09-27-2023, 12:26 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-27-2023, 02:59 PM by Marcus DuBois.)
Danika's smile was warm and for some reason Marcus felt himself relax. Which was odd, frankly. He didn't think himself tense. Perhaps it was concern that there might some hostility or friction. Their tryst had been consensual. And while it wasn't always smart, there were no real laws against fraternizing. Especially with someone who, in many ways, was more of a consultant. This wasn't a country that was hamstrung by HR or anything.
But friction was friction. And maybe he was concerned that there might have been some resentment. That must be it. Her smile put him at ease. Though he couldn't help but remember the way her eyes flashed that night, the way her nostrils flared- the way she bit her lip at the end. The way he had felt. Which surprised him. He wasn't one given to nostalgia. He wasn't sure what it was about her. Maybe it was her innocence that he picked up on. Or something familiar.
In any case, his concern seemed unwarranted, now. Given an "in" into their ideas, he considered with some pleasure. Their topic of conversation was exactly what he hoped would flourish in his Consulate. The casual, momentary inspirational back and forth that only happened under the right circumstances. "Interesting," he said. At her offer, he let her pour the wine into the empty glass at his place, took it and paused, thinking for a moment as he raised his glass for a toast. David Hilbert coming to mind. "To Knowledge: [color=#202122]We must know – we will know"
The wine was good, he supposed. He wasn't any kind of connoisseur. He secretly suspected that a lot of it was just made up pretentious gate keeping. It wasn't bad, was probably the best assessment he could give. No lingering bitterness or aftertaste or anything. That was as far as he would go.
At Rikovi's explanation, he leaned forward with interest. The Atharim. That was a source he hadn't considered. "Interesting. So it claimed they could teleport? Instantly. Hmm..." All kinds of questions flashed through his mind, but he held back. He held back, too, the skepticism that always lurked. It would not do to be confrontational or challenging. People shut down when you responded that way. "Where did you see this book? Do you still have it?"
He didn't ask about its provenance or age. Whether it was a copy or an original. Most people never considered such things. If it was in an old book, it was true. An idea he understood, but which contained a monumental blind spot. Thucydides or Herodotus might be be from 2500 years ago. But none of the copies of those books were 2500 years old. They were copies- copies of copies, multiplied many times over. Papyrus and even vellum wore out, especially with use. Copies meant errors. In different places, to be sure. Copy A might have an error in the beginning, while B had one in the end. All copies made from A would now carry that error. So would those from B. Families of manuscripts, sometimes classified by those very errors, resulted and then compounded as more copies repeated that process, splitting into rivers and then branches and then tributaries. Add the ravages of time and the loss of copies anywhere near the originals and you ended up with the oldest existing manuscripts being 1000 years after the original were supposedly written. Add the fact that many times those that existed now were fragmentary and incomplete, and well...the degree of confidence was definitely low. Certainly, not something to die or go to war for.
But he would say none of that because he he had no information. It might be that this book was a true original, ancient beyond belief. He wanted to see it- badly. Because knowing how the Force was used in the past- something accurate- could be a guide for him.
He filed it away, hoping to press Rikovi more for its whereabouts.
The immediate question, though, was teleportation. He frowned, thinking aloud. "I read an article about the possibility of teleportation. It was from maybe 30 years ago. I want to say that there was a claim that the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle wouldn't let you get all the information you'd need to describe each particle's state. Solutions to Schrodinger's wave equation are probabilistic, not exact There was something else, too....No. I lost it." He thought for a bit, remembering spirit in particular. It definitely did not behave like the other four types. It was what allowed his Tau-gates to work. "But the power isn't necessarily bound by those strictures though, is it, Danika?"
He took another sip. "Have you found anything in your research that might give a clue?"
But friction was friction. And maybe he was concerned that there might have been some resentment. That must be it. Her smile put him at ease. Though he couldn't help but remember the way her eyes flashed that night, the way her nostrils flared- the way she bit her lip at the end. The way he had felt. Which surprised him. He wasn't one given to nostalgia. He wasn't sure what it was about her. Maybe it was her innocence that he picked up on. Or something familiar.
In any case, his concern seemed unwarranted, now. Given an "in" into their ideas, he considered with some pleasure. Their topic of conversation was exactly what he hoped would flourish in his Consulate. The casual, momentary inspirational back and forth that only happened under the right circumstances. "Interesting," he said. At her offer, he let her pour the wine into the empty glass at his place, took it and paused, thinking for a moment as he raised his glass for a toast. David Hilbert coming to mind. "To Knowledge: [color=#202122]We must know – we will know"
The wine was good, he supposed. He wasn't any kind of connoisseur. He secretly suspected that a lot of it was just made up pretentious gate keeping. It wasn't bad, was probably the best assessment he could give. No lingering bitterness or aftertaste or anything. That was as far as he would go.
At Rikovi's explanation, he leaned forward with interest. The Atharim. That was a source he hadn't considered. "Interesting. So it claimed they could teleport? Instantly. Hmm..." All kinds of questions flashed through his mind, but he held back. He held back, too, the skepticism that always lurked. It would not do to be confrontational or challenging. People shut down when you responded that way. "Where did you see this book? Do you still have it?"
He didn't ask about its provenance or age. Whether it was a copy or an original. Most people never considered such things. If it was in an old book, it was true. An idea he understood, but which contained a monumental blind spot. Thucydides or Herodotus might be be from 2500 years ago. But none of the copies of those books were 2500 years old. They were copies- copies of copies, multiplied many times over. Papyrus and even vellum wore out, especially with use. Copies meant errors. In different places, to be sure. Copy A might have an error in the beginning, while B had one in the end. All copies made from A would now carry that error. So would those from B. Families of manuscripts, sometimes classified by those very errors, resulted and then compounded as more copies repeated that process, splitting into rivers and then branches and then tributaries. Add the ravages of time and the loss of copies anywhere near the originals and you ended up with the oldest existing manuscripts being 1000 years after the original were supposedly written. Add the fact that many times those that existed now were fragmentary and incomplete, and well...the degree of confidence was definitely low. Certainly, not something to die or go to war for.
But he would say none of that because he he had no information. It might be that this book was a true original, ancient beyond belief. He wanted to see it- badly. Because knowing how the Force was used in the past- something accurate- could be a guide for him.
He filed it away, hoping to press Rikovi more for its whereabouts.
The immediate question, though, was teleportation. He frowned, thinking aloud. "I read an article about the possibility of teleportation. It was from maybe 30 years ago. I want to say that there was a claim that the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle wouldn't let you get all the information you'd need to describe each particle's state. Solutions to Schrodinger's wave equation are probabilistic, not exact There was something else, too....No. I lost it." He thought for a bit, remembering spirit in particular. It definitely did not behave like the other four types. It was what allowed his Tau-gates to work. "But the power isn't necessarily bound by those strictures though, is it, Danika?"
He took another sip. "Have you found anything in your research that might give a clue?"