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[nevergetscredit]

After having been on the ship for a number of weeks now, Merlin was beginning to get the hang of the place. Or at least, he wasn't finding himself in completely unfamiliar places where it would take him all day to get back to somewhere he recognised quite so often.

At least now he didn't have to worry about needing to get back to his rooms so he could feed Iniss. He hoped that Tom was alright - he still wasn't sure that taking Iniss back was the best thing for Tom, but Merlin had resolved to check up on him. And if Iniss still wasn't letting Tom control his own body...well, Merlin could always cast that spell again.

One thing Merlin definitely hadn't gotten the hang of, however, was the omnicomm. Which meant that he was currently walking along the corridors of Stacy, blissfully unaware of the fact that a very public declaration of both Merlin's actions and his magical ability had recently been broadcast to the entire ship.

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[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Fuyu looked at Zouichi, who nodded. "Merlin, would you mind passing your hand through my body for a second?"

[nevergetscredit]

Merlin looked wary. He could almost hear Gaius telling him that he shouldn't go around sticking his hands into potentially magic illusions that he didn't know anything about. "Why?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"It's just a demonstration; I can promise you won't be harmed. But if you wish, I can try to explain without it."

[nevergetscredit]

"A demonstration of what?" Merlin asked.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

She sighed; were all preindustrial humans this suspicious?

"The image that you see of me now, that's the illusion." Suddenly, she disappeared, leaving only empty air where her form once floated. After a second or two, it appeared again, in roughly the same place. "It's not really connected to me in any way; it's just a way of interacting with people who need a face to talk to."

Zouichi held up the projection sphere in his hand.

"That's where I live in reality. I exist as a pattern of electricity in a sphere of intricately constructed metal. There's no magic involved."

[nevergetscredit]

"So you live in the spehere?" Merlin could tell there was no magic: that still didn't mean he understood it, though. "But how can electricity make illusions?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"It's a combination of two different devices," said Fuyu. "The projector is designed to shine light into the air to produce a specific image, when provided with electrical instructions to do so. I merely provide those instructions."

"Humans have designed quite a few devices that function based on electronic instruction," said Zouichi. "Some of them simple, and some of them complex. They can produce light, sound, do mathematics..."

[nevergetscredit]

It still seemed like magic that wasn't magic to Merlin, and even trying to think about it made his head spin. "I'd ask how they work too, but somehow I don't think I'll understand any of it," he said.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, probably not," agreed Zouichi. Fuyu gave him a look.

"Our world follows specific rules that humans have used to create many things, living and machine," said Fuyu. "Trying to understand their most complex accomplishments without learning any of the discoveries that formed the foundation of those accomplishments won't give you a very deep understanding of anything. I'd recommend first learning about simple inventions and concepts, such as electrical circuits and conductivity. Perhaps the lightbulb, which was a seminal invention in the technological progress of mankind."

[nevergetscredit]

"So basically in order to know how anything around here actually works, I've have to spend years studying lightning and lightballs?" Merlin said, feeling less and less keen on the idea by the minute.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"I don't think studying electrical systems is going to help you with that," said Zouichi. "This place is biological in origin. And I don't think anyone understand how everything here works. But if you want a working understanding of mechanical systems, well, children at least know that much on Earth. I don't think it should take an adult more than a few weeks, if you're a quick learner."