Forks, Intersections, and Braids

I keep circling back to this plot hook/world idea that I know I’m not going to use anytime soon. To not forget it I’m going to write it down. Hopefully than it will let me get back to work on other projects. As I don’t think I’m going to use it soon I might as well use it here as an example to talk about forking, intersecting and creating parallel worlds

The set up is simple, in the future humanity has been forced off Earth and onto massive city ships, arcs or whatever else you’d want to call them. For the most part these ships are in contact with each other but have to keep moving else the big bad threat that pushed us off Earth will find them and destroy them. If you don’t want singular massive ships they could also be fleets of smaller ships echoing Battlestar Galactica, that part is not that important.

That’s it.

That’s the set up.

And boy can you do a lot with it.

Stories spanning from small scale survival stories focusing on singular characters stranded in space, to massive war epics posing questions about what lines should be crossed to save humanity and if it’s worth it. The hook that keeps poking me is somewhere in the middle those extremes.

The short version is: Hotshot ace of aces pilot ends up testing the daughter of the pilot who’s shoes he inherited. Things go very sideways and they end up stranded somewhere far from home and have to adapt to the new society they find themselves in.

The question is what is that new society and how did it come about. I have a few ideas.

The first is a ship, or fleet, entirely crewed by women. Some time long enough in the past that men could be relegated to the history books the ship ran into a thing that killed all the men and prevented men from being born. They dealt with it so we don’t kill off our leading man when he arrives but the ship ended up sciencing a solution so that they can cross breed women to prevent the collapse of the ship and the death of humanity. I would also add that this ship believes that it is the last holdout of humanity.

This is functionally a fork. At some point in the shared history this ship splits off and becomes detached from the rest of humanity. While not a proper alternate timeline like you could get in the Command and Conquer: Red Alert games, which would be a more convincing argument for a new world. It could be presented as a new world until the end when it is revealed that it isn’t. Thus it works despite my plans running my example.

A fork is what happens when an event, or events, play out differently enough to create a distinct and separate present to an existing world. This could be our own should one be writing an alternate history, or alternate present story. However it doesn't have to be, leading to the possibility of a fictional historical fiction. Which could be an interesting genre to create. I see forking a world as a good way to create related worlds; hold up a dark mirror for a side story or vignette, take the critic’s comments into reality, or explore that other path you were contemplating. As long as it isn’t a complete remix it would count as a fork.

The second idea is the two of them being found on a planet with absolutely no idea about the big bad threat that was working to wipe out Humanity. They don’t know and never heard about it. Because of this the world is very different and much more relaxed. Issues are smaller and more personal as are the communities. I’m picturing something with the feelings of the Shire, except more sci-fi and probably next to the ocean. A place where our leads will feel completely out of their element none the less.

This would be a type of intersection, where one world crosses paths with another. Usually this intersection is between the primary world, the one we live in, and a secondary world, one created. The traditional travelers story works because of these intersections. The traveler goes, or gets pulled into the secondary world, explores it and then returns. Often going though the same intersection seldom to return. Often these intersections are portals, or regional equivalent, that are hidden away so the normal person cannot find them.

Another common type of intersection is the hidden world. There is a world hidden just off the beaten path. In modern times this is most often seen in the urban fantasy. Where there are hidden secret societies of magical or mythological creatures. Usually in these cases the interactions between the hidden world and the “real” one are rather limited usually due to some prior interactions. If these interactions happen often enough I would suggest the worlds are braided together.

Braided worlds debatably aren’t separate worlds, although I’ll save that philosophical think piece for another time. Braided worlds are ones that intertwine but are usually separate, much like the locks in the braid the ginger above is sporting. They twist around each other going in one general direction, while not directly interacting they do influence each other.

I don’t have an example with the hooks I’ve been playing with although the two leads waking up on a different ship that hasn’t interacted with theirs ever, possibly not knowing that they existed. I would paint it as an ark from a colony that had separated from Earth a long time a go, that ran into the same enemy. The culture, language, and solutions would be completely foreign to our leads however they would find answers to the mysterious human debris fields and ruined alien forces. Effectively showing another side of this conflict that was completely hidden from them. I think this could be interesting however I’m not interested in writing it at all.

However there is another way to do braided worlds. This involves the rather dangerous situation of finding another story teller to work with. A process that involves talking to people, asking their opinions, brokering deals, and making reference to each other’s work. If done correctly a true braid could be possible where than the two or more spin and twist the worlds in reaction to each other, either though the theft of ideas, references, or anything else one can dream up.

With that I will leave you for this edition and will see you next week.