Midnight Burger
Chapter 48: The Scientist
It is late into the evening on the island of hven, off the coast of denmark.
Libuza:
Once upon a time, there was a scientist.
She had no library, no observatory, no laboratory. Only the mind, the thought, the pencil, the page. A library is finite, an observatory obscured, a laboratory merely a playpen. But her mind... one day her mind would contain the length and breadth of the cosmos.
We move from the quiet island to inside a castle. We hear a dinner party and music playing.
Tycho Brahe:
Enough, enough, stop the music. Stop it.
The musicians stop playing.
Tycho Brahe:
Raise your glasses everyone, raise your glasses... In this moment, the heavens are alive. This moment is the time of a great visitor that looms above us. It is a time of great change and a time of destruction. A destruction of the old ways... The sky has begun to crack and bend, and the old masters with their old ideals begin to shake beneath their robes. It is a time where I shall raise my hammer and crack open the sky... But in this time, we have not one great visitor, but two. Fate has blown her trumpet and sent me an ally. Raise your glasses, all of you, for the Lady Maddox has returned to us.
The party goers politely tap their spoons against their glasses.
Tycho Brahe:
She could not have come at a more fortuitous time. For soon we shall go to see Frederick, and we shall deliver to him the greatest gift ever given to a king: The heavens themselves.
They ring their glasses with their spoons again.
Tycho Brahe:
Now, remember, all of you, the Lady’s presence is a gift, but it comes at a price. When she is with us here at Uraniborg we will all be required to speak this bastard English. One word of Dansk from any of you and I toss you into The Øresund myself!
The party goers laugh.
Tycho Brahe:
I do enjoy it when you think I am joking... Now, my lady, please. Rise and speak.
There is a moment of silence, then ava rises from her chair.
Ava:
Uh... thanks.
The party goers laugh.
Tycho Brahe:
Well said, my lady. Now, all of you refill your wine. We have ink and parchment for you all... Let us move to the garden where will begin to document our visitor in the sky!
The party goers begin to rise.
Libuza:
The scientist had found herself on an island, in a castle, at the long table of a dinner party. She was surrounded by friends, none of whom she remembered, but she was used to forgetting people. When you seek to contain all of existence in your mind, there is rarely room for others.
Jep (yep) approaches. He speaks in a lower class british accent.
Jep:
Well, well, look who snuck in right under our noses. Salutations to you, m’lady. First question to you, what the fuck are you wearing? You look like a Spanish horseman.
Ava:
What?
Jep:
At least put on this little number here. It’s November in Denmark, let’s cover up, yes?
Jep starts to put a large coat on Ava as a moose walks by indoors.
Ava:
That’s a moose.
Jep:
Correct.
Ava:
Uraniborg castle.
Jep:
Welcome to it.
Ava:
Denmark.
Jep:
Are we just saying words, m’lady?
Ava:
I’m in Tycho Brahe’s castle.
Jep:
Well, it is the only castle on the island.
Ava:
Island... I’m on Hven.
Jep:
That is where the Lord lives, yes.
Ava:
... I’ve never been here before.
Jep:
Never?
Ava:
No.
Jep:
... Ah... Yes, you warned me about this.
Ava:
I did?
Jep:
Yes, I thought it was one of your little jibes that no one understands, but I’m coming to the realization that you were serious.
Ava:
What did I say?
Jep:
You said that if you ever make an appearance at Uraniborg and begin acting as if you’ve never met me, not to worry, you sometimes suffer from strange vapors.
Ava:
Strange vapors.
Jep:
Yes, you forget things and then you remember them. You said it was an affectation of your brilliance. Or something.
Ava:
I’ve been here before.
Jep:
Indeed.
Ava:
... You’re dressed like a court jester.
Jep:
Because I am one.
Ava:
I’ve read about you. Jep. Your name is Jep.
Jep:
The one and only, Jep. I see it’s already coming back to you.
Ava:
Sure... Sure, just give me some time.
Jep:
Of course, my lady. Now, let’s move along, the master does hate it when we tarry.
Ava:
What’s happening now?
Jep:
We’re all going outside to document the visitor. Here’s your parchment, here’s you quill, I’ve two bottles of ink. Shall we go?
Ava:
Visitor?
Jep:
This way, m’lady.
Jep claps at the MUSICIANS.
Jep:
Musicians! We’re moving to the garden. Secure your instruments and move along, please!
They move outside into the garden.
Tycho Brahe:
Spread out across the garden and begin your observations, everyone!
Ava:
(Looking up.) Oh, shit.
Jep:
She’s quite a beautiful lady, isn’t she?
Ava:
Well... hello there, C/1577 V1. Nice to meet you.
Libuza:
In the sky there was a visitor. A bright spot wreathed in mist, with a white veil streaking across the sky, like a bride of the gods. It was brighter than the moon. It outshone the stars. It hung there in the winter sky, casting its icy glow on the faces of all the onlookers. They would call it the great Comet of 1577. She would call it C/1577 V1. And there was one who called it a weapon.
Tycho Brahe:
There it is, Ava... With it we will break the sky.
Ava:
I had no idea how huge it was.
Tycho Brahe:
I would ask you why you have not announced your arrival or how you managed to steal your way onto Hven without my knowledge, but instead I will tell you to get to work.
Ava:
Get to work?
Tycho Brahe:
Yes.
Ava:
Uh... Okay, what’s a girl got to do to get a Quadrant around here?
Tycho Brahe:
Your arrival is fortuitous. I have just completed something new. JEP!
Jep:
Yes, m’lord?
Tycho Brahe:
Bring Lady Maddox to our new creation. She will be the first to use it. Do not let any of the imbeciles near it.
Jep:
Of course, m’lord. Right this way, m’lady.
Tycho Brahe:
We shall speak in the morning. I look forward to you observations.
Jep leads her by torchlight into the darkness.
Libuza:
The Scientist knew her host, but only in legend. His name was Tycho Brahe. He was strange, as the brilliant ones often are. A great horned beast roamed his castle as a pet. He wore a brass nose on his face, after losing his in a duel. He was prone to irrationality, would hurl insults at those who tested his patience. But he was the greatest astronomer the kingdom had even known. And in a time when the sky was such a mystery, Kings would grant many things to those that could tell them its secrets. The King had given Tycho Brahe an island, and upon that island he had built a great castle and a great observatory. Kings believed deeply in the power of the stars back then. They believed the stars could tell their future and protect them from harm. They could not know of Tycho’s plans to bring the heavens crashing down on their heads.
Jep:
Here we are, newly forged and ready for you to do... whatever it is one does with it.
Ava:
No way.
Jep:
One moment while I light the pyres.
Ava:
Fucking gorgeous.
Jep:
She’s quite beautiful, isn’t she? Especially in the fire light. Made entirely of brass.
Libuza:
She had only seen sketches of it in books until now: Tycho Brahe’s legendary Brass Azimuthal Quadrant. Taller than a tree and pointed at the stars. The Scientist had no need for poetry or songs of love. What words caused her heart to flutter? “Sixty-five centimeters of radius. Forty-eight-point-eight seconds of arc accuracy. Endless rolls of parchment. An ocean of ink.”
Ava:
(Softly Singing.) Ah, sweet mystery of life at last I’ve found you...
Jep:
Are you singing to it?
Ava:
Don’t ruin the moment, Jep.
Jep:
Very well. Pull the chains here and here to rotate it, make it go up and down, all that. My lord is anticipating your measurements. I’ll set your parchment and such upon the writing table. What else may I get my lady?
Ava:
Could I... fuck... I’ve just realized something terrible.
Jep:
Oh dear.
Ava:
There’s no coffee in Europe.
Jep:
Ah. Yes, you keep asking for this “coffee” and we still have no idea what your talking about.
Ava:
That is so terrible, Jep.
Jep:
However, my Lord had recently heard of something they have down in Aragon. They’re calling it “ chocolat.” Is that what you mean?
Ava:
No... but that’s not bad. Bring me all of your chocolat.
Jep:
Right away, Your Strangeness.
Ava pulls the various chains of the radius and rotates it toward the comet.
Ava:
Okay, Mr. 1577. Let’s see what you’re made of...
Libuza:
...And in the measurement, in the notation, in the equation, the rest of the world faded away. The Scientist was a wanderer. She had been to countless worlds, both fantastical and mundane, but through it all there was a constant companion: The integer. The angle. The value. The sum. There was one language strung through every disparate world. And in this language, The Scientist was its greatest poet.
A thick wooden door opens to ava’s chamber in the castle. There is a roaring fire in the fireplace.
Jep:
Here we are. I’ve had the ladies make it all up for you.
Ava:
Oh, yes, I can get used to this.
Jep:
Yes, you have gotten used to it, because you have been here before, m’lady.
Ava:
Right. When was that?
Jep:
Several occasions, m’lady.
Ava:
I’ve been here several times?
Jep:
Oh, yes. Why do you think the Lord of the Hven went all the way to England to procure you a servant.
Ava:
He hired you for me?
Jep:
Indeed he did.
Ava:
But you’re dressed like the court jester.
Jep:
Yes, well, I was hired to be your english speaking servant. But then I think our lord realized that I’d have nothing to do for the rest of the time, so I made myself useful by being the jester of the court. Not been a bad gig, really, free food and wine, a little room above the kitchen. Not an abundance of joke tellers amongst the Danes. They do see humor as a foreign import.
Ava:
Okay.
A strange noise comes from Ava’s bed.
Ava:
What the fuck is that?
Jep:
That’s your cat, m’lady.
Ava:
My cat.
Jep:
Indeed.
Ava:
I have a cat.
Jep:
Yes, you rescued him from down at the water’s edge when he was a wee thing. But as it turns out the little ones do enlarge over time.
Ava:
There’s a cat underneath all that hair?
Jep:
Seems to be, yes.
Ava:
What does it eat?
Jep:
Whatever it can get its hands on, really. Been an absolute disaster for the mice of the castle.
Ava:
What did I name it?
Jep:
Karl.
Ava:
Karl?
Jep:
Karl of Sagan, you said. But we didn’t want to offend the local courtly men and woman by giving an official title to a mouse-eater, so just “Karl” in mixed company.
Ava:
Great. Hello, Karl.
Jep:
He doesn’t like to be moved so you’ll have to sleep around him if he’s down for the evening.
Ava:
It’s a step up from a booth, regardless.
Jep:
What’s that?
Ava:
Nothing. Jep, I just flew in from God knows where and boy are my arms tired. I need to get some rest. JESUS CHRIST, what is that painting?!
Jep:
Ah, yes. That is the Lord’s grandmother.
Ava:
Is she a werewolf?
Jep:
It’s not the most flattering painting in the realm to be sure.
Ava:
Is the painting melting?
Jep:
No, I’m afraid that’s how she looked, bless her.
Ava:
Was it put here as a joke?
Jep:
You requested the painting be hung in your chamber.
Ava:
But why?
Jep:
It’s unclear. All of our other guests have asked for it to be moved. They insist it watches them from across the room.
Ava:
Okay... Well if I asked for it, I guess there’s got to be some wisdom to it.
Jep:
I suppose.
Ava:
Was she attacked by an animal?
Jep:
Only an animal called time, m’lady.
Ava:
Yeesh.
Jep:
Oh, word of caution. The lady of the house has gotten wind of your sudden arrival and is very keen to chat.
Ava:
I’m very tired.
There is a knock on the door.
Jep:
That’s her now.
Ava:
So, I know her?
Jep:
You do. Kirsten, is her name. Peach of a girl, really.
Ava:
She won’t be offended if I tell her I need to sleep, right?
Jep:
She’s not easily offended.
Ava:
Great.
Ava opens the door.
Kirsten:
Hello!
Ava:
Kirsten. Hello. I’m so very tired from my journey.
Kirsten:
I have brought two bottles of wine and I have tobacco.
Ava:
I love you. Welcome. Please come in.
Kirsten hugs her.
Ava:
Oh. Okay. We’re on hugging terms, then.
Kirsten:
Hello, Jep!
Jep:
Good evening, Ma’am. I’ll leave you ladies to it. Bright and early tomorrow morning for the lord of house, m’lady.
Ava:
Sure.
Jep closes the door behind him.
Kirsten:
How have you been?
Ava:
Confused.
Kirsten:
I have brought a pipe for myself, but you still do not want one?
Ava:
I don’t?
Kirsten:
No, I bring a parchment instead? You take the paper and you tear it?
Ava:
Oh, alright, sure. Have a seat.
Kirsten:
I have been working very hard on my English.
Ava:
I can tell, you sound great.
Kirsten:
Thank you.
Ava tears away a piece of parchment and starts to roll a cigarette.
Kirsten:
I do not learn as fast as the others have learned. Jep has given me lessons.
Ava:
He’s so useful, that one. Okay, tobacco.
Kirsten:
Tobacco.
Kirsten hands her the tobacco.
Kirsten:
It’s so strange, what you do with it. It’s called what?
Ava:
A cigarette.
Kirsten:
Is this what they do in Paris?
Ava:
Probably. They do everything first there.
Ava lights the cigarette on a candle and takes a long inhale and then exhale.
Ava:
... I have finally arrived in Denmark.
Kirsten pours them wine.
Kirsten:
So, you must tell me of your adventures.
Ava:
My adventures?
Kirsten:
You always have such stories to tell when you come to Uraniborg.
Ava:
Oh, alright. What have I been up to? Well, I found myself in a distant land called Pasadena.
Kirsten:
Pasadena? Where is this place?
Ava:
The Americas.
Kirsten:
The Americas! Ava, that is a land of savages.
Ava:
It really is, Kirsten.
Kirsten:
What were you doing so far away?
Ava:
Well, there were these three sisters: Teta, Libuza, and Kazi. They had taken over their kingdom after their father had died. But it turns out... their father isn’t dead.
Kirsten:
No!
Ava:
Yes! He was faking his death. Anyway, the sisters are now at war with their father over control of the kingdom.
Kirsten:
Herregud! ( HEH-reh-good)
Ava:
Long story short, I came down on the side of the sisters, so we’re trying to figure out a way to kill their dad.
Kirsten:
You are fighting a war?
Ava:
Yeah, you know. Warfare is not really my thing, but a Lady’s got to do what a Lady’s got to do. So what have you been up to?
Kirsten:
Nothing such as you. I have been having babies.
Ava:
Gross.
Kirsten:
Our second arrived in Spring. Sofie is her name. That is two girls now, and Tycho’s family has begun to make little noises about it.
Ava:
Little noises?
Kirsten:
They want a boy, of course, but Tycho does not care. It is just an excuse for them to hate me. They have always thought of me as the dog in the street.
Ava:
What’s that about?
Kirsten:
What it has always been about. I am not a lady as you are, I am only a commoner.
Ava:
Oh fuck those people, Kirsten. What do they know?
Kirsten:
Yes, I know. Tycho is always good to defend me. Last year he... he threw a vase at his aunt.
Ava:
Nice.
Kirsten:
She tried to have him arrested, but you cannot arrest the most respected Astronomer in Europe.
Ava:
I love that. Scientists should always be above the law. Hey, speaking of your family, what’s up with the painting of Tycho’s grandmother?
Kirsten:
Yes.
Ava:
It’s rough.
Kirsten:
You have done us a great service by letting it be hung in your chambers.
Ava:
You’re welcome, I guess.
Kirsten:
Ava, may I ask you... Because of this war between the sisters and the father, is that why you have come to see my husband?
Ava:
No. Why?
Kirsten:
He has been saying very strange things in the past days. He says he will “crack the sky open.” He says he will “bring the stars down on their heads...” Has he made a weapon?
Ava:
Oh. No, not at all. Don’t worry. That’s hyperbole.
Kirsten:
Hyper...
Ava:
Hyperbole? Uh, big talk. Exaggeration.
Kirsten:
I see... Can you tell me of his work? It is always so helpful to me when you are here. He is very bad at explaining to me what he is doing.
Ava:
Sure. You know... it’s actually very important, what he’s doing.
Kirsten:
Is it?
Ava:
Yes. It’s pretty cool, actually. Check it out. I’m going to give you a little test, okay?
Kirsten:
Alright.
Ava:
So. The moon. How does it revolve around the Earth?
Kirsten:
The moon revolves around the Earth because of the himmelkugler (HIM-el cooler).
Ava:
Does that mean celestial spheres?
Kirsten:
Spheres, yes.
Ava:
Okay. Explain that to me.
Kirsten:
The moon revolves around the Earth because the moon is embedded in the celestial sphere. A sphere that is like glass and the moon is part of it. As the sphere revolves around the Earth the moon moves with it.
Ava:
And what about the rest? Mars, et cetera?
Kirsten:
Mars is a part of the Martian sphere that wraps around the Earth and the moon sphere.
Ava:
And then everything else?
Kirsten:
The stars of the heavens are all a part of the final crystal sphere that revolves around the Earth, and the spheres of the Moon and Mars.
Ava:
Good.
Kirsten:
Have I passed the test?
Ava:
Yes.
Kirsten:
Excellent.
Ava:
And all of that is wrong.
Kirsten:
It is?
Ava:
Yes. It’s ridiculously wrong and embarrassing.
Kirsten:
But this is what I was taught.
Ava:
I know. You were taught that as a child, because that’s what all of Europe believes right now. It’s a theory that’s supported by a surprising amount of very smart people who should really know better.
Kirsten:
There is no himmelkugler?
Ava:
No himmelkugler. Come out here, I’ll show you.
Ava walks out onto the balcony to look at the comet but Kirsten stays inside.
Ava:
C’mon.
Kirsten:
I do not enjoy the comet so much.
Ava:
Oh yeah? Why not?
Kirsten:
Are you not afraid it it going to fall into the sea and destroy us?
Ava:
Kirsten, get your baby-making butt out here. C’mon.
Kirsten:
Very well.
Ava:
Now, if you look up you can see the long tail right?
Kirsten:
Yes.
Ava:
When you look at that, you think that the tail is created by the comet traveling, like a snail leaving a trail across the sky. But, I just used your husband’s fancy new doo-hickey to measure it more accurately than anyone has ever measured anything in the night sky.
Kirsten:
And what does it tell you?
Ava:
Right now, everyone in Europe thinks that this comet is in the atmosphere. They think it’s a huge thing floating right above where the clouds are. But what we now know is that the comet is way WAY out there, past Mars.
Kirsten:
It is in the heavens?
Ava:
Yes. And it’s getting closer. And if everything was encased in crystalline-himmelkugler-spheres, things wouldn’t be able to get closer. Which means that there are no spheres containing the moon and stars.
Kirsten:
What is holding them in the sky?
Ava:
... Do you want to know a secret? Something I won’t even tell your husband?
Kirsten:
Yes, alright.
Ava:
It’s called gravity. It’s a force that draws things together, pulls them apart, and brings them into balance.
Kirsten:
And my husband does not know this?
Ava:
Kirsten, nobody’s going to know this for about a hundred years.
Kirsten:
Why do we not tell people about this?
Ava:
Honestly, if we told anyone, do you think they’d believe us?
Kirsten:
... I now know something my husband does not.
Ava:
Feels pretty great, right?
Kirsten:
So... this is why we go to see Frederick tomorrow.
Ava:
Who’s Frederick?
Kirsten:
The King.
Ava:
Wait, what?
Kirsten:
The King. We will all go to see him tomorrow.
Ava:
Okay... uh... Can I borrow a dress?
We hear the sound of someone poking and prodding at a fire in a fireplace. We are in Tycho’s study.
Libuza:
The Scientist had no home, and was far from anything familiar. It was nothing new. It had always been this way. As a young girl, she was never at home— even in the safety of her bed. On the playground, she was an oddity. At the party she was a anomaly. In the library, she was a envenomed serpent, coiled and hidden. In every space, always an interloper. A spirit haunting her own life. And like a spirit, the only way to remain moored to the world, was to find something to disturb.
Tycho Brahe:
JEP!
Jep enters.
Jep:
You screamed, my lord?
Tycho Brahe:
It is colder than a witches tit in here. Bring more wood for the fire.
Jep:
Very good, sir. Also, Lady Maddox is waiting.
Tycho Brahe:
Send her in.
Ava enters.
Ava:
So... it’s called coffee. It comes from a tree in the tropics. First you roast the beans-
Tycho Brahe:
I have no time to hear about coffee again.
Ava:
Okay, I’m just saying, if you want me at peak performance-
Tycho Brahe:
I have seen your calculations from last night.
Ava:
And?
Tycho Brahe:
It is confirmed. The comet was exactly what we needed. Soon the world of celestial spheres will be no more.
Ava:
Cool. Now what happens?
Tycho Brahe:
It is time.
Ava:
Ooh, that’s ominous. Time for what?
Tycho Brahe:
Time to unveil for the king what I have been working on here at Uraniborg.
Ava:
Oh yeah?
Tycho Brahe:
The Tychonic System.
Ava:
Sounds like fun.
Tycho Brahe:
Fun? It will not be fun.
Ava:
What do you mean? We’re about to go in front of the King of Denmark and make fun of Ptolemy. A lot of people don’t know this about me: making fun of Ptolemy is one of my favorite ways to pass the time. What? Are you afraid the King’s going to reject it or something?
Tycho Brahe:
Of course he will not reject it. The King is an idiot. He will not understand what I am talking about. His advisors, the little piglets that follow him around, they will stick their little piglet noses into my theories and cast doubt on them.
Ava:
Oh, don’t worry about it, we can take those guys.
Tycho Brahe:
It is not just Ptolemy we will attack, it is also Copernicus.
Ava:
Ah, to hell with both of them.
Tycho Brahe:
I see your comportment has not changed since last we met.
Ava:
I like to keep it real, my Lord.
Tycho Brahe:
This time you have arrived alone. Where is your traveling companion?
Ava:
My traveling companion?
Tycho Brahe:
Yes. The Russian.
Ava:
Russian?
Tycho Brahe:
Yes. His name escapes me.
Ava:
Uh... The Russian. He had to take care of some Russian business. Caviar. Some caviar business.
Tycho Brahe:
I see. All for the best. I will require your full attention. After the presentation to the King, we will be surrounded by skeptics. We will need to defeat them all.
Ava:
With swords?
Tycho Brahe:
What?
Ava:
No?
Tycho Brahe:
No, not with swords. With our ideas. What the fuck do you mean?
Ava:
Just sounds cooler that way.
Jep enters.
Jep:
Don’t mind me, just an armful of logs here.
Ava:
Jep, we’re going to go see the king. Are you coming?
Tycho Brahe:
We will not bring a jester into the king’s court.
Jep:
Yes, I’m afraid that’s bad form, m’lady.
Ava:
Why not? After we’re done, you will not be the biggest fool there, am I right? High five.
Jep:
High what?
Tycho Brahe:
Bring the fool if you must, it doesn’t matter.
Ava:
Nice. Jep, go upstairs and put on your fancy pantaloons.
Tycho Brahe:
We will leave shortly. We must wait for Kirsten to try on every dress she owns and then return to the first one she has tired on. It is infuriating.
Jep:
Yes, I’m afraid the mistress of the manor is a nervous little church mouse when we go to see the king.
Ava:
Why? What’s the big deal?
Tycho Brahe:
We are going to see the king.
Ava:
Yeah, of Denmark. Pfft.
We hear the whip of a carriage driver and the carriage on it’s way to the castle of Frederick II.
Libuza:
And so the Scientist set forth with Tycho Brahe toward the castle of the king, carrying with them a secret weapon. The Tychonic System, a new way of imagining the universe. With this system, Tycho Brahe would destroy the old ways and make his island the center of the scientific world, and he would do so with the Scientist at his side. The scientist got a strange pleasure from this journey. In so many lands she had visited, scientists were scorned, ignored, persecuted. But in this land, they were given islands, castles, wealth, respect. It was so intoxicating that the Scientist was able to ignore one very important fact: that the Tychonic system— Tycho’s great weapon that would bring down the heavens— was completely wrong.
Kirsten:
When the King enters, remember to keep your head bowed until he sits upon the throne.
Ava:
How am I going to know when he sits on the throne if my head is bowed?
Kirsten:
... I do not know.
Ava:
How do you do it?
Kirsten:
I will not be allowed in the court of the King.
Ava:
What? Why?
Tycho Brahe:
She is not my wife.
Ava:
What?
Tycho Brahe:
Have we not discussed this?
Ava:
No.
Kirsten:
I am a commoner and my husband is a nobleman.
Tycho Brahe:
Danish law will not allow us to marry.
Ava:
Seriously?
Kirsten:
We are allowed to live together and to have children, but the crown will not recognize us as married.
Ava:
You guys have two kids already.
Tycho Brahe:
And we will have more, God willing.
Kirsten:
God willing.
Ava:
So this whole time you two have been holed up at Uraniborg, living hillbilly-style?
Kirsten:
What is hillbilly style?
Tycho Brahe:
What do you expect me to do? Go and find some noblewoman whose skin is like chalk and who speaks only of topiaries? This is the woman I want. I do not have time to change Denmark, only the world.
Ava:
Hey, you’re not going to catch me defending marriage. (Privately, to Kirsten.) I mean honestly, it’s kinda hot, right? Look at you two.
Kirsten:
My parents are quite upset about us. They insist that he has hypnotized me with his power over the stars.
Ava:
Hasn’t he though?
Kirsten:
Perhaps a small amount.
Ava:
It’s the brass nose that does it, right? Gives him that bad boy look?
Kirsten:
And what of you? You have arrived this time without your companion.
Ava:
Right. About that. Russian guy?
Kirsten:
Yes, we had assumed he was from Russia because of his name?
Ava:
His name?
Kirsten:
Caspar is not a Russian name?
Ava:
Caspar. Really?
Kirsten:
It is not?
Ava:
Uh. Sure. He’s Russian.
Kirsten:
Do you not... travel with him any longer?
Ava:
Well he’s very busy with business. Russian business. He’s the inventor of Vodka.
Kirsten:
Really?
Ava:
Yes. Don’t tell the Polish.
Kirsten:
I hope he will return with you for next time... He seems to make you very happy.
Ava:
... I know.
The massive door to the King’s court opens and jep announces the entrance.
Jep:
Lord Tycho Brahe, Royal Astronomer of the Kingdom of Denmark!
We hear MURMURING in the crowd.
Ava:
Hey, we’ve got an audience.
Tycho Brahe:
Yes, from time to time the King will make a spectacle out of these presentations. I despise it.
Ava:
Come on, it’ll be fun.
Another herald emerges to make an announcement.
Herald:
Announcing Father Christoph Clavius of the Society of Jesus, Professor of Mathematics at the Collegio Romano.
There are GASPS and murrmuring in the crowd as the entourage of Christoph Clavius enters.
Tycho Brahe:
What the fuck is this?
Ava:
That doesn’t look like the king.
Tycho Brahe:
It is not... Christoph.
Christoph Clavius:
Tycho.
Tycho Brahe:
Perhaps there is some confusion. My audience was meant to be with the King.
Christoph Clavius:
And the king offers his apologies. In his wisdom he has brought me from the Collegio so that I may review your findings before presenting them to his Highness.
Tycho Brahe:
Review. Review my findings.
Christoph Clavius:
Of course you understand.
Tycho Brahe:
You have come a long way to to simply review my findings, Christoph.
Christoph Clavius:
No distance is too far to travel for the sake of our sacred art, wouldn’t you say? I eagerly await the unveiling of your theories, Tycho. I’m sure the King will be equally impressed as I am... Should they be presented to him.
Tycho Brahe:
Why would they not be presented to him?
Christoph Clavius:
Tycho, I’m sure you understand, I am only here to ensure that the King’s time is not wasted.
Tycho Brahe:
That his time is not wasted? You dare to insinuate that I would waste the King’s time?
Rumbling in the crowd.
Christoph Clavius:
I insinuate nothing. I am here at the pleasure of your king.
Tycho Brahe:
I will not be treated like one of your students, Christoph.
Christoph Clavius:
Are we not all students in the eyes of our Lord?
Tycho Brahe:
Do not give me your fucking-
Ava:
Hey hey hey ho, just one second okay? Excuse me, science priest, just a minute.
Ava pulls tycho away from christoph.
Tycho Brahe:
This is offensive. How dare the king ask me to address this Jesuit fop.
Ava:
First of all, is that actually Christoph Clavius?
Tycho Brahe:
No, they have sent an artificial Christoph Clavius to Copenhagen. What the fuck do you mean?
Ava:
Like THE Christoph Clavius, the Gregorian Calendar guy?
Tycho Brahe:
Why are you talking about calendars!
Ava:
Never mind.
Tycho Brahe:
He wants my theories to be approved. Approved!
Ava:
Wait. This is great, actually.
Tycho Brahe:
It is not great.
Ava:
No, check it out, that’s Christoph Clavius, he’s going to be the official mathematician to the Pope one day. The King is obviously scared that your new system is going to make him look like a fool, so he’s brought in Christoph Clavius to run interference. Clavius is the poster child for the Ptolemaic system. If you can beat him in this debate that’s about to happen? With everyone watching? All those courtly lads and ladies up there are going to start gossiping that Tycho just destroyed the Ptolemaic system. You’ll be the talk of Europe in like a week. We’re skipping to the final Boss right now.
Tycho Brahe:
... I do not understand half the things you say most of the time, but... this I understand.
Ava:
Okay.
Tycho Brahe:
Bring Kirsten into the room.
Ava:
Oh yeah?
Tycho Brahe:
Yes.
Ava:
You brass-nosed little sweetie. Jep!
Jep:
M’lady.
Ava:
Bring Kirsten in.
Jep:
They’re not going to like that, m’lady.
Ava:
Hey. Less talkie, more do-ee.
Jep:
Alright.
Jep opens the door to fetch kirsten.
Ava:
I’m going to roll out the big guns.
Tycho Brahe:
Very well.
Christoph Clavius:
Is there a problem, Tycho?
Tycho Brahe:
One moment.
Ava starts to wheel out a massive model of the tychonic system.
Tycho Brahe:
I object to this treatment, but there are more important things than my objections.
Christoph Clavius:
I appreciate your understanding.
Tycho Brahe:
I present to you: a new model of the heavens.
Ava:
Tah-daaaaah!
Christoph Clavius:
Who is this woman?
Tycho Brahe:
...She is my sister.
Ava:
I’m his sister.
Tycho Brahe:
Sophia.
Ava:
Sophia, is my name that I was born with.
Christoph Clavius:
Very well. Please explain this new model.
Tycho Brahe:
We sit now torn between two worlds. We have the old way, the Ptolemaic system. The heavens are encased in crystalline spheres, within which they rotate. And then there is the new way of Copernicus, which holds the sun at the center. A seductive theory from Copernicus, but one that does not hold up under scrutiny, due to our inability to observe any stellar parallax. I present, as a bridge between the two, the Tychonic system:
The Earth remains stationary at the center of the universe with the Sun and Moon orbiting around it. but all the other planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn orbit around the Sun as it makes its yearly circuit of the Earth. This preserves the views of Copernicus, while correcting for its obvious deficiencies.
Above our heads now is the great comet. As you will see in our observations, the comet is not in the clouds above our heads but it is in fact traveling through the stars, traveling through these celestial spheres you insist encase the earth. Surely if these spheres existed, this great visitor above our heads would destroy them, and the universe entirely... Yet here I stand.
For eons we have clung to the fairytale of Ptolemy. Terrified of an open sky. No longer. The skies are open. The heavens ours to explore.
Ava:
Hey.
Kirsten:
Ava, what am I doing here?
Ava:
It’s pretty adorable. Tycho wanted to show off for his wife.
Kirsten:
... oh.
Ava:
Also, side note. I’m Tycho’s sister, my name is Sophia.
Kirsten:
What? Our daughter’s name is Sophia.
Ava:
And it means so much to me that you named your daughter after me. Truly.
Christoph Clavius:
I must confess... this troubles me deeply. You preserve the Earth's rightful place at the center, yet you surrender the ancient architecture of the spheres. How can the planets orbit the Sun, whilst the Sun itself circles our Earth? Do you not see the philosophical absurdity?
Tycho Brahe:
Absurdity? JEP!
Jep:
My lord?
Tycho Brahe:
Turn the model!
Jep:
Yes, my lord.
Jep turns a crank on the system model and it rotates.
Tycho Brahe:
Witness the elegance of rotation in my model. Your model would have Mars passing closer to the sun than the Earth itself, somehow passing through your precious spheres. You can see that, with my new model, I have solved this problem.
Christoph Clavius:
Your observations are indeed admirable, but they offend philosophy. You forget what Aristotle has taught us. Each heavenly body requires its own sphere. The Sun has its sphere, Mars another, Venus yet another— each in perfect circular motion. Your system tangles these spheres impossibly!
Tycho Brahe:
Aristotle was wrong.
There is rumbling and distress in the crowd.
Tycho Brahe:
Listen to them. Listen to how they are terrified... How much of our world is from us? Here. Now. And how much is from a time before? The past makes slaves of us all. These are not spheres that encase us, they are chains! We must break them, despite our fear of freedom.
Christoph Clavius:
Fluid heavens?... I see the movements of your planets, Tycho, but I also see your movements. You claim that Copernicus is wrong, as you should, for the Copernican model is heresy. Yet what you have brought us today is half heresy. It is a half step unto hell, making it all the more easier to shove us in completely!
Tycho Brahe:
Scripture places Earth at the center, and my observation confirms it. But the planets' retrograde motions, their varying brightness, the phases of Venus I have observed, all these demand that they circle the Sun. My system places us not hand in hand with Satan, but with God. It is the marriage of scripture and science, and it should be celebrated as such.
Christoph Clavius:
The current system works with only a slight adjustment of the calculations.
Tycho Brahe:
You do not mean adjust, you mean distort. You claim your system is sacred, yet you must twist and bend it to make it fit within the world of observable science. How does God feel about such things do you think? My system is elegant and simple, it requires none of your machinations.
Christoph Clavius:
Simplicity is not truth! The ways of God are often complex and mysterious.
Tycho Brahe:
And do you worship God or Ptolemy? Show me where in scripture it reads “God then made Ptolemy, and he made him in the light of perfection.” Ptolemy was a man, as you and I are. And men are flawed. I tell you, I have looked into the eye of God and he has shown me this perfection. Who now goes against the word of God?
Ava:
Now we’re talking. Jep, go make some popcorn.
Jep:
Make what?
We hear the whip of the carriage driver and the carriage driving back to uraniborg.
Ava:
That was dooooooope! Jep! Where’s the booze in this limo!
Jep:
(Calling from the carriage driver’s seat.) I’m afraid we have no imbibements m’lady.
Ava:
Jep. Are you trying to tell me you have no wine up there?
Jep:
... I’ll send it down.
Ava:
Excellent.
Kirsten:
I cannot believe I was standing in the court of the king.
Ava:
That’s not the court of the king. That’s our court now, we own that place.
Kirsten:
They all looked at me as if I were a sheep running around, but I did not care. It was thrilling.
Ava:
You were amazing up there, Tycho. If Germans were capable of showing emotion, Clavius would’ve totally been crying.
Kirsten:
I was so proud of you, husband. You showed such bravery.
Tycho Brahe:
They will be coming for me now.
Kirsten:
... What do you mean?
Tycho Brahe:
I have delivered a great injury to the Ptolemaic system. Every scientist and scholar in Europe has been made a fool of. They will try and discredit me in any way they can. They will crawl all over my equations like ants on honey.
Ava:
Your equations are rock solid. You’ve got nothing to worry about.
Tycho Brahe:
I must strive for more accuracy.
Ava:
Nobody has more accurate measurements than you. It’s your whole thing.
Tycho Brahe:
They will try to destroy me! I have never been more in danger than I am now!
Kirsten:
Husband.
Ava:
Tycho. You’re being paranoid.
Tycho Brahe:
You do not know them as I know them... We are in danger.
The door to ava’s chamber swings open and ava walks in.
Ava:
Jesus christ, this fucking sixteenth century-
She throws one shoe across the room.
Ava:
Footwear!
She throws the other shoe and flops onto the bed.
Ava:
Kitty kitty kitty... nothing?
Karl jumps up on the bed.
Ava:
Oh, there you are. Good evening, Karl. How’s the mouse murder going?... I know what you’re thinking Karl. You’re thinking “Ava, shouldn’t you be trying to figure out a way to get back to the diner right now? Why are you wasting time with this Danish nonsense?” Well, the thing is Karl, I’m an ideas person not really a the-other-thing person. Besides it’s fucking Late Renaissance Denmark. What am I going to do, make a particle collider out of horse hair? Besides, I’m not a maker of things, I’m a thinker of things. I think things and it makes people make things. It’s a very powerful feeling, Karl... No, YOU’RE making excuses... Okay, Karl, I cannot stand this painting of Tycho’s grandmother anymore. It’s 100% a nightmare factory. They’re not going to mind of I take it down and make it face the wall right? Right.
Ava lifts the painting off of its hook.
Ava:
Let’s Go, Auntie Cryptid, you’re killing the vibe in here.
Something falls off the back of the painting and skips across the floor.
Ava:
Hello. What is this?... Karl are you hiding contraband behind the paintings again?
Ava picks it up off the floor.
Ava:
This doesn’t belong in 16th century Denmark at all.
Ava presses a button.
Ava:
(Coming from the device.) Hello, gorgeous. So, I thought to myself: “Where in the world could I hide this thing where only I would find it?” And then I realized, the hideous portrait of grandma Brahe!
Ava:
What the fuck, Ava?
Ava:
(From the device.) So. What are you holding in your hand right now? Well, Leif made it, so of course it’s a few things. I can record little messages on it; the little screen there will give you a comprehensive map of the night sky; and also it’s a signal focuser. Still got your space pager?
Ava:
Shit.
Ava starts going through her clothes.
Ava:
(From the device.) Attach the pager to this device and it’ll amplify the signal and focus it so it can be aimed at a particular location.
Ava fires up the pager.
Ava:
Okay. Then what?
Caspar:
(In the background.) How the fuck do I button this thing?
Ava:
(In the device.) You’re doing fine.
Caspar:
(In the background.) Goddamn it, every time we come here I look like a fucking Danish horse jockey.
Ava:
(In the device.) That’s not a thing that people look like.
Caspar:
(In the device.) What are you doing?
Ava:
(In the device.) I’m leaving a message for myself.
Caspar:
(In the device.) Oh. You really think that’s going to work?
Ava:
(In the device.) Of course it’s going to work, I thought of it.
Caspar:
(In the device.) Yeah, yeah, okay. Why can’t some of these parties be business casual, is all I’m saying.
Ava:
(In the device.) Don’t be stupid. You know you love the moose.
Caspar:
(In the device.) ... I do love the moose.
Ava:
(In the device.) I know.
Caspar:
(In the device.) It’s majestic. Okay, hurry up, we’re already late.
Ava:
(In the device.) Figure out your buttons... So. Anyway. Attach your pager to this thing, aim the signal with Tycho’s quadrant. If you aim it at the sun the signal will get amplified by several factors... then you just wait...
Ava:
Simple enough.
Ava:
(In the device.) And Caspar’s out of earshot now so we can have some real talk... I already know where your brain is going right now, because your brain is my brain... I don’t know why we’re like this either, sweetie... I just don’t know... You’re holding the key to go home right now and yet... your brain went to a totally different place, didn’t it?... Yes, in case you’re wondering... you can aim the signal anywhere you want to aim it... or not at all. And here’s some reassurance. Just between us girls... yes, he’ll forgive you.
The message ends.
Libuza:
In some kingdoms, the Scientist had another name. She was called “The Disappearicist.” As the legend goes, she would, without warning, suddenly vanish, never to be heard from again. She found it to be a fitting name. Not because she truly had the power to vanish into thin air— but because in all her travels across so many lands, she had often wondered, “Was I ever really there?”
Ava:
What do you think, Karl? Home?... You probably love that I’m here. You probably think I should bury this thing in the ground... bury it in the ground... Shit... Ava, I need a little more time okay? Karl, I’ll be right back.
Ava walks out of her chamber and into the hallway. She walks down the hallway to Tycho’s chamber and knocks on the huge door. After a moment she knocks again.
Ava:
Tycho!
The moose slowly makes its way down the hall, ignoring Ava completely.
Ava:
‘Evening, Moose.
The door opens.
Kirsten:
Ava, it is very late, what is it?
Ava:
I figured it out. Tycho!
Kirsten:
Ava. I am currently conducting a very thorough search for my third child beneath the bedsheets of my husband.
Ava:
Ooooh. Oh. Sorry. Right. Okay, here, tell him this. This’ll get him in the mood: I figured out how to get more accurate readings. We’re going to bury it in the ground.
Kirsten:
Bury what in the ground?
Ava:
The whoooooole fucking observatory.
We hear the busy streets of Amsterdam. Jep approaches kirsten, who is waiting on the street.
Jep:
Ma’am!
Kirsten:
Jep, where have you been? You have left me alone on the street.
Jep:
Don’t trouble yourself ma’am. You blend in perfectly with the common folk. Especially all the way over here in Amsterdam. No one knows who you are, I told the boatsmen your name was Maevis Bacons.
Kirsten:
I could have been abducted.
Jep:
A thousand apologies, Maevis. We’re not often in the Low Countries, so I thought I’d do some quick shopping. Where is Lady Maddox?
Kirsten:
She is still in the pub.
Jep:
All this time?
Kirsten:
She is negotiating with the builders. Why did we have to come all the way to Amsterdam to simply hire builders?
Jep:
Remember, we’re trying to be more stealthy these days, as the Lord of the house feels as though we’re being watched. Also, if you want something built well, always ask the Dutch. This whole country was constructed out of a swamp.
The door to the pub flies open.
Ava:
Praat niet tegen me, Geert! Als ik een simpele pakezel wilde, zou ik met je moeder gaan praten!
Several men shoUt at ava from inside the bar.
Ava:
Oh, go shove your thumb in a dyke!
Ava slams the door.
Ava:
Hey guys.
Kirsten:
Why were you screaming at those men?
Ava:
I was negotiating. They’re going to do it, they just needed a little smacking around.
Kirsten:
They sounded very angry, what if they follow us?
Ava:
They agreed to do it, they just like yelling. Besides I told them my name was Raven Stromdans. What name did you pick?
Jep:
She’s Maevis Bacons, m’lady.
Kirsten:
They are going to build this observatory in the ground, even though no one has done this before?
Ava:
Yes, Maevis. They like the challenge.
Kirsten:
Very well. Can we please go home now? I believe people are looking at us strangely.
Ava:
Well, with a name like Maevis, what did you expect?
Kirsten:
Ava.
Ava:
We need to hit a bakery first. Have you ever had Speculass? Come on.
They walk along the street.
Kirsten:
How have you learned to speak Dutch?
Ava:
Oh. There was this guy, Bryan Pasley. We used the same shorthand, so he would always be taking a little lookie-loo and my notes. I hate that, and since murder is illegal I had to come up with another solution. I discovered this shorthand called Groote. It was really obscure, so I figured it was the best way to protect my work. But it’s Dutch shorthand, so before I learned the shorthand, I had to learn Dutch.
Kirsten:
I don’t understand you.
Ava:
Exactly my point.
Kirsten:
Ava, can we stop please?
Ava:
I thought you wanted to go?
Kirsten:
May I speak with you?
Ava:
What’s up?
Kirsten:
... You have been acting strangely.
Ava:
I always act strangely.
Kirsten:
Ever since we have returned from the King’s castle you are... Is something wrong?
Ava:
Nothing’s wrong, I’m just excited.
Kirsten:
Ava.
Ava:
... Jep, head down to the docks and get our boat ready, would you?
Jep:
Would you get me some Stroopwafels?
Ava:
Sure.
Jep:
Very well.
Ava:
...
Kirsten:
What is wrong?
Ava:
... I have a decision to make.
Kirsten:
What decision?
Ava:
Going one way or the other.
Kirsten:
Can you tell me more than just that?
Ava:
No, not really. It’s hard to explain.
Kirsten:
... So rather than make your decision, you have stayed with us in Denmark?
Ava:
... I like it here.
Kirsten:
... I also enjoy it when you are here. I understand Tycho much better when you are here. I wish for you to stay... But I do not think that you would be happy if you stayed.
Ava:
... People like me, and like your husband... we get obsessed with things... And then there’s also people that come into your life, and they... It’s hard sometimes. To have obsessions and people in your life.
Kirsten:
And this is the decision you must make?
Ava:
Yes.
Kirsten:
My husband does obsess... but he also has me.
Ava:
... I don’t know how to do that.
Kirsten:
...
Ava:
... It’s been a long time since I’ve had a girlfriend... There’s a version of me out there somewhere who would be happy here... I hope she shows up one day.
Kirsten:
... As do I.
Ava:
But first... we’re going to get these Dutch motherfuckers to dig a big hole in the ground.
We hear the sound of digging and pickaxes nearby.
Libuza:
For weeks the Scientist watched as the men dug into the earth to construct the subterranean observatory. To an outsider, the idea might seem foolish. Why dig a hole to look at the stars? But beneath the earth, viewing the stars through a portal would keep the wind from moving the instruments, and block out light from the nearby city. Going deeper to look farther. As she watched the workers from her balcony, The Scientist could see something on the horizon. Not a planet, not a star... but a decision.
There is a knock on Ava’s door.
Ava:
Come in!
Kirsten enters.
Kirsten:
Hello.
Ava:
Hi.
Kirsten:
I am pregnant again.
Ava:
Gross.
Kirsten:
It is a boy this time, I can feel it.
Ava:
That sounds like science.
Kirsten:
If it is a boy, what should I name him?
Ava:
Uh... Poofythang.
Kirsten:
Ava.
Ava:
Another Monster.
Kirsten:
Ava.
Ava:
Patrick Stephens.
Kirsten:
Patrick... what?
Ava:
You shouldn’t ask me these things.
Kirsten:
I know this now... Say congratulations for having a baby.
Ava:
Congratulations for having a baby.
Kirsten:
... The workers are almost done.
Ava:
They should finish up today.
Kirsten:
Are you certain that this will protect Tycho from criticism?
Ava:
Numbers always win in the end. He needs more numbers and better numbers. That hole in the ground will do the trick.
Kirsten:
And then when it is done, you will have to make a decision.
Ava:
Yes.
Kirsten:
... I seem to speak more to you than you to me. Do you wish to speak to me about your mysterious decision? Or do you wish to be mysterious?
Ava:
... I wish to be mysterious.
Kirsten:
... Ava I do not know where you travel to when you leave us. I make up stories in my mind. Many heroic stories of Ava in the world... When you go and travel to your next adventure, will you always remember that there is a woman surrounded by children on the island of Hven, and that she is your friend?
Ava:
... Yes.
Kirsten:
... Perhaps if my baby is a girl I will name her Ava.
Ava:
It’s going to be a boy. But thank you anyway.
We move to the dining hall of Uraniborg. The moose walks through the room and echoes down the hall. Ava sneaks into the hall as the moose passes.
Ava:
Good evening, Your Majeste.
Ava grabs a bottle of wine and heads for the door. Tycho sits at the head of the table.
Tycho Brahe:
Out for late night observations?
Ava:
Hi.
Tycho Brahe:
The builders have finished their work, but they have said to wait a week for the stones to settle.
Ava:
I promise to tiptoe.
Tycho Brahe:
We run from. We run to. Which is it for you, then, always coming and going from Uraniborg?
Ava:
... When it’s time for me to go, it’s time for me to go.
Tycho Brahe:
Of course... You have been here for only weeks and you have transformed my research. Just think what you could accomplish if you stayed?
Ava:
I don’t think Denmark is the place for me.
Tycho Brahe:
Not here. Not Uraniborg, not Denmark, not Europe. Anywhere. Just think what may happen one day when the Lady Maddox finally decides to plant her feet upon the ground.
Ava:
That’s not where my feet belong.
Tycho Brahe:
What is it that scares you?
Ava:
Nothing scares me.
Tycho Brahe:
There is one thing. It is this: to stay. Why?
Ava:
... You want to know why?
Tycho Brahe:
Please.
Ava:
Your Tychonic System.
Tycho Brahe:
What does my model of the universe have to do with this?
Ava:
It’s wrong.
Tycho Brahe:
... You have seen my calculations.
Ava:
You’ve seen your calculations... You’ve put Earth at the center of the universe.
Tycho Brahe:
That is correct.
Ava:
Copernicus is right. You know Copernicus is right. It’s the sun. Not the Earth.
Tycho Brahe:
...
Ava:
Then why put Earth at the center of the universe? Why tell the world how the universe works when you don’t believe it?
Tycho Brahe:
I believe much of it.
Ava:
That’s not good enough.
Tycho Brahe:
It was a compromise. Between the old system and the new.
Ava:
Why? Why compromise? You could’ve been the greatest astronomer in Europe.
Tycho Brahe:
I am the greatest astronomer in Europe... I am also a nobleman who fell in love with the daughter of a blacksmith. My family must be protected. From scorn. From ridicule.
Ava:
That right there. That’s why I leave. That’s why I don’t plant my feet on the ground.
Tycho Brahe:
... You are afraid of the choices you would make, should you care for another. This is why you leave. This is why you have arrived here without your Russian friend. You care nothing for you life. Only for the secrets of the cosmos.
Ava:
Yes.
Tycho Brahe:
There are worlds to be known other than the ones above your head.
Ava:
Not for me.
Tycho Brahe:
... Then, goodbye. I wish you well.
Ava:
Goodbye, Tycho.
We hear the sound of the now subterranean Azimuthal Quadrant. Ava pulls the chains on it, changing the angle, then makes notations on parchment.
Libuza:
Into the night The Scientist surveyed the sky for one last time, making notations for Tycho’s flawed vision of the universe. She hated to do it, but it was her parting gift. It was time for her to move on. Time to make a choice. The cosmos was not the only thing she calculated that night. On one side, safety. Home. On the other side, the beyond. She was frustrated at how difficult the choice had become.
Ava:
Goddamn it, fucking ink. Invent the pencil, Europe!... There. There you go, Tycho. There are a bunch of measurements for your deeply flawed model... Shove it up your Danish butt.
Karl meows at her.
Ava:
Well. Look who decided to join the party. Hello, Karl. Has the construction disturbed the mice?... Karl if you’ve come to stop me, I’m afraid you’ll need more than some claws and all that hair... I’m afraid my mind’s made up... You may want to stand back.
Ava pulls the chains on the quadrant and moves its arrow to a particular place in the sky.
Ava:
There we go... just past Leo.
Ava activates the space pager and attaches it to the quadrant.
Ava:
Now, what would be funny is if Leif fucked this thing up and it doesn’t work at all.
Ava presses a button on the device and it begins to make a new sound.
Ava:
Karl, I’d ask you why I’m like this, but you probably don’t know either.
Libuza:
As she waited, the Scientist thought of a man. Somewhere in Europe right at that moment, there was a man walking along the road, wandering from town to town, telling his story. That man was named Giordano Bruno. Bruno had many ideas that were outside of his own time: That the universe was infinite, that it was filled with billions of worlds just like our own, and that on those worlds there may be creatures no different— or very different— from us. Bruno was obsessed with his vision of the universe, and saw it as his destiny to walk the land and tell anyone who would listen about the vastness of the cosmos and the great continuum we were all a part of. At night, Bruno would close his eyes and envision his universe, his feet leaving the earth, rising up from his earthly prison, and joining the synchronicity of all things. He was able to do this, even when his ideas were condemned as heresy, and the final years of his life were spent in a heretic’s prison. Bruno had no family to speak of, no loved ones. Only his vision. He was unencumbered. He had no one to consider when he rose at night to join the ebb and flow of the starways.
The Scientist had always seen herself as the same. Unencumbered. Free. But, of late, she had began to feel something. Something pulling her back to the Earth, keeping her from rising into her vision of the universe. Something keeping her from the secrets she sought.
“What is holding onto me?” She thought. “What is this hand that grasps me, holds me to the Earth, keeps me from the mysteries I long for?”
And then, to her surprise, the Scientist looked back to see there was no force that held her. That the hand that grasped her and tethered her to the Earth... was her own.
The Scientist clung to something beloved. Something unnamed. It was the last thing keeping her from the great revelations.
The space pager suddenly stops broadcasting.
Ava:
He’s going to be so mad at me, Karl.
We hear the thunderous sound of Krok arriving. He slowly walks toward ava and stops.
Krok:
You rang, Doctor?
Libuza:
... The Scientist let go...
The end