Monday, June 22, 2009
The Martin Thompson Story
The Martin Thompson Story
Phase Theory
On March 6th, in the year 2217, Martin Thompson applied a revolutionary combination of mind theory and chemical science, to discover that ours is not the only world. He learned that certain minds, under certain conditions, could be made to shift their perception into other realities. Other worlds. Some of these worlds are much like ours, some are very different. He called these alternate realities phases of existence, and proposed that when a mind transitioned between them, the phases met and touched at that single point, much like soap bubbles floating in air. And like those bubbles, they proved fragile, some more so than others. In early experiments, three volunteers were driven insane when the communal phase they occupied broke under the pressure.
On December 9th 2219, Martin Thompson died, went insane, and disappeared, in approximately that order. This was the first recorded incidence of reality subversion.
Transition Threat
From the very early phases of Thompson’s investigations, it was clear that minds in transition could influence, to varying degrees, the phase they moved to. Investigation of his death and subsequent insanity showed that minds in transition and only minds in transition could also influence this reality. Assimilating known history with Thompson’s model showed clear mathematical indications that, at various points through recorded history, reality had been warped. Sometimes it gradually returned to its “normal” shape, sometimes the change became permanent.
Work in other phases had already shown that a strongly focused mind could cause shifts in the structure of that phase. It was theorized that a sufficiently focused individual could, through the connection between the alternate phase and reality, cause shifts in the structure of reality.
Panic spread. In some places, phase researchers were hunted by mobs, blamed for every little thing. In others, they were lifted up like gods, and viewed as the only ones who could save reality. It is from the seeds of this second set that the awareness of a moral imperative to maintain our reality arose. This awareness, combined with a fluke discovery is what led to the eventual formation of the Phase Research and Reality Maintenance Division, commonly known as Reality Cops.
The Burke Dynamic
In the chaos and panic following widespread awareness of reality subversions, many of the organizations researching phases of existence no longer had the luxury of carefully controlled experiments and volunteers were less carefully screened. In late 2223, this resulted in Carmen Burke entering transition while suffering from acute appendicitis. Carmen's account of how simple it was to affect the phase was initially discounted as simply a misconception, but transition recordings and later, further controlled experimentation bore out the testimony.
A mind that entered transition while experiencing pain was better able to affect the phase it entered.
This was the breakthrough that allowed the Reality Cops to effectively carry out their mandate.
Strictly voluntary, the Division gained in credibility and effectiveness until it was an accepted and necessary part of life for more than a generation.
It had been more than twenty years since the last reality subversion.
The Second Thompson Subversion
July 12, 2262. A deranged man breaks into Division Headquarters and transitions illegally. The man dies moments later, without leaving the phase of existence he had transitioned into. Phase researchers become aware that another reality subversion has occurred. As best can be determined, the subversion had two main effects. First, and most obvious, entering transition no longer required complex equipment. Second, and more complex in its effects, was that the Burke Dynamic no longer drew exclusively from an individual's own pain, but was affected by the pain of those around them.
Post-subversion DNA testing indicates the man was, in fact, Martin Thompson. This is not, however, viewed as conclusive evidence.
The year is 2265. You are a Reality Cop.
Labels: pimping my stuff, publishing, Reality Cops
posted by James at 12:02 PM
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