Maribel Quest Continuation: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

>"But science is, by definition, a reflection of empirical data. Things that can be tested and reproduced, and from which you can determine rules about how things work. If a scientific law can be shown to be false by an actual phenomenon, then the law must be adjusted to compensate for this. Science is not about belief, but about reality. Science that does not match up with reality is simply just plain wrong."
>"Or... does the term mean something different in Gensokyo?"

>"Yeah, that's what they say," says Nitori. "Then you point out where they got it wrong and they get petulant and rave about how you just don't understand. Or you show 'em and they just get upset and leave."
>"...Wait. You're not one of them, are you?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I told you I come from the outside world, right? Well, science is pretty much the underpinning of all engineering there, for one thing. But it wonder if it might be a bit of a different science than the one you're talking about..."

>"Can you give me an example of what you mean, anyway? About holes in the theories of these heretics that they refuse to admit exist? Maybe something that actually happened to you, or a story you heard about?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I told you I come from the outside world, right? Well, science is pretty much the underpinning of all engineering there, for one thing. But it wonder if it might be a bit of a different science than the one you're talking about..."

>"Can you give me an example of what you mean, anyway? About holes in the theories of these heretics that they refuse to admit exist? Maybe something that actually happened to you, or a story you heard about?"

>"Wow, that sounds horrible," Nitori says, frowning. "The dream made things seem so much better..."
>"I can do better. I can show you." Says Nitori. "Get that telescope out of the corner and set up, please?"
>She gestures toward the corner of the warehouse, where you can see an old-looking telescope and stand leaning against the corner, amidst bits of scrap metal.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"The things you saw in the dream are a very good reflection of how things work out there. All can think of is that 'science' there and here mean different things. Engineering is still firmly based on how the world works. I mean, the things engineers built wouldn't work correctly if it wasn't, would they?"

>Go fetch the telescope and set it up. Ask for instructions on the setup, if necessary

[Hello Purvis]

>"The things you saw in the dream are a very good reflection of how things work out there. All can think of is that 'science' there and here mean different things. Engineering is still firmly based on how the world works. I mean, the things engineers built wouldn't work correctly if it wasn't, would they?"

>Go fetch the telescope and set it up. Ask for instructions on the setup, if necessary

>""Yeah, but we don't try and tell it how it should work," says Nitori.
>You fetch the Telescope, and set it up outside the warehouse. It's not difficult at all, the stand is more or less like any normal tripod. Curiously enough, the lens are black, maybe it's some kind of dust protector. Nitori gives the rice pot a couple more blasts with her blowtorch while you work, then sets it aside and walks over to the telescope and fiddles with it., looking into it every now and again. "There we go," she says after a minute. "Have a look."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Where I come from, science, too, is descriptive, not prescriptive."

>Take a look in the telescope

[Hello Purvis]

>"Where I come from, science, too, is descriptive, not prescriptive."

>Take a look in the telescope

>She shrugs.
>You look through the telescope, and see...what in the world is that? It is a floating island, with a bright beacon on light on it. Wait...is that the sun? Nitori never took the darkening off the lens, did she? Yes, that is most certainly the sun, resting on a floating island. You cannot estimate how large it is, but it's certainly not the star you know.
>"That's what I showed this one who came to get fish, and wouldn't leave me alone. She talked about how everything that goes up must come down. I pointed out flying, and she tried to act like it didn't count because you get tired. So I showed her that. Shut her right up, and she stomped off. See, that's the thing about heretics. They made some random numbers to go with things, then fiddle with them to get other random numbers and think they found something. Then get all upset when things don't follow. Must have a great reward at the end of it all, though, to put Nirvana to shame, for all the trouble they go through."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, things fall to the ground because of gravity. Flight obviously creates some sort of force that counteracts this. I see nothing unreasonable with suggesting that the island exerts a similar force somehow. I certainly don't know how, but one doesn't deal with the unknown by pretending it doesn't exist, but by trying to understand it.

>Why can't we see this island when we look up at the sky? If it's larger than the sun itself, surely it should be visible to the naked eye?

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, things fall to the ground because of gravity. Flight obviously creates some sort of force that counteracts this. I see nothing unreasonable with suggesting that the island exerts a similar force somehow. I certainly don't know how, but one doesn't deal with the unknown by pretending it doesn't exist, but by trying to understand it.

>Why can't we see this island when we look up at the sky? If it's larger than the sun itself, surely it should be visible to the naked eye?

>"Yeah, but islands don't get tired, and can't fly on their own to begin with, so it's pretty much wrong. Acting otherwise is just ignoring how things are."
>"The sun's too bright to look at," says Nitori when you ask about the island. "Washes the whole thing out. Not that you should normally be looking at it to begin with."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, something's keeping it up. I didn't mean it was the same mechanism as flight. Who knows how it works. Maybe some sort of long-term enchantment?"
>Take out the floating stone, and let it hover for a moment
>"Kinda like this, but on a much larger scale."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, something's keeping it up. I didn't mean it was the same mechanism as flight. Who knows how it works. Maybe some sort of long-term enchantment?"
>Take out the floating stone, and let it hover for a moment
>"Kinda like this, but on a much larger scale."

>"Why?" asks Nitori.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Why, what?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Why, what?"

>"Why does something have to be holding it up?" asks Nitori. "Maybe it just doesn't fall."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"True, maybe it doesn't. But there must be some reason for that. The island looks like it's made of plain old rock, like most islands. And most rocks fall, correct? I can't say why that one doesn't fall. But there has to be something different about it than regular rocks, or it should behave like them, correct?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"True, maybe it doesn't. But there must be some reason for that. The island looks like it's made of plain old rock, like most islands. And most rocks fall, correct? I can't say why that one doesn't fall. But there has to be something different about it than regular rocks, or it should behave like them, correct?"

>"I imagine it just doesn't fall because it would be bad if it fell," says Nitori. "There's not much of a point past that. Aside from saying that whole everything falls thing doesn't actually work."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Resist urge to tear hair out. ...at least until we're out of sight.

>"There's plenty of other things that would be bad if they fell, but still fall sometimes, anyway. Like, say, bridges, or cliff ledges people are standing on."

[Hello Purvis]

>Resist urge to tear hair out. ...at least until we're out of sight.

>"There's plenty of other things that would be bad if they fell, but still fall sometimes, anyway. Like, say, bridges, or cliff ledges people are standing on."

>Is this even a fraction of how Renko felt? Maybe attacking Scarlet Devil Mansion wouldn't be that bad...
>"Yep," says Nitori. "But I didn't say that for them. That would be pretty silly."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Yes, but what about that rock makes it different than anything else? There must be something."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yes, but what about that rock makes it different than anything else? There must be something."

>"No there doesn't," says Nitori. "Maybe it just doesn't fall and it means that not everything falls."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"...may I ask how it's possible to construct working machines if you seem to believe that there are no consistent rules governing anything, and objects just randomly do or don't do things for no particular reason?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"...may I ask how it's possible to construct working machines if you seem to believe that there are no consistent rules governing anything, and objects just randomly do or don't do things for no particular reason?"

>"You go with that you think will work, and if it doesn't you try what else you think works." says Nitori, giving you a kind of look somewhere between incredulous and pitying. "Just like life, really."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, I suppose that makes a certain kind of sense... I'll just say that where I come from, the universe seems to be more consistent. For what it's worth, over six billion people have yet to find a single thing that 'doesn't fall' "

>We never mentioned the jet idea to Nitori, did we? Assuming not:
>"But that aside, there was something else I came to ask you about. We've got a few people interested in this project now, and I was wondering if you might be, too. We're thinking about trying to construct a jet plane."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, I suppose that makes a certain kind of sense... I'll just say that where I come from, the universe seems to be more consistent. For what it's worth, over six billion people have yet to find a single thing that 'doesn't fall' "

>We never mentioned the jet idea to Nitori, did we? Assuming not:
>"But that aside, there was something else I came to ask you about. We've got a few people interested in this project now, and I was wondering if you might be, too. We're thinking about trying to construct a jet plane."

>Nitori nods. "Maybe so, I'll assume some of them much have looked pretty hard."
>You haven't, really. You propose the idea to Nitori. "A jet place?" she says, frowning and looking toward the sky. "A...Oh! You mean those flying things from the dream? Sounds kind of dull."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, I was hoping you'd think it would be an interesting engineering challenge. Both Kanako and Utsuho said they're interested in working on it."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, I was hoping you'd think it would be an interesting engineering challenge. Both Kanako and Utsuho said they're interested in working on it."

>"Well," Nitori purses her lips. "Kind of. But there's a whole lot more challenges that are a whole lot more interesting too, you see? I mean, who cares about a flying machine? But everyone cares about a machine that makes your house cool."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Look around to make sure there's no one else in the facility, or at least no one within reasonable earshot. Specifically, watch out for any Sanaes.
> Assuming no one is around to hear us, turn back to Nitori, and drop our voice volume anyway.
> "I can tell you who cares a lot about jets, but this whole project is supposed to be a secret, so you'll have to keep it on the down-low."

[Hello Purvis]

> Look around to make sure there's no one else in the facility, or at least no one within reasonable earshot. Specifically, watch out for any Sanaes.
> Assuming no one is around to hear us, turn back to Nitori, and drop our voice volume anyway.
> "I can tell you who cares a lot about jets, but this whole project is supposed to be a secret, so you'll have to keep it on the down-low."

>You make sure there is no one around, then give Nitori a few more details. "A secret? Well, okay, I won't tell anyone."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Okay. The jet is for Sanae. She's long since fantasized about the prospect of flying one. She says it's 'romantic', the idea of flying around at high speeds with no magical involvement. It's probably a result of her outside-world upbringing. And honestly, after learning a few things here, I can sympathize with the sentiment."
> "Anyway, the whole bring-Gensokyo-to-the-outer-world thing was supposed to be Kanako's gift to her, to give her the chance to be a jet pilot, among other reasons. It seems Utsuho put a stop to things before Sanae had the chance, though. Kanako would dearly love to see Sanae's dream still fulfilled, and I think Utsuho just wants some closure. The whole ordeal did a number on her, and she doesn't seem to be on great terms with Kanako right now."
> "Now, Sanae cannot know a thing about this plan. Since it's a gift for her, it's supposed to be a surprise."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Okay. The jet is for Sanae. She's long since fantasized about the prospect of flying one. She says it's 'romantic', the idea of flying around at high speeds with no magical involvement. It's probably a result of her outside-world upbringing. And honestly, after learning a few things here, I can sympathize with the sentiment."
> "Anyway, the whole bring-Gensokyo-to-the-outer-world thing was supposed to be Kanako's gift to her, to give her the chance to be a jet pilot, among other reasons. It seems Utsuho put a stop to things before Sanae had the chance, though. Kanako would dearly love to see Sanae's dream still fulfilled, and I think Utsuho just wants some closure. The whole ordeal did a number on her, and she doesn't seem to be on great terms with Kanako right now."
> "Now, Sanae cannot know a thing about this plan. Since it's a gift for her, it's supposed to be a surprise."

>Nitori nods. "Okay. So, you pretty much need me for this then. But what do I get out of it? Aside from letting other, better ideas slip away in the meantime?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"What do you mean, letting better ideas slip away? Other projects aren't going to go anywhere, just because you take some time out for this one."

>"And well, I thought you'd appreciate the idea of building something difficult and impressive. Something people can look up at and go 'wow'. Sure, you can already fly, but a jet can fly way, way faster than a person possibly could.