He's Dead Here, Too

Summary:

An endless string of alternate-universe versions seek living redemption. Seeking both greenlight and critique.

He's Dead Here, Too

Sonderance 11 Feb 2020 01:59

Hello all!
Here's the gist: In (almost) every universe, alternate versions of the same man accidentally kill alternate versions of the same child. So each incarnation of this man finds a way to trade places with his alternate selves in an attempt to find a universe where the child is still alive, so he can find some sort of absolution.

The actual anomaly in question, in simple terms, is a being who is replaced by another alternate-universe incarnation of themselves every 3.1 days or so. Each incarnation will have a few things in common:

• They will have some sort of catalyst to help them switch places with their alternate selves (possibly a garment of some kind)
• They will be incoherent and difficult to understand, due to the psychological effect of this sort of travel and the time they've spent on this foolhardy mission
• They will actively and desperately seek out this plane's version of the child they killed until they find out that he is dead, at which case they will calm down and meekly wait for the next switch

Most of the narrative of this story would ideally come from specific incarnations. A violently fused pair of corpses, for instance, could belie the dangers of one individual removing their catalyst, while another's cybernetic enhancements might give some data on what each version seeks.

If you have any questions or comments, please let me know! I'm aware that this is a bit half-baked at the moment.

Re: He's Dead Here, Too

(account deleted) 12 Feb 2020 00:53

The idea isn't bad, although the description of some possible iterations of this guy reminds me of SCP-3477 a bit. But not in a way that might make this a problem, just thought I'd point this out. Besides that, I think with the focus in the right places, such as the mystery and emotional struggle of the dude (as well as his character overall), this can potentially be an entertaining read.

I think another important part is how you'll present the idea of a multiverse and those alternative versions switching places with each other while in containment. This might require an explanation that won't be too blunt, or some users might have problems with that aspect.

Other than that, I think it has some legs, so I'm giving this a greenlight.

Last edited on 12 Feb 2020 17:48 by (account deleted) Show more

Re: He's Dead Here, Too

Sonderance 12 Feb 2020 22:42

Thanks for the feedback and the greenlight! I hadn't read SCP-3477 before now, and it is remarkably similar; thus, to soothe my own nerves, here are the main differences I can identify:

• Difference in goals
• SCP-3477's instances are fully sane, while the instances of this would range from moderately unhinged to comatose
• SCP-3477 instances' variations are focused on achieving immortality, while the variations of this skip would be a result of different causal paths
• SCP-3477 instances are willingly cooperative, while this skip's instances would be forced into cooperation by the threat of whatever happens when an instance tries to occupy the same dimensional space as another

As for the multiversal exposition, ideally, the idea wouldn't be expressed in the main description at all; any exposition would come from instances of the skip. To give the example I'm thinking of at the moment, one of the instances could be a comatose cyborg whose computerized components can be communicated with through a modified bash shell (leading to what I'm hoping will be a very novel interview log!)

Last edited on 12 Feb 2020 22:42 by Sonderance Show more

Re: He's Dead Here, Too

rioludoodle 13 Feb 2020 15:36

I'm intrigued by your proposal and would like to see it written up. It seems promising! The bash shell "interview" log sounds particularly interesting to me.

You're likely already aware of them, but SCP-507 is the paradigm for dimension-hopping skips, and SCP-3001 epitomizes sanity decay. Whether you follow in their footsteps or endeavor to subvert their archetypes, I recommend keeping them in mind.

Greenlight.

Last edited on 13 Feb 2020 15:39 by rioludoodle Show more

Re: He's Dead Here, Too

Jon Flay 13 Feb 2020 16:36

Ok, 2 GLs are given but I still have a couple of questions if I may. How exactly will the process of travel work? Are they replacing each other, as if 'one left and the other came after' or 'spontaneous change' where they are forced out of the universe by another version? This will choose whether he can even stay at the universe he finds. Or does replacement mean that he replaces the original version, meaning there could be a few of them in the same universe at one? Last one could actually be made into a log.

Re: He's Dead Here, Too

Sonderance 13 Feb 2020 17:19

Great question! That's actually my favorite part of this idea of mine. They are replacing each other, due to automatic syncing of their traveling mechanisms; however, if one decides or is forced to remove their mechanism, another iteration will eventually materialize in its same location, causing one heck of a mess!
As a consequence of this, no version can actually choose to stay anywhere. They're constantly on the run from their own alternate selves.

Re: He's Dead Here, Too

Jon Flay 13 Feb 2020 17:41

Ight, then we have a completely different problem. The whole story of finding a child then kind of atrophies. Why the search if they can't stay anywhere? This could actually go 3 ways from here:

A: They don't know they cant stay and find out only if they take the thing off.
B: They know about the results and are constantly on the run, hoping they will somehow find a way.
C: The part about a child just comes off, kinda. They wanted to find him/her/it(sorry, had to) at first, but realise they can't and are now just changing places in agony, knowing they will never find peace even if they will find the child.

The first to are a bit lazy from my point of view, the last one DOES give some nice emotional layer to it, which is good, considering this is what's interesting about the SCP, but is kind of changing the first idea. You could make it so some of them realised it already and some haven't. This could be cool. Or you can differently play out ant of the first two.

Re: He's Dead Here, Too

Sonderance 13 Feb 2020 19:18

In fact, my plan was to use a bit of a different motive than the ones you mentioned. In general, people don't strap questionable trans-dimensional transporters to themselves if they have much concern for their own physical well-being; in that vein, this person and his infinite variations aren't concerned with the consequences of stopping so much as the consequences of not finding the absolution that drove them to this extreme.
Thanks for the questions, BTW! These are very helpful.

Last edited on 13 Feb 2020 19:19 by Sonderance Show more