Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science

Agatha Heterodyne

The Science of Magic

"Professor Gaeta? You asked to see me?"

The professor looked up. Looked up from behind his desk, his glasses and his quill and parchment. Looked up at a man many decades his junior.

"Chesterford," the visitor said, extending a hand over the desk. "Representative of the royal court."

Gaeta tentatively shook it, still studying his visitor.

"Expecting someone else?"

Gaeta shook his head hastily. "No…no, I…"

"Course you were."

Chesterfood brought up a chair to the desk and sat down in it, leaning back against the Etrurian leather.

"You were expecting someone older," Chesterford said smugly. "Someone more official. More qualified, probably."

"I-…"

"But relax," the visitor smiled. "You can count on me to be impartial in hearing what you have to say. If your theory is sound, I'll pass it on to the powers that be. If not, you won't have embarrassed yourself in front of anyone important."

"I…see…" Gaeta said. "Well…um…"

"What?"

"Well, I was going to say 'sit down,' but you've beaten me to it."

The man's grin widened. And while still reeling from the unexpected intrusion, Gaeta found himself smiling as well.

He stopped as soon as he opened the magical lock below his desk, bringing out a series of non-magical parchments. He had to admit, sending a representative might not have been a bad idea. He was working with a theory. A theory derived from observation and rigorous testing, but a theory nonetheless. Not to mention that it was a theory that many mages wouldn't be happy with. Mages were special. Mages used magic how and when they wanted to. Magic was a force that the common man couldn't comprehend. That one of their number would be spouting out these kinds of ideas…

Well, screw 'em, Gaeta thought, arranging the parchments before his visitor. Knowledge is knowledge. It doesn't have to be power.

"Tell me…" the professor began. "How much do you know about magic?"

"Oh, only the basics," Chesterford shrugged. "Forces of nature…fire, wind, thunder…Comes and goes…"

"In other words, only the basics," Gaeteta repeated. The visitor opened his mouth but the professor continued. "But that's nothing to be ashamed of. Most people only know the basics. To most people, magic is some random force that only a gifted few possess."

"And you claim otherwise?"

"I do. See for yourself."

Gaeta placed the parchment in front of his visitor. He stared at them. Stared at the diagrams that had been sketched alongside the text. Almost all the diagrams were based around the shape of an equilateral triangle, with fire at the top, wind at the bottom right and thunder at the bottom left. An arrow led from fire to wind, another from wind to thunder, and so on.

"The magic triangle," Gaeta declared.

"…least it's not a square."

Clearly Chesterford was having trouble comprehending the discoveries. Either the court didn't have a high opinion of Gaeta, or they'd made a poor decision in regards to their messenger. Still, Gaeta didn't have a crossbow and even if he did, he didn't believe in shooting messengers. Even if they were woefully ignorant.

"Think about what mages have always told us," Gaeta said. "That magic is magic. Random. Chaotic. That it has no rhyme or reason."

"And this proves it?"

"As you can see, I've made a log of how the three types balance against each other," Gaeta said, gesturing to the largest parchment, consisting of nothing but a table of dates, duels and the types of magic involved. "It's clear that there's some kind of law to magic. There's exceptions of course, but as a rule, fire beats wind, wind beats thunder, and so on."

"Which means…?"

"Which means, dear boy, that magic is something that can be analysed. It has laws. And if it has laws, they can be broken down. Broken down to the level of the everyday-man. I've been writing on that topic for years, but now I've got the foundations to work with. If the court accepts my findings…well, anyone in Etruria could learn magic. Not just who mages select for their teachings."

Gaeta leant back in his chair, glad that he had Chesterford offguard, the man clearly struggling to comprehend. Granted, if he didn't comprehend the mage's findings by the end of this meeting Gaeta could have trouble finding someone who did understand, but for now, just once, it was nice to revel in the ignorance of someone else. Gaeta didn't normally like ignorance. It was why he'd established himself in this university, insisting that he could develop a system of magic rather than lecturing people about it.

"This is preliminary of course…" the professor said eventually. "But-…"

"But it means that things could change…" Chesterford murmured. "The mages wouldn't exert the same level of control they've done for centuries. The country's powerbase could shift significantly." He gazed right into Gaeta's eyes. "They won't be happy about this you know."

"True," Gaeta said. "But I was a mage once. I've seen what's become of magic users. Change has to come, and if they're not happy about that, it's their problem."

"Indeed…" Chesterford mused, before smiling again. "And indeed, it's a problem I think many in the royal court might appreciate as well."

Chesterford reached for something mounted in his belt. Gaeta watched nervously, expecting anything from a pass to the Royal Palace in Aquelia to a dagger.

"Drink, professor?"

What he got was a hip flask.

"I…I don't…"

"Come on," Chesterford said, unscrewing the cap and drinking some of the grog himself. "This is a moment to remember. You've cracked the…code, or whatever it is you do. I mean, I don't quite understand it, but I do get that you seem to know what you're talking about."

"A moment I want to remember…" Gaeta murmured. "Isn't that an incentive not to drink?"

"Come on…"

"Fine…" Gaeta said, summoning a glass to his side and sliding it across the table for the grog. "Hit me."

Laughing, Chesteford did just that. Laughed as Gaeta did in turn. Laughed as Gaeta took a deep sip of the red liquid. Laughed as the professor began coughing…choking…spasaming…

Then he stopped laughing.

"You have some interesting ideas professor," Chesterford murmured, his demeanour now as frosty as the cold north. "Ideas that I'm afraid have too much merit for their own good."

"You…pois…I…"

"The mages have eyes and ears everywhere, professor. Did you think your letter to the palace would escape their notice? Did you think they'd just let you publish your findings?"

Gaeta tried to respond, but no words came out of his mouth. He crawled over to the parchment, his heaving chest now pressed against the wood of his table. He reached for the paper…

Chesterford took them away.

"These will be useful. They'll be burned eventually of course, but still…that's up to the mages to decide."

Gaeta looked up at Chesterford…or what he assumed was Chesterford…it was hard to make out the shadowy figure from the shadowy wall behind him.

"How?" he rasped. "The wine…you drank it…too…"

Chesterford shrugged before shoving the professor off the desk, his body landing on the floor with a heavy thud.

"What can I say?" the assassin asked. "It's magic."

Gaeta didn't hear those words.

He was already dead.

A/N

Over the course of a writing group I'm part of and a current writing course, one of the key points of debate is that of magic in the fantasy genre. Should it have rules? If so, how in-depth should they be? When does magic add to a story, and when does it take away from it (e.g. deus ex machina)? What seperates 'internal' magic from 'external' magic in fiction? What level of background material is needed to 'justify' the existance of magic users, and what should their relationship be with non-magic users?

Analysis of these themes aside, came up with this as a result. Go figure.