young_oldman | IC Inbox: Empatheias

[ ....Hooooh boy. She takes a breath, but it's a patient one. ] It's round. [ She repeats.

Hm... ] Have you ever witnessed a lunar eclipse? The shadow the earth creates on the moon is rounded. It isn't a rectangle or square or some other shape. Another bit of evidence is that you can see farther from when you're up higher, because you'd be looking over the curve. If the world was flat, height wouldn't matter.

[ Does she need to cite more evidence... ]

Edited 2015-12-09 08:23 (UTC)

[Can you hear that pregnant silence over the link, Sanae? That is the sound of someone who's had his world view completely turned inside out and upside down at the harsh debunk of a commonly held truth in his time.

The world is round. Atoms exists. People can go to the moon. Sanae is really really really smart in science.]

It's-- it's good news! It means that any of your sailor friends [ If he had any. ] Don't have to worry about sailing off the edge of the world!

Th-...that's right.

[Focus on the positives! He takes a deep breath. Might as well see if there's anything else that'll blow his mind.]

What else from my time has been proven false, Sanae?

Hmm....

I'm not sure if this will count as something being proved false, but-- we now classify "elements" not as fire, water, wind, or earth. In fact, fire is a form of energy, water is comprised for two different elements, and both the wind and the earth have many different kinds of elements in them. Traditionally speaking, it's still correct to refer to water as an element.

But scientifically speaking, it's not. What we define elements as is by the number of protons their atoms have. For instance, a hydrogen atom has only one proton. A oxygen atom has eight protons. Separately, they're different elements. But when combined-- two hydrogen and one oxygen-- they make up a molecule, what we know to be water.

Hmmm...

[Alright, this is a bit more believable, especially since Sanae laid the groundwork by explaining what atoms are. He mulls over this for a moment.]

Then would it be correct to think of elements as the very essence of creation, rather than natural forces like wind and fire?

[Teach him more about science, science sensei.]

Mm, sort of! Atoms are like the building blocks of the universe, but not all blocks are the same. Some are made from clay, some are made from granite. In the elements' case, these blocks all have different number of protons

[ Oh, yeah!!! She's happier than she's ever been, talking about SCENCE! ]

[Annnnd they'll talk about science all night long, until the stars have begun to wink out and the tinges of orange begin to streak across the horizon.

Lu Meng proves quite clueless in modern science. There are many other things that he does not know, like the fact that the sun is a star rather than the son of a god, or that gravity is what keeps people stuck on the earth's surface. He does not know that a drop in temperature is simply the absence of heat. He does not know what causes the seasons to turn from spring to summer to autumn and to winter again.

But he listens to everything Sanae has to tell him, and what he does not know he simply asks for more clarification until he's satisfied. They talk of rainbows and dodos and environmental pollution, and inevitably they talk of space again, and of Sanae's desire to shoot for the stars. Lu Meng says that he'll be happy to reach for the skies before he can consider moving on to such lofty ambitions.

It's a good chat, and by the time the sky begins to brighten with the new day's sun, Lu Meng feels...the best he has in a long time. Exhausted, sure, but chatting about dreams and hopes and aspirations is always nice, and it's nice to hear Sanae's excited explanations, her passion for science and space. He hasn't quite met anyone as passionate as her in a long while.

...but then there's a yawn from her, and he realises just how long he's kept her going. But the happiness and gratefulness he feels far eclipses the remorse for having kept her awake at night. Because he knows her, and he knows that the happiness he's feeling right now would make her happy too.

So he won't apologize. It might be a little selfish, but really, he can't help this contentment that's seeping into his soul...and for once, he doesn't try to hide his emotions from her. Because he wants her to know that she's amazing, for having brought out this warm glow from his withered heart.]

Thank you for teaching me about science, Sanae. I truly enjoyed our conversation.

[ Sanae can easily chat about her interests for hours on end, with the only caveats being that very few tolerate her topics and that she may exhaust herself. She speaks about the the earth, the stars, the universe, explaining her favorite mysteries about gravity and time-pace, of how an electron's location is determined by probability, and that light may travel as both wave and particle, confounding scientists and her alike. She also confides that she would one day like to reach those stars herself, to behold their majesty in person.

The latter aforementioned caveat is what occurs just as the skies begin to turn into the golden colors of dawn, signaling the end of their conversation like a gentle alarm clock. It's a good thing that they stop there, for Sanae herself begins to become less and less coherent the more tired she becomes. ] It's--... It's dawn already...? [ She says sleepily, rubbing her eyes as she peaks out her window. The pause there can be assumed to be her enjoying the view. It's only the second time she's witnessed dawn in Verens.

Sanae laughs softly to herself, slightly embarrassed she had lost track of time so much. ] Me too, me too... Thank you, too.

[ The fondness is reflected back in her own voice towards him. She's glad that someone humored her, of course, because it's not often she is allowed to spill her passion about space and science. More than that, she's happy to have eased his mind, to have softened this night for him. ] I... suppose I'll see you soon, Lu Meng. Have a good night-- I mean, morning.

[He chuckles softly at the switch from night to morning. They really lost track of time.] Mmm. Good morning Sanae.

If you have no objections, then let's talk about science again, sometime soon. You have to teach me about nuclear power next.

Y...yes! I'll happily teach you more. [ She feels rather... oh, she doesn't know, pleasantly embarrassed? Like a warm happiness has settled over her to know that he's actually interested in the same thing she is interested in. And excited over the prospect that they will be talking again soon.

Nuclear power is probably her second favorite topic, too. ] It's a promise.

[ And with that, she'll say her goodbyes. ]

IC Inbox: Empatheias

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