[video || cafe post || action?]

[polyhistor]

 [Reid hates technology. No, he really, genuinely does. Computers don't move fast enough to keep up with him, and he has a long-established love of hard copies where literature is concerned. But the fact of the matter is, there are very few books here. So here he is, seated at a console, half a dozen of the local books he could find stacked beside him and several empty coffee cups as well. Recently, he's taken to drinking green tea, but a lapse in that particular habit seems appropriate considering his surroundings.]

 You know, the terminology relating to a meta or 'multiverse' was originally coined by William James, a philosopher and psychologist in the late nineteen hundreds. His paper, titled 'Is Life Worth Living?' was published in the 1985 October Edition of the International Journal of Ethics. He postulated that, with the decline of social religion all 'visible' nature (that is to say, everything we see and experience) is in and of itself a 'moral' multiverse as opposed to being a moral 'universe'. He was referring to the visible nature of the world - good existing alongside evil, with every imaginable shade in between. Each nuance of the world then became in and of itself a 'multiverse' in James' ideal.

 The neologism didn't actually enter into common vernacular until much later and under a drastically different context, but the concept of other worlds or parallel universes - what we today call a 'multiverse' - has actually been around for centuries, generally tied to religious philosophies of the time. Muslim theologian al-Ghazālī believed that it was not only possible but highly probable. His extrapolation was that that Earth was the best of all possible worlds and that humans occupied it as a form of divine right, stating that 'there is in possibility nothing more wondrous than what is'.

 [a brief pause, because... he's generally not used to speaking so long without interruption.]

 Essentially, the concept of a 'life, death or dreaming' state faintly echoes several Buddhist or Hindu philosophies, though equally suggestive of liminality. The continual repetition of that 'life/death/dreaming' theme represents a trinity; three is often considered a holy number in any number of doctrines. Three also represents the body (life), the soul (death) and the spirit (dreaming). And then, the fact that there are five districts also reinforces the ties to numerology. If you go by the numerical value of the Hebrew letter 'He' or 'five' it symbolizes the universal life, the breath of man, the air, the spirit and the soul.

 Oh-- right, liminality. Liminality was another word coined in the same philosophical era as William James' 'multiverse' by Arnold Vann Gennep in his 1908 paper Rites de Passage. It's from the Latin līmen which means 'threshold' and it's a word used to describe the transitionary phase during a ritualistic transformation, during which the participant's own identity is considered to be void until the process is complete and the individual can be reborn. It's almost a contract – during this process you forsake your identity, your sense of self, your titles and earthly possessions all for the sake of a form of theoretical transcendental enlightenment. It's this fluidity of self that enables change and dissolution of old habits or customs to make way for the new. It's not limited to an individual, either; it can be applied to groups of people – such as a graduating highschool class – or to societies and cultures as a whole and I believe it's what we're technically undergoing now.

 Liminality is considered a tripartite structure, and each segment of that structure is as follows: preliminal rites, or rites of separation. This stage involves a metaphorical 'death' undergone by the initiand. They're essentially forced to leave something behind by breaking away from previous practices and routines, or by, say, coming to Keeliai.

 The liminal rites – or transitionary rites – involve the creation of a sort of... tabula rasa, a blank slate, through the removal of limits and forms previously taken for granted. There are two primary characteristics to this stage of the rite, first: the rite 'must follow a strictly prescribed sequence, where everybody knows what to do and how'. Because this rite is a fundamental deconstruction of the self and self-held values, it's meant quite literally to mirror the act of walking over a threshold between two worlds.

 The postliminal rites, or 'rites of incorporation' are the third and final sequence. During this stage, the initiand is re-incorporated into society, essentially born again as a 'new' being.

 [CRICKETS. CRICKETS ARE CHIRPING IN THE BACKGROUND, REID. He awkwardly clears his throat.]

 All... right so... um, hi. I'm Doctor Spencer Reid. Any questions...?

 [for those of you who didn't turn the console off ten seconds into his impromptu lecture??


 ooc; also: a permissions post.]

Comments

[controlledvariable]

I thought that'd be the answer. [She's not sure if it'd be better or worse in a universe without superpowers. On the one hand there probably aren't a lot of people like the Joker.

On the other hand there isn't a Batman to catch them and all the other criminals. She decides to ignore that train of thought beceause it's playing into everything else she's been worrying about with vigilantism lately.] I don't think they have serial killers here. There's gang violence, but most of the other crimes are petty.

[polyhistor]

With the influx of foreigners such as it's been, it's only a matter of time. The kedan are hardly peaceable, but our collective appearance seems to have driven them to greater extremes than has been historical for them. Not to mention, in a population of this size it's statistically unlikely for their not to be at least one. However, it is possible that what drives an individual to commit multiple murders is psychologically different between the kedan and humans, which are the second greatest population present.

[Aren't you sick of him talking yet, Steph.]

[controlledvariable]

[No she thinks he's interesting.

And she's quiet for a moment, thinking over what her and Annabeth talked about and trying to decide whether she should bring it up. But Reid's... really fucking smart, and she'd like to hear his opinion on the matter.]

Tu Vishan makes people calm, I don't know if you've seen anyone mention going to the head, but when you go there it's like you can't be anything but calm. My friend and I thought maybe the Emperor does something with it, to make people complacent.

Could it be something like that, instead of a psychological difference between humans and kedan?

[And no, she likes talking to him. He reminds her of both Babs and Tim, which are both generally good things.]

[polyhistor]

[He thinks about it for a moment.]

It's difficult to say. Well-- actually, what I mean is it's certainly a possibility given what this Emperor seems capable of. Between bringing us here and, um, keeping us here, she certainly seems to have a great deal of influence. But I can't say one way or another without testing several different hypotheses.

[controlledvariable]

[Well, she's glad that it's at least plausible, and that her and Annabeth might be on the right track.]

I've considered bringing it up with her, see how she reacts, or - doesn't. [Both can be informative] But I'm a little concerned about what might happen if I'm right.

[Her tone is light, a sort of wry joke, though she is also genuinely a little worried about the possibility of pissing off the Emperor.]

[polyhistor]

I'd be a little more concerned with being wrong, personally. If you're right, there's one person or entity that has this kind of power. If you're incorrect, then there's two.

Unless it's a natural effect of the turtle itself, which means it would - hopefully - be more benign.

[controlledvariable]

Point. [she was talking more in terms of getting in trouble, but still.] Though that could be the problem she wants us to solve for her. [Another person with similar power. It's something Steph's considered, or at least that the Emperor doesn't have as much control as she pretends. Why else would she send away people who could be useful?]

I'm not sure I like the idea of the turtle being able to affect people so much. At least if it's the Emperor we can stop her.

[If it's just a natural effect of the turtle, there's not really anything that can be done about it.]

[polyhistor]

That's not necessarily true. Depending on the actual force being exerted, there are several ways to potentially counteract it. For example if it's a chemical secretion, you could hypothetically create a compound that would block its effect.

[and he is of course a genius chemist, so.]

[controlledvariable]

[...]

I just figured it was magic.

[The problems with coming from a world where "a wizard did it" is a potentially reasonable explanation.]

[polyhistor]

Have you heard of the British author Arthur C Clarke? In one of his novels he devised three 'laws' of prediction. The first two are irrelevant to our current situation but the third law is 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.'

[... yep.]

[controlledvariable]

[Okay, she was being a little flippant, but actually thinking about it there are alternate explanations.

Ivy's phermemones can subtley alter percetption, though it's inclined towards desire, presumably something similiar could make people calm, and there are plenty of chemicals that work that way.]

That doesn't mean it couldn't be magic, but-- if it was a chemical or something, it'd possibly show up on a tox screen...

[brb wheels turning in her brain]

[polyhistor]

That's possible. I could run some tests if I had access to anything more modern than a craniotome. It would probably require having someone volunteer to go to the turtle's head for a set duration of time to see if there's any change in their blood work.

[He's also a genius chemist, Steph. You get used to it.]

[controlledvariable]

[That's all easy enough to get, Bruce has the necessary equipment to run blood tests, and Steph would volunteer herself without hesitation, if it could tell them more about Tu Vishan.

What gives her pause is how much she should say to Spencer about it, but it's not like the Keeliai version of Wayne Enterprises isn't public knowledge.]

There's a pharmaceuticals company, you've probably seen it mentioned? [She's going to assume he's looked through most of the network.] They might have the right equipment. It can't hurt to ask, at least.

[Note to self: Talk to Bruce about Spencer.]

[polyhistor]

Wayne Enterprises, yes. The, um, ethics involved in creating a pharmaceutical company in a place like this are a little questionable, but they would have the proper facilities. It can't hurt to ask.

[Oh Steph.]

[controlledvariable]

Just a little. [she holds her thumb and finger about an inch apart.

She's surprisingly less defensive when Tony Stark isn't the one doing the criticising.]

I can drop by one on my way home tonight. I'll probably have a better chance of sweet-talking Wayne than you would.

[Well it's not... untrue...]

[polyhistor]

He does seem to be, um, preferential towards people of your particular--

[... reid no. shoulder morgan is not pleased.]

-- Towards women. And I'd appreciate that very much, thank you.

[controlledvariable]

Nice save. [She's trying so hard not to laugh, with minimal success.]

And don't worry about it. If I can talk him into it you're the one who'll be doing all the hard work.

[She's just helping. For science.]

[polyhistor]

Thank you.

[He is totally taking that as a genuine compliment okay he sounds sort of pleased with himself.]

I don't exactly consider it 'work' per se. I used to do this sort of thing for fun.

[His definitions of fun could use some work.]

[controlledvariable]

[She just shakes her head at him. You're adorable Reid.]

Of course you did. [sigh, nerds.] I've got to stop befriending people who are ridiculously smarter than me, there's only so much my ego can take.

[yes she's decided they're friends already, she'll even overlook that whole FBI thing.]

[polyhistor]

[He doesn't know what to make of that word, because yes he catches its significance.

Spencer Reid doesn't really make friends easily. Or... almost at all, ever. Outside of the BAU. The ones he does have never really seem to stick around, or they move on and leave him behind or--

He has no idea how to throw that concept around easily, and he shifts, a little uncomfortable.]

There really isn't any-- I mean, intelligence doesn't have any significant impact on character, and character is generally what makes people worth, um, worth knowing. You don't need to disparage yourself.

[HALPING...?]

[controlledvariable]

[She doesn't quite miss that shift, but she isn't quite sure what to make of it. So for all that she's amused by the reassurance, her smile is gentle.]

Oh well, I've got buckets of character, so I guess I'll be fine.

[Don't worry, Reid, her ego is pretty resilient (no it's not).

And because she's a little worried she said something to make him uncomfortable:] You okay?

[polyhistor]

I - hm? I'm fine.

[NORMAL PEOPLE AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE AS PERCEPTIVE AS HE IS???]

[controlledvariable]

If you're sure. [She's not entirely sure she buys that, especially because Spencer doesn't seem... very good at people (aside from the obvious analysing them, but that's. different).] Feel free to tell me to leave you alone. If you want.

[In case he's worried about offending her or something.]

[polyhistor]

[QUICK SMILE?]

It really is fine. I'm just.

[...]

I'm not very good at-- this.

[GESTICULATIONS ARE THE NEW BLACK.]

[controlledvariable]

[It reminds her of Steve a little, although his gestures-instead-of-words is mostly restricted to when Steph starts talking about sex. So she smiles, but also gently prompts:]

This?

[Help her out here, Reid.]