Chapter 15 Chapter Fourteen

"I have to warn you, this sounds like a crazy idea," Jenkins said. "I'm surprised you feel the need to remind me again," Hurst said. Jenkins nodded, as if to say, you're wise.Then he said, "Time travel." "Time travel?" Dahl asked. Jenkins nodded and turned on his holographic demo stand, showing the Intrepid timeline and its tentacled branches representing episode nodes. "Right here," he said, pointing to one of the nodes, "I think it's the middle of the fourth season of the show, where Abernathy, King, and Hartnell take a shuttle to a black hole. Fly away, using its space-time distortion energy to go back to the past."

"That sounds ridiculous," Dahl said. "Of course," Jenkins said. "This is just another plot that violates the laws of physics. The point is not that they violated the laws of physics bullshit, but that they went back in time, and they returned to a specific point in time, a specific time. year. They went back to 2010." "So?" Hurst asked. "So, I guess the reason they go back to that year is that this episode was made in that year." “Isn’t it all too common for people in science fiction to time travel,” Hansen said. “They’re always putting themselves in meetings with famous historical figures or taking part in major events.”

"But what they're doing is going back," Jenkins said, pointing directly at Hansen. events because they have to provide their audience with historical events they know, otherwise they wouldn't care. But if the plot goes back to the present, it doesn't do that. It simply needs to show the characteristics of the period and the characters The reaction is enough. This is naturally full of dramatic irony." “So, if the show has them lingering in a time in the past, as long as they meet certain famous people, that’s the past; but if they don’t, it’s the present,” Duvall said, “the present of the episode.”

"That's pretty much it," Jenkins said. "It's a great piece of TV trivia," Duvall said, "but what does it mean to us?" "If we go back to the present, there's a way to stop it!" Dahl said suddenly. Jenkins smiled and touched his nose. Duval looked at the two of them, not quite understanding. "Explain it to me, Andy," she said, "it's like just you and Jenkins sharing a crazy idea right now." "No, that makes sense," Dahl said. "We know what the 'now' of the show is. We also know how to time travel back to the present of the show. As long as we go back to that time, we can Stopped people from making this show."

"If we stop an episode, everything stops," Hearst said. "No," Dahl said, "we still existed when the plot didn't need us to appear. This timeline existed well before the plot invaded." He paused and turned to Jenkins. "Am I right?" "Probably," Jenkins said. "Probably?" Hurst suddenly became worried. "The philosophical discussion about whether this timeline exists independently is really interesting. From the perspective of us who live in it, this avenue of time has been extending infinitely, whether the plot is just killed halfway, or the creation of the plot created this time at the beginning The line makes the history on this line come out of nowhere," Jenkins said, "this may be used as an inference of the anthropic principle—"

"Jenkins," Dahl said. "—We can talk about this later when we have time," Jenkins understood Dahl's hint and returned to the topic, "The key is, yes, whether this timeline existed before the plot or was created by the plot, now It's always been there, and it's been going on just fine without the plot." "Okay," Hurst said. "Probably so," Jenkins said. "I'd really like to throw something at him," Hurst told Dahl. "We're here, and we're going to be here even if the show breaks. I agree with that," Dahl said. "Otherwise, we'd be dead no matter what. Right."

No objections were raised. "In that premise, going back to what I was saying, if we went back in time and canceled the show, the Intrepid wouldn't be the focus of the show," Dahl said. No matter how ordinary a spaceship is, we are no longer popular supporting characters but become ourselves.” "Then we won't die," Duvall said. "People are going to die," Jenkins said. "Thank you for your six-character mantra." Duval was a little annoyed, "I mean we don't have to die for nothing because of the sighs of the audience." "Probably not," Jenkins said.

"If it's really a series, it's not that easy to stop." Hansen said, turning to Dahl, "Andy, a successful TV series can make a lot of money, just like a good series today It’s the same as the show. It’s not just the episode itself, there are many surrounding things, including advertisements, which can bring in income.” "Your boyfriend might have his own role model," Hearst told Duvall. "Yeah, and you didn't," Duvall shot back. "That's not a good thing in this world." “What I’m trying to say is that even if we manage to go back in time and find the people who made the show, it’s not necessarily going to stop it all,” Hanson said, “Maybe there are too many financial relationships involved. "

"Do we have any other options?" Dahl said. "If we stay here, all we can do is wait for the plot to develop to the point where we all die. Maybe the possibility of stopping the plot is slim, but it's better than here." Dramatize the inevitable end of death." "Why did it have to be discontinued?" Hirst said. "If you think about it, if we're all extras, we're not essential characters here. I mean, we can go back and never come back." “Do you really want to live in the world of the early 2000s?” Duvall said. “It wasn’t a good time to sing and dance. Even cancer seemed incurable back then.”

"Anything is fine," said Hurst. "There's no cure for baldness," Duvall said. "I'm not a wig!" said Hurst. "You can't stay in the past," Jenkins said. "Otherwise, you're going to be broken." "what?" "It has to do with mass-energy conversion," Jenkins said, "every atom that makes up your body has existed in the past. If you appeared in the past, those atoms would have to be in two different places at the same time. This creates an imbalance. , the atoms have to decide where they want to be. In reality, they choose to be in the past, because strictly speaking, you are from the future and you should not be here."

"How long will this 'existence' last?" Dahl asked. "About six days," Jenkins said. "Sounds as stupid as hell," Hurst said. "I didn't make the rules," Jenkins said, "it's just how it was last time. It's what the plot needs to be—it gave Abernathy, King, and Hartnell a reason to play in such a dramatic situation." complete their tasks within a limited time frame.” "This timeline sucks," Hirst said. "The same problem arises if you try to send atoms into the future," Jenkins said. "In this case they will still choose the state at this time, which means that matter from the past will disintegrate. This is a big problem." Problem. But remember, there is more than one problem.” "Is there anything else?" Darl asked. "Well, you need to request a shuttle boat, which is not a piece of cake," Jenkins said. "They're not going to let you borrow it for a lazy excursion. But that's not the hard part." "And what's the hard part?" Duvall asked. "You're going to have to go with one of the five main characters," Jenkins said. "You take your pick, Abernathy, King, West, Hartnell or Kerensky." "Why do we have to go with them?" asked Hurst. "You said it yourself," Jenkins said, "that you're a side character. What do you think would happen if you tried to send a ship to a black hole? The gravity of the mass would tear the ship apart, and you'd be ripped apart." Stripped, caught in the torrent of atoms, drawn all the way to the singularity at the center of gravity, you're going to die. Of course, you die before you turn into noodles. That's how you end up. But you get the point La." "This wouldn't have happened if we'd gone with one of the show's main characters," Dahl said. "Yes, because the plot needs the protagonist to appear in the future." Jenkins said, "So in that situation, even if you are close to the black hole, the laws of physics will give way to the plot." "And we can be sure that the main character has an aura of immortality," Hirst said. "Oh no, they die too," Jenkins said.Hearst gave him a hard look, as if he was about to punch him with his fist. "But not in this way." Jenkins continued. "The death of a major character is a big deal. So in the big picture, if one of the main characters is on a time travel mission back in time to kill his own show Die easily, that's unlikely." "It's nice to be 'unlikely' again," Hurst said. "So to recap what we did," Dahl said, "kidnap a high-ranking official, steal a shuttle, venture close to a black hole, time travel, find the crew, stop them from filming, and dissociate in the atoms that make up our bodies." Go back to the present time." "Yes, that's my idea for you," Jenkins said. "It sounds kind of crazy," Dahl said. "I've been emphasizing this all the time," Jenkins reminded. "You really lived up to expectations," Dahl said. "So what do we do now?" Duvall asked. "I think we'll take it one step at a time," Dahl said, "so the first step right now is how to get a shuttle boat." Dahl’s communicator rings, and Officer Kim-kyo summons him in the command room.
"The religious struggles on Fuershan continue to heat up," King said, and Captain Abernathy nodded beside him. "The Cosmos Alliance is trying to broker a ceasefire, but our movements are limited by the lack of translators. Of course our Foreign Office has some computer translation programs, but they can only translate the first dialect relatively accurately, and for some Xi Jinping Insufficient translation skills in English. So there is a good chance we could inadvertently offend the people of Furshan in the worst case scenario." "Kim told me you could speak all four dialects," Abernathy said. "That's right, sir," Dahl said. "Then there is no delay," Abernathy said, "We need you to go to Fuershan immediately to serve as an interpreter for our diplomatic team." "Yes, sir," Dahl said, feeling chills all over his body.It's my turn, he thought.The plot is finally getting to me.We've only just figured out how to do it. "How long will it take for the Intrepid to go to Fuershan?" he asked. "The Intrepid isn't going," King said. "We've got an urgent mission at hand in the Ames system, and we can't get away. So you'll have to go yourself." "How do I get there?" Darl asked. "You go on the shuttle," King said. Dahl laughed suddenly. After a while, Jin asked, "Second Lieutenant Dahl, are you okay?" "I'm sorry, sir," Dahl said, "I'm just sorry for asking the obvious question. When do I go?" "You're going as soon as we assign you a driver," Abernathy said. "I have an obligatory request. I want to choose my own pilot," Dahl said. "It would be even better if I could choose my own field team for this mission." Both Abernathy and Jin frowned. "I'm not sure you need an entire team for this mission," King said. "My lord, I'll need it," Dahl said. "As you said, this is mission critical. I'm one of the few humans who can speak all four Furshan dialects, so I think I It should work for the diplomats non-stop. I need my own team for me to dispatch, so as to pass communique information between the diplomatic teams. In addition, on Fuershan, I may also need to be in several factions I need to have a pilot and a shuttle boat to work with." "How many people do you need as a team?" Kim asked. Dahl stopped and looked at the ceiling, as if thinking. "One driver plus two assistants should be enough," he said. King looked at Abernathy, who nodded. "Okay," King said, "but only up to the rank of ensign." "I've got someone selected," Dahl said, "but I still wonder, wouldn't it be better to have a senior officer on board?" "For example?" "Captain Kerensky." "I don't know what a navigator is going to do on this mission, Lieutenant," King said. "We always try to make sure that the field crew involved in the mission has the relevant skills." Dahl was slightly startled when he heard this, but he continued immediately: "Then you are the best candidate, sir," he said to Jin, "after all, you also have a certain understanding of Furshan's language." "I know what's going on." Abernathy said. Dahl blinked. "Sir?" he asked. "I know what's going on," Abernathy repeated. "You and I were on the Nantes mission, Dill." "Dahl." Dahl corrected. "Dahl," Abernathy said, "you were there when that lunatic tried to assassinate me and your friend died. You knew firsthand the dangers of the field. And now you've been appointed to lead the team yourself, so You feel apprehensive about the burden on your shoulders, and you fear that someone will die before your eyes." "That's not how it works, I promise," Dahl said. "What I'm trying to say is don't worry," Abernathy continued without hearing what Dahl said, "You're an officer, Dill, sorry, Dahl. You're an officer, you're training to be a Leader's man. You don't need me or Kim or Kerensky to dictate what you already know. Go ahead and do it. I believe in you." Dahl hesitated for a moment, then said, "Sir, your words are very encouraging." "I have a high opinion of you, Second Lieutenant," Abernathy said, "I believe that one day you will become a senior officer under me." "Then I'll live a long time," Dahl said. "So," Abernathy said, "assemble your team, give them mission instructions, and be ready to go in four hours. Can you do it?" "Yes, sir." Dahl stood up and saluted, "Thank you, sir." Abernathy returned the salute.After Dahl nodded to Jin, he left quickly, and called Hester before leaving the command room a few steps away. "What happened?" Hearst asked. "Our schedule has suddenly become extremely tight," Dahl said. "Listen, do you still have Finn's miracle drug?" "Are you saying the same thing I'm thinking?" Hester asked cautiously. "Of course," Darl said. "Yes." Hurst said, "It's not that simple to get rid of that thing." "Find an oval blue pill," Dahl said, "and we'll meet at Maya's dorm. The sooner the better."