Conversation

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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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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and this is where the versimilitude falls apart no environmentalist has a long enough retroactive time horizon to visit violence on any coal burner older than Joe Manchin, *maybe* the Stephensons if they're 99th percentile