Day 57: Sun Room

[bodhiandspirit.livejournal.com]

It figured that night would end before Rita and Taura could progress any further. Rita wasn't particularly disappointed to wake up abruptly, as they had reached a dead end. Really, the institute was doing them a favor by bringing them back to the starting point, where they could regroup.

What she didn't appreciate was the loss of valuable time, and the fact that her equipment had been confiscated once again. Rita didn't have time to mess around... which was precisely why the cheery voice broadcast over the intercom only served to grate on her nerves more than usual. In fact... how was the Head Doctor even giving that announcement? She doubted he'd managed to take the institute back in such a short amount of time, though the broadcast itself was suspicious for a number of reasons. Even though she could clearly hear the man's voice, it didn't necessarily mean that he was there. She had to look at things critically.

Still, it seemed almost as if everything had returned to normal... with a few exceptions. The different staff was one, and her lack of possessions was another. It didn't seem like the staff was expecting to fool the patients into thinking this was the same old institute, so why...?

Even as she went about preparing for the day and walking to her first destination, Rita kept her most pressing questions in mind, coming up with multiple hypotheses to explain what was happening. Since she didn't expect that the Chapel would hold anything of interest to her, Rita opted for the Sun Room instead. She was interested in seeing the bulletin board, for one.

When she entered the Sun Room, Rita brought a pen and her journal with her. If no one approached her, she would at least have a chance to document her discoveries from the previous night. First, however, she checked the bulletin board, only to find it completely empty. That confirmed a few suspicions of hers. Content to see evidence supporting her ideas about the strange occurrences, Rita sat down on a couch, opened her journal, and began to write.

[Free!]

Comments

[bodhiandspirit.livejournal.com]

The abbreviation wasn't one that Rita recognized, nor was the place name. Chances were that this guy was from a different planet than her, which was no surprise at all. Rita had yet to meet another person from Terca Lumireis, and was beginning to think she might be the only one abducted from her planet.

Well, whatever. Lunge's next question was about the one subject Rita actually enjoyed talking about, so she was content to give him a somewhat full answer.

"I research magic and magic technology," she replied, folding her arms as her journal sat open in her lap. "At home, I developed formulas and technology for things like spellcasting and energy conversion. Since getting stuck here, I've been studying the types of magic that some of the other patients use." The fact that she'd successfully reproduced some foreign spells was a cause for celebration - or it would have been if Rita were the celebrating type, anyway.

[herr-inspektor.livejournal.com]

Rita didn't comment on his rank or home country at all- it was probably reasonable to assume that if she'd recognised either she would have had something to say about it, and so it followed that they were from different worlds. Just the same as eighty percent of the people here, then.

It wasn't, however, until she began to speak about magic that the inspector realised just how different their worlds were- there it was again, open discussion of magic. By this point the topic was one that he'd desensitised his cynicism to, having seen it in action himself, but even then that was only through the understanding that it was that which simply hadn't been explained in rational terms yet.

The approach that Rita seemed to take to the matter both here and at home was a refreshing one, to say the least. "So the science of magic, in some way?" he asked. The smile returned, briefly; maybe this would help him get his head around what Edgar referred to so frequently. "I can appreciate that. I've had some difficulty in understanding it at all, since I arrived here."

[bodhiandspirit.livejournal.com]

It didn't sound like Lunge was very familiar with magic, but he wasn't making fun of her for bringing it up, which was a plus. Rita was pretty sure she was going to break the nose of the next person to laugh and tease her for being a 'witch', as if it was something so inconceivable it was ridiculous.

"That's right. Some people, like on Earth, treat magic like some kind of wishy-washy spiritual ritual. The reality is that magic is like any other science. Anyone can do it if they have the materials and the understanding." That explanation may not have been completely accurate, as Rita had heard of some types of magic that required a particular hereditary trait in the caster, but if she counted that as a 'required material', then she was technically still right.

[herr-inspektor.livejournal.com]

There. Exactly what he'd wanted to hear- something with a little more substance. Lunge found himself leaning forward, elbows resting on the arms of the chair and fingers lacing neatly together with expectation.

"Interesting theory. Have you managed to get it to work in practise here?" He didn't bother to ask whether she'd experimented back at home; young though she looked, Rita spoke with all the confidence of someone who had poured time and effort into her research and would, there was a chance, simply be offended by the implication that she was working without evidence. And given the sort of attitude she'd already shown, Lunge didn't doubt that offending her would shut the conversation down immediately. "I can't imagine magic works the same way across each different 'world'."

[bodhiandspirit.livejournal.com]

There was something about the man's face and mannerisms that Rita didn't particularly like, but she was pleased with the direction the conversation was going in. She was happy to take advantage of any opportunity to discuss her research in detail, regardless of who it was with.

Since the latter question was the more general one, it made sense to answer that first. "You're right, it doesn't. I've learned of several different magic systems, and while some share certain elements, none of them are exactly alike." It was interesting to see that other systems used mana, which was extremely new on Rita's planet. It gave her an opportunity to see what sort of issues could arise farther down the road.

As for her findings... "I was able to reproduce an offensive spell using heraldry, a type of magic used on the planet Expel. There are a few details I had to work out to make it work effectively, and I'll need to do a follow-up test, though." Rita was confident she'd worked the kinks out with that spell, though. She just needed to perform it in order to properly record her success.

"I also succeeded with another kind of magic just last night, though I don't know the type or origin of it. It's a type of magic that uses a special kind of stone. I suspect the stone has a formula applied to it which designates its purpose and allows it to be used... but I'd need to examine it more to be sure."