Dashing around the corner, the mysterious traveller ducked his head under the low pipe and carried on running down the industrial corridor. He glanced back at the rusty pipe, his eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean 'immutable'?" his attractive, headstrong companion cried out, just a step behind him with her head lowered so as to pass under the pipe. They'd been running for so long she was beginning to tire. Hopefully they'd stop soon.
For a moment, the traveller kept his gaze on the corridor behind them before turning toward his plucky companion.
"Unchangeable. The past. It cannot be changed", he replied offhandedly, as if this explained everything. They continued to charge down the corridor past one locked door after another, their footsteps echoing as they went.
The oddly attired gentleman studied the walls and the passing doors as they careened along the familiar looking corridor. Even though he was hurtling along as fast as his legs could carry him, he still took a strange sort of interest in his surroundings as if searching for something in particular.
"But you've gone back in time before. Many times! I've been there with you", his companion argued as she ran next to him, slim arms pumping whilst her long hair streamed out behind her. "And you've meddled and changed things", she added.
"I do not meddle", admonished her guide before continuing, "But yes, any point in time can be accessed and explored. However you can't go back and change things because, relative to the present, the past has already happened. It's in the past so, ergo, it must have already happened. See?"
In the distance they could see that the corridor they were rushing along was leading towards another corner. With a renewed effort, the traveller increased his speed towards it and his companion hastened after.
"Does that mean everything is fixed?" she asked, a little confused. "That we have no control over what happens or what we do?"
"Oh no. No, not at all. We choose what to do, what planet or time period to go to next, who to save, whether to get involved in the first place, whether to stand and fight or just run. Run towards or run away, it generally amounts to the same thing in my experience. Anyway, we choose and we try to make a difference. That's important!"
"But that doesn't make sense! So you're saying that we can change the past?" the assistant gasped as her breath was ripped from her lungs by the air rushing by.
They were now just a few feet from the approaching corner. The young woman stumbled slightly and almost tripped. The man slowed for a moment to help steady her and then together they continued to sprint onwards whilst he answered her question.
"No, because it's in the past. It all makes perfect sense. Time always does. The future is just the present waiting to happen and the present is happening everywhere and everywhen, right now. And the past has already happened so if you modify it, that alteration already occurred so you can’t have changed anything. It's fixed with respect to the present, for a given definition of 'present', of course. And every point in time is the 'present' for someone... or something".
At this, the curious man almost gave a furtive glance back down the corridor but stopped himself. What was behind them was not as important as what was ahead. And what was ahead was another corner.
"Time is immutable", the man exclaimed as he turned and then added, "Duck!"
Dashing around the corner, the mysterious traveller ducked his head under the low pipe and carried on running down the industrial corridor. He glanced back at the rusty pipe, his eyes narrowed, suspicious.
"What do you mean 'immutable'?" his attractive, headstrong companion cried out, just a step behind him with her head lowered so as to pass under the pipe. They'd been running for so long she was beginning to tire.
Hopefully they'd stop soon.
"What do you mean 'immutable'?" his attractive, headstrong companion cried out, just a step behind him with her head lowered so as to pass under the pipe. They'd been running for so long she was beginning to tire. Hopefully they'd stop soon.
For a moment, the traveller kept his gaze on the corridor behind them before turning toward his plucky companion.
"Unchangeable. The past. It cannot be changed", he replied offhandedly, as if this explained everything. They continued to charge down the corridor past one locked door after another, their footsteps echoing as they went.
The oddly attired gentleman studied the walls and the passing doors as they careened along the familiar looking corridor. Even though he was hurtling along as fast as his legs could carry him, he still took a strange sort of interest in his surroundings as if searching for something in particular.
"But you've gone back in time before. Many times! I've been there with you", his companion argued as she ran next to him, slim arms pumping whilst her long hair streamed out behind her. "And you've meddled and changed things", she added.
"I do not meddle", admonished her guide before continuing, "But yes, any point in time can be accessed and explored. However you can't go back and change things because, relative to the present, the past has already happened. It's in the past so, ergo, it must have already happened. See?"
In the distance they could see that the corridor they were rushing along was leading towards another corner. With a renewed effort, the traveller increased his speed towards it and his companion hastened after.
"Does that mean everything is fixed?" she asked, a little confused. "That we have no control over what happens or what we do?"
"Oh no. No, not at all. We choose what to do, what planet or time period to go to next, who to save, whether to get involved in the first place, whether to stand and fight or just run. Run towards or run away, it generally amounts to the same thing in my experience. Anyway, we choose and we try to make a difference. That's important!"
"But that doesn't make sense! So you're saying that we can change the past?" the assistant gasped as her breath was ripped from her lungs by the air rushing by.
They were now just a few feet from the approaching corner. The young woman stumbled slightly and almost tripped. The man slowed for a moment to help steady her and then together they continued to sprint onwards whilst he answered her question.
"No, because it's in the past. It all makes perfect sense. Time always does. The future is just the present waiting to happen and the present is happening everywhere and everywhen, right now. And the past has already happened so if you modify it, that alteration already occurred so you can’t have changed anything. It's fixed with respect to the present, for a given definition of 'present', of course. And every point in time is the 'present' for someone... or something".
At this, the curious man almost gave a furtive glance back down the corridor but stopped himself. What was behind them was not as important as what was ahead. And what was ahead was another corner.
"Time is immutable", the man exclaimed as he turned and then added, "Duck!"
Dashing around the corner, the mysterious traveller ducked his head under the low pipe and carried on running down the industrial corridor. He glanced back at the rusty pipe, his eyes narrowed, suspicious.
"What do you mean 'immutable'?" his attractive, headstrong companion cried out, just a step behind him with her head lowered so as to pass under the pipe. They'd been running for so long she was beginning to tire.
Hopefully they'd stop soon.
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