The Weekly What-If

This is going to be the first in a regular series designed to encourage creativity in the comments section.

Christopher Evans once described science fiction as the “literature of the ‘what-if?'” What if it were possible to travel to another planet? What if aliens invaded the Earth? What if it were possible to time travel?

That final question is going to be our first what-if subject today.

For inspiration, I would like to turn to the amazing independent fantasy film, The Navigator: A Medaeval Odyssey, about a group of medieval monks who travel to the 20th century and try to find meaning in it. As they are from the middle ages, they see everything in religious terms and turn the whole thing into an allegory.

Let’s make this a little simpler though, since this is our first outing. Imagine a scientific experiment where an Irish monk from the 14th century is brought into the present day, but is unable to be sent back again. This is in a controlled environment, so he has not been exposed to the outside world yet. It is your job to help him understand this world he is going to go out into. You must describe one object from our modern era in terms he can understand. This will be translated by expert linguists into his language, so you can write it in plain English (avoid cheesy thees and thous), but you must describe it in terms of things that existed in Europe no later than the 14th century.

I will begin, using something relatively easy to describe, a car.

A car is much like a horse and cart, but it is entirely clad in a thick armor, so you cannot see what moves the cart. It is a very swift creature that moves it, because it goes faster than any horse can run, making a loud roar as it goes. Despite looking like something fit for battle, these are used peacefully to transport several people and goods across long distances. You do not need to be afraid of cars and will probably ride inside of them, but stay away from them when they move and make sure to look carefully for them when crossing the broad roads on which they travel.

Your turn!