shiny new world

[mrsparkle]

Sadde's running.

Not for any particular reason, just because it's faster. He's been meaning to go to one of the capitals for a bit and now, he supposes, is as good a time as any.

And eventually he's not running anymore, because he's close enough to civilisation that someone might spot him. Not that he wouldn't be able to notice them by scent before they saw him, but still. And as he makes his way to the Norway capital at this more leisurely pace, he notices the tiny, shiny key. He walks towards it and picks it up and immediately notices just how magic it is. He can tell by the way the key feels like things, and different things depending on where it is.

He verifies that what the key feels like is consistent in absolute location by waving it around a bit and seeing that the same place always feels the same. "Huh," he murmurs to himself.

He straightens up and thinks. The first obvious thing to try is seeing whether it opens any doors - a universal skeleton key sounds like the kind of thing a magical key could be - but the second obvious thing can be tested right there and then. He pushes the key into thin air with some purpose, as if he wanted to unlock an invisible door, and then turns it, et voilà, the faintest of door-shaped outlines appears before him.

He locks the door, and it disappears. Unlocks it again, and there it is. So he pulls it open and sees-

Comments

[from_scratch]

"Hmmm. I have never before considered testing protocol for a recalcitrant magical artifact."

[mrsparkle]

"Me neither. Also it's been two weeks, I wonder if those two other spots will still open to the same place if we recreate their portals? I expect so, but, recalcitrant magical artefact."

[from_scratch]

"Let's go check, I never cleaned the spots off the wall."

[mrsparkle]

"And even if you had I remember where they were," he says as he makes his way there and reopens them. Still the same places.

[from_scratch]

Cam starts taking notes, in spite of his eidetic boyfriend.

[mrsparkle]

"Hmmm. I wonder if there's an easy way to determine whether those two are the same universe."

[from_scratch]

"...There's an easy way to determine if they're the same planet and on that planet radio functions normally."

[mrsparkle]

"Oh, yeah, good idea. I can dig a hole to the surface from this one," he says, opening the door that goes underground and shoring up his muscles again. "Keep the key, if the portal decides to wink out of existence after me you can open it again."

[from_scratch]

"Um, are you sure you want to risk that? I could make a digging robot too."

[mrsparkle]

"Right, boyfriend who can make arbitrary things, yes that's a good idea."

[from_scratch]

So Cam makes a digging robot and has it go up.

[peterxy]

Up it goes! It reaches a grassy field, and it's night wherever it is.

[from_scratch]

And radio and radio and hello?

[mrsparkle]

Nope. Either not the same universe or not the same planet or radio doesn't work there.

"Well, then. I think we can at least tentatively conclude that two spots feeling the same doesn't mean they lead to the same general location."

[from_scratch]

"I wonder what it does mean."

[mrsparkle]

"Goood question. We could try opening a bunch and seeing how they differ and whether we can find a pattern?"

[from_scratch]

"Sounds like a plan. Only one key and you've got the memory and precision of movement, you want to do that while I brush up on all the languages I know by not-magic so they don't rust?"

[mrsparkle]

He doesn't whine (out loud) even a little bit at the prospect of spending a while away from Cam, and just says, "Sure. Languages you know by magic never get rusty?"

[from_scratch]

"Nope. But surprisingly few humans speak demon-original languages, which are in pretty common use in Hell."

[mrsparkle]

"Well, if I learn those and it turns out I can also summon demons, I could summon you and glue those languages in your brain by magic forever."

[from_scratch]

"Handy."

[mrsparkle]

"Yup! You could get me a dictionary of one of those and then we could practice until I'm fluent. But first, key."

[from_scratch]

"Yep."

So Cam goes to read something, occasionally muttering odd pronunciations aloud to himself, in each of the languages he knows only the long way 'round, while Sadde does key experiments.

[mrsparkle]

Until he doesn't.

[from_scratch]

"Sadde?"