Multiverse Theory: An Infinite Worlds Quest (GURPS/Multicross)

[!][Academia] Teach classes. (Multiple Skills, ???)

Much as you expected, the problem with revising your curriculum wasn't so much the revision, it was the part where it required you to teach at a higher standard than you have been. It didn't take you too long to determine that you want to try teaching physics the way Richard Feynman did; a style designed to engage the intellect and enthusiasm of your students by challenging them to discover solutions for themselves, instead of merely presenting them with lists of facts to memorize. The problem with this plan is twofold. Firstly, with only a week to prepare, you hardly have the time for such a serious revision of your plans. Secondly, you aren't Richard Feynman! Though you had the pleasure of hearing him lecture on more than one occasion, you have to admit that you don't have the charisma he did. Even so, you do your best. You start by re-reading your own copy of The Feynman Lectures, then move on to a book on public speaking... before discarding it as mostly rubbish aside from the key fact that the only real way to improve at public speaking is actual practice. Practice, at least, is not something you find yourself short of... so you supplement your practice by being as prepared as you can be for each session in advance. This often leaves your lesson plan just barely ahead of your actual lessons, but you somehow manage to pull it off.

You find yourself constantly worrying that you're going to lose your audience, make a fool of yourself, or otherwise fail without anything to show for your efforts... but with an effort backed by your preparations, you carefully avoid showing your fears, and you find that your students are generally more engaged with the material you present. It's hardly a dramatic performance, but as the weeks pass by, you grow increasingly confident, and find the new material more comfortable to present. When the mid-term marks come back, you note that the class average is up by 11% from last year, demonstrating your success to this point. The term is still in session, but some of your better students have already caught your attention.

Andre Sheppard is an intensely serious and decidedly antisocial young man; he has the sort of flawless brilliance that brings him seemingly-effortless success, even in an Ivy League environment which already adjusts for classrooms full of geniuses. He's pursuing a pure science degree, and seems most interested in nuclear physics.

Karyn Rollins is one of the rare women in your classroom; she seems to learn best through collaboration with others, and is heavily involved in study groups and tutoring. She's pretty clear about her interest in astrophysics and the space program, and she's working hard to build up the credentials that will take her that way.

Miles Alexander is actually here on a football scholarship, but is otherwise a poor fit for the 'jock' stereotype; from a lower-class background, he's developed the habit of putting all the focus and intensity he can manage into anything he does, and it seems to be working well for him so far. He's studying to become an electrical engineer, and he clearly has the brains to succeed.

(Socialize increases by 1.)
(Notable Students: Andre Sheppard, Karyn Rollins, Miles Alexander)
(Any Academic action taken next turn may automatically make one or all of these students into Contacts, though an additional "Teach classes" action is more likely to do so.)
(As a side-project for most Academic actions, you could also choose to show special interest in one of them, making it more likely that they become a Contact.)


[!][Finance] Buy extra supplies. (Merchant, Very Easy)

You manage to get everything on your shopping list without much issue. The speciality parts needed for your parachronic equipment are a little hard to come by, but you managed to acquire them without incident. The survival gear was a far cheaper and more straightforward purchase; being reasonably cheap, you decided to load yourself up with a significant quantity of extra MREs and bottled water, in order to ensure that you won't need to make another trip for this purpose any time soon. You also purchase a high-quality camera, and plenty of film; if you're going to be exploring strange places, you'd like to have a record of any interesting finds.

Having acquired those essential supplies, you turn to the more serious matter of self-defence. Guns are not one of your hobbies, so you don't exactly know what you should be getting, but finding a local gun shop is hardly an issue. The owner of the shop, a man only slightly younger than you, introduces himself as Dave Holman. He asks relevant questions to determine exactly what weapons would be best for your needs, but doesn't pry into your personal business. Noting your inexperience, he recommends the Glock 17 and the Remington 870; simple, durable, and reliable weapons. He also sells you a cleaning kit, which you apparently need. Before he lets you leave with your purchases, he insists on giving you the basic safety lecture... and he strongly recommends that you spend some time at the range in the near future, to familiarize yourself with your new purchases. As an NRA-certified instructor, he teaches firearm safety and practical application courses at a nearby range; he makes it clear that you're welcome to join him for lessons.

You now have more supplies than you can fit in your conveyor, but you don't need them all; between a large toolbox which also contains your spare parts, a duffel bag with your emergency supplies, and a weapon or two on your person, you should be better prepared to face the unknown. Of course, with all those supplies, it's getting pretty cramped in your conveyor; you won't be able to haul much more around in your prototype. You should probably consider making the next version somewhat larger.

(Basic precautions taken against mishaps involving parachronic travel.)
(Potential Contact: Dave Holman, Arms Dealer.)
(Training action added: Practice shooting.)
(Further purchases from or training with Dave have a chance to make him a Contact.)


[!][Science] Refine your theories. (Physics, ???)

Unfortunately, your investigations hit a dead end. You don't have a clear explanation for why your first test led you to 'the same place' in a different time; without an understanding of the temporal factor, you don't have a good model of how that factor should affect location. Instead, you find yourself with little better to do than to speculate about unpleasant possibilities, like being hurled into deep space, or transiting into a solid object. The fact that your maiden voyage didn't send you to die in the void strongly suggests that location is somehow conserved, since the odds of randomly finding yourself in 'the same place' should be astronomically small. Since you don't have a theoretical framework which begins to explain why, all you can do is hope that you arrive safely next time... or attempt to redesign your conveyor to also function as a space capsule, with enough onboard life support to sustain you until you can transit back!

As for the effects of a transit into occupied space, you are unhappily forced to conclude that such a transit is entirely possible; the fact that you didn't do so last time can be purely ascribed to luck. As to what the results of such a transit would be, you can think of several possibilities. Firstly, and most benignly, the transit might simply fail without incident... a possibility vastly preferable to other unpleasant failure modes, such as the transit failing explosively. It might instead be that any matter existing in the place where a conveyor might appear could harmlessly exchange places with the conveyor's former position, though this seems unlikely; without the protection of the conveyor's structure, such matter would be more likely to be disintegrated by the parachronic stresses involved. It could just as easily be that any parts of the incoming device might be disintegrated, though... or even worse, that for want of a stable position to move to, the conveyor might instead physically move to a place that does not exist.
It is at this point, regretfully unclear what part of your wild speculation has a basis in reality.

What is clear is that, having spent the better part of the last two months attempting to resolve these issues, you don't have a solution for them. Given the current state of your models and the data you have available, you are forced to conclude that you probably won't be able to devise such a solution with the information at hand. More testing will be required before you can say for sure exactly how parachronic travel interacts with space, and you find yourself grimly certain that it will need to be testing which involves travel to a completely new world. The risk of such an attempt is clearer to you now, but you won't be able to make further progress without taking that risk.

(Scientific block! You are currently unable to form an answer to the Problem of Space. Travel to a new world may provide the data you need to solve this problem, but no progress is possible before then.)

It is May, 1995; the middle of the College's Spring Term (which will end in June, at the end of this turn). The two-month Summer Term is next; you aren't obliged to teach classes during that term, but those who do choose to do so often teach special or interesting courses at that time. 'The same material on a busier schedule' is not uncommon, but it's the one-off speciality projects that get more attention from those students who attend summer classes. You may at this time indicate whether or not you are planning on teaching such a course this year. Unless you are also planning on going on sabbatical, deciding not to teach over the summer implies a heavier focus on non-classroom Academic activities, and will give you a bonus to whatever other Academic action you do then.

Do you commit to teaching summer classes?
[ ][Summer] Yes.
[ ][Summer] No.

You have three actions available in the coming months; one Academia action, one Science action, and one Free action.


Academia
You have tenure, and will be able to retain your position at Dartmouth as long as you care to. This comes with obligations, though; you must choose an [Academia] action each turn. Doing so will incidentally cover your teaching and paperwork obligations. It would take considerable neglect or serious misconduct to lose you your position, but it could theoretically happen.

[ ][Academia] Arrange an accident. (Subterfuge, ???)
Your lab is an excellent facility, but it's on Dartmouth's research campus, and is funded by the DoD, and that makes it too public a location for the sort of secrecy you'd prefer.
Given some time and care, you should be able to arrange a believable accident that will destroy your lab, ruin your equipment, and prevent anyone from discovering your secrets or duplicating your findings. This will, of course, prevent you from exploring other worlds until you rebuild your equipment, and is quite likely to trigger an investigation of some sort by College officials.
[ ][Academia] Engage in peer review. (Research, Easy)
Science marches on, and even though you're making exciting discoveries now, there are other scientists doing interesting work in your field. You could take some time to read the latest papers and even review some currently-unpublished work. There will always be more to read than you have time for, but spending some time catching up with the cutting edge may suggest new research possibilities... or give you an idea if any of your rivals are close to duplicating your own findings.
[ ][Academia] Make your excuses. (Bureaucracy, Easy)
Your obligations to the College could be ignored outright, and a convincing excuse will prevent this from causing too much trouble for you with the College administration. Of course, such an excuse will look rather flimsy if you are seen on campus. (This does not consume an action; if it is the top-ranking Academia vote, you will not perform an Academia action, and will effectively gain another Free action to use on a non-Academia action.)
[ ][Academia] Meet with alumni. (Socialize, ???)
Ivy League alumni aren't all rich and powerful... but there are plenty who are, and many of those are interested in making donations. If you spend some time at the right clubs and fundraisers, there's plenty of opportunity for you to schmooze with wealthy and well-connected individuals, some of whom may be interested in supporting your own research... especially if you're willing to reveal some details about just how well that research is going!
[ ][Academia] Request a sabbatical. (Bureaucracy, Easy - Hard)
Given the way your research is going, now might be an excellent time for you to dedicate extra time to it. Choosing this action will give you a year's paid break from your academic obligations, freeing you from the need to teach classes or take Academia actions for that time (effectively trading your automatic Academia action for two Free actions, for the next six turns). You may request this for any one-year period, but a request to begin a sabbatical in the middle of an academic term will be unlikely to be granted, while requests which start further in the future are more likely to be granted. As you are currently scheduled to teach Spring Term classes through to June, the soonest you can expect to be free is July, but it should be easy enough to get your sabbatical request approved for that time if you submit it now.
[ ][Academia] Seek grant money. (Bureaucracy, Very Hard)
You are independently wealthy, and could theoretically fund your own research... but you haven't made it this far by spending money you don't have to. Your grants have managed to fund your research so far... but you're nearly out of grant money now, and you don't have anything that you're willing to show for it. You could apply for additional funds, but the grant committee is likely to frown on your lack of results. This would be an easier prospect if you published something first. On the other hand, perhaps it would be more sensible to avoid the government's eye for now; this is money that comes with strings attached.
[ ][Academia] Socialize with colleagues. (Socialize, ???)
There are plenty of respectable scientists on campus, and though they're mostly as busy with their own work as you are with yours, you might make an effort to be more sociable. If you want expert advice from a scientist outside your own field, this might open valuable doors.
[ ][Academia] Teach classes. (Multiple Skills, ???)
Your obligations to the College require you to teach some classes... but there's a difference between merely meeting your obligations, and going above and beyond. Going the extra mile here will take some extra time, but it can help you make lasting connections among your students, and could be a good way to find yourself a competent assistant.
*Given the success of your previous action and the term schedule, this action has a temporary bonus.*
[ ][Academia] Write a research paper. (Research, Average)
"Publish or perish" can be disregarded to a degree... once you have tenure. Even so, there are appearances to keep up, and grant committees to appease. If you don't release something interesting every now and then, you'll find your reputation declining. You could use this action to blow the world away with a revelation of your real findings... or merely expound upon 'purely theoretical' quantum mechanics, in a direction unlikely to lead back to your methodology.


Finance
You are independently wealthy, and could be using that money to more effectively support your goals. You don't find the field all that interesting, though, and can only take actions in this category with a Free Action. Many of these actions require professional assistance, and you'll need to consult your broker to free up funds if you want to make any major purchases.

[ ][Finance] Arrange your finances. (Bureaucracy, Easy)
You have a fair amount of wealth tucked away, but most of it is in stocks and other financial instruments, and you can't access it all on a whim. If you plan to do anything really expensive, you'll need to sit down with your broker and convert some of your funds into a more liquid form.
[ ][Finance] Acquire property. (Finance, ???) (Locked; requires 'Arrange your finances.' to secure funding.)
It would be helpful to acquire a permanent lab space, somewhere that the College officials won't be able to look over your shoulder. Though you could set up a lab at home, there's only so much space you have available there, and such a lab may not be suitable to hosting a full-time research staff. If you want to do serious research with a full team of assistants, instead of part-time research from improvised facilities, you'll eventually need a dedicated building. Unfortunately, suitable buildings aren't likely to come cheap.
[ ][Finance] Build a new lab. (Merchant, Average) (Locked; requires 'Arrange your finances.' to secure funding.)
You own some property in the northern part of the state, a cozy little mansion which you inherited from your father, and could never quite bring yourself to sell. It's not convenient to Dartmouth, so you don't regularly live there, but it would be a reasonable place to set up a more permanent lab. It'll take some doing, and you won't be able to get facilities that are quite as good as your current lab, but you should be able to get a bare minimum set up fairly quickly, which would let you get started on duplicating your travel equipment at home. Such improvised facilities are far from ideal over the long term, but setting up a home lab would be a fairly quick way of getting reasonable privacy.
[ ][Finance] Buy extra supplies. (Merchant, Very Easy) (Locked; requires 'Arrange your finances.' to secure funding... or the passage of two turns since the last time you did this.)
It's possible that your journeys may take you to places a lot stranger than the recent past. There are a number of things that you might buy to make your outings a little less dangerous; camping supplies, clothes for a variety of weather conditions, spare parts for the conveyor, and so on. You could buy a lot of things this way, but it won't necessarily be clear ahead of time just what you'll need, and there's only so much stuff you can fit in the conveyor with you. Still... you aren't poor, and a bit of shopping might prevent all sorts of misfortune.
[ ][Finance] Hire someone. (Socialize, Easy)
You generally work alone, but you're reaching a point where it'd be convenient to have someone else supporting your efforts full-time. Although your academic connections may let you attract competent help through the College, money tends to shine a little brighter than reputation. You don't have anyone specific in mind, at the moment... but you've certainly got enough money to shake loose some sort of reasonably competent assistance. Networking with specific talented individuals may make them available for hire.
[ ][Finance] Sell your old home. (Finance, ???)
You own some property in the northern part of the state, a cozy little mansion which you inherited from your father, and could never quite bring yourself to sell... until now; you could use the money elsewhere, and you don't feel the place will be useful to your current plans. Getting a good price for it means you may not see your funds immediately, but once you've gotten the ball rolling (and your family property moved out of the place), you won't need to have anything more to do with the place.
[ ][Finance] Take a break. (???)
You've never been terribly good at maintaining a healthy work-life balance, and with the recent success of your research, you've hardly taken a moment to yourself. You still feel eager to continue your frantic pace of research... but it might be healthy to schedule some time off, to let your creative batteries recharge. (If you do not choose this option, then you're devoting almost every waking hour to work or to science; a hectic schedule which will catch up to you, sooner or later.)


Science
As a dedicated scientist, you will take a Science action every turn unless physically prevented from doing so. With Free actions, you can take more than one! All of the Science you're interested in right now involves parachronic physics, but it's possible that some other projects might come to your attention eventually.


[ ][Science] Develop better Parachronic technology. (Multiple Skills, ???)
Right now, you're working with prototype equipment of limited capacity, questionable reliability, and minimal redundancy. You wouldn't go so far as to say that it's a miracle you made it back in one piece... but considering everything that could go wrong, Russian roulette probably offers better odds than parachronic travel. You wouldn't necessarily die if something went wrong, but you could easily be stranded. A bit of practical work on refining your technology would go a long ways to making trips to other worlds less hazardous. Technological development can be difficult, and results are hardly guaranteed... but you'll make more progress in a given time period with more data in a better theoretical framework.
[ ][Science] Gather data. (Physics, Average)
Your theories originally developed as a way to explain various unusual behaviours you observed in certain quantum interactions. Gathering additional experimental data using different equipment configurations may give you useful information you can use to refine your theories or develop new technologies. That said... you have been doing this for some time, and have picked much of the low-hanging fruit. Short of gaining access to much more sophisticated systems, you don't anticipate getting much more in the way of novel results from experiments done in this world.
[ ][Science] Refine your theories. (Physics, ???)
Your theories have checked out so far, to the point that you were actually able to travel to another world. Even so, your theories are still very much a work in progress. The short version is that parachronic physics seems to rely on a very large number of values, and it's currently unclear which of those values are constants, as opposed to merely being locally constant; which change naturally, as opposed to changing in response to deliberate action; which indicate conditions that permit safe transit, as opposed to indicating deadly hazards. Some of these questions will be easier to answer as you visit more worlds and gather more data, but additional work with your models and equations may allow you to eliminate some possibilities.
[ ][Science] Search for new worlds. (Physics, Very Hard)
In order to travel to a new world, you first need its coordinates... which amounts to finding a data set that solves a rather monstrous equation for 17 properties in 26 dimensions, and one which results in the final "T-Gamma" variable having a value of 5. T-Gamma values which are not a whole number result in many undefined coordinated, and are probably not valid. T-Gamma values that are integers other than 5 are theoretically valid, but you don't know if it's possible to reach any worlds associated with them, yet. This process requires a lot of math, as you test assorted possible values against your equations. Additionally, even with theoretically valid coordinates, you still need to test them; not all places which could have a worldline actually do. This process is currently difficult, tedious, and time-consuming, but until you're willing to trust someone else with your theories, you'll have to do it all on your own, more-or-less by hand. Advancements in theory or technology may help make this task easier and more productive.
[ ][Science] Travel to a known world. (Physics, Hard)
The only world you currently know of is the other version of your own world. If you can think of anything worth doing in an alternate 1972, there's nothing stopping you from doing so... providing you're willing to accept the risks. Having some assistants, both for backup in the other world, and to monitor the projector back home, would make this a much safer prospect. Any trip to another world is another opportunity to collect data, though your conveyor's systems alone aren't the best tools for the job.
[ ][Science] Travel to a new world. (Physics, Very Hard) (Locked; requires 'Search for new worlds.' to find valid coordinates.)
When you travel to a new world, you might find anything. The many-worlds interpretation suggests that nearby universes should be extremely similar to your own, but given the temporal difference between your own universe and the first one you visited, you're inclined to suspect that you'll encounter worlds far more different than your own. Be prepared... but don't let the risk stop you from exploring! Travelling to new worlds allows you to collect parachronic data from additional viewpoints, which is sure to be of great help in refining your theories and technology.


Training
You aren't an expert at everything; yours is a narrow speciality, and you don't have much experience beyond academia and theory... not that you haven't dabbled here and there. You certainly can't become an expert in some other field overnight, but with a bit of effort, you can improve your competence in a few other key areas.

[ ][Training] Exercise. (Athletics, Easy)
You're not in terrible shape, considering your age, but you don't get out as often as you should. Since a largely sedentary lifestyle is a poor fit for an explorer, you might want to change that. Taking some time to work out regularly won't result in any miracles, but a few months of regular exercise will make you healthier, and get you in better shape to face the unknown.
[ ][Training] Practice electronics. (Electronics, Average)
You're a fair hand with a soldering iron, and have had a lot of practice recently, as you needed to build most of your parachronic equipment yourself. Still, you'd be the first to admit that you're an amateur in the field, and you use stock components wherever possible. A few months of dedicated effort won't instantly make you an expert, but it'll certainly give you a stronger foundation from which to refine your existing prototypes.
[ ][Training] Practice shooting. (Athletics, Easy)
You bought some guns recently. If you'd like them to be dangerous to anyone except yourself, you will probably need to invest some time into learning how to properly use them. Dave did offer to show you the basics, which should help; the only question is whether or not you have the time right at the moment.
[ ][Training] Study computers. (Research, Easy)
Computer technology has been making great strides recently, and is becoming an increasing practical tool for many projects. You aren't quite 'computer illiterate', but your knowledge of the field is seriously lacking, and prevents you from doing more than using simple programs. Taking some time to learn some basic techniques may make some of your work a little easier, and could open up possibilities for automating the more time-consuming parts of your work.
[ ][Training] Study finance. (Research, Easy)
The field is of little interest to you, though you've managed to save and keep a small fortune by being conservative in your habits. Even so, you may be making some major changes in your spending habits, and could well be using that money to further your aims. Taking some time to gain some basic financial literacy won't qualify you to personally handle your funds, but it might help you protect yourself against fraud, and make you better qualified to assess the competence of those seeking to handle your funds.
[ ][Training] Study a language. (Linguistics, Average)
You already speak three languages; English, German, and Latin... though admittedly, your fluency leaves something to be desired outside your native English. Learning a new language is a major project, and it won't be something you can complete in just a couple of months, but if you put in the effort, you could develop some basic knowledge of a new language, or brush up on one of your other known languages.
[ ][Training] Study mechanics. (Research, Easy)
This is a field you've generally considered beneath you... but considering the practical limitations of your current conveyor, you might gain some benefit from learning a few things about motor vehicles. Two months of study will probably still leave you an amateur, but even amateur work might let you design a mobile conveyor, instead of your current immobile box.

[!][Academia] Teach classes. (Multiple Skills, ???)

You've decided to continue taking your teaching obligations seriously, and finish off the term with something amazing. Your teaching ability is somewhat better than it was at the beginning of the term, and you're feeling more generally confident as well, which is likely to help you make connections with your students, whatever you choose to do.

The easiest way to offer more of your time to your students is still to extend your office hours. This does mean that you'll spend a lot more of your time explaining simple concepts to perpetually-confused undergrads, but there are a fair number who can benefit from that extra one-on-one clarifications, and they'll be sure to appreciate the extra effort. Your better students might take advantage of the extra time to ask you more involved questions, but this particular strategy leaves them the initiative. Not everyone will take advantage of this, of course, and it's entirely possible that on many days you will find yourself with little to do... but there are plenty of other tasks that you could get up to, given a bit of free time.

You're pretty satisfied with the current state of your curriculum, but you did just agree to teach summer classes. You could spend some time now in preparation for your summer classes, and take the opportunity to promote your planned class to your current students while you're at it. (This will give you a bonus to teaching your summer class, and increase the chance that your promising students take that class.)

Alternatively, you could specifically approach one of your current students with an internship offer. You'd need to decide in advance what you'd want them doing, at least in general terms, and you'd probably need to pay them... but this is probably the quickest way to get one of your current students as an assistant. It's not necessarily foolproof, though... and the show of favouritism may annoy your other students. Your intern could act as a teacher's assistant, making your own academic work a little easier as they do the more tedious and time-consuming tasks for you; this has the advantage that the College would pay their salary, but it won't appeal to those not planning to remain at Dartmouth for their graduate studies. They could instead act as a personal assistant, doing assorted minor tasks for you, to give you more time to do what's really important... though this is generally non-prestigious work, and isn't the most appealing proposition. Alternatively, you could hire your intern for 'real work' and make then a research assistant; until you're willing to trust them with more, this would dedicate them to running experiments and gathering data on a full-time basis (though this is still sensitive enough work that they might figure out your secret on their own).

[ ][Teaching] Office Hours (Very Easy)
-[ ] As a side-task, write-in any action involving the Bureaucracy or Research skill. It will be harder than normal, but you'll be able to do it in your spare time, possibly saving yourself an action.
[ ][Teaching] Internship Offer (Average)
-[ ] Approach Andre
-[ ] Approach Karen
-[ ] Approach Miles
-[ ] Teacher's Assistant (Bonus to Academic actions)
-[ ] Personal Assistant (Extra non-Science action every turn)
-[ ] Research Assistant (Automatic Gather Data action every turn)
[ ][Teaching] Summer Preparation (???)


[!][Summer] Yes

You've decided to teach a course over the summer. Whatever your plans, you have a couple of months to prepare, so you may as well make the most of it.

If you didn't have anything special in mind, you could simply teach more of the standard undergrad classes. This isn't especially exciting, but it wouldn't require much of your time or effort. Of course, it's also unlikely to gather much in the way of interest. For better or worse, you'd be teaching a smaller class at a faster rate.

One of the standard options is to oversee Capstone Projects. This has the advantage of not requiring much in the way of preparation, since the course basically amounts to students proposing their own final projects, which you then accept, facilitate, and judge. On the other hand, it also tends to be a fairly busy process, as the projects in question can get very involved, and not much of the process can be pawned off on TAs. That said, it could give you extra time with your more promising students as they finish their undergrad studies.

That said, you could utilize your new teaching methods as a stepping stone to impart your students with a deep understanding of quantum mechanics. This would be a fairly complex course to prepare, and you aren't certain you'll be able to arrange the material in a way that undergrad students can keep up with you... but if you manage it, this is probably the best way to prepare students for learning about parachronic physics. Of course, not everyone will be interested in such an abstract and theoretical subject, so you're likely to have a small audience... but that might be for the best, if you're planning to share anything that even approaches your own secrets.

Other possibilities certainly exist, but these are the most obvious ones. Summer classes are often the subject of somewhat random professorial experiments; whatever it is you happen to have in mind, it's possible that someone will be interested in it.

[ ][Summer] Standard Classes (Easy)
[ ][Summer] Capstone Project (Average)
[ ][Summer] Quantum Mechanics Introduction (Hard)
[ ][Summer] Write-in?


[!][Science] Develop better Parachronic technology. (Multiple Skills, ???)

You decide it's about time to improve upon your initial prototype. There are a number of improvements that you could make, but not all will be compatible with your initial prototype; you will quickly hit a point where you need to rebuild your equipment to proceed. If you had an assistant you could trust with your secret, you could work on two projects at once, as is, you are limited to one at a time. Note that most of these projects typically call upon your electronics skill more than your knowledge of physics.

The most basic improvement is reliability, improvements to which can easily be modified into older designs. Reliability is an incremental improvement; each success on increasing reliability makes it harder to increase reliability in the future, while failed transits can produce data that makes it easier to increase reliability. (Your current reliability value is 12, which is the value that you need to roll less than or equal to with an unmodified 3d6 to avoid possible malfunctions; every success on reliability improvements increase that number by 1. Some possible modifications to your equipment will reduce Reliability, so values above 18 are worthwhile.)

Improving maximum projector size naturally increases the size of the projectors you can build, which in turn increases the maximum size of the conveyors you can send to other worlds, which increases the amount of people and cargo you can send through in one transit. Note that designing a newer larger device will still require you to actually build that device. You currently have a 'tiny' projector, which takes up much of your lab space, and is able to permit transit of a conveyor the size of a phone booth. An upgrade here will allow you to build a 'small' projector that fills a two-car garage, and should permit transit of a conveyor the size of a small car.

You could attempt to invent a parachronic beacon, which you could build into existing or future projectors; this would allow your projector to generate a unique and notable signal that should propagate across timelines. Combined with a sensor built into your conveyors, this would make return trips notably easier and safer, much akin to the difference between landing a small aircraft in pitch darkness, or with runway lights. This is also a prerequisite for further advancements in conveyor navigation. Note that it is theoretically possible that someone else with technology similar to yours might detect this signal, but you expect that it will be hard to notice unless you're specifically looking for it. (By itself, this reduces the base difficulty of return trips by 2, from 10 to 8.)

More ambitiously, you could attempt to develop a miniaturized all-purpose parachronic sensor system, which would let you get much of the same data you could in your lab, but on the move. This is certainly the most difficult project available, especially since the current size of available conveyors would require extreme miniaturization (and likely a complete redesign of your conveyor), but it is just barely within your reach.

Some other projects come to mind as requiring prerequisites that you don't have, but could easily get. Solving the theory behind T-Gamma values would allow the next step of designing devices able to travel to more distant worlds, for instance. Alternatively, with some knowledge of computers, you should be able to invent an automatic return system for your conveyors, which would allow you to make a cheap 'robot' conveyor which could attempt to test a transit and immediately return, without the need to risk your own hide.

[ ][Tech] Improve parachronic reliability. (Easy)
[ ][Tech] Increase maximum projector size. (Average)
[ ][Tech] Invent parachronic beacon. (Hard)
[ ][Tech] Invent parachronic sensors. (Very Hard)


[!][Finance] Take a break. (???)

You've been working pretty hard lately. It's paid off, in more ways than one... but you've decided that some sort of break in your schedule is definitely called for. What are your plans for the break?

Least ambitiously, you could relax quietly, without going anywhere in particular or doing anything too exciting. Read some fiction, watch some movies, catch up on lost sleep, and generally de-stress a little. It's not the most exciting thing you could be doing with your free time, but maybe less excitement is exactly what you need right now. The free time and extra sleep might make your other work a little easier, while your fiction choices might just spark some inspiration.

You could instead go camping; there's plenty of decent places to do so nearby. This is not the most comfortable way to take a break, since you aren't accustomed to roughing it... but a little of that sort of discomfort might make good practice for the possibility of visiting a more primitive world, with less in the way of modern conveniences.

Alternatively, you could hit up some bars and clubs, and relax in a more social way. This isn't usually your thing, so it's not exactly the most relaxing way to take a break. On the other hand, you've been expanding your comfort zone recently, and this could be another step in that direction. Who knows, you might even meet someone interesting.

You could also take a road trip somewhere relatively nearby. This would be similar to your recent shopping expedition, but for frivolous touristy things instead of business. It might be a little more fun if you had some company, but you can't think of anyone that you could invite for a trip like this without it being weird.

More ambitiously, you could instead arrange a flight to some resort destination, potentially anywhere in the world (some foreign countries will be harder to travel to than others, but money goes a long ways towards expediting a travel visa). This would let you have a proper vacation in the week between terms, doing touristy things in a touristy place. This, too, would probably be more fun if you had some company... and there are a lot more people who'd be interested in a proper vacation than a random road trip... but it'd seem weird and desperate for you to offer to take an acquaintance on a expensive vacation on your dime. Also, you did just spend a fair chunk of money recently, which you don't often do; doing serious travel on short notice so soon afterwards could seriously cut into your available funds, depending on just how extravagant your plans are (and flying overseas on short notice seems a little wasteful unless you plan to do something especially exciting).

[ ][Break] Relax quietly.
[ ][Break] Go camping.
[ ][Break] Venture into the bar scene.
[ ][Break] Go on a road trip.
-[ ] Write-in: Where?
[ ][Break] Take a proper vacation.
-[ ] Write-in: Where?