Gary Harper
July 02, 2020 7:37 PM
So... what'cha got in the back? [Tarquin] by Gary Harper
Gary had been to the library many times. He considered himself on good terms with the librarian. Over the years he had tried to do his best to keep the man happy with him. After all he was the gaming club's faculty sponsor, and one of these times Gary was going to get him to join in on an actual game. But, that was not why he was here at the moment. There were other things he had to take care of, promises to keep, important things to discover.He sidled up to the librarian's desk as overtly casual as he could. He gave a look around the area, not seeing anyone else in earshot, he turned to the keeper of all the school's knowledge. With a look in his eyes that spoke of a hunger for knowledge he addressed the man before him, "Librarian, I have need of your assistance." He shot a glance to either side, checking to make sure still no one was close by. "I have a research project that may delve into some of the more... difficult to find information."
This was going to be it. Could Tarquin help him? Could he help him help Evelyn? "I've done all the digging I have been able to up to this point. What do you know about...." He paused again, "An Hour-Reversal Charm? I've only found oblique references to it and vague mentions of capturing it in a device?"
2
Gary Harper
So... what'cha got in the back? [Tarquin]
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Tarquin Fox-Reynolds
July 04, 2020 3:29 AM
Tea by Tarquin Fox-Reynolds
Tarquin looked up from his desk, fairly pleased to see Gary approaching. The Aladren was not necessarily someone Tarquin saw one hundred percent eye to eye with (the initial request to bring snacks into the library had shocked him as virtually sacrilege especially coming from an Aladren) but they had always been able to come to some sort of understanding (the argument that they would only be touching their own print material’s not the library’s had been quite persuasive, as had the agreement that they would stop if anyone noticed and complained). So, that had worked out well enough (especially as Tarquin got a regular cut of whatever they were eating) and Gary was, in spite of this most unusual request, still on the list of Decent Library Regulars.In comparison with bringing snacks into the library, the request of researching time travel was quite mundane. Well, alright that was facetious, but Tarquin enjoyed a good bit of facetious humour (as his husband was quick to point out with regular affectionate eye rolls). Time travel was an interesting one. The particular charm and the device Gary was referencing had a mixed reputation… In theory, it could be put to perfectly harmless uses like squeezing a few more hours into the day, and there were suggestions that cases existed where it had been used that casually with no harm or ill-effect. However, once you scaled that up, it was easy to see how that could be problematic in any number of directions. It would be easier for labour markets to exploit their workers if time could be repeated. Or what did it mean for economics if time was no longer a finite resource and everyone could work two or more jobs simultaneously? And what if that became the norm? It was a fairly hideous idea.
That was without even getting into all the messy consequences of making the universe fall over. Those were also bad.
Of course, Gary’s request could have been purely theoretical. It was an interesting subject. It might have been something he wanted for a game - more than one odd request had come Tarquin’s way because of that. Equally, it could have been something more… human. Tarquin was pretty sure that between all the embarrassment and social discomfort of being a teenager, and the exam pressure, there were many reasons why one might want to go get an hour back.
There was also the possibility that Gary was evil and going to destroy the universe intentionally, or maybe unintentionally, but that he had some grand overreaching scheme that would doom them all. Tarquin didn’t think he was a bad kid, but he was probably not meant to let people read about time travel too much, just in case. After all, most sociopaths were pretty good at charming their way around people. Which probably meant, he realised, with a slightly guilty prickling of feeling disloyal even if it was true, that Gary was not one.
“That’s a thorny subject,” he offered neutrally. “What are you hoping to learn about it, and why?”
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Tarquin Fox-Reynolds
Tea
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Gary Harper
July 04, 2020 8:45 AM
Time Enhancement Activator? Excellent. by Gary Harper
"I can well understand that," Gary nodded in thoughtful assent. 'Thorny' barely started to describe it. The mere hint that such things were actually a reality from the librarian send a cold shiver down his spine. Magic could do it then. Magic could bend time. If magic could do it, then it could be done. If it could be done... would the muggle world ever work it out through their own means? Everything about that thought train was unsettling.Gary had always thought of time travel as the most powerful and dangerous things that could potentially exist. What good was the biggest bomb or the most destructive spell if one could simply go back and undo it's effects? Or see that it never existed in the first place? The biggest army was nothing if you could go back, pull on the right thread and unravel everything that had brought it together to begin with. Someone with that power could reshape society in any form they wish with no one being the wiser, they could.... wait...
His mind drifted back to the conversations he had last year. The conspiracy and the shaping of society to meet certain ends. Maybe Gary was talking to the wrong person about this... perhaps the one who wielded such power was their very own, cunning, Mr. Row. That would certainly go a long way to explain how Mr. Row was able to keep on top everyone and everything going on around the school. How he could help guide results to his desired outcome. Gary wondered how many times he had actually gone to talk to Mr. Row in his office before Mr. Row had steered Gary in the way that he actually wanted. Insidious. He would have to be very careful in his dealings with the 'Guidance Councillor' from now on. Maybe he should have looked for employment opportunities in that area... maybe he had....
That was a problem for another time. Now he was talking to the librarian. The librarian wanted to know what he wanted and why and now he had another aspect to add to his inquiry. His original reason, he thought was a good one. Evelyn was having a difficult time of things and suggested a few more hours of the day for sleep would be nice. She certainly had looked like she needed it. However, that would require revealing more information that Evelyn wanted revealed. The 'I have a friend with a problem' reason was so cliche that... well, it may just work. The librarian may assume he's talking about himself and that could be fine, so long as his motives are pure. Right?
"Well, you see, I've got this friend..." he cracked. Nope, that was terrible. "I'm sorry," he said with a bit of a chuckle, "It's true, but it sounds so terrible. Beating around the bush with 'theoreticals' would be just as bad probably." So it was probably best just to get to the point. "You don't have to tell me twice about how dangerous mucking around with time could be. The fact that it might be possible is actually a horrifying thought. Still I ran across it a few weeks ago, and it's been bugging me. How is it possible? What are the limitations? Why hasn't the universe collapsed into paradoxical state of non-existance as soon as someone figured it out?"
He paused for a breath for a moment, "Then just the other day a friend said sh... they could use a few more hours in the day to catch up on sleep. That reminded me of this subject and I said I'd look into it for he... them." He wasn't quite sure where to go next with his statements on that front, so he decided to branch to the new questions that had just cropped up. "If someone is using spells like this? Is there any way to detect or counter them?" His mind began to run on it's own again, "There would need to be a counter-charm already in place... ready to trigger off of the casting of time altering charm. Once they started casting it, it would probably be to late to do anything because, well, time."
2
Gary Harper
Time Enhancement Activator? Excellent.
1404
0
5
Tarquin Fox-Reynolds
July 06, 2020 2:59 AM
No, just... *gestures beveragely* by Tarquin Fox-Reynolds
For the most part, Gary’s questions seemed… non-evil. They sounded like the kinds of things that someone of bibliophilic and theoretical persuasions might be prompted to think about on seeing mention of time travel as a real thing. Tarquin would probably drop a note to Grayson, just in case - ‘Gary asked about time-travel. Seemed theoretical. Inscribe this somewhere that will transcend paradoxes, just in case and/or keep an eye on him.’ That way, if Gary did turn out to be bent on being the next benevolent or malevolent dictator, it wasn’t totally on Tarquin for failing to catch it.“Well, for limitations, what I’ve read is that the only thing possible is closed-loop time travel, spanning hours rather than anything longer. From my understanding, that answers some of the other questions about why the world hasn’t blipped or gone crazy - as far as we can tell,” he acknowledged, “You can muck about in your own backyard but you can’t reshape the universe. I can direct you to some reading materials on the ethics and theory if you’re interested,” he added. That was safe enough. It would hopefully sate some of Gary’s curiosity, if that was really what had brought him here (and Tarquin believed that it was at least part of the reason). Also, conveniently, most of the ethics papers said ‘just don’t’ - a position which Gary seemed already convinced of but which it wouldn’t hurt to reinforce.
“As for your friend,” Tarquin stated, noticing the pronoun shift and wondering whether to keep a closer eye on Ness McLeod, “I think that’s something we all often wish for. Depending on what’s causing that lack of sleep, then there’s a few options. Talking to the medic might be useful - a sleeping potion can help a messed up cycle get back on track. Or going into what’s causing the sleeplessness with friends or a trusted adult - if they’re overloaded, some help sorting out their schedule might do the trick. There’s a lot of things we can resort to before bending and tearing at the fabric of the universe,” he noted, “I know most of them probably don’t sound quite so satisfactory, but sometimes it’s true that all that stuff about love and friendship and looking after each other being the best kind of magic… It’s corny, but there’s a reason people say it,” he advised.
“Or there’s starting an unhealthy relationship with caffeine, if your friend is of an age where that’s appropriate,” he added, trying to lighten the mood a little.
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Tarquin Fox-Reynolds
No, just... *gestures beveragely*
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Gary Harper
July 09, 2020 5:15 PM
Right... I see... yes..... by Gary Harper
Gary nodded along as the librarian talked about the limitations he had heard about. Whether or not they were factual would be a whole different research project entirely. However, it seemed logical, given that the universe did in fact still exist. That may just be power limitations or another factor as well, if the nature of the universe allowed for it in small bits then why not larger chunks? However, that particular facet wasn't what he was really here to figure out. Evelyn just needed another hour or two in the day, and this now sounded possible.Still, there was plenty someone could do in an hour if they planned it well enough. Could you also loop the same few hours repeatedly? "Ethics and theory sound interesting," Gary nodded at the librarian's suggestion. Theory may answer some of those questions, and ethics may hint at what all may be possible. However, neither of those would probably get him the practical bits he would need to actually cast the magic though. He suspected he was going to need an awful good persuasion roll to get that information from the librarian. This may be more of a work towards the goal type of thing than accomplished right away with a lucky roll.
Yup. That seemed to be the way this was going. Librarian Fox-Reynolds was now talking about alternatives to bending and tearing the fabric of the universe. What fun was that? Wasn't that the point of magic as a whole? Well, maybe not. He gave the librarian a little bit of a look when he started talking like Jasmine. It was true enough though. He had considered telling Evelyn that she could cut out gaming club if she needed to. He'd miss her there, but it was just a game... her health and well-being were more important and he was pretty sure everyone else at the table would agree.... except maybe her.
Gary wobbled his head noncommittally, there were a lot of factors at work here and he was pretty sure Evelyn didn't want them all getting around more than they had to. So, giving a justification or going into possible other solutions probably would become a tricky conversation pretty fast. He did smile at the librarian's attempt at humor, "That may be an option, I'll have to see. In the meantime, I guess I'll need to start with the theory and ethics books." He then shot the librarian a hopeful look, "And then we'll see where those take me."
2
Gary Harper
Right... I see... yes.....
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