Johan looked at his teacher, also spying Anne behind him, a bit curious about what he had just said.
"Haven't seen one in a while?" Johan asked, "That means you know what it is?"
"Yep. That is a navigator terminal. Made in Gent back when the world was a better place. I'd say it's a rarer find these days, since, to my knowledge, these haven't been made for over 50 years. It's not a weapon, nor is it dangerous. Although the fact that it's exuding mana like that is strange. Those devices aren't even powered by mana. Could be the influence of Ambevelance weapons testing." Nath started to mutter to himself a bit, and Johan took over.
"It seems it's just an old Gent device, but apparently it isn't made to run with mana so it's functions may have been altered due to that. Teacher, could you please help us get it to start operating? I don't know the language it's in, so I can't really do much for that." Johan tapped Nath on the arm, bringing the old man back to reality- Whilst he explained in simple terms to the others.
"Oh! Yes, I'll help with that, I should be able to set the language to the common tongue. After that you shouldn't have any issues utilizing it." Nath nodded and then began to tap the screen a handful of times.
"What can this even be used for any ways?" Pat asked.
"Well, it should have a map on it, first of all, which will be helpful for Johan and Anne, well... Maybe not. It *has* been 50 years after all, and to be perfectly honest, with magic that could make maps completely irrelevant." Nath sighed, "Aside from that though it can also teach you things about the region you are in, and if the network is still up, it should be able to help you learn about other regions too, as you enter them. It's convenient the actual interaction terminal remained intact, it's the only part that really mattered to be perfectly honest, everything else was really just extra on it.
I am not, however, sure if that is all it can do anymore due to the mana interference, but that is what they can do without mana. of course you can also take notes in it, but that function never used to be used, simply due to the fact that they aren't normally portable."
"So we can use it like a map, a hikers guide, and a notebook, and maybe more depending on how mana affected it?" Anne said.
"Yes. Sorry, I'm not used to explaining things like this." Nath nodded at her.
"It's fine, it's like talking to someone who has a high level degree, lots of those people have issues explaining what they're talking about because they are used to talking to people who have, at least some, knowledge of what they're talking about.
I still think you should try to think of everyone you are explaining something to as a child who asked the question. After all, if you explain it in that way, you shouldn't use any unknown words, since you have to explain it in laymen terminology and simple word too." Johan looked at Nath.
"You are correct on that. I am still trying to figure out how to do that properly. Hah. Now I know why so many people take in students, it really helps one understand more of their own abilities." Nath chuckled to himself a bit. "Alright. I got the language changed over. can't believe that these still use the old security codes."
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"Thank you." Johan moved to look at the terminal.
[Welcome!]
[System Error! Time discrepancies detected!]
[Please Input the date.]
Below that flickered what looked like an underscore, just blinking in and out.
"Hey, Nath?" Johan asked.
"Yes?" Nath asked as he was walking away.
"What is the date and year in Gent? from the calendar used when these terminals were made?" Johan asked.
"Oh? Time discrepancy? Not surprised, it's likely been out for a while then. I'll input it." Nath came back and quickly typed into the terminal using a small on screen popup keyboard, similar to a phone keyboard.
"There we go. You should set it up so that it uses the new calendar." Nath then left. Not stopping or waiting for anything. Johan wasn't sure why, but he supposed it was around time for Nath and Finch to play chess.
Johan shrugged it off and then looked back at the terminal, the three girls were also all looking at it. It now read:
[Date: 10-23-1782]
[Terminal Designation: ADV]
[Welcome Traveler to The Navigator Terminal]
[Please select an option]
[Map] [Regional Information] [Intelligence set up Protocol]
Johan selected the third option, which led him into a menu that had him set up a few things. one of which was a speaker, which was not detected by the terminal due to everything attached to the terminal being gone. however, Johan did have an idea. He still had the speakers in the car, and when it came to the device demanding a camera as well, he also still had his phone. He wouldn't be able to do much about the scan function, or any of the more advanced things, but he could do something about those two parts at least, which were the minimum for the device, he also knew that his phone microphone would be useful as well, though likely insufficient.
After going through everything, he gave Pat a short list of the parts that needed to be attached to the device, and used a small charcoal pencil that she kept to out line the areas on the device they needed to be installed at. He could have just let Pat figure that part out, but she wasn't super familiar with touch screens, nor blueprints showing where things were, so Johan figured it would be nice to help her a bit.
"Alright, that should be workable. though it might take me a while since it's not something I'm used to, I'm better with mechanics rather than wires after all." Pat said.
"That's fine, If it doesn't work out it won't really matter that much, it is still usable, but I'd bet that the mana messed with the logic core of the AI rather than any of the coded things, which is why I'm so interested in that part specifically. If you need any help with it, Anne is familiar with the stuff I told you about as well, and should be able to tell you everything I know about it." Johan looked at Anne for confirmation.
"Yep. The phone might be a bit tough... but I think I can help out well enough." Anne nodded.
"Cool. This is such a neat thing. I always wanted to get a good look at magitech, but it's very rare, and the things that have been found are all Naths now since the majority of them were dangerous." Pat had a grin on her face.
"Do you need my help for anything?" Jen looked at Pat.
"Well, I don't need it per se, but I'd be happy for a bit of help here and there." Pat side hugged Jen, "You just want to be involved anyways, no need to be embarrassed about it." Pat teased her. Jen lightly blushed in response. Johan laughed a bit, the girl seemed to be just really shy and cautious, perhaps that's why she was so good at information gathering?
Johan smiled thinking of what the device would be used for, it would come in handy with maps and knowledge, but that would have to wait until later. For now he needed to eat, rest and learn more magic to help the people around him. If he was lucky he might learn about water conjuration this next week.