Nerding out and further procrastination/insomnia

Inspired by this (link here if the video doesn't embed):



... and Doctor Who... And yes, I know that time travel and theft don't really work like that. Stealing what is presumably the "first" of a species does not stop the evolutionary process... there might not even really be a "first" so much as an entire population group that adapts to its environment over time.

Time Travel and Your Inner Fish

The engine hummed and buzzed, letting out a little clank to let the time traveler know that there was still one part, albeit nonessential, that needed repair or replacement. The thing gurgled happily in its makeshift aquarium.

Could a primitive tetrapod feel happiness? This certainly wasn't some ordinary "thing," but tiktaalik, perhaps not even really a tetrapod either. The time traveler sighed, realizing his thoughts hung in his head instead of bouncing off the walls and into the ears of some equally enthusiastic, albeit usually confused companion. It was always easier when there was someone around to share the pure joy of information. In all truth, he probably explained things out loud to make sure they still made sense to himself.

Those days were gone, at least for now. For someone so used to being at all sides of the space-time continuum, he was uncertain about his own timeline and his place in it, whether there really was enough room for someone else. For now, he was all alone...

... all alone except for the strange thing that looked like someone had glued a fish and an alligator together, or created a giant salamander with eyes on top of its head that looked like planarian eye spots. What appeared to be nostrils were merely forerunners called spiracles leading to what could well be primitive lungs.

It would have been amazing to dissect this creature, have a look inside. However, that was not to be. This was no mere specimen. He would no sooner dissect this creature than any of the humanoid companions he had shared his long life with. In a way, this was the great to the nth degree grandparent to them all. If not for this particular specimen, fish would have never left the brackish primordial sea for the oozing mud of prehistoric shores. No dinosaurs or mammals would have roamed the earth, let alone humans. He always had a particular soft spot for humans...

... which was what had gotten him into this whole mess in the first place. This current odd "companion" was a product of a mad chase through space and time just for a case of catch up with an old friend from school. Granted, this old friend from school had become more or less completely insane over time, craving power and the creation of chaos instead of being able to take a deep breath and enjoy the universe for what it was. No, this particular time traveler was obsessed with what he thought the universe should be instead of the wonder of what it was. So naturally, with the spite of someone who burns down your house with your pets inside just because you no longer wish to see them, he kidnapped the first tiktaalik and lured our hero for yet another grand, final battle.

It doesn't take a time traveler to know that any "final" battle is anything but. They could very well go on like this forever, bickering and blustering on, occasionally reminiscing past glories, but what was the point? Even thinking about it made our time traveler tired. What was important was that this particular battle was over.

"How about we get you back home again?" His voice cracked slightly at the word "home," somewhat unaccustomed to speaking after a long period of relative silence.

Tiktaalik burbled cheerfully, or so it seemed. It did a proud turn in its small enclosure. Breathing in, ribs expanding beneath its scales as if to defy the artificial gravity that would have otherwise threatened to cave in its entire body. Each breath of air it took out of water, crawling through the mud was a statement of triumph.

Gently lifting the creature out of the tank, the time traveler got a bit of mud on his suit. It flopped about in protest, nearly toppling them both over. Not only was it a good 4 feet long, but stronger than most other things that size. It was a small price to pay to make sure the humans would become -- just become, really.

He watched it frolic on the shore, not so much frolic as do a series of pushup crawl-slithers about before wandering off in the shallows. Stretching on the muddy banks, he rolled up his sleeves and yawned.

It was going to be an interesting 375 million years.

For more information, check out this interview. Or this lecture: