(no subject)

[aceso]

Character(s): Christine
Status: Open
Location(s): In libraries in Krimnos and the City of Whatever it's Name is This Week
Date(s) April 1-17
About: Christine's idea led to a research compling mission, and a strange sight in Idan's libraries and bookstores.
Warnings: Only if you don't like reading about metal wasps.



The idea was one she thought probably wasn't feasible, else someone would have thought of it before. But it turns out the project is not only possible, but bigger than she could have imagined. Helping people in the future have access to more knowledge at their fingertips is a noble goal, but she has to admit that she's doing this for herself too. Not only will she hopefully get to use this book in her own lifetime, but she's getting paid for doing the legwork too.

{ krimnos }
She starts in the city of the Tinkers after they test their knowledge-gathering wasps on their own Academy's library first. Then she's set loose with a box containing the metal wasps and sent on her way. The project can be done at her own pace, but she's so excited that she heads to another library in Krimnos straight away.

She can be found sitting at a desk, thumbing through a book and giving someone a look, eyebrows raised. "Please don't swat at my wasps. They aren't going to sting you."


{ city of free peoples, aka freeps }
Her work in Krimnos is far from done. Gathering all the information in all the books will take time, but she wants to move on to other things. After a brief stop at home, she journeys southwest to the city of so much conflict recently, to see if King Ardis' soldiers have been in anymore scraps with werewolves, Defenders, or both and need her healing services. While in the area, she heads into the city to visit a library and sets a box on one of the tables. Opening the lid, the two metal wasps go flying out to scan as many books as they can. A patron looks at the wasps, looks at Christine, and looks at the falcon now sitting on the table before quickly clutching a book to their chest and scurrying to the front desk. Christine sighs and looks at her animas.

"I guess we'll have to get the information out of that particular book next time, hm?"

Comments

[cryptsleeper]

"...How long did they say it might take?"

Is that the sound of a wasp buzzing or a dhampir getting weirdly excited? Yes.

[aceso]

"To get the book made and ready to receive all this? Probably no more than a couple of days." Christine smiles, sensing his excitement.

"You'll want a front row seat to see it working, won't you?"

[cryptsleeper]

"If it's within the next day or so, yes, if you don't mind."

There's too much to do back home for Alucard to stay too long in the city, but this is important.

[aceso]

"I'm sure the inventors would love to show it off." They had been so genuinely excited when she proposed her idea that Christine had realized at that point she'd been worried over nothing. She thought maybe they would laugh at her idea or think her silly for coming up with fanciful things.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet, but this could be huge moving forward, couldn't it?"

[cryptsleeper]

"I'm only here for one night," he admits. "Home is a little journey away, I'm afraid, and I'm due back to continue renovation work. Would you be willing to use the couriers if that deadline is unacceptable?"

Alucard knows that home is more important. It's putting back so many broken things, and making it all livable.

"Mm. The potential for everyone to have knowledge without having to be a student or apply for permission to the academies is massive. Have you named this invention yet?"

[aceso]

"Of course. Especially now that I better understand the feature to show our environments." She still prefers the audio feature, but the others have their uses.

"I've called it The Compendium of All Knowledge. I know it's not a flashy title, but it says what it is."

[cryptsleeper]

"Thank you." He has a rug to go pick up in an hour or two, and that's important. Silly as it sounds, of course, but important.

As for names though, there's a contemplation. Alucard hums, thoughtful. "It does seem a bit verbose."

[aceso]

"Well, most encyclopedias are," she replies with a shrug. "Better people know what it is than guess at it."

Off to the side, the wasp is slowly hovering up and down as it goes through the books. The buzz of its wings is becoming familiar to her now, and it's a reminder on how she's bringing a change to the world in her own small way. The second wasp is still busy with the stacks behind her, but she occasionally looks over to make sure no one is messing with her precious little knowledge-gatherers.

"I haven't had the opportunity to use metal golems in the past," she says thoughtfully, glancing at one. "It's incredible what they can do, isn't it?"

[cryptsleeper]

"Perhaps an acronym would be wise?"

It's only for the sake of quickly naming the thing in shorter conversations. Alucard's eyes go over to the nearby wasp though, and his gaze lingers as the little thing works away. All of this from one conversation. There's a faint smile on Alucard's face, and it makes him wonder if perhaps there's a way to have a version of his father's library again - just stored in one space. He remembers many of the titles, in no small part because he bought the books. It's possible.

"I've never known golems to be so widely used," Alucard offers softly. "It's amazing how far all of this has come since our time." A polite way to say since we died. "What might have happened if dragons endured? We wouldn't be so far advanced."

[aceso]

Christine releases a soft hum sound and a breath through her nose to denote her amusement. She thinks if she asked, he'd be all too willing to help her pick another name, but she's satisfied with what she's picked. "People can call it the CK for short."

His wondering strikes her, as she hadn't considered such a thing before.

"Of course. The dragons were holding us back from our full potential. We can create wonders of our own without having to be tied to them." She doesn't voice the fact that they know dragons to be returned, but it does hang over like a cloud. Hopefully the Queen of Didymos is wiser than the leaders of the past.

[cryptsleeper]

"That'll do." Not that this is truly his invention, but Alucard cannot help but think of the future and how knowledge is transmitted. He's worked with so many records in the past, he knows the lengthy names get abbreviated by others. Better to be the one doing it now.

But they move away from the wonders of the age, just for a moment, and there's a thinner smile at Christine's thoughts. They're a relief to hear. That much is clear from the flicker in his eyes.

"It is a relief to hear sense," he murmurs softly. "I've heard too many people that don't seem to understand the lack of constant war is what allows the world to develop."

[aceso]

"Indeed?" She looks thoughtful. "I can see wartime being a time when a great many innovations can develop to help win, but only if there aren't extremely powerful dragons at the top." She pauses to make sure they're truly alone before she speaks again, and she lowers her voice just to be safe. "They controlled our minds. It's only now that they're gone that I can see it. Back then, all I cared about was making Thalassa the most powerful and prestigious city. I joined the war to heal people, but somewhere along the line, my goals became warped to what Logistykon wanted."

She stares down at her hands, knowing that the power to create and control lightning magic was supposedly granted to her through Logistykon using her courier. She doesn't want to be his servant, and she's still not sure if this is a gift or a way to use her. She's still not sure if it's really Thalassa's dragon or an impostor. Since awakening, she's found she's not sure of much anymore.

[cryptsleeper]

"But war time inventions are usually geared towards war and victory, not the betterment of all." But the point remains, and Alucard nods softly as Christine speaks.

"A...friend," one of two of Alucard's it's ridiculously complicated, "was a part of an Order that realized some aspect of that mind control. It was hard for most to break through."

He is quiet for a moment more, looking past Christine. It's an allusion of privacy for them both. "I didn't have a strong association with any of the cities, growing up in the mountains. I don't know if that let me escape the loyalty the dragons encouraged, or if it simply let me have a more reserved perspective. I was cautious then, but now," Alucard sighs. "Now I fear a loss of all the things that have developed, all because of the things."

[aceso]

Christine briefly worries her bottom lip before recognizing the action and stopping it. She gives a nod to show him she's heard all he's said, but she needs a moment to respond to it. She remembers back in that pit when Poe had told her that the life inside that egg was innocent and they had to rescue it. The way he'd spoken and the arguments he'd used had convinced her at the time to lift the egg from its nest and takke it with them. Now she looks back and wonders if it was the stress of the situation, or wanting to appease him so he wouldn't waste time. Or did she really believe in his message: that dragons weren't born to control and manipulate, and they could be prevented from doing so. Queen Adira is giving hers a chance, but Christine isn't sure she could do the same. Her bias is too great.

"It's sadly out of our control. I hope we've not been brought back to watch history repeat itself. If anything, I would think we're meant to prevent it."

[cryptsleeper]

"That is my fear," he says lowly. "It begs the question what do we owe to the living population now, if anything? And what do we owe to our dead who suffered for the past war?"

The question is one he and Trevor have argued about. Alucard knew the weights of his family's legacy, in making sure his mother's name was known for her science and medicine, not for being a burnt witch. His father's was...well, it was manifest now through Krimnos' Tinkertown, with the technology there being things his father dreamed of. But beyond that, they didn't owe anyone anything, or at least that was the conclusion they had reached. The most they may owe is to protect the third of their trio, should she too arise.

[aceso]

"Too few of us were soldiers in that war," she states plainly. "But I was. I saw what the dragons did to us. It's not an easy thing to forgive." To be in the grip of a dragon so tightly only to awaken and see it from the outside has left Christine with a new perspective on things.

"I have no desire to be put in such a position again."

[cryptsleeper]

"You're one of the few people I've met who seems genuinely clear eyed about the matter."

Alucard knows that some of his words come from his own biases. A dislike of dragons means that he's absolutely going to appreciate the additional words, but it's true too, isn't it? So many people were to the side of the war, not direct participants. Or killed for refusing to be so.

"How do we stop the past from replaying?"

[aceso]

"That's a shame... and probably dangerous too." More people should be wary of what the dragons can do, based on past experience or even just knowing history.

Christine shakes her head, releasing a frustrated breath. "I don't have an easy answer to that. The general populace knows the dangers dragons present, but now that Queen Adira has one and is just waiting to see... I don't know. Will there be enough of a difference since the dragon is young and can be influenced by her? I worry that won't be the case. There are already dragons out there. Smashing eggs won't solve this now." Not that she's sure she could do that anyway.

[cryptsleeper]

"It is. But I am equally aware that there are those who share our...unique circumstances who are almost blind in their devotion to the things." Strange, for example.

Alucard's breath is a heavy one. "I don't trust wait and see. It asks for too much trust that I do not feel has been earned, given the history of past dragons." His frown deepens. "Which is a great and disgusting hypocritical statement of this age as well, in so many ways. After all, how many other races have been accepted in the past century, whereas in our own time they were viewed so poorly?"

[aceso]

There's a tightening of her lips at his question, if only because she knows from personal experience what it's like to not be accepted. The elves of Thalassa are a far cry from the elves of the cities today, and there is no more jeering at her slightly pointed ears or mocking her for being only half an elf.

"It is the same with us. We have been brought back, but with no explanation or instruction given. What can we do beyond wait and see?"

[cryptsleeper]

"And if wait and see means missing an opportunity to prevent the very thing we've been discussing?"

It has to be asked.

[aceso]

"There's a difference between waiting and opportunities," she reasons. "We have very little to go on regarding our nature or our purpose, but should an opportunity arise to discover more, that would be beneficial to us and not something to be ignored. Waiting is only applicable when there are no concrete leads to follow."

[cryptsleeper]

Alucard makes a soft noise to show that he's heard Christine's words, but he has no response for them yet. He's quiet for a touch longer after that.

"I suppose that is the best way to put it."

With that, Alucard's eyes go back to the wasps, quietly observing and considering their work.

"I don't want to demand too much more of your time, but when there's more than one working copy of the book, could you please inform me? I...I've lost a library, and I would very much like to see what I can save of it now in this device."

[aceso]

Christine nods, sensing the conversation drawing to a close. That's fine by her, as she has a lot of studying to do regarding new alchemical knowledge as well as gardening.

"Of course. The Tinkers will be working hard to make this a reality sooner rather than later."

aaand end

[cryptsleeper]

"I'll have to thank them in person when the device is ready. And you now, for doing the hard work of reaching out to them with the idea. I'll leave you to your research in the mean time."