Day 57: Sun Room

[bodhiandspirit]

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,

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[herr_inspektor]

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]

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]

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]

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."