PFSB: Milliways

[riddleofthebelow]

Tom needed his camera to take yet more pictures of his adorable children, and when he fetched it the evening before, he found something odd he can't explain. It's not a bad odd thing. It's just a puzzling odd thing.

Ingress has some explaining to do.  Or Wei Wuxian. Either one.

So Tom's at a table at Milliways, with an eyebrow raised, and wouldn't mind some company.

Comments

[riddleofthebelow]

“Do, please. The concept is a familiar one. There’s a specific potion, the purpose of which is to physically change a person into a different form. The charm work aids the deception, but the alteration is at a molecular level. It’s not long lived, but it may be comparable as a basis.”

[we_bring_hell]

"Interesting," she says, turning to a blank page and free-handing a spiral. She's drawn a lot of circles. A lot.

"I did not perform the trial for this key; my ally of the Sixth shared the theorem with me." She wishes she had seen the study attached to the theorem, but the price--letting Sextus see the same for her discoveries--was too steep.

"It bears a marked similarity to a theorem for regeneration that I discovered, but it also involves the ingestion of a foreign element. You see, the spiral begins here--"

She traces the steps.

(Tom's comparison to Polyjuice potion is not far off, but this is permanent and far more subtle--the foreign genetics are implanted into the target's, but would only be expressed in nervous tissue and areas with a dense amount of nerves, such as the eyes.)

[riddleofthebelow]

He watches and glances over to the other notes pinned to the wall.

“Does each House have its own theorem and trial to obtain it?”

[we_bring_hell]

"Precisely," she says. "This is the theorem of the Third House; they are flesh magicians."

"I have begun to find some patterns and linkages." She takes rubber bands from her box and stretches one between the red pin and the brown one. "One of these theorems holds a soul in place so it does not pass into the River immediately, and one allows the adept to link into another nervous system."

"And this one changes the nature of the flesh, while this one--" She points to a black pin-- "Regenerates the flesh, spreading the change throughout the body and protecting it from injury."

She taps the blue pin. "I do not understand this one fully, but it involves doing something to the soul as well. A splitting? A fraying?"

[riddleofthebelow]

“Ah.”

Yes. He could speak to his world’s correlation to that easily enough, even though it makes him somewhat queasy to think about what Voldemort did to his soul. And to him.

“In the Wizarding world, you can forcibly remove a piece of your soul through acts of murder, turning it into a Horcrux. The Horcrux is combined into another object or creature. Once hidden thusly, the owner of the fractured soul has the fragments to rely upon should death destroy the rest. In other words, a chance at immortality.”

[we_bring_hell]

She frowns. "An externally located soul? Interesting idea."

She taps the red pin. "The Second theorem allows you to tune into a body from outside--the Fifth theorem to preserve a soul outside the body--perhaps this fits into that somehow."

"But then we have the theorems involving the flesh, and accessing a power source. And two missing ones." She worries her temple with a thumb. "Combining it into another creature..." She looks at the spiral she's drawn.

[riddleofthebelow]

"Or stealing a body to make a host for a new soul."

[we_bring_hell]

"Overwrite another body with our genes? Hm." She furrows her brow, putting a crease in her makeup.

She shakes her head. "We've got to have the Sixth and Seventh," she mutters. "And one more, maybe." Reluctantly, she is beginning to accept Sextus's 'mega-theorem' hypothesis.

[riddleofthebelow]

"What is the lore around these theorems? Are there myths or rumors about them being combined?"

[we_bring_hell]

"Oh - yes," she says, realizing she hasn't been very explicative.

"The Emperor had eight disciples, one from each House. Ten thousand years ago they gathered on the First House to explore the new science of necromancy."

"Seven of them became Lyctors, immortal necrosaints, second only to the Emperor in power. These theorems are their work, the keys to the same power."

"We have been summoned to the First House to retrace their steps."

[riddleofthebelow]

"So this is a sanctioned effort, but it's on those summoned to figure it out, yes? Or had the theorems been lost over time and your Emperor needs you to find them?"

[we_bring_hell]

"The former," she says. "Presumably, the Emperor or the surviving Lyctors could simply tell us, but the purpose of the experience is to determine which of the current heirs are worthy to serve the King Undying."

"And it appears that part of that may be surviving the test," she says grimly.

[riddleofthebelow]

Tom nods. "I wouldn't be surprised."

That sounds about right, from what he knows about things like the TriWizard Tournament and other trials.

"But it also means that the solution is not impossible; it's simply difficult."

[we_bring_hell]

"Indeed," she says.

"I completed two trials, with Gideon's assistance. Our allies in the Sixth have three. And the zealots of the Eighth have stolen two."

"And one is -- missing. Claimed, that is no longer there to be claimed, but no one seems to have it."

[riddleofthebelow]

"Hmm," he says, tapping a finger against his lips in thought.

"Or that's what you've been lead to assume."

[we_bring_hell]

"Indeed," she agrees. "I have long held the opinion that there is a Ninth theorem; a key of the First House."

"Palamedes Sextus insists the answer lies in the synthesis of all eight. His so-called 'mega-theorem."

[riddleofthebelow]

“Since this is being organized by your Emperor as a test of worthiness, I think it’s wise to pursue more than one theory. I’d also advise examining what might be hidden in plain sight. Designers of challenges love to be clever with that kind of trick.”

[we_bring_hell]

"By my first night in the castle I had charted every door I could find," she says, with justifiable smugness. But then she considers his advice.

What else is in plain sight? The horrid, dead ocean? The decaying marble? The frustratingly perfect constructs that Harrow cannot match no matter how hard she tries?

[riddleofthebelow]

“I would be happy to examine your notes more at length to see if I notice patterns or outliers that you have not. I won’t need to take them with me; I’ve a magical method for reviewing them.”

He hasn’t needed a trip through his Pensieve in a while.

[we_bring_hell]

She gives him a sideways look. "Is it secure?"

Her notes are written in her own code, although she can translate for him.

"Most of all I would like to be able to practice these steps without--well, for instance, transforming my own DNA. Do you have any thoughts as to how we could simulate it?"

[riddleofthebelow]

“Yes, it’s absolutely secure. I have texts I’d like to consult before I can give you my further thoughts, but I assure you, where there is will, Milliways helps one find the way.”

[we_bring_hell]

She makes a decision.

"Yes. I will translate the notes for you, and give you what context I can."

She tips out her box on the desk; yarn, more pins, more index cards, and a pack of tarot cards.

"There were twenty of us in the House at the beginning..."

[riddleofthebelow]

He frowns, because what she doesn't say is how many are left now, but it's clear to him that it's fewer than the full twenty.

"I'm glad you've sought allies to aid you, then. That is the smartest thing one can do when placed in situations like this."

[we_bring_hell]

"In the beginning, we all pursued keys on our own. But now that all of them have been claimed, it comes down to either alliances or fighting. Dueling over keys has already begun."

[riddleofthebelow]

"Does Gideon do the dueling, as your cavalier? Or are you involved?"

Because if she's doing the dueling, the little bit that she is, he's going to need to provide her some battle charms or, at the very least, some dirty fighting tricks to give her an edge.