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Cam's in the library, waiting for Renée. "Waiting" here means "browsing until a quarter hour after ostensible meeting time". Renée is supposed to meet him here - on the way home for both of them, him from high school and her from elementary where she teaches kindergarten - but she is rarely punctual. Her co-workers or stray parents or the principal keep her after and Cam does notebooking, does homework, looks at the contents of shelves. It's a fine arrangement.
Today the contents of shelves don't seem so pleased with the setup, and one attacks him when he stumbles into a stack. Specifically, it tumbles onto his head. That's gonna hurt for a while. He picks it up to tuck it away again.
It says, So You Want To Be A Wizard.
Heh. Mis-shelved. This is a nonfiction row. Or maybe it's about stage magic or something? Cam's not going to find any use in that either, he can just about eat dinner without impaling himself on a fork and certainly shouldn't be handling delicate props, but it could be diverting while he waits for Renée and he wasn't finding anything else. He flips it open.
It's more interesting still than that; it's presenting itself like an actual guide to wizardry. This'll kill a whole afternoon with pleasant escapism. Cam checks it out, then turns around and spots Renée coming down the sidewalk. He bags the book and goes out to meet her.
At home, he takes it out of his backpack. The plastic film on it - it did have some, right? Just like every other library book? - is gone. Maybe it didn't have any. He didn't write it down; he's not sure. It doesn't look like a library book now. But it still says So You Want To Be A Wizard and he still wants to pretend to be a wizard for a bit, kill some time, put off U.S. History homework. He flips it open. He reads.
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lifes_sake
Talking to things does make them smarter - as does doing magic near or on them, with a cumulative effect over time - and even so, simpler life forms (or nonlife forms) will tend to produce simpler conversations no matter how eloquently they are addressed.
The manual chooses this moment to let him know that the Senior wizard in his area is a housecat.
The manual chooses this moment to let him know that the Senior wizard in his area is a housecat.
lifes_sake
...Okay. He's not going to be racist about the housecat thing. He can deal.
At some point he's going to see what the most intelligent conversation he can get out of a tater tot and one of those goats Renée's friend Lori keeps may be, not eat those individuals whatever his results, and feel comfortable eating as normal unless they're smarter than he expects.
He wants to know more about how this works, though. (Will he get smarter if magic happens around him enough?)
At some point he's going to see what the most intelligent conversation he can get out of a tater tot and one of those goats Renée's friend Lori keeps may be, not eat those individuals whatever his results, and feel comfortable eating as normal unless they're smarter than he expects.
He wants to know more about how this works, though. (Will he get smarter if magic happens around him enough?)
The manual rearranges itself to create an entire chapter on the side effects of magical practice.
In essence: yes. But perhaps not the way he thinks. Working with the Speech will make him better at understanding things - anything and everything, from his own thoughts to quantum mechanics to the conversations between the stars. It won't speed up his brain any, but it'll give him a little more room to store things, because the vocabulary of the Speech takes up a lot of space and brings its own extensions.
In essence: yes. But perhaps not the way he thinks. Working with the Speech will make him better at understanding things - anything and everything, from his own thoughts to quantum mechanics to the conversations between the stars. It won't speed up his brain any, but it'll give him a little more room to store things, because the vocabulary of the Speech takes up a lot of space and brings its own extensions.
lifes_sake
Okay, cool perk.
Whoops, that's it for lunchtime. He hasn't really eaten enough, and this is only partly because he's conflicted about being able to talk to it. He packs up the manual, chugs his juice for the calories-from-sugar to get him through to the end of the day, and goes to class, studying vocabulary words between interesting portions of lectures. This looks like notetaking to everyone else, so he gets away with it.
He goes to the library after school as usual. "Hi," he says to the librarian. "I took out a book yesterday - and, uh, yeah, it's not coming back, what's the replacement fee?"
Whoops, that's it for lunchtime. He hasn't really eaten enough, and this is only partly because he's conflicted about being able to talk to it. He packs up the manual, chugs his juice for the calories-from-sugar to get him through to the end of the day, and goes to class, studying vocabulary words between interesting portions of lectures. This looks like notetaking to everyone else, so he gets away with it.
He goes to the library after school as usual. "Hi," he says to the librarian. "I took out a book yesterday - and, uh, yeah, it's not coming back, what's the replacement fee?"
"What book?" says the librarian.
lifes_sake
"It was called So You Want To Be A Wizard, I don't have the receipt on me, but." He hands over his library card.
"Hmm," says the librarian. "No, it doesn't look like you have any outstanding books. Are you sure you didn't just forget you returned it?"
lifes_sake
"...If you don't have it in your system, that sure does sound like an explanation, doesn't it!" observes Cam. "Okay. So I don't owe you twenty dollars or anything?"
The librarian laughs. "Nope."
lifes_sake
"Great. I love not owing you twenty dollars."
Off he goes to a quiet library corner.
"You might've warned me," he says reproachfully to his manual.
Off he goes to a quiet library corner.
"You might've warned me," he says reproachfully to his manual.
"You didn't ask," says the manual.
lifes_sake
"I really should've thought of it, I guess. Hey, is there a way to talk to you and Grace not-out-loud?"
"You can write in me!" says Grace.
"Nonvocal speech is often difficult for humans," says the manual, "but there are a few ways around that."
"Nonvocal speech is often difficult for humans," says the manual, "but there are a few ways around that."
lifes_sake
"I know I can write in you," laughs Cam. "That won't always work, though, if I have my hands busy." He flips the manual open and hunts up ways around that.
It's possible to speak silently in many different ways; the easiest for humans is to pronounce the words of the Speech in one's mind. If the intent is to be heard and understood, the result often conforms.
lifes_sake
Yeah, everything comes down to learning this language, doesn't it.
Cam studies.
Renée picks him up, and he does a little actual homework because he does sort of care about school results, and he studies more Speech.
(He picks at his dinner.)
Cam studies.
Renée picks him up, and he does a little actual homework because he does sort of care about school results, and he studies more Speech.
(He picks at his dinner.)
The Speech continues to be easy to learn.
He could probably manage a rudimentary conversation with a food item now.
He could probably manage a rudimentary conversation with a food item now.
lifes_sake
Yeah, he's not gonna do that in front of Renée, but he takes one of the muffins that's for dessert up to his room without first biting into it.
"...Hi, muffin," he says. To the muffin.
"...Hi, muffin," he says. To the muffin.
"Hi," the muffin echoes.
This is apparently too complex a question for the muffin; it utters the muffinly equivalent of "Ehhh...?"
"I'm a muffin," says the muffin.
lifes_sake
"Yes, you are a muffin. Okay. Do you care if you get eaten? Would that hurt you or bother you at all?"
There is a short pause, then the muffin repeats, "I'm a muffin," in the exact same friendly but not particularly comprehending tone.