A Study in Curiosity
Chapter 4
“....Okay, so now, if we spin the loop of wire, the flux changes, because it’s at a different angle to the magnetic field.”
“And that creates a current?” Despite the late hour, Shai was awake and alert. Aubrey had nothing but time at the moment, and had brewed some tea about an hour ago, so she was ready and willing to have a late night teaching E&M to her little guest. It was now well past eleven, and Laura’s gentle snores could be heard from the next room, so the two had some wiggle room to be a bit louder.
“Precisely. So if we form a loop in a long wire, by spinning it, we can carry current over great distances, to anywhere we want.”
“And then we can use that current to power things, like you’d mentioned earlier?” Shai had refused Aubrey’s offer of any kind of notepad, but she seemed to have no problem remembering every detail of their conversation so far.
“Yep! Most human homes are full of electrical appliances, and they’re all powered by some spinning coil of wire or another.”
“Appliances like the computer?”
Aubrey chuckled. Shai had been obviously itching to see how any of this applied to the desktop, and the human woman had been sorry to keep delaying her answer.
“In short, yes. This computer operates by having small amounts of current running through many different wires. The currents can affect other currents, like I mentioned, and if you connect them in clever ways, you can achieve a number of different functions. Like creating images.” Aubrey gestured at the screen, which was now displaying a sweeping image of a desert landscape.
“Fascinating. I’d ask how you can achieve effects like that, but I believe I’ve already run up a question deficit.”
Aubrey gave a short huff. In truth, she had been getting into the groove somewhat, but she had to admit that she was running out of things she could explain without some prior research. Leaning back, she glanced over at the clock on her shelf.
It read 1:12.
“Ach, shit. We may actually want to stop for the night; it’s later than I thought.”
Shai blinked, looking out the window, at the cloudy nighttime sky. Then, she glanced back at the well-lit room. It took her a moment to process that a structure on the other side of Aubrey’s bed was responsible for that unusually steady lighting.
“Oh, yes, it has gotten quite late, hasn’t it? Terribly sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry about it, it’s honestly been a good refresher for me, as well.” Aubrey paused, then blinked, then looked at the floor, touching the ends of her index fingers together. “Though if you’re alright with it, I would like more of an explanation of magic tomorrow.”
“Oh, of course! Sorry, I didn’t mean to avoid the question, I just, well, I suppose I got a little caught up in all of this, but it probably would be best to get some sleep, for now.” Now it was Shai’s turn to look down, taking a glance around the desk sheepishly. “Ah, and speaking of sleep, where should I…”
Aubrey took a moment to realize what was being asked. “Well, I’ve got plenty of pillows around that you could sleep on, but I’m not sure what we’ve got that you could use as a blanket… hm, let me think for a moment.”
Shai grabbed at the back of her neck anxiously, wondering for a moment if what she was about to ask might seem strange. “Actually, I was wondering if I could, um, maybe…” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the human tilt her head inquisitively. She had already started the sentence, now she had to say the words. Shai took a deep breath. “That hood of yours was quite comfortable, if it would be alright, could I maybe sleep there?”
Aubrey blinked, then blinked again. The hood? The one on her hoodie? “Oh, yes, of course!” Running on autopilot, she wriggled out of her hoodie, taking a moment to get the t-shirt underneath back down from around her shoulders. “It might be a bit less warm when I’m not wearing it, but it should still work alright. Are you sure you’ll be comfortable?” It wasn’t until she turned her attention back to her desk to see Shai looking down, blushing furiously, that things clicked. Shai was embarrassed. This was because she had basically just asked Aubrey to sleep in the clothes she was wearing.
And Aubrey, like an idiot, had just taken it off without hesitation, giving her guest a full display of her torso.
“Oh. OH. I’m so sorry, that was probably really inconsiderate of me. I didn’t mean to-”
“No, no, that’s, uh, quite alright, I just wasn’t expecting… that.” Shai folded her arms, looking anywhere but at the giant woman directly in front of her.
The pause between them dragged on for quite a long time, as both of the women had completely forgotten the conversation at hand as they processed the interaction that had just taken place. Aubrey was the first to recover. “... yes, well, you’re free to sleep in the hood if you’d like. Is there anything else you’d need? I could get you some water, and, er, do you brush your teeth?”
Shai chuckled briefly. “Yes, we do. Some water would be excellent, but I can take care of any other necessities myself.” She reached out into the aether, retrieving her backpack, eliciting a slight gasp from her giant companion.
As the human left the room to retrieve materials. Shai pretended not to hear the “Oh that is so cool” that left her lips. To be fair, it would probably have been inaudible to any human.
~~~
Aubrey sprawled out across her bed, waiting for sleep and processing the events of the day. She had gotten used to the existence of magic relatively quickly, so now she was simply left to question what she could learn about magic, how she might be able to apply it, and how she could teach them to her new guest. She had been able to explain Ohm’s law relatively well, but there was so much more abstraction that went into how a computer actually operated, she herself wasn’t sure on the details. Maybe she could start with a binary encoder? But that still provided little insight on how the computer generated such voltages, or stored them, or accessed the values, or, or, or….
Aubrey took a deep breath. Okay, calm, calm. This isn’t a class, I can always explain that I don’t know something if it comes up. She took a few deep breaths, and changed gears, pointedly deciding to think about Shai instead. She seemed to be doing relatively fine, but given what she had told Aubrey, the little woman was having at least thirteen different kinds of bad day. Aubrey was undoubtedly impressed by how up front Shai had been, despite everything, but she was also worried that she might be falling down the slippery slope of compartmentalizing her feelings. As much as her first instinct was to comfort her, she also had to admit that she really had no right to be asking her such personal questions yet, even if she wasn’t nearly twelve times the other’s height. No, the best thing she could do right now would be to get to know Shai better, and let her open up when she felt ready.
~~~
Shai curled up, snug in her little nest of cloth, trying very, very hard not to think about everything she had lost. In the dark, and the quiet, thoughts burst to the front of her mind unbidden. Thoughts of her home, and her garden, and her room, and Larkspur.
She would never see them again.
She could never see them again, and it was all her fault. She had ignored Lark’s warnings, and their concerns, and their love, all for the sake of her research, and now they were lost to her forever and they had told her this would happen and she still never listened and-.
Calm. She spread the word like water to put out the fires in her mind. She repeated the mantra, taking deep breaths, imagining that each burst of wind would blow away some of the worry that was trapped inside of her like piled-up snow. It couldn’t work forever, she knew, but for now, she couldn’t afford to waste time and energy. She could grieve later.
Besides, she had already been enough of a burden to her host. Aubrey had been very graceful of course, but Shai was still well aware of the fact that she had just been taken in and given food and shelter by a complete stranger, with little to no way to show her gratitude. As thoughts of Aubrey filled her mind, Shai welcomed the distraction. Her imposition was worrying, but it was at least a kind of worry she had dealt with before, and she would much rather think about what she could do to repay the human than… everything else.
And so, Shai decided in her worrying to open a notebook, and start puzzling out how she would go about explaining Attributional Theory to a person who had never so much as heard of the field before. For now, the least Shai could do was give her host a completely comprehensive tutorial on magic.
~~~
As the time ticked on and the two’s thoughts began to swim, finally being taken by sleep, both women shared the same, singular, sentiment.
I can’t wait for tomorrow.
Go back to the first chapter here, or read the next chapter of the story here!