[Transcript. Telephonic conversation between Prof. Dr. Robin Lamer (La) of the Lastrian Academy and General Dr. Candir de Lovonne, of the National Metamagical Observatory (Lo).]

  Additional Information: Professor Lamer is Chair of Theorical Metamagic in the Lastrian Academy and also holds a doctorate in Experimental Metamagics. She is one of the leading experts in the study of the Vansted problem and a former member of the board of the National Metamagical Observatory, having stepped down of her position to follow a career in teaching at the Academy.

  General Lovonne, barring the storied military career of his family, is the current deputy director of the National Metamagical Observatory. He holds a doctorate in Theoretical Metamagic from the Academy, with Dr. Lamer having been his overseeing professor.

  [Classified]

  [3-4-939 16:12]

  Lo: “Professor Lamer?”

  La: “Yes, this is Lamer. Who am I talking to?”

  Lo: “This is Lovonne, of the Observatory.”

  La: “Ah. What is it, general? If this is because the Security Inspector of the Observatory keeps insisting in going through three inspections every month, I have already made my position clear to the director. We cannot afford to make that time in our schedule if they refuse to give us the funding for more overseeing professors.”

  Lo: “You have indeed made your position clear, ma’am. But I’m afraid that is unfortunately not the case.”

  [Sound heard from the professor’s side. Not identified. Sounds like a hum.]

  Lo: “An hour ago, our equipment caught notice of a B-2 event within Lastria.”

  [Silence.]

  Lo: “In the capital itself.”

  La: “That has to be wrong, general. The Para-Atmospheric Mana Sensors have been malfunctioning for a few days, if you crosscheck the Noise undulations with the data taken from this supposed event, the fluctuation charts will match. Seriously, you people give us a lot about our own equipment, but, not to offend, maybe yours needs some touching.”

  Lo: “We already did that, professor. The difference is of five points.”

  [Sounds of clutter, from here on the professor’s voice takes a tone of alarm.]

  La: “That’s straight up impossible. I have the lights of my office on, if that was the case, we’d have a city-wide blackout. If not for the whole province. But everything here is fine.”

  Lo: “We know. We’d have noticed the complaints otherwise. The thing is, we cannot explain any of this, professor.”

  La: “Send me in the files. There must have been a mistake, there has to be.”

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Lo: “Professor…”

  [Sound coming from the Observatory. See File 927-B-1923 for details.]

  [The line stays silent for four minutes and ten seconds. Professor Lamer tries to re-establish communication twelve times, with no answer. Eleven of them have been omitted for the sake of brevity.]

  La: “General?”

  Lo: “Yes. I’m back in the line professor. The gentlemen at the lab have run a test and confirmed that the B-2 event lasted approximately a quarter of an hour. And have located it to the Willoking Hill district.”

  La: “Just there?”

  Lo: “Yes, just there. Plus, the thatharic current has had an anomaly in that specific area. Suddenly a lot seems to have been drained from the system.”

  La: “Some kind of illegal experiment maybe?”

  La: “No, that doesn’t make any sense. A B-2 would need more thathar than the whole province can generate. There aren’t machines that big, even…”

  Lo: “Yes, professor?”

  La: “That’s where his highness has his private residence is it not?”

  Lo: “If you say so. I have no idea.”

  La: “The prince investigates the Vansted problem. He might have caused this.”

  Lo: “Are you sure about that, professor?”

  La: “I wouldn’t state it for sure, but the possibility exists. If I were you people, I would have a chat with him just in case he causes something to burn down or ends up blowing up a hole in the sky or whatever.”

  Lo: “I see. I take it that then this is not a natural event.”

  La: “Of course not. He probably did it.”

  Lo: “I see. We’ll deal with that then. Have a good afternoon professor, I will call again if we open an official investigation into this matter.”

  [Call hung. 3-4-939 16:22]

  Additional information:

  “The Vansted Problem” is one of the bases of modern magic. The problem is as follows: Once magic is “spent”, where goes the mana that was metabolized into the creation of the spell itself? The problem arose when it was measured that atmospheric mana contents seem to somehow replenish over time to the point it was before being metabolized for the casting of a spell. Originally, it was believed that mana may be infinite, or at least there was a pool of it large enough that its use as fuel for magic cannot diminish it. However, loss of mana can be measured and it only replenishes over time, leading to the idea that mana was in fact created somewhere in the planet. This hypothesis has been discredited as implausible due to vacuum experiments showing that mana still replenishes in fully hermetic spaces. Vansted proposed that the mana instead goes “somewhere else” after which it slowly returns “over here”. Proving that he’s not only right but where the mana goes, is the most sought after scholastic problem in magical academia.

  A B-2 event is a term that refers to a high-intensity and high-speed appearance of atmospheric mana. Equivalent to a 10 in the Rissman Scale. These events, while recorded, have mostly appeared (with a frequency of 80%) in the upper layers of the atmosphere. It happening near the ground level is exceptionally rare, and generally thought to be an impossibility outside of the location of magical battlefields or in the mana-charged jungles of the Northern Hemisphere.

  [This document was made 7-4-937 at the behest of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the consent of the Secretariat of Scholarship by order of the Regent of the Realm. Both of the callers were notified that their call was retroactively recorded and transcribed for archival purposes. This document is for use of the Office of the Regent and those who acquire direct permission from them. Exclusively. If not destroyed, this document will be declassified, in accordance to the current law and not any later, 100 years exactly after its archival.]