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Helena Wells has "disappeared" with the Astrolabe (ismellapples) wrote in wariscoming,
@ 2012-02-15 00:31:00

Entry tags:

fred burkle, helena g. wells

Who: Fred Burkle and H. G.
What: Theorizing about the Seal and how it works.
When: After this
Where: Fred's apartment
Warning: Deep scientific and mathematical discussions happening here. So um, if your brain doesn't comprehend that stuff, you will not understand this. Google and Wikipedia will be abused during the writing of this thread.

It had actually been something Helena had been pondering herself, in between working on the Teslas and Farnsworths and sketching other inventions she had in mind, that is. So when Fred's post had caught her eye, she finally let herself completely focus on those thoughts. The theory Fred had was fascinating, and Helena wanted to know more about it, more about how the seal could bring dead people here and restore them to life. It defied all logic, but the 20th Century seemed to have taken leaps forward in theorizing things like this happening. So after telling Fred she would be right there, Helena grabbed her notebook that was all ready being filled with sketches and measurements and such, thinking she would need some paper for this meeting. After all, writing things down did help one think things out at times.

So once she had her notebook and pencil in hand, she headed up to the sixth floor of the apartment complex, easily finding her way to Fred's room. She gave a knock and waited patiently, her mind still spinning around those theories. Could it be simple time travel somehow? Or was there something more at work? Helena wasn't opposed to thinking magic was involved, she'd seen impossible things happen before, but there was usually some scientific basis for almost everything in the world. And really, the seal itself had to have some sort of power in order to bring the dead back to life. Running a hand through her hair, Helena wondered what Caturanga would have to say on this topic. The rules had definitely been changed in this circumstance, and no doubt he'd find this fascinating. And then there was the fact Helena had lived to see things like computers and cell phones exist was a stretch of the imagination as it was. Yet here she was, a Victorian woman in the 21st Century and able to adapt and analyze her surroundings. Sometimes analysis was a life saver. In this case, it might help her, Fred and others understand just how they came to be in this world. Whether it would help them be able to get back home was something else completely.

It wouldn't stop her from studying the seal, though. At the very least, it made her want to study it more.

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thiswilldo
2012-02-19 05:49 am UTC (link)

She'd almost forgotten that company was coming and that she'd thought about asking Angel to drop her off some tea because she thought she'd seen somewhere that Helen was British and the only other British person she knew - Wesley - liked tea and maybe this woman did too...but she'd forgotten that as well. When the knock came, Fred was startled out of writing a random theory on one wall, and glanced over towards the door, suddenly terrified. After a moment, she vaguely remembered that Helen was supposed to be coming, and frowned when she remembered she didn't have any tea. Hopefully Helen would be okay with that. Slowly, Fred stepped out of her bedroom while capping her marker, than made her way to the door itself.

If she'd known where the other woman's thoughts were right now, specifically on science and magic and their connections, Fred would have been happy because most of her theories centered around that - as did her past experiences. But since she wasn't a mind reader, she opened the door slowly and blinked at Helen, then offered a nervous smile.

"Hi there."

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ismellapples
2012-02-19 06:22 am UTC (link)

There were a great many things on Helena's mind, to tell the truth. She was a fantastic multi-tasker, able to have several subjects on her mind at once. But for the moment, she was focusing more on the how they were even here. Theorizing about that was more appealing than inventing at the moment. Though she well knew she'd go back to working on the Teslas and Farnsworths when she got back to her room later. But for now, she was easily shifting gears to theoretical scientist. Really, this topic was no different than when she'd come up with the ideas for The Time Machine and War of the Worlds. Though she'd never bridged the topic of the whole going from one universe into another. That was new territory for her.

When Fred opened the door, Helena greeted her with a warm smile. She didn't want to come off as too intense or anything, which she could if she was in the throes of a breakthrough or something. But right now, she just wanted to come off nice as the nervous smile Fred gave her gave her the impression that the younger woman was nervous around strangers.

"Hello Fred, it is a pleasure to meet you." Helena greeted. She extended her free hand in a friendly greeting, letting Fred take her own pace in this. Greetings were usually the tricky part in these things.

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thiswilldo
2012-02-19 06:49 am UTC (link)

"You too, Helena." For a moment, Fred just stared at her, then at the hand. "Oh! Right, handshakes. I remember those - kind of hard not to when they've been around as a tradition since the fifth century bee cee eee." Hesitantly, she met the hand with her own and shook it, then released it. Her own hand slapped her forehead as she remembered what to do next. "You want to come in, don't you?" Her Texas drawl was even more evident as a little bit of embarrassment seeped in, and Fred stepped back apologetically. "I can be kind of stupid and forgetful sometimes, sorry."

Pulling the door open, Fred gestured for the other woman to enter. From what Helena would see of the apartment, it had only started to become a little messy, but overall it was still mostly okay. There were taco wrappers and papers and markers scattered throughout. Fred had started writing on the walls in her bedroom, but when she thought of something, she had used the main apartment as well, and some of her equations were visible.

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ismellapples
2012-02-19 07:40 am UTC (link)

Helena did not mind the stare at all. From what she'd all ready been experiencing in this place, not everyone would be privy to such knowledge. Though she was impressed by Fred's relation of the tradition of the handshake. She hadn't expected that. "It is hard to believe that such a tradition is universal across the millenia and across most every culture on this planet." It was fascinating, really. Not many things could be considered universal across the world, but the handshake was one. "Oh it's quite all right, don't worry about it." Helena smiled reassuringly and then stepped into the apartment.

Glancing around, her eye went directly to the few patches of writing on the walls that she could see. Well now, this was interesting. In her life, she didn't think she'd seen anyone write on walls, but that fact wasn't the prominent thought in her mind. Instead, her thoughts were captivated by the equations themselves. Foregoing all manners and simply asking if she could have a closer look, Helena walked over to the nearest one, reaching out with one hand and underlining the equation as she read it.

"Fascinating," she breathed as she followed the equation in her head. She then looked back at Fred and smiled. "Is this one of your theories?" Might as well get down to the point, and considering she was fascinated by this, she decided to ask about it. With any luck, it may help Fred feel a bit more comfortable. All ready Helena was finding herself having an affection for the other woman.

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thiswilldo
2012-02-20 03:56 am UTC (link)

"A lot of traditions have ways of being carried from one land to another to another, but the handshake didn't make it to the West until the late sixteenth century." It wasn't too often that Fred had the chance to use the history degree she'd gotten before switching to mathematical physics, so it was nice to be able to share that bit of information.

Her large eyes watched the taller woman as she moved directly to the wall Fred had been writing on, which was a little embarrassing, but she slowly shut the door without commenting. Her arms automatically wrapped around herself as she stood in place for a moment, then smiled again at the question. Within seconds she was walking over and nodding. "Yes - though it's flawed because there are too many unknown variables, like who controls the seal, when it was opened, how it was opened, where people are when they were brought through, where they show up on this side, and similar things." The smile faded into an annoyed frown as she studied the equation herself. "I can't make it balance properly."

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ismellapples
2012-02-20 04:52 am UTC (link)

Helena smiled, looking at Fred. Oh she was very knowledgeable, she definitely liked that. It made all of this just that much more enjoyable. Helena appreciated intelligence, it usually kept her interest. After all, she tended to get bored quite easily if she wasn't challenged in some way.

Listening as Fred explained the theory, Helena looked back at it, nodding in understanding. Upon hearing that Fred couldn't balance it properly, Helena turned to her. "Well why don't we try to personalize it? That would fill in a few more blanks, such as where the person was when they were brought through and where they showed up here." Flipping open her notebook to a clean page, Helena started copying down the theory, then filled in the blanks for herself personally. "Now, taking this, we can balance it a little better. As for the other variables, why don't we try running a couple different theories? We can do one where the devil is in control of the seal and one of his demons opened the seal. I'm not exactly a Christian, but it would seem to me that the seal needs to be opened by some sort of sacrifice? It seems that would be the most likely way. What do you think?"

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