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Post by delta on Jun 6, 2016 13:35:44 GMT
 When he was a child, he had thought of giving lectures at the front of the hall like this famed Dr Nikolaj Thorsen from Denmark, who stood at the podium. Iskander had wanted to talk about most interesting subjects. He had wanted to explain things as succinctly and as simply as possible. As a child, he had wanted to do many things.
By the doorway he stood, looking at Dr Thorsen from afar. There were many things he no longer thought about doing today, one of which was giving lectures to final year students and wishing them well with their future careers.
Dr Thorsen started his lecture on the reality fracture in Leng, and how his team of researchers had potentially found the cause behind its existence.
He did not think that he wanted to sit in a hall full of people just to listen to Dr Thorsen. Instead, he left the doorway for seating in the hallway, where Dr Thorsen could still be heard without having to sit elbow-to-elbow with other interested students.
neo
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Post by neo on Jun 11, 2016 6:18:10 GMT
She'd met Dr. Thorsen before, when she attended Miskatonic University, but whatever the professor had discovered at Leng, that came after she'd shook his hand. She didn't know any of it. Neo had looked for Dr. Thorsen before the lecture, but she hadn't managed to cross paths with him. She'd found one of his aides, forcibly ran into him and managed contact that way, and now she knew everything in Dr. Thorsen's presentation and plenty other tidbits besides--but that was still a far cry from the knowledge possessed by the doctor himself. The presentation was dull. Maybe it was riveting for others, but it wasn't like it had any new information for Neo--not anymore. She wandered out of the seating area, afraid that other students might recognize her face. She recognized most of them, but Neo never forgot a face. She doesn't recognize Delta though, and he's sitting a good spot to avoid being seen while still keeping tabs on the presentation. "Is there space for one more by you?" she asked him softly, trying not to be a disturbance. Neo's somewhat apologetic when she added, "It's a little too crowded in there for my tastes."delta |
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Post by delta on Jun 11, 2016 6:57:36 GMT
Nodding, Iskander gestured at the row of empty seats next to him. "Feel free. I came alone," said Iskander, rifling through tiny bits of paper that he had scribbled notes down on. It wasn't so much for making sure he didn't miss anything that he made notes on the subject, but the fact that he liked having bits of paper that he could string together to make piles of notes. It made for a nice collection, even if Tresillian ended up throwing them out after a while.
He observed her for a moment, if only to pick up basic information on her. It turned out that he got more than he bargained for, as the little pop-up also provided a list of Neo's apparent powers. He liked to think of them as frequently-used powers, so he knew more or less what to expect from someone.
Still, it was no substitute for a proper conversation. There were things he couldn't learn until he actually spoke to them.
"Mine as well," he hummed, clicking his mechanical pencil a few times, only to find that it was out of lead. He rummaged around in his satchel for a tube of lead refills, which he found in its side pocket.
As he refilled his mechanical pencil, Iskander commented idly, "I'd like to talk to some of them, but they're so admirably stubborn even when they're wrong. So I don't."
neo
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Post by neo on Jun 13, 2016 7:00:45 GMT
Neo had never taken notes in her life. She's probably one of the few students--besides the ones in the back row that only showed up for extra credit--that didn't bring pen and paper. She sat down, and she even tried to look like she was paying attention to the lecture. Unfortunately, she found it about as entertaining as a kindergarten primer, except without all the bright colors. "Them?" Neo asked. "The students or the researchers?"Neo hadn't taken an actual look at Iskander yet, and now she actually bothered. She didn't forget faces, so chances were he wasn't a student here. If he were, he'd skipped orientation (a wise decision, she should've skipped it too) and despite clearly having an interest in science, she'd never come across him in any of the science departments or their events. He's close enough to touch, but Neo kept her hands to herself. "They're academics, either way. If you want to tell them they're wrong, you've got to publish an entire thesis in some national journal about it."delta |
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Jun 14, 2016 14:08:31 GMT
Post by delta on Jun 14, 2016 14:08:31 GMT
"Alas," sighed Iskander, doodling on the edges of his note-paper. His mechanical pencil circled around a particular area of paper, looping around to create patterns akin to a spirograph. It was just simple circles, looping around and around with no end in sight. It was fun, and it helped him think.
"They won't listen unless they have it in black-and-white, and even then, it's not enough. I suppose that is what comes with the pursuit of knowledge. There's always more to learn, even if you've learnt everything you could."
Dr Thorsen continued talking about the research site in Leng, and Iskander guessed that he was currently showing pictures of the research site to the students. Or at least, that seemed to be the case considering what the professor had been saying. Iskander wanted to know what the research site looked like, but instinct told him that it more than likely was just pictures of Dr Thorsen and a few research aides against white tarpaulin.
Iskander stopped drawing, and started taking notes again. Dr Thorsen had moved on from the research site and was starting to delve into their observations of the fracture.
"They call me Delta," said Iskander, as if it were a throwaway comment.
neo
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Post by neo on Jun 15, 2016 6:26:31 GMT
She blinked and considered the statement. "How can there be more to learn if you've learned all you could? Wouldn't there be more, but not more for you to learn?" she asked, caught somewhere between confusion and genuine interest, like finding an unexpected possibility but not yet understanding the depth of it yet. She was busy on her phone while Dr. Thorsen talked, playing matches of Hearthstone with a combo paladin deck. It didn't take up all her attention, and she listened to Delta instead of Dr. Thorsen because out of the two of them, only one of them had anything interesting to say. Delta isn't a name anyone actually gave their child, as far as Neo knew. "I'm Neo," she said, and she knew Neo wasn't really a name anyone gave their child either. She glanced up and saw photos of the research site. She knew they didn't do the actual research site much justice, especially the photos of the dark matter. "They should be showing a video. Photographs can't show what dark matter looks like--if what they say about it is true." She added the last bit idly as an afterthought, but it'd slipped her mind that she shouldn't know what dark matter looked like. Neo sighed, and it could've been directed at the presentation or the game she just lost after a rash of bad draws. "I wish he'd stop talking and just show us a sample or something."delta |
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Jun 17, 2016 17:19:35 GMT
Post by delta on Jun 17, 2016 17:19:35 GMT
It took Iskander a while to respond, mainly because he was waiting for Dr Thorsen to say something of value. The professor did not, and so Iskander pointed out, "But you could always realize ways for you to learn more. Either there's something you missed out on, or shortcomings in knowledge that you can just paint over with new knowledge.
"For what it's worth, Neo, I don't think this world holds a finite amount of knowledge. Someone who claims to know everything is usually wrong. And whoever tells you that there are things you can never learn is probably also wrong, but I can't say for sure."
If anything, his skill list was varied; there were a few he knew he was absolutely pathetic at, and some that he knew he was fairly good at -- but every time he bothered checking, it was updated with even more skills that he didn't know he had been picking up. But if one had the power to just absorb knowledge, perhaps finding new things to absorb was more of a challenge than it seemed.
He smiled at Neo - he understood her wanting to see the real thing - but he figured that Dr Thorsen was only getting to the meat of the discussion.
Iskander sat a little straighter as the professor went into slightly more depth this time. Earlier, he seemed to be introducing the concept to the students as if they were mere children -- which they technically were, in the field of reality fractures and whatnot. Right now, he was explaining how nothing could be removed from the research site, and there it was:
'I want something more significant to show all of you, but I'm afraid all you'll have is information we've extracted from cursory research for the time being.'
t5ci6bqU <50 thorsen actually has more information to share, but opted not to
<30 the slides update themselves with new info
Iskander looked from the slides that seemed to be edited in real-time to Neo, as if waiting to see if something registered in her gaze. She seemed like she had studied up on the subject.
neo
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Jun 17, 2016 20:40:01 GMT
Post by neo on Jun 17, 2016 20:40:01 GMT
She wondered what he thought of the stubborn professors that refused to learn more. Did that count? Or was pigheadedness an actual roadblock to knowledge. Or both. She supposed there was no reason it couldn't be both. "I hope that knowledge isn't finite," she replied, because Neo couldn't quite share a full-fledged belief. She strove to know all things, because the road to all knowledge was the life she wanted to live, but should she ever achieve it, then what purpose was left for her? "If it were finite, the world would be disappointingly small--"Neo's eyes narrowed as the slides changed, flipping left as if it were turning to the next slide, but Thorsen had barely started explaining the contents of the first before the change. "Our initial hypothesis on dark--what? I, one moment, I'll get that slide back--" But the slide wouldn't come back. That slide was gone. What remained was a slide with a molecular diagram--if it could be called that--showing in four images what dark matter's form ought to be, presuming there were four dimensions. The slide thereafter listed various atoms and their symbols, including some isotopes that didn't exist and several that Neo didn't recognize. The last slide had an equation. "Those aren't supposed to be there," she commented. She took a photo of each slide on her phone, but she's already thinking of the last slide. "Thorsen's equation--the one named for himself--is in there. It's probably some computation for... the energy of dark matter?" She talks further about the numbers and letters, theorizing idly (but with great interest and expertise) as Dr. Thorsen tried not to panic. 2lR4rwNu < 50 presentation's cut short delta |
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Post by delta on Jun 18, 2016 7:24:33 GMT
The new slides didn't make ready sense to Iskander, because he didn't have much idea of what dark matter was in the first place. All the same, he committed them to memory as they flashed back and forth. Dr Thorsen was trying his best to make sure his presentation hadn't just gone to hell - he looked to his aides, who were as puzzled as he was - and then at the students, who were excited that they were getting something more out of the talk than they had bargained for.
"But what makes up dark matter? It's not simply antimatter," said Iskander. He appeared to be amused by how Dr Thorsen was struggling to regain control of the talk. By now, his aides had stepped up to the podium and called for a premature break to the presentation while they tried to sort out a 'technical error.'
However, everyone knew that technical errors did not produce new information. A few students off to the side whispered about psychic mutants doing 'that freaky thing,' and the girls giggled at the thought. Some of them were speculating that Dr Thorsen simply hadn't planned on telling them more, and that it was retribution at its finest.
The presentation was eventually called off after a while, much to the vocal chagrin of most of the students.
P7r4fGGe <30 they meet thorsen
Dr Thorsen seemed to near the hallway where Iskander and Neo stood, but then turned off into a corridor that presumably led to the resting area for guests.
"Shall we go?" Iskander invited her. Between the two of them, cornering the esteemed professor wasn't too much effort. Probably. Or maybe the aides were mutants, and they were actually going to be in trouble.
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Post by neo on Jun 24, 2016 1:54:53 GMT
"If we knew what dark matter was made up of, it wouldn't be half as interesting," Neo replied. She didn't answer Iskander, but she led the way to the lounge area where Dr. Thorsen had seated himself on an armchair. He seemed frazzled, and he was puzzling over his tablet. As Neo closed the distance, she saw that his tablet had the new slides. Dr. Thorsen noticed them, and he said, "Ah, I'm afraid I've much to attend to, too much for the Q&A we promised. I apologize.""Oh, sorry, it's not about the lecture, professor," Neo said, her tone high and bright. "But I know you canceled office hours except by appointment this week, but the schedule website is down, so I thought I'd just come here and ask--"With remarkable skill, Neo tripped on nothing and fall beside the armchair. She bumped into the tablet, and she caught it as it toppled to the ground, even as her knee made an awful sound (much worse than it actually was, which she knew would only be a light bruise) as it struck the floor. Quickly, she stood back up, taking Dr. Thorsen's bare hand and placing the tablet back into it. She spoke in a flurry of words. "I'm so sorry, professor. I'm--look, I'll just go. I'msurethewebsitewillbebackupsoon. Thankssomuch, bye!"Abruptly, she turned and left the room. With her back to the professor, Iskander could surely see that her expression was indifferent and even cold. delta |
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Post by delta on Jun 25, 2016 6:18:33 GMT
Perhaps, but wasn't a part of the challenge to find something unknown about things that were already known?
Iskander followed Neo to where Dr Thorsen was sitting. The professor seemed to have yet to get over his surprise as he pored over the tablet. And then everything unfolded like they would in a book -- Neo started talking to the professor, tripped dramatically, and promptly left the room.
He remained standing where Thorsen was. The professor shook his head; there wasn't much he wanted to divulge. He fiddled with the tablet to bring up some other research papers, and Iskander took it as a cue to leave.
"Are you alright?" asked Iskander, after exiting the room. Neo's expression had changed. He could tell as much, but what exactly had she seen on the tablet? Or rather, what sort of knowledge had she absorbed? Iskander couldn't tell if she had gained anything of worth, but whatever she had learnt was definitely affecting her on some level.
"... that didn't sound too good," he continued to say, indicating her knee.
Despite his attempts at trying to find out more, Iskander had given her space; he stood some distance away from her, as if afraid of what she had learnt.
neo
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