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-"Dialogue"-
("Inner thinking")
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CHAPTER 3
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Looking for the human representative, Balder entered the gym, a big open room with elevated ceilings and a stage at the far back where the entrance ceremony was supposed to take place. The norse blonde man advanced towards the wooden stage on the empty room, and when he was half-ways there, the door opened again behind him.
"Oi! "
The loud call distracted Balder, who promptly tripped over nothing and fell face first on the hard wooden floor.
"You alright, BAL-BAL?"- Apollo came running into the room to help Balder get up, following him was Tsukiyomi, the guy with lilac hair and a bored look.
"Yes, I'm fine" - Balder accepted the help to get up and the three gods gathered by the edge of the stage with Apollo seating uneasily at the edge of it while Tsukito leaned on the rail.
When it was obvious that no one else would appear for the ceremony, Apollo spoke with slight worry and disappointment.- "We truly are the only ones, huh? Don't understand? Graduation is the only way out of this place"
Balder crossed his arms. Not even the human representative was here.- "It's my first time attending a school. I´m excited, but also I'm worried" - He then thought on the prior day and directed a more serious gaze to Apollo, his voice sounding deeper and more serious. - "Hey, yesterday you flew on that Pegasus with the human representative, right?"
Not caring how Balder knew that and not noticing the norse's tone, Apollo happily smiled and answered with all honesty, excited at the antics he'd seen on the human representative. - "Yes, Minx is weird but seems to know a lot."
"Have you two 'always' been close?"- Balder had been curious about the human representative. He had first seen the person in that patio before Loki found him, and unlike many other beings that were naturally drawn to him, this person hadn't and instead had run away, which confused the norse god as much as made him curious.
"Eh? No, that was my first time meeting Minx" - Apollo smiled apologetically and scratched the back of his head.- "Minx, was looking for a way out. So we went to see what kind of place this is."
"Really? " Balder's eyes widened a bit and then his kind smile returned to his fair features.
"Ah ha~ ah, yes, I am. We didn't find anything either." - Apollo said with a sheepish smile and rubbed his forehead. - "This morning I was looking for the human representative, but I couldn't find Minx anywhere...Oh!"- Remembering there was someone else in their company, Apollo addressed the purple haired guy, taking a step aside to include the other man in their conversation circle. - " Do you have idea Tsuki?"
Tsukiyomi, or Tsukito as he was being called recently, lightly shocked his head in a negative. - 'No. But something known as an entrance ceremony is to take place before the initiation of classes."
"The entrance ceremony..."- Balder blinked, then he tilted his head with clear confusion. - "What do you do at an entrance ceremony anyways?"
Apollo crossed his arms and twisted his lips.-"Thoth mentioned it but I don't know either."
Tsukito took out his notepad - "I don't either, but the handbook says that students gather and promise to study."- He revised his extensive and detailed notes - " The human representative is the one who possess all the information required."
"A promise?" -Balder set his fingers over his chin and narrowed his eyes trying to visualize how such a ceremony was performed. - "So maybe an entrance ceremony is a contract ritual of some sort?"
Apollo slammed his first on his palm after an 'eureka' moment - "And perhaps if you break your promise, you will be me with a terrible curse."
"Will we need a sacrifice?" - Tsukito asked and prepared to take notes.
Apollo crossed his arms - "I don't know. What kind of sacrifice or offering should be needed to avoid a bad curse in this case?"
"Maybe that depends on the kind of ritual?" - Balder wasn't even sure what could work.
Apollo jumped down from the stage's edge- " Tsuki, Bal-Bal… We need the human representative." - He said with an eager grin.- "I'm sure Minx will come, but meanwhile we should at least gather everyone. Let's slip up and convince everyone to attend the entrance ceremony with us, and maybe we'll find Minx"- He looked at the other gods with a confident sunny grin- "Let's do our best to graduate together!"
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It had been late at night when Aria reached the mountain at the edge of the map where she had thrown away the locator, which signal was emitting from less than a 100 meters away from the edge. When she found it, the records of the camera showed it falling among clouds, then the recording disappeared and immediately it restarted as if it was falling again from above before merely landing in the point she found it as if it hadn't been thrown out of the border. Even more strange, it had not recorded or even detected GPS coordinates or any wireless network.
The merc walked with complete calm to the edge of the floating island and looked down to the sea of clouds. She took out her digital binoculars and started recovering the visual data and metrics from her ride on Pegasus, then inputted it on the touchscreen device on her suit's forearm, before programming basic tracking and triangulation settings for the devices; which she complemented when she took out her phone and her tablet, and set them apart by 30 meters on opposite directions but looking at the cloud's sea to get extra tridimensional calculations of motion tracking. Finally, she walked to the middle point between her devices and took a baseball pitcher's pose, then promptly tossed the locator as far away as she could while keeping track of it on her forearm screen. As soon as the camera fell into the clouds, she received an electric shot in her spine through her connective suit' needles to step aside and avoid the device hitting her when it came back from above the spot where she had thrown it from.
She shook her head and picked the little locater from the group and proceed on repeating the experiment a few more times with some variations like force of throwing, direction of the throw or position from where she threw it, but she received exactly the same results, recording and measurements in every try. With a huff, she finally she picked up her stuff and headed back into the mountain.
"I need a damn drink...several."
She was too tired to keep on analyzing things in detail, much less perform more experiments; so once she was on higher ground, Aria mounted her camp at the side of a cliff near a small water stream on a space covered by bushes and trees that was too small to be called a cave but deep enough for her to fit in. It was a perfectly good hiding spot for resting and check herself up.
"Hope I don't get interrupted"
With a tired sigh she double checked the perimeter by setting up her proximity detector; a small black box with a shock resistant screen on top that would send a signal to induce a small electric wave to her armored suit if anything entered her 20 meter perimeter, a shock strong enough to wake her up and alert her of the direction of any intruder. This tech had been originally used to create virtual 3D maps of archeological ruins, but someone thought to use them to set a perimeter around a camp or even a single operative. The version Aria had was just a small personal one, easy and fast to set and remove, ready in less than 30 seconds if you were used to it, which she was, and like most of her gear, it was fully charged through the graphene and cadmium batteries that lasted for weeks and could be solar, electrical or even manually charged with a dynamo crank, in contrast to the traditional lithium batteries. Finishing setting up, she relaxed somewhat.
(After today's events I do need the time to rest and ponder things."
Taking out her portable hammock, she set it up to lay on its face up with her arms crossed behind her head. After a few calm breaths, she finally began to ponder stuff.
("Given my equipment and conditions of testing, the evidence was as sound as possible.)
She took out her tablet from its compartment in her suit and began replaying at a fast pace all she had recorded. The improvability of the stuff she had seen irked her as much as it pulled at her curiosity. -(If I could dream I´d believe I was dreaming.) - She had come with some rational explanations for the floating island, but the flying horse was just tantalizing her intellect and knowledge. Going forward on the recording she stopped at the part with the horse.
"Time for some logic analysis exercise"
She twisted her lips and narrowed her eyes while checking the video again in detail, pausing and zooming at it every few seconds; playing it again and again but focusing on different stuff each time.
"Pegasus is a 'Pegasus'. A horse with wings that can fly" - She groaned. That was what Apollo had said, and it was clear the guy had no idea how things worked. That was also the first statement to analyze from a logic point of view because that was her first informational statement.
"Apollo said Pegasus flies because it has wings, but that has proven to be impossible. The wings to support flying for that animal would need to be enormous and weight crushing. So therefore, those wings are not for flying and that creature does not flies because of them." She concluded after deconstructing the fallacy -"Then why does it has wings anyways?"
Checking the videos of the horse once more, she focused not on the wings but on the rest of the animal and noted that its legs had been on the move all the time whether it was galloping on ground or in the air, while the flapping of wings only occurred every so often and most noticeable whenever it took another direction in any axis plane. Her eyes widened and her lips drew a smirk.
"That's it! The wings are not for flying but for steering and balancing! "- A few seconds later after savoring her smart discovery, her eyes narrowed. The horse had always been on move- "Then does that mean..."- She played the recordings once more, changing the speed to an ultra-slow motion, while she zoomed the scenes on the hooves of the horse. At first nothing seemed weird, those moved like a horse's hooves were supposed to do when the animal galloped. Except that they were supported on nothing but air… or was it? The horse ALWAYS was walking or running and it NEVER broke the pace when it got on or off land. It hit her.
"I knew it! That horse doesn't fly! "
Her smirk widened broadly. She had figured it out. The horse did not fly. It simply galloped, ran, trotted and walked as if it was on solid soil even if it was in the air.
That of course left her with the question of 'How?'
Feeling very close to deciphering it, she changed the program on her tablet and connected it to her other processors in order to overlay the different spectrums. First infrared, then ultraviolet, afterwards magnetic fields, all and everything her sensors had captured, all while zooming only the hooves and focusing on when the hooves hit the floor or air. With every step Pegasus took while in the air, the air seemed to condensate as if it was plasma or a very thick gas right under the creature to provide support for its steps.
Aria was eager to find out how that worked, but her greed began coming to the front of her mind and overcame her curiosity for the moment.
"If I could only get a hold of that technique…"
All the potential applications began charting on her head. Yes, possibilities and applications. Commercial, militar, convenience, and all very, very useful and very, VERY profitable. She licked her lips. So far she had seen quite the interesting stuff in this place. Stuff that could aid her in many ways, whether it be in her real final objective or with quite the economic upscale if she sold it or created a monopoly around this. Stuff that could change the current route of the world or the war.
The white neck mercenary put the tablet back in its compartment at the back or her armor and stretched before turning to her side. For now she had to rest. She went to sleep with a greedy smirk, thinking that perhaps it would be beneficial to accept this weird 'teaching' job in order to steal all this interesting things
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Next day, Aria was already trekking on her way back towards the school, very motivated to find out stuff awhile planning on different ways to get a hold of things and secrets.
Suddenly her near field sensors activated and she stopped to see what had come near, but after some moments of nothing happening she determined that whatever that had been it was gone. Possibly some animal that did not detect her at first, however... She narrowed her eyes for a second because only something relatively big would have activated the sensors. In any case, after shoving her shoulders back to crack her spine, she continued on her way and pondered that she didn't knew what kind of fauna there was in this island, after all, if they had a Pegasus, what else could there be? If they liked mythical creatures then there was the possibility of a myriad of dangerous beasts that could be around.
Reaching the edge of the forest she heard some l whimpering and something that sounded like words, approaching to investigate, she saw a tan guy with a straight bob haircut that was long in the front and shorter in the back and with tufts that looked a bit like dog or cat ears. He was wearing a weird version of the school's uniform with a skintight suit exposing the midriff, and had pearl jackal piercing at his navel. A striped belt was around his waist, and his feet wore gladiator sandals. In the air his hand was holding a big enough rock, ready to strike a crying puppy on the floor.
"Hey!" - She charged forward to hold away the wrist of the man, and then twisted it to force him to drop the rock aside. The guy snarled at her and took a step back, but instead of letting go of his wrist, she snarled back at him through her face mask and digital speakers in her neck, and pulled him aside and away from the little whimpering dog.
"Stop it, you two!"
At the sound of Thoth's voice Aria unsheathed the hidden forearm blade on both her arms, and while still maintaining her grip on the other tan guy, she pointed her free arm at Thoth.
"Anubis, I've been looking for you" - Thoth looked at the Anubis guy and made no attempts to intervene, yet he looked at the mercenary with annoyment. "-… and you too. "
"Oh, it's you."- Aria's digitally distorted voice said stoically, still, given that her plans now included working with the guy, it was in her best interest to not stir the braces too much for the moment. -" Anubis , huh?" - She let go of Anubis's wrist and jumped back besides the small fluffy dog to be in a better position against two opponents just in case they did try anything.
"Bara, bara, ba!" - Anubis exclaimed while waving his arms around and pointing at her furiously.
"Mh?"- Thoth raised an eyebrow and listened.
"Bara, ba, bara, ba!" - Anubis kept his charade.
Aria groaned - "Speak clearly if you wanna say something!"
"He is speaking clearly, it's just that you can't understand him."- Thoth adjusted his monocle - " I was looking for him because he's been hiding all this time instead of going to class, and just so you know, he was going to kill the dog to end its misery so it could be reborn sooner."
"What?"- Her blade pointed at Anubis as her voice growled with distorted furious incredulity -" I agree on mercy killings, but you were gonna kill a puppy for a stupid belief ?! "- She sneered, reeking waves of disapproval- "I should kill you just for that. " She snarled. "Reborn? Yeah, right."
"Ba, bara, ba!" -Anubis moved back and clenched his first with his arms at the sides of his body and his shoulders rose while growling at her.
"He says 'that' is the reason he dislikes humans bloody nature" - Thoth remained calm while observing the human representative carefully. She looked calmed...no, controlled.
"So says the brute that was gonna kill a puppy with a rock."- She huffed. -"Did you even thought about checking if it's hurt badly or not?"- Aria cast a glance at the crying pup. It wasn't so small in size. In Aria's opinion, it resembled a supersized fluffy Jackal, an Ethiopian wolf or an overgrown slim fox. It at least didn't looked that' hurt though. It was certainly whining, but it wasn't mutilated or mangled, wasn't bleeding to death, or seemed to had anything broken. ("More importantly… How did this dog came here?") . That was a good question, yet, if she wanted to examine it, it would be better if it was alive, and given the kind of facilities this place had, it was sure to be some kind of medical aisle somewhere. She took a step back and then pointed at the school -" That dog doesn't seem to have anything worse than scraps and some hits, so taking it to the infirmary should be enough"
Anubis stopped his growling and perked. He took a step forward to approach the puppy but the mercenary held her blade pointing at his face.
"Bara, ba, bara"
Thoth accommodated his monocle -" He says that he's going to take the dog back to the campus to treat it."
"And should I believe you? A moment ago you wanted to kill it."- Aria moved her head to crack her neck and then, with an electric impulse from her system she commanded her suit to sheath the blade as she lowered her arm. -"Whatever, it's not my business" - The mercenary took a couple steps back to let the guy pick the dog.
Anubis, while keeping a wary eye on the stranger, got down to pick up the puppy in his arms. She didn't made any movement and he turned around to go away towards the school, but Thoth put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him.
"You should start attending class, Anubis." - Thoth said firmly and then eyed the armored person. - "That goes for you too"
"What a coincidence. I was exactly heading back to see to that"- Her feet moved in their direction, and then they all headed back to the school facilities.
As they walked through the entrance, all the other guys that had been brought to this place came into view.
The guys were around discussing their situation when they noticed the newcomers, the each guy aligned with their ethnic peers, and approached the upcoming trio. They immediately noticed the puppy in Anubis arm's while observing curiously the wholly dark clad person.
Aria stopped for a second, her spine tensing as she prepared for a battle and activated her secondary synchronization. Her suit connective needles latched into their spine ready to shot electric signals and enhance her muscular reaction in case she needed to get an opening to escape or fight; while under her mask, her irises changed color to a digital red undertone to focus on the possible targets or enemies. Maybe these guys weren't an immediate danger, but out of habit and experience she knew it was better to be prepared and ready. Better to be paranoid than dead.
"It seems everyone is here"- Thoth remained impassive but Anubis started to get agitated under the sudden attention from so many people that were surrounding them, all speaking at the same time, while Aria kept a stiff posture looking slowly around and analyzing everyone.
"Hey, what is that you're carrying?" - Loki moved closer to Anubis to see the puppy.
Anubis got closer to Thoth and pawed at his arm.- "Bara, bara, ba" - Half hiding behind Thoth's jacket, he stared at Aria with only his eyes peeking out behind the other man.
"Bara, bara" - Anubis moved back further.
"Seriously. How can he understand another language but not speak it?" - Aria harshly scolded towards Anubis as he frowned with a firm pout. However, although her attention was mostly on the language impeded guy, she still kept wary at all the surrounding people.
"He is simply not used to people" - Thoth gave a small shrug as though it explained everything and immediately crossed his arms while dedicating everyone a severe gaze. -"And now that everyone is here, classes can start" .- He was promptly ignored by everyone for they were too busy focusing on the puppy Anubis was carrying.
"No problem. He should just get used to us" -Apollo grinned and moved closer to Anubis, curious- "I've never seen you before Anuanu, so nice to meet you" - He then got even closer to Anubis who took another step back.
As Apollo got way too close for comfort, Anubis began pawing in a warning motion as if he were to claw at the blonde.
"Ughh...hey, stop it or you're gonna drop the puppy"- Aria growled, stopping Anubis from moving around so much. Anubis' extreme shyness was weird, but so were many things around here. Still, for some reason she didn't felt like he was a threat, in fact, his presence didn't irked her as much as it should unlike the other guys. - "If you can't keep still, I'll carry that dog"- Not that she was an animal lover, maybe an animal admirer, but regardless of the cuteness of the puppy, its presence could provide a clue as to how to get away from here. Everyone had been brought to this place, yet this dog had appeared apparently on its own. She needed to research that, but if the dog died then many clues could be lost.
"You must be a dog lover, right? It's nice to see someone who cares for animals" - Balder smiled, surprised that the human representative wasn't flocking to him yet and neither did the dog, although the later was because it was hurt.
"I'm not. I'm more of a cat person"- Rejecting the notion, Aria immediately said with the same digitally distorted voice she'd been using, waving her hand in a dismissive way.
"Bara bara bara"- Anubis commented with a cast down glance. However no one but Thoth understood what he was saying. Not that anyone was paying him that much attention in comparison to the glances towards the entirely armored human representative or the furry little cute puppy.
"We should take it to the school to let it recover"- Apollo pointed at the dog with concern. He gently poked it's pink nose, listening to it let out a small bark and then nip at his finger rather playfully despite its condition.
"Bara, bara, ba" - Anubis held the puppy closer to his chest with a deep set frown, seeming disappointed with their decision to try and prolong the puppy's life. It was suffering still, yet it also seemed as if the puppy did wanted to stay longer with them.
"Would that be alright?" -Balder asked, unsure if it would be allowed. -"I don't remember pets being allowed in the dorms."
"Bara, bara, ba" - Anubis nodded, still trying to make the others understand that if the puppy was reincarnated then its suffering in this life would end. So far however, it was a lost battle.
"It's just a dog. What problem could there be?"- Susanoo huffed.
"Bara, bara, ba" - Anubis pouted again. No one was listening to him.
"Does the dog has a name?" - Loki asked, looking for a collar but found none in its fluffy fur - "It doesn't look like it has an owner. How did it got here?"
"Kaa … "- Anubis said and everyone turned to the increased extension of his vocabulary.
"Oh look, he learned a new word" - Aria clapped in a little mocking tone. - "We should celebrate that"- Then she pointed again at the puppy -" ...after that puppy is taken to the infirmary or something"
Anubis pulled on Thoth's Jacked again.- "Bara, kaa?"
"No. You can't keep the dog here. It wasn't planned, so no."- Thoth crossed his arms and glared harshly at everyone. They shouldn't be fooling around like this especially since their learning literally meant life or death for them.
"You can't be serious. It's just a dog"- Susanoo growled.
"There is no harm in it"- Tsukito spoke while holding unto his bunny Usamaru.
"Oh, c'mon, it would be fun" - Dionysius set his hand over Thoth's shoulder and Thoth slapped it away.
"I don't oppose it either" - Hades said.
"Please!" - Apollo cried and gave the puppy eyes.
"Yeah, just let it be" - Loki smirked and attempted the puppy look too but he just seemed devious instead.
"Whether you want it or not it seems it's staying; I'm not sure how you would stop them"- Aria carefully taunted- "Besides, having a pet would help them to what you said you intent to teach them, no?"
Thoth accommodated his monocle with a groan -" … fine, you can keep the dog in the school. But you should start attending classes" - His voice was full of annoyance, he was bothered he was won over by the students, but at least, like the mercenary had said, this could serve for their learning.
"Classes? Why should we?" - Loki grinned with his hands behind his head. Happy the puppy would stay but still not willing to accept this place.
"Yeah, we don't want to be here anyways"- Susanoo growled.
Thoth set his hands in his pants pockets and eyed Susanoo's brother, Tsukito. - "Then I'm gonna start punishing your brother for your irresponsibility"
Susanoo stiffen up before fiercely glaring at him. With a dramatic, angry thrust of his arm outward Susanoo shouted - "That's not fair!"
"And it isn't so either if no one can graduate and all have to stay here forever because of your whining" - Thoth shrugged as if this didn't affect him.
"I don't want to." - Loki was still not sold on the idea.
"But classes sound interesting, Loki. We should attend."- Balder tapped Loki on the shoulder and gave him a nice smile.
"I still don't want to" - Loki pouted, folding his arms and looking away in annoyance.
"It actually doesn't sounds bad. It sounds fun. We should go." - Apollo waved his arms excitedly before looking at Dionysius-"What do you say, Didi?"
Dionysus scratched his head and looked at Apollo.- "Well… mmhh… sure, why not, it could be entertaining"
Hades released a sigh.
"I still don't like it"- Susanoo stated in a hard voice. He was not convinced but he was also torn because his brother might be punished for his choices.
Tired of this useless chatter, Aria started a plan. -(How convenient that males are in general very predictable and easy to manipulate.)- Given The psychological profiles she had formed on these guys based on what little she'd seen so far from them, coercing them into compromising in some way would be relatively easy. Basic competition was a good plan with high probabilities of succeeding. -"Why don't you make a bet then? If the ones who want to attend class win, then the others will attend class. If the other group wins, then no one bothers and instead you can keep looking for another way out."
Those words alone caught everyone's attention as they looked to the armored person with curiosity while pondering the idea.
"That sounds fair" -Tsukito looked at the person with utter calm - "I support the proposal"
"And it sounds interesting" - Dionysius eyed everyone. Competitions were always fun and after that there was always liquor to celebrate or to drown the defeat.
"If you think you can beat us, you're free to try" - Loki eyed everyone. He was completely convinced they wouldn't be beaten by the other, and after that he could focus on what was needed to be done. Too bad Thor wasn't here to help him.
"Good, now that such is settled I'll be resting in the library. I'm tired from dealing with you all for today" - Thoth started walking away but stopped when he noticing the merc was walking in tow with him- "And you..."- He wondered somewhat about what a person like this was planning or why had someone like this had been chosen. He had not forgotten the little encounter earlier. -"Where are you going. Your dorm is in front of theirs"
With natural aplomb the mercenary walked passed Thoth. -"I'm gonna go speak with Zeus"
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The doors to the throne room opened automatically for Aria when she approached them. Inside Zeus was waiting for her with the same smug smirk he had shown previously; his shoulders were square and his position firm, full of brimming confidence that needn't been said aloud.
"I see you've decided to accept my offer" - His rich voice was as smug as his expression.
"I came to negotiate it."- She walked with confidence that matched Zeus smugness and then stood in front of him so they were face to mask.
"My offer still stands. Teach the young troublesome gods about humans, and along with a true name, your wish will be granted after you have fulfilled the bargain. " - He eyed her curiously. There was something about this mortal that excited yet irked him. Perhaps under other circumstances he would transform this human into something appropriate for showing such arrogance towards him, but he couldn't deny that her attitude also amused him greatly. She was a human completely different than all the humans brought here previously. A human that believed in no gods, a human that believed in nothing… how foolish. But after this year was over she'd have no choice but to admit her folly.
"Sounds cute." - Her digital voice was quizzical at best. She set her gloved hand over her hips and made a small dismissive floritude with the other - "But very unreal"
"You think I can't fulfill your wishes?" - Zeus said with a small laugh.-"There is no wish that I cannot grant. Fulfill your end of the bargain and gain any wish you desire."
"I don't have wishes. I have goals and I work to achieve them." - She was not impressed by an intangible fantasy offer. Promises were nothing but words in the air unless backed up by real stuff. -"But why don't you propose some payment in advance then?"
"Very well, I will amuse your request. What is it that you want then to prove my offer is not false?" - Zeus's question was full of curiosity now. A mortal without wishes? It only made him wonder about the nature of where she came from. She had been chosen for a reason; and he found that reason to be so ridiculous and ludicrous that the younger gods may perhaps stand a chance at succeeding this time around.
"I've seen quite the interesting phenomena around here. That flying horse, this floating island, the unpolluted air, the matter energy exchange of the sword made a necklace or those of the other jewelry examples on the guys… I want some of this technology." - She demanded in quite the secular tone.
"There is no technology here creating such things. These creatures and things you have witnessed are beyond your human understanding, Aria Hadron Scherzi. The realms here is ruled by something that humans cannot use." - He explained with a sly smile.
Aria crossed her arms and leaned her weight on one leg. -"Ha, magic is only called so until someone discovers the trick. You think I didn't notice the horizontal force of the wind around this floating island? "
"Oh? Do tell."- Zeus kept his smirk as he waved his staff in an invitation for her to continue. The amusement just increased.
"There are very clever and interesting tricks in this place. For example, to move a car of 1300 kg you need a wind of at least around 112.654 km/hr ; deterring a horse may be different but the basis of the data analysis still applies. I don't even need to do a vertical extrapolation of the measured wind speeds, or extrapolate the Weibull parameters to know how impressive the turbines must be. "- Aria took a 'no-shit' approach. She wasn't some idiot who believed in magic, she always looked out for how the tricks were performed -" The wind barrier only works once you try to cross the borders of this floating island. Given that birds were seen flying around ,then the generators can be adjusted to be very focused and on moving targets of specific sizes or characteristics."
His expression lost the smirk. Her explanation was extraordinary and so was her lack of belief, this was the kind of person that would not be moved by words alone. -"I see … so you want something tangible, then? A gift from the gods themselves?"
"A gift?"- She uncrossed her arms and set one palm over her hip- "Obviously not. Nothing is free in life. It would be more like a payment in advance, a partial sum from the total payment "- She set both hands over her hips and leaned forward as she chuckled with arrogance - "I can't trust mere words, can I?"
Zeus laughed. - "Well then, I suppose you do deserve something for your idea of a competition among the young gods. Very well, your 'advanced payment' has been granted." - He took his staff and tapped it twice against the ground before smiling at her. - "Now let us discuss about the lessons you will be giving the Gods."
"Not before you present this payment. " - She waited but Zeus didn't move. - "So what will it be? Should I go search for it?"
"Hm?"
"This payment you're giving me in advance." - Aria clarified with raised eyebrows and a really unimpressed look.
Zeus chuckled in amusement and took his hand to his chin -"The gift will be waiting for you in the infirmary. The sleeping hound will become your greatest ally and will be modified for your needs. Consider this your advanced payment from Zeus himself. "
"?!"- The mercenary felt a vein start popping on her forehead. - "You're giving me the dog I rescued from the speech impeded delusional fool?"
"You'll like it. Wait and you'll see." - He laughed, quite interested in seeing her face when she saw what the pup would become. - "Now, before I plan the sports festival, I have a petition for you. I want you to set up a student council and clubs for the students."
Below her mask the mercenary swallowed a grunt. - "If this payment in advance is worth enough, I'll consider our contract as started. Yet I warn you that I'll do things in whatever way I consider as most effective. I won't participate just as a student, if I see it fit, I will give classes too. But I'll also request any supplies needed."- She was of course suspicious, but at the very least she was gaining time to spy.
"You'll get anything you require. Just ask Hermes at the school's canteen for it and he'll get it" - Zeus assured her. Finally they had reached an agreement - "Anything else?"
"Just an observation" - Aria said with a rather uncaring shrug -"It's strange to have hardly anyone at the school. It's pretty empty even though the facilities are quite big." - She noted with a frown. The facilities could easily accommodate hundreds of people; and although she wasn't sure about the sustainability of that, she had seen slums that fitted thousands in micro spaces.
"I agree. I might bring in some more gods late on, but bringing in more humans would be impossible, however… "- He clapped his hands. Without either Zeus or Aria seeing it, many students started appearing seemingly out of thin air, walking and acting in accordance to everyday life at a school with no indication that they had just appeared here out of nowhere- "You'll find that there are more students now. Those are mere spirits casted in sand, yet they fill the space quite well."
"What do you mean?" - Aria had her patience reserves almost depleted.
"You'll see" - Zeus winked and the door opened once more to signal the end of this interview - "You can also consider me a student too."
"Then you better learn" - With a small huff the mercenary turned around and walked away without looking back.
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MWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWEMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMW
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In sum: Pegasus doesn't fly, in runs in the air and the wings are for steering.
And the puppy, what do you think Zeus is planning to do to it?
Hope you liked the chap. And any questions I'll be happy to answer. I'm following the anime but incorporating things from the manga and game… and of course of science :)
I'll try to get next chap faster next time.
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MORE DETAIL ABOUT WIND MOVING A CAR (Beware science ahead):
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For those of you interested in the data calculations for the wind moving a car, remember that the velocity of the wind force is what created the impulse to move a stationary object.
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Assumptions of estimations:
Height: 1.32 meters
Width: 1.82 meters
density of air (p) = 1.2041 kg/m^3 at 20 degrees C (sea level - Sea level is important for the story actually)
Cd (coefficient of drag) = 0.28
Cr (coefficient of rolling resistance) = 0.03
m (mass of car) = 1300 kg
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Calculations:
F(rolling resistance) = Cr*m*g = ( 0.03 ) * ( 1300 kilograms ) * 9.8 m/s^2 ) = 382 Newtons, or about 86 pounds of force.
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And how much force is needed to generate 382 newtons?
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F(wind) = (1/2)(p)(v^2)(Cd)(A)
F(wind) = 382 Newtons = (1/2)(1.2041 kg/m^3)(v^2)(0.28)(2.4 m^2)
Results:
v = 31 m/s = 111.6kilometers per hour
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(For those of you in USA, Liberia or Myanmar, that's like 72 mhp… seriously. (The only 3 countries in the word that still use imperial units are Liberia, Myanmar, although Myanmar announced they'd be changing to metric, and USA ¬_¬ )
If you want a super more detailed factor analysis about the calculations for wind moving a car, check out data provided by Zarch Krikhorn.
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