Comic Archive

Alana: What exactly do you mean with a “virtual time machine?”
Heidi: Multiple people can experience an accurate representation of a certain point in the future, in a virtual environment.
Alana: So, it is a kind of simulation?

Heidi: Yes and no… it will still be a simulation, but then steered by real information going back and forth through the quantum link. It should be a very accurate prediction.
Zhang: Of what point in the future?
Heidi: That's the tricky part, I still do not know. Could be anything from 50 to 500 years from now.

Adil: You said “multiple people,” is it “multiplayer” now?
Heidi: Yes, I still need to set up some helmets, but in theory the system can accomodate all of us. The only catch is, it may be a one-time event. Everyone who wants to try it, should join the first run.
Max: Why is that?

We see a schema on the screen illustrating a link between machines in the present and the future.
Heidi: The infolink to the future relies on quantum entanglement, with a limited amount of entangled matter. Even merely reading information from the link consumes the entangled state, and it cannot be restored.
Max: So, like read-only-once memory?
Heidi: Indeed.

Zhang: How long can the simulation run on this limited matter?
Heidi: Hard to tell, but the good news is that our experience will be faster than real-time, like in a dream; we should get a decent runtime from it.
Zhang: Then it is similar to Inception after all… but then without the things-within-things.

Alana: Shouldn't we involve scientists?
Steve: And risk wasting their time if it turns out a huge flop? Also, good luck finding one who won't just laugh at the whole idea to begin with. To be honest, I am very sceptical, I want to see it work before considering making this public.
Max: OK then, let's go for it.

Max: When can we give this virtual time trip a shot?
Heidi: The final parts should be ready by next Friday.
Adil: Great, then I still have time to prepare!

Max and Adil walk in a corridor.
Max: What do you mean, prepare? As the one who already tested the machine before, I would consider you the most prepared of us all…
Adil: I want to stock up on cafestol. Who knows what we'll encounter in this virtual future, I might need the stuff.

Max: You honestly still believe this gooey coffee extract gives you super powers?
Adil: If not in the real world, then certainly in the virtual world, I can feel it!
Max: I am starting to join Steve in his opinion about your mental health…
Adil: Just wait and see, you unbeliever.

Heidi: The machine is ready. There are helmets for everyone. You all still want to try it? Last chance to escape.
Alana: Given the likely one-time nature of the thing, I think the FOMO is strong in everyone…
Max: What about OIB-A271, can he experience it too?

Heidi: Not directly, but he will be an essential part of the machine. Given his ties with the technology, he is perfectly suited to act as a kind of router for the data streams. He will form a communication link between the real world and us inside the virtual world.
Max: But, what about the time scale difference?

OIB-A271: My hardware is perfectly able to process video and audio at accelerated rate. Remember those Futurama episodes I processed in no time?
Max: I'm sure Alana remembers the consequences, like the 2-hour long yipping.
Alana: So, that's what that was all about…