Science-fiction idea: time machine but it only runs on coal, and sending 1 human back 1 week (round-trip) burns enough coal to power Nigeria for a year 🤔
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Many billionaires have taken 1-week-back trips, and one is working on an efficient machine that can do many centuries back for 10-Nigeria-years coal power/person. A trip to 1776 America is planned. Environmentalist sneaks on undercover planning to retarget to 1763 England instead
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The plan: kill James Watt
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But in struggle for control, machine crashes into 1350s France, in post-Black-Death world. Not enough juice to make it back, but enough to transmit many terabytes to future, ansible style.
3 crew members survive crash, environmentalist assassin girl a cryptobro, and billionaire
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Billionaire sets out to create a mercenary company like White Company to rebuild empire, medieval style. The other 2 start a podcast to the future, with remaining ansible juice.
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loophole : sending humans back to the dinosaur age requiring more coal than there are dead dinosaurs to create
(Could leading to interesting, dark plot twists)
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It's called The Machine No One Wanted. Humanity is racing to gather enough coal to send someone back to kill the inventor.
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Due to an error in the flux capacitor they go back in time 300 million years. Due to fungal spores they carry with them lignin can now be broken down and there is no coal in the future. Wood age civilizations center around the Yangtze and the Yukon.
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