"The formulation of the problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill." ~ Albert Einstein

Janelle heard the commotion outside of her office, but as it didn't sound all that dramatic, opted to leave the desk attendant to deal with the issue. When the commotion didn't die down, and instead ramped up in volume slowly, she sighed to herself, set down her barely started cup of steaming black tea, and rose to investigate the tumult.

This turned out to be something of a tactical error, as her appearance was immediately seized upon by the two agitated academics who'd been haranguing the desk attendant. "At last! Archivist Graysdottir! We must speak with you about your recent expedition. Your attendant here has been telling us you were too busy and that we need to schedule an appointment for next week. Next week! Ridiculous!" The senior, and rather entitled, professor emeritus of natural philosophy waggled a stubby finger in the face of the rather put upon attendant who was not, it should be noted, particularly admonished. His colleague and spouse, an equally senior, if more socially aware, professor of mathematics, shook her silvery locks, a bit abashed.

"Our apologies, Archivist, I'm afraid Ahmed's been rather struck by the new works you recovered from the sky island dungeon. He's lost what little sense of propriety and patience he once had and dragged me here in tow." She smiled urbanely at her animated spouse as he gathered himself under her watchful gaze. "I hope you'll forgive his enthusiasm, but as I don't believe we'll be visiting the island ourselves, he is intent on speaking with you directly about the rather revolutionary theories put forward in those works – particularly the one labeled an "Earth Science" textbook."

Janelle nodded politely at them both, not at all surprised to have this encounter, though she'd been wondering which professor would spot the new works first. "Of course, Professors Keradji. I fear I haven't read that one myself, but as I understand it, the Dungeon that provided it is a reincarnated scholar from another world. That's not his particular area of expertise either, but he's apparently been granted perfect recall of all the books he's read – which will reportedly enable him to provide at least a few books addressing a rather broad range of subjects, both factual and literary, from his former world. I should note that he doesn't, and cannot, assure the accuracy of those more factual works in this world, but he thought they might at least provide some avenues for exploration in scholarly circles."

Ahmed shook his head, somewhat regretfully. "I understand that, of course. And I would love to argue those theories with him – this notion of plate tec... tectonics, I think it was. It's ludicrous but with a startling internal consistency. Continents floating on a massive. sea of molten rock, crashing into each other and forming mountains." He shook his head. "How does one even come up with such an idea? Why would the gods of his world not smite anyone so heretical?"

Janelle arched an eyebrow provocatively. "Well, as to that, I'm given to understand that his was a world without magic or irrefutable evidence of gods. ALL their phenomena required explanations that didn't require any intervention beyond simple physical forces."

His wife, Raina, pondered that rather radical notion briefly. "Remarkable. How would that even work, I wonder? I know that it's possible to live without using magic oneself, but that would be an incredibly basic and primitive existence, wouldn't it? Living like the lowest, most isolated of goblins?"

Janelle shook her head, gently. "Apparently, much of what we manage through magic, can be managed in purely physical ways with sufficient understanding and work put into the development of machines. They may not have had magic, but they most certainly weren't wild goblins. But I digress... Was there something in particular that you wanted to ask about concerning these works?"

Ahmed shook himself free of the notion of a magicless world with some effort. "Oh, um, yes, a few things really..."

Janelle mentally gave her afternoon up as lost. "Well, then, why don't we retire to the lounge and chat in more comfortable surroundings, then?"

Once settled in overstuffed, embroidered armchairs, each with a fresh cup of tea, the archivist restarted the conversation. "Are your questions about the books you've already seen, or about the dungeon that provided them?"

The couple shared a glance, in the silent communication style of couples who'd lived with each other's foibles for decades, before Raina answered. "Realistically, a bit of both. Ahmed really does want to argue about that one book, but we should focus on the – I guess, author isn't really the correct term, is it?– the dungeon. I suppose the basic issue is how much information can it - he? - offer in our particular fields."

The archivist nodded her understanding. "Well, I can't give you detailed information in that regard, as there simply wasn't time to identify the range and extent of his knowledge. That said, I'm confident from negotiating a contract with him that his mathematical skills are at least decent, though I can't promise you that the knowledge of his world is more developed than our own in that regard. That said, I suspect it might be, from some of his comments, though whether he knows any of that math is unclear. As for the natural sciences, it seems clear that his knowledge is fairly deep, though as noted, it may not accurately represent how THIS world functions. He seemed to think that at least some basic concepts would carry over, but where and how those interact with this distinct reality aren't particularly clear. Your biggest issue may simply be determining which keywords to use in requesting works from his world. You could, of course, simply wait and see what he opts to provide in the natural course of things, but..." and she smiled in an amused fashion, "I suspect you're hoping to be more proactive than that?"

Ahmed snorted, a bit self-consciously. "Picked up on that, did you? I do apologize. I've never been particularly good at keeping my enthusiasms under control... But yes, I believe my wife and I ARE intending to submit at least a few targeted requests for information through the central archive. As you know, that does tend to be an expensive proposition, particularly if we are requesting wholly new information from a specific individual. But, of course, if we simply add the requests to the broad central forum for information requests, there's little assurance he'd even see them."

Janelle nodded, understanding the distinction readily. It was much like any form of contract, really – if there was competition, prices were lower; if you needed a specific person, well, they could charge whatever they felt the market would bear. "Well, good news and bad news, I'm afraid. First, I will note that at this moment, the Dungeon Sylvanus, only has access to a basic student reader, which does not provide access to any of those requests; that was all I had on hand to offer at the time. He did negotiate for access to a full, institutional-grade reader, but that will not be delivered to him for some days yet, at a minimum, and depending on transport issues may take longer than that. That will give you some time to look through his other works, if you haven't already, to try to get some sense of what keywords you want to put into your requests. At the same time, I will say he seems rather busy with his own, specific interests, so answering requests may have slightly longer turnaround times than you will find ideal. Nevertheless, he has some discreet advantages in having an eidetic memory and access to a transcription skill that he appears to be leveling fairly rapidly. He also has a number of topics I believe he wants to research, so the additional credits may be welcome, though of course he has negotiated essentially unlimited access in exchange for periodic uploads to the archive."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Raina whistled lowly at that comment. "How in the Goddess' name did he manage that? Does he really have that much to share that the archive took such a direct interest?"

Janelle met her startled gaze directly. "Oh, yes. In fact, the Goddess has taken a rather direct interest in him. I rather suspect she'd rather he kept busily transcribing works, but she was not the one to place him there and can't really do any more than offer encouragement to keep him going."

Ahmed nodded, rather judiciously, "Hmm. Well, if the Goddess is that interested, then we'll have to do our part to encourage him." He gave a faux-pious smile towards his wife. "I told you that book was remarkable. I've only gone over that one in any detail, Archivist. What other books from his list of titles would you recommend? It seemed a rather odd catalog."

Janelle smiled agreeably. "It does indeed. If pressed, at the moment, I'd say he's simply been adding works that either suit the specific visitors he's had or his own interests – both literary and more practical. For the two of you and your academic pursuits, I'd recommend the works on "Physics" and on "Chemistry", just judging from my own cursory review of their contents."

Raina cocked her head, curiously. "Why those two, if you don't mind my asking? Our translation tool was unable to convert either term into something matching our own language. It did seem to think "Chemistry" was akin to alchemy, at least, which isn't really either of our focus. It didn't seem to know what to make of "Physics" at all, beyond a possible link to natural, non-magical phenomena."

Janelle shrugged, a bit ruefully, "Well, I don't think your translator is wrong, really, just not giving you a full grasp of what the terms cover. The mathematics involved, particularly in the Physics book, was beyond me, I'm afraid, and the system of notation didn't seem to convert, but it covered a range of topics from calculating the paths of moving objects to optical lenses, and some controlled form of lightning, just to list a few. The chemistry book seemed more focused on the prediction of how various alchemical compounds would react, though in a more systematic fashion than traditional alchemy books and apparently involving a deeper understanding of the underlying components of non-magical matter."

Ahmed's eyebrows crawled up his forehead at that last comment. "Remarkable, if accurate... That sounds as though it might involve some potential to replicate the results, if so."

Janelle grinned at him, slyly. "Oh yes, I'm quite sure the Chancellor will want to be kept apprised if you try that. He seemed rather assured that someone in the faculty would be quick to seize on those works."

Both Professors Keradji were struck momentarily silent by THAT revelation. Raina cleared her throat, a bit hesitantly. "You say he had a system of mathematical notation that didn't translate into our own. The translator devices are generally good at making such conversions, aren't they?"

Janelle's grin turned positively wicked. "Oh, yes. And it did so, for this work as well. Up to a point..."

Raina bolted to her feet. "Stop teasing me woman! Are you implying that the works that dungeon can supply include mathematics that appear to have no analogue in our own system!"

Janelle smiled as she took a quiet sip of her tea. "Forgive me, Professor. I shouldn't lead you on, of course. I can't swear to it, but I do think that is likely the case. I suspect he comes from a world significantly advanced from our own, in this particular manner, at least. I can see how the need to do things without magic would prompt greater efforts in this direction, after all."

Raina didn't sit back down, but she did still for a moment, before grabbing her husband by his hand and pulling him upright. "You're an evil woman, archivist!," she said with a smile. "Come on, man! We've got reading to do and inquiries to plan!"

Ahmed eyed his cup of tea, rather wistfully. "Can't it wait ten minutes, wife? I'm pretty sure we're going to have more questions we'd like answers to..."

His now rather motivated-looking wife simply stared at him for a moment. "There's no time to waste, Ahmed. You wouldn't want Professor Stonesmith to get there first, would you? You heard her! This is apt to make someone's career – likely multiple someones – and I refuse to be left out."

Ahmed gave the battle up as lost. Shaking his head slowly as his wife towed him towards the door. "Our thanks, archivist. No doubt you expected this result, but we'll almost certainly be in touch with you again for some additional advice and hopefully some clarifications on how to approach the dungeon.

Janelle nodded her recognition of that fairly transparent fact. "Of course, Professor. I should be available during regular working hours, though my attendant would no doubt appreciate it if you were to make an appointment next time," she said with a chuckle. "Of course, I'll have to be just as forthright with any other researchers who come to inquire, so you may want to keep your new project quiet for the time being."

Raina glanced back over her shoulder with an annoyed grimace. "Duly noted, Archivist. Duly noted. Now move your feet, Ahmed! There's work to be done and no time to lose."

*************************************

The two professors beat a rather hasty retreat, not at all cowed by her gently mocking admonition not to run in the library, slowing to an only mildly inappropriate pace.

Janelle smiled after their retreating backs, then snorted amusedly as the desk attendant sidled up to try to secure some gossip.

"What was that all about, archivist? If you don't mind my asking?" he asked.

She eyed him, consideringly. "Well, you DID do your best to keep them from bothering me during my break, so I suppose I should share, at least a bit. Mind you, I can't be too specific, and if I catch you spreading gossip about the faculty, you'll be in trouble..."

He mimed a locking motion over his mouth with a mirthful glint in his eyes. "Oh, of course not, Archivist. I'm the very SOUL of discretion..."

She laughed openly at his antics. "You've been warned, though, and I'm not actually joking. So here's the thing... You've no doubt heard rumors about my recent expedition to the sky island? Thought so. Well, as a result of that trip, a few new books have entered the archive that may motivate, shall we say, some fairly dramatic reconsiderations of knowledge integral to an understanding of several fields – including those of the professors you just saw bustling off..."

He looked rather crestfallen. "Oh, is that all... Here I thought maybe you'd gotten yourself into a love triangle!" He laughed at the look of horror on her face, then bolted for his desk as she chased him, fist raised threateningly.

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