Approaching Science

Wait, it had clearly been at zero just now.

Instinctively, he stayed still and let Warren keep jostling it as he stared at the number.

It was rising, visibly ticking upward.

0.12... 0.15... 0.19...

Little by little, like sand in an hourglass, grain by grain, something seeped out of that cloth bag and flowed into his panel.

The God-Descending Disk in the bag really had something sealed inside it.

It kept leaking out, silently absorbed by him and converted into points.

This thing was real—or had once been real. There really was something inside.

Richard made his judgment quickly, not letting anyone else notice anything unusual about him.

He swept his gaze over the eager faces.

Warren, Mason, Gray, and Hugh, who had been called over since he was sitting nearby.

Four ignorant faces. Not one of them knew what they were doing.

Truly fearless calves, holding a bit of curiosity they had nowhere else to put, ready to poke at something whose depths they couldn't fathom.

After weighing it up, Richard spoke. "This thing."

He pointed at the cloth bag. "Can I take a look first?"

Warren froze for a moment, then casually tossed the bag over. "You know this stuff?"

"Just taking a look." Richard caught the bag and turned it over in his hands.

He did not take the disk out. He did not know whether it mattered, but it was better to avoid touching it directly if possible.

0.53... 0.67... The points were still increasing slowly.

Meanwhile, Warren was already organizing things.

Gray took the crumpled sheet of paper from her pocket.

"Light the candle, put your hands on the edge of the disk, close your eyes, and ask a question.

That's all. No extra incantations."

"Then let's light the candle first." Warren drew the curtains. "Got to have a little sense of ritual."

He even checked the gaps on either side, leaving only the tiniest slivers.

Mason set out the candle while Warren struck a match.

The orange flame looked surprisingly bright in the dim classroom, casting the faces in shifting light and shadow.

None of them noticed that Richard stood off to the side, gripping the cloth bag without coming any closer.

0.73... 0.82...

"Williams." Warren turned around. "Coming to play?"

"Coming." Richard said. "Wait for me a moment."

The candle was already lit. Warren cleared his throat, ready to say the words of invitation.

0.92... Richard could feel that whatever was inside was nearly exhausted.

Soon, the number stopped rising and settled at 1.

He breathed a sigh of relief, weighed the cloth bag in his hand, and casually set it on the desk beside him.

Warren had just taken the bag and removed the disk when the candle went out.

There was no wind. The curtains were tightly drawn. No one had moved, and no door had opened.

It went out cleanly and abruptly, as if an invisible hand had pinched the flame away.

Hugh recoiled slightly.

Mason burst out laughing and leaned back in his chair. "I told you the curtains weren't sealed well enough. There's a draft!"

"Where's the draft?" Gray lifted the curtains, then quickly let them fall again, looking puzzled. "They're clearly sealed."

"Then it's the wick. How long has that candle been sitting around?"

Richard slowly withdrew his hand and pressed it to his forehead. It felt a little cold. He did not know whether it was his palm or his forehead that was cold.

He glanced at the disk.

Now, it truly was just a piece of wood.

The writing on it was ancient, but whatever had been sealed within those characters had been completely absorbed by him. It was utterly empty.

Warren was still arguing with Mason about the candle. He struck another match and relit the wick.

Everyone put their hands back on it and waited for a while, but the disk did not move at all.

They waited a while longer. Still nothing.

Warren pulled back his hand, making no effort to hide his disappointment.

"That old man..." He gritted his teeth. "He scammed me."

"What happened?" Hugh asked cautiously.

"When he sold it to me, he went on and on about it being a genuine item from the Eastern Continent, guaranteeing it'd react once I used it..."

Warren shoved the sheet of paper aside. "No reaction at all. It's just a useless piece of wood."

Mason laughed. "You actually believed him? That old man saw you were well dressed and knew you had money. He was obviously just making things up..."

"I didn't believe him." Warren looked a little embarrassed. "I bought it as a toy, but it can't even pull off a trick. That's not right."

Richard shook his head.

If he had not been here, if whatever had been stored inside the disk had not been drained beforehand, then if these clueless half-grown boys really had invited something... He did not know what would have happened, but it certainly would not have ended peacefully.

"Actually," he said, "even if it did react, it might not be for the reason you think."

Warren looked over. "What do you mean?"

"Do you know about the Ideomotor Effect?"

"No."

"Roughly speaking, it's like this." Richard sat sideways on the desk beside them.

"When someone focuses intensely on something and strongly expects a certain result, their muscles begin making tiny unconscious movements. The nervous system responds spontaneously according to that expectation, bypassing conscious awareness."

Gray listened intently, her blue eyes full of thought.

"So when several people place their hands on the same disk, and each of them expects it to move, it moves.

There is no external force involved. Everyone's muscles exert force unconsciously in sync, and together it is enough to push the disk.

The people involved cannot feel themselves exerting force, so they mistake it for a power coming from outside."

Warren understood what he meant. "So when people think the table is moving, they're actually pushing it themselves?"

"Right."

"What about the candle?" Mason said. "How do you explain it going out by itself?"

"A candle burns in an enclosed space and consumes oxygen.

With five people in here, plus a lit candle, the oxygen level in the classroom drops.

A wick burns unstably in a low-oxygen environment, and when a few random factors pile up, this can happen."

As he said that, he suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. Was he giving these people a lesson in Approaching Science?

Warren set down the disk and sighed.

"I spent ten pounds on a useless piece of wood."

Ten pounds! Richard silently did the math.

Ten pounds could buy a thousand hot meat pies. It could also cover his family's rent for several months.

But the thought only flashed through his mind before he tucked it away.

"It isn't necessarily a loss. Things from the ancient Eastern Continent have some value in the collectors' market.

Put it on your bookshelf. When guests come over, you'll have something to talk about."

Mason patted Warren on the shoulder. "Hear that? You bought a decoration. A classy one."

Warren glared at him, but he was the first to laugh.

Gray packed the candle and candlestick into her schoolbag. As she walked over, she gave Richard a look.

"You're... really different today."

"After being sick, once you wake up, you tend to have more thoughts."

"Not just more thoughts." Gray considered it. "You barely ever spoke in class before."

Richard smiled. Some things could not be explained.

Hugh leaned closer and whispered.

"Why didn't you tell us about that ideomotor thing earlier? The candle going out just now scared me half to death."

"You didn't ask."

"Then... mediums and witches, are they all scams?"

Richard's tone turned serious. "Most of them are, but you'd better not try them anyway."

"Why? If they're fake..."

"You don't know enough to tell which ones are fake. What if you run into something real?"

Hugh choked on his words and obediently fell silent.

Warren had already packed everything up. He slung his schoolbag over one shoulder, walked over, and draped an arm around Richard's shoulders.

In the social language of boys, that meant he had accepted him.

Richard pulled Warren's arm off himself and focused his attention on the panel.

[Available Points: 1]

No rush. He could go back and see what direction he should add them in.