Before. There was an oblique hint about it, back during the preparation phase of that plan. I mentioned the existence of the flash drive, at least, and that I was filling it up.
Rob: Exactly. That envelope was (and actually still is) my ultimate contingency plan.
ECS: To quote better authors than I:
"That's adorable. You're adorable."
32GB flash drive. It wouldn't hold everything I wanted to put on it. Also, what made you think of A's?
Jorlem: Clyde died in 0054. It's 0059 (November or December, if memory serves) right now. Chrono was born in 0051, incidentally.
**********
Entry 25 (Day 117)
Forgive me, journal, for I have sinned. It's been twenty-three days since my last entry, and a whole lot has happened since then.
For one thing, I now have a Device. Scaglietti presented Malleus Bellum's initial spec to me six days ago. He's not left my side since... and honestly, I've spent most of the time in my barrier jacket. It's just too cool not to.
Well, one of my barrier jackets- I had Mal designed to store two jacket styles at a time. The first one is basically a Number's bodysuit with black armor bits added over the top, a cape, and
Black Mage's hat. Even managed to get the shadow thing and the voice changer working, so I should be safely anonymous.
I presented it to the doctor as my 'doing his work' look, and he was quite amused. I'm basically an honorary Number now. Wonder how much the math pun helped?
Right now, I've been focused on spell creation. There's an unwritten rule amongst mages; you don't use somebody else's spells. Part of it comes from the need for security, on both ends of the situation. Part of it is a safety issue... and the rest is some odd combination of pride and arrogance. Sort of an 'if you can't math it, you don't deserve to cast it- and those of us who can get to lord it over you' type of thing.
I don't go in for the pride bit, but it's important to know your spells inside and out- not just the general 'mana goes here, beam comes out here' bit, but every function they have, their tolerances, and how to make them do tricks. It's also important that your opponents not know your spells anywhere near as well as you do, for any number of reasons.
I've not yet managed a full attack suite- like that could be done in three weeks!- but I've built a handful of test spells. Nothing combat-effective, but enough for me to see the basic principles of a few magical effects in action. Honestly, I've learned more ways of wasting energy than I've learned ways of using it... most of them created on the fly, in hopes of preventing spells from exploding in my face.
(I suspect I'll be using them a *lot*, because I've really only found four ways to waste unnecessary mana. I can do things in intentionally awkward ways, when I find them, but the laws of physics aren't always so kind. Flash is quicker to cast, easier to math out, and- more importantly- works the same way in every spell.
The third method, setting up mutually opposing magical effects, seems like the most mathematically elegant option. Unfortunately, it tends to leave me sweating like a pig- something about forcing one's magic to fight itself exponentially boosts internal heat.
And, of course, the fourth method is plain bad math. I refuse to do intentionally bad math every time I cast, so that won't work.)
At this point, my Device is more of a tool than a weapon. I'm now constantly in telepathic contact with a magical computer that obeys my every order, and enjoying every minute of it. This journal entry, for example, is being written via telepathic dictation while I study. When I have a question, I can look up facts with a thought. If I so choose, I'll never have to use that laptop again.
Oh, and I no longer have combat cyborgs dropping by my room at all hours of the morning. Not sure whether that's a benefit or not. Maybe it'll be a bit less ambiguous in a few more years.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
Rob: Exactly. That envelope was (and actually still is) my ultimate contingency plan.
ECS: To quote better authors than I:
"That's adorable. You're adorable."
32GB flash drive. It wouldn't hold everything I wanted to put on it. Also, what made you think of A's?
Jorlem: Clyde died in 0054. It's 0059 (November or December, if memory serves) right now. Chrono was born in 0051, incidentally.
**********
Entry 25 (Day 117)
Forgive me, journal, for I have sinned. It's been twenty-three days since my last entry, and a whole lot has happened since then.
For one thing, I now have a Device. Scaglietti presented Malleus Bellum's initial spec to me six days ago. He's not left my side since... and honestly, I've spent most of the time in my barrier jacket. It's just too cool not to.
Well, one of my barrier jackets- I had Mal designed to store two jacket styles at a time. The first one is basically a Number's bodysuit with black armor bits added over the top, a cape, and
Black Mage's hat. Even managed to get the shadow thing and the voice changer working, so I should be safely anonymous.
I presented it to the doctor as my 'doing his work' look, and he was quite amused. I'm basically an honorary Number now. Wonder how much the math pun helped?
Right now, I've been focused on spell creation. There's an unwritten rule amongst mages; you don't use somebody else's spells. Part of it comes from the need for security, on both ends of the situation. Part of it is a safety issue... and the rest is some odd combination of pride and arrogance. Sort of an 'if you can't math it, you don't deserve to cast it- and those of us who can get to lord it over you' type of thing.
I don't go in for the pride bit, but it's important to know your spells inside and out- not just the general 'mana goes here, beam comes out here' bit, but every function they have, their tolerances, and how to make them do tricks. It's also important that your opponents not know your spells anywhere near as well as you do, for any number of reasons.
I've not yet managed a full attack suite- like that could be done in three weeks!- but I've built a handful of test spells. Nothing combat-effective, but enough for me to see the basic principles of a few magical effects in action. Honestly, I've learned more ways of wasting energy than I've learned ways of using it... most of them created on the fly, in hopes of preventing spells from exploding in my face.
(I suspect I'll be using them a *lot*, because I've really only found four ways to waste unnecessary mana. I can do things in intentionally awkward ways, when I find them, but the laws of physics aren't always so kind. Flash is quicker to cast, easier to math out, and- more importantly- works the same way in every spell.
The third method, setting up mutually opposing magical effects, seems like the most mathematically elegant option. Unfortunately, it tends to leave me sweating like a pig- something about forcing one's magic to fight itself exponentially boosts internal heat.
And, of course, the fourth method is plain bad math. I refuse to do intentionally bad math every time I cast, so that won't work.)
At this point, my Device is more of a tool than a weapon. I'm now constantly in telepathic contact with a magical computer that obeys my every order, and enjoying every minute of it. This journal entry, for example, is being written via telepathic dictation while I study. When I have a question, I can look up facts with a thought. If I so choose, I'll never have to use that laptop again.
Oh, and I no longer have combat cyborgs dropping by my room at all hours of the morning. Not sure whether that's a benefit or not. Maybe it'll be a bit less ambiguous in a few more years.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.