Nikola Tesla (coiledlightning) wrote in lightning_war, @ 2008-09-02 02:19:00 |
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Current mood: | sceptical |
Very early Tuesday morning, 15 September 1942, at Durmstrang and later in Altdorf...
“Of course it blew up. They have no idea what they’re doing: they call it magic!” Nicola Tesla was, frankly, infuriated by the perversion of his work, not to mention the poor engineering involved.
Jael Moody just hoped they got out of this alive; they were hiding in a copse of trees at the edge of campus, and it was snowing. In September. “Actually, I think it blew up because the people they were pointing it at got smart, sir.”
“If they’d understood it, they would have allowed for feedback,” Tesla said dismissively.
Jael shrugged. “Maybe so, but did you see that inversion effect?” She shook her head. “There’s feedback and then there’s feedback.”
“True. Of course their other problem is that it was never meant to be used as a weapon. The forces are unstable.” Tesla shook his head. The changes necessary to turn his work into a weapon had made it inherently unstable; how had they been so foolish as not to see it? “Which is exactly what happened; obviously they have attacked someone with a properly balanced Teleforce shield.”
Jael nodded quietly. “We’re somewhere in Europe,” she said, looking up at the sky again. “I have no idea where we are. Have you been here before? I don’t recognise this campus.”
Tesla shook his head. “No, I haven’t seen anything familiar. Of course it has been some time since I have been in Europe.”
Jael frowned. She hadn’t expected him to know the place—it was obviously some sort of magical school, and given the weather and the approximate longitude and latitude, it was growing unpleasantly clear to her where they had to be. “I think I do know where we are. And I wish we weren’t. This school is on the Bihor Massif. In Transylvania. It’s hidden from most of the world.”
“Transylvania…” Tesla said, and frowned. “My dear, I am terribly sorry that you got caught up in this. I have no idea what will happen to us should we manage to get out of here. When I was younger I would think nothing of walking such a distance, but I’m afraid now I would only hold you back.”
“It’s all right, we’ll figure it out,” Jael assured him. “I should tell you something, though. What these people mean when they say ‘magic’ is a kind of science that they have not shared with the rest of the world. I know you dislike the word. But what they do is very real and very dangerous.” She frowned. “Why were you so sure they wouldn’t find us? Did you do something?”
Tesla nodded. “Of course. It may be, as you say, a new kind of science, but the people here have no understanding of what they are doing. They left me in a laboratory with examples of my work; I knew the sort of forces that would be produced by their device and what would be needed to counter them, and they never even noticed my changes.”
“Good,” said Jael warily. “Are you still doing it?”
“Yes, though I cannot be certain how long it will continue to run,” said Tesla.
Jael nodded. She’d managed to steal someone’s coat on her way out of the ruined laboratory but her shoes were still impossible. Why couldn’t she have been good at something useful, like gating harmonics? There were voices not far away, a man and a woman. They were speaking a language that Jael had never heard before. The woman sounded young, impatient, worried and not altogether all there. The man’s voice was softer and had a grave tone. She could see them coming closer; both of them were bundled up so that it was almost impossible to make out their faces.
Tesla frowned. The two people didn’t sound like their captors, but why else would anyone be out here except to search for them?
The girl lowered her voice at a murmured instruction from her companion. “Do you know what they’re speaking?” Jael whispered. “It’s not Latin. It’s not a Slavic or Romance language.”
Tesla shook his head. “It’s nothing I’ve ever heard before. I don’t recall seeing them amongst our captors, did you? It is unlikely but not impossible that they have come here by chance.”
The girl stood still, suddenly, and walked directly up to the trees; but then she began to shake her head from side to side. After a moment she drew herself up straight, and spoke quietly in English: “I am Halász Sharolt. I corresponded with you once. I am sorry that I stopped writing but I was detained in Italy. It is imperative that we leave here at once; if you can hear and understand me, please stop manipulating the energy fields, because it is affecting me badly and we need to get out of here safely.” The words seemed to cost her a great deal.
Tesla considered her for a moment. Either she really was who she said, or they’d been discovered by the enemy. Either way there was no advantage to be gained in continuing to run the shield generator. He reached into his coat pocket and switched off the device.
She ran toward them with obvious relief. “It’s me,” she said, “I promise, but we have to get out of here. Kenjiro?” She glanced back over her shoulder at her companion, who bowed to them.
“If we don’t get out of here, things get…ugly. Fast,” said the man she’d spoken to. “Everyone hold hands. There may be some…turbulence.”
Miss Halász—if that was who she was—Tesla had never seen her before, in person—giggled and held out her hands to Tesla and Jael.
Tesla grasped her hand carefully. He wasn’t quite sure why this was necessary, but given their unexpected presence he saw no alternative but to do as he was requested. He hadn’t ruled out the possibility that this was a hallucination; he had, after all, been subject to them in the past. Still, he couldn’t help frowning in distaste at the idea of bodily contact, even though he was wearing gloves against the cold. Miss Halász shrugged.
Jael tried to smile reassuringly at Tesla. “I think I know what they’re doing and I’m sure it’s the best way out of here.” She glanced at Miss Halász. “Your friend’s a gate harmonicist?”
“Kenjiro makes things spin in different directions,” said Miss Halász. “But he can only do it if he’s touching you.”
The young man—some sort of Asian—smiled apologetically. “We have only one hour to get out of this campus before you are found. The consequences are disastrous.”
“That I can believe,” Tesla said, “but how do you propose doing so, and where are we to go after that?”
“We’ll obviate space,” said Miss Halász. “And after that, we’ll be with my friends. In Switzerland. Which is…better than here.” She twitched a little.
“Forgive me, but I do not believe that is possible,” Tesla said. Nothing, not even Jael’s new science, could do such a thing. He was beginning to regret humouring Miss Halász.
“If it doesn’t work, you can say you told us so,” said Miss Halász. “It’s better to try to do something!”
“Well, then. By all means, proceed,” Tesla said politely, though he was beginning to wonder how real this all was.
Kenjiro looked at Tesla nervously and was reminded, briefly, of his earliest attempts, with Shinji. But he’d been doing this a while, he reminded himself, and reliably. He closed his eyes and pushed, twisting against the flow of time. It was hard, with four people, one of whom disbelieved so very strongly, but he managed it, although Jael lost her balance when they arrived and very nearly took everyone down in a pile.
Once Tesla had regained his balance, he looked around in shock. “That was—” obviously not impossible, but certainly not what it seemed. He had no theories to explain it, though.
Miss Halász tugged Jael back up to her feet. “Surprising,” she supplied. “Sometimes people throw up.”
Jael stared at Kenjiro, testing her ankle uncertainly. “That wasn’t a normal gating harmonic, I don’t understand what you did…”
“I don’t understand it either,” Kenjiro said in a humble tone of voice. “But when it has to be done, I do it.”
“Nonsense,” Tesla said. “Everything that is possible has an explanation. It remains only for men of science to study and understand it.”
“He didn’t say there was no explanation,” Jael said gently. “He said he doesn’t know how he does it. There are a lot of things people do, and we don’t really know how they do them. We don’t really know how people think, or how children learn language.” She had been trying for years to figure out how to explain this world to Tesla, and Sharolt had…just brought him there. Well, not true. The Germans, or someone on the Axis, had brought them there. Snape. But they were here.
Tesla frowned thoughtfully. “I have devoted some thought to the way people think, in an attempt to understand and improve my own thought processes, but in absence of means to measure or even identify what thought is it I have been unsuccessful. I will accept as a working hypothesis that this is another example of your ‘new science’. But I wish to see all the research that has been done in this area.” It had been some time since anything had been interesting enough to capture his attention—assuming, of course, that this was not the product of a failing mind.
“I’m afraid I just…do it,” said Kenjiro. “But please tell me anything you can about it. Shacchan is familiar with your writings; I am not.”
Tesla gave a small bow to Miss Halász. Even if this was a delusion, that was no excuse to be impolite. “Of course. Miss Halász, I would be most grateful if you would explain what you know of this phenomenon, and I thank you both for your most timely rescue.”
“It seems to be something he was born with,” said Miss Halász.
Jael took a deep breath. “I’ve read about things like this before though. Perhaps we could start with some papers on gates and harmonics?”
Miss Halász tapped her head. “Soon. My library is in here and somebody shuffled the cards in the catalogue,” she said, frowning.
Tesla thought that was a remarkably apt description of how he felt. “I understand. Do you still have copies of the papers you sent me? Perhaps with your help I can make sense of them.”
“I don’t have much of anything,” said Miss Halász very softly. “My brother got me out of where I was with pretty much nothing. He’s inside. With the others.”
“Sharolt’s had a rough time,” said the young man who opened the door and looked out of the door of the rented house, blinking a little in dismay. “May I ask who you are?”
“This is Dr Tesla,” said Sharolt. “He’s one of the people who used to write to me.”
Tesla bowed. “Nikola Tesla, and my companion is Jael Moody. I have had the pleasure of corresponding with Miss Halász, yes. And you are?”
“Her brother. Sándor Halász.” Sándor frowned; he couldn’t place the names. “Come inside.” He glanced at Kenjiro. “Do Fife and Eudokia know about this?”
“Not yet,” said Kenjiro.
“We didn’t want to disturb them,” said Sharolt. “It’s his birthday. They went to bed and you know how they are.”
“Thank you,” Tesla said to Sándor. He nodded at Jael and waited for her to precede him. If this was a delusion—and it might well be—it was at least a very detailed one. He was not going to mention that they had been in Transylvania; he didn’t want the other Halász to think him insane.
Jael smiled at him and walked into the house. “We were kidnapped. I think by the Germans. Sharolt and Kenjiro rescued us.”
Sándor glanced over his shoulder. “From where?”
“Durmstrang,” Sharolt said, and slumped down into a couch. “Kenjiro took me.”
Sándor glanced sidewise at Kenjiro. “Right,” he said quietly, and sighed.
“We actually were at Durmstrang,” said Jael. “The stars were right.”
Sándor frowned at Kenjiro. If Kenjiro could do all these marvellous things then why had he not just rescued Sharolt? Why had it taken so long and cost so much money and Thierry’s life and why had it gone on so long?
Tesla wondered what Sándor thought of their story. He didn’t seem pleased, but neither did he seem to doubt them.
“Let me guess,” said Sándor. “You did it the same way you got the chocolate.”
Kenjiro shrugged. “Not exactly.” They’d followed the strings into one of the futures to get the chocolate, along with the other things. It had been an unpleasant one; most of them were. But that was how they’d found out about Tesla’s difficulties.
Sándor took a deep breath. This was not a subject to be broached in front of strangers. “Very well then, I guess we should…eat something. We mustn’t eat all the cake though,” he warned Sharolt. “Leave a piece for Fife’s breakfast.”
“Okay,” said Sharolt, and smiled a little wickedly.
“Thank you,” said Tesla. It had been cold out and it had been hours since they’d eaten or drunk anything.
“Yes,” said Jael. “Thank you very much; you’re too kind.” Glancing around, she could tell that these people had little to share; but she and Tesla had nothing.
“I don’t mean to forget my manners,” said Sándor. “I just…worry about her. Going off in the middle of the night without telling anyone where she’s going. Even with him. I apologise.”
“It’s quite all right, Mr Halász,” said Jael, wincing as she mangled the unfamiliar consonants.
Tesla nodded. “Yes. She did rescue us, after all, for which we are most grateful.”
“I’m pleased to hear it,” said Sándor, though he wondered how Fife and Eudokia would take it. Was she going to make a habit of performing dramatic rescues? If they had gone to Durmstrang… Durmstrang was only next to the last place he wanted Sharolt to go, but it was almost as bad as Italy. He knew Eudokia would be furious that she’d put herself in danger again after all of the trouble they’d gone to in order to free her.
“Sándor, don’t worry so much,” said Sharolt, and threw her arms around him, stopping him on the way to the kitchen.
“I can’t help it. You know that,” said Sándor. “This is the longest you’ve remained lucid in ages and I want it to last.” He took her face in his hands. “I’m going to worry about you until one or both of us is dead, and I hope that’s not for a very long time, so get used to it.”
Jael glanced sidewise at Tesla. This was embarrassing. “Did you know she’d been ill?” she asked softly. “I’m very grateful but I hope she’s going to be all right, after this.”
Tesla frowned. “I had my doubts,” he said. “Some of her work was brilliant, other parts were incomprehensible. But without a background in your science I cannot be certain. Perhaps we should leave them alone and discuss this further.” He had decided to accept everything he was seeing at face value until he could establish definitive proof that it was not a hallucination, including Jael’s inexplicable new science. That would also provide an excuse to avoid the uncomfortable scene between the siblings.
Jael nodded. “At the very least there’s going to be tea,” she agreed. “I’ve never heard of her before, but she seemed to think we should know her. I assumed she was a friend of yours.”
“We have corresponded, although I had not heard anything from her in several years,” Tesla said quietly.
“She seems quite young to be a…” Jael’s voice trailed off. She had no idea what discipline Sharolt was practising, but whatever it was, she almost certainly hadn’t been wholly honest with Tesla; he wouldn’t have continued to write to her if she had.
“I believed her to be interested in my methods for wireless energy transmission,” Tesla said.
“She probably was,” said Jael. “I know I was. They’re interesting.”
“Do they relate in any way to your new science?” Tesla asked. He was still doubtful of this, but he had known Miss Moody for quite a few years and she had always been trustworthy. Still, he was beginning to wonder why she had never offered to take him to the ‘Institute’ at which she taught or discussed the reasons for her interest in his work.
“They could,” Jael said cautiously. “I tested some of them at the Institute.”
Tesla nodded. “I should like to hear more of these tests.”
“If we ever get back to America I’ll show you, I promise,” said Jael ruefully. She had been trying for a very long time to figure out how to introduce Tesla as painlessly as possible to the world of magic, but the strange people who had kidnapped him—and the strange ones who had rescued them! had simply thrown him into the pool. He seemed to be swimming, though; that was encouraging.
“Thank you,” said Tesla. “I hope that will be soon.”
“Me too,” said Jael, and sighed. She hoped they got back to America soon—and alive. These people seemed nice enough, but they seemed to have their own secrets. And without papers or passports or even the first idea where they were, she had no idea how they were going to accomplish this goal.
jael_moody, kenjiro, orvos, sharolt and coiledlightning