Time Travel and You

Originally posted here on July 12 2022: 

Congratulations! You have decided to work with Tempus, INC, and you have passed your background checks and intelligent tests! In a few days, you will be contacted by support staff to begin training you on specific aspects of your missions. 

In the meanwhile, this material will get you a little more familiar with the subject matter. Now that we have your NDA on file, we can tell you a little more about this whole process! 

Likely you saw something about us in the news. We have produced photographs as well as accurate 3d models from such sites as Pompeii before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, Paris during the erection of the Eiffel Tower, the Battle of the Bulge, as well as the Great Cleansing, and have settled at least 40 serious academic debates about mysteries of history (thus far). 

So, here’s some things to know.

You will be sent to some period of time in our past, a particular millisecond. The device you will receive will slow your perceptions, and you will be able to take your time within this millisecond. There will likely be people frozen around you. You may feel that they perceive you, but as far as we’ve been able to tell, they do not. They may see a flash of movement, that’s all.

Do not attempt to harm, injure, or move any people you may encounter. They will be defenseless and also nearly every agent who’s attempted something like this has been gravely injured. If you survive your injures, you will immediately be ejected from the program, and you will give up your right to any severance pay. Even if you perceive them as being evil, even if they have harmed you or your family member in the past. It won’t work.

You will be given clothing if it is necessary to wear period appropriate clothing. (In general, anytime after photography was invented, you will wear period appropriate clothing, just in case you end up on film. It’s unlikely, but we like to hedge our bets.)

Your support crew is also going to show you how to use our special camera. If you are a photographer or otherwise familiar with digital cameras, this won’t be brand new, but because of the special needs of time displacement there are some special techniques you will need to know. Badly photographed subjects can lead to docked pay! (Don’t worry, we make that pretty fool proof and you get some lenience on your first few missions.)

Additionally, you will spend the next few months becoming intimately familiar with the Cab, the device that displaces you and then returns you. It is your responsibility, and misuse of the Cab can result in death. Having it installed is a standard outpatient procedure and most people have no issues and little pain. 

When you are time displaced, you will be able to interact with objects, but we ask that you not move anything unless it is specific to the mission. It might be tempting to try to bring a newspaper back with you, or a book, but unfortunately we have not been able to successfully bring forward anything from the past. It disintegrates in the process.

Most of your missions, you will be there to photograph a certain subject- a person, an object, a place. If you can move the object to get a better photograph (especially if it is text) you may do so, but if you cannot, do the best you can. (Please photograph the object in situ before attempting to move it.)

This is important information, so you need to get familiar with it now: you can only remain Time Displaced for a maximum of 15 subjective minutes. Scientists are working on safely extending this time. When the 1 minute warning goes off on your Cab, you must return to your time stream. If you do not, you can suffer any of the following injuries: organ rupture, bone rupture, spontaneous degloving, permanent eye or organ loss, and decaptiation.

We are still investigating why this occurs, but we believe it is because time is attempting to assert itself and trying to reinsert you into the time stream you are observing. The results are messy. Do not deviate from the time. Returning early is encouraged, if you’ve completed your objectives.

If you suffer an injury, return immediately to your time stream, no matter how small or apparently minor it is. Even if it is from something like falling and skinning your knee, or getting a papercut, even a splinter. For some reason, they get out of hand. The longer you wait, the more likely you are to suffer a serious or mortal injury upon return.

Do not hesitate. It’s frustrating to have to abort a mission immediately, but your health and safety are more important.

Again, we believe that the time stream you visit is attempting to force you to integrate, and even an extremely minor injury seems to encourage this. And, of course, there’s always the possibility that the Great Cleansing has something to do with it.

If, during your time displacement, you see anything move that is not you or something you have dropped or thrown, return immediately. Do not stop to take photos, do not hesitate. Approximately 1% of our time displaced personnel do not return, and we believe it is due to this. We are unsure what causes the movement, it could be another time displacement agency, but there is also evidence that points to the Great Cleansing.

If you even think you see movement, return. Do not try to take a photo of the movement. So far, everyone who has returned and reported seeing the movement has reported that they did not attempt to photograph it, and nobody has returned who has reported that they attempted to photograph it. Presumably at least some of our agents attempt to photograph it, as they are trained to do so. This leads us to the conclusion that attempting to photograph the movement is dangerous. Abandon your task and return immediately.

You will, when possible, be given a reasonable amount of currency for the time period. This is just in case you get cleanly reinserted into the timestream. We do not believe this is likely and have found no evidence that it has happened. You will be given specific instructions on where to leave evidence if this does happen to you, and the currency given to you should be enough to help you get by for quite a while.

FAQs:

Q: What happens if I can’t complete the mission within the time?

A: Take a photo of your surroundings, and then return to your time stream. We can always revisit the time stream in another millisecond, but overstaying will definitely injure you and is likely to kill you. Return to your time stream. Do not run out the clock. If you have not completed your mission by the time your alarm triggers, take a photograph and return. 

Q: What is the Great Cleansing? Do we know anymore than I learned in school?

A: Not as much as we’d hoped. It is the time period when the time displaced are most likely to encounter movement, and it is difficult to get much more than crowd shots of worship at the great temples erected in 2065, or the infamous 3D image of the Slaughter of Noble. As far as we can tell, there was some kind of religious mania that swept the world. We are working to see if we can get any shots of print media, but it has been more difficult than anticipated. We are working on stabilization technologies that we hope will allow us to work remotely in this time period, or give our time displaced personnel more freedom and safety. 

Q: What happens if I end up in The Great Cleansing and that wasn’t my mission?

A: This happens rarely, and we’re not entirely sure why. In this case, return immediately. Only highly trained and specialized time displacement personnel are cleared to investigate the Great Cleansing. If you’re not supposed to be there: leave, immediately.

Q: Can I give my currency to a beggar?

A: The currency, like you, is most likely to be destroyed by being pulled into the time stream. Testing and observation has shown that it does not stay in the beggar’s cup (the cup being, in this case, somewhat metaphorical) and we do not know where it goes, but it is assumed that it is dissolved by the same process that attempts to push human bodies into the time stream. Also, we reuse the currency- but if you do spot an actual beggar, drop a coin or two in their cup and make note of it. It’s worth trying.

Q: Am I going to kill Hitler?

A: No. Attempts have been made to kill or harm dangerous individuals in different times and they have come to no fruition. There is some mechanism by which this is impossible, and we have not been able to determine what it is. Minor things, apparently, we are capable of changing. Additionally, occasionally you will attempt to move an item or book and will be unable to do so, and we believe it is by the same mechanism- the item is too important to the stream to be moved. (Every human seems to fall into this category.)

Q: Can I pet a dinosaur?

A: Thus far, we have not been able to send any of our personnel to any point in history where humans did not exist. It has helped us set up an accurate timeline of human development, a silver lining in this situation. We all want to pet a dinosaur, and we’re working on it.

Q: Can I back out?

A: Yes! You can remove yourself from the organization at any time, for any reason. This is a dangerous undergoing, and we understand that people may get cold feet. If you decide to back out, we will remove the Cab. It can leave some minor scarring, we will help you come up with a cover story for it. It should be noted that you will not be eligible for severance until you have attempted at least five missions.

Q: What is the pay structure like?

A: You will be paid per mission, depending on whether or not you achieve the goals set forward. (There is leniency allowed for aborting a mission due to injury or other reasons.) Each mission will give you specific objectives and you will be paid based on how many of those objectives you achieve, generally. Clear photographs of your objective are best- take multiple to ensure you have 1 or 2 good shots. You will also, after your fifth attempted mission, be eligible for severance. This means that if you leave the company for any reason (aside from being removed for a violation of some of our special rules- like attempting to harm humans in the past) you will be paid a certain amount. Your severance increases with each mission you attempt, and successful missions also increase it. You will receive more details on the numbers when you are further into the process, but even after five attempts, most people can retire from working altogether on their severance.

Q: What if the site of my Cab is red, swollen, or weeping?

A: Call the support team immediately. Rarely, personnel have reactions to the materials in the Cab device, and may reject it. Most times, there is a minor infection. If you reject the Cab, we will test you for suitability in other parts of our project. If we cannot place you, you will be compensated for you time. Unfortunately, not everyone can be a recipient of the Cab, and we have not yet found an accurate test or predictor to tell if someone might reject the Cab.

Q: I thought I saw someone else with a Cab. Can I talk to them about the project?

A: In order to preserve the integrity of the project, we ask that you not talk to anybody not vetted through your support team about the project. We believe there are other companies experimenting with the technology, and we are certain that other companies are trying to get enough information to successfully enact their own project. Someone with a device like the Cab could be a member of your extended team, or they could be a planted person for purposes of corporate espionage. If it is someone in your life you are familiar with, you can check through your support team to see if they are part of the project. 

Q: Can I really not talk to anybody? Not a single person?

A: Part of the approval process is confirming you have at least one friendly, close person who can also sign and NDA and clear a reasonable background check. We have found it is best for the mental health of our personnel if they have an outsider they can talk to.

Q: Can I visit my Nana when she was young?

A: You can request such a mission, but without support team there to key the Cab, it will not function. We do occasionally allow for personal missions to be undertaken, however, so it’s entirely possible, and most people who request a personal mission are given leave to do it. Usually we try to restrict people to one, so choose carefully. Talk to your support team if this is one of your goals, they’ll help you work towards it. For some reason, visits to close family members are less dangerous than most, and sometimes helps with closure in the case of a sudden death or difficult relationship. 

Final Thoughts:

We know this information can make you apprehensive, but we feel it’s best to provide it upfront so you can make an informed decision before you have an expensive and unique device implanted in your body, or undertake a dangerous (if thrilling and important) mission to some point in time in our past. 

Special Note:

Due to your relation to Bel Robinson, you are being fast-tracked for the specialty training that visiting the Great Cleansing requires. This is a unique opportunity that we hope you will help us with, as we have discovered Bel Robinson was a key player in several of the massacres that happened around the globe. I know you are uncomfortable talking about the relation but, as the pamphlet mentioned, having a genetic or emotional relationship can help smooth the cloudy waters of the past, and make travel less dangerous. We can hardly be blamed for our relations, and this could help us get the clearest look at the Great Cleansing we’ve ever had. 

I’m looking forward to speaking to you soon.