"Interconnection," he says with a gesture to the ??? on there, "how a material or word or symbol connects with other things, which depending on the object in question, can be very set... or which can be wildly variable."
He reaches up and touches a lock of his own hair.
"This... is a biological piece of me. It was grown from my head, and contains my genetic material. Science connects what is in here with what I am in a way that is orderly and easily understood. But the magical connection between my hair and myself is far more variable and 'looser', for the lack of a better word. It is dependent on perception, on history, on feeling. Factors which are hard to define and in many cases hard to know."
He gestures to the books.
"One reason that many components are non-organic or animal based is because the variables are relatively fixed. It's what makes the magic stable enough to use reliably."
He reminds himself to ask Warren for his laptop back so he can get all of this down. For now, he pulls out his communicator to take notes just for himself.
Stretching his arms out in front of him, he crosses his ankles. "Alright, so - if you change the components around - " He hesitates, waiting for the answer.
"It depends upon the manner in which you change the components," he answers, "as well as which components you change. Certain adjustments may simply not work at all, while others will change the result and still others might have startling and unfortunate outcomes. In this way, it is very much like science, though the nature of the changes is where it becomes singularly more complicated and subjective."
"Which is where it's more like art?" he mutters. "Alright, alright." He sits forward a bit, his arms on his legs. "So I assume that people have gone through and fucked with the formulas enough that you know what you can change and what you can't?"
"As much as you can do when art is involved. The more experimental you get, and the more you substitute pieces, the less like the original result yours will be."
"Languages. And how to get around the fact that all of my books wouldn't be readable to you otherwise."
He walks over and reaches up for a small bottle, pulling it down. There's blackened dust inside of it.
"Our component," he identifies it as, "and I will show you the verbal and somatic components. Once you've cast it, you will be able to read and understand any language spoken to you."
A finger raised.
"It cannot unpuzzle a code or cypher. But for functional languages, you'll have that for an hour."
He knew the spell. He didn't know the how. But then Dracula gets into the how and Jacobi starts to pay attention again.
"Hey, if there was a spell to unpuzzle a code or cypher, then it wouldn't make it fun," he points out, ready to take the notes as he attends, treating this as he did all of his classes in school. With thoughtful care and just a touch of playfulness.
"And yes, I'm aware there's probably a spell for codes and cyphers, but if you have magic do all the work, then what's the point?"
"Magic can't do everything, and isn't suited for everything. Technology can handle codes and cyphers far more easily, as it is only a matter of processing the information and working through the logic. But magic..."
He pauses.
"Can you figure out why puzzles and cyphers and codes may not be well suited to magic? If you think about it, the answer is in the lesson I've taught you already."
He thinks back a moment, recalling the lessons he was given on the interconnectedness of magic and science and everything in between.
"Because - " He looks down, scanning his notes a little hesitantly. "Because you said magic relies on feeling. Things that are - uh - looser. Puzzles and cyphers and codes are all logic and one answer only."
"They are also designed by people, thinking minds, variable minds. Meaning that even if you tried to go at the problem knowing something of the designer, that component may no longer be in alignment with the puzzle as it is now."
He turns his hand towards Jacobi.
"The stable components for puzzles and cyphers are the very things that are most unstable in magic. And most stable for technology. Whereas language itself is built upon the concept of stability: a chair must always be a chair to a certain number of people. And having a word for a chair is nearly universal."
Jacobi thinks about language, thinks about lions and and language, and laughs a little to himself but doesn't share with the class because Eiffel's stupid expression is something he doesn't know if he can describe in full.
"Nearly," he points out. "But what I think of when I hear chair is absolutely different than what you think of. Might not even have four legs. Might be made of wood or plastic or iron or a bag of air."
"It might!" and he actually looks very enthusiastic at that point. Because Jacobi's going into another concept.
"But! That is where the 'looser' nature of magic comes into play. You will note: I said 'comprehend' languages, not translate. Because translation, on such a wide scale and with such a variety of variables, is nigh impossible, for magic or technology, not with any real certainty. But the magic can use that variability, tap into the moment wherein that word existed as such in the moment in that language and to the speaker, and transfer that comprehension to you. It erases the middle man in a way that technology would have to slog through."
Huh. Well, that feels good to elicit that sort of reaction from someone. Especially someone teaching him something.
"Intention, then, rather than word for word," he says without actually expecting a response. He's still typing away slowly. "Gotcha. So - can we do it now?" he wonders, eager to actually see it done.
"It's also why cyphers and puzzles don't work: the intention is to obfuscate."
But he'll nod and reach over to pull a small piece of parchment from his desk. Then he'll take a bit of the ash from the bottle and put it at his fingertip. He'll trace a sigil on the paper, and speaks a single word with his finger on the last point:
"Lusbnaraht."
And Jacobi can watch as the symbol is erased, poofing out of existence a moment later.
"Huh." That makes more sense than he thought it would, or maybe he's finally starting to figure all this out. Still, he moves closer, standing at his shoulder, and commits the sigil to memory.
"Better how?" he mutters. "Does it make it last longer?" He closes his eyes, recalls the sigil and practices it on the parchment with the hand not covered in the soot.
"Way too many, yeah," he agrees and then settles over the parchment, drawing the sigil with the soot. He speaks the word, exactly as he heard it, but it doesn't disappear.
"Hm."
He inspects his work, thinking it might be a flaw in the actual mark.
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"So what's the missing piece?" he wonders, gesturing to the board. "Science, art, and what?"
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He reaches up and touches a lock of his own hair.
"This... is a biological piece of me. It was grown from my head, and contains my genetic material. Science connects what is in here with what I am in a way that is orderly and easily understood. But the magical connection between my hair and myself is far more variable and 'looser', for the lack of a better word. It is dependent on perception, on history, on feeling. Factors which are hard to define and in many cases hard to know."
He gestures to the books.
"One reason that many components are non-organic or animal based is because the variables are relatively fixed. It's what makes the magic stable enough to use reliably."
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Stretching his arms out in front of him, he crosses his ankles. "Alright, so - if you change the components around - " He hesitates, waiting for the answer.
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"Alright, got it. So what's first?" he wonders.
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"Languages. And how to get around the fact that all of my books wouldn't be readable to you otherwise."
He walks over and reaches up for a small bottle, pulling it down. There's blackened dust inside of it.
"Our component," he identifies it as, "and I will show you the verbal and somatic components. Once you've cast it, you will be able to read and understand any language spoken to you."
A finger raised.
"It cannot unpuzzle a code or cypher. But for functional languages, you'll have that for an hour."
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"Hey, if there was a spell to unpuzzle a code or cypher, then it wouldn't make it fun," he points out, ready to take the notes as he attends, treating this as he did all of his classes in school. With thoughtful care and just a touch of playfulness.
"And yes, I'm aware there's probably a spell for codes and cyphers, but if you have magic do all the work, then what's the point?"
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"Magic can't do everything, and isn't suited for everything. Technology can handle codes and cyphers far more easily, as it is only a matter of processing the information and working through the logic. But magic..."
He pauses.
"Can you figure out why puzzles and cyphers and codes may not be well suited to magic? If you think about it, the answer is in the lesson I've taught you already."
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"Because - " He looks down, scanning his notes a little hesitantly. "Because you said magic relies on feeling. Things that are - uh - looser. Puzzles and cyphers and codes are all logic and one answer only."
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"They are also designed by people, thinking minds, variable minds. Meaning that even if you tried to go at the problem knowing something of the designer, that component may no longer be in alignment with the puzzle as it is now."
He turns his hand towards Jacobi.
"The stable components for puzzles and cyphers are the very things that are most unstable in magic. And most stable for technology. Whereas language itself is built upon the concept of stability: a chair must always be a chair to a certain number of people. And having a word for a chair is nearly universal."
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"Nearly," he points out. "But what I think of when I hear chair is absolutely different than what you think of. Might not even have four legs. Might be made of wood or plastic or iron or a bag of air."
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"But! That is where the 'looser' nature of magic comes into play. You will note: I said 'comprehend' languages, not translate. Because translation, on such a wide scale and with such a variety of variables, is nigh impossible, for magic or technology, not with any real certainty. But the magic can use that variability, tap into the moment wherein that word existed as such in the moment in that language and to the speaker, and transfer that comprehension to you. It erases the middle man in a way that technology would have to slog through."
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"Intention, then, rather than word for word," he says without actually expecting a response. He's still typing away slowly. "Gotcha. So - can we do it now?" he wonders, eager to actually see it done.
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But he'll nod and reach over to pull a small piece of parchment from his desk. Then he'll take a bit of the ash from the bottle and put it at his fingertip. He'll trace a sigil on the paper, and speaks a single word with his finger on the last point:
"Lusbnaraht."
And Jacobi can watch as the symbol is erased, poofing out of existence a moment later.
"As you can see, the components are consumed."
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"And that's all?" he wonders, a little skeptical.
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"If it disappears, you can take a look at those books."
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"What's in the bottle?" he wonder, taking it and giving it a quick inspection before he tips it open into his hands. "Specifically."
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He rubs the contents between his fingers.
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He goes into professor voice as he continues.
"There's even some who consider it better to draw the mark with the soot and sprinkle the salt as you speak the verbal component. 'Art', as I said."
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"Way too many, yeah," he agrees and then settles over the parchment, drawing the sigil with the soot. He speaks the word, exactly as he heard it, but it doesn't disappear.
"Hm."
He inspects his work, thinking it might be a flaw in the actual mark.
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