Breaking the Long Fog (Semi-Closed, Attn. ROUS)

[The Floor Kippers]

Sir Nigel had been pacing back and forth for a while
"No, forget about Skarn." He said to himself aloud "Jupin is right. It is possible the sattalite caused this. Multiverse Travel is in itself a kind of time travel, When you jump from one universe to another you are traveling sideways in time."

[Warhaven]

"We'll have results shortly." Tajen said, standing calmly in one corner waiting for his scans to complete.

[New Amerik]

Gehn waved off the Frenequestans concerns. "Time and multiversal travel is sufficiently...complicated, even if it can be harnessed. Suffice to say we know that the hard workings involve five core dimensions, and there's a good deal of minor fiddling with lower ones for best results. We do know it's a lot simpler to simply shift time or shift space, which is most of our technology so far in the two areas. And it's more correct to say the Skarn exist at the same as Mars Prima, only on different...parts of the planet itself. As for...the Mechanism."

He fell silent for a moment, before stating shortly, "The Mechanism of Hopes and Dreams is a special device, ma'am. It was powered by nascent godhood, a combination of technological and early metaphysical science, and given a great deal of assistance by the Elder God of Chaos Parnassus. Suffice to say we have no particular reason to believe it did anything with this universe...especially considering our monitoring of the situation as close as possible."

He brightened up again and continued on, agreeing that, "I don't mind you scanning me, long as you watch out for the fiddly bits. And extremist groups...eh, dime a dozen over here. You get them a lot in any universe with sufficient hand-to-wave ratio fluctuations. None that I know of that would wish to seal off this universe, however..."

---

A scan of the Nuclear East would result in some...intriguing findings. For the most part, the place was still a barren wasteland, though there were already plenty of new flowers, lichens, and basic plants spreading throughout. Pockets of more complex living life was scattered around here and there, however, small energy sources and outputs indicating where larger communities were formed. However, timewise the findings would show a very strong, constant energy signature broadcasting from an underground area somewhere near the middle, no more than a few miles underneath the surface. It was constant, although there were occasionally minor breaks here and there...until 2030, when suddenly it began broadcasting wildly for over two hours, then suddenly stopped. Afterwards, it was completely dead...and, as an elemental finding would show, from that point on the surrounding area was filled with radioactive materials and decaying elements.

But it was the Kronos Satellite that was most interesting. Upon scanning the satellite, they would find...from the very moment they started scanning, the satellite being there in space - before the point the Amerikans had reported launching it. However, at the same time, the satellite was also registering as not showing up - it was literally registering as both there and not there at the same time. This continued in the exact same fashion, with absolutely no difference in signal quality or broadcasting, until 2042 - when, suddenly, it registered as showing up and stayed there. Somewhat more oddly, it was also showing signs of being millions of years older than it should have been.

Inside, the satellite itself was merely filled with a number of power producing structures, an elemental compositor and creator, and an entire bank full of the genomes and genetic materials for upwards of every plant, animal, and sapient species on Earth, and quite a few that were not. It was also home to a clock, which was even now less than three years from hitting zero.

[Warhaven]

Tajen's communicator beeped. He took it off, and it began to replicate the reports into written form.

He read through them briefly.

"The Satelite is Millions of years old, and The Nuclear East had an underground energy source?" Tajen asked.

He passed the findings around, but gave Gehn a complete copy of all scans for his own records and uses.

"Something's fishy, that's for certain." Tajen said.

[New Amerik]

"The Nuclear East had a secret power supply somewhere? News to us...we weren't aware anyone had anything there before Iran and Kuwait blew each other to smithereens twentyfive years ago..." Gehn murmured, "But the satellite...aha. That is good, then - the mission was successfully accomplished, then."

[Starkindler]

She reached her back, and grabbed her wand. At least in the simulation. In reality, the scanning beam was produced by the small floating orb, routed over a delicate network of force fields simulating her real wand, functioning, in this case, as a tricorder. An invisible scanner beam was projected over the doktor, searching him for high energy power sources of any kind. While observing that no geometrical measures are taken to conserve the prudence of the Amerikan. She also scanned his cape, hoping that it is his own skin, or at least it wasn't been on any human before.

She also could not help herself but to overhear the conversation between Gehn and the Warhavenite diplomat.
"Excuse me, but what did a terraforming satellite do millions of years into the past? Getting the satellite that back could change the culture and religion of civilizations, and could change the progress of technology. The events might have created alternative universes leading that you did not launch the satellite, did not invent time or multiversal travel, or that the satellite was destroyed. And I'm still amazed that your materials or self-repair structures withstood millions of years, and even the satellite AI didn't went rogue.

But as we know nothing of the Nuclear East, I would suggest dispatching some Imperial soldiers there for exploration into the power plant bunker. Did the East ever had intention to seal this universe off? Such as for extreme religious reasons?"

[The Floor Kippers]

"She has a point Why DID you send a terraforming satallite backwards in time?" Sir Nigel said "I'd have thought you'd have known better than to muck around with the flow of time"

[New Amerik]

As the scanner beam passed over Gehn unseen, it revealed an extradorinarily high amount of...something. It wasn't a conventional energy source, or even a physical one, but instead seemed to be a metaphysical representation of the doktor's Imagination and willpower...at least, that's what it probably was. Nonetheless, the reading recorded was extrordinarily high, as if one had passed a geiger counter next to an active leaking nuclear bomb. But scanning the room would only report slightly decreased readings...

As for the skin itself, it didn't register as being a part of Gehn - and, as the scan completed, it verified it was...or, at least, had been...the skin of a former human being.

Gehn turned. "While it is technically highly classified, the Kronus Terraforming Satellite's mission was to start and prepare for the millions of years it would take to subtly prepare Mars's enviroment, composition, and nature into a form that would be suitable for short term - as little as ten years - increased terraforming and eventual colonization. Materials and self-repair were nothing considered to the initial step of sending it back that far, not to mention it's a dumb satellite - no AI at all, more just automated commands. As the Nuclear East? There hasn't been a unified will there since the Kuwaits and Iranians decided to play hot potato with early nukes, and the nature of multiverse wasn't even known back then."

He turned with a look of mild confusion. "But really, I am surprised at the both of you. Have not you heard of my Instability Theorums? Recall the Paradox Question - if time travel, dimensional shifting, and trans-universal travel is possible within the universe, then why hasn't it been hopelessly destroyed or mucked up by the interference of a paradox within its timeframe? The answer, of course, is that, at least within our own universe, reality itself actively works to prevent paradoxes - it will work, for years from our point of view if need be, to resolve the factors so that a paradox does not occur."

He waved his hand. "In other words, the universe had already set up events to occur, before we had ever entertained the notion of time travel, so that the appearance of a terraforming satellite would cause the reality you see and exist in before you today."

[The Floor Kippers]

"I would agree with that more If I hadn't encountered countless Agencies and Groups working to keep time and the Multiverse on the right tracks" Sir Nigel said "And that's an endless and thankless task. But Enough Finger wagging, Jupin is Right, this satallite has to be the cause of it, somehow, maybe its changing of the timeline by doing its programmed function or maybe ripples in time-space caused as it traveled backwards in time were the cause of the fog."

[New Amerik]

Gehn raised an eyebrow. "While we can't say our program would do anything, as it was in effect more of a storage device and a slowly-operating terraforming preparal kit, your latter suggestion is interesting. However...we had recorded the satellite arriving safely at first when we sent it back. At least, it reported arriving before our connection to the outside multiverse ended soon after."

[Warhaven]

Tajen raised an eyebrow, and started flipping through his scan report to the Temporal Reports on the Satelite.

"Nigel, Gehn, take alook at the Temporal Reports. My ships logged all Temporal activity, its causes, and its present results." Tajen said.

He sighed.

"Sometimes Xos and his explanations are quite useful. Maybe I should summon him." Tajen said idly.

[The Floor Kippers]

"Do we have the time?" Sir Nigel asked "Has anyone got an important thing to do this side of next year?"

[New Amerik]

"Many things," Gehn responded, "But as long as he fills out the proper reports and forms authorizing his entry into the Amerikverse time-spacial claimed territory of the Holy Technocracy, I don't see no reason why not, albeit from what I've heard his answers will be no more helpful than the questions."

[Warhaven]

"No, no. If I called Xos, we'd all be dead and decayed, and yes that includes everyone in the room that's immortal, before he finally shut the hell up. Especially concerning something this complicated." Tajen said.


"I resent that." Xos muttered, standing next to Tajen.

Despite the fact he wasn't there a minute ago, a careful recollection of memory would show he had indeed filled out all the appropriate papers and gained authorized entry at the same time Tajen did, and had accompanied him the entire time.

"Alright then, Blabbermouth, what's the answer?" Tajen asked.

"It isn't obvious? It should be readily appearent to you from the scans and reports here thus far, both from New Amerik's original data, and the scans gained from your own Science Vessals." Xos said.

[The Floor Kippers]

"I know you're a genius Xos but don't rub it in. Some of us never went to University or to school." Sir Nigel said "So, What's the answer?"

[Warhaven]

OOC: I can't. I OOCly don't know the answer.

IC:

"Alright, here it is." Xos said, and whipped out an old fashioned chalkboard and began explaining.

[New Amerik]

Gehn watched the explanation and the chalkboard with interest, before ultimately shaking his head. "Sorry, but I'm not getting anything of what you're saying. What, exactly, does the state of internal affairs in the pre-Nuclear East have to do with chronoflies flapping their wings in Quebec?"