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In Which Scalvi Plots
Oct. 23rd, 2012 10:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
huckleberryjamAn Empirical Study on the Efficacy of Beta-Type Shielding of Airborne Helicopters, Scalvi typed. She paused, tapped her fingernails lightly on the typewriter for a moment, and then back-tracked to the word Efficacy to add, Or Lack Thereof. Scalvi pushed her machine back and brushed ash off her lab notebook. She flipped to the last used page and scanned the printout from her difference engine's simulation of the fireball.
Under the heading of Abstract, she wrote: Beta-type Homo Sapiens, colloquially known as Lowlanders, have long been suspected of innate magical capabilities which surface in high-stress situations (Obseng 1512, Sarpati et al 1514, and Kentishton 1560, among others). This experiment tracks a chance encounter between a helicopter flown by two Beta-types and an Alpha-type magical fireball. A thaumaton microscopy scan of carbonized samplings reveal a Beta-type defensive response of .02 mTh (+/-.005) to an Alpha-type explosion of 13,977.01 mTh (+/-.005).
Scalvi smiled thinly at the thought of Mage Kentishton casting such an excessive fireball; he would likely remain in bed today with a headache. And perhaps he would think twice before planting Lowlander assassins in Scalvi's rosebed. But Scalvi's face hardened upon recalling the critical reception Kentishton received for his resulting paper (On The Emergence of Beta-Type Defensive Magic During An Alpha-Type-Induced Lightening Storm).
No matter; Scalvi's data were nearly an order of magnitude more conclusive. She imagined what Kentinshton's wife might say ("However could a lady get better results than you?") and returned to her typewriter.
The Institute's anthropologists, naturally, would flood her inbox with protest letters: "Inferior humans are humans nonetheless! You can't justify murder through science! Grilled salmon produces a stronger magical response than a stressed lowlander!" But of course, they were just jealous of the funding alloted to wizardry.
Though Scalvi remained mildly disappointed-- while not at all surprised--at the lowlander's failure to kidnap the girl. Had Scalvi been about .9 kilothaums luckier yesterday, Kentinshton would have promoted her to first author on their latest joint paper in exchange for his daughter's safe return--and Scalvi would no longer need to bother with hired thugs and elusive Beta-type mechanics. With a sigh, she returned to her paper
Under the heading of Abstract, she wrote: Beta-type Homo Sapiens, colloquially known as Lowlanders, have long been suspected of innate magical capabilities which surface in high-stress situations (Obseng 1512, Sarpati et al 1514, and Kentishton 1560, among others). This experiment tracks a chance encounter between a helicopter flown by two Beta-types and an Alpha-type magical fireball. A thaumaton microscopy scan of carbonized samplings reveal a Beta-type defensive response of .02 mTh (+/-.005) to an Alpha-type explosion of 13,977.01 mTh (+/-.005).
Scalvi smiled thinly at the thought of Mage Kentishton casting such an excessive fireball; he would likely remain in bed today with a headache. And perhaps he would think twice before planting Lowlander assassins in Scalvi's rosebed. But Scalvi's face hardened upon recalling the critical reception Kentishton received for his resulting paper (On The Emergence of Beta-Type Defensive Magic During An Alpha-Type-Induced Lightening Storm).
No matter; Scalvi's data were nearly an order of magnitude more conclusive. She imagined what Kentinshton's wife might say ("However could a lady get better results than you?") and returned to her typewriter.
The Institute's anthropologists, naturally, would flood her inbox with protest letters: "Inferior humans are humans nonetheless! You can't justify murder through science! Grilled salmon produces a stronger magical response than a stressed lowlander!" But of course, they were just jealous of the funding alloted to wizardry.
Though Scalvi remained mildly disappointed-- while not at all surprised--at the lowlander's failure to kidnap the girl. Had Scalvi been about .9 kilothaums luckier yesterday, Kentinshton would have promoted her to first author on their latest joint paper in exchange for his daughter's safe return--and Scalvi would no longer need to bother with hired thugs and elusive Beta-type mechanics. With a sigh, she returned to her paper
