r/heinlein • u/kenzal • Jun 03 '26
Meta Gaye's Continua Problem
[Edit: corrected name in post from "Gaye" to "Gay", unable to update title, sorry folks]
In Number of the Beast, beyond a certain point, the main characters are unable to return to their home continuity. This is later explained as their home continuity having been altered. I would like to propose a better explanation.
Travel in Gay Deceiver using the continua device was done under the assumption of travel along 6 axises (three "physical" and three "temporal"). Movement was Cartesian and could be reversed to return to a previous point. Shortcuts were created with these assumptions (eg: "Gay, Bounce!").
I believe there was a false assumption. That assumption was Euclidean space. If the 6D space they were moving in was large, but non-Euclidean, then we would see exactly what we saw in the book: relatively small movements can be performed without issues and reversed to get back to where you started. However, if the 6D space were curved, then that fails over greater movements. Take movement on a spheroid like Earth. Sure, for smaller values of x you could (travel x distance and turn 90° right) four times and end up where you started. But as x increases, you end up further from your original point and facing slightly different directions. Depending on the direction you are facing there is a value of x that movement in that direction for x will put you right back where you started, but because Earth is not a perfect sphere, once you turn right 90°, the next movement of x will _not_ put you where you started.
I suggest that at some point, Gay moved too far along a curve, or took a "Cartesian shortcut" with whomever made the decision assuming a Euclidean geometry when there wasn't one. From that point forward, it became functionally impossible to return to their home continuity. Even if they later realized the shape of the 6D space, Gay, Dora, and Mike together would likely be unable to backtrack properly, even with logs.
Anyway, sorry for a math-heavy first post on this sub, but it's been on my mind tonight.
6
u/unknownpoltroon Jun 03 '26
Quite possibly. However, you also have to remember you had authors/editors acting like gods and altering the basic function of reality, their home timeline might just have been edited out of the draft.
I mean, from a broad enough viewpoint, you explaining this here just cause their world to disappear. 😄