Temporal distortion

     As THEROS passed through the portal into the Nether to join the rest of us, we began to make our way back to the base. of operations that we had established a few hours ago. However, when we rounded the last corner, we were met with everyone else staring at us as though we had done something wrong... We all looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering if something had followed us back through, but eventually we were put out of our misery when COLUS approached us, and began to interrogate us!

"Where have you been? You were only supposed to collect a small amount of wood to build a makeshift ladder and come back. Not lay about out there wasting time! You've been gone hours!"

What? We were less than one hour! We had managed to collect a sufficient amount of wood within an hour of leaving the Nether through the portal, before returning. Where did he get his estimation of "hours" from? As COLUS continued, OROTHO and Amie interrupted confirming that we had indeed taken longer than we had stated, but it couldn't be possible! All three of us were adamant the entire journey had taken just under an hour or so.

"Maybe not doing anything in the Nether makes it seem longer. You know what they say: time flies when you're having fun..."

It was then that I decided to put my theory to OROTHO about temporal distortion, and in doing so I had to interrupt COLUS. I pointed out my initial thoughts when we had first passed through the portal to scout out the area. It had seemed that UOPETA had managed to scope out a good area within seconds of me passing through, yet he was confident I had taken a good few minutes! I then mentioned the two words "temporal distortion" and OROTHO's eyes lit up!

"Temporal distortion? Is it possible that... Maybe, just maybe, we're existing in a faster time frame reference here in the Nether in comparison to Minecraftia? Any time spent in the Nether is shrunk down to a compared to the equivalent time spent by a person in Minecraftia, and the time spent back in Minecraftia is elongated in comparison to a person in the Nether...?"

"What are you suggesting? Time runs faster here?"

"I didn't think it was possible... We would need to run tests, but there is a possibility that not only are we in a different dimension, but a totally different time stream altogether!"

     OROTHO has conducted a few tests of his own concerning the time stream theory attached to the Nether dimension. It was incredibly fascinating to watch, so much so we delayed collecting the glowing stone just to view him! Firstly he wanted to see it from an interior perspective; he made Amie pass through the portal back into Minecraftia. Once there, she was to count to ten, and step back into the portal, and into the Nether again. At the same time, OROTHO would count continuously until she returned. It wasn't particularly scientific, but it was enough to prove a point. Any slight variation in the time perceived would be put down to human error, but he said multiple tests with varying degrees of time would allow him to calculate an approximate time slip between Minecraftia and the Nether. I suppose this would allow us to determine how much faster time ran in the Nether in comparison to Minecraftia. Amie passed through the portal, and OROTHO began counting aloud.

"1... 2... 3... 4..."

He continued this until he reached 20, and then Amie passed back through the portal.

"Hmmmm... 20 seconds... Maybe it's double the time frame... Try again, but this time, count to 30 seconds..."

Amie passed back through and OROTHO began counting. We all expected to see Amie emerge through the portal after OROTHO reached a minute, but he continued counting, and yet she still did not appear. After a minute and a half, she appeared, much to our amazement...

"How long was that? 60 seconds?"

"No... 90 seconds... Odd... Let me try; You stay here and I will pass through and count to 20, and then come back..."

OROTHO tentatively stepped through the portal, and Amie began counting. OROTHO eventually came back through the portal, 50 seconds after entering it!

"50 seconds... So much for the double time theory..."

"Maybe not... But it appears the time experienced in the Minecraftia is the equivalent of two times plus the tens value of that value. So for example, 20 seconds means 20 times 2, plus 20. That makes 50 seconds! That also works for 30 seconds: 30 times two plus 30 is 90 seconds! We'll need to carry out some more tests."

"Alright, we'll leave you in peace. You three, get that rigging set up, and come back to us when it's done. We can get this achieved faster with more of us there!"

     We've hauled all of the necessary materials, tools and equipment we needed to the site. it took two trips, but we now have all we need to reach the glowing stone. As we still haven't seen any of the strange floating squid creatures, nor do we fully understand the intent of the pig-men's curiosity, we've begun building the rigging in shifts. I started off with UOPETA, constructing a base to enable us to get up to it. After that was complete, it was merely a case of securing a gangway which would support us whilst we mined. We spent the first half an hour - or according to OROTHO, one and a half hours in the Nether - constructing the base, whilst THEROS remained on guard, watching out for the pig-men. Passive or not, it didn't mean we should totally ignore them! We then swapped over, UOPETA saying that I should take a break and keep a look out.

"If you hear or see anything strange coming towards us, or even off in the distance, let us know. We'll need to abandon what we're doing and inform the others. We can't take any chances."

He was right. We knew so little about the Nether as it was without becoming complacent. I sat beside the rigging, looking out towards the large open area back the way we came. There was so little we knew about this place, and we were finding out small amounts bit by bit. This entire theory about temporal distortion is being thoroughly researched by OROTHO and Amie as we speak. We could most likely use that to our advantage.

     I was impressed with the progress we were making; within an hour or so, we could be heading back to the base to inform the others, collecting the glowing stone, and be back in Minecraftia, back to our old routine. Never thought I'd be so happy to say that! As I looked off into the distance, I zoned out slightly, going off into my own world, thinking about what I had encountered in the last few months. HoN Co. had never prepared me for all of these eventualities, I can tell you! After awhile, I began to hear an odd noise... It sounded like high pitched chittering, which I initially threw aside, assuming it to be a nearby pig-man. But as it continued, I was slowly drawn back into reality, and I was able to determine the direction of the source of the sound. Looking way off into the distance, I saw strange white fluttery appendages, dangling down from an overhanging lip... What was that???

Syeonyx signing off