Bootstap Paradox - A Temporal Univeristy Talk

 

Jade hurried off to class. She was still a student at the Temporal University of Mars, class of 2467, and she had a theory lecture today with a guest speaker. It usually wasn’t something heavy on calculations and harmonics problems, but usually something a bit more fun. A thought experiment or some quick demonstration of a time travel principal. Two weeks ago it was a lecture on trans-temporal communication via the subwave network from the Torchwood Institute. Part of it was a quick check in with this week’s speaker – Peter Capaldi. He avoided saying what his talk was about as it was still in flux, or so the excuse was. Sure enough, the cut away to the classroom was simply a bunch of students still guessing what the talk would be about. The homework was to see what the talk would actually be about. There were a few rules about when and how they could check with themselves, but Jade was having trouble communicating with her future self for the entire allotted window.

The day of Peter’s talk had come up, and Jade still wasn’t any closer to finding out what the talk was. But, it seemed, neither had anybody else. Peter asked if anyone had any trouble getting in touch with their future selves. There was almost general consensus of no - they could communicate with their future selves, but none of them seemed to remember anything apart from what was already show during the previous class. A lot of confused guesses as to what the class was going to be about started happening before the deja vu set in and everyone went silent. Peter smiled but said “No, it’s not predestination paradox”, looking around “but that was fun wasn’t it? You knew what was going to happen but you couldn’t help yourself.” He paced the floor excitedly. “Did anyone have trouble getting a hold of themselves?” Jade sheepishly raised her hand. Peter took out his sonic screwdriver and motioned for Jade to toss him her comm device. He scanned it and said “Congratulations, you’re the Teacher’s Assistant! Try again now, for about 2 min from now” She hears Beethovan’s 5^th played roughly on an electric guitar. Peter pulls back a curtain and reveals his personal TARDIS. “I’ll be right back. Jade, you know what video to play while you are all waiting?” Jade nodded and walked up to the front of the class as the TARDIS dematerialized. “Play Bootstrap Paradox. Peter Capaldi.” An old video from his time as the Doctor explaining the titular paradox plays. Sure enough at precisely 2 mins from com check, the guitar piece plays. The video ends and Capaldi reappears. “I just had to get my papers”. He asks that only Jade take notes of the class and to do them by hand while still on the stage.

The classroom is enthralled with his manner of teaching and pays almost unblinking attention to the rest of the presentation. Only Jade looks away as she has to write things down by hand. Whenever she does, Capaldi flashes an image on the screens that the rest of the classroom see. By the end of the class only Jade can remember what was said, at least in any detail. As she leaves the class and crosses the grounds, Capaldi’s TARDIS materializes in front of her. Peter steps out and asks for her notes as he sonics her comm device. “It will clear up when the trans-temporal window closes an hour from now, but till then you’ll have to do without the call functions and your friends won’t remember the talk, nor will they believe your recollection for a while. Now if you’ll excuse me,” he says clutching the notes “I have a class to teach on Bootstrap Paradoxes.”