DTI Manual Excerpt

UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS

DEPARTMENT OF TEMPORAL INVESTIGATIONS

FIELD MANUAL 12-C: PARADOX CLASSIFICATION AND RESPONSE DOCTRINE

(Revision 17, Stardate 8921.4 – Authorized for Internal DTI Distribution – Agent Clearance Level 7)

SECTION 3: STANDARD PARADOX PROFILES

The following paradox types constitute the most frequently observed (or inferred) disruptions in local spacetime continuity. Starfleet personnel encountering temporal anomalies must apply the classification below in incident reports, field assessments, and post-mission debriefs.

Paradox categories are arranged by severity, from lowest threat to timeline integrity to highest.

3.1 Predestination Paradox (Class-Alpha Loop)

A paradox in which the temporal event is self-contained within the Prime Timeline and contributes to the very conditions that necessitate the temporal excursion.

Characteristics

The cause and effect form a closed, self-consistent loop.
The Prime Timeline is neither branching nor erased.
All participants retain memories of the event (unless temporal shielding or other factors interfere).
Often occurs when the time traveler becomes the catalyst for their own mission parameters.

Example
Officer travels to the past to prevent an event; actions inadvertently cause the event, fulfilling historical necessity.

Operational Guidance

Minimal corrective action required; paradox is stable.
Ensure psychological support for personnel experiencing identity recursion or ontological confusion.

3.2 Fixed Paradox (Class-Beta Stabilization Event)

A paradox in which a temporal incursion creates a temporary deviation from the Prime Timeline that must be resolved through deliberate action to restore canonical history.

Characteristics

Divergent individuals or artifacts persist temporarily in the restored timeline.
Upon resolution, anomalous individuals typically disappear or decohere, yet memories, records, and physical evidence persist.
The paradox acts as a self-correcting stress cycle within the timeline’s continuity matrix.

Example
A traveler from Timeline-B corrects a deviation that would split the timeline. Once the Prime Timeline is re-established, the traveler vanishes, but all personnel retain complete memory of their presence.

Operational Guidance

Treat as a stabilized incursion; maintain detailed logs for DTI archival.
Avoid emotional entanglements with timeline-impermanent individuals.

3.3 Erasure Paradox (Class-Gamma Nullification Event)

A paradox in which the actions taken to repair or alter a timeline result in the total non-existence of the initiating traveler or timeline.

Characteristics

Completion of the temporal intervention negates the traveler’s birth, timeline, or consciousness.
All memories, records, and physical traces of the traveler and their origin timeline are eliminated.
Survivors may experience “continuity dissonance,” a residual cognitive sensation of missing information.

Example
A traveler prevents a catastrophe that originally led to their own birth or timeline’s creation. When the event is corrected, the traveler ceases to have ever existed.

Operational Guidance

Highest emotional hazard for involved personnel.
Log subjective impressions immediately after event stabilization; such impressions often fade.
DTI provides mandatory counseling for units exposed to Class-Gamma events.

3.4 Ontological Paradox (Class-Delta Bootstrap Event)

(Recommended addition for completeness)

A paradox where an object, idea, or individual exists without an identifiable point of origin, created by its own future or past iteration.

Characteristics

Object or information is passed back in time, enabling its own creation.
Origin point is undefined; item is “self-generated.”
Timeline remains stable, but provenance becomes non-linear.

Example
A time traveler gives a scientist the formula for a device that the traveler only knows because it was invented by that scientist using the formula.

Operational Guidance

Treat bootstrap artifacts carefully; DTI may confiscate for containment.
Personnel must avoid becoming the origin point of self-originating technology.

3.5 Divergence Paradox (Class-Epsilon Branch Event)

A paradox in which a temporal intervention creates two or more coequal timelines whose mutual interference threatens stability.

Characteristics

Both timelines persist independently but may attempt to influence one another.
Cross-timeline transfer of individuals or technology produces escalating instability.
Often precedes Class-Gamma erasure if not addressed.

Operational Guidance

Immediate DTI quarantine recommended.
Prioritize return of displaced individuals to their native timeline.
Avoid “timeline enrichment” (importing superior technologies across divergences).

3.6 Accretion Paradox (Class-Zeta Overwrite Cascade)

A rare yet catastrophic paradox in which multiple attempted timeline repairs accumulate, producing layered contradictions that threaten the integrity of the Prime Timeline.

Characteristics

Records and memories shift repeatedly as overwritten histories stack atop each other.
Individuals may experience “temporal drift” — conflicting memories from different versions of history.
Final resolution may require timeline reversion or controlled collapse.

Operational Guidance

Deploy specialized DTI temporal stabilizers immediately.
Expect conflicting accounts; maintain hard-data logs only.
Prepare for loss of up to 70% of localized historical continuity.

3.7 Observer Paradox (Class-Sigma Quantum Disruption)

A paradox in which the mere presence of a future observer alters events.

Characteristics

No action required; observation alone causes deviation.
Typically results when a temporally immune species (e.g., Q, Preservers, or chroniton-anchored individuals) interacts with a pre-event era.

Operational Guidance

Remove observer from temporal locus.
Reset timeline if deviation exceeds acceptable drift.