January 29th, 2012

Okay, so I have an in-depth time travel issue in a story I'm working on that I need help figuring out. This will require creativity, and the whole concept is mildly complicated. See if you can keep up.

Here are the plot devices we have to work with:
1. Technology - the protagonist can travel effortlessly through time and space. Hyperspace is available for long distances. Ships can generate their own gravity, and teleporters are a thing. That's basically the technological level.
2. Some magic - though there isn't a major amount, some is available. Some of the characters can levitate things in a way similar to telepathy. Also, the protagonist is given an enchanted amulet that will be later explained. Teleportation, possibly time-travel if there's enough of it, maybe some other stuff. This isn't like fireballs and summoning magic, is what I mean.

And here's the setting: Anything and everything is contained within an empty space generally referred to as "The Void". The void has a continuum similar to time, but it's much more absolute. Any major event that happens in the void will always happen in that point in the void. It can't be undone. But, events in the void are kind of like notes on a piano. It's extremely important that you hit each key at the right time or else it ruins the song. But the amount of time you hold down the key isn't nearly as concrete.

So by that comparison, the creation of a universe in the void is absolute. But the end of a universe is a bit more lenient. See what I'm saying?

There originally existed a single multiverse with an infinite number of world lines based on the many-worlds theory. In that multiverse, the plot centers around a single planet that was having a major war between two continents. The war was fought over a box that contained an infinite amount of power, supposedly.

The main character of a related story eventually destroys the box and releases the powers that be. This releases an infinite amount of energy into the universe, and happens on every world line simultaneously, completely ripping apart the universe. Multiverse. Whatever.

Also released from the box are six "powers": light, darkness, creation, destruction, life, death. Only five of these are known by the protagonist of this story, with destruction being the one left out. But in the vicinity of the box when it is destroyed, there are four living souls that become connected to these. Life, however, is the odd one out and is lost. Like I said, nobody knows about destruction yet.

So, an unmeasurable amount of "void time" passes, and the multiverse regenerates. But it is split into two this time. Some aspects are similar to the old one, but prettymuch all of the history is forgotten and time begins again. The souls with the powers listed above, however, are eventually reincarnated and act as the main driving plot point of the story.

So now, travel between the two parallel "dimensions" is possible, but can only be done under extremely specific circumstances. Most people don't even know there are two dimensions. Actually, most people don't even know there are multiple world lines.

But here's what needs to be done. The protagonist, who is a seasoned time/space traveler, is given the task of going back to this time before time and saving the life of someone directly involved who died right before the box was broken. If he can do that, the Life power will carry over into the next world(s) without being lost.

Now, traveling to a universe that no longer exists will literally require "rewinding" the void to the point where the old universe still existed. This will effectively erase the new universes. The protagonist is given an enchanted amulet that will not only protect him from the regression of the void, but also send him to the time that he needs to be in to finish his task. It does the same thing in reverse: once the box is broken and the universe is destroyed, it'll essentially send him right back to where he came from. And since he's going to a universe right at the end of it's life, changing anything won't really affect the future. Or it won't at all, actually, since having the "Life" element literally does nothing if you don't know about it. But here are the problems:

1. Why not just save the universe while you're at it, hot shot? Well, that's where the piano keys come in. You could hold down the note longer, but if you keep adding notes while holding them down, it eventually becomes a jumbled mess. Even if he stops the destruction of the universe, the new ones will still appear in the void at the same time. Having all of this bunched up is bad. Nuff said. So that one is actually solved.

2. How do you rewind the void? It seems like it would take a massive amount of power. With that much power, couldn't you just use THAT to solve whatever problem you need the Life element for?

The conflict, which somehow involves Destruction, hasn't really been worked out yet. My problem here is, in summary, this: What is a creative, plausible method for essentially causing all of reality to revert to a previous state? Of course, with the catch that this method has to only be able to do this one specific thing, and can't be used to fight Destruction, or whatever.

I've been trying to figure this out for weeks, and I've got nothing. Help me? Someone? Please?