AUTHOR NOTES: This bonus chapter is, evidently, a massive load of infodump. I am aware of this, and I do not apologise. :P
The details in here are not directly relevant or important to the main story, but they are, I think, of some interest, especially to the kind of reader who likes to delve into the lore and backstory. The occasional Wednesday bonus slot gives me an opportunity to put this kind of material out there as an optional extra, rather than putting it directly into one of the main chapters. A lot of what's in here will wind up in the main story over a much longer period of time, but this is a quick burst of insight for anyone less patient. :)
The name of the paper's author is, of course, a reference to the Portal games.
That's a correct assessment. Max-Earth is indeed 'our' timeline, but extrapolated into the future. Mid-Earth, where the bulk of the narrative is taking place, began with the same timeline as 'ours', but the opening of the portals sent them off in a new direction.
The interesting thing, of course, is that especially during those early years immediately after the Joining, Mid-Earth would have been able to look at Max-Earth history to predict what was coming in their own timeline. Hence why the United States of America does not exist in Mid-Earth's dimension, and how the British Empire is still in full force by the time we get to the 1970s.
Ha, indeed. That's an area where Mid-Earth dropped the ball, in a desperate (and obviously doomed) attempt to keep up. Max-Earth has several hundred years of extra progress, Palinor has...well, MAGIC....Mid-Earth (at least, the chunk of the planet dominated by Britain) meanwhile has tried to brute force its way into remaining significant and a power player.
I've decided the "It's a Trap!" steampunk Crimean War videos are actually set on Tri-verse Mid-Earth. 🤔😉
Must really be frustrating for the Max-Earth AI's to have power/signal loss. Tough to get data. I can see the AI's returning to optical storage - think of a Blu-Ray-R using an X-ray laser instead of blue to increase information density on disc and sending through a probe bot with a camcorder. The physical burn onto the media would preserve data where some kind of magnetic or signal storage (tape or Flash-Ram media like an SD card) would be wiped by interference. Project this onto other tech as you desire ("holographic crystal media," or whatever).
Interviews. Lots of interviews.
Sally could only tell the AI's so much, and most of that is irrelevant...in any dimension a sex worker only needs friction. Yeah, I went there.
Ooh, I love worldbuilding stuff! So if Max-Earth is us but in the future, is Palinor us but in the past, or us but way off on a wild tangent so it's barely even us anymore?
Also I'm curious how the Revolution and the Napoleonic War did play out in Max Earth. Not to mention the earlier 1900s. Did they have the two World Wars? Nuclear weapons? The Soviets? Fascinating.
Palinor certainly isn't 'the past'. Whatever happened to skew it off in a different direction was fundamental, given the geographical and weather differences in the same theoretical location. Not to mention the presence of magic. Then you factor in that humans are still present....
One aspect to bear in mind is that the different dimensions are not limited to the planets, but to those entire universes.
As for specifics, such as recent historical events across Mid- and Max-Earth: that's an endless can of worms that I wish I'd considered more carefully before writing this thing. ;) It's catching things like bridge names and other cultural references that won't apply in Mid-Earth, stuff like that can get quite complex. I'll probably not get it all correct, but as long as there's verisimilitude I think we're OK.
I do have notes on the timeline schisms, especially around 19th and 20th century alt history. It's not been directly relevant, but I should put a bit more of it out in a bonus chapter. :)
Ahhhhh; I look forward to it! That does clarify things about Palinor; I'm fascinated by these worlds. (Also, I'm a bit amused that Palinese authorities are still denying the connection between the university and the Joining. Different dimensions or not, some things are the same everywhere.)
AUTHOR NOTES: This bonus chapter is, evidently, a massive load of infodump. I am aware of this, and I do not apologise. :P
The details in here are not directly relevant or important to the main story, but they are, I think, of some interest, especially to the kind of reader who likes to delve into the lore and backstory. The occasional Wednesday bonus slot gives me an opportunity to put this kind of material out there as an optional extra, rather than putting it directly into one of the main chapters. A lot of what's in here will wind up in the main story over a much longer period of time, but this is a quick burst of insight for anyone less patient. :)
The name of the paper's author is, of course, a reference to the Portal games.
Kaenamor's name lives on, whilst Sally is forgotten to all but me...
As the type of reader who enjoys the lore, I enjoyed this greatly.
Ok, is "Max Earth" effectively "OUR" Earth (at least in terms of its history) several hundred years from now?
That's a correct assessment. Max-Earth is indeed 'our' timeline, but extrapolated into the future. Mid-Earth, where the bulk of the narrative is taking place, began with the same timeline as 'ours', but the opening of the portals sent them off in a new direction.
The interesting thing, of course, is that especially during those early years immediately after the Joining, Mid-Earth would have been able to look at Max-Earth history to predict what was coming in their own timeline. Hence why the United States of America does not exist in Mid-Earth's dimension, and how the British Empire is still in full force by the time we get to the 1970s.
Well, as long as with quashing the American Revolution, Mid-Earth paid attention to climate change, and...
... You've already said Mid-Earth is still on coal and steam, largely, so, no, they didn't.
I'm half joking here.
Ha, indeed. That's an area where Mid-Earth dropped the ball, in a desperate (and obviously doomed) attempt to keep up. Max-Earth has several hundred years of extra progress, Palinor has...well, MAGIC....Mid-Earth (at least, the chunk of the planet dominated by Britain) meanwhile has tried to brute force its way into remaining significant and a power player.
I've decided the "It's a Trap!" steampunk Crimean War videos are actually set on Tri-verse Mid-Earth. 🤔😉
Must really be frustrating for the Max-Earth AI's to have power/signal loss. Tough to get data. I can see the AI's returning to optical storage - think of a Blu-Ray-R using an X-ray laser instead of blue to increase information density on disc and sending through a probe bot with a camcorder. The physical burn onto the media would preserve data where some kind of magnetic or signal storage (tape or Flash-Ram media like an SD card) would be wiped by interference. Project this onto other tech as you desire ("holographic crystal media," or whatever).
Interviews. Lots of interviews.
Sally could only tell the AI's so much, and most of that is irrelevant...in any dimension a sex worker only needs friction. Yeah, I went there.
Ooh, I love worldbuilding stuff! So if Max-Earth is us but in the future, is Palinor us but in the past, or us but way off on a wild tangent so it's barely even us anymore?
Also I'm curious how the Revolution and the Napoleonic War did play out in Max Earth. Not to mention the earlier 1900s. Did they have the two World Wars? Nuclear weapons? The Soviets? Fascinating.
All good questions! :)
Palinor certainly isn't 'the past'. Whatever happened to skew it off in a different direction was fundamental, given the geographical and weather differences in the same theoretical location. Not to mention the presence of magic. Then you factor in that humans are still present....
One aspect to bear in mind is that the different dimensions are not limited to the planets, but to those entire universes.
As for specifics, such as recent historical events across Mid- and Max-Earth: that's an endless can of worms that I wish I'd considered more carefully before writing this thing. ;) It's catching things like bridge names and other cultural references that won't apply in Mid-Earth, stuff like that can get quite complex. I'll probably not get it all correct, but as long as there's verisimilitude I think we're OK.
I do have notes on the timeline schisms, especially around 19th and 20th century alt history. It's not been directly relevant, but I should put a bit more of it out in a bonus chapter. :)
Ahhhhh; I look forward to it! That does clarify things about Palinor; I'm fascinated by these worlds. (Also, I'm a bit amused that Palinese authorities are still denying the connection between the university and the Joining. Different dimensions or not, some things are the same everywhere.)
Very interesting! I like that one remains a bridge to the other two, but there is potential for further overlap. Neat world-building stuff.
I'd slightly forgotten about this chapter! A scandalous infodump, but useful, I think? :P
Important to know how the portals work!! Necessary for sure
Typo, paragraph 2. "Despite Max-Earth’s advanced technologies there is no indication that the have the..." should be, "...no indication that THEY..."