A Meeting of Machines and Magic

Nat arrives at Big Base to pick up Sami in her mom’s car, a small and sensible model with a good safety rating. She pulls up on the street outside, leans out, and calls out to GAIA, “Hey, can you let Sami know I’m out here?”
That done, she settles back into the driver’s seat and texts Ryan. About to pick up Sami, she writes. Be there soon <3
It only takes a few moments of waiting before the loud ‘Clunk clunk clunk’ of Sami’s Atlas body alert Nat to their arrival. The AI starts off with a wave, which quickly shifts into a confused scratch of the head as they look down at Nat’s car. “Um… I can’t exactly ride along… Should I just run behind?”
“Oh, hmm.” Nat hums thoughtfully. “Maybe we could park this in the garage and use one of GAIA’s vehicles? If there’s one you can fit in? I don’t wanna make you run the whole way.”
“I mean, it’s not like I can get tired?” Sami says somewhat awkwardly. “If you know how to drive a truck then I guess that could work? I just don’t want to make you go out of your way for me…”
“It’s no trouble,” Nat says brightly. “My dad was really excited to teach me to drive stick. It’ll just take a couple minutes for me to get used to the clutch and we’ll be good to go.” With that, she rolls her window back up and swaps out her mom’s car for the larger truck.
Once she has the truck pulled out front again, she gestures for Sami to load up. She adds, in another text to Ryan, Change of plans, taking the truck. Sami couldn’t fit in the car.
Gingerly climbing into the back of the truck, Sami sent their Social body to climb into the cab. “I thought it would be better if we could talk while we went.” The robot said with a shy smile. 
“Of course!” Nat says brightly. She has a pair of pink, rhinestone-studded sunglasses on which she had perched on her head while maneuvering the truck out of the garage, but now that she’s back behind the wheel she puts them back down over her eyes. “What’s up? How’ve you been?”
“I’ve been alright.” Sami said with a small chuckle, suddenly wishing they had more vibrant clothes than just the blue hoodie they tend to wear. “I’ve just been thinking about that vow I made to Arthur, y’know?”
“Mmhmm.” Nat glances over at Sami before she starts driving. “Seatbelt, please. What about the vow? It been bothering you?”
“Oh, right!” The robot said as they quickly clicked the belt into place. “You would probably be in a lot of danger if my body got flung around the cabin.” Thinking a little before responding once more, Sami gave a little shrug. “It’s more that I haven’t been able to do anything about it yet? Waiting for the next step I guess.”
Nat smiles as Sami puts on the seatbelt. “It’s just a blanket rule for me, actually. I don’t start moving the car until everyone’s belted in.” She turns her attention back to driving, shifts into first, and gets on her way.
“About the vow, I get what you mean. It can be tough to feel like you’re just waiting around. The good news is, Ryan’s dating Merlin, so they might also have some ideas. Teen Merlin, not some creepy old dude - he’s a bit of a bitch, but so’s Ryan, so they work out.” Nat’s voice is full of obvious affection. “Ryan will at least be able to keep you in the loop with Avalon stuff. Does Arthur know how to contact you? Like, do you have a phone?”
Letting out a small laugh at Nat’s ribbing at someone who is clearly important to her, Sami gave a shrug. “I don’t have a phone, but I’m also a computer? Like, literally I mean. So I can kinda just do that without needing an external device. I… I don’t actually remember if I gave Arthur my biscord details” The robot said with a sudden realization and shame, putting their face in their hands with a groan.
Nat giggles, reaching over to pat Sami’s shoulder with one hand without taking her eyes off the road. “It’s fine! We can get that sorted no problem. It’s good to have friends with connections in Avalon.” She giggles a little and repeats, “Connections, if you know what I mean.”
Not having enough experience in the world to recognize the obvious innuendo that Nat was putting forth, the AI tilted their head in confusion. “You mean like how Merlin works for Arthur?”
Nat snorts. “I don’t think Arthur’s involved, but you’re welcome to ask Ryan.”
Sami’s confusion only deepens as they let out a whisper. “I don’t get it…”
“Don’t worry about it,” Nat reassures them. “I’m just joking about Ryan and Merlin dating. If you asked Ryan about it, they’d get really flustered, which is always funny to see.”
“O-ok…” Was the short response as Sami still tried to put the puzzle together, not knowing they lacked quite a few essential pieces. They gave their friend a small smile however, trying to reassure her that they were fine.
Nat patted their shoulder again and returned her hand to the steering wheel. “Anyway. Do you have any questions before we get to Ryan’s place? I know I’ve talked about them a bunch, but I don’t know if there’s anything important I’ve, like, forgotten to mention or something.”
“Well they use they/them right?” Sami started, happy for the shift in gears. “And they’re a ‘time wizard’ or something? And they used to be part of Big Team, I think. Is all that right?”
“Yep!” Nat says brightly. “They have these two gauntlets, kind of like the magic one I have that I showed you, except theirs are way more powerful. And not gold, which sucks for them. But their gauntlets give them their time powers. These days they study magic at this wizard school on Madagascar, but given the whole time powers thing they can come back to Halcyon basically whenever they want.”
“Wait, there's a wizard school in madagascar?!” Sami almost shouted in a mix of incredulity and awe. They looked down at their hands, imagining similar gauntlets resting on them in a moment of childish fantasy. “That’s so cool!”
“Yeah!” Nat says happily. “They’ll be able to tell you all about it.” 
She refocuses on driving, continuing to make idle chatter along the way until they eventually pull up to a house on a quiet road. Once the truck is parked, she pulls her phone out again to text Ryan. We’re here! 
The front door of the house opens instantly, although given the powers of its inhabitant that probably shouldn't be surprising. Ryan Young does not, on the whole, look like a powerful ‘time wizard;’ they’re middling-height, dressed in jeans and a bright-pink hoodie, with light-tan skin spattered unevenly by freckles. The only signs there’s more to them than there appears are the white streaks in their dark hair, tied back into a loose braid, and the unnervingly bright green eyes that flick between Nat and Sami as they wave. 
“Hey, Nat--and Sami, right?” They glance for a second between Sami’s two forms before offering their hand to the Social body to shake. “It’s nice to meet you--I’m Ryan, and in general don’t believe anything Nat says about me unless it’s independently verifiable.” 
Sami quickly accepts the handshake, giving a small smile in return. “Yeah, Sami. It’s nice to meet you too.” The Ai thought back to the conversation in the truck before asking an innocent question. “So can you verify something for me then? You and Merlin have connections, right?”
Nat darted in to hug Ryan as soon as the handshake was over. At Sami’s question, she smothers a snort in their shoulder. “Very strong connections,” she adds.
Ryan hugs Nat back, opening their mouth to answer Sami’s question as they do--but Nat speaks sooner, and they shut their mouth, go slightly pink, and glare down at the top of her head. 
“You’re a menace, Nat,” they say, not without affection, and then turn their attention back to Sami. “But to answer your question, yes--Merlin and I have been dating for going on two years, now, and also have been working together on various projects for a little longer than that.” Even embarrassed, they can’t stop themself from smiling while thinking about it, but shake their head after a moment to dismiss it. “Would you two like to come in, or would it be more comfortable to just hang out on the porch? We’ve got chairs out here, so either works.” 
“I’m not entirely sure how that relates to ‘connections’ but okay.” Sami said with a little confusion. Looking back at their Atlas body, the robot says. “I’m good with going inside, but my Atlas body will probably just wait out here. Does that work?”
“If that’s alright and comfortable for you, sure,” Ryan says, moving back to hold the door open for the other two. 
“Cool!” Nat chirps, trotting into the house. “Is your mom here? Probably too much to hope that Jake’s here, huh?”
“He has an actual job and is--yet again--in the Arctic Circle,” Ryan informs her, and then looks over at Sami. “My older brother,” they explain. “He’s captain of a research ship, so most of the year he’s gone, but he tries to visit. Mom’s also at work,” they add, to Nat. “They’re working on what the museum programming for the year will be today, and Wolfgang headed out earlier, so I’m holding down the fort--so to speak--here. Is there anything I can get for you?” They switch back over to Sami as the head into the living room. “Nat’s going to help herself from the kitchen, and I realize I’m not sure if or what you eat, but if you need or want water or snacks, just let me know.” 
“I can’t eat or drink anything. My body isn’t designed for it, though I am trying to fix that.” Sami explained with a chuckle. “I only need electricity, but I won’t raise your bill so don’t worry. I get enough from the team base.”
Nat, meanwhile, beelines for the kitchen before Ryan even finishes explaining where everyone is. She sticks her tongue out at them around the corner when they mention she’ll be raiding their kitchen, but it doesn’t stop her. She emerges a suspiciously short amount of time later with two packets of Yogos in one hand. “Not my fault your mom gets the good snacks,” she scoffs to Ryan as she downright prances into the living room to her customary spot on the couch.
Ryan leans over and snags one of the packets of Yogos from Nat in a motion a little too fast to be natural. “Anyway, is there something I can help you two with? Not that I wouldn’t be fine with just a social visit, obviously, but Nat mentioned you might have some questions,” They add, looking back over to Sami as they sit on one of the armchairs in the room.
''
“Hey,” Nat objects, though she makes no move to take the Yogos back. “We can’t start another wrestling match, Ryan, we’ll break the house.” 
She settles back down, pouting. “Anyway. Sami wanted to see if they can learn magic, and you’re a wizard nerd, so.” She flaps a hand between the two of them. “Figured we’d ask you.”
“Then don’t start another wrestling match,” Ryan says evenly, before turning their attention back to Sami. “But when it comes to magic, I can definitely answer questions—well, to the best of my ability. My own talents are rather specialized, but I know a decent amount on the topic.” 
“Well I was thinking more about enchantments for my body.” Sami said, sounding a bit more serious than they had before. “Obviously it would better if I learned how to do so myself, but I’m worried that if Titan shows up again soon I won’t be ready to fight them as i am now…”
Nat scowls petulantly at Ryan but doesn’t say anything. She’s not sure how much information Sami is comfortable sharing about Titan, so she’ll let Ryan ask questions and Sami answer them. 
Ryan considers this, tilting their head to the side a little. “Three questions, just so I can understand what you’re looking for here. First, what advantages does magic give you that you’re interested in, as opposed to looking to technology or…” they wave their hand, vaguely. “Any of the other avenues to power you can find in Halcyon City? Second, because magic tends to work best when you have a clear focus--do you have an idea of what end result you want from this? You don’t need to know immediately, but figuring out some specifics to focus on will probably be helpful.” 
They pause before asking the third question, but--they’re never going to stop being the person who wants as much context as possible before coming to any conclusions. “And third, what about this Titan makes you feel that you’re responsible for fighting them?” 
“B-because they’re me!” Sami cried out, surprising even themself with his sudden volume. The AI took a moment to compose themself before continuing. “Titan is a version of myself who didn’t get rescued from Falcon and Fox. They’re who I would’ve become if Dr. O’Shay hadn’t saved me.” Sami looked over to Nat as they talked, giving a small smile. “I talked to Nat after I encountered him for the first time, and she told me how she beat her alternate self. I can’t use technology because they’re already further ahead of me in that regard, and I don’t want to make my body more militarized than it already is. And most other avenues for power are blocked off for me, as they tend to rely on altering oneself on a biological level, and since I’m not biological…” Sami finished their sentence off with a shrug. “And in regards to what I want to be able to do… I was hoping you could help me become less… bulky?”
Ryan takes in that information, and then nods. “Makes sense. Well, there are definitely a number of ways to do that. There are a number of ways both to enchant items and to grant magical benefits to people…” they trail off, considering options--they know they’ve seen a notepad titled “how to curse a real sword” lying around Merlin’s room, which is a version of enchanting an item, and there are ways to give people magical boons… they shake their head and bring themself back to the present.
“Okay. For “less bulky,” is it that you want either of your bodies to be smaller, or do you want them to be faster, or less heavy--or a combination of those? Because if it was more on the fast and less heavy area, we could look at gravitational manipulation--which is very outside of my wheelhouse but I can find people who know. For more long-term stuff…well, some people take classes at the Consortium, which could help, although,” they sigh, “I’m told that I should, as a public service, tell people not to get in time magic classes I’m in because I “have a habit” of “picking fights with the instructors,”” They use the hand not holding snacks to make air-quotes. 
“If nothing else, that would give you a good grounding in the basics of magic so you know how to do anything you find. From there, I can definitely look to see if there are any records of self-enchantment--or, if not, we can put our heads together and figure out what it would look like. You could probably treat it like after-school classes--I think that’s what Beans, Nat’s sister, does.” They look to Nat for confirmation. 
Nat nods happily. “Yep! She’s still going to regular school since my parents are such huge believers in, like, education and stuff. So she looks into it mostly extracurricularly.”
Ryan nods. “So that would probably be a good step to take, ‘cause it will let you use anything else you figure out. People have tried to jump to very complicated magic to just get what they want, but that tends to go…badly.” 
Sami nodded in agreement. “That would probably be a good idea, though unless Magic school has wifi that might be difficult…” The robot paused for a second before shaking their head. “Anyway, I did have an idea for how we could help me move around easier. Y’know how Nat’s bracelet charms disappear whenever she summons her gauntlet?”
“It has wi-fi,” Ryan says, neglecting to mention that they and Kurt had spent the better part of a few weekends making sure said wifi was strong and consistent enough that one could stream Cadenza concerts in full resolution. And that they might not have asked permission to do so. “But as for the bracelet, I’m familiar--it’s a spatial enchantment, which is not precisely my wheelhouse, but I did get a look at how Kurt did it and understand how it could be done.” 
Beaming, Nat summons the gauntlet to demonstrate and wiggles her fingers. It’s very shiny. She’s a big fan. “I would offer to help, too, since I had to be involved by virtue of the gauntlet not coming off unless you break its bond with the holder, which would defeat the point. But I did not understand a single thing either of you said the whole time you were working.”
Letting out a small laugh, Sami continued. “Well I don’t know how difficult it would be, or if it’s harder with larger objects, but what if we could make it so I could switch my bodies in and out? Like if I’m in my social body, we use the magic and the social body switches with my atlas body?” The robot sounded slightly hopeful as they explained their plan. “I’d need to update my social body to have a place for my consciousness box, but I’ve been thinking of revamping it anyway.”
Ryan nods, eyes lighting up at the idea. “That might actually be easier than what we did with Nat’s bracelet, in some ways. With those, because the gauntlet shifts its form and properties via its own internal magic, we had to create an atemporal zone--” they trail off, remember that the technicalities aren’t that important. “--basically, we put them in a tiny space pocket, because we need them not to exist at all in space. Which is tricky. But the goal here is not to have one of your bodies exist outside spacetime--unless I’m misunderstanding--but just to make it so you can switch which one of them is where at any point.” 
There is a strange effect, almost like a visual glitch; one second, Ryan is sitting in the chair, and the next, they’re sitting down with a legal pad in their hands, flipping back through notes. “Sorry,” they say. “Just wanted to check something--right. Yeah. Okay, I think what we’re looking for here would be what’s called a spatial transposition spell, one that would be replicable. Basically, it’s a spell that takes two things and flips where they are.” They actually do a version of it when they have to travel long distances quickly, but that’s not important. “So one of your bodies could be in your room or charging--you’d probably want to make a consistent location for the “inactive” body to always be at--and the other out around Halcyon, and then when you activated the spell they would switch.” 
They check their notes again, considering. “You would have to account for the difference in mass, but honestly you’ve got a much bigger factor in your favor, because the two things being switched are both you. It’s fundamentally easier to link or exchange two things via magic if they’re similar, and magic cares a lot less about the external than the internal. If the magic is just like “we’re switching Sami with Sami,” that’s not going to take as much energy as, say, switching me with Nat, even though we’re closer in size than your two bodies.” They gesture between themself and Nat in demonstration. “Make sense?” 
Nat has pretended to fall asleep in her chair. Once Ryan sounds like they’re at a stopping point, she lets out a loud fake snore and then pretends to wake herself up. “Oh, sorry,” she says. “Were you saying something we’re supposed to follow?”
“I was answering Sami’s question,” Ryan scowls. If they were sitting any closer they would whack Nat’s shoulder, but they’re not, so they just flail their free hand in Nat’s direction without looking. 
Luckily for Ryan, the intended student had been glued to every word, eyes sparkling with newly gained knowledge. “So does that mean if I have an identity crisis then the magic would require more power? That’s so interesting.” Sami placed a hand to their chin as they started to theorize. “The main issue we might run into is that not all of the body would be swapped as my consciousness box would need to stay in place and fit into the body that just got switched to my location. Meaning the switch would need to be very precise.” 
Ryan nods, thinking about this. “Well, first of all, there’s actually some precedent on the identity crisis thing--generally it seems that it depends a bit on the nature of the identity crisis, there are records of certain practitioners of magic having to retool a bunch of their personal wards and such after major life changes; realizing they’re a different gender, for example, but also things such as hitting certain ages or losing abilities they’d prized highly. But also for some people they remain consistent--that’s not the point. The issue of keeping your consciousness box in place while your bodies switch…” They frown, flip through their notes again. 
“I think there are probably spells we could source from Avalon that were designed to let, say, a knight switch out which weapon they were using instantaneously in combat that could be modified--because there’s an issue of placement there as well, as you’d need the new weapon to land correctly for your grip. I can check with Merlin next time I see him, because if it’s an Avalonian spell, he knows it.” They scrawl something on the edge of the legal pad, then flip back a few spaces. 
“I think the answer to some of the finickiness of this would be, once we’ve figured out precisely what we want to happen, using a matched set of magical circles--like this--” they flip to a page with a carefully-drawn series of circles with a seven-pointed star in the center, with runic writing around it (and, in another color of ink, accompanying translations) “--for a couple of reasons. First of all, it makes sure you’re doing the same thing every time, magic is chaotic enough that you want to maximize consistency everywhere you can. Second of all, it would work better in combat because you’d just have to activate it and switch, not conduct a larger spell or ritual. And third of all, it’s a type of magic that’s got a long history of summoning-type spells, which transposition is a close cousin of, so there’s a lot of existing work to build off of.” 
“Is this like that guy whose powers involved switching stuff’s places?” Nat asks idly. “Like, that time he kicked me out of his apartment by swapping me with a trash can outside.” She tactfully does not mention the ensuing chaos as Violet assumed Nat had been turned into the trash can.
Raising an eyebrow in Nat’s direction, Sami decides to ignore the trash can thing and turns back to Ryan. “It’s lucky for us that such a spell already exists. I imagine that those circles could probably be added to the insides of both bodies rather easily.” Thinking for a moment, they let out a short ‘hmm’. “Do you have any questions for me now? I know you said you’d need to do some more research with Merlin to get the info we might need, but I want to help as much as I can.”
Ryan pointedly does not look at Nat at the words “research with Merlin”--there is literally no way for them to win that conversation, because either she teases them about “research” happening or faux-offers her condolences for it not happening--and instead focuses on Sami even while answering Nat’s question. 
“I didn’t encounter that power myself, but it sounds about like what I’m talking about. And…I don’t think there’s anything else I’d like to know--wait. Once you know what the height difference in feet would be between the two locations of your consciousness box, that’ll give us some numbers to work off of for the displacement effect. Other than that, I assume you know your own proportions better than anyone, so you’ve got the most important physical information already.” They smile, setting the notepad aside. “And honestly? This is both a really useful and a pretty ambitious first magical project to take on, so congratulations on that and I am thrilled to be helping.” 
“Knew you’d love this,” Nat says, smugly pleased to have been helpful. “You always love the nerd shit.”
Sami started to giggle as the joy in the room started to infect them. Gesturing for the notepad, they wrote down their proportions in probably more detail than was necessary. “To be honest, ever since I came to Avalon the first time I’ve been thinking about magic. About how much there is to learn and the things I could use it for to help people.” The robot explained as they continued to write. “It also probably helps that it’s one of the few subjects I can’t just download information on from the internet. Something I have to work for, y’know?”
“That makes sense,” Ryan said, nodding. It’s not unlike their own reasons for going to the Consortium to study magic over going to college to probably major in history. Sure, they could have done well at it; they’re not even ruling it out for the future. But for the moment, it’s just not as interesting as something Ryan actually feels challenged by. “And I know the feeling. I started as a hero with an old magic artifact I barely understood--and then I met someone else who actually knew about it, and knew more about magic in general, and suddenly there was this entirely different world out there.” Their smile was soft, fond. 
“And honestly, if you can keep up that feeling of wonder about it, you’ll probably do well. It’s hard to get too bored by what you’re studying when you can remember that oh yeah, this is magic, you’re doing magic.” They wiggle the fingers of one hand, a half-pantomime of magical sparks. They pick up the pad with the other, taking note of what Sami wrote. “And--should I just contact GAIA when I have more information, or is there a more direct way to talk to you?” 
“Do you have Biscord?” Sami asked. “Or Chitter? Both of those would work.”
Nat widens her eyes in faux-curiosity at Ryan and leans forward with her chin propped on one hand. “The first magic-user you ever met, huh? Do you have to tell everyone else at wizard school that you don’t smooch every wizard you see, and it was first-come, first-served?”
“I’m flattered that you think everyone else at wizard school is interested, Nat,” Ryan said absently, pulling out their phone. “And yeah, I’ve still got Biscord—and for some reason I’ve still got Chitter, against all common sense. I’ll get back to you when I find something—it won’t take more than a week, one way or another.” They smile again. “Anything else I can do to help?”