List of Possible Futures

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<infobox> <title source="name"><default>List of Possible Futures</default></title>

<image source="image"><default>File:Placeholder location.png</default></image> <header>Basic Information</header> <image source="map"></image> <label>Type</label> <label>Location</label> <label>Teams</label> <label>Inhabitants</label> <header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label> </infobox> In both the real world and in Worm, one can not view the future. One can take into account the many disparate variables that will likely lead to events in the future, but this is imprecise given the immense volumes of data involved. In Worm however, specialized thinker abilities use hyper senses to evaluate all relevant data points, calculate the likely interaction of same data points, and provide semi accurate extrapolation of the future. This provides as close to a window into the future as is possible to.<ref>It's worth stating that a lot of the simulation is only possible because the shards are already there, gathering, sharing, and collating data. - Another Comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref> An important point to note is that unless it is otherwise noted the use of these precognitive abilities creates "causality interference" with one another. <ref>Coil's powers get discombobulated by other causality interference, which is why he can't just have Dinah give every answer in Coil-generated universes that he discards. - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref> If two precognitives make prognostications about the future and provide this information to relevant groups these groups will likely work at cross purposes to each other while trying to influence events based on information their precognitives provided. Thus it is noted the tendency for those with precognitives to interfere with each others powers. <ref name="24.4c1">hitherbydragons:
I think the interference works like this:
When a precog sees the future, it changes how they act. That change in their actions changes the future.
Each future-seeing power has a way of solving for that—a way of bringing that to a point of convergence.
For instance, the basic human power of imagining what a possible future would be like avoids interfering with itself because it’s imperfect and also because humans _tend_ to hypothesize about the future starting from a baseline of “what I might do differently than baseline.”
But when you get two different modes of prediction interacting, then there’s a feedback effect. Let’s say that Simurgh and Contessa are fighting over the Precog Prize, a marvelous blue ribbon that goes to the precog of the year. (Next year, to be precise.) Simurgh considers how to arrange things so that the prize committee delivers the prize to her. She sees a way to do this by threatening the family of Judge #1, who is from France, but that doesn’t work because Contessa is about to take a portal to France and kidnap Judge #1’s family. She sees a way to do this by threatening the family of Judge #2, who is from Russia, but that doesn’t work because Contessa is about to take a portal to Russia and kidnap Judge #2’s family. She sees a way to do this by telling Judge #3 about Contessa’s shameful kidnapping behavior, but that doesn’t work because Contessa is about to take a portal to Judge #3’s living room to hang out and play Mario Kart, bringing Judge #1 and Judge #2’s families with her. The Simurgh sees a way to do this by subverting one guy who’ll subvert his sister who’ll subvert her teacher who’ll subvert her greyhound who’ll subvert another greyhound who’ll subvert its owner who’ll subvert Judge #4, except that Contessa is about to take a portal to the two greyhounds and steal one of them. Only, Contessa isn’t actually going to do all of these things: it’s just that she’ll do those things _in the world where the Simurgh is doing that plan._ So her power becomes a shape, a shadow, over the set of futures that the Simurgh can build. And normally vice versa, except that Contessa’s power apparently wins.
Taylor’s swarm sense wouldn’t natively have that kind of effect, because while Taylor would act differently based on what Simurgh does, Taylor can’t act differently based on what the Simurgh *sees.*
I think a Thinker power only interferes with a precog if the Thinker power is able to select for a given future in some fashion. Like, if you’re Lightbulb, with the power that you can always come up with a good idea and strobe a momentary light from above your head when you do so, then you don’t have to be a precog to interfere with precogs: you’ll have different good ideas depending on which future you’re heading towards, and that’s enough to create interference. But if you’re Snap Judgment, with the power that you can instantly and simultaneously consider all the options available to you as if you’d taken an hour to think about each one individually, you don’t interfere with precogs at all.
This could be wrong, though. It could be that Thinkers interfere with precogs by complexity alone—that the precog’s ability to predict the future is slowed down or compromised by the effort of _having_ to predict the Thinker’s choice, in which case Taylor would in fact be partially immune. That doesn’t _seem_ like the Simurgh—you’d think she could trivially account for the added brainpower of however many millions of insects getting involved—but it depends on how her power works, exactly. It’s possible that she only actually manipulates a very small number of fates at once, for some smurfing reason or other, and Taylor counts as many.

Wildbow: That is pretty much exactly right.
I’d say that it’d be a relatively rare non-precog thinker power (like Coil’s) that would really trip up precogs, and even then, some precogs would handle it better than others. - comment and answer on Crushed 24.4</ref>

Eden's Perfect World

As the Entities traveled to earth, circa 1980^{[citation needed]}, this was the ideal future that The Thinker was modeling. Had everything gone according to plan this would have been the world of Worm.<ref>Interlude 29</ref>

History

Prelude

As with the history of Earth Bet shards started appearing around 1983. In the years since though large amounts of people triggered with many powerful abilities.

Nation-states dissolved

Current Time-frame

Ethnic and social tensions inflame the world. Certain groups are periodically and miraculously reinforced to keep from gong under when surrounded by enemies, this only prolonged conflicts. International communication is down, though the exact means are not outright stated.

Features- power differentials, entities placing restrictions on things Tinkers are able to create mass productions of their equipment much faster while still being safe.

You're talking about infrastructure, but quite honestly, infrastructure wouldn't survive the 90's. By the mid-2000's, getting food from the agricultural states to the areas with the highest population density (ie. New york) is a struggle, because of bandits, threats, organized crime, disorganized crime and more. Things come to resemble the theoretical Edenverse, but you don't have Eden shoring up the population by putting tinkers and capes capable of reviving areas anywhere particular (you also don't have her sabotaging). Scion ends up playing a pretty big role in keeping society alive, more than before, with keen attention to the biggest threats and only those threats. <ref>On Spacebattles</ref>

Residents

Thinker & Warrior

This duo are two of the strongest parahumans in existance, but they are anything but what they seem.

Arsenal

Also known as Colin, he is a powerful tinker who works with Richter. Described as suspicious and paranoid. Squad leader in the Wardens.

Clarent

Clarent who was equipped wielded a long sword and grew stronger over time. He is likely a version of Dauntless, this is supported by the tags for the chapter. Was altered by Eden<ref>another post on Spacebattles</ref>. Squad leader in the Wardens.

Partisan

A man who has a special sight that lets him sees powers. He was altered by Eden within the vision to keep him from making the connection to the entities and the powers. Evidence points toward him being the intended version of Chevalier. Squad leader in the Wardens.

Richter

Richter was intended to be alive and well with several mature AI's working with him and keeping infrastructure together, and society stable.

Hannah

The gunwoman serves in Partisan's squad; this reality's intended version of Miss Militia.

Black Knight

Not seen but discussed. Likely this reality's Jacob as he is said to always win when sent up against parahumans; Jack Slash "always" wins against parahumans<ref>Jack beats Citrine, Siberian, Grey Boy (until interfered with by outside sources), Number Man and arguably Contessa.

- Another comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref>.

Threats

The perfect world has its own form of Endbringer and other S-Class threats, these serve to increase the chaos on which the shards thrive, and keep the various regions of the earth separated and segregated from each other<ref>Comment by Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref>.

Dinah Alcott

Dinah's abilities function by forming a mental image around a person, event, or object. This then allows her to predict the probability of that image coming to pass. She was able to affect the outcome of events by relaying information. She accounts for the changes created by telling a person the odds as well making her a rather accurate prognosticator.

End of the World

Dinah has made several predictions about the end of the world and specifically Jacob's part in it. but has said that it could also happen several years down the line with the final terminal point being 300 years in the future.

Coil

Coil's power does not technically fall under this section. In the interest of clarity and addressing seeming inconsistencies it is included. His power is essentially to model the effect of his actions simultaneously holding the results in a superposition before "choosing" one reality or the other. Sources of "causality interference" interfere with his power, including most precognitives, meaning he can't make use of information-gathering powers again and again in different timelines<ref>Comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref>.

Contessa

Contessa doesn't really see possible futures, just the "steps" toward victory? Contessa is able to see the "path to victory". Essentially the steps one needs to take to get the outcome they seek. It can provide details on the likely hood of these outcomes and the effort involved in bringing about these same outcomes. She is essentially using her ability non-stop.

This to is not explicitly looking into possible futures but is essentially close enough for the purposes of this article, as she can choose how she attains the victory she seeks.

Zion

Effectively has it's own version of the Eden shard that Contessa "stole", it is not less efficient then Contessa's but rather Scion has effectively thousands of years which while massive is still a finite amount, and using a path to victory shard burns some of his lifetime away.^{[citation needed]} He needs to package his time over what could be thousands of years, Contessa has at most a hundred years to use her abilities.

As an example, Zion modeled a trigger event 33 years in the future while refining literally millions of other shards for use on Earth. Further Zion looked at an alternate future where Jack Slash died and he decided to kill people of his own accord after talking to Jack.<ref name="I26">Interlude 26</ref>

Simurgh

The Simurgh is blind in the present; every action she takes is based on a vision she saw of what would happen. This is how she's able to dodge things so effectively, but it also allows her to predict how a person will behave years in advance if she focuses on them. <ref name="I28">Interlude 28</ref>

Events

Was able to set up the residents of Lausanne in general and Cody in particular to cause damage farther down the timeline.

References

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