Not exactly. [He knows this is going to go over Escha's head because she's from fantasy alchemy land, but Dick seems to be from Earth so he's going to try and explain this to them.
There's a bite of tart though before he starts.]
Say you go back in time to when your parents met, using a car as a time machine. You try to make sure your parents marry, but history ends up changing slightly due to your interference. You changed the chain of events, and upon returning to your own time, things aren't quite the same as you remember. Maybe...you're rich, or your father's a famous science fiction writer.
But there's a problem. What happened to the "you" who grew up in that fancy house and that rich life?
[He holds up two fingers.] There are two types of timetravel stories. The first states that there's always only one history, meaning that if someone changes the past, they erase that previous past. The other type is the kind where multiple histories exist. Multiverse theory. The world and universe split into branches as a result of someone's decisions. In the first kind of story, the you that went back to the past ended up erasing your old life, overwriting it with the next experiences even when keeping your old memories. But in the multiverse theory...there are two versions of yourself. You, and the secondary you. In this theory, both versions of yourself take the same action at the same time...in this case, traveling to the past. But the two of you make different choices. You allow your dad to beat up the neighborhood bully, and the second you from the rich timeline stops him.
So. What happens when these choices are made? If two versions of yourself take the same action at the same time, and you end up in the other timeline, where does the other you go?
[He wiggles his fingers a little.] Your consciousness switches places. History remains the same, but you keep your old memories. The timestream remains unaffected, and you change places, but you yourself remain the same with the lack of knowledge of the current timeline. Usually.
[...haha.] When a SHIFTer shifts, their body remains behind but their consciousness trades places with the them from another history.
no subject
Not exactly. [He knows this is going to go over Escha's head because she's from fantasy alchemy land, but Dick seems to be from Earth so he's going to try and explain this to them.
There's a bite of tart though before he starts.]
Say you go back in time to when your parents met, using a car as a time machine. You try to make sure your parents marry, but history ends up changing slightly due to your interference. You changed the chain of events, and upon returning to your own time, things aren't quite the same as you remember. Maybe...you're rich, or your father's a famous science fiction writer.
But there's a problem. What happened to the "you" who grew up in that fancy house and that rich life?
[He holds up two fingers.] There are two types of timetravel stories. The first states that there's always only one history, meaning that if someone changes the past, they erase that previous past. The other type is the kind where multiple histories exist. Multiverse theory. The world and universe split into branches as a result of someone's decisions. In the first kind of story, the you that went back to the past ended up erasing your old life, overwriting it with the next experiences even when keeping your old memories. But in the multiverse theory...there are two versions of yourself. You, and the secondary you. In this theory, both versions of yourself take the same action at the same time...in this case, traveling to the past. But the two of you make different choices. You allow your dad to beat up the neighborhood bully, and the second you from the rich timeline stops him.
So. What happens when these choices are made? If two versions of yourself take the same action at the same time, and you end up in the other timeline, where does the other you go?
[He wiggles his fingers a little.] Your consciousness switches places. History remains the same, but you keep your old memories. The timestream remains unaffected, and you change places, but you yourself remain the same with the lack of knowledge of the current timeline. Usually.
[...haha.] When a SHIFTer shifts, their body remains behind but their consciousness trades places with the them from another history.