Matilda: A mixture of arcanum and mathematics, the ship on the Mediterranean ...
Matilda: Unbelievable! Our investigator actually met this group of arcanists who believed in numbers and even left such a precious record down on paper.
Sotheby: Does it mean we are close to being helpful to Vertin?!
The chief assistant of the monitor assistant lets out a cheer.
Matilda: Certainly. It's what we deserve for all the efforts today! Hmm. But, why did they leave such an important report in the reference room storing "unnecessary information"?
Matilda: Did they misput it here after the chaos of the "Storm"?
Putting her confusion aside, Matilda turns to the next page of the record.
Writer of the Report: Among them, the most easygoing one was Hugh.
Writer of the Report: He was an engineer as well as an arcanist. We shared the same preference for human technology, and that became our common topic.
Writer of the Report: Hugh was in his 30s, red-haired, cheeks sunken, and deeply depressed due to some kind of eye disease.
Writer of the Report: He was a decent man with a prudent attitude, working at a desk most of the time. He reminded me of the imperial miniature painting artists in the Sultan's palace. Most of them ended up blind after toiling for their life.
Writer of the Report: He showed me the picture of his daughter. I don't have children, but I could feel his happiness as a father.
Writer of the Report: Although I got along well with Hugh, he seemed quite out of place among that group ...
Writer of the Report: ... which was actually led by "her."
Writer of the Report: I don't know what words to use to describe "her." She was like a meteor shower, a tempest, or an unreasonable catastrophe itself. Her existence was just like her name: it was simple, yet implied a lot.
Writer of the Report: Please forgive me for my cowardice. Even now, I don't have the courage to write down her name—if one would call that a name.
Writer of the Report: In fact, she was quite a kind, warmhearted person. Among all the unregistered arcanists I've met, she was one of the nicest ones towards the Foundation.
Writer of the Report: She looked young, even though I heard she had a daughter, too. Besides, she still possessed the innocence of a child, and that kind of excitement exclusive for genius. That's right. It seemed the whole world was like a sparkling toy to her.
Writer of the Report: Our communication was heart-stirring at the beginning.
Writer of the Report: Both of us were eager to find out what was happening, like two shipwreck victims grappling at each other on the sea.
Writer of the Report: But I didn't have the slightest idea what she was talking about, actually.
Writer of the Report: The problem was not the typical communication issues between humans and arcanists.
Writer of the Report: I was sure the language we used didn't pose any obstacles, but still, I couldn't understand any words of hers.
Writer of the Report: I would believe that one is highly intelligent if one can name all the factors of 11,567 without thinking.
Writer of the Report: But, what this one said was illogical nonsense which no one could ever imagine.
Writer of the Report: She claimed that there is a world of numbers "above all else," where the non-physical Essences of all things exist in the form of timeless, absolute, unchangeable ideas, and that the physical world where the time flows is nothing but an "appendage," which has never been real or true.
Writer of the Report: And that's why the chaos in this world is not worth any attention, and we should focus on what happened to the "supreme existence."
Writer of the Report: What an utter disaster combining modern maths with ancient superstition! I saw another hubristic arcanist pretending to be the prophet by reliving Platonism.
Writer of the Report: I don't even bother to mention the balderdash on "soul numbers." Even the New Age Movement could use some of her absurdity.
Writer of the Report: But that was not yet the end. She even claimed to be aware of the exact year when the next reverse would happen!
Writer of the Report: But when I asked her about it seriously, she said ...
"HER": "My apologies. I've made an oath. I shall and only shall reveal the demonstration to people who have their own soul numbers."
Writer of the Report: I'm not sure whether she was making fun of me or being serious, but I had this feeling that she was eager to tell me how she was granted the secret through a moment of afflatus.
Writer of the Report: It seemed she just saw through the laws behind all things instead of finding them through logical deduction.
"HER": "Can't you see it? It is right in front of you!"
Writer of the Report: After I expressed my inability to comprehend her words 30 times, she finally gave up and proffered regrets. I'd rather take it as a new kind of humiliation.
Writer of the Report: What really irritated me about her, however, was her contempt towards science and all the scientific research methods.
Writer of the Report: As far as I'm concerned, the value of a theory lies in its reliability, universality, and generalizability.
Writer of the Report: Our pursuit of the "truth" has laid the foundation of modern science, allowing us to change the world.
Writer of the Report: Yet, in her eyes, the value of a theory lies in its "beauty."
Writer of the Report: I talked to her on the current situation, and I told her how we would save lives and preserve the hard-earned technology of mankind, if we could find the pattern of the "Storm."
Writer of the Report: It was, of course, not an easy thing to do and would take enormous manpower, so I asked her sincerely to join the Foundation.
Writer of the Report: Yet again, she responded with contempt. She believed they would only become another military squad of the Foundation's.
"HER": "Darling, maths is beautiful for its uselessness."
"HER": "That's why it remains noble and graceful in this sordid world, despite you humans' reckless action of using it to calculate ballistic."
Writer of the Report: She turned down my invitation and left an unfairly negative comment on our "Storm" Observation Project.
"HER": "The observation stations you built are destined to be toppled, because their basis is the fragile world that follows the laws of physics. The efforts you've made are like nails on a sand beach, which will only be carried away by the next tidal wave."
Writer of the Report: But I said, "Perhaps our efforts are in vain, but someone has to do it. We will try every corner of the beach before making the conclusion that the world we're living in is already a hopeless ruin."
"HER": "Heh heh … What a pragmatic, rigorous, and rational speech! But dear, the world is a hopeless ruin!"
Writer of the Report: The conversation ended in disagreement. I don't know why arcanists hate the world so much. Perhaps the reason is they have never been truly accepted. To this day, I still remember her venomous conclusion ...
"HER": "The world built on past experiences has ended. In your words, which you used to mock us, why not embrace the reality?"
Writer of the Report: Yet, about the Gnosis which she deeply believed in and the so-called prophecy she made through numbers, she had never given any proofs or details that showed rigorous logic.
Writer of the Report: And the reason for her inaction was ... was an oath she had made before some stone!
Writer of the Report: Therefore, I believed her words were only the nonsense of a lunatic. When we first met, I thought she was different from all those psychos, who mistook the malfunction of their prefrontal cortex as the will of God, but they turned out to be the same.
Writer of the Report: In the name of human sense, I swore everything she said was absurd and ridiculous to me, until ...
Matilda: Hmm. Madam Z said the arcanists on that island are all named after numbers, because they have a strong belief that numbers are the Essence of their souls.
Matilda: The investigator wouldn't write down "her" name. Is it because of the conflict between their beliefs?
Matilda turns to the next page eagerly, as if checking a novel brought in class by some undisciplined student.
But the reality welcomes her with an empty page.
Matilda: Hmm? That's all?!
Maybe because the story ends with an abrupt stop or the hope just raised has dashed down, Matilda clenches her handkerchief with her sweaty palm.
Matilda: Submitting such an unfinished report will only cause problems for the reviewers and evaluators! But this investigator didn't even write down their name …
Sotheby: Don't worry, Ms. Bouanich. I'm familiar with this situation. Every time, after the brave Typhon defeats Jupiter, he returns to the Auto Island.
Sotheby: But, each time we twist the ear of Mr. Glass Box, Typhon will show up again and again!
Sotheby: Ms. Moissan told me, the ear is the key to bringing back our hope!
Matilda: Wait, don't tell me you are talking about the shows on the mechanical television ...
Ignoring the monitor assistant's confusion, the enthusiastic young lady starts looking around for the ear that carries all her hope.
Matilda: Stop, stop, Ms. Sotheby. Please take a seat on the cushion and listen to me carefully.
Matilda: This is a detailed report written by a formal investigator of the Foundation's, not some TV show full of cliffhangers. That means, we will definitely find the rest somewhere.
Sotheby: Oh, I see! Must be a Cocoa Treant who took away the other part of the book!
Sotheby: Usually, they will be attracted by luna fixa. And by following their traces, we'll find their lairs in the stable.
Matilda: You mean someone took it away? Hmm, that's highly possible. Data loss is not allowed in the Foundation, especially under the monitor assistant's management.
Sotheby: We must prepare luna fixa. Don't forget their favourite Jigging Magical Beans!
Sotheby: Hmm. I don't have those materials with me right now, but I can write to them. It only takes a month!
The disconcerting conversation is clearly too much for this rigorous monitor assistant.
Matilda: Nuh-uh, we don't need that!
After taking a deep breath, Matilda takes out her crystal orb.
An ambitious smile spreads over her face.
Matilda: You've perfectly accomplished the task from me when you found this valuable report. Well done, Assistant Sotheby.
Matilda: Now it's time for the Great Matilda to show a little bit of her greatness!
