Injuries On Leaps

[QL Nut]

Since the boards have been rather sluggish the past couple of weeks, I thought I'd keep things going by asking another one of my technical questions...

On many leaps, Sam sustains injuries (particularly "Black On White On Fire" and "The Leap Between the States"). Yet once Sam leaps out, especially after "The Leap Between the States," the gunshot he'd received on that leap disappeared. My question is: Do you think that the quantum field neutralizes (for lack of a better word) Sam's wound(s)? Or, do Sam's wounds somehow become left behind in the time period he's in and actually transfer or become duplicated to the "leapee"? It seems to me that it would look rather strange for the other people in a given time period to see a person with wounds one second and then have them miraculously disappear in the next.

I've also thought about this scenario in the case with Alia's leap-out in "Revenge Of the Evil Leaper," where the "leapee" was not injured and presumably Alia wasn't, either. But in that case, we can always fall back to the explanation that the bullet passed through the empty space in the nanosecond between leaps.

However, Zoey DID get shot on this same leap and leaped out soon after. If Sam does not retain injuries on new leaps, would this mean that Zoey would be unharmed and alive once she leaped back to her own time? When Meyers had returned to his own time, he was unharmed, which seems to suggest that Zoey retained her wound or it just vanished altogether in her time. An interesting thing to think about, I think...

 

[McDuck]

I would postulate it's a difference between the two projects. It's pretty apparent from the Evil Leaper episodes that for whatever reason, whether they'd taken over PQL and adapted it in some time future to Sam/Al's present or whether they'd somehow developed their own unique project (whether by coming to it on their own or stealing secrets, perhaps through a mole at PQL or on the Senate Committee--now THERE'S an interesting plot bunny... <g>), for whatever reason they are able to target their Leapers in and yank them back home with a lot more specificity.

Therefore, judging from Thames' frantic attempts to bring Zoey "back" and Myers returning unharmed, I would assume Zoey returned home retaining whatever injuries she'd sustained.

Whereas Sam's Leaping, especially being guided not by PQL but by GFTW, he does not return to PQL but goes on to his next task, perhaps spending some regenerative time in a vortex, limbo, or some other metaphysical state. Thus, any injuries he sustained are gone and healed when he lands in his next task. I would further assume that any injuries sustained by Sam would remain on his host's aura, and when the person returned they may still retain the image of being injured. As to whether they'd actually be so or not....I'm not sure. There's an interesting solution to this possible dilemma in a few fanfics I read and, if I'm not mistaken, in the concluding chapters of Ashley McConnell's QL novel "The Wall", where somehow the host (a child in both cases) managed to do something at the project that caused an identical injury to happen in real time (i.e. a cut arm or broken limb).

Then again, in some cases, especially if you, like me, subscribe to the theory that it's God when you're talking about GFTW Who's guiding Sam's Leaping, it's entirely possible that the Leapee/Visitor could return unscathed and the whole thing be catalogued as a miracle afterwards from the perspective of those in the time visited by Sam. (I'm applying the theological concept of "free will" in this case; that's how God would be guiding and controlling Sam's Leaping even with Sam still in control of his Leaping as described in Mirror Image.)

 

[QL Nut]

Wow, great input! That's a good point about the Evil Leaper Project; although it is very similar in nature to Project Quantum Leap, there are differences such as Lothos' ability to "yank" leapers back to the Project. I also get the impression that Zoey would still remain injured for a few reasons... From a technical standpoint, their technology is slightly different, whereas there may not be a vortex, limbo, etc., to erase wounds as I agree is probably the case with Sam. Also, Lothos is evidently the one that controls the evil leapers' leaps, and I get the impression that he/it would only do enough to save Zoey, but would let her remain in pain, possibly as a punishment for failing her mission and because of his/its evil nature.

The idea that wounds Sam sustains on leaps remaining on leapees' auras after Sam leaps out, is also interesting. Although, I'm not sure if this could be possible without the leapee sustaining the injury themselves in the Waiting Room. The way I figure it, both Sam and the leapee's aura are synchronized with their actual bodies across time. In other words, if Sam had leaped into someone with a beard and wanted to shave it, Sam would not be able to do this by himself in the past because all he'd be able to shave off is his own beard. The leapee in the Waiting Room would have to shave, and therefore the aura surrounding Sam would show the beard coming off, accordingly. Furthermore, when Sam was shot in "The Leap Between the States," his aura in the Waiting Room would show the gunshot wound.

In the scenario that both Sam and the leapee remain uninjured after Sam leaps out and the leapee's aura retains the image of the wounds, I would imagine that the image of those wounds would eventually begin to fade away. Since we know Sam isn't wounded, it's not like the image of the wounds could be synchronized with however long it would take for Sam to heal, so how long those wounds would show would be anyone's guess. Ultimately, I don't think this is what occurs in the series, though, and it would be inconsistent with my theory about the auras. I suppose it would have to be taken as a miracle to the other people in the time period. But, I do think that if Sam were to get his own blood on a leapee's clothes, those stains would remain because that's what Sam's injuries would leave behind. Hmm...

 

[mstalanon]

The other thing is when Sam leaps, he doesn't instantly go from one person to the next, although we THINK he does, for we see the leap out, leap in.

Remember the pilot episode? Sam leapt from the test pilot and then went into the baseball player... Al tells Sam it's been three weeks!

Now with someone being SHOT, I would have no idea... maybe with the leap out... hmmmm, will have to get the ol' brainpan to workin' on this one! LOL!

 

[QL Nut]

The other thing is when Sam leaps, he doesn't instantly go from one person to the next, although we THINK he does, for we see the leap out, leap in.

Remember the pilot episode? Sam leapt from the test pilot and then went into the baseball player... Al tells Sam it's been three weeks!

Now with someone being SHOT, I would have no idea... maybe with the leap out... hmmmm, will have to get the ol' brainpan to workin' on this one! LOL!

Hm...well going by your line of reasoning, we could theoretically say that enough time passes by between the leaps that Sam has time to completely heal. Not saying I'm sure this is what happens, but it's definitely an interesting way to look at it.

 

[Al's Handlink]

Time would probably have no meaning where Sam goes between leaps. So it's possible that 6 months there could be like 6 days at PQL