Shinden Alliance School of Sorcery, Shinden, Clan Worlds Alliance, 236/11/6.
One unexpected result of the capacitator incident earlier in the year was the announcement Luca Newton made during the first homeroom of the new term. ‘The school’s administration would like to remind students that bullying is not tolerated here. Those found to be bullying other students will face censure up to and including expulsion, with possible criminal charges for assault following.’
It was unexpected in the sense that it did not naturally follow from what had happened, and it was quite possible that most of the students would never make the connection. Nava knew why the rules were being reiterated, and she had been expecting it since the SSF was involved in handling the matter.
‘If anyone is being bullied, or knows of bullying being perpetrated upon another student,’ Luca went on, ‘they can make a report to me, or any other member of the faculty, or to the SSF.’ She paused. ‘Not that I expect there to be anything happening in this class. Any bullies here would be terrified of Nava Greyling discovering their activities.’ There was a rumble of laughter from around the room. ‘Still, if there is anything, say something to someone. Four people died over long-term bullying in one of the combat classes last term. People’s lives are ruined by this pointless stupidity. If you know something, do something about it the right way. Do you have anything to add, Nava Greyling?’
Nava got to her feet. This whole business had come about because the girl who had gone nuts in the senior refectory had been dishing out her own brand of justice to four girls who had been bullying her. Only one of those had survived the experience and Samanta Quintana was, of course, dead too. She had not been justified in her actions, but they had been understandable in a way. What to say…
‘We all know that bullying isn’t tolerated, and we all know it happens. From the general contempt the combat students have for the support stream to more specific cases, it happens. It even happens within the combat stream, and it goes unreported far too often. Clan Worlds citizens have a bad habit of thinking that seeking help over things like this is dishonourable. Or it shows weakness. As support students, we should know that seeking help is not weak. Now, I can’t speak for every member of faculty or even for every member of the SSF, but if you come to me, I’ll treat the situation seriously. Very seriously. I don’t like bullies. If I find out that one of my people hasn’t treated bullying seriously, they’ll not be one of my people for long. Please spread the word. It’s not wrong to speak up and you will be listened to.’
Nava retook her seat, turning her attention back to Luca. The teacher nodded. ‘You heard the captain,’ Luca said. ‘I’d like to add that the vice principal gave the faculty a little lecture about this last week and we will be taking reports seriously too.’
Nava could imagine the VP giving such a lecture; Joslyn Harris was known to be a stickler for the rules. It had probably been a nasty meeting to sit through. ‘I’ll be giving the same sort of lecture to the SSF this evening,’ Nava said.
‘I almost feel sorry for them,’ Luca said. ‘None of you heard me say that.’
‘But it’s probably true,’ Lydia Bonfils said. She was in the SSF, recruited to handle forensic analysis, and she figured she would be sitting through Nava’s lecture too.
‘I have no idea what you mean,’ Nava said. ‘It will be very motivational.’
Lydia whimpered. That said it all really.
~~~
‘Excuse me. Are you Hoshi Horne Sonkei?’
Hoshi turned from her examination of a Harbinger artefact to see a man standing in the door of her lab. He was moderately attractive, and dressed like someone who did not pay particular attention to his appearance. Light-grey loafers, dark-grey slacks, a white button-up shirt, and a brown jacket which had probably always looked like it had seen better days. He had soft, blonde hair which rested atop his head like a drift of snow, rolling out from a parting on the left. His eyebrows were pale, suggesting that the colour was natural, and the clear blue of his eyes added to the impression. He had a square sort of jawline with a slight dent in his chin, his lips were quite full, but his nose was a bit of a let-down, being a little broad and a little beaklike for his face.
‘That’s me,’ Hoshi replied. ‘Can I help you?’
‘I’m Doctor Arden Archer Garavain. I’d like to talk to you about the paper you co-authored with Lambert Stenger Mendel and Rochester Hunt Leighton.’
‘Oh. Well, it was more of a letter really, but okay. If you can find a seat, please sit down.’
The lab, which had been Lambert Stenger’s until his departure from the school, was a bit of a mess. It had been tidied up to some extent after a Harbinger had wrecked it, but it still only had one working security camera and there were artefacts of various kinds and more modern instruments decorating every surface. Arden did manage to find a chair, however, and he carried it over to where Hoshi was sitting.
‘What’s that?’ he asked of the gadget Hoshi was holding.
Hoshi turned it over in her hand. It was a tubular object with one cap at one end. There seemed to be nothing inside it. ‘Probably a spell matrix for something. Maybe a flashlight. Maybe a weapon. The trouble with Harbinger artefacts is that most of them don’t work.’
‘Except for the one which did.’
‘I didn’t say I was entirely sorry they don’t work. For all I know, if I could activate this thing, it would blow a hole in the planet.’
‘It’s difficult to believe that something that size could do that kind of damage.’
‘Size isn’t everything. You wanted to discuss our paper?’
‘Yes. I should probably mention that I’m not a magician.’
Hoshi’s eyebrows went up and then they went down again as her eyes narrowed. If he was not a sorcerer, was he a reporter of some sort? He did not look like he had much screen presence. He also did not look especially well paid. ‘Oh?’
‘I’m a physicist.’
‘Oh.’ What was a physics specialist doing in a magic school?
‘For the past couple of years, I’ve been working on a counter-theory to metaphysics, eliminating the need for the Quintessential Field, so I’ve been paying attention to metaphysics articles more than I would have otherwise.’
‘I see. And you read our paper which proves the existence of the Q-field.’
Arden smiled. It was a distinctly patronising smile. ‘Proves is a big word, Hoshi Horne. There was no peer review and the individual who transposed themselves into the Q-field would not give their name.’
‘There was no peer review because there was no experimental procedure to approve. A spell was created to allow someone to enter the Q-field because we required one to eliminate a murderer. It worked. We reported the, um, individual’s experiences there because we thought it useful, and we published the spell schema so that others could attempt the same transition. If anyone has, they haven’t published anything, but it’s there if they want to do it.’
‘I understand that Lambert Stenger left this establishment before the paper was published.’
‘For personal reasons.’
‘And that Rochester Hunt is a student here.’
‘Yes, he is.’
‘And you were only brought in to take care of the final preparations for the paper. You had nothing to do with the actual preparation of the spell.’
‘That’s true. If you wanted to simply cast shade over the paper, you could have done that with a letter to the editor of Advances in Metaphysics.’
‘I want to meet the person who went into the Q-field, Hoshi Horne. I’d also like to speak to Rochester Hunt since Lambert Stenger isn’t available, but I want to interview the magician who crossed over. If I’m supposed to believe that my work is entirely wrong, I want to meet the person who disproves my hypothesis.’
Hoshi frowned. ‘I can arrange a meeting with Chess, uh, Rochester. Whether he’ll agree to be interrogated by you is another matter.’ An idea came to her and she pressed on. ‘If you’re free, we could talk over dinner. You can meet several other people involved in the incident there too. I can’t arrange a meeting with the other person you want to talk to. I can pass on the message, but they requested anonymity for a good reason, and I can’t break their confidence just because you want me to.’
Arden sat back in his chair. ‘It’s a start,’ he said. ‘Just tell me where and when.’
~~~
‘Settle down,’ Nava said. SSF HQ fell into silence. She was standing and her usual seat had someone else in it. While the SSF charter allowed for twenty members, HQ did not, so there were plenty of other people standing too. ‘You all heard the announcements this morning, so I’ve no doubt you know why I got everyone together today. I’d have done this before today, but some of you actually got to have a holiday last week.’
‘And it was great,’ Sixte said.
‘I had quite an eventful autumn break myself.’
‘I know. I think we all do. I watched the vid of your duel.’ There were sounds from various others suggesting that at least a small majority of the group had looked at the duelling record.
‘If ever we needed proof that you’re the right person for the captaincy,’ Vance Shepherd said, ‘we got it.’
‘Blowing an idiot’s brains out is not proof of effective leadership,’ Nava replied. ‘Back to the topic at hand. Bullying. In case I need to make my position clear, I’m against it. The school’s administration has decided to reiterate that they are against it too. Vice Principal Joslyn Harris has made it very clear that she will not condone any form of bullying, but we all know what a stickler for the rules she is. However, for this term at least, the faculty will be behaving as though they don’t ignore half the bullying going on here.’ That got a rumble of laughter, though the support students looked more relieved than entertained. ‘The SSF will be available to hear bullying reports, and we will investigate and deal with them appropriately. If I hear about one of you ignoring a report, or doing a half-hearted job of evaluating it, I will be very sarcastic before kicking you out on your ear. Are we clear?’
Variously, responses came back, mostly along the lines of ‘Yes, boss,’ but with some ‘Yes, ma’am’ thrown in.
Lydia Bonfils raised her hand and got a nod. ‘I realise this is a, um, chat to everyone, but why are we here? I mean, the forensics specialists and such. No one’s going to come to us to–’
‘Don’t count on it. Most of the patrol staff here are combat stream. Someone may not be happy to talk to faculty or someone from the stream bullying them, but they might be willing to go to another support student. In our class, I expect they’d make a report to me. I’m not that scary.’
‘That’s a matter of opinion, Captain,’ Vance said. ‘Even some of the support students probably watched your duel.’
‘Hm. The point is, Lydia, that they might come to someone they feel will be more sympathetic. Report it up the line to me and I’ll assign resource to investigate. I want to hear every report made to any of you. We’re probably going to be busy this term, especially me since I’ve just asked to add to my paperwork.’
‘Not afraid of paperwork, are you, boss?’ Moritz Evered asked. ‘You’re not afraid of anything.’
‘That is untrue, Moritz. I only react to real threats to my survival. An idiot demanding a death duel is not a problem. Paperwork is a threat to the existence of the entire universe.’
~~~
There was someone new at the table with Hoshi and Rochester, and Nava decided that he was trouble before she even found out his name. He obviously had little in the way of fashion sense, but the same could be said of Rochester. Unlike Nava’s brainy friend, this man carried an air of self-assuredness about him, the kind that came from firm beliefs, whether founded in fact or not.
‘This is Doctor Arden Archer Garavain,’ Hoshi said. ‘He’s a physicist.’
Courtney’s face went flat on hearing the name; she was not on best terms with her clan. At least he was not a member of her family. ‘Good evening, Arden Archer,’ she said. ‘I’m Courtney Martell.’
‘Oh,’ Arden said. ‘Yes, I heard about… That’s none of my business. You were involved in the Harbinger incident last year?’
‘I was the captain of the Student Security Force at the time. And it targeted me.’
‘I see. So, you’re convinced that these “tulpa” entities exist then.’
‘Absolutely. Let me make further introductions. This is Mitsuko Trenton Sonkei, student council president. Melissa Connelly Avorn is the student council secretary, and Nava Greyling Sonkei is the current captain of the SSF. They were all involved in that incident in one way or another, if only because Lambert Stenger was their metaphysics teacher when it happened. And Carina Schwartz Malkin is a first year, so she was not involved.’
‘A physicist at SAS-squared,’ Mitsuko said. ‘That’s unusual.’
‘I read the paper Hoshi Horne and Rochester Hunt co-authored,’ Arden replied. ‘Since my own work is related to Q-field theory–’
‘In the sense that he wants to disprove it,’ Rochester said.
‘Due to that,’ Arden went on, ‘I felt I had to pay a visit here and talk to those involved. Rochester Hunt has agreed to spend the evening discussing the matter. I’m hoping to talk to the person who supposedly entered the Q-field.’
‘That’s unlikely,’ Mitsuko said. ‘Their name was kept from the paper for good reason. They only gave their impressions of the place under the assurance of anonymity.’
‘But–’
Carina was now sitting down with her food. She had been watching Arden intently. ‘You don’t believe Harbingers exist, Doctor Arden Archer?’
‘I have yet to be shown any evidence of their existence.’
Carina shrugged. ‘Well, everyone’s entitled to their delusions, I suppose.’
‘Coming from you, Carina, that’s especially stinging,’ Nava said. ‘Do you have an alternative explanation for what happened to several people at this school last year, Doctor Arden Archer? If a Harbinger was not involved, why did Courtney’s boyfriend suddenly decide to attack her? Why did Lambert Stenger torture his wife almost to death?’
‘I don’t,’ Arden admitted. ‘However, just because an alternative explanation is unavailable does not mean that the one given is correct. There are many more reasonable possibilities than ancient–’
‘All of which were dismissed as not fitting the facts before we decided that an immaterial murderer was the right one,’ Courtney said.
‘With respect, Courtney Martell, you’re not a scientist.’ Arden was smiling, which was a mistake.
‘With respect,’ Courtney replied, ‘it would seem that you aren’t one either.’
236/11/7.
‘You don’t look happy, Chess,’ Melissa said as they sat down for breakfast.
‘We spent an evening talking to Arden,’ Hoshi said. ‘I wouldn’t describe it as productive.’
‘A complete waste of breath is how I’d describe it,’ Rochester said.
‘He was unreceptive?’ Nava asked.
‘He’s determined to prove that the Q-field is nothing more than a gravity moderator. He refuses to accept that it interacts with sentient minds. Magic, he says, cannot be what we think it is because it violates the law of conservation of energy. That kind of thinking was thrown away long ago.’
‘By us,’ Hoshi said. ‘To be fair, there are hypotheses in metaphysics which remove the energy conservation issue, but none have sufficient evidence to back them up satisfactorily. Some of them even contravene other tenets of metaphysics.’
‘We should ask Trudy,’ Carina said. ‘I bet she knows the answer to that one.’
‘Perhaps.’ Hoshi frowned. ‘I want to talk to her about some new artefacts we got in, but I can’t really do that with Doctor Arden Archer wandering around. If he sees me talking to an invisible friend, he’ll probably think I’m deluded.’
Carina grinned. ‘Maybe we should get Trudy to talk to him.’
Nava shook her head. ‘I don’t trust him enough to give him that. Anyway, the thing about delusions is that everyone has them, and everyone hates having them questioned. His reluctance to listen to what Chess has to say may be a sign that he’s a stickler for the scientific method.’
‘Or exactly the opposite,’ Rochester griped.
‘Or that. How he would react to having absolute proof that Harbingers exist is an unknown. I don’t like unknowns. It’s safer to keep him in the dark.’
‘So, you won’t be talking to him, I take it?’ Hoshi asked.
‘I won’t unless a more compelling reason to do so appears.’
236/11/8.
‘Hoshi Horne,’ Arden said from the lab doorway, ‘might I talk to you?’
Hoshi looked around at him. ‘Well, I’d like to know what this email is about, so yes.’
‘I’ve sent you a proof that I’ve been working on.’ This time, Arden did not take a seat. He stood there, looming over Hoshi. ‘A proof that the Q-field cannot contain any form of data processing or storage and, therefore, cannot support the tulpa entities you describe in your paper.’
‘Well, you’re entitled to your opinion, but–’
‘I intend to send this to several publications for peer review, including Advances in Metaphysics. When they accept it, it will prove that your paper was fabricated.’
‘But it wasn’t! You’ll ruin–’
‘Prove it. Persuade the anonymous dimension traveller to talk to me. Have this person take me into the Q-field, if possible. I’m not expecting much, of course, but if you can manage that, I won’t send my proof to the publications.’
‘That’s blackmail, Arden Archer.’
‘Doctor Arden–’
‘You stopped deserving that title when you walked in here. I’ll see what I can do.’
~~~
‘I talked to Miles Paris,’ Hoshi said, ‘and the mathematics is correct.’
‘But it’s not!’ Carina exclaimed.
‘You can prove one plus one equals three if you set things up the right way,’ Nava said.
‘Correct,’ Rochester said. ‘The basis of Arden Archer’s proof is a hypothesis the physicists like but which goes against observed evidence in metaphysics.’
‘Which doesn’t mean it’s wrong,’ Hoshi said. ‘No, it clearly does mean it’s wrong and possibly disproves that hypothesis since his conclusion is wrong. The problem is that we can’t prove it.’
‘Surely there has to be some proof in the research you found, Chess,’ Mitsuko said.
‘Well, no. The evidence for tulpa entities was largely based on observation and hypothesis. The Ascend spell works but it isn’t rigorously defined in mathematical form.’
‘You didn’t mention that at the time,’ Nava said.
‘Uh, no.’
‘And there was the thing with the clothes.’
‘Uh, yes.’
‘That aside,’ Hoshi said to save her boyfriend from potential reprisals, ‘we can’t really provide proof that can refute Arden Archer’s supposed proof. Metaphysics simply isn’t as rigorous in that regard as physics. It’s a practical science as much as it is a theoretical one. More so. We deal in what works and then try to determine how later. We’re happy to use a hypothesis which shows results, even if it doesn’t entirely explain the underlying mechanics.’
‘Like scientists have done through the centuries,’ Rochester said. ‘Newton’s laws of motion worked. They got men into space and only failed under extreme circumstances. They did not, however, explain anything. Einstein provided a theory which worked in many of the extreme circumstances Newton did not and provided more of an explanation of how gravity worked. It worked better, but it failed at very small sizes and it still did not explain why things worked as they did. Mass bends spacetime, but why? For that, it seems we need to connect quantum mechanics and general relativity, something which the physicists have yet to do.’
‘Good speech,’ Nava said. ‘Very passionate. I’m going to have to deal with Arden Archer, aren’t I?’
Everyone looked at her.
‘When you say “deal with…”’ Hoshi said.
‘Is he a physical threat to myself or anyone I value?’
‘Well, no, but–’
‘Then he’ll probably escape alive.’
‘And unharmed?’
‘I’m making no promises.’
236/11/9.
It took a little time to set up the way Nava wanted. It was the following evening, after dinner, when Nava made her way to one of the postgraduate apartment blocks where the school had provided Arden with living space. The school, apparently, did not know about his unscrupulous activities and Nava was not going to explain the situation because that would have meant revealing her secret to yet more people. She pressed the intercom at the entrance and waited for a response.
‘Arden Archer,’ said the voice from the speaker.
‘It’s Nava Greyling. I need to speak with you regarding your Q-field paper.’
There was a pause. She could imagine him frowning and wondering what input she could possibly have. ‘You’d better come up then. It’s apartment–’
‘I know which apartment, Arden Archer. I’m the captain of the SSF.’
The intercom cut off and there was a buzz from the block’s door. Nava pushed through and headed for the elevators. By the time she reached Arden’s apartment on the fifth floor, he was standing in the doorway, frowning at her. He backed into the lounge as she approached, however. ‘What is it you wanted to talk about?’ he asked. ‘If you wish to threaten me in some way to get me to back down, I–’
‘You wanted to meet the person who crossed into the Q-field.’
‘You?’ Incredulity shifted toward anger. ‘You’re just a schoolgirl. You can’t–’
‘I thought scientists were supposed to keep an open mind,’ Nava said, and then she cast Ascend. Arden vanished. She refocused her mind to cast the spell again. It was all effort and she could have done without it, but… her clothes fell through her as the world shifted into muted tones.
‘Are you even listening to me?’ Arden yelled.
‘I couldn’t hear you because I can’t hear someone in the Q-field when I’m not there. Really, I also thought scientists were supposed to be observant. Haven’t you noticed the change in your environment?’
‘What? Wait, why are you naked?’ He looked down. ‘Why am I naked?’
‘Because clothes aren’t sentient. They don’t translate with us. Maybe I could come up with a way of making clothes once I’m here…’
Arden was now looking around and apparently taking things in for the first time. ‘Muted colours. Odd light quality. It’s just as it said in the paper.’
‘And you’ve got thirty minutes to take it all in. A little less now. Then the spell ends and we fall back into reality.’
‘I see. This… This could just be some sort of illusion.’
‘If you want to believe that, I can’t stop you.’
‘I… The walls look normal, but there’s a weird effect about everything else. It’s like I’m looking at a flat image which moves as I turn my head.’
Nava nodded. ‘It’s weird. I’ve no idea what that’s about.’
‘It’s because you aren’t used to seeing four-dimensional objects from the perspective of a three-dimensional environment. It takes a while before your mind starts processing it normally.’
Arden turned quickly at the sound of the voice and let out a shriek. ‘What the fuck is that?!’ Trudy, despite having little in the way of expression on her alien face, managed to look hurt.
‘That’s Trudy,’ Nava said. ‘She’s a Harbinger.’
‘B-b-b–’ Arden was clearly struggling to comprehend what was going on around him.
‘She’s fine. She’s a scientist. A biologist actually. She’s studying humans and helping Carina with her homework.’
‘You c-could have warned me that there was a, um, Harbinger here.’
‘Frankly, I don’t like you enough to save you from shocks. You threatened the careers of two of my friends, Arden Archer. You selfish, arrogant piece of filth. I take great pleasure in proving to you, definitively, that the brilliant proof you’ve spent several years producing is entirely wrong. Count yourself lucky that you’ll be going back to our reality with all your limbs attached.’
‘Well, uh, I may have gone a little too far with that.’
‘I’d say so, but then you didn’t know who you were dealing with and it’s probably the only way I’d agree to this. To make it clear, you will not reveal to anyone that I can do this. If you do, I’ll let Trudy eat you.’
‘You s-said she was safe?’
‘That was a joke. She is safe. I’m not.’
~~~
‘There’s still the conservation of energy problem,’ Arden insisted. ‘There’s no way you can get around the fact that, in a closed system, energy must be conserved. Magic ignores–’
‘You still think your slice of reality is a closed system?’ Trudy sounded genuinely perplexed. They had been at this for twenty minutes. Nava was beginning to wonder whether they would ever get anywhere.
‘What?’
‘It makes sense,’ Nava said. ‘Either the law of conservation of energy is wrong, or the universe isn’t a closed system. Surely that’s obvious.’
‘But…’ Now Arden looked genuinely perplexed. ‘But where does the energy come from?’
‘You’re falling into the trap of thinking what you perceive is reality,’ Trudy said. ‘To be honest, the details are a bit outside my area of knowledge, but I do know that what you see as the world is just a slice of true reality. Reality exists far beyond the perceptions of humans. Or Harbingers living in the Q-field, for that matter. Energy is conserved across the entirety of reality, but not within the confines of your perceived reality. You could even say that your perceived reality isn’t real anyway.’
‘Explain.’
‘Well, how do you know that your reality and my reality are the same? How do you even know that your reality exists? You see it? You hear it? Artefacts of the way your brain works, easily tricked into perceiving things which aren’t there. The reality you perceive is simply one interpretation of what’s really there. What’s really there is the universal wave function, a superposition of everything possible.’
‘Ah, the Many Worlds interpretation,’ Arden said. ‘So that vindicates physics which prefers that interpretation to the Copenhagen interpretation preferred by metaphysics.’
Trudy tilted her head to one side. ‘Are you suggesting a reality which contains multiple universes, branching at each potential quantum fluctuation?’
‘Yes, of course. It was first proposed–’
‘That’s so cute. That you think it is as simple as that.’
‘What?!’
‘Well, I’m sorry to break in here,’ Nava said, ‘but our time is almost up.’
Arden turned to her, looking almost frantic. ‘But I need more?’
‘Well, you can’t have more. Not this way. Transitioning you here is a pain. I’m not going to spend every day bouncing you in and out of the Q-field, and figuring all this out could take centuries.’ Nava looked around at Trudy.
‘Well,’ the alien said, ‘perhaps something could be arranged…’
236/11/12.
‘He managed to persuade them then,’ Nava said. It was midday on Sunday and the ‘gang’ were gathered together for lunch. The subject was Arden.
‘He did,’ Hoshi said. ‘He’s going to be taken on as the official physicist for the faculty, attempting to reconcile physics and metaphysics. There are other people working on that, but I think he’s one of about three on Shinden and the only one ever to have worked here.’
‘And this one’s going to be working with Trudy,’ Carina said. ‘She seems kind of enthusiastic about it, even if physics isn’t her subject.’
‘It will be interesting to see what comes out of it,’ Nava said. ‘Trudy said that, if you really understand how reality works, which she doesn’t, you can make pretty much anything happen. It’s how they terraformed planets, according to her.’
‘They were certainly better at it than we are,’ Melissa commented, ‘but don’t you think that’s a bit frightening? The power to do anything you can imagine with a wave of your hand. That’s scary, right?’
‘Yes. Trudy said it isn’t even a particularly complex spell, though she still doesn’t have a means of converting Tammys to her units, so I didn’t get details. She did think I could probably do it.’
‘Well, yes, but you’re already scary and I trust you not to mess up the world. What if someone without your scruples figured out how to do it?’
‘We’d just get Nava to blow them up,’ Courtney said.
‘I see more and bigger explosions in my future,’ Nava said.
‘Well that was a foregone conclusion.’