From: ecscetg@luxor.latrobe.edu.au (ThunderFoot)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.storyteller,alt.games.whitewolf
Subject: An Unpleasant Possibility
Date: 12 Jun 1996 01:10:26 GMT
Organization: The Amethyst Coffeehouse
NNTP-Posting-Host: luxor.latrobe.edu.au
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2]



An Unpleasant Possibility
-------------------------     by Evan Gibson
With thanks to all on the Mage list who's conjecture led to this.


Before the beginning there was nothing. No matter, no energy, no
possibility that anything would ever occur. There came a moment where
none had come before and somehow a possibility formed where none had
been possible, the energy of it's emergence forcing it past the
threshold of actuality. The paradox of existance had begun.

The explosion of possibility continued it's turbulent journey outwards,
blast radius ever-widening, creating possibility after possibility,
energy dissipating the further it reached from the epicentre. Ripples of
energy fled around the sphere of possibilities as a kind of interference
pattern was set up, actuality leeching tenuous existance on those places
possibility was strongest, while the weakest possibilities remained only
as dreams or memories of what passed before.

I'm sure you've seen those Van de Graaf generators in the labs, from the
centre streaks of lightning flow out to the edges, twisting and turning
in their path. Reality is like that lightning, the sphere of possibility
constantly expanding, energy dissipating the further it reaches from the
origin, waves of energy choosing the easiest path from core to surface,
arc constantly changing as possibilities shift. Much that was once in
existance is no longer, it is still there, but has none of the energy
that gives things solidity, Were this energy to be restored the
possibility would become assured again, though as the path of energy is
always different and the energy itself seems to warp the possibilities
as it passes, it is exceedingly uncommon for exactly the same thing to
occur twice. Be that as it may, we may use this knowledge to study the
patterns and probabilities that cause history to repeat itself, in
generalities if not specifics.

How does this relate to our goals? Turning back to the Van de Graaf
example, the further the distance the energy has to travel the more
energy is required, but no more energy has been forthcoming since that
initial chaotic burst. My friend, our universe is dissipating, and there
is little we can do but delay the inevitable. Eventually the surface of
possibility shall be further than the arcs of existance can reach, they
will cease one by one and our world shall end.

We cannot afford further possibilities. Our drive for Order and 
predictability comes about as we seek to slow and eventually stop the 
growth of the sphere, so reality shall become self-sustaining, something 
it currently is not. Those promoting possibility at the expense of 
existance endanger the world in a way they do not realise. They must be 
stopped. Others seek to cut off the power at it's source. They must be 
stopped. There are also strange individuals who act almost like a nexus, 
the energy of existance warping so they are always included in it's arc, 
unlike most they seem not to change with time or adapt, but are remarkably 
static. This is peculiar as their presence seems largely chaotic, but this 
is due to the rest of the world having changed while they have remained 
the same. They should be isolated so as not to cause undue unrest, but it 
is conjectured that we may be able to lure these beings to the edge of 
possibility in a kind of net, energy arcing between them and being held 
on place rather than disappearing beyond. 

This is currently our only theory on how to save reality, and there is
no guarantee that the energy will not suddenly cease at the source,
finally finishing off all that was released in the beginning, regardless 
of our actions. We thus also study possibility and certainty in the hopes 
of being able to create our own generator of certainties and maintain 
this reality from the interior. Up till now we have met with no success.

I'm sure you can understand why this truth about the universe is kept in
the greatest confidentiality. Were it to be found out that the universe
will end, regardless of anyone's actions, that it will just fade from
existance perhaps tommorrow or the day after, unable to sustain itself
any longer, there would be widespread panic that would surely disrupt
all we are doing in the background and perhaps even accelerate the
increase in possibilities that slowly dooms us. No-one must know.

I'm sure this must come as quite a shock. As soon as you've recovered, 
I shall answer any questions you may have.


- non-existant excerpt from the initial briefing of one Dennis Daniels 
  upon entrance to the Men in White.

--
            "The longer I am off a leash the more feral I become; living
.oooO        hand to mouth,  like a stray petted on the street yet never
(   ) Oooo.   taken  home and knowing not where such place lies, having
 \ (  (   )   danced with  despair and teased  a smile to her lips, but
  \_)  ) /   ne'er mine own...  Beyond this lies  but death and oblivion
      (_/     and... of the two... Oblivion is the kinder master..."

                                  __     Evan ~ThunderFoot~ Gibson     __
                                 ~~Bale Wolf of the Greater Yawning Dark~~