## Hypothetical Meetings between Earths * Author: u/None * * URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/3p93ol/hypothetical_meetings_between_earths/ * Score: 6 * Created: 2015-10-18T18:11:39 ### Post: How would an identical government arrange a meeting with another government in secret? I am writing a stargate fanfic in which SG!Earth USA will try to contact our USA. ### Comments: > **u/alexanderwales** [+11] *Time flies like an arrow* (17 minutes later) > > Forgive the brevity; on my phone. > > The first question is authenticity. Anyone can say that they're from an alternate earth, the difficulty is in proving it. How much does SG Earth know about our Earth? Can they pinpoint some historical divergence? Can they dig up some classified material that they shouldn't have? Those add in an easy path to proving themselves. > > If you've got that, all you really need is to get passed up the chain of command. Governments have these pathways in place already for defectors and whistleblowers. > **u/eaglejarl** [+7] (an hour later) > > Presumably they're using the quantum mirror to explore alternate dimensions? The mirror opens into the corresponding location in the alternate dimension, so they can step through anywhere they want, including into the Oval Office. The mirror opens a window through which both sides can see the other, so what would happen is that the President would see a window open in midair with some people on the other side standing in another Oval Office. Were I the SGC I would open the window, wave and say "hi, we're friendly explorers and we just want to talk. We'll call back tomorrow at this time so you can have some time to prep." > > The next day I'd have a small, unarmed team step through. I'd leave the window open with armed backup just on the other side, but out of sight. I'd also make sure that I could repel an assault if the alternate USA decided to try one. Again, all of that would be out of sight. > > At this point we've established extra-normal abilities and "we're from a parallel dimension" would be reasonable. We could ask for the local alternates of the contact team to be brought in so they could compare histories as another piece of proof. > > The first substantive thing to talk about is why we're here. There must be some goal -- explore, trade, colonize, etc. Things will go very differently depending on whether SGC-verse wants to trade alien tech for oil as opposed to "we need a place for several thousand people to retreat to before the aliens kill us all." > > I'd want to negotiate from a strong position, and it wouldn't be hard; we have tech hundreds of years beyond real!USA and they'd be crazy not to work with us in exchange for it. Being the only ones on the planet with staff weapon tech and X302s would put the USA firmly back on top as the world's only hyperpower. Unspoken would be the fact that, if we wanted to, we could use that tech to blow the crap out of anything local, and no security can stop us because we can open a doorway inside even the most secure bunker. >> **u/ArgentStonecutter** [+2] *Emergency Mustelid Hologram* (an hour later) >> >> You could have a scene where there arguing about whether to line up the edges of the gate so it's literally invisible except where someone's image intersects the edge, inverted like a perfect mirror, or off center. >>> **u/Chosen_Pun** [+1] *The Chosen Ones* (9 hours later) >>> >>> For the record, while I like the concept personally, you couldn't necessarily guarantee even an *almost* invisible window to another parallel, unless something about the setting mitigates butterflies, since there's more to an image than the exact location it's taken. Are the walls even the same color? How's the weather over there? >>> >>> I guess if you could use read-only scrying portals to take accurate measurements, you could mitigate some of that; and for the purposes of this discussion, it's rather moot; but, there it is. >>>> **u/ArgentStonecutter** [+2] *Emergency Mustelid Hologram* (16 hours later) >>>> >>>> I'm pretty sure the Oval Office doesn't get redecorated that often. Throne rooms don't, as a rule. Their contents tend to become national fetishes. >>>>> **u/alexanderwales** [+3] *Time flies like an arrow* (22 hours later) >>>>> >>>>> The Oval Office actually gets redecorated with every new president. Each wants to make their own mark on the Office and uses the interior decoration to say something about themselves. Now, the actual furniture within it is often historical, yes. But there are lots of historical options that allow a President to Say Something (or just express personal preference). For example, there have been [six desks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Oval_Office_desks) used in the Oval Office. Anytime the president changes, the rug, drapes, pictures, and upholstery seem to change as well; you can see [pictures here](http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/west-wing/oval-office-history.htm). >>>>>> **u/ArgentStonecutter** [+1] *Emergency Mustelid Hologram* (a day later) >>>>>> >>>>>> Really. Learn something new every day. >>>>>>> **u/Chosen_Pun** [+2] *The Chosen Ones* (a day later) >>>>>>> >>>>>>> And what I was *really* getting at is, there is *no* realistic guarantee that it was ever *exactly* the same to begin with, in the *next universe over.* >>>>>>> Maybe that paint brand just doesn't have that shade of that color over there. Maybe that paint brand doesn't exist. Maybe they use a different light bulb brand, and the room is slightly darker or lighter. Maybe it's cloudier out the window on one side. *Maybe* any one of millions of things went just a little bit differently way back when, and the *whole White House* is situated a few inches to the left. >>>>>>>> **u/ArgentStonecutter** [+1] *Emergency Mustelid Hologram* (a day later) >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Yes, I get that. You're right. Though I have one *minor* quibble: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> > there is no realistic guarantee that it was ever exactly the same to begin with, in the next universe over >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Depends when your universe diverged from theirs. If it was later than when they rebuilt it in 1933, the oval office is going to be in the same place, and if it was much before 1909 it will likely not be there at all, and certainly not anywhere near. You'd need to be in a pretty narrow range for slight offsets to exist. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Edit: corrected dates. >>>>>>>>> **u/Frommerman** [+2] (a day later) >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Since this is a universe where a precursor race billions of years old existed, I would argue that it is entirely unreasonable to assume that anything would be even remotely close to the same. >>>>>>>>>> **u/ArgentStonecutter** [+2] *Emergency Mustelid Hologram* (a day later) >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> If the divergence was that far back and involved any interaction with Earth? The probability of humans having developed... let alone having recognizably similar languages, societies, states, and architecture... is approximately zero. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> So in-universe (multiverse?) the divergence would have had to have happened within (lifetime + 9 months + news propagation time) of the youngest person sharing a common identity between the two timelines. >> **u/DCarrier** [+2] (an hour later) >> >> I would not recommend opening it to the oval office without getting permission first. It could be taken as a threat. >>> **u/eaglejarl** [+2] (2 hours later) >>> >>> Any contact you have with a government official is eventually going to end up on the POTUS's desk; might as well cut out the middlemen. And I think my script is pretty non-threatening. >>>> **u/fljared** [+2] *United Federation of Planets* (2 hours later) >>>> >>>> I might step it down a level- The governor's office is less dangerous and could get to the POTUS quickly. >>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+3] (3 hours later) >>>>> >>>>> Sure. Especially if you choose a major governor like NY or CA as opposed to one like SD. Also, choose one that is in the same party as the POTUS -- at least in your world. >>>>> **u/gbear605** [+1] *history’s greatest story* (3 hours later) >>>>> >>>>> Maybe secretary of state or something like that instead. >>> **u/alexanderwales** [+1] *Time flies like an arrow* (5 hours later) >>> >>> I definitely agree with the feeling of implied threat. I would avoid anything that says, "Hey, we can just slip right past every single defense you currently possess", even if that's technically true. >> **u/None** [+1] (3 hours later) >> >> Mine involved the use of a gate designed for trans-dimensional connection. >> >> It involved a billionaire buying what he thought to be prop, but it turned out to be an actual stargate that connect to a different reality. >> >> Then, Frank Cromwell, the guy who died in the blackhole incident, came through and knock out the billionaire on his driveway. >> >> Anyway, conflict happened, because people don't expect fiction to become real. > **u/diraniola** [+3] (18 hours later) > > I'm suspicious of any thread in this subreddit that has hypothetical in the title. As the rational FICTION subreddit, you don't need to specifically call out that it's not real unless you're trying to deflect suspicion. > **u/ulyssessword** [+2] (an hour later) > > If you know the location of secret military bases, then minimizing the number of people who know about the alt-earth is relatively easy. Simply send an agent up to the front door and knock on it. Get arrested and interviewed, and pass on some whistle-blower/defector style information that needs to be passed up the chain of command. > > Once you have the direct attention of someone in a sufficiently high position, tell them about the alt-earth, and hopefully arrange for them to send an agent to verify it, then you're done. > **u/Jiro_T** [+1] (20 hours later) > > As this is a Stargate fanfic, remember that they have actually run into alternate earths already. I'd expect the reaction to "I'm from an alternate Earth" would be pretty different than just saying this out of the blue in our world. > **u/westward101** [+1] (21 hours later) > > Why does SG!Earth USA want to contact a different Earth? > > Depending on their goals, they would go about it in different ways, starting with *who* they're going to contact. > > Also, no government is a monolith. The POTUS may not have as much power in certain situations as other members of government (the POTUS is only around for up to 8 years and is a politician). Also, maybe the Russians would be a better choice. Or Brazil, or a combo. >> **u/ArgentStonecutter** [+1] *Emergency Mustelid Hologram* (a day later) >> >> > Why does SG!Earth USA want to contact a different Earth? >> >> Effectively doubling (or more) the size of the economy for a negligible investment? Setting up inter-universal trade would have an incredible stimulus effect. ---