The Autobiography Of A Lateral Time Traveller
(Author's Name Withheld)
April 25, 2014
Editorial Note:
My editorial responsibilities have been
purely custodial in nature. At the author's request, there have been no
alterations, deletions, or additions to the text he wrote and placed into our
custody for publication at this time. We certify that this is indeed the verbatim
text of the author and that we have found no reason to question the author's
integrity or sanity. This article constitutes the introduction to the book by
the author, which is now being printed and will be published soon.
Copyright 2014 by the Paranormal Research Institute
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I had always wondered whether alternate
possible time-lines really exist but I never thought I would have the
opportunity to find out. I have chosen to remain anonymous and to delay
publication until this time because I have no wish to be ridiculed or advised
to consult a psychiatrist, nor do I wish for myself or the others involved to
be harassed by questioners. To protect my anonymity I shall only disclose those
details needed for you to know what happened in order that you my get some idea
of what it feels like to suddenly find yourself in a different time-line. Those
interested in research into this subject may consult the organization
publishing my account.
If you have not surmised as much by now,
let me warn you right here at the outset that I am not a writer and I am not
trying to entertain you. If you are not interested in alternate time-lines I
would advise you to stop at this point. Let me also warn you that I can offer
you no scientific explanation for what happened to me. Although I myself am a
scientist in this time-line as well as the one from which I came, and although
I have spent many hours discussing it with the researchers in the institute
publishing this account, we are no nearer to an explanation now than ever. Nor
have we built any machine which can travel to other time-lines, such as you
read about in science fiction stories. Nor did I travel here in one -- at least
not one piloted by me.
Here now is what happened. One day
(without any warning that anything strange was about to happen) while I was at
home alone one Saturday morning while walking through the living room, I
suddenly passed out. When I regained consciousness I found myself lying on the
floor of a strange house dressed in clothing I had never worn before. I was
assisted to my feet by a man I had never seen before dressed in a butler's
uniform. He addressed me by name (Dr. ________) as though he were my servant,
which I soon discovered he was.
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As an avid science fiction fan with an
especial interest in time travel stories, the first conjecture which entered my
mind was that I had travelled to an alternate time-line where I was being
mistaken for my alternate self who had lived in that line prior to my transport
there. Subsequent investigations amply confirmed this hypothesis. In this new
time line I have the same name, bodily features, voice, temperament and
abilities, so that no one has suspected anything. I am also the same age
because I arrived during the same hour, day, and year when I had left my
original time-line. Therefore it was indeed a lateral time travel, i.e.
a travel sideways to an alternate possible history of the world rather
than a travel backward or forward to a different time within the same history.
As quickly as possible after my arrival
here I devoted as much effort as I was able to finding out what my alternate
self had been up to, and in what respects this time-line differed from the one
I had left. I soon learned that many things were different both in my personal
history and in world history. My studies indicated that apparently this
time-line diverged from my original time-line in approximately 1959. The
divergence may have happened earlier than this but it cannot have come later
because there were many events in this time-line after 1959 which are different
from those which occurred in the other. I was able to determine this because my
transport did not result in the loss of memory of my knowledge of the time-line
in which I had previously lived. Also, the transport itself did not add
anything to my knowledge about this time line. What I have learned about this
time-line I had to discover after my arrival here. All of the time-line
differences I have discovered are on file at the research institute mentioned
above where they are available for study. Here in this introduction I shall
give an overview of them to be followed by a detailed examination of some of
the major ones in the chapters to follow. Although there are many differences
in world history (different Presidents, different wars, etc.), the differences
most significant for me are those in my personal life. Actually, the world here
is not much different from the one I left.
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As mentioned above, I can find no
differences in my personal time-line prior to 1959. I have here the same birth
date, parents, siblings, home town, and educational experience up through 1959.
I also attended and graduated from the same college there as here, but some of
the courses I took after 1959 are different, as my transcript indicates. After
graduation the divergence becomes great. In this time-line, my alternate self
went on to graduate school for a Ph.D.; in my previous time-line I took degrees
in theology and philosophy and ended up as a Professor of Philosophy of
Science. Here my alternate self after some post-doctoral studies pursued an
empirical research career, including one major discovery which proved to be
lucrative.
Fortunately, since my transport here
occurred early on a Saturday morning, I had the rest of the weekend to
familiarize myself with the career which my alternate self had been following
so that by Monday I was sufficiently familiar with the duties and schedule
expected of me. Another fortunate factor was that "my" schedule for
the week ahead involved preparation for some special lectures I was to give
concerning "my" latest research, so that by the time I returned to
"my" lab the following week I was well acquainted with the subject
and able to resume the work just as thought I were my alternate self.
In fact, in some ways I was better
prepared than he due to my knowledge of my former time-line. There were some
discoveries made there which were not made here which I was able to incorporate
into my work. Also, my philosophical training helped me to find some flaws in
the logic and theoretical structure of my alternate self's work which he had
not seen. In this way I was able, as the saying goes, to have "the best of
both worlds"! There were, to be sure, some tricky situations which
developed, such as not recognizing someone I was supposed to know or
"forgetting" some important matters, but fortunately the reputation
of my alternate self for absentmindedness usually covered over such matters
without much difficulty.
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There were a great many differences in my
personal life as well. For one thing, in this time-line I am married to a
different woman! This presented, of course, a very tricky ethical dilemma for
me, as it would for anyone who takes the prohibition against adultery
seriously.
How I resolved this ethical problem as
well as the ethics of stepping into the shoes of my alternate self will be
discussed in the chapters to follow. All I will say here is that for me the
crucial factor was the fact that my transfer had displaced my alternate
self from this time-line. I never saw him or had any indications that he was
still here. I also learned that immediately before my transport, my alternate
self was wearing the same clothes, and was standing at the same spot where I
landed when I arrived here. Because what had happened was a clear case of
displacement, I felt it was incumbent upon me to assume the responsibilities of
my alternate self. Whether this was the right thing to do I am not completely
sure, but it is what I did.
What I have written above is both the
introduction to my story as well as what happened during the first six hours
here in this new time-line. I arrived here at 9 AM and spent until 3 PM
acquainting myself with what my alternate self had been doing in his scientific
work. I spent from 3 PM through 5 PM getting information on his wife. (The
butler me that she had phoned and said she would return at 5 PM.) I quickly
looked through all the relevant files and documents and photographs I could
find pertaining to her. The results of this search are noted in the beginning
of the first chapter. The drama which ensued when I met her comprises the rest
of that first chapter -- and what a drama that was!!
By the time you read this I will no longer
be here but will have experienced a different kind of transport, and in this
new and better world on high I believe I may find some answers.
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POSTSCRIPT
I do not remember when I first imagined this story, but I do
know that I did not write it down until June 4, 1986. When I saw how much fun it was to write and
how much fun it was winning the short story contest in which I entered it, I
decided to write down all the other short stories I had imagined, and
henceforth I have usually written down each one shortly after imagining it.
Each of these stories is written as a
narration by the main character who is a scientist or engineer or
academic. By doing so I am able to write
my stories in my natural writing style rather than vainly attempting to write
in a “literary” style.
I do not recall why I chose ALTT as my
entry into the contest but it is not surprising that I did so because time
travel stories are among my favorite kind of science fiction. The wording of the story here (April 25,
2014) is the same as the original with a few exceptions. The second last paragraph was not in the
original story. I also changed the
address of the Paranormal Research Institute from Riverdale, GA (where I lived
in 1986) to Grantville, GA (where I have lived since 1991). AND, of course, the website address was added
(there was no world wide web in 1986!).
The story itself is simply what I myself
would do if my travel to an alternate time line were to displace my alternate
self from that time line: I would assume
his responsibilities.
I do not know if alternate time lines
exist but I do know that the Infinite Omniscient Mind of God not only knows all
actualities, He also knows all possibilities, a very important point which few
theologians ever mention!
I hope you have found this story to be
interesting.
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