a cross-disciplinary approach [MEDEIA AND IDÉS]

If there was one thing you could not say about Idés, it was that he didn’t spend time around libraries. Especially the ICU libraries, he had practically spent all his years at campus studying in either the reading nooks of the science faculties library, in the archives or in the lab that he now called his office. So, it wasn’t that he didn’t know how to navigate the rows and rows of books in front of him. It was more that he was, for lack of better words, completely lost when it came to the subject.

Come to think of it, he had never been in the library belonging to the humanities – let alone the aisle pertaining to Delianistic history and runology. It wasn’t that  it wasn’t interesting, because it definitely was. It was just that it hadn’t ever crossed his mind until now that it could be relevant to zeal production. And the library building was objectively very beautiful, compared to the more modernized gray science faculty. The humanities library was darker, all deep mahogany and dusty, ancient literature. It did make him wonder why he had never considered checking out what was probably one of the oldest library sections of the ICU. But his focus did tend to be on the one subject he did fully understand – walking amongst the rows, he was reminded of how little he still knew about the world, considering how vast it all was. People could (and many did) spend their whole life pursuing to make sense of it all, but at the end of the day, one could only know a fraction of how it all worked. And that seemed terribly unfair to Idés, who so wanted to understand the world.

He couldn’t say exactly what had inspired the idea – a fact he had read online, probably, leading down a rabbit hole that had eventually brought him to ancient zeal production powered by runes. They still used something similar, only in modern industrial zeal production it was called curiolographs and the diversity of their capabilities were sparse and usually government approved. It seemed, though, that the ancients had a lot more freedom in their expression and usages. His theory was that combining the methods of ancient zeal productions with the exposure capacity of the EZPEC would lead to something quite extraordinary – but alas, the literature on the subject was so sparse, probably due to the dodgy legality of the matter. The literature that did exist, most of it was in a dead language. Which Idés did not at all speak, he quickly came to realize, frowning down at an old record on… something. A lexicon –  a very old lexicon – of zeal-related runes, that much he knew. But he quickly came to find that his background knowledge of calculations, engineering and physics did not prepare him to understand anything about what he was reading. He furrowed his brows, looking up at the rows, scanning for… a dictionary? Ancient Zeals 101? Anything?

For once, he found himself completely lost in an academic field. Was this how everyone else felt when he started talking?

The scent of old books filled Medeia's nose as she browsed the shelves in front of her. The titles on the spines were written in a language no one spoke anymore, yet she read them effortlessly. She had been asked to give a lecture about myths and legends within delianism, which was why she was now once again in the humanities library on the ICU campus. She wanted to read up on some of the myths, just to refresh her memories.

Medeia had grown up listening to the old man read, even sometimes reciting from memory, myths and legends from Kosnapol. It was one of the things she missed about him. The thought made the dull ache of grief surround her heart for a minute and she had to give her heart that minute before she could continue skimming through the titles for the ones she was after. Her eyes landed on one of the books, Perites sel areum re vreum sel Sidon. A collection of tales about wild ilomarian lilies She skipped right past that one, as her heart filled with even more pain, anger and grief. Her hand subconsciously went up to the prayer necklace she had made herself.

As she looked for another mythology collection, she noticed that suddenly there was another soul among the mahogany shelves in the section dedicated to the history of delianism as well as some runology books. It took Medeia seconds to see that he seemed lost, and too Medeia’s eyes he clearly did not look like a man of humanities. She got the feeling that he belonged more to the science faculty who usually stuck to their science building.

“You know, you will not find a science book here, there might be some on the other side of the library, though most of them are in the science library in the science building” Medeia said, her voice calm with her Kosnapolian accent still rich after years of being away from home. She was still facing the bookshelves, her hand still flying over the book as she used to skim faster for the one specific one she was looking for. For all she knew, the young man might be a student who was completely lost.

“Oh, sorry,” he said, taking a step back so she could better skim the titles of the books on the shelf before them. He blinked when she guided him towards where he could find the science related fields. That obvious that he didnt know what he was doing, huh? He also got the vague impression that whoever this woman was, she thought he was a student. That was not an uncommon occurrence admittedly, but still. Sometimes he was tempted to just pretend to be a student and then go about his day as if nothing had happened. Of course, that would also mean the potential for even more awkwardness in case of future meetings. But he probably shouldn’t complain, he was lucky to be in the position that he did. And of course, she hadn’t asked if he was studying. It could just be him who was insecure.

And he supposed it was fair, he didn’t have the faintest idea who she was either. Though she seemed fairly well-versed in this library and she did have a noticeable accent that sounded Kosnapolian and– well, he probably shouldn’t be presuming anything. Was that a stereotype? It probably was. But she seemed fairly confident that she knew what she was doing, which was more than he could say for himself. He was definitely outside of his comfort-zone here. So did he ask for help?  

He rubbed his neck, looking at the lexicon in his hands.
“No, uh, this is the right place. I’m just not that familiar with the subject, I’ll admit,” he spoke, scanning over words in a language he wasn’t even sure what was named. He looked back up at the rows of books, swallowing his pride and asking: “do you know if there’s anything on ancient zeal-production?" he paused, before explaining. "I work for the, uh, energetic-science department. And I'm looking into new possible cross-disciplinary approaches to zeal-innovation, you see.”

She stopped looking for the books she needed when he asked her questions, her eyes now on him as she turned her body towards him. Apparently, he was not a student, but someone who worked on campus. Medeia had worked here for almost four years now and had never seen him, but then again she had always stuck to her field and herself. It was only this year that she could place the names to the faces of the other humanities professors on campus.

“Handmade zeals?” She said, slightly surprised. He then spewed a lot of words. Putting two and two together, this didn’t sound quite legal. Though she didn’t know a lot about science, maybe he had some clearance?

“It quite depends on what exactly you’re looking for” Medeia responded, her gaze quickly searching him for a faculty ID, to see who he was. “Is it mister or professor?” She asked without thinking when she couldn’t spot a badge. It was then she spotted the book in his hands. A lexicon about runes which was clearly written in Scillian, the ancient language. “Isn’t that going to be a hard read for you?” She asked, yet again without thinking how to actually formulate the sentence. Medeia just hoped she hadn’t sounded too rude. “You do know that handmade zeals and runes are quite a delicate matter?” Most probably thought she was talking about the legality of it all, but what Medeia actually had meant was how delicate the work was, one tiny mistake could lead to catastrophical changes. She once again reached for the prayer necklace subconsciously as she thought about the years she had spent training under the old man, how strict he had been and the joy she had felt as a child when she had created her very first zeal.

“Professor,” Idés answered. "Chapmann. Call me Idés, though.”

It, for not the first time in his career, felt awkward having to clarify his position here. Most people knew, though, once he introduced himself as Chapmann, that he was the youngest professor to ever work for the ICU. He usually didn’t need to do that when he was wearing his labcoat that bore his ID – which he had left back in the lab. She then turned her attention to the book in his hands, asking if that was hard to read for him. Which was spot on, he had no clue what the text in the book meant. She then asked if he was aware that handmade zeals were a delicate matter.

“I, uh, well I have a permit,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. Or, well, he had some permits. Nothing explicitly stated that he was or wasn’t allowed to research handmade zeals or runs, given that the practice had mostly died out and most had dubbed it entirely irrelevant to the realm of scientific progress. Which was a neat loophole for someone like Idés. If he cared more about legality, he’d have to take the bureaucratic route which could take months, if not years. But really, he was already considered a terrorist in the eyes of the state, he wasn’t really that concerned with the vague wording of certain clearances. And this particular research project could be spectacular, if he could get it right.

He looked at the book in his hands again. Hard to read, as she had commented. He really needed help here. He didn’t want to ask, though, as he didn’t want to put her in a situation where she felt obligated to use her time on him. He assumed she was a member of faculty too, though she hadn’t introduced herself and he knew firsthand how much work there was sometimes. Maybe he could figure it out on his own? How hard could it be?

He looked up at her again. “Yeah… I suppose I’ve got my work cut out for me,” he said with a small chuckle. "I don't suppose you have a suggestion of, well... somewhere to start?"

When the young man, professor even, told her his name, Medeia realized she had not introduced herself at all. “Medeia Blackwood, professor in theology” She introduced herself, the sentence almost sounded practiced. Though she hoped he didn’t notice, she might not want to admit it but she did have to practice in the mirror to do it after people had complained about something she no longer remembered. “I don’t care what you call me,” she added. His name was familiar in the way that she got the feeling she should know who he is, but she did not.

He answered her question about the handmade zeals with talks about a permit. She raised an eyebrow at him. “So? it wasn’t the legality I talked about" Medeia said rather bluntly. “The process itself is so delicate that even the simplest of mistakes can have fatal and dangerous consequences” She explained. “The carving of the runes have to be precise and there isn’t room for error” She continued. “A protection zeal can quickly turn into a weapon towards the carrier with a rune line carved at the wrong place” Medeia finished her explanation. A slight blush crept up her expression as she realized she had just ranted and lectured him about something unnecessary. It quickly went away as she willed herself not to be embarrassed. The old man had taken pride in his trade as a zealmaker, a tradition handed to him from his father and his father before him. The old man had trained her as well, telling her to be proud of her talents. Sometimes she missed it, creating a zeal with her hands.

Her attention went back to the book again. “That book is in ancient Scillian” Medeia said as if it was common knowledge. “A dead language few are able to read nowadays, the nearest professor who can read it fluently is at Fallonmore University” She continued as she glanced at him once again. “Well except for me that is” She said, a small smile adorned her face. The old man had taught her a few phrases of the dead language as a child, words handed down from his ancestors like a treasure, for the old man it had been important to know the words of rituals in the original language as he called it. Words carried power, especially ancient ones he had told her. The Fallonmore professor had taught her the rest when she had studied under him.

The woman introduced herself as a professor in theology, which meant that Idés had been right about her being a member of faculty. Idés eyes widened slightly as she claimed not to care about the legality of the study. Then he let out a small “oh” as she started talking about fatal consequences. He glanced down at the runes in his hand, that was very much something he would like to avoid. But maybe he could figure it out, if he could just find out what the lexicon said? But then she clarified that the book was written in an ancient, dead language. Oh. And the nearest professor was at Fallonmore University. Dammit.

Then, he perked up once again when she said she spoke it, brows raised. That was certainly very convenient for him. And quite a coincidence how he had somehow run into the one woman in Ilomar who could apparently both speak this dead language and knew how to manufacture handmade zeals. He didn’t fully know what to make of that. It probably wasn’t some crazy elaborate scheme from the Godia Warriors, that’d be ridiculous, but he also didn’t believe in fate.

He simply stared at her for a moment, considering. She hadn’t really answered his question about where to start – although, the warning about possible fatal consequences was appreciated. Though the thought of asking her for her help still seemed daunting, he realized he had little chance of figuring this out on his own without a great deal of trial and error – trial and error with a possible chance of fatality. He was confident enough in his abilities when it came to the areas he was well-versed in. Engineering, science, mechanics, physics, mathematics, that came natural to him. Certainly, he could learn this as well, but not on his own. So, he swallowed his pride and finally said:
“I could really use some help, I think.”

The other professor stared at her for a while, which made Medeia start to worry if she had gone overboard. She had been told that before once when she had gone off about a topic she was well versed in. But just as her thoughts were about to spiral, he spoke. A small smile formed at her lips as he admitted that he needed help. Though it wasn’t a mean smile.

“I could help you,” Medeia said. It could be a distraction, a welcoming one to finally focus on something else. “Though I do think I should get some more information on what exactly you’re looking for if I am going to help you” She added. She did need to know a bit more than he was looking into handmade zeals, like what kind he was looking for, protective? supportive? perhaps even weapon like ones? Though she didn’t know what a professor would do with the last one.

Medeia was now leaning against the wooden frame of the bookshelf she stood next to, the book she originally came for completely forgotten. She could always prepare for that lecture later, whatever this guy was doing was more interesting anyway.

Medeia asked a completely reasonable question: what it exactly was that he was looking for. Was Idés even sure himself? The theories were complex and what he was trying to achieve – well, that was complex as well. It wasn’t a singular result he was looking for, but rather, trying to invent a brand new method of production.

“Well,” he began hesitantly, closing the lexicon and setting it aside on a nearby table as he tried to formulate his explanation in a way that Medeia would be able to follow – or, he hoped she would, despite how much the idea was still in the abstract. He rubbed his neck. “You see, most modern zeal production is restricted in terms of innovative freedom – from the EZPEC producers side, the models have a pre-installed amount of curiolographs. Which works to determine the power, energy potential and functionality of the zeal, a lot like how I assume runes work. Though I could be wrong about that, I suppose.” He paused, stopping himself before he went deep into the technicalities of how EZPEC’s and curiographs work. “The restrictions are, of course, partially for security reasons. As you said yourself, it’s not completely danger free to tamper with.”

So, why was he thinking of tampering? Well – “But a month or so back something unusual happened. Uh, forgive me if you know this, but the highest AVP of a EZPEC-exposed zeal is recorded around 35,5 – unstable, of course, everything above 15 would be considered as such. This is relevant, because I believe I may have exceeded that recorded point as a result of a damaged curiolograph. So, it has a large potential energy field and lots of uses, but, there’s no available curiolographs pre-installed to make use of such a large potential. Which makes me think there’s a huge area of research that remains untapped.”

“My theory is that combining the exposure cabinets of the EZPEC’s and the principle of custom carved runes would allow for a much larger range of possible uses of a zeals – which would require some upgrades to the EZPEC, which isn’t an issue, I’ve done so before, just need to figure out what parts to replace and–... Not that that’s important to you, I suppose,” he paused again, making sure he didn’t get too far sidetracked by the mechanics of his EZPEC.

“What I’m getting at is: I’m working to combine the methods, as I believe that would aid in not only the invention of many more items that would be beneficial to humanity, but also, would aid the understanding of the absorption spectrum of physical items, which would be a large step in the fields of physics, and… Well, the very reason that curiolographs exists and are as restricted as they are, one could argue, is due to colonialism and that’s – well, not to get political, but it’s just so much knowledge that’s been lost and what technologies could we have today if it hadn’t and–” Idés, finally, stopped himself mid-rant. He rubbed his neck. “Ah, sorry. Is any of this making any sense at all?”

Medeia had not been prepared for his rant, a whole speech with words Medeia barely understood. And as if he saw the confusion written on his face he stopped himself. “I think so?” She said. “If I understood you correctly, some runes in your machine thing were ruined, and now you want to give your machine more runes to make it be able to do other stuff?” She asked, making sure she had understood him. This was interesting, and it had been a while since she had done anything related to zeal and runes.

“That book might not be of much help, since not all runes are in it, it also doesnt take in the acccount of combinations” Medeia said. “I probably will have to take a look at the rune that was messed with, and what other runes you have in that machine of yours” She started rambling. “There isn’t only what runes to add or not, but also look at the combination of all the runes” She continued, excitement filling her voice.

“Though, of course I can help you read that book if that’s the only help you want” She said, slightly awkward, after realizing she might be overstepping. Of course he wouldn’t want some random person from the humanities section to mess around in his laboratory with his equipment. However she still couldn’t silence the slight curiosity of what runes he was working with, and what runes and combinations would yield the best result for his goal. Besides, how hard could it be to teach someone a dead language? She had learned it quickly and with ease.

He couldn’t help the heat in his cheeks at the initial look of confusion on her face. It seemed that he never would quite learn to not get carried away, he usually vastly overestimated how much people knew about zeal production and in his excitement, well, he did kind of bombard the listener with random information and it was a bit embarrassing. Most people just weren’t that interested in zeals and maybe one day he would learn to accept that. But then, she started talking. If I understood you correctly, some runes in your machine thing were ruined, and now you want to give your machine more runes to make it be able to do other stuff? He nodded, perhaps a bit too eagerly, but that was exactly what he wanted.

Then she explained that the random book he had picked out perhaps wasn’t much help at all. He looked at it and rubbed his neck, shifting the weight on his feet. He had had a feeling that that was the case. But when she offered to take a look at the stuff he had already worked and he looked up, a beaming smile on his lips. That would be absolutely perfect. When she added that she could also just translate the book if that was the only thing he wanted, he shook his head. Or should he nod? Whatever the appropriate way to respond was.

“No, I– that would be perfect, I mean, if you could take a look at the rune and the EZPEC,” he said, dropping his hand and burying it in his pocket, before clarifying. “Only if you have time, of course. Don’t feel like you have to. But it really would be a huge help.”

He licked his lips, shifting the weight of his feet again as he tried not to get too carried away with the excitement of possibility here. He understood, of course, if she was busy with more important things than helping a random professor experiment with things that could very well be impossible or dangerous and that was definitely not legal in a number of ways. But it was just, it was too perfect an opportunity that the two should meet and he really, really wanted to know what she knew.

Medeia didn’t miss the beaming smile he showed when she offered to take a look. She felt awkward about it, not used at all for others to be happy when she involved herself in their business and things. He even confirmed it with his words. The way he too seemed excited about this, if she judged his reactions correctly, made Medeia feel like she had just met someone more like her. And even if it was a silly thought, maybe even a potential friend? No, perhaps that was her being too silly, she wasn’t a teenager anymore. There was also the risk of it all happening again, just like the last time she thought she had found a potential friend.

She had almost gotten lost in thought when he added only if you have time, of course….

“I can always find time,” Medeia said, a small smile forming at her lips once more, slightly bigger than the last one. “Preferably in the evening some time, I have lectures in the morning” She explained. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear before saying; “Oh, hold on” and searched her bag for something. That something being a piece of paper and a pen, which Medeia knew she always carried with her. She had a habit of always writing memos for herself, little notes to remind her of things she had to remember to do. Especially things she couldn’t risk getting lost in her thoughts and never seen again. She quickly found a post it note and a pen and wrote something down, her name and some numbers under it.

“Here,” she said as she handed over the post it note to him. “My phone number, makes it easier to get in touch,” She said, slightly awkward. She wasn’t at all used to giving her number to other people.

He smiled when she smiled. She had time. That was perfect, then, his mind was already racing with the new possibilities. But he was getting ahead of himself, of course, first was figuring out how this field worked at all. And only when he had some sort of understanding of that, he would be able to figure out what sort of things he could play around with. Still, it was exciting.

“Evening works,” he confirmed, nodding.

Then she went digging around her bag, searching for something and Idés waited, curiously. Then she got out a piece of paper, writing something down on it. She handed it to him, a number and her name scribbled down on it. His smiled widened and he nodded in agreement to what she said, folding and pocketing the paper.

“Thank you,” he said, genuinely. “This is a huge help. Let me know if there is something I can do in return.”

Whatever that may be. Zeal production, fixing things. If she was going to help him figure this out, then he definitely owed her a favor. But whatever she could want would be a small price to pay next to the realm of possibilities this would unlock – who knew what he could invent with her help?

“I’ll let you know later which evenings work best when I get to take a proper look at my schedule” Medeia said as he pocketed the note. She then turned to the bookshelf, grabbing a few of the books she had come for. She smiled again when he offered her a favor. “ Now then, Goodbye professor Chap- Idés” She said, catching herself almost calling him professor when he had already told her she could call him by his name. After saying her goodbyes and checking out the books she needed to prepare for her mythology lesson, she left the library.

The sky outside was filled with clouds and not a single ray of sunshine could shine through. Unlike the days before, there was no wind today. Medeia walked towards the parking lot, just letting herself feel the fresh air as it went down her lungs at each breath. The light hum of electricity from the streetlights and all the devices she could sense that the people she walked past carried with them was something she was used to by now. It was just like listening to birds sing in spring and summer for her. Only unlike actually chirping from birds, it was the slight melodic buzz of electricity. She had long ago learned to ignore the sound apparently only she could hear, ignoring the way she could sense any electrical device within close proximity.

It took Medeia a few minutes to walk from the library to the parking lot where her car stood. It wasn’t a fancy car, far from it. It was old but usable. The deep green metallic color of it reminded her of the forest back home. She sat down into the driver’s seat, putting her bag on the passenger side before fastening her seat belt and starting the car. The drive home she spent thinking about runes and how curious she was about this interesting project the other professor was doing.