A Single Spark [open]

[upupatomway]

Who: Atom & you
What: Baby's first spell attempt. Please give him advice (or kick back with some popcorn)
Where: Outside on the beach near Flotsam
When: November 9, after lunch
Warnings: None


Atom balances a spellbook for beginners on one of the numerous rocks on the beach and raises his arms in front of him, facing out towards the ocean with a frown of concentration. He holds this position, squinting as he tries to do as the book instructed.

It's the simple task of summoning the ether energy to one's fingertips and then pushing it out to visually show the magic power, usually as some kind of spark or glow. His hands show no sign of any extra light, however. The book describes a sensation the magic has that makes this process easier to track for most readers, but for a robot any feelings in his body are limited by his sensors and his comprehension.

He squints harder, face scrunched and turning red. His creator had gone out of his way to make it so Atom could blush, though he probably didn't have this expression in mind. There's a sound, like a squeak, that might imply a spark, only for it to get lower and clearly recognizable as the robot straining.

Comments

[upupatomway]

"Yes, thankfully! Uran was built just a few years before robot rights were made official, so she was only ever property of the Professor and the Ministry of Science. Now we aren't property. We're just associated with the Ministry for building, development, and maintenance reasons. Dr. Ochanomizu, on the other hand, is family. I guess he's like our kind elderly uncle." Atom laughs. "I should call him that some time and see how he reacts."

Thinking about the Professor makes Atom wonder what he would have to say about his current predicament.

"If he were here, he'd be torn between worrying about the possibility of me going into battle, and scientific curiosity about whether a robot can learn magic."

[spacetogrow]

"Right, I was supposed to be helping with that!" Ilphyl said.

[upupatomway]

Atom tilts his head, giving the situation consideration. "So for you, magic is intuitively there to use. I know logically for a fact there's plenty of energy right here."

He taps his chest. And since Ilphyl is quickly becoming a good friend- "Oh yeah! Would you like to see the ether stone set up? I can show you if you like- I just better not get sand in there."

[spacetogrow]

"If it's safe for you. I don't think I'll be much help -- I know about how the insides of animals and plants work than robots. But I am curious"

[upupatomway]

"It's no big deal- I open ports in my chest for recharging all the time! I mainly want you to see the ether stone in there. Just a minute." He has to loosen his collar and vest so the upper part of his chest can show properly in the bright sunlight.

"Here. Watch." He tells them, enthusiastically smiling.

The skin under his collarbone retracts in two circular shapes that quickly grow until they converge into a large rectangular shape across his chest. Carefully placed metal crevices and outlets where ports are installed for data and connections decorate the silver inside of his body. Between smooth surfaces are many thin, intricate carved out paths that could easily be mistaken for engraving, but are actually high speed data paths. His chest cavity twinkles with all kinds of colored lights dotting places, some blinking like a pulse. A silver metal object shaped like a heart sits where the heart of a human would be, and next to it, in the center, is the blue shining presence of the round ether stone that had been installed.

[spacetogrow]

Ilphyl has seen the insides of a lot of biological things -- between learning medicine and generally being comfortable with the idea of butchering and eating what they kill for food. This is very different, except for the sheer level of complexity, and the idea of life, like a heartbeat.

"Wow."

[upupatomway]

"I was worried it wouldn't work, but Donnie helped me design and install the port to draw energy from the either stone. Now I can say I'm powered like the armors and air ships around here! And they don't have to run power cables to my room anymore." He laughs bashfully. "I think a few of the engineers tripped on the cables on their way in and out of the workshop. My room was put right next to it so the cables could reach, but there's a lot of foot traffic. I'm glad that's not a problem now."

[spacetogrow]

"And I imagine it's one less thing to worry about if you can't get back to your room," Ilphyl said. "Like needing a special diet until you don't and can just eat whatever."

[upupatomway]

"I guess it is like that, yeah." Atom nods enthusiastically. He closes up his chest again, returning to a seamless solid surface that looks just like real skin.

"As you could see, I have plenty of ether energy available to me now, and it powers me, but I'm not sure how to make the energy uh... Leave my body? If that's the correct way to think of it? For a simple spell."

[spacetogrow]

"Hmm... how would you use the power for something else, deliberately? Not just in keeping you alive?"

[upupatomway]

"Most of it comes from my head like a human thinks with their brain. I decide to walk, or fly, or talk, or scan, and my electronic brain sends the signals to my body to make it happen. When I learn new things, that's usually like a human too. My electronic brain takes in information from observing and attempting, and adjusts. Some things are harder than others though."

[spacetogrow]

"Well, I could try to teach you hot to meditate, and see if that helps you get a better sense of this power."

[upupatomway]

"Meditation, really? How does meditation help with magic?" He knows what it is and the general concept of emptying the mind and being present, but it wasn't as if people back home did it for magical reasons.

[spacetogrow]

"Well, it means I'm focusing on things like my breathing and my heart rate, and how it feels to be in my body," Ilphyl said. "Then I can start feeling the ground I'm sitting on, or the grass, or the wind in my hair. Things in the natural world I can shape spells around."

[upupatomway]

"I'll give it a try!" Atom agrees. "I'm not sure if a robot can meditate. I usually just rely on my sensors and my monitoring systems to tell me what I feel and what's around me, but maybe I can learn."

[spacetogrow]

"Well, it's a mindset, to it should still work."

[upupatomway]

"How do you start? Is it always done sitting?" Pictures of humans meditating always had them sitting cross legged or knelt properly as one might on a tatami mat.

[spacetogrow]

"Depends. Some people lie down, if that's more comfortable. Some kinds are done while walking or moving, if it helps you keep a rhythm and not get distracted by your own thoughts." Ilphyl had to think. Because elves had an advantage in that they used similar techniques instead of a night's sleep, so Ilphyl barely remembered learning the first forms.

[upupatomway]

"Do you think it'd be too much of a shortcut if I attempted to silence my thoughts by changing the settings of my brain? Is it important for it to be silence with your brain in its normal state? Of course... For someone organic I'm not sure how similar achieving silence is to changing settings..." He crosses his arms, perplexed by the options available.

"How hard would you say it is for a beginner who isn't a robot to silence their thoughts?"