Crystal.

[youwonscience]

FORM: Sending crystal
SENDER: Cosima
RECIPIENT: In theory closed to rifters, but you know how crystals have been lately (oocly open to all)

[There's always work to do, so lazy weekend mornings aren't really a thing for Riftwatch. But you have to take breaks sometime, and the late morning with spring sunlight streaming through the window seems as good a time as any. Or so your provost thinks, evidently.]

Hey everyone. No division head business right now, just wondering. Things fall through rifts now and then. If you could pick something — inanimate object, no people or pets — to turn up from your home world, what would you pick?

Given my well-known, longstanding and committed relationship with our division microscope, I'm not gonna begrudge you something you could use for work if you lean that way. But also live a little if you want to. Like, it's definitely not practical, but man, I'd love a windsurfing board. Getting it back to Kirkwall from wherever the rift is might suck, but totally worth it.

Comments

[laruetheday]

A portable DVD player with a battery that's always charged up. And my favorite movies.

Or a motorcycle. [ y'know, if we're being more "practical." ]

[youwonscience]

OK while I can't condone using division resources to find a way to power your motorcycle on paper, maybe if I told the other div heads how fucking cool it would be they'd all get behind the idea.

What's some favorite movies?

[laruetheday]

Excellent. [ being being cool is top priority. ]

Definitely 300, Final Destination, oh Jurassic Park's a good one... And I've always liked Mulan, the Disney one? I wouldn't mind seeing that again.

[youwonscience]

Oh hell yeah, all four of those existed in my world. Never watched Final Destination, not much for horror, but Jurassic Park holds UP. As a movie, a lot of the science is [she makes an eh sound that's the verbal equivalent of so-so hand motion]. But given what they knew at the time, it's still impressive.

[reparo]

Somehow doesn't surprise me. You could call the motorcycle 'Land Griffon'.

[laruetheday]

I was thinking Grim Reaper.

[reparo]

That's fair, they are essentially death machines.

[ cue sad 'fun police granger' trombone here ]

[reparo]

A pen. [ Pause. Quickly, ] Ballpoint. And maybe an A4 notebook, spiral edge.

[youwonscience]

Oh man, I came through the rift with a ballpoint years ago. Still have it, even though it's empty. You know, as a memento.

[She gets it, is what she's saying.]

You ever work the spiral out of a notebook in class? Or was making school supplies into deadly weapons not your vibe?

[reparo]

I miss stationery...

[ With a little wistful sigh. ]

I went to a magical school stuck in the Dark Ages, using parchment and quills dipped in ink for every essay and note - from the time I was 11 years old. So...no...?

[youwonscience]

Woof, I mean. I was jealous of the learning magic thing, but if you were going to rob me of jabbing my classmates with metal hard enough to be annoying but never hard enough to break the skin? I don't know, tough choice.

[portalling]

[ There is one very brief fleeting moment when Stephen thinks of his wristwatch; for the automatic sentimental attachment, and the way his wrist had felt so bare and naked when he first arrived here without it. But then the real answer comes quick: ]

My sling ring. Useful and cool, and people wouldn’t have to listen me continually whinging about how I miss portalling everywhere.

leo point at your journal title

[youwonscience]

I think you've mentioned before but how does it work? Is it like ... anyplace you've been? Is there a distance limit?

[portalling]

Anywhere, including places I’ve never been, although it’s much easier when the destination’s a location you know well. There might be an eventual distance limit, but not one I ran into; I once portalled home from a moon in another solar system.

All of which means I’m sure it wouldn’t work properly here even if it did come through, but if we’re daydreaming anyway, might as well go full tilt.

[aberratic]

[ ness is neck-deep in quartermaster business in preparation for her impending, uh, absence, but she does still have her crystal on the desk next to her, so she's hearing all this, and—]

Can I say paper? I know we have it here, but I could use more.

[youwonscience]

You definitely can; I dream all the time about reams of paper falling out of rifts. Certainly would make for an easier few months after.

Or maybe some specialty paper? Back home, they have a kind of paper where you write on the top sheet and then several sheets underneath take up the marks so you end up with a few copies without having to write them out one at a time. Not the fastest way to make copies we have, but one I'm sure would work in Thedas.

[aberratic]

Oh, that would be helpful—imagine not having to hand-write all the copies you need for all your contracts and reports...

[ mid-copy-writing, ness sounds incredibly wistful.]

Were there ways to record and transcribe the spoken word without needing to involve a person in your previous world? That would be so convenient for people who can't write.

[reparo]

Oh, Ennaris, you'd love notebooks.

[aberratic]

Oh, I know notebooks! At least, I think I do. We have table-books both here in Thedas and in my previous life, anyway, and blank books are expensive, but not unheard of. Is that the kind of book you mean?

[ipseite]

There was a particular carriage that I had, at one point — reinforced for safety, and enchanted for a far smoother ride than the suspension on one’s typical mode of transportation allows. I believe Irinka had taken her inspiration from, of all things, the way that a chicken moves.

[youwonscience]

That's fascinating. Were the enchantments something permanent, or did they have to be continually powered somehow?

[ipseite]

Effectively permanent, though they were refined over time and even magic may be subject to the wear and tear of toil. It was quite remarkable craftsmanship, mundane and magical.

[armd]

Hair elastics.

[youwonscience]

Oh man. Probably not ethical to immediately divert all division resources to this one, but. Compelling.

[armd]

It physically hurt when my last one snapped.