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"Cyberspace is a metaphor that allows us to grasp this place where since about the time of the second world war we've increasingly done so many of the things that we think of as civilization."
- William Gibson
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| Time Capsule | ||
| A hollow block of metal, impervious to the elements, used by time travelers to send messages to the future. |
Most time capsules were tossed in the ocean, apparently, then recovered (on the average) about 100,000 years later. They were then kept in the "Post Office" for as many centuries as were necessary.
| We use the Fed to house the vault somebody nicknamed the "Post Office" many years ago, no doubt because the vault is clogged with packages that are not delivered for years or centuries. The Post Office is one of those weird side-effects of time travel. It proves once more that paradoxes are possible, though only strictly limited ones. .. A time capsule is a block of very tough metal about the size of a brick. ..On the outside of the brick is a name and a date: "For __________. Do not open until _________." …Under no circumstances has one ever been opened before its time. .. Time travel is so dangerous it makes H-bombs seem like perfectly safe gifts for children and imbeciles. |
| Technovelgy from Millennium,
by John Varley. Published by Berkley Books in 1983 Additional resources -
|
The danger arises from the paradoxes of time travel; too many alterations in the past can disrupt the present; the timestream is described in this novel as being somewhat flexible, but not very. For example, if you went back in time, and took a can from a stack in the grocery store back to the future, there would be little disruption, despite the fact that a change was made. If you went back to the past and saved JFK, on the other hand, you would change everything.
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'Do not waste your priceless company on the unappreciative folds of a sleep pod...'
'...so we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
'Oscar picked up a trowel. 'I'm the tool for the mortar,' the little trowel squeaked cheerfully.'
'... he waited for the robotrix attendant to finish fueling up his ship.'
The Roujin Z system provides care to fully bedridden patients - and then some!
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
