Part 7: Celestial Bodies and Mythologies

Biting your finger, you stare at the empty table.
Not all is lost, though. There are still copies of the report archived at the institute.
Kaalaa Baunaa: If that was an observational error, why were there the same anomalies in Kumar's data as well?
Kaalaa Baunaa: I hadn't noticed this before... The dataset Kumar obtained through arcane skills also has an eerily similar 3% error!
Kaalaa Baunaa: A 3% error... At the inquiry, Kapur and Datt also expressed doubts about it.
Kaalaa Baunaa: Is this a coincidence...? No, it can't be.
Kaalaa Baunaa: Unless...Kumar and I fell into the same trap, and made the same mistake!
You feel a tremor, as if electricity is running through you.
Kaalaa Baunaa: Is it possible the changes of the orbit follow a certain pattern?
You push the desk and chairs aside, and spread all the observation logs on the floor.
Kaalaa Baunaa: ...
You can't figure out what common factor is influencing your research and Kumar's. The truth is, many wrong false conclusions stem from a lack of respect for coincidences.
Kaalaa Baunaa: No way ... These "errors" happened at nearly the same time in every dataset...
You are determined to get to the bottom of this once and for all.
There is work to be done.

Morning light spills on the ground. You spent the entire night analyzing the data, but found nothing.
Gulping down a cup of coffee, you lean against a file cabinet and watch the world outside awaken. There isn't much time left.
Wait, what's that book on the ground? You seem to remember it ...
Kaalaa Baunaa: ... I thought I lost it.
"A Brief History of Celestial Bodies (Mythological Compilation)". You pick it up and pat the dust off it.
The spine is labeled "Banner Elementary School Library". This library really should put you on their blacklist.
Kaalaa Baunaa: "The Origin of Faust Stars"...
Kaalaa Baunaa: "In the beginning, the universe was shapeless, dark and silent, like a bottomless well."
Kaalaa Baunaa: "A speck of dust, falling into the endless darkness, was the primordial Faust."
Kaalaa Baunaa: "He marked out his territory, safeguarding peace and order as would a king, but it was a land without subjects."
A crooked, gray scribble is scrawled below the words.
Kaalaa Baunaa: This writing...
You remember it was written with a pencil shorter than your pinky.
Kaalaa Baunaa: "He marked out his territory, safeguarding peace and order as would a king, but it was a land without subjects."
You held the book, while she propped her chin attentively.
Girl: Wow, just like Teacher Sakash from our hut...
Girl: She told us there was nothing in the hut at first—just some rotten planks.
Girl: No one wanted to learn from her... They all said, instead of staring at numbers, they might as well go herd cows to earn some money for chapati!
Kaalaa Baunaa: That's a shame, she sounds like a good teacher.
Girl: Heh heh, don't worry. It was only temporary.
Girl: Later, the cowherd Salman stood quietly by the window and left a ruler behind. Soon after, Taseem from the cart driver's family brought over a table and bench each missing a leg... Over time, more and more people came.
Girl: Teacher Sakash told us there are more stars in the sky than grains of rice in a pot.
Girl: I haven't counted the stars, but I sure have counted grains of rice. Teacher Sakash is absolutely right!
She scratched her head.
Girl: But then she said, the rice grains in the pot will one day outnumber the stars in the sky... That really confuses me.
Kaalaa Baunaa: You can come with her next time, you'll be very welcome.
She turned her face away dejectedly.
Girl: It's too high, and too far from here. Besides, I came to count the stars and I've already got my answer.
Girl: Teacher Sakash is wrong. There are so many stars in the sky that grains of rice can never outnumber them.
Girl: "Teachers make mistakes too", that's what she told me.
She took out a pencil and left a dot to mark the end of the story.
Girl: I should get going. Let's stop here for today, thank you...
Kaalaa Baunaa: Wait, when will you come back again?
Girl: I...I don't know. The hut is getting demolished, so we're looking for a new place.
Girl: Once we find a new hut, I'll come back to find you! I-if I don't come back...
She wrote something on the page, one stroke at a time.
Girl: You can come find me here!
Kaalaa Baunaa: Yet I never saw her again...
You turn the page and find that part of the book gone.
Something urges you on, like a...faint sense of guilt.
Leaning down, you hold back the urge to retch, looking for the missing page with the address.

Kumar: ... If we completely rely on human research methods, with our funding, we probably can't even secure the necessary equipment.
Kumar: Make good use of shortcuts, child. Don't try to win by their rules alone.
Kaalaa Baunaa: But data obtained through arcane skills isn't entirely accurate... It will directly affect the research results.
Kumar: I'm telling you, cast aside your preferences. You can use human observational data to validate your research, while using arcane skills to always stay one step ahead of them.
She sat back down, burying her head in the piles of documents.
Kumar: Why are you still here?
Kaalaa Baunaa: I...left a book here.
Kumar: Is it this one? I thought it belonged to that dimwitted intern.
She threw the book at you, its pages rustling as it fell to the ground.
Kumar: Sorry, I tore out some pages to use as draft paper. You can buy another copy if you need it. Just make a note in the research budget.
She didn't look up the whole time.
Kaalaa Baunaa: There's no need...
You picked up the pages and hurried out of that stifling office.
The last page is still in the book, but some pages in the middle are missing.
You push away the desk—chewing gum, scraps of paper, pellets of feces, cereal bars...and a sleeping rat.
There is an unfinished page in its arms. Thank goodness it's not a fast eater.

You snatch the page from the rat. It squeaks and scurries out of the office. Well ... hopefully you don't feel guilty about that.
Kaalaa Baunaa: This is probably the missing page ...
Flattening and unfolding it, you restore the crumpled page to its original form.
But the address on it is nowhere to be found.
Kaalaa Baunaa: What is going on...
Kaalaa Baunaa: I remember...!
Yes, you remember that dimwitted intern.
Kaalaa Baunaa: That's it for today. You can go now, Gaurav.
Intern Gaurav: O-okay, Ms. Kaalaa Baunaa... But I think I'll stay a while longer. I need to double check this data on the spectral lines.
Kaalaa Baunaa: See you tomorrow then.
A hand stopped you.
Intern Gaurav: Sorry, is this your book ... Ms. Kaalaa Baunaa?
Kaalaa Baunaa: Yes...it is.
Intern Gaurav: My mother used to read me this story. I'm very sorry...I flipped through it just now without permission.
Intern Gaurav: This page seems to have data copied down by Ms. Kumar...
...That unpleasant feeling again.
Kaalaa Baunaa: Get rid of it for me.
You remember leaving without looking back.
The truth comes out. It was you who erased the address and the data.
But something else springs to mind.
Kaalaa Baunaa: Wait, wait... "Data on the spectral lines"?
A kernel of truth emerges.
Kaalaa Baunaa: Gaurav was actually able to distinguish single stars from binary stars!? Then... his data wasn't wrong!
With this realization, you run back to the lab, take out the diagrams, and match them up one by one...
Another answer emerges in your mind.

Kaalaa Baunaa: Gaurav had been meticulously recording data all along, he never missed a thing.
Kaalaa Baunaa: It was me and Kumar, using data obtained through arcane skills, who misled the whole team!
The truth no longer eludes you, but it is too late.
You flip the papers back and forth, your eyes darting from place to place.
Kaalaa Baunaa: No, it's not that simple... With the data we got through arcane skills, combined with Gaurav's analysis, there's a new possibility...!
Kaalaa Baunaa: Another undiscovered star!
Kaalaa Baunaa: What if this star only appears at the orbit's nodal points of change, and is beyond detection at other times?
You circle the nodal points, overturning your research step by step. In the face of discovering a new star, this labor seems inconsequential.
Kaalaa Baunaa: An undiscovered star that intermittently attracts the secondary star... Whenever the binary star is on the verge of a supernova, it pulls the secondary star back into the proper orbit.
Kaalaa Baunaa: This game is more interesting than you thought, Kumar.
Leaving the mess in the institution behind, you go back to the observatory. The star above your head happily follows as an approval of your decision.
Aside from avoiding the peaks of solar radio emissions, the radio telescope has no other limitations.
Your heart is being squeezed, as if you were holding it in your hand.
Kaalaa Baunaa: So, the conclusion is ...