Loali's Zeal

My explanation of my home glossed over my family. I couldn't bring myself to say much about them, at least not yet, as the thought that I'd likely never see them again had already sunk into my chest.

Instead, I dove into describing my world. I wanted to make it clear to them that the place I came from already felt vastly different from where I was now, so I focused on conveying that over anything else.

As examples, I showed them both my tiny plastic dragon and book light, but the simple fact that the book light made light wasn’t that surprising to them. They had an entirely opposite reaction when I mentioned that magic was a fictional concept where I came from, and after revealing that I was compelled to hand the book light over for Loali to examine. She didn't ask me to do so, but it seemed that everyone in the room recognized the way she'd begun to stare at it when I revealed magic hadn't been used to make it.

“Why did you think we made our homes with magic, then?” Illose questioned, drawing my attention away from Loali's fiddling.

“We had technology that could help us do that kind of thing where I came from, and I haven’t seen anything like that here. I did see signs of magic, though.”

I went on to describe the sky, animals, technology, and whatever I could think to mention, jumping from topic to topic while pointing out differences that I'd observed between this place and my old world so far. A few things I chose to point out as different were speculative, like the presence of technology like cars in my old world but not here, but for the most part their responses helped me gather that most of what I’d noticed seemed accurate.

Daytime was apparently a concept usually exclusive to the Luminescent Domain, not this one, and here the moon and each other were most people’s primary sources of light. A crane wasn’t something I’d find even in Boundary City, and jobs like breaking apart and moving stones would be handled in one of several ways depending on who was available to do them.

"That place you’re describing certainly doesn't sound like what I know about the Luminescent Domain, even the animals you’re talking about don’t..." Loali trailed, her voice noticeably self-stifled. Around me, nearly everyone had somewhat troubled faces, the primary exception being Loali. She tried to hide it, but for the majority of my story it appeared to me that she'd been enraptured- when she wasn't distracted examining the book light, anyway.

Wait? Why did I ramble in front of them so long? I'm so stupid...

I'll get them to talk more.

“So what’s your technology like?” Since I was already on the subject it felt like a natural, and potentially helpful, question.

I received far more of an answer than I was expecting, but I found myself quickly engrossed in the topic and the energy of the one presenting it to me.

Magic devices were the go-to for any items I’d likely associate with electricity, and some I could hardly imagine making with it, despite the apparent difficulties involved in creating them. Limits in the amount of magic they could hold and people’s imagination when creating them and recharging them mostly accounted for the fact that there weren’t many large and complex items.

Electricity existed, but most people viewed "capturing" electricity as a concept exclusive to magic. While electric-exclusive items with conductive wires and circuits technically existed, they were charged magically, and the rarity of people capable of electric magic presented an issue. The primary advantage of making items with electrical circuits was that the people recharging the devices didn’t need as much knowledge of how the item worked, the circuitry would handle that, they simply needed someone capable of using electrical magic to charge whatever material formed the “battery.” But, again, such people weren’t common. Since they didn't have an alternate way to make significant amounts of electricity for items, they hadn't really been incentivized to focus on innovating with electric-exclusive devices instead of focusing on utilizing other forms of magic effectively.

I've never been much of a tinkerer, but maybe what I do know about how electronics work could be helpful to them? If I could make myself useful...

Loali was the one who'd primarily provided all of that fascinating information, and more that I had trouble understanding at the moment and therefore couldn’t properly explain.

“I’ve tried to make electric items myself when I’ve got time to spare, but I’ve been running into walls left and right in the process. Fridle is the only one who can create and recharge batteries for me, and she’s got her own work to do, so...” She sighed, “I didn’t really have any firm ideas of what I wanted to do with electric magic devices anyway, so until now it's been more of a thing to work on when I just want to experiment. I’ve made a couple simple toys, but with your knowledge maybe I could get enough inspiration to focus on electric magic devices for a while.”

Something about her focus, the way she could ramble on about her work in a way that made it all so interesting to hear, left me feeling content.

“Loali deciding to become my apprentice was quite the surprise at first, but since then her passion has made her presence in the workshop feel entirely natural.” Based on the subtle, proud smile on Itelber's face, combined with what I’d seen and heard from Loali so far, I had no trouble believing that was true.

“Magic devices are critically important for everyone,” she responded, seemingly to justify herself, “so why shouldn’t I be enthusiastic? Not everyone can do it, and we all need them. I need to learn and experiment as much as possible for the sake of Kogen. Especially with the mons-”

“Perhaps it's less about responsibility for you than you make it out to be.” Drufyna interrupted, though the small grin she let slip indicated to me that she wasn’t particularly criticizing her despite her words and her shaking head. Loali briefly pursed her lips, but continued to speak a beat later.

“The important thing is that the work gets done, isn’t it? Anyway, about these devices you mentioned, Da-”

“Few things move my daughter’s heart more than her own creative pursuits.” Galla interrupted this time, a small sigh to his voice, “While I am commonly in awe of the things she creates, and greatly enjoy her enthusiasm on most occasions, it appears she’s not kept properly in mind your circumstances. I apologize in her stead.” He chided in excess of his wife, passing a restrained look Loali's way. “You’ve already thoroughly answered his question, and I believe you should be more considerate of his circumstances.”

“I didn’t mean to make light of any of this, I just...” For the first time I’d heard her voice drag away from her, and when I saw her brows furrowed with what I read as guilt I felt the need to intervene. I was perfectly content with getting wrapped up in her excitement.

“It’s fine. I’m pretty curious about magic devices,” I said, then met her eyes, “so hearing you describe them and your own perspective on electronics was interesting. Thank you.” The furrow on her brow mostly disappeared, and we shared a small smile. As I prepared to say something else, I moved my eyes momentarily to the floor.

“I’m not offended that you’re excited, and I don’t mind listening to you talk about that kind of thing. You...” I hesitated momentarily, “you, uh, made me feel a bit better.”

“Would you like to hear more, then?” Drufyna suggested, and I fought back the urge to nod. I guessed she was trying to be considerate of me by letting the conversation go where I wanted for the time being, but I understood we couldn’t only focus on magic and electronics. There were other important things to discuss, so it made sense for us to steer the conversation back while our talk was already interrupted.

I can try to see Loali again later to talk more about this, right?

“I’d love to, but... I’m wondering what I’m supposed to do now.”

“I understand that thinking about that likely causes you anxiety, so let us go ahead and sort out where you will be staying.”

“Can’t he stay here, mom?” Loali suggested without missing a beat, “or maybe with Itelber?” Her bright eyes moved between her mother and Itelber one after another, subtly pleading, and as I tried to consider her suggestions I found myself unable to offer any kind of opinion of my own.

She wants me to live with her?!