, Green, Josh and Quinton having me retell whatever I experienced during my trip. If I understood them correctly, this will be after every time. Great, another thing not to look forward to.

And in addition to all that, Quinton has told me that there will be palaentology classes for me, to get to know the eras of the past. Funny, when I told them about what I saw it was more like they had no clue what I was talking about. I'm not sure just how useful these classes are going to be. But I guess I will see soon. The first session is going to be in about an hour. One can say what they want about these people, but at least they're not wasting any time. I can respect that.

While I am waiting I decide to take a look at the file again that Peters handed me on the first day. I skim through the papers, most of the things are touching things I already know. How this particular method of timetravel works, a list of available time periods and the risks involved. One paper that catches my eye is the table I skipped over the first time I took a look at these notes. In particular one word stands out, serving as the top line for an entire column: "Ping". The table seems to describe the time durations each trip takes, which apparently is dependent on the ping.

The table consists of five columns, the left most is named "Ping" while the right four are for seconds, minutes, hours and days respectively. The individual cells are filled with decimal numbers. As the ping increases, so do the numbers, up to 20, which seems to be the maximum ping value.

I decide to read the explanation of the table below, but I end up skimming it mostly due to the sciencebabble involved. From what I can gather, a single ping would make for an 0.82 seconds journey. Each additional ping somehow doubles the previous duration. So a second ping would raise it to 1.64 seconds, while a third ping brings it up to 3.28 seconds. I look down to see what the limit is and a ping of 20 would amount to almost exactly five days. Wow, that seems to be a bit extreme, how do you go from less than a second in just twenty steps to almost five days? I quickly check each individual step and there does not seem to be an error involved. The text mentions quadratic growth. Hmm.

I figure that whoever calculated this table knows what they're doing and leave it at that. At least now I know what they mean when they talk about pings and why the durations are such odd numbers, like 14 minutes. I spend the rest of the time reading a bit into the other papers, but there's nothing too exciting or useful in there.

The class is starting soon, so I get up to meet Quinton. I feel a bit like a student going to school. These lessons better be useful.
Edited by Flisch, Feb 18 2016, 04:39 PM.
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Quinton and I sit down in a room. The atmosphere is less of a lesson and more of an informal talk, not that I'm complaining. As Quinton talks about the life of the past he shows me various pictures and anatomical drawings of animals. Among the things he shows me are paintings of prehistoric scenes. I can't help but notice the falseness in these pictures. No matter how realistically drawn the animals are, they look stiff and lifeless. Additionally, every detail of the scene is carefully crafted. Each leaf has been placed with artistic finesse. There is no unwanted litter or awkwardly shaped tree. These paintings imitate the world I have seen about as well as a commercial imitates the day to day life of people.

Quinton shows me a timeline of the past and names the three eras. The oldest is the Palaeozoic, which he only describes as the time before the dinosaurs without going into detail. Then there is the Mesozoic or the age of dinosaurs. Finally there is the era we currently live in, the Cenozoic, the time after the dinosaurs, or the age of mammals as he calls it while gesturing two quotation marks in the air. Funny, it seems like the entire history of our planet revolves around the dinosaurs, even long after they have died out. Makes it sound as if they are more important than we are, even to this day.

He goes on to tell me how the Cenozoic is divided into periods which themselves are divided into epochs. Quinton describes the climate, dominant lifeforms and major events during each of those epochs. The Palaeocene, which was the time of my trips yesterday was right after the extinction of the dinosaurs. Most animals tended to be on the small side, as all animals over a certain size were wiped out during the dinosaur extinction event. Over the course of the Palaeocene the climate grew hotter and wetter, causing jungles to spread across the globe, eventually covering even the poles. The Eocene marked the peak of this trend, with the most tropical climate during the entire Cenozoic. During the Eocene, mammals grew larger and whales became fully aquatic.

Towards the end of the Eocene the climate cooled down, locking water away in mountain glaciers and polar caps, which in turn resulted in a drier climate, causing the jungles to recede and give way to grasslands. In the following Oligocene, grass was on the rise and many animals evolved to exploit the open space habitats, leading to many modern groups. The following epochs continued the cooling trend. The Miocene was even drier and colder than the Oligocene and savannahs and steppes were dominating a major part of the landmasses. Due to the restrictions of the timetravel used, the Miocene would also be the most recent time I could travel to, as the operational range starts at 10 million years ago and the Miocene ended 5 million years ago.

Just for the sake of completeness however he provides the following epochs as well. There is the Pliocene which featured dramatic climate changes, in part due to the drying up and subsequent flooding of the mediterranean sea and the disruption of the atlanto-pacific current by the isthmus of Panama. This epoch was followed by the Pleistocene, which was pretty much a period of alternating ice ages and interglacials. Ultimately the last epoch is the Holocene, the age we are currently in. Usually I wouldn't care to remember any of these words, but I figure they might be important eventually, especially if we continue these lessons.

He goes on to tell me about the lifeforms of the Cenozoic. Since he focuses so much on that time I ask him if there will be any trips to the other periods, the Mesozoic and the Palaeozoic. He tells me that the scientists want to do a chronological sequence, starting in recent times and then going backwards with each session. The farther back we go the less familiar the world will become, both in terms of fauna and flora. Many modern animals already existed in somewhat familiar form during the Miocene, but the Eocene and Palaeocene with their different climate lacked certain groups. He tells me about the creodonts again that were the carnivores of their time and the multituberculates that were basically fake rodents.

I ask him about the differences between those groups and their modern counterparts. He tells me that they are not related with each other and thus are separate groups of animals, although superficially they are alike. I try to be more on the point. What is the difference for me? How does the fact they are not related manifest in any meaningful way in my journeys. Quinton thinks for a short moment and says that their behaviours might be different. We know which stimuli trigger certain instincts in wolves and cats, but the same does not need to apply in animals that are not related to them. Fair enough, I guess.

He does get my point though and quickly rearranges his thoughts. He continues with groups of animals that are either very different today or that don't exist anymore. Among them are the phorusrhacids, a group of relatively large flightless birds, most of which are believed to have been carnivorous. I think I have heard about birds like that before. I ask him if they aren't also called terror birds. He confirms, but his eyeroll tells me he isn't too fond of the name. I kind of agree though for different reasons. Quinton has a romantic view on nature. In his world animals don't fight for their life on a daily basis, they just frolic on blooming meadows all day long. To him these birds aren't terror birds, but beautiful and misunderstood majestic beings. I on the other hand know that nature knows no mercy and has no reservations whatsoever killing you at the first opportunity, but I find it important to remember that nature is not malevolent. It is just amoral. These birds don't spread terror. They just live, they hunt and eventually they die. These birds aren't monsters, they are animals and calling them terror birds sounds like they come straight out of a bad horror movie.

The usefulness of this session seems somewhat limited. Almost everything he says is prefaced with "Probably" and ends with "but we don't know for sure." I can see he means well, trying to prepare me for the trips as best as he can but my inner clock says we have already spent about an hour talking in this room, looking at caricatures of the past and speaking in hypotheticals. I ask him when todays trip will start. He gives me a confused look and tells me it's sunday and that they normally don't do trips on the weekends. They use them to analyze the data they have gathered over the week and maintain the equipment. Yesterday was an exception, because they didn't want me to wait too long.

I ask him why they need an entire day to analyze the data of one day. And why they brought me in right before a weekend rather than doing it on a monday. I tell him that they are just wasting time. And that I am risking my life every time I go into the pod while they are concerned about their weekends.

Suddenly I notice the scared look on his face and I realize that I am yelling and... standing. I quickly sit back down again and shake my head to clear my thoughts. Calmly I say that I don't want them to rush things and will look forward to tomorrow. I slowly get up and as I leave the room I don't hear Quinton move or object to me ending the lesson.




Subject: Re: Additional Advisors
 
Date: 2019/11/24
Time: 16:51
To: q.ross

The administrative board has not approved your request.

The death of Mr. Azarola was already a disaster for the project and has shown that our knowledge of the past is not sufficient enough to survive the dangers the user will face there. Thus the benefit of additional advisors is debatable. Furthermore it should be noted that this is still a secret military project. We will not involve more people than absolutely necessary. Especially non-military personnel is always an immense security risk.

In short, we will not risk bringing any more civilians into this project.

I am sure you understand.

-C. Lang

Subject: Additional Advisors
 
Dear Mrs. Lang,

considering the fact that we need to prepare Mr. Johnson for the times to which we send him, I suggest we invite additional advisors, particularly for the mesozoic and the cenozoic. It is especially important to have an expert for the latter soon, as that will be the time for the next trips.

As you may know my area of expertise is phylogeny with a focus on the palaeozoic. As such I do not believe I can properly advise Johnson for the trips to the cenozoic and later the mesozoic. I can cover the basics, but an expert in the field would be invaluable.

I already have a list prepared with possible candidates. I know all of them personally and find them to be trustworthy and competent. Please let me know if you want me to send it to you.

Regards,
Q. Ross
Edited by Flisch, Apr 9 2016, 05:48 PM.
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