Time Travel

Beginners guide to time travel.
There are three main theories with respect to time travel. Which of these, if any, is correct remains an open question.

The Multiple Timeline Theories.
The past in any given timeline is effectively immutable. Attempts to change the past by time travellers result in the creation of an alternate timeline. Thus it may seem that the past has been changed but in fact the time travellers have simply switched themselves to the alternate timeline. The original timeline remains unaffected.

This theory exists in Weak and Strong versions.

Weak Multiple Timeline Theory.
In the weak version it is surmised that minor changes to the past 'dampen' out over a relatively short period of time resulting in no lasting change. That is, if a time traveller in his or her past were to give a random stranger the equivalent of a week's wages, the change made by that gift would become increasingly insignificant with the passage of time until it was indistinguishable from the original past, and thus no new timeline would be created.

Strong Multiple Timeline Theory.
The Strong version presumes that any change to the past, no matter how insignificant, creates a new timeline. Very minor changes may have no observable differences to the original timeline and thus be inobvious to the time traveller, but he or she is nevertheless in a new timeline.

The Mutable Timestream Theory.
There is only one timeline and its past can be changed by a time traveller, to a greater or lesser degree depending on the significance of the change made in the past by the meddling time traveller. However, to the time traveller the observable result of this theory and the multiple timelines theory are identical. The classic grandfather paradox, that is what happens if a time traveller goes back in time and kills his own grandfather, is a misunderstanding of temporal physics. Because the time traveller existed prior to shooting his grandfather, even if for just a split second, his existence continues. Even though on returning to his own time his parents do not.

Of the three theories, that is the Weak and Strong Multiple Timelines theories and the Mutable Timestream theory, the most widely accepted is the Weak Multiple Timelines theory. Although with no known way to verify or disprove any of the theories there is support for all three by rival fractions of temporal scientists.

Given the efforts by some time travellers to change history, and by others to protect recorded history, it can certainly be surmised that faith in the Multiple Timelines theory is not absolute by any means.

Time Travelling Factions.
In addition to the independent time travellers, both solitary and group (see: A history of the Travellers group by Akcada Deblin, copyright 2484.) there are a number of more organized fractions.

Time Patrol and Temporal Police.
These two organizations are effectively the law enforcement agencies of time travel. Their mission to is protect and safeguard history as it is recorded. They cooperate with each other, although the Time Patrol is the more 'by the book' of the two. The Temporal Police organization is based in the 34th century, having originally being setup by H.G.Wells after his discovery of machine based time travel. The Time Patrol is based further in the future. The 42nd century. Despite the difference in time between the founding of the two organizations their technology level is comparable. In fact nearly all time travelling fractions share the technology available to the period just prior to the Barrier (see below).

The Genealogists.
This fraction is dedicated to the revival of extinct gene lines. They collect samples of animals which have become extinct prior to their time for breeding programs in addition to searching out and obtaining samples of lost human genetic lines.

The Accquisitors.
In many ways these are akin to the Genealogists, except the Accquisitors travel though time to collect and preserve works of art that would otherwise be destroyed. Their standard approach is to study an item, create a replica and substitute the replica for the real item prior to it being destroyed.

The Stream of Purity Cultists.
This group is frantically opposed to time travel. Which doesn't stop them using time travel to seek out and attempt to capture or assassinate time travellers. Much of their activity is directed toward foiling frequent assassination attempts against Hitler, the Ebony Klan, and Xi Lupan, by time travellers.

The Travellers.
A meta-hero group from the 21st century. Primary members include Timewarp, Radical, Moonshadow, Jak, and Raven. This group has connections with both the Time Patrol and the Temporal Police.

Naith.
He is Timewarp's father and a member of the Time Patrol. When first encountered he was a historian researcher assigned to renaissance Italy. Naith is also known to have been King Hiram the first of Tyre. It is highly likely that Naith was a field agent of the Time Patrol at that point in his personal timeline.

Elizabeth Victoria Moriarty
She is a senior field agent of the Temporal Police. She has has several interactions with the Travellers group. These interactions have frequently served to nudge the Travellers into activities that resolve so called 'closed loop anomalies'.

Prince Ne'Dalian.
A merchant-prince of the 23rd century, an era when capitalism has run wild. He is not a time traveller himself, but directs the efforts of a number of his corporate mercenary enforcers time travelling to the past to raid natural resources. Their usual technique is to enslave local natives and force them to mine or extract the resources they seek.

The Dark Sidhe Prince.
Not a time traveller, unless you include travelling though time the old fashioned way, one second per second, forward only. But immortal so can be present at any time since his first encounter with the Travellers group in the 16th century. He has sworn vengence upon the Travellers.

The Quantum Mechanic/Torus.
From the 29th century, the Quantum Mechanic wields the Torus and has travelled across space and time with his companion, Katrina Prince. He's been missing for some time, his whereabouts unknown. In 2070, the Torus returned to Katrina Prince as the primary user, the whenabouts of the Quantum Mechanic still a mystery, though he is suspected to be beyond the Time Barrier.

Copycat.
Copycat is the wielder of the Torus and the 4th dimensional (future) wife of Griffin Freeman/Sentinel, appearing throughout his lifetime even beyond her passing at the age of 88 years old, and often out of order. She has traveled all of time and space in search of clues of the Quantum Mechanic's disappearance. She's had a number of traveling companions, the latest of which is Porter. Sometimes the Torus doesn't take her where she wants to go, but it always takes her where she needs to be. Recently in a trip to the far future to make good on a promise to her husband for a date on Druxas 4 in 8315AD, she crashed into the recently formed time barrier and is determined to figure out how to get past it so she can prevent a catastrophe that she's been working on preventing before the time barrier went up.

Arthur Aevus
Copycat's deep cover alter ego, Arthur Aevus is the supposed inheritor of the Torus after Copycat passes away. He's got a long history of helping the helpless and heroic acts across time and space, and is an established hero on Earth, but looks rather ordinary aside from his eccentric looks. Arthur is actually a fusion with Kat still able to be in control. Arthur is known to have light powers, is extraordinarily lucky, and is known to dabble in magic. He's a man of many skills, and a bit of a mystery.

Astra Aevus
Time traveler and alleged 4th dimensional wife to Dr. Arthur Aevus. Arthur is still trying to figure out who she is.

James Porter.
Armed with his doohickey, Porter has traveled with Kat in time, the pair having some rather chaotic misadventures when they're together. Against Kat's advice, he once altered time so that the earth was destroyed in 1576AD, and then fixed the catastrophe by creating a paradox loop. He stopped himself from making the change, thus erasing his present self from existence.

WARNING:

Interaction with individual in timestream has 50% probability of paradox creation

Non-interaction with individual in timestream has 50% probability of paradox creation

Created paradoxes have 50% probability of closed-loop self-resolution

Summary: Probability of unexpected: 150%

Rick "Breach" Mason.
Rick "Breach" Mason: Travels time in the conventional 1:1 manner, but has been known to occasionally get jettisoned forward or backward in time by interactions with Kat and/or The Mechanic.

Sentinel
After Katrina Prince's death in 2131, at the age of 88, her husband Griffin Freeman is the actual inheritor of the Torus. By the time of Kat's death, he looked not much older than he did in the present, his powers having made him immortal. It wasn't the last time he saw his fourth-dimensional wife, and the pair continued to encounter each other at various points in their individual timelines. Sentinel thought he'd be with his wife effectively forever. Until the time barrier's appearance left him to face eternity alone.

The 4879AD Barrier.
This is a barrier to time travel. If you're heading upstream and you get to 4878AD you get dropped back to norm-time. You can time travel back downstream but go no further upstream. Nobody who's crossed the barrier in norm-time is known to have ever come back down from beyond it. Consensus opinion is the barrier must be artificial.