You are a former nuclear scientist who has researched in the field of fusion, who is in possession of a device that once activated will create a two-way portal into any time period on Earth.
The time-portal is created based on the relative position to Earth and does not require adjusting the position in relation to space.
Once the initial portal is created you can not change its location or its position in time; you may only turn it off or on (from both sides).
You can both go backward to the formation of the earth, or go forward until the destruction of the earth by the sun.
In four months you are going to be framed for the crime of stealing the device from the government, and authorities are going to be looking for you. For this reason, you are planning to escape to another time period of your choice; Where you will build a lair and may live for a relatively large amount of time. You will have to live there comfortably without needing to contact any civilization.
You have two weeks to decide on a period and the resources that you'll need. After that, you will collect any number of essential & survival items, plus construction resources to build a lair. In four months, you'll move there before shutting down the time-portal device for good.
Additionally, you will bring most of your work through the portal with you with the intention of continuing to work on projects.
You have no crew to help you in any part of your plan. You can not bring infinite resources, so you have to choose wisely on any means to provide for your future needs. You have extended knowledge on how to build stuff and grow food, but basic skill set (e.g. don't know how to hunt).
What time period will you be choosing? What will you take with yourself?
Consider the following:
- Basic needs such as food and water, clothing
- Construction items (such as resources, tools, machines, etc) and any means to form a home and your lab
- Means of producing energy to power your lair or any vehicles you might use
- Equipment such as surveillance, communication, a toolbox
- Electronics such as computers (laptop, mobile phone, mp3 player, servers, switches, routers)
- Any sort of entertainment or education (books, movies, etc)
- Security and defense (other civilizations might threaten you, there are always natural threats and disasters, and a carnivorous dinosaur could always eat you if you end up in prehistoric times without any through thoughgt plans.)
- Medical care (how do you plan to treat potential injuries, infections (e.g. bacterial, viral) and treat rare or unknown diseases to your time.)
- Language barriers (You are a native modern English speaker, and you know only a handful of other languages, such as Mandrian. Your French pronunciation is painfully terrible, but you can maintain a conversation.)
- Plans to find/collect/buy resources. If you are moving to a human populated era, you should have some sorts of income. Otherwise, you should have plans to hunt and/or farm food, find fuel and other valuable resources.
P.S. I'd like to have some electricity in order to run my laptop and the servers that I'm bringing with myself. I'm also worried for protection against any harm to my equipment and resources.
Thanks for bringing up some good points! Here are some more explanation to the character and the portal device.
Edits in regards to the portal mechanism
- There are no lairs built by our character yet. You have in total four months to either start construction on a liar, use a naturally occurring confined space (such as caves) or any kind of abandoned human creations (such as buildings, bunkers, mines, etc)
- The only thing our character has (other than the resources he or she picks) is a device which creates a portal to a fixed time and a fixed place relative to Earth. Accept that the portal can spontaneously open to any time ranged in the above requirements, and any place on the planet Earth. (e.g. if one side of the portal is opened in the Devonian period (389.7 million years ago), you need to factor the atmosphere difference. If the portal is opened in the ocean, you'll have to come up with a way to deal with immense water pressure.)
- Once any side of the portal is opened, you can not change the time period of that side. You may slightly change the physical position by moving the device in small distances. Also, the physical location of the portals are linked together (e.g. You move one side, the other side moves in relative to the first side).
- The character can place the portal in any time and place of their choice. They only restriction is that they may not change the time after it's opened, and they'll have limitations in moving the physical location of the portal. (See 3.) They can, however, form the lair around the portal, or move the portal to a constructed (or a discovered) lair of their choice.
- As to "what's to stop the government from finding the portal and going after him?", assume that the government will eventually find OR currently know the physical location of their time side of the portal; however, they don't know the time of the other side which it will open to, and furthermore are unable to open the portal once it has been closed. Only our character is in possession of the off/on switch to the portal.
Edits in regards to the character
- Our character is feeling adventurous and is open to absolutely any kind of time which is or could be made habitable.
- Human interaction is not a plus as our character has an high-functioning introvert anti-social personality.