~just like to say thank you to my reviewers, particularly dementorchic- rock on dude~
18. Behind the Scenes
During her days in Winchester without a job, Mary hadn't sat around the house doing nothing. In addition to helping out with the housework, she had studied her Amber Spyglass with care and attention. Initially she had sought to find out how it works, but then she decided she didn't want to know how it worked. The point was that it did work. And she decided to develop it further. By enquiring and researching she had obtained some of the mineral Iceland Spar. Getting it into two sheets hadn't been easy, but Mary was determined and she knew that with the resources of her own world she could refine an improved version of the Amber Spyglass. Using the smallest amount of oil from her phial, she prepared her new lens and set them a hand span apart. It worked. The lens was smaller than the spyglass, but she had done this on purpose. Now she took the telescope that had remained unused for many years and added her lens to its currant one. Once the whole thing was glued into place she assembled her creation and placed the tripod on the windowsill. It was better than she imagined. By manipulating the zoom and focus controls she could view the Shadows at the finest detail.
Will was gazing out of the window during an English lesson when he felt it. He wasn't thinking of anything in particular. But the gentle say of the trees and combined with the richness of the bright sun on them made him drowsy and slow.
'Will!'
Will jumped and glanced round the class, expecting to see many faces staring at him. But only Martin at the front of the class was saying anything at all, and he was jabbering on about the boring book of literature that lay in front of each student.
'Kirjava?' Will thought, His dæmon was at home on his bed. But she responded in the same tone.
'I didn't say anything.' She thought back to him.
'Then who did?' That was a silly question, there was no-one else- he felt her amusement and mockingly stuck his tongue out. The bell suddenly rang and Will scooped up his things and made for the door.
'William-' The teacher stopped him in his tracks and Will's heart sank.
'Mr. Radband wants to see you in his office now.'
All right then.' Said Will, his heart dropping a little further. Going to see Mr. Radband meant trudging down to the house offices and waiting dutifully outside the designated one until Mr. Radband remembered he asked to see you. Then after a ten-minute wait he would invite you in and assume his I-know-how-you-feel-but-it's-for-the-best look. It was possibly the most patronising meeting a person could undergo.
When he turned up Mr. Radband invited Will in and offered a seat. Will sat down, but not comfortably.
'Well well William, we've not had an absence note from you gap. You've missed days here and there, but they're on your own head.'
'Sorry sir, I keep forgetting it.'
'Well, I'll be forced to have a chat with the social services. If I don't contact them, they'll contact you.'
'I see.'
'Can you offer an explanation?'
'Yes.' Here Mr. Radband waited for Will to continue, but he didn't.
'What?'
'I was in Australia with my mum on an unplanned holiday.'
'She should've got a holiday form, you can't disappear without explanation.'
'Well it was a family crisis.' Said Will with a trace of mock sorrow. These were magic words, as they instantly made the interrogator feel guilty for asking.
'Hum.' Said he, 'make sure you get the letter in then and I can mark it as an authorized absence.'
'Yes sir.' Mr. Radband typed at his computer with one hand for a few minutes. Will looked at the screen. It was his file. He looked away again. He hated that file- it knew too much about him. Finally the house teacher lent back in his comfortable chair and told Will to hurry on to his next lesson. In reality, Will had no intention of doing this- to spite this arrogant man, and because of the random call he heard, he was going home.
Mary was testing her new spyglass. It's zoom facility allowed her to see the Dust in a much wider perspective, and she found it fascinating to look down the road at the houses, and cars. She was interested to discover that a car, despite its size and complexity, had a simpler dust pattern than a bicycle. The houses were surrounded in their own small clouds, dense and spares in places where workmanship was more or less attended too.
Will entered the road; stumbling along the street playing an air guitar with both hands. The unheard tune he was playing seemed to get fiercer and fiercer until he un-slung his bag like a guitar strap, swung it round and round and the let it sail into the air to land with a thud ten metres down the road. Next he took a run up and booted it further down the road, running after it, tapping, hitting and smashing it along with his feet. Then on the fifth kick he missed, and knew three things simultaneously- first, he realised how much attention he was drawing; he shouldn't be out in the middle of the street at this time of day, second, he realised it was Lyra who had called out his name, and thirdly, he felt a sudden urge to see her. He stood still for a moment, looking at the crumpled school bag that had been on the receiving end of his frustration, and remembered that he couldn't go and see Lyra.
Mary was watching Will. She didn't intend to spy, but she was powerfully curious as to what his dust-pattern would look like. She adjusted the telescope until it was focused and looked through. It wasn't particularly complex, but it was so dramatically different that she had to look away, and then look again. Instead of the usual buzz and swarm of golden sparkles, Will looked like he was covered with a golden, see-through plastic bag. Outside this coat of Dust was a space of clear air, then a rich pattern of particles, never the same in two places, which swirled around like mercury. He had stopped for a moment, obviously thinking hard about something. Then he looked up to the sky and mouthed something Mary couldn't see or hear. As soon as he said it, she saw a ripple in the ambient sraf that tipped toward him, then blasted out in a radiating wave in all directions. The Dust couldn't travel through walls, so the wave was like water, rippling off the boundaries of the street and washing like a river down the road. Mary took her eye away from the telescope and thought about what she had just seen. She thought about it, but it didn't help. She didn't know what she had just seen.
'Mary?' Mary jumped and saw Elaine at the door. She hadn't heard her come up the stairs.
'Oh- you startled me.' she said,
'Sorry. I was just wondering what you were thinking about. Reminded me of a question I wanted to ask you.'
'Fire away.'
'What's Dust?' From downstairs there came a clunk as Will came in, making them both jump.
'Dust?' Mary blew out her cheeks. 'I think you're better off asking Will that question. but I can start you off.' Mary stood aside and invited Elaine to look through the telescope.
'My!' she exclaimed, 'It's like golden rain. This is Dust?'
'Yes. It's got several names, Dust, Shadows, Dark matter, Sraf; they all mean the same thing. Those sparkles are minute fragments of consciousness; they make water fall at random, they us think and feel. Without the Dust, we're nothing but living organisms, with the Dust, we are People.' Elaine looked at Mary again and they both remembered that Mary had not offered an answer, but answered handsomely anyway. 'I think that's the cleverest thing I've said for a year.'
'And this is what you're studying?'
'Well, not exactly. We originally set out to prove it's existence, but evidently it does exist. Now I'm simply out to learn about it. I think by learning about it we can become better people.'
'Hello everyone.' Announced Will coming through the door. The doorbell rang as he said this, so he turned round and went back down stairs.
'Will Parry?' said the man at the door,
'Yes?'
'Hello I'm from Chandlers Debt Collection Agency. May I come in?'
'No.' The man shrugged, then he took a clipboard from under his arms and flipped to a page halfway through. Will was looking at the car parked out side. It was a Vaxhall Astra and looked oddly familiar.
'Well, Our client, e-tsp book club has informed us that you owe them the sum of £146.'
'Well they're mistaken then. I've never heard of them.'
'Well they have recorded postage of numerous warning letters.'
'Do you have them with you?'
'No- they're-'
'Well you have no proof that you are sincere. You can go now.' Suddenly, Will recognised the car, it was the same one that he saw Inspector Walters drive away in when they had questioned Mary. 'In fact,' he said, 'you can sod off and tell Walters to get a new car. May I suggest a Mercedes with darkened glass?' The man glanced away, clearly trying to think of a come back. He failed and promptly turned and left briskly down the drive.
18. Behind the Scenes
During her days in Winchester without a job, Mary hadn't sat around the house doing nothing. In addition to helping out with the housework, she had studied her Amber Spyglass with care and attention. Initially she had sought to find out how it works, but then she decided she didn't want to know how it worked. The point was that it did work. And she decided to develop it further. By enquiring and researching she had obtained some of the mineral Iceland Spar. Getting it into two sheets hadn't been easy, but Mary was determined and she knew that with the resources of her own world she could refine an improved version of the Amber Spyglass. Using the smallest amount of oil from her phial, she prepared her new lens and set them a hand span apart. It worked. The lens was smaller than the spyglass, but she had done this on purpose. Now she took the telescope that had remained unused for many years and added her lens to its currant one. Once the whole thing was glued into place she assembled her creation and placed the tripod on the windowsill. It was better than she imagined. By manipulating the zoom and focus controls she could view the Shadows at the finest detail.
Will was gazing out of the window during an English lesson when he felt it. He wasn't thinking of anything in particular. But the gentle say of the trees and combined with the richness of the bright sun on them made him drowsy and slow.
'Will!'
Will jumped and glanced round the class, expecting to see many faces staring at him. But only Martin at the front of the class was saying anything at all, and he was jabbering on about the boring book of literature that lay in front of each student.
'Kirjava?' Will thought, His dæmon was at home on his bed. But she responded in the same tone.
'I didn't say anything.' She thought back to him.
'Then who did?' That was a silly question, there was no-one else- he felt her amusement and mockingly stuck his tongue out. The bell suddenly rang and Will scooped up his things and made for the door.
'William-' The teacher stopped him in his tracks and Will's heart sank.
'Mr. Radband wants to see you in his office now.'
All right then.' Said Will, his heart dropping a little further. Going to see Mr. Radband meant trudging down to the house offices and waiting dutifully outside the designated one until Mr. Radband remembered he asked to see you. Then after a ten-minute wait he would invite you in and assume his I-know-how-you-feel-but-it's-for-the-best look. It was possibly the most patronising meeting a person could undergo.
When he turned up Mr. Radband invited Will in and offered a seat. Will sat down, but not comfortably.
'Well well William, we've not had an absence note from you gap. You've missed days here and there, but they're on your own head.'
'Sorry sir, I keep forgetting it.'
'Well, I'll be forced to have a chat with the social services. If I don't contact them, they'll contact you.'
'I see.'
'Can you offer an explanation?'
'Yes.' Here Mr. Radband waited for Will to continue, but he didn't.
'What?'
'I was in Australia with my mum on an unplanned holiday.'
'She should've got a holiday form, you can't disappear without explanation.'
'Well it was a family crisis.' Said Will with a trace of mock sorrow. These were magic words, as they instantly made the interrogator feel guilty for asking.
'Hum.' Said he, 'make sure you get the letter in then and I can mark it as an authorized absence.'
'Yes sir.' Mr. Radband typed at his computer with one hand for a few minutes. Will looked at the screen. It was his file. He looked away again. He hated that file- it knew too much about him. Finally the house teacher lent back in his comfortable chair and told Will to hurry on to his next lesson. In reality, Will had no intention of doing this- to spite this arrogant man, and because of the random call he heard, he was going home.
Mary was testing her new spyglass. It's zoom facility allowed her to see the Dust in a much wider perspective, and she found it fascinating to look down the road at the houses, and cars. She was interested to discover that a car, despite its size and complexity, had a simpler dust pattern than a bicycle. The houses were surrounded in their own small clouds, dense and spares in places where workmanship was more or less attended too.
Will entered the road; stumbling along the street playing an air guitar with both hands. The unheard tune he was playing seemed to get fiercer and fiercer until he un-slung his bag like a guitar strap, swung it round and round and the let it sail into the air to land with a thud ten metres down the road. Next he took a run up and booted it further down the road, running after it, tapping, hitting and smashing it along with his feet. Then on the fifth kick he missed, and knew three things simultaneously- first, he realised how much attention he was drawing; he shouldn't be out in the middle of the street at this time of day, second, he realised it was Lyra who had called out his name, and thirdly, he felt a sudden urge to see her. He stood still for a moment, looking at the crumpled school bag that had been on the receiving end of his frustration, and remembered that he couldn't go and see Lyra.
Mary was watching Will. She didn't intend to spy, but she was powerfully curious as to what his dust-pattern would look like. She adjusted the telescope until it was focused and looked through. It wasn't particularly complex, but it was so dramatically different that she had to look away, and then look again. Instead of the usual buzz and swarm of golden sparkles, Will looked like he was covered with a golden, see-through plastic bag. Outside this coat of Dust was a space of clear air, then a rich pattern of particles, never the same in two places, which swirled around like mercury. He had stopped for a moment, obviously thinking hard about something. Then he looked up to the sky and mouthed something Mary couldn't see or hear. As soon as he said it, she saw a ripple in the ambient sraf that tipped toward him, then blasted out in a radiating wave in all directions. The Dust couldn't travel through walls, so the wave was like water, rippling off the boundaries of the street and washing like a river down the road. Mary took her eye away from the telescope and thought about what she had just seen. She thought about it, but it didn't help. She didn't know what she had just seen.
'Mary?' Mary jumped and saw Elaine at the door. She hadn't heard her come up the stairs.
'Oh- you startled me.' she said,
'Sorry. I was just wondering what you were thinking about. Reminded me of a question I wanted to ask you.'
'Fire away.'
'What's Dust?' From downstairs there came a clunk as Will came in, making them both jump.
'Dust?' Mary blew out her cheeks. 'I think you're better off asking Will that question. but I can start you off.' Mary stood aside and invited Elaine to look through the telescope.
'My!' she exclaimed, 'It's like golden rain. This is Dust?'
'Yes. It's got several names, Dust, Shadows, Dark matter, Sraf; they all mean the same thing. Those sparkles are minute fragments of consciousness; they make water fall at random, they us think and feel. Without the Dust, we're nothing but living organisms, with the Dust, we are People.' Elaine looked at Mary again and they both remembered that Mary had not offered an answer, but answered handsomely anyway. 'I think that's the cleverest thing I've said for a year.'
'And this is what you're studying?'
'Well, not exactly. We originally set out to prove it's existence, but evidently it does exist. Now I'm simply out to learn about it. I think by learning about it we can become better people.'
'Hello everyone.' Announced Will coming through the door. The doorbell rang as he said this, so he turned round and went back down stairs.
'Will Parry?' said the man at the door,
'Yes?'
'Hello I'm from Chandlers Debt Collection Agency. May I come in?'
'No.' The man shrugged, then he took a clipboard from under his arms and flipped to a page halfway through. Will was looking at the car parked out side. It was a Vaxhall Astra and looked oddly familiar.
'Well, Our client, e-tsp book club has informed us that you owe them the sum of £146.'
'Well they're mistaken then. I've never heard of them.'
'Well they have recorded postage of numerous warning letters.'
'Do you have them with you?'
'No- they're-'
'Well you have no proof that you are sincere. You can go now.' Suddenly, Will recognised the car, it was the same one that he saw Inspector Walters drive away in when they had questioned Mary. 'In fact,' he said, 'you can sod off and tell Walters to get a new car. May I suggest a Mercedes with darkened glass?' The man glanced away, clearly trying to think of a come back. He failed and promptly turned and left briskly down the drive.
