Day 53: Lunch

[buryyourdemons]

There was little to be said of the daily business that went on. He allowed himself to be shuffled, mind embedded too deeply in things he shouldn't be dwelling on. The night was over, the shadows had vanished, and there was little more than bad memories to be left in their stead. This was logic, pure and simple, and should have been reassuring but

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[razing_phoenix]

Writing everything down would have been a good idea, and Guy had definitely taken some notes on heraldry in the past. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten to bring his journal with him today as he hadn't expected to run into Rita again so soon. Well, for now he'd just have to rely on his memory, which he thought was sharp enough that he'd be all right. He could record everything down at dinner, if Okita didn't mind.

He couldn't help noting the messy way in which Rita was scribbling her notes down, but chose not to comment on it. That was just how some people worked, especially the scientific types. Guy had learned how to write like a noble, however, and some habits never went away.

"A little bit," he said with a nod. "I know that there are some people who are born with the ability to use it, but others can learn it even if they're from a different planet." Claude had explained that about his father, for instance. "One way to increase one's abilities in heraldry is by adding symbols to your body in the form of a tattoo." It was possible that a scar would work too, or so he guessed, but that was potentially dangerous and a lot more painful.

"On the other hand, there are those who don't have a knack for it at all, so..." He shrugged in his seat. "I'm not as clear on how it's used to power other things, though." Guy realized he could do to learn some more about it, but he also realized it wasn't a top priority here.

[bodhiandspirit]

Symbols... That was interesting. Perhaps the symbols were a sort of magic formula in themselves. Rita knew it wouldn't do to try and associate heraldry with her own magic, however. It was possible that it operated in a way that was entirely different from what she knew.

The other point of interest was that some were born with the ability. Rita's mind drifted to Estelle momentarily, thinking about her abilities, how they were inherited, and then... what she was doing now, if she was safe... However, Rita forced her mind back to the topic at hand before she could begin to dwell on that.

"It sounds like I'd need to talk to someone from Expel to get the technical details. Do you mind telling me the names of those friends you mentioned?" At this point, Rita was just asking for convenience. Even if Guy didn't tell her who to seek out, she'd go out and find them anyway. If this was a type of magic that outsiders to Expel could possibly learn, then Rita wanted to know everything she could about it.

[razing_phoenix]

Glad to see that Rita had come to the conclusion that she would be better off talking to someone who was more informed about the subject, Guy nodded and smiled. He knew that he wasn't an expert, though he did feel bad that he was making more work for the girl. On the other hand, she seemed like the sort of person who would want as much information as she could get, and she had asked of her own volition.

"Well, the person I know who's actually from Expel and who's an expert on heraldry is called Leon. He's pretty young, but he knows his stuff. My other friend, who isn't from there but who's been there and also knows a good deal, is named Claude. Both of them would probably be happy to talk to you," he explained. He hoped that they wouldn't mind; he was certain that Claude wouldn't, but he didn't know Leon nearly as well. Still, the boy had always been helpful when he'd interacted with him, so Guy wasn't too worried about it.

He almost added Ronixis' name to that list, but then remembered that chances were the man was gone. That wasn't a very encouraging thought, but he pushed it away just as quickly. "Anyway, if you wouldn't mind, could I hear about how the energy and magic on your world works?" He wouldn't be opposed to explaining fonons, though he also realized that it was a bit of a moot point seeing how it was basically dying out as an energy source now.

[bodhiandspirit]

Leon and Claude. The names were added to her notebook, along with brief notes next to them. She'd try to get in contact with them after lunch. Hopefully, Guy's definition of 'expert' wouldn't fall too far below Rita's standards of what an expert should be.

It looked like it was Rita's turn to divulge information now, which she didn't mind too much. She'd already gotten what she wanted from the conversation, and besides, she rather liked talking about her research.

"Our main source of energy at the moment is aer, which can be loosely defined as the essence of magic." Very loosely, but Rita recognized that a full explanation would be too time-consuming and could distract Guy from the big picture. Best to keep it concise. "It occurs naturally throughout the world. We were able to manipulate aer using blastia - stone-like objects imbued with aer - by applying formulas to them. Those formulas dictate the function of the blastia."

Though Rita was forcing herself to explain in the simplest terms available to her, she wasn't sure how an outsider to Terca Lumireis would receive the information. She stopped for a moment and asked, "Are you with me so far?"

[razing_phoenix]

It didn't take much effort to get Rita to launch into an explanation, and so Guy watched the girl carefully and listened as he continued to eat his food. He hoped that she didn't see it as impolite that he was eating while she was taking, but he was pretty sure it would be clear how interested he was just by the look in his eyes.

At first, Guy had wondered if aer was similar to fonons, though he figured that there would be some clear differences. Still, it was possible that aer could be found and used on Auldrant as well, with the right kind of knowledge. That was only if it still even existed, but he was getting ahead of himself.

When she mentioned having to rely on objects to actually use the aer, however, Guy paused and tilted his head. Fonons didn't work that way, but it sounded similar to what Raine and Kratos had talked to him about weeks ago. He'd never gotten all the details from them, but they had implied that magic could only be used on their world with some sort of enhancement.

"Formulas, huh?" he spoke up when Rita paused to make sure he was following her. "How do the formulas work, and how do you apply them? I'm guessing that a different formula will result in a different sort of elemental effect?" It was only natural that Guy would respond to this sort of information with even further questions.

[bodhiandspirit]

"That's a bit difficult to explain without showing, but... essentially, we're able to bring up a user interface when working with blastia, which allows us to input or edit the formulas attached to the blastia. The formulas themselves aren't much different from the sorts of formulas used in mathematics or physics," Rita explained. She wasn't sure what to compare the interface to, if it could really be compared to anything. It really was something that needed to be seen to be fully understood.

At Guy's guess, she gave a small nod-like gesture, but quickly clarified. "Elemental effects are just one of the types of functions you can give blastia. In general, there are several types of blastia. Some of the major ones are bodhi blastia, which are small stones that can be worn on the body and are used for magic and artes, and barrier blastia, which are large blastia that create barriers around cities, protecting them from monsters." Rita could go on forever with examples, but in the end she decided to keep it to the two types of blastia she worked with most often. She needed to give him the big picture in a way that was understandable to laymen, not get carried away with details.

"I've spent most of my life researching blastia and working with these formulas," she went on to add, which would explain how long-winded and passionate she could be when it came to this subject. For the past several years, blastia was her entire life.

[razing_phoenix]

User interface? Even though Guy did what he could to bring up a mental image of something like that, he really had no clue what it was. It sounded like the sort of terminology that Claude would have tossed out, but Rita wasn't someone he was comfortable enough with to ask for clarification. She seemed to be the sort of person who could get annoyed easily, whereas he wasn't the sort of person who liked to push other's buttons. Instead, Guy focused on what he could follow -- the formulas were scientific in nature, then. Once again, it was a shame Jade wasn't around; he would have eaten this up.

"So the blastia are stones, then? Either small ones for personal use or large ones meant to benefit many?" It sounded like there were countless other uses for the blastia, but the idea was still pretty impressive. Using fonons to put a barrier around a city would have likely required the constant attention of multiple fonists. It just went to show that in some ways, that source of energy and power had been limited.

Her final comment made it clear that this was something Rita was qualified to speak on, and Guy couldn't help but be impressed by how much she'd done with her life despite it being so short. It was more than he could say for himself, really. Not that he wasn't well-versed in many things about Auldrant, but the only thing he'd ever really dedicated his life to was serving others -- and even then, for a long period of time that had been insincere.

He kept drawing back to that subject today after last night had dredged it up. Pulling himself back to the point of the conversation, Guy smiled at the girl. "That's amazing. It's not common for someone so young to be so dedicated to something like that."

[bodhiandspirit]

Rita nodded to confirm that Guy had the right idea, and when complimented, a smug grin crossed her face. "I suppose so. Other people could stand to apply themselves more, though." Youths and adults included. While the fact that Rita had risen above many older and more experienced mages said a lot about her ability, it also suggested that some of them just needed to work harder.

... Although, she had to admit they'd managed to impress her recently. Those at the forefront of spirit magic development were able to take some of Rita's discoveries and find new and practical applications for them. It was actually sort of nice to finally be working with the other mages, rather than despite them.

"Anyway, the bad news is that it turned out blastia as an energy source isn't as sustainable as we thought it was. Using blastia disrupts the planet's natural aer balance, with detrimental effects to the environment." And it was also what brought forth the disaster of the Adephagos. This discovery had been devastating to Rita, but now she delivered it in a manner that was almost nonchalant. In fact, her lips even betrayed a hint of a smile as she added, "Of course, I've already developed an alternative."

[razing_phoenix]

While Guy wasn't quite sure what Rita meant by that first comment, it seemed to imply that she expected more from other people. She seemed confident in her abilities and her intelligence, but -- well, it probably didn't matter. That statement could probably hold true for anywhere, though.

As she explained why the blastia had become unusable, Guy found himself frowning. It was a real shame that something she had worked so hard to understand and use had ended up being something harmful. Granted, Rita couldn't have known that, and she didn't seem to blame herself for being a part of it, which was good. He could only imagine the guilt some of his friends would have felt if they'd been in her shoes, but it would have been needless.

It wasn't really similar to what had happened with the fonons, since that had been more like the natural progression of things after they'd been forced to stop the Planet Storm, but he wasn't given the chance to explain that to the girl, as she mentioned something else that quickly caught his attention.

"Already, huh?" he asked with a small smile as he took another bite of pizza. "So what is it?" Now she was keeping him in suspense!

[bodhiandspirit]

It wasn't often that Rita met someone with a genuine interest in her studies, and it was even rarer to meet someone who also happened to be a good listener. Rita was happy to take advantage of her captive audience and explain her greatest discovery of all.

"Mana," she answered, her grin widening. "It's a substance that isn't quite aer or matter, but it can be used as a safe substitute for aer. I recently developed a formula to convert aer to mana... though it had another unexpected effect." From the way her smile didn't fade, it may have been safe to assume that unexpected didn't necessarily mean bad.

"One of the materials used, apatheia, is produced by a particular aer-based species... upon their deaths. In addition to aer, apatheia seems to also contain some remnant of their consciousness. When the mana conversion formula is applied to this substance, it becomes a spirit... an intelligent mana-based being." In a way, it could be said that her formula raised the dead. More accurately, it helped a species reach its next level of evolution, and it gave all of them a means to protect their world. A discovery of this magnitude almost made it acceptable for Rita's blastia research to become obsolete.

[razing_phoenix]

The moment that the girl said that word, Guy knew that he'd heard it before. There weren't many people that he'd had conversations like this with in this place, though, and so he was able to narrow it down pretty quickly. Raine had mentioned something about mana during the chat that they'd had, hadn't she? Guy honestly didn't know if the woman was still around, but he had at least seen Kratos recently. He probably knew about mana too.

As Rita explained, he kept it in the back of his mind to mention those two names to her as well. "If it's not aer or matter, then what exactly is it?" he asked after a pause. Or would that be too difficult to explain? He was mainly just curious about how she'd discovered it in the first place, especially if no one else had before her.

The girl wasn't done there, though, and her explanation just became more and more complex as she continued. Guy did his best to follow, but in the end it was hard to tell if what she'd done was good or bad. He was guessing it was good by the look on her face, but in this case it might be best to clarify and make sure she wasn't doing something out of line. "So do you have to kill these beings in order to start the conversion, or is it something that happens when they die naturally?" he asked as he scratched at the side of his head. It really was amazing that she'd pieced all this together, but Jade was proof of how someone's curiosity about science could lead to them doing terrible things. He didn't want Rita to fall into that trap by accident.

[bodhiandspirit]

"It's a sort of intermediate state, you could say. More dense than aer, but still usable in similar ways," Rita explained, though it was difficult to describe the properties of mana without delving too much into technical details.

Guy's next question caused the smile to fade from Rita's face, and a more serious expression replaced it. "... Apatheia forms regardless of the cause of death, as long as the Entelexia - the beings in question - consumed enough aer in life," she clarified first. And to the more distasteful (and rather insulting) implication of the question, "I have a code of ethics. Of the living Entelexia I found, only those who consented underwent spirit conversion."

Gusios was perhaps an exception, but his case was a complicated one. Though it was unfortunate that they hadn't been able to ask him properly, the fact that they'd spared him a much worse fate than death made Rita confident that they had done the right thing.

[razing_phoenix]

If it was denser than aer, then Guy could only wonder how it was that no one else had detected it before Rita had. Then again, there was a chance that people had known of mana but hadn't realized that it could be converted into usable energy. Either way, he had more important things to worry about, since it seemed like he'd upset the girl, if just slightly.

Seeing how he'd implied that she might have been murdering living beings, it was no surprise that she got a bit short with him. But Guy made sure to nod in understanding. "That's good to hear. And it doesn't seem like they actually die in the end anyway, right?" It was all pretty complicated, but the swordsman also realized how confusing fonons were to someone who hadn't grown up learning about them. Luke was proof enough of that.

Figuring it might be best to move the subject to something different, though, Guy decided to get back to his earlier thought. "Speaking of mana, though... I spoke to two people once who also used that term. Their names are Raine and Kratos. Have you come across either of them?" If not, those might be two more names for the girl to add to her list.

[bodhiandspirit]

"... Hmph. That's right." Rita was still a little sore over that last question, but she worked past it enough to keep offering answers. "Though death is a part of the process, it's something more like a metamorphosis. The spirits also retain memories of their previous lives." She added that part to quell any possible concern that the Entelexia as individuals were gone.

When Guy mentioned a pair of familiar names, Rita lifted an eyebrow. "Yes, I've talked to them before. I was able to learn about some of the potential drawbacks to having a mana-dependent world." At least, that was what she learned from Raine. Kratos had been considerably less helpful in that area, though that was to be expected.

Rita appreciated that Guy had brought them up, however. If she hadn't already met them, she certainly would have wanted to meet them.

[razing_phoenix]

All in all, it sounded like Rita had already found the perfect solution. That made Guy wonder why she had decided to discuss alternatives with him in the first place, but it could have just been for the sake of curiosity. He could certainly relate to that. "That's good to hear. I can only hope I'll have as much luck with Auldrant." Not that it was all on his shoulders; not by any means. He wasn't even a real scientist, but... he was obviously still invested.

So it seemed like Rita had already beaten him to the punch when it came to Kratos and Raine. He was glad that he had at least been able to give her two useful names, then. "Drawbacks, huh? Yeah, they mentioned something like that, but I never got the full story..."

And now clearly wasn't the time for it, either, as the intercom cut in, interrupting them for the second time. As it turned out, Rita seemed to be one of those people who he could talk to for longer than the allotted time in a shift. "I guess we'll have to talk more later," he said with a shrug as he stood from his seat, his lunch more or less finished. "Good luck finding Claude and Leon. Both of them are pretty easy to get a hold of." They were very prompt to reply on the bulletin, at least.

With that, he waved to the young girl and headed off toward the Music Room.