ϡ - Chapter Twenty; those who have gone missing [action/voice]
[ There's a clear strained sigh coming from the opposite end of the transmission. A few moments later some shuffling as someone moves about in the background. ] Frederic's been...taken. He, um, has been for awhile. I-I wasn't supposed to make anyone worry, I'm terribly sorry for not saying so sooner. [ There's a clear tone of guilt in his voice. It
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And I shall set off immediately then. [Robert reflexively brings the journal with him as he dresses in his coat and boots, so Helios is treated to the soft crinkling sounds of fabric. Eventually Robert starts to walk out the door and heads toward Helios' building.
It's a roughly east-northeast (?) journey for Robert, which is a different route than the other ways he's gone to get to the shops, so the going is slow and punctuated by both Robert analyzing the area and his heavy breathing - Helios is no doctor (just a magician!) but even so he can probably tell that it's abnormal. Even after being in Luceti for two weeks, Robert's health hasn't improved much and all this exercise is difficult for him. Regardless, he isn't actively complaining; it's just betrayed by his laboured panting.
Eventually, probably after half an hour to forty-five minutes, Robert makes it to the door of the Community Building. He opens it and sighs audibly at the prospect of having to climb stairs in his condition.]
... B-Bugger these stairs. I will never get used to them.
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Robert are you alright?
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I... I am alright. Somewhat. I-It's just that I simply do not have the... c-constitution, for all this walking. [His voice just makes it more obvious that he's anything but alright. Despite this, he's actively trying to walk up the stairs - though he stops when he reaches the top of the next flight.]
G-Gah. I... I a-apologize for my condition. [Robert's ashamed of how out of shape he is, and how much it shows. He even considers filtering the journal, but doesn't have the energy to think of a filter right now, so he stands there trying to recover some semblance of breath.]
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[For the time being, he braces himself against the wall, face flushed with both exertion and shame, and just focuses on breathing, cursing every fibre of his paltry muscles.]
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At any rate, it is my fault, not yours. [Robert shifts to a standing posture, looking a little better now that he's had time to recover.] My physician would likely be most alarmed by my lack of sense.
[Robert looks over at Helios.] I did mean to visit you at some point... though I do wish it was in less discomforting circumstances.
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Ah, well, I'll apologize now the mess back at the apartment. I did try to tidy up a little before you came. [ Because there were papers and crap all over the floor. ] At any rate shall we be going? Are you well enough is the important question.
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It's rather pathetic of me to be having so much difficulty here... but I am not used to having to walk everywhere.
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Not at all. If your world isn't like this it's no wonder that you wouldn't be used to it. To be honest I do enjoy walking around town...but I sometimes miss transportation like cars and such.
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W-Well... back on Terra there would be high-speed transport pods running throughout the city. There's... absolutely nothing of the sort here, which is d-disconcerting.
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[Robert looks over at Helios at that.] I had teleportation magic demonstrated to me by a certain Ms. Iris... But she did not need any sort of extraneous object for it. It was quite near instantaneous...
Hrm. All of this implies more difference between magical physics in worlds than I thought. That could compound the difficulty of my eventual studies.
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[ He'll be rubbing his chin thinking. ] Is that so? Hm teleportation without a circle, that's rather impressive. Certainly not something easily obtainable in my world. [ A small smile. ] I guess that just goes to show you how different worlds can be. [ He'll give Robert a curious glance. ]
Studies? Ah, so you're going to take up learning about it then?
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[He nods at the second part.] Since you and Doctor Mizuno both seem to think there are principles behind magic, and since I had that conversation with you about how spells function, I have been considering trying to do some sort of report on magic and its physics. If I had my nanocomputer it would be much easier... the journals are one thing, but they lack the robustness of a good nanocomputer's holoprojectors, and are completely without any tools for study.
[While they've been talking, the two have managed to make it up most of the stairs. Robert glances around himself.] Ah. We're nearly at the fifth floor...
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Really? [ He sounds pleased at that thought. ] Reminds me of my time learning such things back when I was younger actually. [ Have a smile at that. ] Well, there are some books from my world here on such physics, if you'd like to look at them. Admittedly they're a bit...old in terms of diction but you're certainly welcome to use them.
[ Helios will blink noting that. ] Oh! We are, aren't we? I didn't even take notice.
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