Magnifying Prejudice

[Pegasus]

50th Zi'da, 718
"I do not think you can name many great inventions that have been made by married men."
Nikola Tesla

At the Scalvoris campus of the Viden academy.....

If there was one thing that Padraig Augustin was not good at, it was politics. Christoff Manyon knew this, but yet he also knew that the young man in front of him was likely to face some in this particular endeavor. Having received word from the Academy about the new invention Padraig, and his wife, had crafted, the Dean had to admit that he was somewhat skeptical. Yet, here in front of him was a fully functioning prototype and a series of designs.

"I have to give it to you, Professor Augustin," he said, with a nod. "This is more than interesting. You are aware that this is potentially enormous, in terms of what you might discover?" There was no doubting it in Dean Manyon's eyes. Simply judging it by what Padraig had reported, there were enormous numbers of possibilities. The applications for medicine, chemistry, biology and the other sciences alone were beyond easy description. "You could be about to change the face of science," he said, seriously.

Therefore, the Dean explained, he had assigned a group of four engineers to him. Professor Tarlum would would work with Padraig, the most senior of the four. Each of them would be there at Padraig's convenience, Manyon said. "He's a good staff member,", Dean Manyon added. Padraig knew the man well enough to know that there was a "but" there, but he didn't say what it was. "And this is what I want. We have five trials, then we present to a group of very eminent professors and scholars from universities, academies and the academic community throughout Idalos. A lot hinges on us being able to show as many technological advancements as possible. My ideal would be that this is thoroughly tested and then, as many of them made as possible. We have twenty visitors coming, if we can get ten of them made, that would be ideal. " He was asking the impossible and he knew it, he said. But equally, if he didn't ask, then he wasn't going to make clear what was what.

The Dean looked at him and smiled a slight, almost tense smile. "Professor Tarlum is an interesting character, Padraig," since Padraig had taught the Dean's son, Dean Manyon had a soft spot for the young astrophysicist. "I always thought that he and Hamilton-Smythe should get on better than they do." That was all he was going to say, he trusted that Padraig would take from it all that he needed to take. It wasn't Dean Manyon's way to discuss staff members, so he was going further than he normally would as it was. But, evidently, Padraig had earned a level of friendship which transcended boundaries of professionalism.

"So, you know your way yes?" He said, once he'd given Padraig the opportunity to ask any questions he might have. Then, he'd let the young Professor go and find the workshop that had been given over to this.

Assuming Padraig made his way there, the room was large, well appointed and as well equipped workshop as he'd ever seen there. It had supplies in it which would allow and facilitate the making of Magnifiers, and also the testing of them. In there was a man, human and rather tall. He was muscular and well-built, with angular features and dark blonde hair. He turned and looked at Padraig as he walked in the door and, in an instant, there was obvious disapproval there. "Professor Augustin, I assume?" He sounded disappointed. With a casual gaze, he looked Padraig over, from top to toe and he spoke at him in a condescending tone. "Only one of you? I expected you to be inseparable. Such a delight to meet you," he didn't sound delighted, it must be said. "I'm Pofessor Tarlum, and I'll be in charge here. Did you have any questions of me?"

[Padraig]

Manyon was right, and it was so well known that it really didn't need saying. Padraig hated politics, and had no use for them. In fact he resented the very suggestion that in some cases, they might be useful or even necessary in order to get any given job done. "I am, yes," he said, smiling a little when the usefulness of the creation was pointed out to him. The magnifier in fact, would in all likelihood prove itself to be a groundbreaking device in ways that not even he had begun to imagine.

"I cannot however begin to take full credit for it," Padraig pointed out. "If there's any to be had, then my better half is due a full measure of it as well." No matter what anyone, including Faith, said to the contrary. The concept after all hadn't been on his mind at all, until Faith raised the question of whether it was, or wasn't, possible. At any rate, science and the pursuit of knowledge would certainly change as a result of what they'd accomplished together. Of course when he was told about the assistants that he'd have assigned to him, he couldn't help but feel that in regards to one of them at least, Manyon was leaving out much more than he was actually saying. It didn't bode well though Padraig merely nodded, and said little else about it.

Except, "and professor Tarlum's area of expertise?" he asked. "It's not a lot of time," he pointed out, though he suspected that Manyon already knew it. And though he didn't add in the bit that presentations were as often as not an aside to politics, Padraig figured that Manyon already knew that as well. Faith, he thought, would be the better choice than him in that regard. The only real bright spot was the revelation that perhaps, Tarlum and Hamilton-Smythe didn't get on very well. They'd have that in common, except that it was as likely to mean that of the other two, one man's ego was as large as the other's...thus the suggested dislike. That, neither, didn't bode well.

"I do," he said, and smiled as he stood, offered his hand across the desk. "Thank you for the opportunity Dean Manyon. I'll do my best not to disappoint." And with that, he was off on his way. Like a man attending his own execution, to put it perhaps more dramatically than was necessary. Still, the well equipped workshop that had been provided was a wonderland. He could spend a dozen trials or more on any number of projects. Of course, he was here to focus on one in particular, and he wasn't alone. This must be Tarlum. He'd never met the man before, but his appearance and bearing seemed to match up with what little bit Manyon had told him. Of course there was no need to start off from an adversarial stance, so he smiled and offered his hand.

"One of them, yes," he agreed, referring to the other professor Augustin as well. The prettier one too, by far. But he deliberately overlooked the inseparable comment. "Yes, I've been informed me that you are to be the senior of my assistants," he added without missing a beat, but as if it was already understood and worthy of little more comment than that. He did, however. "Though I have to admit I much prefer to approach our work here side by side, rather than single file. The perspective is bound to be better that way. I look forward to accomplishing a great many things in the somewhat limited time that we've been given. As I understand it, you are an engineer? May I ask, what is your particular area of focus?" The answer would help, after all, in identifying the best way to proceed.

[Pegasus]

At the Scalvoris campus of the Viden academy.....

Professor Tarlum looked at him and, just for a moment, he seemed to have a bad smell under his nose. It was when Padraig referred to Tarlum as his assistant and there was no doubt that Tarlum was not impressed with this, not one bit. However, he chose to attack on a different front and simply sniffed his acceptance of Padraig being in charge. "Engineering, Professor Augustin, is a practical science. It isn't like your philosophical musings on the might-be of physics." If he could manage more condescending or obviously being of the opinion that, quite obviously, physicists were just engineers who couldn't manage and so took an easy option, it would be a miracle. "Much like your wife, with medicine, when one is dealing with the real world, one must maintain a good grasp of the whole subject. Nothing so narrow as your philosophy of science allows you." If he didn't know that the study of philosophy was a pet hate of Padraig's he sure did keep using it as a term.

And so it continued for the rest of the trial. Unless, of course, Padraig said something, then Tarlum would not stop with the not-so-subtle jibes, jabs and downright derogatory comments. There were two main themes to this; first that physicists were 'wannabe engineers' (yes, he used that phrase a few times), and the more subtle but still very much there idea that Padraig had achieved anything at all solely because he lived in his wife's shadow. That second one was more subtle, often hidden in what might seem on the surface to be praise but always, always, had a sting in the tail. In fairness, the man made Hamilton-Smith look like an amateur.

It might be, that being the case, that Padraig was not looking forward to starting work properly the next trial. Still, at least there would be others there, which might be something he could be grateful for. And, indeed, when he walked in there was Professor Tarlum and four others. Three males, one female. They were sitting together, listening to Tarlum talk and it was more than a little obvious that they knew each other, probably even liked each other.

Except the woman.

Padraig recognised her immediately, of course, and she met his gaze with a slight smile. Professor Tarlum was speaking, when the woman stood and walked towards Padraig. Tarlum looked more than a little surprised, and just a touch put out, but Yvithia really, really didn't seem to care. "Professor Augustin," she said with a slight, tight-lipped smile. "A pleasure. I understand that you have been busy with an invention? Show me, please. Then, I would speak with you on your work at the Barriers."

She looked at him and frowned slightly. Ignoring Tarlum, she seemed to come to some conclusion. "Then, we will have a discussion in private." With the slightest nod, she motioned for him to get on with it.

[Padraig]

Tarlum was less than impressed? If that was the case, then Tarlum's supposed unfavorable view of being teamed up with Padraig, paled in comparison to the physicist's own. Surely, there were better engineers, or at least those with comparable skills, that the Dean could have paired him with? The man knew after all, and had as much as admitted it. Padraig would have countered that the most talented engineer in all of Idalos was a useless one, if he couldn't be worked with. Even a more mediocre one would have been better.

The way Tarlum thought to lecture him, made him want to turn the man's face inside out with one swift blow. And yet he smiled, appearing somewhat amused at all this buffoonery on display in front of him. He wasn't going to take the bait, and he'd certainly not argue the level of his wife's genius in her field. It went without saying and was probably the only thing he and this man would ever agree on. But...philosophy? The real world? This man was an engineer. Technically speaking, any man or woman who could bolt a doorknob in place without hurting themselves, was an engineer.

Eventually however, there was only one, maybe two, things to say. He'd lay in wait, however, until the time was just right. After all, it was clear that there were more important things afoot when Yvithia herself distinguished herself from the bunch. It wasn't the first time they'd met, and he smiled in recognition and dipped his head, indicating his deep respect. "Of course, my lady," he said when she asked to see the magnifier. Earlier, he'd shown the others one of the things, one of several he'd brought, and a schematic that detailed all of the inner workings. He hadn't gotten much farther than that, considering how ineffective this team was proving to be with Tarlum's influence.

Nevertheless, he set up one of the magnifiers, pulled out a small plate of glass, turned to Yvithia and explained. "From the looks of it, you'll notice that the device itself, very much resembles a telescope in miniature. There's a reason for that. A telescope of course, collects light, while the magnifier contains a light source of it's own. However, magnification is the key in both cases." The similarities were striking, he added. Consider that a telescope allowed man to see farther, by magnitudes, than any mortal man's eye could see. The magnifier worked in a similar way, but enabled the eye to see far beyond the surface, and the obvious.

"In simplest terms, it allows us to see the things that other things are made of. Let me show you," he said, smiling as he lifted a hand and pricked his own finger, then smeared the resulting bead of blood onto the small glass plate. then inserting it into the slot at the base of the magnifier, he invited Yvithia to take a look for herself. It appeared utterly alive. Hundreds, if not thousands of orbs crowded together. As for the Barriers? Well certainly, he'd be returning there sooner or later. "There's still so much we don't know, so much still to learn. How could I not return there?" he asked with a smile.

But then, she wanted to speak with him in private, so as they were leaving in order to find a quiet spot, he turned back to Tarlum and smiled. "Mister Tarlum, if you remain convinced that physics isn't a real thing, I suggest that next you happen across a very high cliff and consider your options, you might consider the conundrum an opportunity to test one of those flaky and un-provable things for yourself." Gravity was indeed a thing. He might not feel so badly, was Tarlum to find out the hard way. "Troglodyte," he couldn't help muttering under his breath as he left the room, so that only Yvithia herself could hear it.

[Pegasus]

At the Scalvoris campus of the Viden academy.....

There were trials when one might reasonably wish that you'd just not bothered getting out of bed. This was very much one of those mornings to professor Tarlum and he glowered at Padraig as he suggested that next time Tarlum was near a cliff, he give physics a try. However, his response was simple. "And should I do so, it will be engineering which created the device to save my life on the way down." Yvithia, not an Immortal given to chuckles, did nothing to show her amusement at the two mortal men engaged in their battle for supremacy. She had no such concerns and so she simply walked with Padraig to his office. With the conversation between Padraig and Tarlum, she said nothing more on the magnifier or the Barrier, although it was obvious that she was interested in both. Instead, she waited until they were in his office.

Then, she spoke without preamble. "I am here for a few reasons. I am pleased that you are continuing to expand knowledge and science. Well done." She obviously wasn't particularly effusive in her dishing out of praise, but then, when she did she meant it. And in fairness? Compared to Esme Dashiell, she was positively gushing. As she spoke those two words, Padraig felt a strange sensation on the mark on his face. Not unpleasant, but definite tingling. "More importantly, I want to speak about the barriers. You are ready to go back, and I think you should do so. Every time, you gather more information, collect and collate more data. However. Before that, there is something I have decided you should know."

She gestured for Padraig to sit down, whether he did or not though did not stop her from continuing. "You are aware of the neutralising effects of the Barrier and its surrounds. Presumably, you are seeking to maximise the data you collect there, and you will do that by taking a wide variety of people." She looked at him and narrowed her eyes. She had considered how to inform him of this and she had decided that, he was a scientist and so he would appreciate the facts. "Therefore, you should be aware. You do not know who your father is because, in many ways, you do not have one. When your mother discovered she was pregnant with you, she went to the healer. Famula was there, helping a woman who had died in childbirth to move on. The woman would not, she did not wish to accept that her child had died. Famula took the soul of that child, you, and she infused it with her own essence, putting it into your mother. You are what we call mortal-born, son of Famula."

If it was cold and harsh and difficult, Yvithia did not consider it such. It was factual. "That gives you an interesting opportunity," she said, as though she'd told him she had not bought milk, but the plus side of that was that she had lots of bread. "It will allow you to compare what happens to Famula's Champion, your wife, and her son at the barrier. Marked and born of the same Immortal, who knows?"

She stopped, looking at him and she smiled a slight, brief smile. "I can imagine it's a lot to take in. Nonetheless, I would like you to consider when, realistically, you might return to the Barrier. I was thinking towards the end of next season?"

Step over, Esme Dashiell. Yvithia just won in the 'cold, calm delivery' competition. She waited with a slight smile on her face.

[Padraig]

Tarlum's expression was all that Padraig had needed to know. He'd struck a nerve in the other man. A good one, though not for Tarlum. It was satisfying to say the least, though no one in the room would know it, except perhaps for Yvithia. The scholar would never find a life on the stage, or want one. But he'd been in the scientific field, where egos abounded, long enough to have developed a knack.

He couldn't help smiling though, just a little, when he turned his back following the man's last attempt to undo him. "Good luck, whipping that device up on the way down...considering the rate of descent, velocity and acceleration, relative to a mortal man's average weight." He sounded genuinely concerned for the man's safety. He wasn't.

Was he being childish? Padraig didn't care. He hated that guy. Which was a shame. Otherwise they might have accomplished something together. "Thank you my lady," he said, doing an about face and forgetting the other man as soon as he and Yvithia had passed through the door into his office. "I haven't done it alone. And couldn't have without my better half." And the far prettier half too. He frowned curiously, reaching up to rub his cheek, vaguely aware of what had happened. "Thank you..." he began, but the Immortal had already moved on.

He agreed. As for the Barrier, he was ready to go back. The damn thing, or something there, had been tugging at him non-stop ever since he'd returned home. Other men might take that as a warning that he was better off not to. But it wasn't in Padraig's nature to shrug off all the possibilities that were out there, and just leave them be. "Something else?" he asked. He sat, just as she'd asked him to do. "Yes," he said when Yvithia guessed what his plans might be, next time he ventured out there. It only made sense. Maximize the benefits and knowledge gained, and hopefully minimize the dangers and drawbacks in the process.

Now as a scientist, Padraig did appreciate things being limited to fact, so much as was possible. But what the Immortal said next, first brought a curious frown to his face...Of course he had a father. Or at least some man had been a part of the process. Biologically speaking, it was simply necessary. Then though, fact became secondary to a world of emotion. And not that many of them were agreeable ones. Mortal-born son of Famula. If it had been any other Immortal standing in front of him, he might have burst out in laughter. But Yvithia had never struck him as someone who engaged in practical jokes. "No," he said simply, at first. "That's not possible."

Truth was, he didn't want it to be possible. Not mortal-born, and certainly not connected to the one among many whose...well the very thought of it seemed both wildly ironic, considering his feelings about that sort of thing. If it were true, shouldn't he have been more, well, more inclined not to be as ill at ease with the topic of death? And the color black, for that matter? "How could I not have known? Surely I would have sensed something?" And he'd met Famula. Why then had she never let him know?

It sounded to him that if this was true, then the way he'd come into the world had been more of a case of happenstance and a matter of convenience, than the Immortal wanting to mother a child. She seemed no more interested in him than Etta had been. And what about Faith? He'd been quiet, and he shook his head. It was hopeless to think he could process it all, here and now. "Forgive me. It's not what I expected to hear." And it would be some time before he cared to. "Next season, yes," he agreed, opting to focus on the simplest topic at hand. As for his wife? "Mortal-born and champion or no, I don't think she'll let me go off again on my own. Your blessing in that regard, makes the choice an easy one." Faith would be going, no matter all this mortal-born business.

[Pegasus]

At the Scalvoris campus of the Viden academy.....

Dispassionately, she observed him as he reeled from the information delivered. It was interesting to watch him, rather like he was a specimen in a lab himself. If she was aware of just how monumental this information was to Padraig, it seemed an unimportant detail to her. Or maybe, she really disapproved of Famula's methods, and had simply gone for the stark delivery as the only way that she could do anything. Sugar-coating it wouldn't help, after all - it was simply what it was. So, when he said no, that was not possible, Yvithia simply raised an eyebrow and waited. He was a scientist, he would see how illogical that statement was, quickly.

Or, he wouldn't. She didn't really feel the need to wonder about such, in truth.

He agreed that they would most likely go to the Barrier at the end of next season, and she nodded. "The invention you have made will allow you to examine blood much more closely. But do not let that limit your analysis. Consider the need for information, from plants and other animals, not just mortal ones." As a scientist, it was important, she said, that he looked at all the variables. For some reason, as she spoke, Padraig would get the strong impression that this mattered to Yvithia. For reasons which she did not go into, obviously, it mattered. The intensity of her gaze said as much and, as she looked at him, the aura of power from her was almost palpable. In that moment, she did not look like a mortal at all, she emanated the power of what she was.

For a moment, Yvithia was quiet, examining the desk in front of her. Then, she lifted her head and looked at him. "There are trying times ahead for you, Padraig. You will need all your resources. I want you to consider this. Energy. There are many types of it, we know this. There is Ether - wielded by Immortals and harnessed by mages on this world. Ectoplasm and ephemera, the stuff of life and emotions, souls and spirits. Then, there is lightning. To harness that, to hold it and use it in the refinement of what you call wells? Each energy refines them differently. Each type of well acts differently, depending on where and how it is refined. The possibilites, Padraig, are almost endless and they are there for the harvesting, refining and experimenting. What happens to them at these barriers?"

She smiled and held out her hand. In it was a small stone. "I think we might be opening up a new school of study Professor. Would you be interested?"

Off Topic

One more post from you, and I'll review!

[Padraig]

Oddly enough, this wasn't the first time that Padraig had felt like a curious specimen being studied through the lens of a magnifier. Yvithia was just the most recent, as in the here and now, though the creatures on the other side of the barrier came immediately to mind. Then again, had he been presented with something interesting to study and sort out, he'd do exactly the same, maybe. The Immortal was after all a scholar like himself. Albeit one who seemed much more immune to the usual human frailties. She had dispassionate down to an art.

But of course she was right as she pointed out what he'd already realized. The magnifier seemed to have infinite uses, many that he hadn't begun to conceive of yet. It wasn't just for studying the blood of living, breathing and sentient beings. Worlds of knowledge were all around them just waiting to be discovered. Worlds, in a sense at least, that might fit nicely in whole, on top of a man's fingernail.

Power oozed and shone out of Yvithia's own pores, and he wondered, not for the first time, why, for all their power, none of the Immortals themselves had gone beyond the barrier or come back again. Then again, maybe they had. Maybe they did it all the time but it wasn't the point. If man was to discover and learn from what was there, perhaps he needed to do it himself.

But all those forms of energy, he was familiar with. Lightening in particular had always been a focus of particular interest to him. If only he could devise a way to harness it reliably on a very large scale, without toasting himself to bits in the process. But wells, yes, well, Yvithia had a good point and Padraig nodded. Sometimes he forgot that while he specialized in astrophysics, he was also a garden variety physicist, a chemist, an alchemist. There was no reason that all could combine themselves for the good.

When she handed him the stone, Padraig smiled curiously, reached out and took it. He studied the thing while cradling it in his hand. "Thank you. For everything. I'm very grateful." And as for a new school? After a trill or two he smiled and nodded. 'I think I just might be."

[Pegasus]

Padraig

Overview

Well ~ this is a follow on from so much achieved ~ and still at the beginning of something new! I enjoyed this chance to see Pad's spikey side - he can give as good as he gets, that's for sure. Lots to do - Yvithia's watching! Not very knowledge-heavy, but definite impact.

Points

XP: 15 (not for magic)

Renown: 20

Loot

Congratulations, you've been granted the Adored mark of Xypha. Your Character Wiki has been fully updated and your Secrets thread has been deleted. You have the abilities:
- Telepathic Link
- Intuitive Polyglot
- Intellects Skills II

Yvithias's Quest:
- Get yourself back to the edge of the world.
- Open up a new school - Innovation!!

Knowledge

Etiquette: How to speak to the Dean
Leadership: Keep your role clear
Leadership: Make sure that you let others know your role.
Physics: The workings of the magnifier
Teaching: Instructing others on specialist materials