Upon Vestia: Chapter Seventeen

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Kay always tried so hard to be sensible and pragmatic. Asher had always loved that about him, and he loved it just as much now. He smiled softly. "No, you're definitely not alone in this."
He wasn't going to leave Kay to look after this little dragon alone. He'd gotten the guy into this situation, so now it was his job to do everything he could to help. Did that make him the other father here? Maybe. This was thoroughly confusing and he was going to need to think it over at some point. "If it wasn't already obvious, I'm here for you. Both of you," he said.

~~
Tala snorted weakly. "I do not like that butterfly well." She let Shane help her.

"Yes, I guess we are a refugee camp of sorts," Vestia said. "I think the Guild is just sustained by magic reserves of its people. No idea how long that will last."

Skye looked at the batteries, picking up the ones that looked similar to what the battery in the droid should look like.

Together Orel and Skye found some different batteries to take back to Mourn. They'd head back in that direction.

Hewitt shrugged. "It's certainly not a very sustainable economic model. Of course i'm no economist, nor an expert on xenobiology but I should imagine trying to house so many different species from such vastly different backgrounds and viewpoints can't be easy. " he shook his head. "And their over reliance on magic. Nothing stands in the way of progress more than magic."

Skye walked with him, glancing to Orel as they headed back. She smiled at him happily.

"You disapprove of magic?" Vestia asked curiously. "Yeah, it seems to maintain all this space for so many species. Eventually it's gotta break down, we just hope everyone will be able to escape when that happens."

~~
Orel smiled back, then looked away. Eek, she smiled at him again!

Skye looked ahead again, going into Mourn's room when they reached it once more.

Professor Hewitt bristled a little. "I am a scientist dear ship, and as such, the very idea of magic is abhorrent. It's a shortcut, a filler to shore up the areas you don't understand. The problem with such shortcuts is because they're easier, you then never bother to learn the correct way to do it, you use it like a crutch, and it stunts your progress. I won't invent electricity today, I can just zap it with my finger and make it work. No reason to learn about how diseases happen, I can just magically cure with a wave of my hand. Why bother to understand the universe around you when you can just use magic to twist and corrupt the laws of nature? Oh nevermind the damage you may be doing with your mindless tugging and tearing of the fabric of the universe, ripping a hole in time and space so you don't have to walk? That's a much better idea than researching matter transfer isn't it?" He hrumphed.

Mourn had stopped what he was doing to watch the professor rant with mild amusement.
"Plant man funny." He decided.

"I am not funny." Professor Hewitt snapped.

Mourn waved to Skye as she walked in. "You find battery?"

"We found some that might work" Skye said, glancing to Hewitt as she came in. She had heard most of his rant and was intrigued by it. She handed the batteries to Mourn so he could see if any would work then looked to the professor again "Most Artuvians shun magic as well, since it doesn't work on us. Though sometimes the 'shortcuts' of magic are necessary to survival so that you can later find non-magical means to do the same thing and sometimes those non-magical means will do more harm than the magical ones."

"I see your point," Vestia said mildly. "It's good that there are people who care so much about science."

Orel looked at the professor, confused by his vehemence. It was just magic, you got used to living around it.
"Yeah, we have some batteries here for you to try, Mourn." He handed them over.

"Progress depends upon failure, trial and error are essential elements of the scientific process. Those who have it rely too heavily upon it, the very problem is that they do NOT then go on to find a non magical solution, because the magic is easier. Magic is a crutch, it stunts the pursuit of true knowledge." Professor Hewitt stared at her sternly, he knew he was right and it showed in his haughtiness.

Mourn took the batteries and examined them carefully, comparing them to the damaged one.
"I think work. Other battery no look like anything I seen, no even know if can be recharge. We use Lithium." He decided sticking with the familiar tech was safer. Whatever that backup battery was, he had no clue where to even start on it. It was just too alien.
He did put it back into the drone though, just in case and started to check every single wire and clip and component to make sure nothing else was damaged.

Skye thought about Moone then shook her head "Not from what I have seen, magic requires dedication and learning to keep it from doing unintentional damage. It is faster and some do overuse it or use it as a crutch, but those are the outliers, not the norm. Even just watching those here learning to use their magic can show that. Magic is a part of this universe just as much as science is."

Vestia listened, bemused. This guy was very unusual.

Orel ignored the magic talk and watched Mourn.

"Unintentional harm, you admit yourself it's dangerous. " He shook his head. "Do you think those batteries will work?" The professor turned his attention back to Mourn.

Mourn grinned lopsidedly. "Maybe?"

"Well that's hardly reassuring." The professor complained.

Mourn shrugged. "I no know till power up. Shouldn't fry circuitry."

The professor tensed.

Mourn giggled and clipped the battery into place and started screwing things together again.

"It's part of the universe, like it or not," Vestia pointed out, "if you have it, you should learn to use it safely." She watched Mourn worriedly. He was always so reassuring.

"Of course it's dangerous, just as science can be dangerous to those who don't know what they are doing." Skye said then shrugged "You wouldn't tell someone new to science to try to split an atom or anything like that."

"And responsibly." Professor Hewitt shook his head. "We simply don't know how much irreparable damage overuse of these abilities are doing. For instance, were you aware that those granted the supposed blessing of prophesy across multiple worlds have shown a marked tendency toward dementia and other brain wasting conditions? Those with rapid regeneration seem more prone to various cancers. Of course there are always outliers, such is the nature of the universe, but I could find you countless studies pointing to what is perceived as magic ultimately proving to be a poorly understood mechanism doing more harm than good purely due to a gross misunderstand of precisely what the person is doing. Somewhat like using a rock to open a jar. Or as you yourself said young Artruvian, a novice creating nuclear fission without any understanding of what they were doing or how dangerous it might be. With no safety precautions and no care. "

Mourn clipped the last part of the casing onto the drone and pressed the on button, setting it back down on the table and watching to see if it would boot up.

Hewitt shut up to watch, eyes wide and anxious.

"Exactly, that is why they need teachers to learn from and to study their magic, just as we need teachers and to study science" Skye said with a smile before looking to the robot as well.

Orel glanced at Skye. She sure had a lot of opinion on magic, didn't she? Hmm.

"Their teachers don't understand it either. It's like trying to explain combustion to a species who believe fire is a living being. Oh certainly they can still create it by using their summoning ritual of rubbing two rocks together, but they don't understand why it doesn't always work or what they're actually doing by rubbing those rocks. They have no comprehension of ways to contain the fire and believe should it break out that it's simply angry, not that they used tinder too dry and failed to dig a sufficient windbreak. If you do not understand the fire, how can you expect to ever be able to safely contain and control it? Your teachers can teach you the rituals, tell you to cage the beast, but you'll never really know what fire is or any other way to replicate it. You will never be able to transfer that understanding to a similar process. "

The drone started to hum as the fans started up.

Mourn clapped his hands delightedly. "It work!"

"We'll see." Professor Hewitt was more cautious.

The drone lifted off the table, rotated to point the camera at the small group and started to run through a quick diagnostic.

"How is it?" Professor Hewitt asked.

"Re-calibrating... Analyzing." The drone responded.

"That is why it should be allowed to be studied and advances made, not have it shunned." Skye started then stopped and frowned, looking away from them. She was probably giving too much away now. No Artuvian supported magic, unless they had family with that power. She was afraid to look to Orel to see how he was taking this.

Orel was ignoring the dinner by now, more interested in Skye. "You..." He said, "Is it you, or your sister?"

Skye flushed at that question, unwilling to look to Orel "I have seen Saldes, but I have no magic myself." She said then bit her lower lip worriedly. What would he do?

"perhaps. " Professor Hewitt sighed and waved a hand. He watched Amity warily.

The little drone took a few minutes to run through things, then rose up higher into the air till it was well above everyone else. The little lenses around the outer ring all flickered into life, projecting light and scrolling through colours for a second or two before there was a click and the voice announced "Systems appear to be running as normal. Initiating holographic interface."

An image flickered and formed below the drone, steadily taking shape and substance till a very tall, willowy Aketi figure stood before them. This one had yellow and green skin and was almost seven foot tall, dressed in a uniform that matched the drone's colours, red and slate grey. They smiled.

Professor Hewitt looked relieved. "Oh it IS good to see you again my friend."

Amity bowed his head. "Thank you sir, I appreciate your determination to help me. Even if it is astoundingly foolish."

"Oh indulge an old man will you?" The Professor chuckled.

Mourn stared at the hologram and passed a hand through the image.

"Saldes?" Orel frowned, he didn't know that name. He shook his head, confused.

"Saldes is the god of magic" Skye said, glancing to Orel then at the robot to see it actually working. "According to him, he and Rycdos are brothers" She said, looking to Orel again. "They once worked together but Rycdos became stronger and started banishing magic users."

"Oh," Orel considered that, "So someone in your family is magic?" He looked to Amity and Mourn, and smiled a bit distractedly, "Congratulations on being repaired!"

Vestia cheered quietly for Amity and Mourn, and ignored the hawks' conversation mostly.