Deja Vu
Outside the Astolodome, astronomers Copernicus and Kepler were finishing their notes on the comet in the adjunct office of the Observatory. They were the last remaining at work. All the other astronomers and staff had set off to enjoy the festivities.
Kepler was eager to finish and go home to get ready for his presentation, though it wasn’t until tomorrow night. He still could hardly believe he’d been asked to give a presentation on the comet to the Astronomers Council. He simply must look his best. He had a set of golden silks in his wardrobe that would be perfect.
Copernicus was also thinking about the presentation, as she’d also been asked to present. Wanting to get the facts just right, she realized she had not gotten a chance to see the comet in the telescope the night before. She’d felt ill and went to lie down. So, she decided she couldn’t accurately discuss the celestial object if she’d never seen it.
“Kepler, I will be right back,” she said. “I need to see the comet!”
The Fae waved back at her and grunted, “uh-huh,” as he continued to compose his speech.
Copernicus ascended the spiral staircase and approached the eyepiece. Nobody else was around, so she settled herself in without signing the time slot reservation log.
She carefully removed the antique crystal-encrusted cover from the eyepiece and set it down in its velvet-lined case. Taking a deep breath, she put her left eye up to eyepiece. “Wow!” she said to herself. “It’s so beautiful! Those tails must be the result of different gasses being released at different points of the comet!”
Whipping out her journal, she quickly jotted down some observations to use during the presentation. About an hour later, she sighed, put the cover back on the eyepiece, and turned toward the door to the staircase.
Out of the corner of her eye, through the narrow window, she noticed a strange gleam coming from the surface of the Astrolodome. The dome was a fair distance away, but Copernicus was curious, so she grabbed a small spare telescope from a closet in the hall and set it up at a slightly larger window facing due south.
Through the lens, she saw the crystal of the dome was no longer clear. It was strangely cloudy. The light bouncing off it glowed a bit more than usual. Just as she nearly had herself convinced it was nothing a good cleaning could remedy, she saw all the shapes inside…shift.
“Wha-?!” She popped her head up and blinked her eyes a couple of times and looked again. Sure enough, all of the shapes had moved from their previous positions.
“How…?” she started and realized she needed to talk to real people about this. Running down the stairs, she called Kepler’s name, but to no avail. He’d gone home.
Filled with determination, Copernicus raced outside and went searching for her colleagues.
About four hours later, she returned with a cranky Kepler, as well as astronomers Gali and Whipple, one of whom was still eating his dinner.
Copernicus brought them all to the telescope that still stood pointing through the south-facing window.
“What is this?” asked Whipple, rubbing his pearl and then absentmindedly placing it in his satchel. “I thought we were here to view something strange about the comet.”
Copernicus sighed. “No, I said it was something I thought the comet might be responsible for. We’re looking at the Astrolodome.”
Kepler landed on Whipple’s shoulder and huffed. “Why are we looking at it from here? Why not just go to the dome and look at it there?”
Gali had snuck up behind the others and was peering through the eyepiece. “Because we might not want to get very close! Something strange is happening.”
Copernicus gestured toward her colleague. “Thank you! Yes, my fellow astronomers, there is something...hinkey...about the dome.”
“‘Hinkey’ is hardly scientific language,” Whipple said.
Kepler nodded, but hopped over to rest on Gali’s head. He swatted at him, so he settled on his shoulder. “May I look, please?” He obligingly moved his shoulder near to the eyepiece. After a moment, Kepler blew out a breath and looked around at the others. “This is strange.”
After Whipple finally looked through the lens, he stood up and then sat down on the floor, saying nothing. His eyes were distant as he finished chewing his last bite of dinner.
The others, quite used to the Pearlcatcher’s eccentricities, turned to each other while he digested - literally as well as figuratively.
“What does this mean?”
“How is this happening?”
“Is this really an effect of the comet? Where’s your evidence?”
“We should tell the Arcanist!”
“QUIET!” Copernicus yelled.
The other two, surprised by her uncharacteristic shout, stopped immediately and turned to listen to her.
“I have a theory, but it’s nowhere near complete,” she started. “I need you three to help me gather data before we do anything. I mean, what, exactly, would we tell the Arcanist at this point?”
A cricket chirped in the distance as they looked at each other, when Whipple suddenly stood up and went inside. A moment later, he returned with three more small telescopes. They got to work.
About an hour and a half later, they all gasped simultaneously.
Whipple knocked over his telescope as he stood suddenly. “Did you see that?”
They all started chattering at once. This went on for a few moments before Copernicus emitted a loud whistle. “This is what I was telling you about! You saw them all suddenly shift, right?”
The other three nodded. Kepler began scribbling furiously. Gali followed suit.
“Ok, Perni,” said Whipple, “what’s your theory, now that we’ve seen this?”
Grinning with excitement, Copernicus said, “I think they’re in a time loop!”
The other three erupted into chatter that made the cricket stop what it was doing and flee.
The Skydancer sighed heavily and stomped her foot. “Let’s stop arguing and put our heads together to figure this out! And we should get Bopp a gift basket...to say sorry we doubted him!”
Chastened again, they got to work.
Meanwhile, in the Astrolodome…
Halley and Bopp wended their way through crowded public spaces as they made their way to the forum. The going was slow. They were held up for an hour while an overturned food trolley was moved from the middle of one thoroughfare they wished they’d not turned down.
“This is taking forever, Halley,” cried Bopp, fins rippling. “By the time we get there, all of the scholars will have gone home!”
“Nonsense, my new friend,” she said. “The forums last well past midnight when the subject is interesting. This comet is far too interesting to not discuss. I heard last night’s discussion lasted until dawn, when they all decided to continue the talk over breakfast!”
Seeing an opportunity, Halley grabbed Bopp and scooted behind a pile of stuff that had been pulled out of the trolley so it would be easier to rock back onto its wheels.
Behind the pile was a lone Veilspun dragon, staring at the pile of food quizzically. She looked up with big, pale pink eyes and asked, “Do you see those steaks there?”
Halley looked at the pile of food and then back to the small dragon and nodded.
The Veilspun looked into her small knapsack and then back to the pile and said, “I was sure I’d put them all in my bag, but there they are, not in my bag!” She flicked her long, blue hair out of her eyes and continued to look inside her empty knapsack, as though the steaks would suddenly appear there.
Halley and Bopp left the confused dragon staring at the pile of food and edged their way along the clearing and onto a different street.
On the other side of a very busy market, the pair were confronted with yet another blockade of excited Arcanites, blocking the street with their excited celebrations over the coming comet. Halley signaled to Bopp that she knew a shortcut and led him up the steps of one of the many libraries that seemed to be everywhere in the Starfall Isles.
Once atop the stairs, Halley led him along the side of the building and down the steps in the back, where they found themselves in a park that was markedly more quiet than the rest of the Astrolodome.
They sat down on a bench near a family of Skydancers and Snappers who were playing cards. “This seems familiar, Halley.”
One of the hatchlings, a rust-colored Snapper, waved and called out, “Hi Halley!”
Halley waves back, reflexively.
Halley turned her head to one side and then called out to the hatchling, “How do you know my name?”
The youngling looked at her with a big smile and said, “Because you tell it to us in a couple of minutes!”
The babe’s parents looked confused. “Swan, what do you mean, ‘in a couple of minutes’?” asked her mother.
“Well, we’ve played this game a couple of times already and I usually go over and tell Halley that I like her lab coat because I wanna be a scientist one day and we talk about what I like about science and we tell each other our names. This time is different, but I don’t know why. I know you don’t remember because you never do.”
All of the adults stare at the child for a moment before shrugging.
Bopp and Halley awkwardly say goodbye before continuing into the park.
On the other side of the park, a dragon was yelling into a two-way radio, “No, I did not forget to order that! I ordered it and I’m sure it arrived. I saw you put it away!”
After a few minutes walking toward the forum, Bopp turned to Halley and said, “Have you noticed something strange about the people we’ve encountered on this trek?”
Halley said, “Well, they all seem to be agitated.”
He nodded and said, “Yes, but they also all seem to be having that feeling that they’ve done something or heard something before. You know what I’m talking about...day...day zhah...something.”
“Oh, deja vu?”
“Yes! That’s it!” he said. “And that hatchling was convinced we’d been there before and even knew your name!”
“That is curious,” Halley agreed. “But what do--”
“Sorry kids. The doors are all jammed up. Have been all day’,” the Ridgeback sitting beside the gates tells Bopp and Halley. “Dome’s been all misty, too. Hope that’s somethin’ that’ll clear up before nightfall so we can see that comet. Hey, are you kids goin’ to one of them comet viewing parties they’re holding?”
“--we do about it?” Halley finished. Suddenly, they were both standing in front of a familiar Ridgeback at the gate to the Astolodome. “What the…”
“Oh, but you two should definitely go!” The Ridgeback continued. “Yeah, yeah, they’re holding a real big one outside the Astrolodome. Them decoration committee dragons look like they’re goin’ all out for Starfall this year, can’t wait to see what kind of stops they pull out. Especially after last year, right?”
Bopp stood mutely while Halley spun around, open-mouthed, eyes agog.
“Somethin’ botherin’ you, dearie?” the Ridgeback asked. “You look confused. The gates ain’t openin’ anytime soon, so you might as well go back an’ enjoy yourself.” The tall dragon turned to another group of dragons and started up her speech again.
Halley stumbled a bit as Bopp dragged her away from the gates as best he could, wings flapping furiously. He pulled her over to the side of the main street and tried to get her to sit on a small boulder, but all he managed to do was help her tie herself into a knot.
“Halley...Halley!” he said in a hoarse whisper. “Snap out of it! I don’t know what’s going on, but we have to go. You’re attracting attention.”
She seemed to wake up and nodded. “Yes, let’s go.”
On the way, the slightly less-knotted Spiral stopped suddenly, “Bopp! I know what’s happening! We might need to double-check our notes, but...I think we’re in a time loop...and we’ve been in it for a while!”
Day 2 Week 2: Deja Vu written by @SocklessWonder
Daily Lore Pinglist:
@Argante @Skycloud @Bxy26 @Kvon @Hawkstar64 @Lirillith @Katsuji @Finlandia @IamNoHere @KairiDragoness @Lundlaeva @Deladria @TigerLily009 @HollowBay @BardicAnor @uruhead @Anastasia0428 @WoollyBat @Elfydragon @chamilet @Cocolatia
Outside the Astolodome, astronomers Copernicus and Kepler were finishing their notes on the comet in the adjunct office of the Observatory. They were the last remaining at work. All the other astronomers and staff had set off to enjoy the festivities.
Kepler was eager to finish and go home to get ready for his presentation, though it wasn’t until tomorrow night. He still could hardly believe he’d been asked to give a presentation on the comet to the Astronomers Council. He simply must look his best. He had a set of golden silks in his wardrobe that would be perfect.
Copernicus was also thinking about the presentation, as she’d also been asked to present. Wanting to get the facts just right, she realized she had not gotten a chance to see the comet in the telescope the night before. She’d felt ill and went to lie down. So, she decided she couldn’t accurately discuss the celestial object if she’d never seen it.
“Kepler, I will be right back,” she said. “I need to see the comet!”
The Fae waved back at her and grunted, “uh-huh,” as he continued to compose his speech.
Copernicus ascended the spiral staircase and approached the eyepiece. Nobody else was around, so she settled herself in without signing the time slot reservation log.
She carefully removed the antique crystal-encrusted cover from the eyepiece and set it down in its velvet-lined case. Taking a deep breath, she put her left eye up to eyepiece. “Wow!” she said to herself. “It’s so beautiful! Those tails must be the result of different gasses being released at different points of the comet!”
Whipping out her journal, she quickly jotted down some observations to use during the presentation. About an hour later, she sighed, put the cover back on the eyepiece, and turned toward the door to the staircase.
Out of the corner of her eye, through the narrow window, she noticed a strange gleam coming from the surface of the Astrolodome. The dome was a fair distance away, but Copernicus was curious, so she grabbed a small spare telescope from a closet in the hall and set it up at a slightly larger window facing due south.
Through the lens, she saw the crystal of the dome was no longer clear. It was strangely cloudy. The light bouncing off it glowed a bit more than usual. Just as she nearly had herself convinced it was nothing a good cleaning could remedy, she saw all the shapes inside…shift.
“Wha-?!” She popped her head up and blinked her eyes a couple of times and looked again. Sure enough, all of the shapes had moved from their previous positions.
“How…?” she started and realized she needed to talk to real people about this. Running down the stairs, she called Kepler’s name, but to no avail. He’d gone home.
Filled with determination, Copernicus raced outside and went searching for her colleagues.
About four hours later, she returned with a cranky Kepler, as well as astronomers Gali and Whipple, one of whom was still eating his dinner.
Copernicus brought them all to the telescope that still stood pointing through the south-facing window.
“What is this?” asked Whipple, rubbing his pearl and then absentmindedly placing it in his satchel. “I thought we were here to view something strange about the comet.”
Copernicus sighed. “No, I said it was something I thought the comet might be responsible for. We’re looking at the Astrolodome.”
Kepler landed on Whipple’s shoulder and huffed. “Why are we looking at it from here? Why not just go to the dome and look at it there?”
Gali had snuck up behind the others and was peering through the eyepiece. “Because we might not want to get very close! Something strange is happening.”
Copernicus gestured toward her colleague. “Thank you! Yes, my fellow astronomers, there is something...hinkey...about the dome.”
“‘Hinkey’ is hardly scientific language,” Whipple said.
Kepler nodded, but hopped over to rest on Gali’s head. He swatted at him, so he settled on his shoulder. “May I look, please?” He obligingly moved his shoulder near to the eyepiece. After a moment, Kepler blew out a breath and looked around at the others. “This is strange.”
After Whipple finally looked through the lens, he stood up and then sat down on the floor, saying nothing. His eyes were distant as he finished chewing his last bite of dinner.
The others, quite used to the Pearlcatcher’s eccentricities, turned to each other while he digested - literally as well as figuratively.
“What does this mean?”
“How is this happening?”
“Is this really an effect of the comet? Where’s your evidence?”
“We should tell the Arcanist!”
“QUIET!” Copernicus yelled.
The other two, surprised by her uncharacteristic shout, stopped immediately and turned to listen to her.
“I have a theory, but it’s nowhere near complete,” she started. “I need you three to help me gather data before we do anything. I mean, what, exactly, would we tell the Arcanist at this point?”
A cricket chirped in the distance as they looked at each other, when Whipple suddenly stood up and went inside. A moment later, he returned with three more small telescopes. They got to work.
About an hour and a half later, they all gasped simultaneously.
Whipple knocked over his telescope as he stood suddenly. “Did you see that?”
They all started chattering at once. This went on for a few moments before Copernicus emitted a loud whistle. “This is what I was telling you about! You saw them all suddenly shift, right?”
The other three nodded. Kepler began scribbling furiously. Gali followed suit.
“Ok, Perni,” said Whipple, “what’s your theory, now that we’ve seen this?”
Grinning with excitement, Copernicus said, “I think they’re in a time loop!”
The other three erupted into chatter that made the cricket stop what it was doing and flee.
The Skydancer sighed heavily and stomped her foot. “Let’s stop arguing and put our heads together to figure this out! And we should get Bopp a gift basket...to say sorry we doubted him!”
Chastened again, they got to work.
Meanwhile, in the Astrolodome…
Halley and Bopp wended their way through crowded public spaces as they made their way to the forum. The going was slow. They were held up for an hour while an overturned food trolley was moved from the middle of one thoroughfare they wished they’d not turned down.
“This is taking forever, Halley,” cried Bopp, fins rippling. “By the time we get there, all of the scholars will have gone home!”
“Nonsense, my new friend,” she said. “The forums last well past midnight when the subject is interesting. This comet is far too interesting to not discuss. I heard last night’s discussion lasted until dawn, when they all decided to continue the talk over breakfast!”
Seeing an opportunity, Halley grabbed Bopp and scooted behind a pile of stuff that had been pulled out of the trolley so it would be easier to rock back onto its wheels.
Behind the pile was a lone Veilspun dragon, staring at the pile of food quizzically. She looked up with big, pale pink eyes and asked, “Do you see those steaks there?”
Halley looked at the pile of food and then back to the small dragon and nodded.
The Veilspun looked into her small knapsack and then back to the pile and said, “I was sure I’d put them all in my bag, but there they are, not in my bag!” She flicked her long, blue hair out of her eyes and continued to look inside her empty knapsack, as though the steaks would suddenly appear there.
Halley and Bopp left the confused dragon staring at the pile of food and edged their way along the clearing and onto a different street.
On the other side of a very busy market, the pair were confronted with yet another blockade of excited Arcanites, blocking the street with their excited celebrations over the coming comet. Halley signaled to Bopp that she knew a shortcut and led him up the steps of one of the many libraries that seemed to be everywhere in the Starfall Isles.
Once atop the stairs, Halley led him along the side of the building and down the steps in the back, where they found themselves in a park that was markedly more quiet than the rest of the Astrolodome.
They sat down on a bench near a family of Skydancers and Snappers who were playing cards. “This seems familiar, Halley.”
One of the hatchlings, a rust-colored Snapper, waved and called out, “Hi Halley!”
Halley waves back, reflexively.
Halley turned her head to one side and then called out to the hatchling, “How do you know my name?”
The youngling looked at her with a big smile and said, “Because you tell it to us in a couple of minutes!”
The babe’s parents looked confused. “Swan, what do you mean, ‘in a couple of minutes’?” asked her mother.
“Well, we’ve played this game a couple of times already and I usually go over and tell Halley that I like her lab coat because I wanna be a scientist one day and we talk about what I like about science and we tell each other our names. This time is different, but I don’t know why. I know you don’t remember because you never do.”
All of the adults stare at the child for a moment before shrugging.
Bopp and Halley awkwardly say goodbye before continuing into the park.
On the other side of the park, a dragon was yelling into a two-way radio, “No, I did not forget to order that! I ordered it and I’m sure it arrived. I saw you put it away!”
After a few minutes walking toward the forum, Bopp turned to Halley and said, “Have you noticed something strange about the people we’ve encountered on this trek?”
Halley said, “Well, they all seem to be agitated.”
He nodded and said, “Yes, but they also all seem to be having that feeling that they’ve done something or heard something before. You know what I’m talking about...day...day zhah...something.”
“Oh, deja vu?”
“Yes! That’s it!” he said. “And that hatchling was convinced we’d been there before and even knew your name!”
“That is curious,” Halley agreed. “But what do--”
“Sorry kids. The doors are all jammed up. Have been all day’,” the Ridgeback sitting beside the gates tells Bopp and Halley. “Dome’s been all misty, too. Hope that’s somethin’ that’ll clear up before nightfall so we can see that comet. Hey, are you kids goin’ to one of them comet viewing parties they’re holding?”
“--we do about it?” Halley finished. Suddenly, they were both standing in front of a familiar Ridgeback at the gate to the Astolodome. “What the…”
“Oh, but you two should definitely go!” The Ridgeback continued. “Yeah, yeah, they’re holding a real big one outside the Astrolodome. Them decoration committee dragons look like they’re goin’ all out for Starfall this year, can’t wait to see what kind of stops they pull out. Especially after last year, right?”
Bopp stood mutely while Halley spun around, open-mouthed, eyes agog.
“Somethin’ botherin’ you, dearie?” the Ridgeback asked. “You look confused. The gates ain’t openin’ anytime soon, so you might as well go back an’ enjoy yourself.” The tall dragon turned to another group of dragons and started up her speech again.
Halley stumbled a bit as Bopp dragged her away from the gates as best he could, wings flapping furiously. He pulled her over to the side of the main street and tried to get her to sit on a small boulder, but all he managed to do was help her tie herself into a knot.
“Halley...Halley!” he said in a hoarse whisper. “Snap out of it! I don’t know what’s going on, but we have to go. You’re attracting attention.”
She seemed to wake up and nodded. “Yes, let’s go.”
On the way, the slightly less-knotted Spiral stopped suddenly, “Bopp! I know what’s happening! We might need to double-check our notes, but...I think we’re in a time loop...and we’ve been in it for a while!”
Day 2 Week 2: Deja Vu written by @SocklessWonder
Daily Lore Pinglist:
@Argante @Skycloud @Bxy26 @Kvon @Hawkstar64 @Lirillith @Katsuji @Finlandia @IamNoHere @KairiDragoness @Lundlaeva @Deladria @TigerLily009 @HollowBay @BardicAnor @uruhead @Anastasia0428 @WoollyBat @Elfydragon @chamilet @Cocolatia
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