[Lab 7-Q] Part II: Equivalent [?] Exchange: Memories

[Daekos Volundur]

Timestamp: 40th of Summer, 467 AV "You took your time." "My apologies, Master. The meal took longer than expected." "Come. You are to begin your search for memories that will aid me in the garden. I have planted a few seedlings already, and I expect more to be coming once the boats arrive at the Docks. In the meanwhile... If you find anything interesting, tell me it. But a lesson first." Daekos bit his lip, forcing himself not to argue with Mors Inim. The dull meals and living conditions had already affected his body, and he was in less-than-perfect condition. The last time he had argued... The Pascid had simply beaten him up before he could use any Reimancy. Mors moved to an empty space on the wall he usually used for calculations, picking up a piece of chalk from the table nearby and began to write on it, speaking as he did so. Daekos moved to the chair and began taking notes down on his notebook - he planned to collect everything he had learnt and experienced in Sahova and write it down in Isur, to serve as a memory device. "I assume you know what Swalden is - a gas giant, many times larger than Mizahar. No solid surface exists, for everything is gas. But it is said that the deeper one goes into Swalden, the more solid it is, as it has been demonstrated in experiments centuries ago by myself that enough pressure can turn gases into liquids and solids. The importance of Swalden lies in the Ring of Memosites, where countless wizards have placed their memories in. You are to begin using a focused Four-circle." He sketched a three-dimensional coordinate system on the board. "There exists methods of defining space - a cube, for example, has length, breadth and height." He pointed to the geometrical shape. "Observe. Right angles to each other, perfectly perpendicular." "And this is a three-dimensional coordinate system designed to relay locations in space. Each axis is at right angles to each other, and together, with the aid of numbers, I can pinpoint any one point with three numbers. An example." He gestured to the room they were in. "This room is perfectly square. Let us say that it is 16 units long, 16 units wide and 16 units high. Units referring to a unit of measurement, of course. Let the origin - that is to say, the 'corner' or vertex of the axis - be that corner there. We shall call this point zero, zero, zero, referring to length, width and height respectively. What point would that metal sphere be then?" Daekos glanced at it and back at the corner denoting the origin, mentally estimating the distance. Right, I'm going to have to define which one is 'length' and 'width'. So the wall with the carvings would be 'length', and the one adjacent to it would be 'width'. The metal sphere is roughly... one quarter of the way up from the floor, so I suppose its 'height' would be around four? It's leaning against the wall opposite the 'length' wall, so I suppose that could count as a sixteen for width. As for length... Halfway there, I think. Make it a - sixteen divided by two is - eight. "Eight, sixteen, four. The length and width is over there." Daekos gestured to the indicated walls he had defined for the two terms in turn. "Correct. You will learn about relative length soon enough, but that is for a later date. Now, the ring around Swalden is a rough three-dimensional annulus." He tapped the shape on the board before continuing. "Focused circles are used to create portals that open at specified points. More specific than astral coordinates. I have divided Swalden's ring into divisions, assuming that it is a square annulus, and there are a total of four point eight million cubic divisions I have divided them into. No doubt you will not have time to finish searching them - you are a Pulser, after all..." Something akin to a sneer appeared on the inhuman Nuit's face, that of an Inarta, as he spoke the word. "One cube you shall do today. Cube coordinate eighty-four, eighteen, nine." His familiar threw a small scroll, on which words were written in the script of the Nader Canoch, with a translation next to it. "These are the words you will be writing in the centre of the triangle. The paint and brushes are over there. Now get to it." The Nuit and his Pascid familiar left the room as Daekos began to read the instructions. Let's see... I'll try reading the Ancient Language first. Qayala knows I can't read most of the script, so I may as well practice. That word is Swalden - looks like it hasn't changed much. Swalden direction- no, the translation says coordinates. But I distinctly remember it meaning direction, or was it location? Swalden coordinates cube- I'll have to remember that. ... Korad sutla, sutla, Ala. - Combine together? String together? Length, Width, Height. Well, Nader Canoch is harder than I thought it would be. There are bloody levels of meaning everywhere, and the words my mother taught me contain more meanings than I thought they would - ah, numbers. Easy. ... Eighty-four, eighteen, nine. Yaq daeq - Daeq, Daek. My name. The word for 'Shape'. Says here that it 'defines boundaries'. Yaq is a square isn't it? Hold on, it's a circle. This thing is talking about the circle. ... Swalden hea. Swalden... Where's that word? This handwriting is horrible - ah, there it is. Hea stands for 'reach'. And that's the end. What a relief. Daekos moved to a small three-circle in the main summoning room, preparing to draw the glyphs required, taking the paint and brushes from their respective receptacles. The basic layout was already there, being carved into the floor. Daekos decided to modify it slightly; knowing that directing the portal to open precisely at the specified Swalden coordinates would be difficult for him, and as such he would use a focused circle. Dipping the large brush into the water-soluble, fast-drying paint, he called to mind the approximate shape of the ring his Master had mentioned, drawing the square annulus within the circle with slow, steady strokes; Daekos did not want to redraw it as much as possible, and as such he concentrated on making the lines as straight as possible. He was finished within a minute, and was presented with the bastard child of a 3-circle and 4-circle. Taking a wooden ruler from a nearby rack of apparatus, he placed it on the already-dried circle and drew lines radiating from several points of the 16 main points on the circumference of the main summoning circle that were part of the drawn square annulus and the carved triangle, joining them at one point within the square annulus where he estimated the approximate location of his destination was. In overlaying the 3-circle with the focused circle, he was struck with a thought that appeared to be somewhat overkill, but it could perhaps allow him to keep the portal open a little longer, enabling him to gain more memories within the same period of time. If I were to use my own focus glyph for this... Yes, I should be able to do this. I'm not storing magic, I'm amplifying it. Would disrupting the symmetry and harmony - ah, screw it. The focused circle is rarely symmetrical, but I've compensated for it by utilising the triple symmetry of the triangle and the quadruple symmetry of the square annulus. My focus glyph is a circumpunct, and it itself is infinite in symmetry. Magic isn't so much about concrete concepts, it's more abstract than this, more anti-realist in nature than anything else. He picked up a much smaller brush this time, dipping it into the paint and slowly painting his focus glyph at the centre of the two shapes and around the point denoting his desired location. He managed to draw approximate circles, and was satisfied for the time being. Knowing that magic was based on intent, especially when expressing ambiguous concepts in glyphing, he added the isur rune for Eternity to his focus glyph, further strengthening it. It wouldn't really improve the summoning much, but every bit counted. It was practice, too. 8492841047291777. Each of the sixteen slots was filled in with the astral coordinates for Swalden, and Daekos wrote down the text Mors had passed to him. He snatched up a needle used specifically for spilling drops of blood, ensuring that it was properly disinfected by the liberal use of a disinfectant provided, and drew a drop of blood with it. He immediately placed it to the circle. A tug on his Djed happened almost instantly.