[Anonymous, but in his natural handwriting]

[stiffserpent.livejournal.com]

When I came here I was a little scratched up, but all the injuries are gone. What kind of medical treatment are they giving us?

Also, why bother? I was hurt, but it wouldn't have been a problem. It's different for my fr It's not like I was half-dead; just a little burned and bruised, that's all.

Comments

[numberii.livejournal.com]

More'n likely you'd just create an alternate timeline where you never existed. But hey, if you ever get the chance, lemme know... or not, if I'm wrong.

Anyway, it's possible to completely remove somethin' from existence, whether you want to call it erasing or making it Nothing or whatever. Seems like, even if there's absolutely nothin' left, you can still be brought back.

Also, the medical treatment's great now, but it's not perfect. Get yourself banged up again an' you might be out of commission for awhile. Just a little friendly heads-up.
-II

[stiffserpent.livejournal.com]

So. If you can be brought back from absolutely nothing, then wouldn't that suggest that the people here were from a higher dimension, or something?

[numberii.livejournal.com]

Or they just happen t'have a secret or two the rest of us don't have. Heck, now that I think about it, there was a theory goin' around that we're just clones or copies of what the 'baseline' person was. Dunno if I believe that, but if that's true, then there's nothing special about what's going on.
-II

[stiffserpent.livejournal.com]

That'd make more sense, I guess. It's like that old thought experiment my Master told me about, with the teleporter that just kills the original and creates a perfect copy somewhere else.

Even so, I know it's theoretically possible, but it doesn't seem practical to do it on so large a scale. Besides, if you could scan all of someone's physical properties and mental state, wouldn't it be a hell of a lot cheaper to just run a computer model?

[bullygeneraleva.livejournal.com]

Ever read Parfit's approach to the problem?

[stiffserpent.livejournal.com]

No, I'm not familiar with it.

[emotionl4arobot.livejournal.com]

Considering the technology required to find and either abduct or copy the original person, despite their location in time and space, I doubt practicality or cost have much influence on the matter.

Though a computer model would be an interesting solution. If it were indeed well made, how would one be able to tell?

- Brainiac 5

[stiffserpent.livejournal.com]

There was a movie about that earlier this year which was pretty good. The guy out of Speed was in it.

[emotionl4arobot.livejournal.com]

...what are you talking about? I thought you wanted to discuss theories.

- Brainiac 5

[stiffserpent.livejournal.com]

Sorry, this is just a little out of my experience.

I guess if it's a perfect computer model, there'd be no way any of us could tell, so I don't think it's worth thinking about; it would mean that there's no way out, and, besides, if we're here, it's 'reality' anyway.

If we were real clones and we got out, that might cause a problem. An escapee would head for home and find themselves, and then what happens? Even with the high security, that sounds far too risky.

Are there any significant differences between the bodies of people here and how they were before they came here? Someone here said they can bring people back from the dead.

[emotionl4arobot.livejournal.com]

I expect it's out of most people's experiences.

Significant differences? Well myself and several others were not actually human before arriving here. Something which lends more weight to the idea of consciousness transference or something similar, as I find it highly unlikely someone would have the technology to transform a physical body on the genetic level.

In my case, I was largely cybernetics and nanotechnology, so the changes have been quite... substantial.

- Brainiac 5

[stiffserpent.livejournal.com]

Cybernetics and nanotechnology? You mean they can revert cyberoids to humans?

[emotionl4arobot.livejournal.com]

Well I suppose that's a better term that 'robot'

Either that or my mind was copied and uploaded into another body. Or, as you suggest, a computer simulation.

- Brainiac 5

[stiffserpent.livejournal.com]

What's your new body like? Is it like your old one used to be before you were modified?

[emotionl4arobot.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what my body would have been like had I not been modified. The procedures take place at a very young age. But it looks similar to how I looked before I came here.

- Brainiac 5

[stiffserpent.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that kind of thing went on.

Still, it suggests that you're not being transferred into someone else's body. What's the chance they'd have a host on hand who looked like you? If they are transferring consciousnesses, it's fair to assume you have an artificial, if biological, body.

I heard of a project to develop something similar to that going on in the Soviet Union, but, last I heard, it was scrapped.

[emotionl4arobot.livejournal.com]

Such modifications are commonplace for my species.

It's possible that they used a genetic sample from my original body, or customised the DNA of this body to look like what they wanted. Considering the technology apparently at their disposal, I wouldn't be surprised if they were capable of this.

What's the Soviet Union?

- Brainiac 5

[stiffserpent.livejournal.com]

Are you an alien too?

[emotionl4arobot.livejournal.com]

Yes, actually. I'm Coluan, though I don't suspect you're familiar with my people. Not many here are.

- Brainiac 5

[stiffserpent.livejournal.com]

More aliens? Damn. How far reaching are they?

[emotionl4arobot.livejournal.com]

Considering I'm from the thirty-first century and the location I was in was quite some distance from Earth, I would say their range is extensive.

- Brainiac 5

[stiffserpent.livejournal.com]

Thirty-first century?

So that's what my friend meant when he told me that there were people from other times here.

This is insane. They've got to have something serious planned if they're going to all this trouble. Someone has to stop them.

[emotionl4arobot.livejournal.com]

Oh? It occurred to you just now that they need to be stopped? Fortunate you were on hand to tell me this fact; even with my considerable intellect, I might have had difficulty figuring it out for myself.

- Brainiac 5