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back to the future - emmett brown

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[The two voices in this post sound remarkably alike; they are, in fact, the same, though the tones are slightly different. One is more animate, more given to dramatic embellishment and more excitable - the Doc those in the City know. The other is more controlled, more even. Clearly, they both believe they belong here.]

Quite a hodgepodge laboratory that's been pieced together here. What's happened to my equipment?

Your equipment is clearly not present, nor has it been at any point to my perception. I believe we must be alternate versions of one another, from differing timeline, the product of a decision made differently, a divergence of events, something which altered the respective courses of our lives - or of some interference, perhaps something that happened via temporal disruption--

Yes, yes, that much is clear. And to be perfectly honest with you, I have to say that whatever has led to you winding up in this state is hardly anything I'd wish upon anyone, least of all myself. Cobbled together devices, squatting in some desolate shell of a building. And what is this?

That is the time vehicle I built.

That's your time vehicle? Where in the world did you find a car like that?

It's a DeLorean. A 1981 DMC--

1981? It took you that long?

That long?

I had my time vehicle completed in the early 60's. The work that I did in studying the nature of temporal movement, relativity, causality, and anomalous behavior were of incredible help. Didn't the flux capacitor come to you in 1955?

[And the Doc the City knows is silent. His alternate speaks up again.]

I hope you realize your device is transmitting. Haven't you figured out how to stop that from happening?

[Off the feed goes.]

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You, too?

[There's a second Charlie behind the Cities Charlie. The second one is cuddling Affinity who looks very confused. Other Charlie's hair is up in a neat ponytail and not the slightly rushed and haphazard one City Charlie usually wears. The plain t-shirts are replaced by ones with color and patterns on them and she's also wearing a skirt. Something the Cities Charlie wouldn't be caught dead in.

Other Charlie's eyes ~~are not buttons~~ are sparkling and happy and far from paranoid and she is grinning. A look that's far from reserved or cautious. This one might even be considered care-free. There's also another huge difference but that one has to be pointed out.

City Charlie is less than pleased.]

Edited 2013-04-21 19:01 (UTC)

[And welcome to the visual. While Doc is clearly his usual (which is to say somewhat frazzled) self, the other Doc - standing in the near background - has his hair just as long but neatly slicked and brushed back. His clothes, in comparison to Doc's slightly rumpled, loud prints, are a crisp buttondown and pressed slacks. He's the picture of the intelligent, dignified, successful inventor. But he stays quiet, critically eying the odds and ends around the lab, as Doc responds to Charlie.]

So it seems. There must be some sort of a disturbance in the dimensional barriers in the City, something allowing for these alternate versions of ourselves to coexist. This certainly introduces no small threat of a potentially dangerous paradox.

[Charlie prefers loud, rumpled Doc, anyway. That counts for something, right?]

What kind of dangers are we talking about, here?

[He'd be happy to know that - he's finding this more successful version of himself rather tiring.]

Typically, such paradoxes would normally present a hazard to the stability of the space-time continuum, potentially unraveling the very fabric of reality. Of course, due to the nature of the City, there's a reasonably good likelihood that we'd be protected from any such ordinary issues.

Let's hope so. This is...a lot more fun than I'm used to. [Fun being used lightly. And then her twin chimes in and CHarlie has to fight hard to not roll her eyes.]

But we're not having any fun. We're just sitting here. The City's huge. There has to be something to do here!

[This is ignored because otherwise she'd cuss her twin out for interrupting her.]

She's fireless.

[So there's that. And Charlie's clearly...bothered by this. That's pushed away quickly, though. Mostly because Affinity has had enough of the twin and wants the original Charlie's shoulder.] Apparently, it went away when she was younger.

[That's certainly an interesting bit of information.]

That must be quite the startling difference--

[And this is when the other Doc speaks up.]

There isn't enough information to form a proper hypothesis, of course, but it could be due to an environmental difference, or even some kind of a chemical influence...

[This Doc actually... doesn't seem to think science is the first priority here, shockingly.]

While it would certainly be a fascinating bit of research were we able to access such information, I very much doubt Charlie is interested in your speculation about the difference.

[It is Charlie's Honest to God opinion that the other Doc sounds way too...Shop-like. She sort of frowns at him, nose wrinkling briefly before she sends a grateful smile at her Doc. She appreciates what he just said. Even Other Charlie looks pleased.]

Sometimes, the phrase "It is what it is" works best in the City. There's no need to find an explanation in this situation.

Not at present, no. Nor do I think we could, given the lack of available information.

[Other Doc scoffs a bit.]

Well that's a rather defeatist attitude, isn't it? You can accomplish anything you set your mind to.

I prefer to set my mind to things which are for the good of all whom they concern. Thank you for your input.

[And then he turns back to Charlie.]

Undoubtedly the City has some manner of motivation for sending us these delightful guests, no doubt to teach us a lesson about the differences that could have been made in our lives had things worked out differently. Needless to say, changing any one aspect of an individual has endless effects on their overall nature. We are all who we are, and what is important is that we embrace that and make the absolute most of all that we can.

[This is normal Chekov. Hello, Doctors.]

Doctor? The DeLorean is a very fine vehicle, and achieving any means of time travel in the time you are from is a significant accomplishment in any timeline.

[And there they both are, the City's usual Doc with the device in hand while the other Doc scrutinizes the back of the DeLorean, eying Mr. Fusion in particular.]

Well, thank you, Chekov. The sentiment is certainly much appreciated. I'll be the first to confess that it did take me some time to bring it from concept to fruition, but... having succeeded in doing so was enough for me.

[Lucky for him his "ideal self" is not rude, though he is shaking his head back there.]

And the success is what matters, not the time it took to succeed--doubly so when time travel's involved.

[And while Chekov means every word, he is going out of his way to contradict any doubles he sees today. Most of them are rather condescending and unpleasant.]

Are you have difficulties?

None I can't handle. He's certainly... done a few things differently, over the course of his life - our life, perhaps - but ultimately, he seems rather harmless.

[Other Doc has wandered off to examine some components Doc has assembled on a far workbench, while Everett sniffs at him in what seems to be legitimate confusion.]

And you, do you have company of your own as well?

[Doc is rather notorious for vanishing into his lab, so forgive him for not being up on the network.]

Harmless, yes, but not pleasant.

[Chekov doesn't expect Doc to be in touch with the City at large.]

Yes, I do. He means well, but everything he does reminds me of everything I'm not and everything I have done wrong.

That does seem to be something of a theme, doesn't it? Our other selves varying in ways that we'd honestly have preferred, were we given the option - though it certainly bears stating that we are who we are for a multitude of incredibly complex reasons, and the lives we have lived, the choices we have made, are an integral portion of that. Though there are aspects of our lives we'd prefer to have gone differently, any change no matter how seemingly insignificant would have the potential to alter any number of things about us - and, certainly, not all for the better.

Certainly not, but I wonder... do you think they may be from alternate universes and not simply the products of a curse? The existence of a near-infinite number of dimensions has been proven in my time, and each choice--small, large, it doesn't matter--creates a new timeline. Anything that can be is and has been.

[He watches the other Doctor thoughtfully.]

I often ask myself if I think I'm from one of the better timelines.

As a matter of fact, that is precisely my theory. I don't believe anything is simply the product of a curse - we're in a nexus that is comprised of individuals from countless alternate dimensions. I would hardly put it past the capabilities of the technology that brought us here to bring these alternate versions of ourselves here. Certainly the focus seems to be on taking them from a timeline in which our actions have differed in ways that we may have preferred.

[Ah, but moving on from that.]

The important thing, I've always believed, is knowing and embracing who you are, and making the best choices that you can. Certainly, we can't know what may have differed if we had done any one thing differently, but making the most of what we do have, who we have become, and determining the best course that we can possibly follow is all that we can do.

Technology, or a being? Either way, it should reach a point where it has expended all of its power. Bringing in so many people briefly, all at once, would be very taxing... unless people are its source of power, but then I don't understand why the City wouldn't be filled to capacity always...

[Oh, what, they were talking?]

Doctor, I would like to ask you a question that's more philosophical, or metaethical.

[It's a good thing, honestly, that Chekov diverts the conversation back to a path. Because this could have tangent-ed forever between the two of them.]

Certainly, certainly - and what might this question be?

[Everett, apparently, does not like the other Doc, because he was wandered off from him and back towards this Doc, whimpering a bit. Odd. Apparently other Doc never developed as much of a sense for dogs.]

[It will likely come up again.]

Do you think that it is possible, once someone has done something terrible, that he can still consider himself a good person?

[Poor Everett. Chekov crouches and holds his hand out to the dog.]

Edited 2013-05-06 04:14 (UTC)

[That's certainly a difficult question, and has less of a solid, objective answer than the ones Doc is most comfortable with. But philosophy is not a complete unknown to him, and human nature is a primary point of interest.]

I do think it's possible, yes. I think... actions, motivations, morality - these are all incredibly complex topics to even consider approaching with a binary view. A person cannot be defined on the basis of one action alone, and certainly their reasons for having taken any action at all must be taken into consideration as well in judging whether even that specific action is truly terrible. Though something done with the best of intentions can of course have disastrous consequences, that does not render the motivation irrelevant in making any sort of moral judgement on the character of the individual. And, certainly, it is always possible that even a person who did commit a conscious and intentionally malicious action can change, if they have the desire to do so.

[Philosophy isn't Chekov's forte.]

I was afraid that you would say something like that. [siiiiigh] The thing that I dislike about nonbinaries? There is always room for doubt.

[Sorry, Pavel.]

That there is. But I confess, I am loathe to write off any individual. Certainly actions exist which are beyond terrible, and certainly there are people who are - unfortunately, and for any number of reasons - naturally disposed toward malicious action. But I do not believe there is a perfect correlation between those numbers. The complexities of human action and motivation are simply beyond a straightforward definition.

[More worrisome, however.]

May I ask, if you don't mind, what led you to ask such a question?

Have you considered pursuing a secondary degree in human psychology, Doctor? You understand the mind very well.

[His tone is light. Doctor Brown shouldn't worry about him, not when there are so many other things to worry about in the City.]

Today's curse, but I think that you answered it already.

Oh no, no. I have far more questions than I do answers, I'm afraid. The harder sciences are certainly where my ambitions lie, though I must confess that their relation to humanity's more transcendental side is often quite intriguing.

[Doc treasures his few friends so much, it's impossible for him not to worry.]

Well. On that subject, I should hope that you know that I consider you, the you that is the product of your experiences, your actions, and the overall life you have lived, to be a very dear friend. Certainly not one I would trade off.

The harder sciences would be happy to keep you. An inquisitive mind is as valuable as any answers.

[Good man, Doc. There would be a hug here, but those are difficult to get across via video.]

I know that now without any doubts, thank you, and I hope the same.

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