At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements ;)
What if you were a time travel agent? What sort of advice would you give to your clients? When would you urge them to go? What do you suppose that job would be like?
(Apologies for this week's question. I read the words "time travel agent" in the description of a show, and I knew I had to use it. Somehow.)
I think I would tell them to choose wisely where they wanted to travel and to enjoy the adventure.
ReplyDeleteBetty
I'd tell them don't step on any butterflies.
ReplyDeleteHaha!
DeleteHaha, too!
DeleteThis wasn't somewhat prompted by my cover reveal stuff, was it? ;) I would tell my clients where they could go based on their personalities and responsibility levels. Believe me, I would be very selective.
ReplyDeleteIf travelling in the past have lots of shots as everyone was dying of germs back then. And avoid people with swords.
ReplyDeleteGood advice.
DeleteThat would be super hard. You'd have to be quite familiar with history. And what if they screwed with history? Would "travel insurance" be a thing? Could history be corrected for the stupid mistakes that travelers did?
ReplyDeleteVery good questions.
DeleteI think it would depend on if their actions would actually affect the past/future when they go. Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteSince I didn't specify, it could go either way as you see fit.
DeleteI would say go way back in time. See dinosaurs. Ride a dreadnoughtus and be the tallest living creature in the world. That's my ambition.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many dangers in going back to the past. Illness, war... You'd definitely have to find a safe place where they can enjoy that time period.
ReplyDeleteSomething to think about.
DeleteI would advise them not to go into the past!
ReplyDeleteWhy not? It might be fun.
DeleteHmm well I'd hope the job would have on the job training so you could go check out places in order to recommend them. lol Where I guess would depend on the traveler and what they're interested in. But be careful of the water is always a good bit of advice when in another land.
ReplyDeleteI'm not gonna lie. I can't answer the question because of my own terrible nerdoms.
ReplyDeleteThere are literally so many theories (and fictional pieces) on time travel and the different ways that travel to other eras might EFFECT time that I'm just not sure where to go with it.
Gun to my head, I often prescribe to the idea of time travel actually equals dimensional travel...in which I would base the decision on where to visit on who was standing in front of me. As terrible as it sounds, race, gender, and religion all would play heavily into the decision because, let's face it, our history as humans is f***ed if you aren't a white male.
Time travel is great fodder for sci fi. There's a reason I kept the question fairly narrow.
DeleteI would tell them they are mere observers and, no matter what they do, they can't alter the course of history since I am assuming, being this type of travel agent, it is made so nothing can alter the past. I would tell them they would need to go when they are not tired and without any cold. This would be a cool job and, knowing me, I would want to be on Titanic for one day which would be 2 days before the fateful night.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's a thought. They can travel but they can't touch. Hmmm...
DeleteI would (thanks to the commenter that beat me to it) warn them not to step on any butterflies. I predict this will be required reading for time travel agents: A Sound of Thunder, by Ray Bradbury. I highly recommend the story, and happy there is another SF fan out there in your readership. Well, more than one. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteYou know, I've actually read that story. Plus, I've seen all the go-back-in-time-and-screw-things-up movies and TV episodes. I decided not to touch that in this particular question.
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