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[OpNet] So much for probabilities...


Timeslip

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Well, this is just a fine fix.

Here I am, a reasonably cautious Nova. I don't take undue risks. My partner is a similarly cautious Nova (who is, if anything, more reclusive than I am, and thus will remain unnamed). We use preventative measures; in combination with the low fertility rates of our kind, we should be safe as houses.

That said, three days of throwing up and a blood test later and in complete disregard for anything resembling probability, I'm pregnant.

It sounds cliche, but I'm not at all certain that I am ready for this. I know bloody well that my partner is not ready for this. And at the same time, I'm uncertain what risks use of my temporal abilities might incur on the fetus.

I've had more stressful days, but not many.

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Hey! Congratulations Timeslip!

So have you thought about baby names yet or still getting over the surprise? When you're ready to take a shot at it I'm a wiz at the name thing. Comes from having younger brothers and sisters.

I love the baby name game! laugh

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I'm not so sure that this is a congratulatory event. This is more of a terrifying event. I have no idea what effects my metabolism will have on the fetus. For crying out loud, I have to consume LSD on a daily basis as a basic nutrient or die; that cannot be a good thing to be passing across the placental connection.

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Congratulations! A nearly historic moment considdering the number of known nova births thus far!

Speaking scientifically, LSD should have minimal impact on the child's biological development for the first few months. After that, I would be highly worried about neurological disorders.

Luckily, the filtration system built into the placenta won't allow any lead into the baby's system (which would be very, very bad in combination with the LSD). Also, it is likely that your biology will adapt to filter the LSD itself out of the blood that you share with your baby. A few simple tests would be sufficient to determine that.

If you like, I have a chemical available that will completely neutralize all LSD in someone's bloodstream. If this is administered (directly to the foetus, considdering your nutritional requirement), once a month, and twice a month in the third trimester, it might be a viable solution. I've never tested it on a devolping foetus, so I can only guess at the side effects, but I'm relatively certain it would have less impact than constant exposure to LSD.

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Do not worry about the effects of temporal fields on the developing life inside you, unless you regularly alter your own temporal signature with returning it back to its default wavelength. Even then I do not believe any side-effects should manifest. They did not for me during my pregnancy.

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Uhh... Al?

How certain are you about the effects of your miracle drug on the baby? I mean like long term stuff.

Look, I don't screw around with people in their quantum fiefdoms normally so you say its all good and I'll go back to what I was doing. Its just like I get all hohum when people try to explain to me how the creation engine is suppose to work. But I thought somebody ought to ask the question since it is a baby we're talking about.

"If this is administered (directly to the foetus, considdering your nutritional requirement)..."

I'm not even going ask about that shit. Thoughts of needles and fetuses will give me nightmares.

I'm not so sure that this is a congratulatory event.

Sure it is. Your not going through anything that a gazillion other expectant moms haven't gone through. Sure there's some special stuff with you and yours but even that's not an unheard of thing. Come on, you're bringing a new one into the world.

Make a joyous sound. Dance a little.

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How certain are you about the effects of your miracle drug on the baby?

Most likely negative scenario: the enzyme causes the child to have a complete lack of natural immunity to a few chemicals in the LSD family. I'm 98% certain that won't happen, but it's still a chance. Plus, you never know what's going to happen given nova physiology. There might be no effect whatsoever, or I might have to flush Timeslip's system if it begins messing with her LSD-based metabolism.

That's why I need to do a screening on the child, to see if there's going to be a problem. Plus, there are a couple of other things I can attempt first.

I really wish there was a specialist in this field. But since I've never heard of an errupted pediatrician or prenatal specialist, it looks like I'm it. Argh.

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If you are not ready Timeslip why don't you try an alternative that might be open to you. Put the baby on hold using your time powers. I admit that would require delicate use of the ability since I don't know if you could isolate the child from your own system. But it just seems that it might be something you could attempt if your willing. Maybe ask around talk to Ashnod or others versed in temporal hi jinks.

Just a suggestion.

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Timeslip Do you actually trip-out when consuming LSD? Tolerance develops pretty quickly but you may be lucky and it might not even get to your blood stream intact.

As far as I'm aware, and I have looked, there have been no studies on the effects of constant LSD use on pregnancy. What studies do exist are minimal and done on baselines, I can't even find if anyone knows whether LSD crosses the placenta or not. About the one firm thing I can find is that some ergot derivatives can induce muscle cramps, contractions and miscarrige so make sure your LSD is lab-grade pure.

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A suggestion, Timeslip: Be as calm and pleased as you can manage.

The alternative reactions are probably less pleasant and likely no more productive.

...

Though not inappropriate.

...

A Socially Risky Addendum: Permission to observe any data relevant to the developmental process you feel comfortable with sharing is humbly requested.

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Well, I've learned that the LSD is not crossing the placental connection, and that relieves me to no small degree. I've also learned that temporal effects that I self-generate, while still applying to the fetus, are not causing developmental disfunction. That said, I suppose that I need to decide just how long I want this pregnancy to go; all things considered, I'm not looking forward to spending three-quarters of a year looking and feeling like a beachball inflating in slow-motion when I can speed things up considerably.

Cull: while sex does generally lead to babies, sex between Novas involving condoms and spermacide usually does not; thus, the surprise. But that's fine; I'm adjusting to it. Mind you, I'm still concerned exactly what sort of world I'm bringing a child into -- and, for that matter, what sort of child I'm bringing into that world -- but I'll simply have to use a bit of a rather rare commodity for me: trust.

That said, I'm still half-expecting (and dreading) to find out that I have given birth to a bouncing baby starscape.

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Well, in the category of "lessons learned"....

Aging oneself six months in the space of a minute while pregnant does indeed result in instant third-trimester and a healthy fetus (just got home from the rather stunned OB/GYN; ultrasound turned out well)...but to call the experience unsettling is the understatement of the decade. All things considered, I think I'll keep further such efforts to one-week jumps at the most...and will definitely ride out the final two weeks of this thing at real-time (despite the fact that I now look like a star-studded beachball).

New due date: May 8th (barring further jumps).

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An interesting implementation of a power. I am curious about what age category for the child TimeSlip is going to be most tempted to skip over next?

Not that I think she will, but I keep remembering what the first month of life is like for new parents, and personally I was so glad it wasn't me.

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Doesnt TS's power mean that when she accelerated herself she still existed in the time she accelerated? Meaning she did just spend six months with the baby on her own? I dunno I mean I just thought that was the way it worked. I am not good at this.

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Totem,

The answer is "yes and no". It is not as if six months passed for me; I merely physically progressed six months. This is a good thing; were it not for that, I would have died from starvation (or boredom) in the process. And yet, I (and the fetus) have grown as if six months did pass.

There are equations I could use to explain it, but frankly they would only make sense to a few dozen people worldwide, and would be as useless to a layman as would a set of instructions written in Linear A. Suffice to say that time passes for the purpose of tissue growth and aging, but not for metabolic combustion (quantum energies pick up the slack) or conscious thought.

That said, there is a different form of temporal work that does involve placing one within a bubble of accelerated time; in such a case, it is as though the additional time occurs for all subjective purposes. Metabolic energy combustion, conscious thought, physical aging, etc. all occur at the accelerated rate. However, the rate is only a few multipliers of the "standard" time stream; it does not possible to use such to advance weeks or months in mere minutes.

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Totem, from my perspective, it is quite possible to move my concious thoughts and perceptions throughout time. I can either leap to a predetermined time sequence, or I can experience an entire sequence from my base point to a predetermined point in a matter of a second, base time. The body can learn to do the same thing.

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Ashnod,

True, "not possible" was the wrong choice of words. In theory, it could be done, with an extremely large quantum potential and an extremely advanced understanding of temporal manipulation. As such, "highly improbable" would have been better.

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If I had known what I know now eight years ago when climbing through a bedroom window in New Jersey, I think things would have turned out very differently.

At least for one of the Hiram daughters. So when does this ride launch? wink

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