VIDEO | 001

[nerdica]

I've been thinking and ( Offscreen there's a voice that just calls back you're always thinking, but Nautica continues on undaunted! No one asked you, Chromia. ) and I've been wondering about why we're here. Not about our purpose for being here - I've decided that for the moment to assume that all information regarding that is accurate because there just isn't a good way to quantitatively account for it when creating this particular dataset. Categorical variables, you know?

I mean I could account for it, but I'll be the first to admit that I'm making a large number of assumptions as it is and I'd like to minimize any further skewing of results.

( Someone hasn't actually gotten around to her point yet, and it's with another helpful cough from offscreen that Nautica snaps back to it. )

Oh! Right, sorry. Anyway, I was wondering if there's any correlation between arrivals and existing relationships. Take me, for example - Chromia and I are close friends, and there's any number of people that I know here. Although they might not know me yet - I suppose I could factor in timelines differences somehow-- ( She looks pensive for a moment, one finger tapping against her chin as she considers this. That shouldn't be too hard. ) But my hypothesis is that by arriving here, you increase the chance that others from your universe will eventually follow, and the closer the relationship the more likely that individual will show.

There's an attached survey. If you'd like to fill that out and respond to this post with it, I'd appreciate it. So, um, thank you? Preemptively.

( And flicking the video feed off, because she can hear her roommate groaning already. )

Attached Text:
Number of Individuals from Your Universe Present at Your Arrival:
Number of Individuals from Your Universe Who Have Arrived Since Then:
Number of Individuals from Your Universe Present at Your Arrival That You Knew Personally:
Number of Individuals from Your Universe Who Have Arrived Since Then that You Knew Personally:
Of the Last Number, How Many Would You Consider to Have Close Personal Relationships With:

Comments

Text

[ribbonbon]

Number of Individuals from Your Universe Present at Your Arrival: None (I think)
Number of Individuals from Your Universe Who Have Arrived Since Then: None (Maybe?)
Number of Individuals from Your Universe Present at Your Arrival That You Knew Personally: None
Number of Individuals from Your Universe Who Have Arrived Since Then that You Knew Personally: None
Of the Last Number, How Many Would You Consider to Have Close Personal Relationships With: N/A

permavideo

[nerdica]

And how long have you been here? There might be something I'm overlooking.

Video

[ribbonbon]

I've been here a little over a year. I was part of the first group that showed up.

And I'm not like, completely sure I'm the only one from my universe. I mean, like, a lot of people seem to be from Earth, but I can't tell if we're from the same one or not.

[For all the things she's seen and odd people she's met, she wants to sat they're not, but...well, she's never really sure.]

[nerdica]

Only a little over a year? For some reason I thought it had been going on longer than that...

( Something else to consider. )

Have you considered comparing and contrasting the important events? Admittedly that might not give you a fully accurate picture, but if you think there might be a chance--

[ribbonbon]

Yeah! Um, a year and...one month or so, I think. ...I didn't think about comparing stuff like that, though. A lot of the people who showed up when I did aren't really like, around anymore, so maybe I'll ask someone sometime.

[She's a little embarrassed that after a year she still doesn't have much in the way of social connections.]

It would be nice to find someone from the same Earth as I am...

[nerdica]

Mm. Not a long time by any stretch of the imagination... Who else is left, if you know?

( Says the giant robot who's probably at least a million years old. What's a year and a month when compared to that? )

It's always nice to have people who at least have a common background as you, even if they're not people you've met before.

[ribbonbon]

[Not a long time? Pilouette can't help but feel a little embarrassed with herself. She had been feeling a little homesick after being in the city for so long, but...maybe a year really isn't that long. Maybe she just needs to buck up or something.]

Um, I'm not sure who else is left. That kid Diarmuid said he remembered me from the first group. And I think my friend Shinju has been here since then, too. No one else really comes to mind, though. There were a lot of us that time, so I didn't get to meet everyone. [She pauses briefly, feeling a little bad that she can't offer anything more helpful.] Um, sorry.

And um, yeah, meeting people with something in common really is great, but I have to admit that like, I've met a lot of people that I'm not sure even could have existed where I'm from. I didn't even know different worlds existed until I came here.

[nerdica]

( Don't, Pilouette, Nautica can just be tactless on occasion. She tries not to be but, well. )

There's really no need to apologize. ( Says the bot who does it often enough. ) But really, there's no prevailing theory of the multiverse in your universe? Strange, I though most cultures at least routinely considered the possibility of other universes. Uh. Not to say that it's wrong if you haven't!

[ribbonbon]

Well...it's not that there isn't one. It's, um, just that no one really takes it seriously. [At least she doesn't think anyone does.] I mean, most people thing that it's just like, you know, stuff in movies or books or whatever. Not that other universes are like, really real.

[nerdica]

I'd say you could go home and tell them about it, but apparently upon our return we forget everything that has happened here.

[ribbonbon]

But like, even if I did remember, like, who would believe me, anyway? [She lets out a quiet sigh.] Everyone would probably think I was like, totally losing it or something.

[nerdica]

Oh. I hadn't thought about the consequences in a world where the theory hasn't become prevalent.

( Whoops. Her bad. )

[ribbonbon]

Well, maybe if I did tell someone, I could just pass it off as a weird story or something.

[Maybe she could even write a book about it and make a million dollars! Like those weird vampire books. Though, her experiences have been...less than thrilling. Being sucked into another universe only to work in a sweets shop isn't exactly the pinnacle of excitement.]

...Wait, so like, where you're from, everyone just accepts this whole...multiverse thing as common knowledge or whatever?

[nerdica]

Mmm, perhaps not accepted, but certainly treated with some validity. There's another universe - it's called the Dead Universe - that Cybertronians know and recognize. This? ( A handwave around her. ) Is just an evolution of that.

[ribbonbon]

["The Dead Universe?" She's not sure she should ask; after all when something is preceded by the word "dead" it's usually not good. She tugs on her hair a little, frowning thoughtfully. An evolution or a universe? Did universes evolve?]

I, um...I'm not sure I really get it. It sounds like, kind of complicated.

[Then again, Pilouette never was the sharpest pencil in the box.]

[nerdica]

It's not really all that complex, just imagine-- ( She flounders around for a good way to explain it. ) I mean the theory is complicated considering what makes one universe different from another and if every decision results in another universe being created where the opposite choice was made but I've always thought that didn't give a certain amount of weight to the more important decisions.

( Nautica, that is not helping. )

But the important thing to remember is that there is the very strong possibility of an infinite number of universes where things can be nearly identical to the one you know, or vastly different.

[ribbonbon]

[She takes a second to try and comprehend that. It's kind of mind blowing. If she were to think about it any harder, smoke might start coming out of her ears...]

So almost everything anyone ever does could result in a whole different universe? That's so weird to think about, though! Like a zillion different universes with a zillion different versions of everyone I know only with tiny little changes.

...What if there's an alternative universe where we're like, having this exact same conversation like, right now?

[Somehow she finds it mildly unsettling to think about.]

[nerdica]

According to one of the theories. Another is that only the major decisions count for when one timeline splits of from another, and that change in the timeline causes another alternate universe to form roughly along imagined parallel lines as the 'main' one. Although then you have to deal with arguments over which one is the 'right' and proper timeline and which one is the secondary one.

( But a nod. )

There's a possibility of that being true, yes.

[ribbonbon]

S-So I might not even be the real deal. I might just be like, some off-shoot or something...! And there could be like, a bunch of other versions of us doing the exact same thing in the same place...

[Pilouette has thought briefly about alternate universes before, but learning that in some places it is a totally legitimate theory is making her take it a little more seriously.]

Omigosh, doesn't that like, kind of freak you out though? Like, we know that people can be taken to other worlds and stuff since we were brought here, but like...what if another version of you came from another universe and like, tried to replace you or something? Omigosh that's like, so totally scary, isn't it?!

[Were Pilouette a little more self-aware, she might realize how out of control her own imagination is getting right now. Unfortunately, she's not. Sorry, Nautica.]

[nerdica]

No, you're always the real one. Even when all the other ones are just as real as well. Just because one is 'proper' doesn't mean that the rest are immediately invalidated.

( She's not bothered by the complexity or the fact of the matter that it's a lot to wrap one's head around. )

Well, if another version of me came from another universe, I think I'd be more interested in talking with her about the similarities and differences in quantum theory and just about everything else there is. Um, not to say that that wouldn't be a possibility. But it just doesn't seem probable.

[ribbonbon]

[Doesn't seem probable.

Pilouette, having been pulled into another world the previous year, is currently talking to a robot about the theory of multiple alternate universes. It takes Pilouette just a second to get over hearing the idea of being replaced by an alterate version of oneself (as silly as it is) being called improbable given the current situation. ...Though, she supposes it really is. Besides, from what Pilouette can gather, Nautica knows more about this kind of thing than she ever could, and is probably right.]

Hmm...like, I think I'm starting to get it now. [Kind of. A little bit. Maybe?] Even though you were asking people to answer stuff, I think I'm the one who ended up asking all kinds of questions. [She laughs, a little sheepishly.] Um, s-sorry...!

[nerdica]

( A shake of her head. )

I don't mind at all. And if you have any more questions you can always ask and I'll do my best to answer them.