tushanshu | 13D11 [VIDEO]

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13D11 [VIDEO]

[When Costigan clicks on the video, he's looking a little bit sickly. It's not terrible, just as if he hasn't been sleeping well or caught a spot of food poisoning. He takes a sip of what seems to be alcohol before he speaks.]

I bought a couple things I could use help deciphering, if anyone's able.

There are some maps.. [He lifts a couple pages to display some metatemporal maps.] I don't understand them. They aren't like any maps I've ever seen.

[He shuffles some pages, setting the maps down and displaying an ancient scroll next.]

Then there's this scroll. If anyone speaks whatever this is. I want to- it needs to be translated. It's important.

[He pauses and sets the scroll down.]

Thanks.

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Those maps. Can I get a better look at them?

[She is pretty sure she knows what they are—she could see the device of Jagged's Renaissance astrologer in the corner—but can't quite believe it.]

Sure, yeah. Wood, 1A. Let me know when you're coming.

On my way over now—I'm just around the corner.

[And within minutes there's a knock on the door.]

[She really must be just around the corner with how quickly she arrives. Costigan moves over to the door and opens it a crack to check who it is, then widens the gap. He offers a hand in greeting.]

Billy Costigan. You said you might be able to decipher the maps?

Una Persson. I've seen you about, of course.

[She gives him a firm handshake in greeting. She's plainly trying to restrain herself from bursting past him and heading straight for the maps.]

I think I know what they are, actually.

Of course. [He agrees. They may have even spoken a time or two before, but never been properly introduced.]

[Costigan steps aside to allow her to enter, gesturing that she should come in. Once inside, he'll close the door behind her and then lead her to the kitchen table where some of the maps are laid out in a stack. The scroll he showed on the video is in his jacket pocket and he unconsciously reaches to touch it and check that it's still there every so often.]

You do? If the maps are yours, you're welcome to take them. I was hoping they might be about this place and could help us.

[She follows him to the kitchen and starts to page through the maps. There's one that, if you squint at it slightly and have the background to recognise it, looks like a representation of a Mandelbrot set, another like a Julia set, and another like a Levy C curve. There's also an impossibly detailed table with all kinds of arcane notations and symbols. After a moment, she has to sit down.]

They're not mine, but they ... a friend of mine commissioned them. A long time ago.

[In the corner of each map or chart, there's an inscription in an antique hand: Ioannes D. for Lord Jagged of Canaria, Anno Domini 1590.]

[Costigan leans idly against the doorframe into the room, more exhausted than he cares to let on where possible. He watches as she takes flips through them and then sits, giving a nod at her words.]

Can they help us here?

Possibly.

[She smooths out the Mandelbrot map and shifts the chart with the table underneath it, so that she can look at both at once.]

That's to say—they're not specific to where and when we are right now, but I might be able to use them to navigate this particular temporal zone safely. As opposed to wild guesswork—which, while not without its charm, is something I'd rather not attempt here.

[When Una begins arranging things, Costigan straightens and moves forward to stand beside her, looking at the images with absolutely no idea what any of it means. Her descriptions make about as much sense to him and the confusion colors his expression.]

What does that mean? 'Temporal zone?' Is it magic?

[She looks up, apologetic.]

Sorry. Sometimes I forget to explain things properly. It's not magic, exactly, but it's such an arcane branch of physics that to a lot of people, it might as well be. You could say "universe" or "world" instead of "zone"—the way the people here hail from different worlds and times. But "zone" covers a lot more of the complexities.

[He gives a nod for her explanation, but it still doesn't make much sense to him and he's somewhat grateful for that. Shaking his head a little, he waves a dismissive hand.]

You should take them.

[Una smiles, a little relieved.]

I was going to offer to buy them from you. In fact—how much did you spend on them? I'll gladly compensate you for it.

Don't worry about it. I'm good. [He replies, stepping away from her with a smile on his lips. Costigan moves over to the fridge to grab a beer, considering himself done with the maps for now. Opening the door, he pauses and glances over to her.]

You want anything or you on your way out?

You're sure? Well, I owe you one, then.

[She rolls up the maps carefully, sighs.]

I'm not really in a hurry to be anywhere, to be honest. I'm still taking this [the maps] in.

[Costigan gives a nod and then reaches into the fridge to grab a pair of the closest resemblance to beer he's been able to find in this city. As he straightens, he finds himself oddly relieved to be rid of the maps, even as he feels sick and double checks, again, that the scroll is in his pocket.]

You drink beer?

If you're offering. [Said with a smile. Her fingers still rest lightly on the maps, as if she's afraid they might evaporate if she doesn't keep them close.]

[He gives a nod and small smile, closing the fridge. Costigan uses his counter to pop the lids off one and then the other before offering her the less foamy of the two.]

You been here long?

[She accepts the beer with a small murmur of thanks.]

Several months. Yourself?

[Costigan leans back on the counter and sips at his own drink.]

Same. You said you live around the corner?

[She nods in the general direction.]

Just over there. I'm afraid I haven't been the most sociable of neighbours, what with one thing and another.

[He shrugs with a smile.]

I'm not all that social myself. Not like this place ever cuts us a break either. [Costigan straightens and gestures at the maps.]

You said those aren't magic, but is there magic where you're from? Super powers, all that shit?

[Una actually has to think for a moment to answer that.]

Only magic insofar as Clarke's Third Law applies. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." And it's quite rare. Not very many people learn how to negotiate the time-streams.

So it's all science. [He clarifies.]

[The idea of advanced technology that seems magical is a little easier to stomach than magic itself. Costigan still prefers the basics and doesn't necessarily see the appeal, but he gets how others might.]

And you can do that? Negotiate these.. time streams?

[A nod.]

It's simplest to say so. And yes, that's what I do. There are a lot of different phrases for it, some more poetic than others, but the most prosaic—if not the most accurate—phrase for it would be "time travel".

13D11 [VIDEO]

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