02/14/24 – Not Picknar

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Back in Dr. Festus Loomps' lab, Picknar is waking up, and saying slurredly, "what the helllll?" Smiling and removing goggles, Loomp said, "oh good. I'm glad you're awake. Did it work? Is that Picknar in there?" But the body of Picknar replied, "what are you talking about? Unstrap me! Let me go! I'm val. Where am I?" Yup, you guessed it. Val is in Picknar's body. Resigned to failure, Loomp said, "why do I sense I won't be able to add this to my resume?" Looking away in thought, Val-in-Picknar's-body said, "I know the feeling."

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Yup, I think we’ve all woken up like that before.

———————-Alt Text———————-
Back in Dr. Festus Loomps’ lab, Picknar is waking up, and saying slurredly, “what the helllll?” Smiling and removing goggles, Loomp said, “oh good. I’m glad you’re awake. Did it work? Is that Picknar in there?” But the body of Picknar replied, “what are you talking about? Unstrap me! Let me go! I’m val. Where am I?” Yup, you guessed it. Val is in Picknar’s body. Resigned to failure, Loomp said, “why do I sense I won’t be able to add this to my resume?” Looking away in thought, Val-in-Picknar’s-body said, “I know the feeling.”
———————-/Alt Text———————-

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14 Comments

  1. Widdy

    He’s created something amazing, though admittedly he has no idea how it really works. However, he’ll soon discover he’s enabled instantaneous intergalactic travel to places with a certain level of intelligence. Consent and return to original state are small tiny details to iron out.

    1. TB

      I was thinking the same thing. If it can be made repeatable and reliable, an entire new system of interstellar communication can be worked out. Of course, you can’t ship goods around this way, just information.

  2. Steve R.

    Be really way to travel for diplomats. Trading ambassadors this way would give both sides a leg up on language without a babelfish or anything similar. If they can read as speak the language than all that may be needed is some intense tutoring, with both sides learning about the other, before they can work on diplomacy. With the worry that some trace lifeform, element or compound killing the visiting diplomats all but eliminated.

  3. Steve R.

    Be a really great way to travel for diplomats. Trading ambassadors this way would give both sides a leg up on language without a babelfish or anything similar. If they can read as speak the language than all that may be needed is some intense tutoring, with both sides learning about the other, before they can work on diplomacy. With the worry that some trace lifeform, element or compound killing the visiting diplomats all but eliminated.

  4. 0z79

    Incidentally, if you teleported someone from one spot to another on Earth? The spot you’re teleporting them to would no longer be there, the target would be somewhere in high Earth orbit if it’s anywhere near the planet at all.

    Maybe something like that’s going on, on an interstellar level? Throw in some quantum handwavium to make it work. I dunno, I tend to say a lot of stuff I shouldn’t on boards, which may or may not blow the lid off of the narrative. I’m like a low-rent MatPat.

    1. 0z79

      Addendum: The above is due to the planet having already moved through space, so: If you were teleporting someone from Singapore to New York, even the tiny bit of lag between point A and point B is plenty of time for the Earth to have hurtled through space, leaving the spot that used to be New York City, now being somewhere in Earth’s wake.

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