But, what if there were? What if someone was capable of discovering a way to travel to those parallel universes and come back? And what if it turned out that, in one of those universes, there is already someone doing exactly the same?
This is the world where the characters of the tabletop Role-Playing Game Infinite Worlds, created by Steve Jackson Games, live in.
The point of divergence of the world behind Infinite Worlds is in the year 1997, when the Dartmouth University physicist Paul Van Zandt invented the "parachronic projector", a machine that chould send matter to an alternative dimension (also called timeline). As his research advanced, he started to find stranger worlds, such as some where the Roman Empire had never fallen, or where America was formed by a medieval kingdom. After founding a company called White Star Trading, to trade with the recently discovered worlds, Van Zandt revealed his discovery to the public in 1998, and also revealed a secret related to parachronics (the new science that studied the alternative timelines and how to travel between them) to the United Nations Security Council. In answer, the United Nations created a new body called the United Nations Interworld Council (UNIC), which started a corporation called Infinity Unlimited, charged with the development of all discovered worlds. To better defend these worlds and explore others, Van Zandt started a paramilitar group known as the Infinity Patrol, whose objective is to protect Homeline (the characters' timeline), the Secret of parachronics, Infinity and the innocent people of other worlds, in that order.
As hard as the task was at the beginning, when the idea only consisted of monitorizing other worlds, the situation worsened enormously when it was discovered that Homeline was not the only timeline capable of traveling between parallel universes: a civilization known as Centrum, of great aggressivity and competency and with the will to expand its meritocratic system to other worlds, was also able to use parachronics. However, neither civilization could directly access to each other, so both groups would be forced to work indirectly, so as to weaken each other's position within the multiverse. Another problematic fact is that the Centrum agents (the Interworld Service) is taking control of several Homeline "echoes" (worlds with a history identical to that of another timeline, but with a local year previous to said timeline), for some unknown, but probably bad, purpose.
Of course, there are many other problems the Infinity Patrol has to face every day: there are worlds where magic works, others where superheroes exist, and psychic powers are known to exist in many others. In fact, as the needs of the Patrol increase, trying to recruit people from these worlds to join the Patrol and put their great abilities in the service of all humanity have become more common (the worlds that contain these people are in the list because Steve Jackson Games has many different role-playing games, all of them taking place in different parallel universes where there is magic, superheroes and/or psychic phenomena, but using the same game system, which allows players to unify all of them).
Thanks to the discoveries made by the Patrol, Homeline has changed very much by the year 2027: for example, most cars work now with hydrogen fuel cells, AIDS and cancer are very easy to heal, nuclear fusion power is a reality, and organs can be cloned for self-transplant without there being any immunity problems. However, all of these discoveries have their consequences, such as in Homeline's scientific community: in many cases, Infinity "steals" ideas from other timelines and then brings those ideas to Homeline, so the years of research in certain science fields (such as the development of new vaccines, programming of new simulation algorithms or the design of new products) have started to be useless.
Normally, the players are Agents of the Infinity Patrol, in charge of working to watch a certain timeline to protect it from potential threats, even those that may come from Homeline, or to infiltrate them and subvert those that may be a danger for the local timeline or for Homeline, whatever the reason (mainly those ideas that might lead the timeline to find out about the Secret). Due to the lack of human resources Infinity has (10,000 full-time field agents and another 50,000 agents are not enough to keep an eye on thousands of timelines), the Agents must be very versatile in their knowledge and ability to act in any circumstances, particularly when it comes down to infiltrate other places. An Agent's training is incredibly tough, as it last approximately one year, in which they live in another timeline where the Ice Age has not finished yet, and where the biggest demonstration of how hard the training can be is Sleepover, a trial that takes place in December and consists on waking several cadets in the middle of the night, leave them several hundreds of miles away from the Academy and let them find their way through sabertooth tiger and mammoth territory, just with what they are wearing when they wake up and what they can pick within 5 minutes.
There are many worlds out there, but there are few that have a great impact in Infinity's policies. I put down here some of those worlds in which Infinity tends to intervene: apart from its name (which tends to indicate what makes the timeline different from others), there is the Point of Divergence and some characteristics about the timeline when the game takes place:
- Centrum: 1120, the White Ship does not sink while it crosses the English Channel (those who have read "The Pillars of Earth" will know what happened when it did sink). Infinity's main enemy, Centrum is the only timeline that has developed parachronics independently, apart from Homeline. William Adelin's survival unified France and England under the same throne, and the Mongols' attacks made them turn their eyes towards the Atlantic, which they crossed, taking over the Americas. By the end of the 19th century, the Anglo-French Empire controlled the entire world, but the nuclear destruction of London started a brutal civil war that only Australia managed to be free from. There, the politic-military cabal known as Centrum took power, and later rebuilt and unified the world in a strict meritocratic society in which each person is induced to a certain Service and ascends within depending on their abilities, and where cultural uniformity and slow technological progress are part of normal life.
- Reich-5: 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is murdered (yes, like in The Man in the High Castle). Infinity's other great enemy, Reich-5 is a timeline dominated by the Third Reich and the Japanese Empire, and where the United States of America are controlled by a fascist government after their defeat in the Axis' invasion of 1950, which took place a few years after Germany's victory in World War Two. Although, for a Aryan German, this world may be almost a paradise, for anyone else it is hell, as Nazis have no problem in killing anyone that dares to raise arms against them or does not fit their racist ideas. When Infinity discovered this timeline, it did everything in its hands to prevent any knowledge of it from expanding, due to the highly dangerous possibilities of what might happen if contact was established. However, it was too late: a group of Spetsnaz (Russian special forces) was detected by the Nazis when they made a training incursion into Reich-5 and attacked, leading to the death of most of the team. Although the Spetsnaz managed to destroy most of their parachronic equipment, the Nazis managed to take part of it, and, worse of all, with the body of one Spetsnaz that had an special ability to travel between worlds. Fortunately for Infinity, the Reich's internal policies prevented the formation of a large-scale group, but the SS managed to take over the parachronic research in this world, starting the Raven Division with which they hope to make their dream of a Thousand World Reich a reality.
- Aeolus: 1688, the Protestant Wind does not happen, preventing William of Orange from taking the British crown. James II's reign allows him to restablish Catholicism in England and star an alliance with France, which allows Louis XIV to win in the Spanish War of Succession. This works in France's favor later, because, when Ferdinand III dies, the French king inherits the crown. A rebellion soon happened, freeing Spain and several other territories from French domination. In 1894, the Russian War of Succession takes place: this does not directly change too many things, but it provokes the massive flight of refugees towards the west. One of them, Mikhail I. Gurevich, meets Henri Coanda in 1930, and between the two of them they create the first plane in local history, skipping propeller-propulsed planes and directly inventing the jetplane. Meanwhile, the publishing of a book that advocates in favor of the Republica as a form of government (nothing similar existed ye) leads later to a rebellion that takes place in Austria after the Emperor rejects demands of democratic reforms. The rebels are successful in expelling the Emperor and form a Republican Alliance that later convinces Gurevich and Coanda to build planes for them, allowing the Alliance to have a chance at winning a war against the invading Russians. As an extra, Infinity's special forces' boss is the local Otto Skorzeny, with the same ability for fighting as his "self" from our world, but with a republican zeal that makes him hate all of his Nazi "selves".
- Armada-2: 1588, the Invincible Armada manages to invade England and restore Catholicism in Europe, establishing its supremacy through several interventions in Europe and America. However, time allows the Ottoman Empire and Sweden to modernize and present opposition to the Spanish domination, while the French colonies in the New World have managed to independize, forming an oligarchical republic.
- Azoth-7: 1693, Isaac Newton discovers the Philosopher's Stone. In this world, Newton's discoveries in the field of alchemy completely change the world, giving an absolute power over the world to those nations that have managed to create their own Stone: England, which dominates North America: Spain, which controls South America; Venice, in control of Africa and Turkey; and Prussia, which manages to successfully invade Russia and China. The four powers not only control a world economy based on alchemy, but they also are able to travel to other stars in search of special gems and jewels that can be used for many applications.
- Caliph: 796, the printing press is invented in Baghdad. This moment gives birth to an Islamic Renaissance that changes the world, followed almost immediately by an Industrial Revolution that makes personal firearms easily available in the 11th century. The collapse of the Abbasid Caliphate into successor states was not an obstacle for advances and exploration to take place. While there is only one Christian state (Firanj, which controls the north of France, Scandinavia and the British Islands), the rest of the world is controlled by the Muslims, who, even though the local year is just 1683, it is incredibly advanced, with colonies in several exoplanets and star gates capable of communicating two points at a large distance simultaneously. However, the existant peace between the world's caliphates has been broken due to the emergence of the Jamahiriya, a powerful secular state that has taken control of the Americas (called Talentis in this timeline) in a matter of a few months, and its alliance with the Caliphate of Hind (in India), which has launched an invasion of Persia: a global war seems inminent.
- Dixie-1: 1856, William Walker keeps control of Nicaragua. His presence allows the Confederate States to break the blockade imposed by the United States, and in the end the CSA gained their independence. Both nations expand (the United States into Canada, the Confederacy towards Mexico and Central America) and, after a war between them that took place in the 1910s, a cold war ("The Long Drum Roll") exists between both nations, a war that has lasted decades.
- Ezcalli: 508 a.C., the Carthaginians discover the New World. The soon contact between both sides of the Atlantic makes new crops available for the Europeans (potatoes and tomatoes, among other things), while the natives manage to get over the problem of the illnesses brought by the Europeans. The Roman Empire disintegrated due to the Emperor's inability to control their people through the power of Egyptian grain, and several barbarian invasions prevented its resurgence, particularly when the Mongols attacked in the 13th century. Meanwhile, in Mexico, the Tenochca tribe created its own empire, and when the Black Death ravaged the Americas, the Tenochca expanded towards the north and the south, becoming a great power that trades with Africa and Asia while keeping their bloodthirsty religion and threaten to continue expanding.
- Friedrich: 1176, Frederick Barbarossa defeats the Italians in the Battle of Legnano, and later does not drown during the Third Crusade. Barbarossa's efforts give him enough power to force the Pope to return control of the national churches to the kings, and his good relationship with the Knights Templar gave him great support in a world where magic is possible. His son Henry managed to expand his Roman-Germanic Empire towards the east, eliminating the Byzantine Empire and adding it to his conquest. However, Infinity's main problem here is that the Raven Division is infilitrating this world, giving the Empire war matériel to continue with its conquest plans.
- Gernsback: 1893, Nikola Tesla marries Anne Morgan, the daughter of financier J. P. Morgan. With the resources this brings to him, Tesla manages to invent radio and builds a tower that can emit globally from Wardenclyffe, Long Island. His later invention of working wireles electricity transmission caused a global panic and an economic crash, but Morgan's efforts allowed him to establish America and Europe, restoring prosperity to the world and strengthening the League of Nations. The discovery of nuclear fission lead soon to its exploitation as an energy source thanks to the World Science Council, and when Andrei Sakharov defected from the Soviet Union to warn the world that Stalin was trying to have an atomic bomb built, the League declared the war against the Soviet Union, winning after a two-year-long war, and the League would later become a great power by itself. For Infinity, the main headache is to prevent Centrum from taking control of this timeline, as Centrum considers this world has a great potential to become another world similar to Centrum. However, Infinity also has other problems related to the sexual and racial discrimination that still exists in this timeline, which never underwent the harrowing experiences of the Second World War.
- Johnson's Rome: 31 a.C., Mark Anthony and Cleopatra win in the Battle of Actium, making Egypt the centre of the Roman Empire, which manages to survive plagues and barbarian invasions. The great change took place in the local year 1192, when Alex Johnson, owner of an interworld tourism service, arrived to this world and introduced several reforms at a local and regional level, making him the second most powerful man in the Empire (behind the Emperor), and this world in basically his propriety in the eyes of Infinity, whose main task is to stop several terrorists that have support from other worlds.
- Merlin-1: 1945, the Trinity atom bomb test sparks the Hellstorm, which brings magic to the world. The concentration of a good part of magic in the United States makes them an hyperpower capable of winning the Cold War. Without Infinity knowing, Merlin-1's CIA is spying on them, and without either of them knowing, the Antarctic penguins (who can use magic after a second Hellstorm appeared in the continent) have reached an agreement with a fascist Argentina led by an immortal Eva Perón and a group of Nazi sorceres, who have also made contact with Reich-5.
- Roma Aeterna: 9 BC., Drusus does not die while campaigning in Germany, and becomes the Emperor in the year 29 instead of Tiberius. This stabilizes the Empire, which did not fall until 400 years later than in reality due to a succession crisis. Rome's ideals were not forgotten, though, and two centuries later a Second Empire was started in North Africa, and it managed to recover the control over the rest of the Empire and discover the Hesperides (América) at the other side of the Atlantic. This Second Empire also fell, because of a combination of cultural petrification and the Mongol invasions. The Hesperides provinces would later rediscover steam power and eventually unify, crossing the Atlantic and forming the Third Roman Empire in 1806, now expanding further towards the east. Centrum's activities in this world are so great that Infinity knows nothing about how far their control reaches, something that caught them by surprise when several touristic agents met Centrum agents by accident.
- Shikaku-Mon: 1497, John of Trastámara (the Catholic Monarch's only son) survives and becomes King of Spain. While the Habsburg decayed, Japan was Christianized thanks to the efforts of the Portuguese Jesuits, and Sweden unified with the north of Germany. A republican rebellion in Portugal made the Portuguese kings evacuate to Brazil, which became an independent empire, while France obtained a global dominancy that later lost in the middle of the 19th century. A war that took place between 1927 and 1932 ended in a technical tie, killing many, and eventually turning Sweden into the first totalitarian state in the world. "Right now", the world can be described as a cyber-punkish society, where the important thing is how much money you have, and Infinity is worried about the locals being capable of creating their own parachronic technology.
- United States of Lizardia: 65 m. a.C, the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs does not fall. One of the weirdest parallels Infinity has seen, so much that even those people that have been studying it for years have yet to believe it. Basically, it is a world identical to ours (at least, up to the local year of 1991), with the same languages, same nations, similar cultures... but the locals are not humans. Instead, the intelligent species of this timeline is a set of creatures that descend from bipedal dinosaurs. Curiously, this is one of the few worlds which Infinity would like to ally with, as the dinosaurs are almost human in behaviour, and they feel that there is a high chance of friendship with these strange beings is a possibility.
See? I said a few weeks ago that I would talk about this. I hope you have liked it, that you are not annoyed because it came too late, and that you will enjoy this weekend while I think about next Tuesday's post...
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