And if this was a fairy tale, that might have been the end of it. One moment of inspiration leading to a fantastic breakthrough that solved all your problems. But science very rarely works that way. Instead, the project had been relocated to a massive research lab buried deep into the bedrock beneath the oldest university in the city. A lab chosen for its ability to safely absorb massive bursts of elemental magic. Some fifty different researchers were bustling around the subterranean complex, each with their own retinue of assistants, students and secretaries following them around. And right in the middle of it was Awa, overseeing the project with a fervour and determination bordering the fanatical. Kaia had been rather proud of how quickly she had picked up her understanding of magical theory, but the work going on in this lab went so far over her head she barely understood any of it. But she still had to stay at the lab, because the researchers needed a seemingly endless supply of bisected heart fragments. At first the researchers and their aides had been awed by her ability to perform this supposedly nigh-impossible task, cheering and applauding with every split fragment, but anything reliably repeatable quickly ends up becoming mundane, and now the gathered researchers just sent their assistants to requisition more fragments whenever they were needed. Of course, that’s not to say they treated Kaia poorly. They were very respectful, and were always happy to answer any question she asked them, but most of the time the answers were complicated enough that the best they could do was direct Kaia to a textbook or two where she could find out what she needed to know to understand the answers they gave. And so, Kaia spent most of her time either cutting shiny little crystals in half or reading through textbook after textbook on magic theory. Still, it could have been worse. The researchers said she’d go down in history for her discovery of what they had taken to calling the principle of elemental entanglement. And she had gotten so good at cutting the little crystals in half she didn’t even fall over any more. That almost made up for how boring it was… Albert frowned as he read through the stack of resin sheets on his desk. He didn’t have any say in how the national budget was managed, but he liked to keep an eye on things nevertheless. And this… “Am I reading this right? Says here this research project is costing the republic over a million scrip a day.” “They are very excited about the whole thing.” Miriam replied from her seat at her own desk. “Apparently this new principle they’ve discovered has all kinds of applications. Some of the researchers even think they can use it to instantly transfer information or even sound over any distance.” “That sounds handy and all, but it doesn’t really solve any of our problems.” “Well, they’re still exploring the all the possibilities. Right now, it’s the best lead we have.” “Besides, the Starhome city council isn’t the only agency funding this project.” Willow added from his seat in Miriam’s lap. “The twin republic joint research council is giving them another million scrip a day. The Sunhome scientific outreach program is contributing two hundred thousand a day. The Grand Council of Universities is providing them with material and equipment worth millions. And then there’s the private funding they’re receiving…” “If this doesn’t produce results, a lot of people will be out a lot of money.” Albert said gruffly. “I’m sure all these new applications they’re discovering will more than pay for themselves in the long run. It’s nice to see people being so passionate about science for once.” Miriam commented. “Besides, if this doesn’t produce results we’re probably all doomed.” Willow added. Albert looked thoughtfully at the resin sheets covering his desk, then huffed and made a note to donate half a million scrip from his own estate to the research project. Kaia sighed as she placed yet another sparkly crystal into the clamp she now used to hold them still while splitting them. It was better than repeatedly cutting through her table like she’d done in the beginning. Supposedly each of these little crystals were worth thousands of scrip, but Kaia had seen so many of them by now she’d gone completely numb to their supposed value. It took her less than a minute now to split a fragment, and so she placed her sword onto the little crystal and started clearing her mind of all unnecessary thoughts… “Kaia, do you have a minute?” The unexpected interruption made Kaia jump a little, which was enough for her sword to skitter off the crystal and go straight through both the clamp and the frame holding it. Kaia winced as the whole thing crashed to the ground with a loud clatter. “Oh Sun above! That was absolutely my fault. I’m sooo sorry!” Awa apologized in such hurried tones she almost tripped over her own words. “It’s fine, Awa. It was just a frame. I’ve accidentally cut through far more expensive things in the past few days.” “Still, I shouldn’t have bothered you when you were…” “I said it’s fine. Calm down, will you?” “Right. Sorry. I’ll just…” “How about you tell me what it is you wanted in the first place?” “Right. Yes. Of course. I… I actually wanted to talk to you about splitting fragments…” “Do you need more? You should just have put a requisition form on my desk, like everyone else.” “Oh, no. I have plenty. I was actually wondering if you could… Teach me.” “Teach you?” “Yes, I mean… I’m supposed to be the magus of water, but I just can’t split a fragment the way you can, and you make it look so easy, like it’s no big deal at all, and…” “And you feel like you can’t measure up?” “Exactly! How did you know?” Kaia laughed. “I know because that’s exactly how I feel whenever I see you doing your whole project leader thing. You’re pretty much the same age as me, but you’re keeping up with people who are four, even five times your age who have spent their whole lives studying this stuff. That’s one hell of a standard to try and measure up to, Awa.” Awa blushed slightly. “Well, I suppose. I mean, I hadn’t really thought about it. Research has always been my thing, you know.” Kaia smiled wryly and ran a hand through her hair. “You know what, sure. I’ll teach you. If you think the eggheads here can spare you for an hour or two every morning.” “I’m sure they can manage. They’re all experts in their fields. They don’t need me around all the time. But what about you?” “Psh. I’ll just cut up a few extra fragments every evening, just in case.” “See, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. You’re acting as if splitting these things is no big deal!” “Awa, sweetie, when you’ve done something hundreds of times it’s really hard to get excited about it. Just you wait until you get the hang of it yourself. You’ll see.” Mora couldn’t help but smile as she regarded the massive rock wall in front of her. Since the big research project started, she had been requested to help at the quarry at Starside Peak. This was the only place in the twin republics where quatrite could be quarried, and since no other mineral shielded against elemental magic nearly as well as quatrite, demand for the shimmering, off-white stone had skyrocketed. This was exactly the kind of thing Mora loved. A simple problem with an obvious solution that she could help with. “Lady Magus, we have received another large-block order.” “I keep telling you, Sam, just Mora is fine.” “Wouldn’t be proper, ma’am.” Mora sighed. Sam was the one problem with this job. He was almost painfully old-fashioned, and the way he bowed to her between every sentence he spoke made her distinctly uncomfortable. But that was a small price to pay in exchange for getting to do her part. “What’s the order, Sam?” “Single slab, ma’am. Rectangular, four by sixteen foot and two foot thick.” “All right. I’m on it.” Sam bowed to her once more before hurrying away, and Mora sighed once again before focusing on the task at hand. Most quarries these days employed earth mages to extract and transport the stone, but not this one. Quatrite absorbed elemental magic so efficiently most earth mages didn’t stand a chance at affecting it. But Mora wasn’t most earth mages. Taking a deep breath, Mora planted her feet widely apart, adopting a stable stance with a low centre of gravity. Bringing up her arms, she started pouring elemental magic into the cliff face before her. The other workers paused in their work as they saw the brilliant green glow of powerful earth magic surrounding her like a flickering aura. The counter-pressure threatened to push the young girl off her feet, but Mora simply tensed her muscles and started pouring the massive amounts of magical energy into the stone, saturating it faster than it could be absorbed. As the power in the stone started building up, Mora carefully envisioned the shape and size of the block she needed. A painfully loud cracking sound echoed around the quarry as the slab of rock broke free of the mountainside and floated over to land in a rail cart awaiting transport to the capital. Mora blushed slightly as the workers at the quarry broke into a round of cheers and applause. Even after working here for almost a week, she still wasn’t used to that. Still, she couldn’t help but smile as she wiped the sweat from her brow. Jarak regarded the two water magi curiously. The two of them were sitting across from each other on the ground in a small garden around the back of the castle. Their strange, cross-legged pose didn’t seem particularly comfortable, but they certainly weren’t complaining. In fact, they didn’t seem to be doing anything at all. Just sitting completely still and quiet, eyes closed, taking slow, steady breaths. With a shrug, Jarak wandered up to them. “Hey there!” Kaia shot him a slightly annoyed look while Awa waved at him with an awkward smile. “Hello Jarak.” “Whatcha dooooing?” Kaia sighed at the interruption, but patiently explained the exercise. “We’re meditating. It’s a focusing exercise to help you push away unnecessary thoughts and feelings.” “Sounds neat! Can I try?” “Well, I’m not sure how much good it will do you, since fire magic seems to be a very unfocused discipline, but I suppose it’s fine. Take a seat.” Jarak smiled brilliantly and took a seat next to Awa, doing his best to copy her pose. It took a bit of work to get his legs to fold correctly, but he got there in the end. “I’m ready!” “All right. Now close your eyes and take slow, even breaths. Focus on the flow of the air in and out of your lungs. Now, work on clearing you mind of interruptions. Don’t try to force yourself not to think. That never works. Instead, take every thought and impulse that enters your mind unbidden, examine it, accept it, and then put it aside. Anything not related to your current goal can wait. There will be time to deal with it later. For now, just focus on a single thing you want to achieve.” Silence fell across the little garden once again, and Kaia settled back into her meditations. But it wasn’t long before her trance was interrupted by the feeling of a pair of lips pressing against hers. She let out a sound halfway between a scream and a squeak and slammed her palms forward, feeling them impacting something heavy and pushing it away. Opening her eyes, she saw Jarak lying on the ground, grinning brilliantly even as he nursed his aching ribs. “What the hell was that!?” Kaia shrieked angrily. “Well, you said I should focus on a goal, so I focused on the goal of making you do something interesting. And I succeeded perfectly. This exercise works really well!” Kaia watched speechlessly as the cheerful boy picked himself off the ground and skipped away across the courtyard. “What is his problem?” She asked Awa, incredulity mixing with shock in her voice. “Oh, that. Well, he’s amber-blooded, you see.” “What does that mean?” “It’s a genetic condition. It’s named after princess Amber.” “The one who travelled with my dad?” “That’s right. It affects different people in different ways, although Jarak is a bit more different than most. It does something strange to the brain. Amber-blooded people just don’t think or feel quite the same way as other people.” “Is that a common condition?” “Not really, but it isn’t exactly rare either. It actually props up quite a lot in the magus families, since all our family trees intertwine quite a lot over the past three thousand years. Many of the fire magi have been amber-blooded, and a lot of researchers seem to think that whatever changes the condition makes to the brain also makes you a better fire mage.” “Really?” “The evidence is pretty compelling. Miriam is amber-blooded too, you know. It’s just not as obvious with her. It was actually pretty surprising when she became magus, since she’s the only fire mage in her family for three generations.” “So all the magus families are all mixed up, and anyone who’s descended from them could end up becoming magus?” “Technically, yes, but as a general rule the magus tends to be someone with a lot of mages of that element in their immediate ancestry. That’s why everyone was so surprised when Miriam became magus of fire.” “Huh… Well, I guess I shouldn’t be too mad at Jarak, if it’s a genetic condition… You don’t think he’s upset I shoved him, right?” “Oh, no. He probably thought it was great fun. It was pretty impressive, though. The way you just launched him like that.” “I fight with a longsword, Awa. That kind of thing builds a lot of upper body strength.” “Right. I suppose it would. I don’t actually train that much with my sword, to be honest.” “Oh really?” Kaia grinned as she got up off the ground. “Well then, I think it’s about time we change that.” Kaia huffed as the sword clanged against the metal. “Come on, Awa. You’re supposed to cut the metal, not dent it!” “But this is treasury grade gold! It’s 99.995% pure!” “And just how do you expect to cut through a heart fragment if you can’t even cut through a metal with a measurable level of impurity?” “That’s easy for you to say! I can’t…” “No! Don’t say you can’t. That word is forbidden from now on! You haven’t done it yet, but you absolutely can. Now close your eyes, clear your mind and try again!” Awa groaned and took a moment to catch her breath and wipe the sweat off her brow. She’d swung her sword more in the last hour than she had in the last month prior, and her arms protested feebly every time she raised the blade. “Are you sure we can’t take a short break?” “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you said you wanted to learn how to split a heart fragment. I guess I must have misunderstood.” “No! I do want to learn!” “Then stop complaining, clear your mind and cut this gold. You’re never going to get anywhere with the heart fragments if you can’t manage that.” Awa bit back a retort and raised her blade. Standing with the sword at the ready, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Kaia watched approvingly as her trembling stilled and her stance tightened. In a flash of movement, Awa brought her sword down, the silvery blade biting into the golden metal before her… And stopping about halfway through with a horrid screeching noise. “Good strike, but a bit lacking in the follow-through.” Kaia commented. “Still, we’re clearly getting somewhere.” That evening, Kaia practically had to carry Awa to dinner. After their morning training, the girl had gone on to perform her duties as head of the research team with her usual energy, though perhaps without quite as many dramatic arm gestures as usual, and the day’s efforts had clearly wiped her out completely. When they entered the dining room, Kaia noticed Kio was nowhere to be seen. Mora had been gone for almost as long as the research project had been running, working in some quarry somewhere to help provide the researchers with that weird stone they used to make sure things didn’t explode any more than necessary. But Kio had been here every evening, usually grumbling about not being on the front lines. “So, where’s Kio gone off to?” Kaia asked as she helped Awa into a chair. “Oh, he’s delivering a message to the mobile garrisons. He’s a bit faster than the usual air couriers, and he’s been getting antsy just staying in the castle, so…” “Air couriers? You send messages by courier?” “How else would we send them? There’s no signalling towers anywhere near the twilight. It’s not a safe place for permanent structures.” “What’s a signalling tower?” “Oh, you must have seen them. The really tall towers with the mechanical arms that move up and down. Basically, the position of the arms indicate letters, so you can use them to send messages. Although I hear it’s a lot more complicated than that nowadays. Like, the messages are encoded so you can fit more information into every set of arm positions.” “That’s what those towers are? I figured they were some sort of magical thing. Don’t you guys have radios? Or phones?” “What’s a phone?” “It’s like a device you talk into and it transfers the sound to another device…” “Oh, we have something like that. It uses magical fields to encode sound. It doesn’t work over long ranges, though, and it won’t work in cities or areas high in background magic because of the interference.” “Are you telling me you don’t even have a telegraph or anything? Like, some way to send messages by sending electrical signals through a wire?” “Oh, we don’t really use electricity for anything. I think the Sunlit Kingdom had just started working with electrical devices right before the republics were formed. For stuff like lighting and heating, I believe. But once people started creating magical devices in earnest electrical engineering just fell out of favour. Why, does your world have a better way to communicate long-distance?” “Does it ever. Tell you what, tomorrow I want you to introduce me to everyone at your university who studies electricity or magnetism. I feel like I’m about to start another research project.” Kaia wasn’t bored any more. It was hard to be bored when you were working your ass off. Training with Awa and getting called on to split heart fragments in half was almost a welcome respite compared to the constant brainstorming, experiments and discussion in the small room the university laughably called its electrical lab. She was far from an expert on any of the things she was currently teaching, but she didn’t need to be. These people hadn’t known what electromagnetic radiation was. They didn’t know how to make an electric engine. Their idea of an exciting advancement in the field was creating a light bulb that might be preferable to magical lighting in extremely specific situations. But Kaia had changed all that. The combination of Kaia’s mostly remembered textbook knowledge in the field and the enthusiasm of a group of researchers who suddenly found themselves at the forefront of scientific advancement led to a blisteringly fast progression of discoveries and inventions. Within three days they had created an electrical device that could record audio on a wax cylinder and play it back on a rudimentary loudspeaker. Within a week they had created a device that could accept text input, send the message as electrical signals through a wire and recreate the message on the receiving end. Another week later, they had created a working prototype for a short-range radio transmitter. Kaia collapsed into bed every night tired to the bone and grinning from ear to ear.