oo1 || Video

[thralls]

[When the video kicks on, Athelstan is in the middle of scrambling backward, his fingers closing around the axe in his belt. The hovering touchscreen, of course, follows him back and he instinctively slashes out at the hologram as it chases him through the room.

Through sheer dumb luck, he manages to hit the button that halts the screen's movement so it stops advancing on him, and after a few moments of sitting on the floor, staring in terror at the bright screen that seemed to appear out of nowhere, Athelstan pulls himself up on his elbows and takes a deep breath.]

Deus meus.

[The Latin is deliberate, and it takes him a few more moments to actually calm down and approach the recording screen again.]

This is... used to communicate? [It's an interesting enough contraption, and his brows furrow a little, reaching out a tentative hand to touch the hologram, head tilted as it makes the screen flicker before him.] With no ink or parchment... fascinating. You others with this ring, you can hear my voice through this? As if I were next to you?

[He grasps the concept quickly enough, it seems, and pokes a little more at the screen, widening and shortening it in turn.]

I... I am Athelstan, a follower of your god Odin. I did not expect to find Valhalla so soon into my days- [or at all, really...] -but as I am here now, I suppose I must offer myself to the service of the gods. If anyone can help me... the magic of Asgard is something I have never experienced before. I am unfamiliar with many things in this land. As a matter of fact, I-

[Aaand he manages to shut the recording off in mid-sentence. Go figure.

Help?]

[[ooc: intro is backdated just a bit to before the flood! :o]]

Comments

[proudofwhatiam]

Not a literal fire. [She's honestly not sure how microwaves work, precisely; even if she did, she suspects it would be fruitless to try and explain.]

And an oven...here, follow me. [Field trip out to the big kitchen! Evy walks over to the oven and opens the door, showing Athelstan the inside.] Instead of a--a cook fire, you can heat this up and shut food inside it. There's a range on top for pots and pans.

[thralls]

[Athelstan looks confused but moves to follow her anyway, moving quickly past the halls and the wandering eyes of the other people in Sigyn. The oven looks... complicated, with all of its dials and steel and fiddly bits, and Athelstan can only nod for a moment, crouching down to look inside of the oven door.]

It makes fire without wood?

[proudofwhatiam]

Yes. Originally, ovens used a wood-burning fire in the back of them, and you'd lay your bread or what-have-you in front of it. [Wait, you didn't ask for history, did you, Athelstan? Too bad.] But they've come up with a way to heat it without building a fire inside.

[thralls]

[He didn't ask for it, but he's more than happy to be told. Athelstan watches her as she explains it, nodding and crouching down to look inside.]

...magic. Perhaps from the mighty Njord, calmer of both sea and fire.

[proudofwhatiam]

Electricity. [Definitely not magic, nope.] Think of...think of lightning, during a storm. Lightning is made of electricity--we use that same energy, from other sources, to power things like ovens and lights.

[Please don't ask how in too much detail, Athelstan, she is really not a science person at heart.]

[thralls]

Thor powers your heat generators and lights?

[He can sort of accept that, given that they are in Asgard right now.]

Surely, that is a great feat.

[proudofwhatiam]

No, no, it isn't Thor.

[Drat this idea of gods causing everything. Evy shuts the oven door and leans back a little against the kitchen counter.]

When you come from, natural phenomena--storms, the oceans, things like that--are explained by gods. Where I come from, we've learnt the rational truth behind them. And because we know how things like rivers and lightning work, we can use them for things like powering lights.

Does that make sense?

[thralls]

[He just sort of stares at her.]

...you have proven the gods to be false? Then- then what of this place? What is the rational truth in Asgard?

[proudofwhatiam]

Plenty of people still believe in gods--but not the gods of the Vikings. Or the Greeks or the Romans. Not the sort of gods that explain away why the tide comes in.

[His question is a pertinent one, though, and one she's not entirely sure how to answer.]

They call themselves gods, but the laws of science are still in effect, so far as I can tell.

[thralls]

And the Christian god?

[He loathes himself for asking, but it's important. He needs to know.]

These truths, are they not just another thing to believe in?

[proudofwhatiam]

[Evy nods.] People still believe in God, yes--my parents were both Christians, albeit rather different sorts to you, I imagine.

[But let's save the Protestant Reformation for later.]

They would be if we didn't have proof of their validity. Religion is a matter of faith, but science--that's a matter of fact.

[thralls]

Yes, of course- you told me this.

[Everything is a bit overwhelming here.]

Your... science seems to me like it is yet another faith. Some men tell you how the thunder works in the sky- how is that different from a man telling me why it exists?

[proudofwhatiam]

Mine can prove it.

[That's check and mate in her mind, but she suspects it doesn't look so simple from Athelstan's perspective.]

If you follow a scientist's directions correctly, you can recreate his work for yourself. But if you believe your neighbour received a miracle from God, you can't simply get the same miracle by praying.

[thralls]

...perhaps.

[He's still not entirely sure what she means, but Athelstan doesn't want to exasperate or make an enemy out of her, so he lets it go for now.]

At any rate, thank you for your generosity.

[proudofwhatiam]

[It's difficult to make an enemy out of Evy in a spirited debate; she thinks of this as little more than an academic exercise. But she recognizes a change of subject when it's proffered, and it seems likely enough that she's managed to offend the man. Better take it.]

It's no trouble. If I can help you with anything else, please let me know.

[thralls]

I appreciate it, miss Evelyn.

[He nods again, looking back up toward the halls.]

However, I think it's time for me to reflect on what I have learned today. [It's... been a bit of an insane day for him- bad enough before he woke up in Asgard, but with all this newness, there's been almost no time to process it all.]

[proudofwhatiam]

Of course. It was a pleasure to meet you.

[And unless he has more to say, she'll head out.]