[ closed ] it's not for you to know but for you to weep and wonder

[gramarye]

Who: Data, Wolfgang
What: Some things can't be explained by science.
Where: Flag Hill cliffsides
When: After this, but a few days before this. Why didn't I post this first if it happened chronologically first? SHHHHhhh. Shhh. shhh.
Notes: A polyvore because I can.
Warnings: Disturbing content, probably! Will edit with more exact warnings as needed.

Wolfgang is in Flag Hill fairly often - at least once a month he comes to pick up some meat from the butcher that he can toss in the freezer. It makes him nervous anymore, especially when he has to walk too close to the cliffside with the filled-in people-shaped holes. They're harmless now, but...

Today he just came up to shoot the shit. He's been feeling pretty good lately, it makes him feel social, and time is hard to tell in Baedal but someone did the calculations and the holidays are coming up for him. It's also the end of Ramadan, so he hangs out for a bit to talk to some friends of his who are getting ready for Eid. He ends up losing track of time and by the time he leaves, it's dark out. It's not like he's got anything else going on tonight so he ends up taking the long, scenic way back to the train, skirting the edges of the cliffs and looking out over the vast ravine - that steep drop, the trees and fog on the other side.

He slows to a stop, frowning, looking over the edge of the cliffs. There's a ghostly purple light dancing out there, about ten meters from the edge - looks like a will-o'-the-wisp. But he knows what those are, or what they are supposed to be; the oxidation of certain chemical compounds released by organic decay causes them to ignite, creating flames. They're rare outside of bogs. Maybe it's from something in the underground? He's pretty sure the sewers let out around here somewhere.

He ends up coming very close to the edge, toes just passing it - he's not afraid of heights at all - and watching it. It's not going away. It's sort of pretty but it's making him nervous because it doesn't feel right, and it shouldn't be here...

Comments

[gramarye]

"Real magic, anyway. Instead of. You know... gas." Which would be a disappointment - not that he's not interested in what's real, it's just... no, actually, generally he's more interested in what's not.

He rocks back on his heels, peering down over the edge of the cliff. Unsure. "I was going to go look... did you want to come?"

That's a pretty blatant invitation to come get into trouble. It should be harmless, at least.

[asimovsdream]

Exploring the unknown has been all Data's ever done with his life. The invitation is something so familiar—the promise of an investigation, the acceptance of someone who might be a friend—that it seems only natural to go, it almost seems like a duty.

“Yes, I am interested in learning more,” he says. “Particularly about the nature of magic.”

[gramarye]

"They don't have magic in space?" It's a little facetious - he wouldn't be surprised, no, although there's ample room for magic and technology to work together, he's definitely noticed there's a strange, stringent divide anyway.

Also, Wolfgang is just super fascinated by the idea of spaaaace. He's been, sort of, there are places in the High and Deep Umbra that are more or less deep space, but it's not really the same. There aren't any spaceships, for one. Not unless he made them, and those would wind up cartoony because he was about eight.

He walks along the edge of the cliff until he can finds a spot with enough ledges that they can climb down safely, which he proceeds to do. Here and there around Flag Hill, there are man-made foot- and hand-holds; people are always climbing around on these things.

[asimovsdream]

“It may exist,” Data says as he follows Wolfgang over the edge, “but in my universe, it has not yet been discovered by Starfleet or any of the civilizations we communicate with. We have come across some instances of phenomena which could be explained by science but were initially mistaken for magic, which has left me wondering about the difference between them.”

He's never climbed down these ledges before; he's never had the time. He thinks it appropriate that he see more of his own neighborhood, that he know more about what people do here—gaining that kind of knowledge is the reason he didn't join Hellsing along with Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy.

[gramarye]

"I'm afraid I'm not very qualified to answer." Wolfgang is entirely untrained in magic and his education stops at a high school diploma; he's neither some mystic expert nor a scientist. That said, though - "I guess sometimes it's the same thing. But real magic, that's more, um... about making something out of nothing - I mean, actually nothing. You can induce change with science to a certain degree, but you're still bound by these laws, whether you know them or not."

He has to climb carefully, it's dark out and his vision is... not great. He could make a light, but that would take concentration he should really keep on what he's currently doing. Maybe when he reaches somewhere more stable. "Or sometimes you can use one to make the other. It's a lot easier to start a fire by, um, exciting certain molecules than just - willing it into existence. I could do both."

[asimovsdream]

For Data, on the other hand, climbing takes very little concentration or physical effort, and his night vision is no less effective than his day vision. The damage to his leg hasn't hindered him in the past two weeks, though he's kept it bandaged in order to prevent further damage, and to stop dirt and other foreign particles from causing trouble. His pant leg covers the evidence, though—for now, everything appears normal.

“It is true that creating something from nothing goes against all scientific principals,” Data agrees. For a moment, he wonders whether Q's abilities might qualify as magic, but comes to the conclusion that since a Q has never allowed itself to be scientifically measured in any way, the answer is impossible to determine.

What Wolfgang says reminds Data of a train of thought he'd had earlier on. “Would you say that magic is that which has no answer? Something that is inexplicable?”

[gramarye]

"I guess I would," he says, thoughtful, testing his weight on a ledge before he lets himself go fully. He has to shimmy a bit on his side to get to a slightly wider path, the wind stronger down here than he had anticipated at the top, although Flag Hill is always pretty windy. "If all of reality is made up of a bunch of rules and magic is what happens when you break those rules, you can't really explain that.

"There are certain, um -" He makes a broad, vague gesture with his hands, then stops because while he is not afraid of heights, he is also super fucking clumsy and really doesn't need to lose his balance and fall here. "- Certain things that have magic qualities, they are predictable, but they can't... exactly be measured. Certain, um, herbs, for instance, if you - they can have effects they shouldn't have, scientifically. Feverfew, um... there's no scientific evidence it helps with headaches, and it doesn't back home, I mean it's just, um, a placebo effect, but here it does. I don't know about things like that. I guess it's a grey area. Or maybe the force of the city's belief changes its properties. Reality's not static like people think, it's influenced by what we, um, collectively project on it, so..."

This is probably the most he's said all week. Once he gets going, he doesn't stop.

[asimovsdream]

Data listens intently and tries to understand. He's never been good with vague statements or uncertainties, and his reflex to qualify and define very nearly kicks in at full throttle, but in the interest of saving Wolfgang from additional distraction and possible mortal injury, he saves further commentary for when they're safe on the ground again.

Once they've finished their descent, however, the android finds himself distracted by the mysterious cloud when he looks to the sky. It seems closer and lower to the ground while simultaneously not having moved at all; it should be impossible (but then again, perhaps that's magic). Data tries to parse what he's seeing for a long moment, then looks to Wolfgang with a questioning expression.

“Should we proceed?” he asks.

[gramarye]

Wolfgang nods and sets off walking along the slim path they're now on, his hand against the cliffside to keep himself steady, although he's not quite paying attention to where he's going and is clumsy enough on top of that that at several points it looks like he's about to tumble over the side. It doesn't help that he's looking up while he's walking, trying to keep an eye on those ghostly lights, which... appear to have moved. He's not sure because their perspective is so different, but... he's pretty sure.

Hello, Data! You picked the worst person to do this with, Wolfgang has less common sense than a basket full of puppies.

"I've met faeries before," he says, absently. "Before here, I mean."