Creativity Rules for time travel

[Martian]

If you have a time machine, chances are you can go anywhere and do anything you want. Having said that, there are a few simple rules which can help you to remain hidden in this era. Following them is not necessary, but they may help you.

1. Buy a lottery ticket and intentionally lose. People think that the first thing someone would do with a time machine is win the lottery, so avoid suspicion by blending in with all the other people who don't win. In the US, you can't open a bank account without 2 forms of government-issued ID, and they track all financial transactions they can, under the guise of fighting terrorism. The lottery is basically a trap for short-sighted time travelers.
2. For the same reasons, avoid the stock market.
3. If you intend to visit multiple decades within this era, find a way to destroy your fingerprints, even temporarily. This can be done with nail clippers without causing permanent damage. You don't want to get accused of identity theft if some unforeseen event happens and your identity matches that of someone who died 40 years before you were born.
4. If you plan to make frequent trips through time, try to always wear identical clothing. This makes it harder for someone to piece together your personal timeline from photographs. This could be important in the event that someone becomes aware that you're a time traveler and plans a trap for you.
5. Develop a system of feedback to give yourself messages after each trip, using your own code. This way, you can deduce that you will die or otherwise not return from a trip and thereby avoid it.
6. Understand that all internet communications are presumably stored for decades by government. They also have algorithms which identify a person's writing style, within a certain probability. If you must convey information in this way, intentionally alter your grammatical structure and figures of speech.
7. Surveillance cameras are everywhere in public, and increasingly in private residences. Disguising yourself will do some good, but facial recognition is becoming more advanced all the time.
8. Don't use the phone unless it's an emergency. Calls are also tracked, and computer voice analysis can identify you.
9. There are evil people in this world who would kill for time travel. Don't take it lightly.
10. 2001-2015 are dangerous years in America. Visit if you need to, but use extreme caution.

 

[Martian]

11. If you predict future events like terrorism or war, there is a significant chance that people will think you're involved with it somehow. Most people have only a vague understanding of time travel, and many believe it to be impossible.

 

[Einstein]

The best place to hide is out in the open. If caught with your time machine, just say it's just another failed time travel attempt. Most likely they will laugh and walk away. Your just another loony to everyone else. So it certainly wont hurt to let everyone just continue on with their silly beliefs.

If suspiciously caught with a winning lottery ticket, just say you had a dream about those numbers and decided to try them out. Noone will even consider any wrongdoing over a dream.

 

[Martian]

Yeah, it's just fan fiction. No reason to overanalyze it.

 

[Num7]

Yeah, it's just fan fiction. No reason to overanalyze it.

The advantage with fan fiction, is that you can over analyse it as much as you want, you should always be able to find an excuse or and explanation for anything!