Twelve years and sixty-two days ago, something happened in the Valley of the Antelope. To put it simply, everything stopped. Birds that had been flying across the sky hung motionless, caught in a split second of motion. Bees, reindeer, mice, even the plants and the river itself, all were frozen in place completely. Only clouds seemed immune to the effect, passing over the the valley with the new nickname of the Frozen Valley.
Scientists were completely confused by this phenomenon, sending in probe after probe which were completely unaffected by whatever might have happened. The sensor measurements were unexplainable, revealing nothing new and nothing to support any theories. Frozen Valley resisted all explanation.
The next step was to send in devices that could interact with the environment. The first one carefully bumped into a static badger, and couldn't budge it. Then, a blade of glass was selected as a sample, and a snipper-bot sent in to cut it and bag it. The scissors didn't even make a mild scratch. The limits of automated devices were rapidly becoming apparent. Progress could only be slow and miserable if they couldn't send in people to investigate. However, what would happen if living matter went into the valley? Would it freeze into a static frame of reference inevitable?
The quandary was clear, and no clear way presented itself, all volunteers being asked to think again due to the danger involved. How could it be resolved?
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