My usual warning:
English is not my native language, so from time to time you will find some peculiar (as in outrageous) uses of the English language.
If you find a passage that offends your grammatical sensibilities, please let me know to fix it.
Please, I need some reviews to have more input to be able to correct my mistakes.
Thanks in advance :)
The order of the Mortal Knights. By Javier Delgado / AKA Elnahual
Fan fiction based on the characters and universe of "Oh my goddess" by Kōsuke Fujishima.I do not claim to own anything.
Chapter XIX
Aura
Jenny Rosenthal was enjoying her first cup of coffee of the day. It was a ritual she enjoyed because it gave her some time to sort out her ideas. Her mind roamed free while her hands were doing the same daily ritual: Boil water; add the right amount of coffee, brew for a couple of minutes until the optimum flavor was attained, strain and serve. She would never resort to something as cheap as instant coffee.
Soon the aroma of freshly brewed coffee flooded her cubicle and then could not avoid a shudder of excitement, saying aloud - "My cubicle".
The day before she had received the surprise, apparently the reports she had been writing about her work with the crystals had made an impression. And it was not just the cubicle. Now she had assistants! Students that were only slightly younger than her. She knew soon everyone would know what she was cooking up something very important.
She was barely managing to contain her emotions, so she took the first sip of coffee. It was a strong blend, and filled her palate with the aromatic and slightly bitter flavor while the caffeine was began to get into her system. She enjoyed that feeling. Then examined the place with her eyes. It was not an elegant place and was almost empty except for a Spartan desktop and her laptop, but still, it meant so much to her career. For a moment she set free her fantasies and thought that maybe that the Nobel was no so far away, perhaps less than 10 years.
Suddenly she moved her hand to dissolve those phantasies as if they were just smoke in the air, and then hardened her features. It was time to start working, if everything was on schedule then the synthesis of the crystal should have started and today she would have a first batch. She smirked at the idea of the old fashioned crystallization process used in chemistry, it was ... she searched for the correct word, "almost medieval"... she could not suppress a feminine and soft laugh.
Now she took a few sips of coffee savoring it quite deliberately, because she was also savoring her moment of triumph. Finally she left the cup and turned on her laptop. She was sure there would be some kind of congratulatory note or something. But then she noticed the email program was very busy while downloading dozens of e-mails, some of them seemed to be very large. She realized many of them seemed to be repetitions; apparently someone had been trying to contact her. It seemed it had been a bad time to lose her phone, but nobody could blame her for having a little celebration...
She examined the output and noticed there were no mails from Professor Nambu. Instead she found several mails with Japanese characters. Fortunately the names were also in roman characters. The names were vaguely familiar, it was hard to remember those Japanese names, and then found a name she recognized. It was from Shigeru Nakayama and almost jumped in surprise, then recognized another name, Takashi Yoshida. She had studied the work of those scientists but had never expected to be in direct contact with them. Then noticed all the mails had something in common, they came from Chiba University.
She could not avoid a whistle of surprise as she began to remember the other names. At least four senior scientists had been trying to contact her!
Finally she found the first mails. She decided to start with the email from Takashi Yoshida.
Nervously she took another sip of coffee and began reading professor Takashi's E-mail, his smooth English was easier to read than the others, then almost fell from her chair, the first sentence was a direct order to stop her work !... An order? How dare he!. Even if he was a senior scientist, he had no authority over her...
But the mail included several photographs and soon her indignation died out. They were from a destroyed laboratory and followed a detailed explanation of the incident at the Hongo Campus of the University of Chiba.
Eagerly she began to read the account and slowly her indignation was turned into fear.
There had been a terrible explosion in the Hongo campus laboratory and it had been produced by irradiating a few milligrams of what she called "Dilithium Crystals".
Quickly she looked at her watch; her face took a pale tint. Her heart began to race as she jumped from her chair. There was barely time to stop the work she had commissioned to her newly acquired assistants. The synthesis of 50 grams of crystals!
Forgetting all dignity, Jenny ran screaming from her cubicle.
At her desk, the now forgotten coffee began to cool.
In the grove surrounding the temple Toringinkan, two figures moved stealthily approaching a tree. One looked forward and pointed to a branch in a tree. The other figure, Lind, nodded at her signs, then with inhuman skill began to climb another tree; it was as if her body had no weight. She could have levitated but did not want to use magic that could trigger an alarm. Then she walked along a branch extending towards the other tree, it barely bent under her weight. She walked with the grace of a ballerina toward the end of the branch, and soon she was able to get a better view of the object. Lind spread her hands and with her superhuman senses concentrated on the object that was in the branch. She saw it was alive with energy from a chemical source, and was emitting an encoded electromagnetic radiation signal. She attempted to question the object but it had no intelligence, it had just a blind purpose, then sent a mild energy boost to test it, but felt an alarm was about to trigger, so she stopped and stood still for a moment. The object could be primitive, but it worked well. Finally she performed a passive scan of the object and memorized its settings. After that, she retraced her way and soon was along the younger Valkyrie. She made a gesture to remain silent and commanded her to leave.
Once they were at a safe distance Lind gave the order to stop and told her companion.
- Ghadril, You were right, that is an artifact of human origin.
- Yes. So humans are spying on us?
- No, not humans, I noticed a small residue of demonic magic.
- A demon? Why would a demon use human technology?
- It must be a very clever demon. A spell, a magical object, or anything related to magic would be easy to spot for us. But human technology is everywhere and it's too new, so we know little about it, that is why we would have not have detected it earlier. Did you find it by accident?
- Yes, I was looking for seeds and bulbs to re-plant the garden, as you ordered.
- She showed her a small sack of bulbs and seeds that had been collecting. - Fortunately I think I was outside its field of vision.
Lind looked towards the temple. The protective shield that had been placed by Belldandy to hide any activity in the temple was still active and mimicked a perfect copy. Despite the destruction and the large energies released from the outside everything seemed normal.
Lind thought for a moment. This surveillance could be related to the attack on the temple, and since the field was still working, the attacker probably didn't know about her and her squad. Perhaps they could get them by surprise... She could not help thinking that the attack on Giörel, the attack on the temple and now the loss of contact with Heaven, were related. There could only be one place where all this would come from, "Hell." If there was a lurking demon they should catch it.
- We need to find out where the surveillance information is being sent.
- Lind, while we do not know much about human technology. I believe this device is using the human communication network called internet. It may be primitive, but their tracks are well hidden.
Lind smiled, her companion looked with surprise, since they had been isolated from Yggdrasil, Lind seemed to smile more easily, that was disconcerting, her next words were more unexpected:
- It may not be necessary to do it ourselves; the mortals from the place called "the University" appear to be experts on technology. I think it's time to begin to interact directly with humans. Ghadril, you will have to be friendlier toward them. I could not help but notice how your presence affected them.
Lind was looking at her companion's body, her expression was hard to describe, but there seemed to be some mischief in it. The Valkyrie tried to keep her composure at this statement, but could not hide her displeasure at the idea, after all they were old mates.
- Lind, I am a warrior, not a goddess of love.
Lind stopped smiling, she realized that she had been allowing too much familiarity; otherwise her order would not have been questioned, even by Ghadril. She frowned on her and warned sternly.
- You will do whatever it takes. I'm still the leader.
- Yes Madam - answered the goddess with downcast eyes, and then tried to change the subject. Will you inform the other mortals?
- They have already done too much and have been in danger, in order to help us. It is our turn to do something.
In the last few days, the frustration of not being able to do anything had been growing, and the dependence on mortals was beginning to drain her patience. She felt the need to act on her own. Lind would later regret this.
Dr. Shugahara Kenji looked at his new class and thought that not even in his wildest dreams could he have imagined such students. A healing goddess and six Valkyries.
Lind had listened impassively to his suggestion, but ultimately it had been approved. She had not even tried to hear his arguments; apparently the idea that her squad would be familiar with some human activity was enough. Also he had his own motivation. He wished to learn more about these fascinating beings.
Now the goddesses stared at him with curiosity, he was not sure if the object of there curiosity was him or what he was doing. Kenji could not help but crack a smile, maybe his next book should be called "Cooking for goddesses", since he had never had more dedicated students, who also could learn with such ease.
Dr Shugahara was also passionate and knowledgeable in anthropology, and began by explaining the importance of food for humans and the cultural implications. He then put forward to them the entire world of possibilities and techniques which could be used to modify the food´s texture, flavor and aroma.
The goddesses listened fascinated, because until then, they had considered food as a simple way to recharge energy and now found that there was a whole new world of exciting possibilities to explore. The human world seemed an exotic and mysterious place.
The doctor also added some fascinating data on food of different cultures. After a demonstration, he left them to work.
They did not need much explanation. Kenji watched them and was amazed at their inhumanly accurate work. They performed the cutting of vegetables with millimetric accuracy and the speed which they handled the knives kept him remembering they were warriors who could use them for other purposes. All this plus their speed at learning, reminded him of a certain goddess that had amazed him so he could not keep his eyes from growing moist.
Othala watched him; she was kept in awe at the strength of his feelings. Despite her youthful appearance, she was old and the years of life far outweighed those of this creature. She had seen war and death, yet this mortal creature never stopped to fascinate her... She could see the feelings of Dr Shugahara reflected in his aura and felt his pain.
Her healing instincts moved her to act, so she approached the man and put her hand on his shoulder. Kenji jumped at the unexpected contact, and then as if they heard an invisible order, the other Valkyries stopped their work and gathered around him, touching him with the palms of their hands. They started singing a very soft chant and Othala spoke:
- You have a powerful aura, it's a pity you can not to see and use it, but we can help. This world is full of forces that you cannot see, but I can teach you to see them, that will help you focus your pain in a better way.
The doctor felt the gentle touch of goddesses like an electric shock.
- I do not understand. What are you doing? - He nervously exclaimed at the strange sensations that filled him.
- We will only make you conscious of a world that you have already begun to see a hint of, I have seen that your world is full of beauty that you cannot perceive. Do not be afraid; take it as a gift for what you have done for us.
Kenji started to feel different, he felt he was a little lighter, but the most wonderful thing was that he began to see a glow that surrounded the goddesses and then saw that his own body also shone with the most beautiful colors. He looked around and material objects seemed to come alive- They were no longer inanimate objects, each object had its own personality and own energy. It was a sudden revelation of beauty; it was the beauty of his own world. The full strength of the effect lasted only a few seconds, and faded, but not completely. It was a wonderful gift. He had seen the world through the eyes of a god, and even more so, perhaps he could learn to do it again.
The Valkyries separated slowly and returned to their work as if they had never left. The doctor looked at Othala and having no words to express made a deep bow of thanks.
Suddenly heard a timid cough, it was Keiichi, who had been wondering at the process, somehow he had managed to also perceive the aura, his life with three goddesses had made him more perceptive and it was a disconcerting experience. Then he commented:
- I have restored the electricity and the television works. I will leave it here, it might be good to hear the news, but I cannot put it Urd's room, I hope you do not mind.
Dr Shugahara blinked. The change from discovering the hidden beauty of the world to jump to the banality of TV seemed ridiculous, but by then the Valkyries had surrounded the apparatus. Shugahara knew the fascination this device exerted on Urd, but did not expect this reaction from a squad of warriors.
One of them managed to turn on the power and soon discovered the channel change dial. Kenji heard a low murmur among the group of goddesses, one of them commented.
- I've heard about these devices, they are primitive, but mortals use it to share many of their stories. Another commented: - I've heard mortals are great creators of stories and tales. Pity we cannot use magic to make this device bigger.
She quickly went through several TV channels, then began a more deliberate and systematic search for something that seemed to attract them: "stories."
Dr Shugahara suddenly heard a familiar voice and with an energetic gesture asked her to let him hear. The Valkyrie nodded and search again to find the channel to let him listen, she was intrigued.
Keiichi was surprised by his curiosity. It was a simple talk show, and featured a middle-aged man.
- Why do you want to hear him? - Do you know him?
- Yes, he is Dr Shinobu Kitayama from the Kyoto University. I did not expect to see him on television, his area of study is not widely known.
- What does he study?
- Happiness. - Then Kenji signaled for silence, while Keiichi scratched his head trying to understand how happiness could be a subject of science.
It was a morning talk show; there was an interviewer who seemed to suffer from chronic verbiage and a young pretty woman who seemed to have a vocabulary of 5 words. They faced a middle-aged man, who seemed like an older version of Dr Shugahara. Despite his age and his formal appearance, the man's eyes shone with a youthful enthusiasm.
-... So you claim that you can measure happiness and put it in a lab? I do not see any science on it
The question was designed to annoy the guest, but he simply ignored the tone and focused on answering with enthusiasm:
- It's not as difficult or incredible as it seems, simply we really know when we are happy, common people are quite objective about that and with a good questionnaire with a few key words, you can extract a lot of information to study happiness and what is behind it.
The news presenter tried to be flippant.
- Let me guess. You found that money brings happiness. I do not think you need to do scientific research to know that.
The man smiled, it was an easy smile that left no doubt about his area of study. Instead of being bothered by the words, he examined the presenter as if he were a strange bug that needed to be investigated. Then answered with an authority that silenced the man, at least momentarily
- Only to some extent. Once our basic needs are met, happiness depends on many other factors. The understanding of what makes us happy, can do much to bring happiness to more people. Each culture has different things that makes them happy. We simply cannot use the standards form one culture and expect people to be happy.
The presenter seemed embarrassed by not being able to irritate the man, but tried again, speaking cynically:
- So money does not buy happiness? Come on, I would be really happy with a higher salary.
The man just smiled again and answered:
- You do not want more money; you want public attention since that is what makes you happy. You need to impress other people, since your own self-esteem is so low. That way you can feel some happiness, but it's not a very effective way. If you could work on your self-esteem, then you would be much happier. - The presenter gulped at being dissected in public. - So, money is not determinant on reaching happiness, for example our country has one of the happiest cities in the world, and it's not the city with the highest economic level.
- Ah ha! - Commented the man, trying to get some attention as predicted - And who are the lucky ones.
- It's the city of Nekomi. There's something there that causes people to be extremely happy. It's a phenomenon that started about four years ago.
The mention of Nekomi immediately captured Keiichi´s attention.
- Can you really measure that? - The surprise of the man was evident -And with what accuracy can that be determined?
- Enough to know that the epicenter of happiness is around an old abandoned temple called Toringinkan.
Keiichi and Shugahara looked at each other speechless, a shocked Keiichi commented:
- That must be because of Belldandy. Marler once commented that the presence of the goddesses breaks the balance and brings too much happiness to the world, but I never thought someone could measure that.
Kenji thought about it and commented: - But then, if the presence of a goddess brings happiness, then the presence of a demon could bring unhappiness...
As if echoing his words, the presenter commented.
- But then you are also able to measure the unhappiness. Tell me, what is the unhappiest place in Japan?
- Interestingly it´s also in Nekomi, but the area is much smaller as if the effect would be much weaker, is a small suburb practically abandoned, and a very unhappy one. It's located in...
The presenter apparently decided it was boring not being able to manipulate his guest, especially since he was the one being annoyed, so he interrupted.
- Sorry professor, our time is over. We hope to hear more about this "interesting topic" on another occasion.
Dr Shugahara frowned angrily, but restrained himself. At the questioning look from the Valkyrie in charge of the channel selector, he told her she could continue searching the TV channels, and then pointed to Keiichi, indicating he wanted to talk to him alone.
They left the kitchen. Outside he took out his cell phone and searched his directory.
- I must phone and congratulate my colleague; I will not lie if I tell him that I found it was a really fascinating theme. I'm sure he will not deny us the information about that unfortunate suburb - He paused and smiled embarrassed. - I confess I had never taken Dr Shinobu studies very seriously. I hope someday I will be able to reveal him how much accurate are his studies.
It was an impressive lab, and the one at Chiba University seemed tiny in comparison, there were dozens of large-screen plasma monitoring equipment. A big room could be seen where a large supercomputer was working, it was the fastest in the world, and through the windows you could see the particle detectors, which were changing the way we view the world.
Oblivious to everything around him, at a small desktop, Professor Nambu checked his laptop, looking worried. He felt tired; it had taken a long flight to get here, but did not want to lose time, and had refused to rest in the hotel to get straight to CERN. In this place the best experts in high-energy physics and string theory used the LHC energies to question the universe.
He was approached by a man; he was Yoshida Takashi, who had insisted on accompanying him. He felt it was a moment of great importance for humanity. He doubted for a moment before interrupting the professor, but it was important to talk.
- I just heard what happened to Miss Rosenthal
- Yes, it was very close to becoming a tragedy. I had completely forgotten about her plans to synthesize the crystals. It was foolish on my part.
- How much we talking about?
- Fifty grams of crystals! And we were about to die for just a few milligrams.
- Then you managed to interrupt the synthesis?
- No, that's the interesting point. She really synthesized that amount, I do not understand how they survived. Apparently she used a procedure that resulted in a more stable structure.
Yoshida whistled in admiration.
- Fifty grams? If our calculations are correct and that is destabilized, it could generate a destructive force that would exceed by several orders of magnitude the Tzar bomb. Can we control it?
- I do not know, but we must concentrate on the most immediate problem, I need Miss Rosenthal here along with her... "dilithium crystals". She doesn't know, but right now her knowledge may be the most coveted in the world. Here she will be safer until we understand what is happening. Fortunately the name she choose would make believe a lot of people it's a joke, that will give us more time.
- I guess she would be surprised to be sent here.
- She has not had time to enjoy her cubicle, but she is an ambitious young woman who wanted to participate in the big leagues. Now Miss Rosenthal will be the focus of the top experts in physics in the coming days, I guess the experience will be memorable.
- But do you really think it would be wise to tell everyone what is going on? And not only to the part of the gods, which I still have trouble accepting it despite having witnessed their power, but we are tapping energies beyond our imagination. If that information comes out, someone could unleash unprecedented destruction.
- Unfortunately the most important thing about it is already known by many, "it works." Sooner or later someone would try to repeat the experiment and this time he or she may not have a goddess on hand to save his life and ours. Nor we cannot afford that only a few people know about this. Remember what happened with the atomic bomb, until a scientist released the full information to the world and restored the balance of power. I know it followed years of fear, with that balance, but it was preferable than only one nation had the technology. Science is based on the free flow of information and we must not silence it. But information must be real and verifiable.
- I shudder to think about the consequences if it's used based on defective data.- commented Takashi, he was visible altered by the words of professor Nambu.
- Also it can be equally dangerous if someone thinks that this will give him power over the world. But it´s not the only thing that worries me.
- What could be more important than the destiny of our world?
- I was reviewing some of Miss Rosenthal notes, and I hope our guests could allocate some computing time to verify them - He pointed to the giant computer CS-2 / Meiko Limited that was the heart of the CERN facilities. - but, I just talked to Stephen and he confirmed my suspicions. The goddesses are from a universe with more dimensions than our own, and those universes are inherently unstable. I think the existence of their universe depends on ours, so far it´s an unfalsifiable hypothesis, but perhaps we are not only responsible for our universe.
Keiichi and Dr Shugahara expectantly looked how the old computer booted up. The booting of the operating system seemed slower than ever, but finally completed and Keiichi launched the web browser. He quickly entered the Heavens' website, which he had no doubt was really hosted in Heaven.
But this time nothing came out, the connection was slow to connect. Keiichi feared the worst; maybe this source of communication was also broken.
Finally, a screen appeared, but it was not what he expected. This time there were no images, only a simple text written in runes.
- Unable to contact web site. The requested server is not responding. Http protocol inoperative. Attempting to use alternative communication protocols.
Keiichi jumped in surprise. That was not a standard internet message from the browser. Kenji looked surprised, and then Keiichi remembered that he could not read the symbols.
- It says the communication channel seems to be open, but it cannot communicate. The equipment's can hear each other, but they no longer have a common language to speak. However it seems that there is some kind of software in my computer that will try an alternate method.
- Do you think it is safe?
Keiichi grinned, after what had happened to them, it sounded almost ridiculous to worry about a piece of software.
- Remember, we are now the order of mortal knights. What could be wrong?
Kenji smiled and put his hand on Keiichi´s shoulder. Suddenly there was more information on the screen:
- report: Protocol tcp / ip active. No data servers to access of information. Must log directly on the system. Suggested action: to enabled the local interface for interactively evaluate alternatives with user. Do you agree (y/n)?
The Local interface? That seemed to confirm Keiichi´s suspicion that strange software was on his machine. With barely contained excitement, typed a simple "y".
Never before had such simple words triggered such profound consequences for the fate of humanity. But Keiichi would have not cared, all he wanted to do above everything else, was to save his goddess. But soon he would know that something extraordinary was happening.
Ada-654 had been awakened.
End of Chapter XIX
Notes:
Adx-654. If you have forgotten about this program, please see Chapter 9, "core war".
Shinobu Kitayama. He is truly a specialist who studies happiness, and its measurement and impact on our lives. I recommend reading about his work and the different expectations of happiness in different cultures
CS-2 / Meiko Limited. One of the most fasted computers in the world, an expandable multiprocessing computer. While it has a Japanese name, it´s a British company, with base in the US.
Tzar bomb. It´s the largest nuclear device that had been built and detonated. It was designed for a capacity of 100 megatons, although it was tested to "only" 50 megatons.
I want to thank Zoro50, who help to clean my english