POMPEII.
Non Sequitur followed Chyron and Victoria and paused at the smoker’s gazebo.
“Hey buddy,” said a human kitchen worker with a pipe.
“Howdy. Could I leave my staff here?” He held up the Olympic bar he’d taken from the gym.
“Sure,” said a motherly neanderthal in white overalls. “Put it there.”
“I had an electric lighter explode on me during a storm last month,” said a chonkey donkey, pointing down to still-burned pants. “Eric, I think you tried to warn me?”
“Thanks.” Non set down his staff as gazebo Eric talked about the lighter incident.
Ᵽ I’M GOING TO HAMMER MY HEAD ON TREES.
Ñ̰ KNOCK YOURSELF OUT, PICOID.
Victoria led the brothers along a wide grass road through the forest and towards a hill-sized pile of granite blocks. Metallic clanks rang out from the hill, still far enough away to tempt Non into offering a ride. Then they saw the hammerer, a two meter tall Amazon, sledgehammering a chisel into a block twice her height. Other chisels made a vertical line.
“In my mind, my assistant saved my life when a slab I’d worked on failed. Then he saved me from a terrible shame. Since then, I’ve sent Dr. Mayhem dozens of cards. He never asked for much, at least that’s what I thought. All being reviewed now. Of course, now he’s the most horrific man I’ve had the misfortune to encounter. Up ahead, that’s M. Leblanc, one of our top scientists. On Earth, she was Sophie Germain. Wait here while I go talk to her.” Victoria’s lab coat swished as she walked up behind the hammer wielder.
“Do you ever have the feeling you’re being watched?” M. LeBlanc said, pausing a swing.
M. LeBlanc [https://i.imgur.com/41vYCol.png]
“You started early,” said Victoria Frankenstein, moving closer.
“I got up at quarter to five. The northern lights are pretty this time of year.” M. LeBlanc pushed up her goggles. “Are we to assume that there is anything significant–”
“This Sound book you gave me, I want you to–”
“You have to be very quiet,” M. LeBlanc whispered, grappling Victoria and lifting her up with one arm. “It’s acoustically perfect,” she added, as a further explanation. “Put on these goggles.”
Victoria struggled, trying to avoid the goggles. “I just wanted–”
“There’s no use to try escaping,” M. LeBlanc said, carrying her captive. She put the goggles on Victoria, then turned her around to face the giant block. Victoria gasped at what the goggles showed her.
“Gruesome, isn’t it?” M. LeBlanc said, setting Victoria down. The mighty woman lifted a sheathed weapon from a staging area. “Wonder why they call this the Singing Sword?”
“I want you to give Nyah this Sound book of yours. The equitaur there. I owe–”
“The left horse?” M. LeBlanc looked over the equitaurs. “What if I lured him into a rock crusher?”
“Nyah can hear you, M.” Victoria said. “Why are you baiting him?”
“Some guys just can’t take it, see? Nyah! Nyah!” M. LeBlanc waved for the taur to approach, then finally accepted the book that Victoria had been trying to give her, Sound. “My, he’s a big one!”
“An honor to meet you, M. LeBlanc,” said Non, lightly bowing after stepping up. He accepted the Singing Sword that she thrust into his hand.
“In my business you meet so many interesting people.” M. LeBlanc said, guiding the taur’s stance and position. “Now, let’s see if I remember. Head down, left arm stiff,” she said, moving Non’s arm, then looking over the blade as she lifted a mallet. “Acoustically perfect.”
Tap.
Non felt the blade vibrate powerfully and loudly, then heard implanted blades in the giant block reach a resonant frequency. Then a multiton slab broke off from the block.
“Being a genius certainly has its advantages,” M. LeBlanc said, taking the sword and resheathing it, putting her goggles back on before handing Non the book.
♫ YOU HAVE GAINED ACCESS TO CYMATICS. READ THE BOOK.
“Better get out of here while the getting’s good!” M. LeBlanc said as she walked back to the blocks.
Non paged through Sound to see what he was getting into, but Victoria took his hand to lead him away. He allowed it, still reading. Love waves, plate theory, von Kármán streets, elasticity and deformation. Lots of margin notes. Partial differential equations. ‘Why did it have to be PDEs?’
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
║ COMPREHENSION LEVEL, 15%. 95% REQUIRED TO UNLOCK CYMATICS.
“Just read that book and you’ll unlock vector fields,” Victoria said.
“Something you’ve done?” asked Non, as Chyron took a look at the book.
“Too difficult for me. I’ve had that,” Victoria pointed to Sound, “for years, it’s high time to give up.”
“If you think that’s hard, you should see Advanced Biology,” Chyron said.
“Oh, I know! That book is brutal!” said Victoria. “Speaking of brutal, I need to get back for another round of debriefs with Agent West.”
“66 Batman?” asked Non.
“Adam’s formidable,” said Victoria. “No, not that West. Do you feel tingly?”
A lightning bolt struck the ground. Out from the smoke stepped a midnight clad, green-skinned figure with a pointy black hat and holding a broom. Horror washed over Non as he beheld, for himself, the most terrifying movie character of all time: Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West.
“I’ve bided my time, Victoria,” said Agent West, pointing a finger at Dr. Frankenstein’s face. “Did you use the hour I gave you wisely?” The witch cackled as the equitaurs sank to their knees.
Victoria had tears in her eyes. “I invited my unmasker into the scientist ranks.”
As Non mindcycled ‘Please don’t get mad at me,’ the Wicked Witch gripped an equitaur’s muzzle in her green hand to force him into eye contact. “Does he deserve it?” she asked, staring into the taur’s eyes.
Chyron fainted dead away, disappointing Agent West.
“It’s the other one,” said Victoria. “They’re brothers.”
Non flinched as the witch whirled on him but met her eyes. “I hope I can prove myself worthy.”
“Perhaps,” she commented, then turned friendly. “You made portals safer. The last time I scraped an edge I had to go to a hospital.” A long fingernail tapped the Sound book. “Can you conquer this book?”
Agent West cackled as Non flinched, then put a green hand on Victoria’s lab coat. “Are you ready? We have so many shady tasks to ask about.”
“Do the high-muck-a-mucks need affidavits?” asked M. LeBlanc, the sledgehammer casually over one shoulder. “I’ll vouch for Victoria.” Her fearless nonchalance gave the witch pause.
“Unnecessary,” said West. “Victoria will stitch her reputation back together, but it may not be pretty.”
Purple smoke rose up around Agent West and Victoria Frankenstein. When it cleared, they were gone.
M. LeBlanc tapped Chyron with her boot, who groaned and opened his eyes. “Did I faint again?”
“You did, bro. For what it’s worth, I nearly wet the grass.”
“She’s friendly off the clock. I really should update my book. Even a settled science sees advances,” said M. LeBlanc, plucking her book back. “Check on your brother. You’re both walking wounded.”
Non let Chyron instruct him on doing a health check. M. LeBlanc interrupted.
“You’re a science based agent and you don’t have an Alexandria subscription? Alexandria gives you access to all books and journals. Just ten planck a month to support the sciences.”
“I’m not the wealthiest horse around,” tried Non.
“That doesn’t follow, Non Sequitur. You worked for a library without the greatest possible resource? Subscribe to it now!” M. LeBlanc demanded.
♫ WELCOME TO ALEXANDRIA. WORKING ON YOUR PROFILE.
An interface listed thousands of books he knew, then reading and comprehension percentages started filling in. Another section listed numbers for Picoid before vanishing.
“Now that I can talk, I should practice it more. I’m taking my knowledge private.”
“That’s okay, Picoid. I have many embarrassing comprehension percentages.”
“I used to know everything about matrices. Now I’m at 2%.”
“I should catch up on those myself,” M LeBlanc concurred. “The AI uses Monte Carlo methods to unreliably interface into complex memory processes with random queries of questionable value.”
“That may be so, but I should have subscribed sooner. There’s so much I don’t know.”
“That’s our universe! We currently have a horrifying far future. Our job is to find a brighter future by increasing our Kardashev scale while we still have the Stelliferous Era. The Degenerate Era must be avoided at all costs. Welcome to being a scientist!” She offered Sound back.
Non took the book. “Thank you, M. LeBlanc. You’re done with the updates?”
“I handwaved. It’s time for a new edition. Or I could force you to prepare it for me.” She tapped her chin, smiling at the thought. “That’s all I have for now.”
Non nodded, and helped up Chyron as he watched her go.
----------------------------------------
In the big food court dome, Chyron and Non stared at a map of Italy while eating their 2nd breakfast. Non’s staff clung diagonally to his back in a Faraday fabric tube that Bloodfoot supplied. Picoid talked to other birds in the aviary, getting travel tips.
“So we’re near Naples. I’ve never been to Italy before. Boat or road?” asked Chyron.
‘Uh-oh, he didn’t mention trains.’ Non moved his compromised staff to his other hand.
“I’ve hauled things here in west coast Italia. We could hoof it to the east coast in two days and take a night ferry. I think we’re in shape for that. Or a 3 day boat ride. Or the city portal in Rome, but closed during a magnetic storm. Or we can convince MTS we need to get back to Greece quickly.”
Working through carrots, Chyron considered the route. “240 kilometers with no time limit. Dad tries the one day 168K ultramarathon each year. I joined him once, but dropped out at 120. He usually drops out at 160. The next day he complains about humans and ostriches passing him in the final third.”
“There is so much I don’t know about Dad.” Non casually consumed a banana, peel and all. “It annoys me that humans can out-marathon equines.”
“We’re all good at something.” Chyron chuckled as he checked his brother. “Your leg’s looking better. But a two or three day jaunt across Italy will need canteens and stuff.”
“I’m a veteran of long trips, bro,” said Non. “Let’s go shopping in Naples!”
Picoid flew along as the taurs tried their trots.
Ᵽ JUST SO YOU KNOW, MY LEG BANDS ALLOW CREDIT PURCHASES AND SUMMONING. AT PUT MY SAVINGS AS RUMBLER INTO YOUR ACCOUNT. I CAN ACCESS SECTOR FUNCTIONS AGAIN.
Ñ̰ SOUNDS GREAT! CONSIDER IT OUR ACCOUNT. ARE WE RICH?
Ᵽ YOU CAN BUY YOUR CABIN ON THE OUR PARK OBSTACLE COURSE WITH A FEW HUNDRED PLANCK TO SPARE.
Ñ̰ CAN I BE DISAPPOINTED AT THE REALIZATION OF A SMALL GOAL? STILL, THAT’S GREAT.
Ᵽ BY THE WAY, I PRICED SLIPPERY SLOPE. AVERAGES A HUNDRED PLANCK PER MAJOR FIGHT.
Non whistled as he ran. He liked the sound of that skill, but didn't want to spend a year's salary during a big fight.