"You two didn't sleep right." Jude said.
Leontius and Lunivaras eyes looked tired and sleepy.
"I'm fine"
"Don't mind me"
Jude smiled, letting out a soft exhale through his nose.
"So, any plans for today?"..."Wait, hold up, before anything please don't say any unnecessary words again
"It's not unnecessary" Lunivara said.
"Yeah , it's not but only complicated"
Leontius changed the topic.
"The observation yesterday was consistent across multiple locations."
Jude raised a hand immediately.
"W-wait bfore you continue––define what consistent mean in a way that it won't give me a headache."
Leontius paused.
"Similar conversational structures was occurring independently."
Jude nodded slowly.
"Better, and I think I already list that."
Lunivara added quietly,
"...And also the response timing wasn't fully align with their perception."
Jude looked between them.
"...Okay. That too."
Leontius continued,
"The observation alone is no longer sufficient."
Jude groaned.
"I knew it."
Leontius ignored him.
"We must confirm whether the pattern holds under a different conditions or not."
Jude blinked.
"...You mean we test it?"
"Yes."
Jude looked at Lunivara.
"...Are we really going to do this?"
She answered simply,
"Yes." With no hesitation.
Leontius stepped closer aligning to the conversation.
"We will separate."
Jude immediately reacted.
"Thats not a good idea coming from you."
"It is necessary," Leontius replied.
Lunivara nodded once.
Leontius continued,
"With the different locations at the same time frame, we are able to observe independently then we compare the results.
Jude crossed his arms.
"Okay, so..you mean if we all see the same time––"
"Then the pattern itself will not localized," Leontius finished.
"And if we don't?" Jude asked.
Lunivara answered this time.
"If we don't, it will be conditional."
Jude paused.
"...Okay, that makes sense."
"I'll take the library." Leontius spoke.
Jude pointed toward the courtyard.
"I'll stay here, easy and of course less thinking."
Lunivara glanced toward the corridor.
"I'll observe the classroom transition."
A small pause.
Jude nodded.
"Okay,"
The three of them understood something no one does, the academy swallowed them back into its normal rhythm.
Students moved between classes.
Books held loosely.
Conversations half-finished.
"Did you brought it?"
"No, I forgot. Sorry"
"...Again?"
A pause.
"...I'll get it later."
Lunivara listened, she understood instantly. Sigh...
She didn't react but recorded it internally.
Another exchange.
"...you said that yesterday."
"No, I didn't."
"You did."
A pause.
"...Maybe I did."
Same structure. ["Again"]
She noticed that the timing again was off, the pause came earlier than expected. She slowed her steps ["...Its not identical"]
Jude leaned against a low wall, observing the students trying not to get noticed, but he was just ... paying attention to be honest.
"...Are you coming later?"
"Yes,"
"You always say that."
A pause.
"I mean it this time."
Jude frowned.
"Didn't I heared that already?"
He scratched his head.
"Or do people just say that a lot...Hmm"
Jude didn't think much about it, but he didn't ignore it either.
The library is quite as it must be. A place where controlled is truly alive.
Leontius sat with a book open––but unread, he was listening to the students nearby.
"that's not right."
"Then correct it."
"I just did."
A pause.
"Fine."
Sequence locked. He listened to the other side.
"...you didn't said that."
"I did."
"When?"
"Earlier."
A pause.
"Alright."
Leontius closed his eyes briefly.
["Independent replication."]
The three of them returned to their spot after observing.
Jude arrived first.
Then Lunivara.
And then Leontius.
"Okay."
He looked at both of them.
"Tell me, that I'm not imagining things."
Lunivara answered calmly.
"Why?"
Leontius added,
"It is consistent."
Jude exhaled.
"...Great. I was hoping one of you would say no."
Leontius spoke first.
"What are the results you two have gathered?"
One by one they told what happened at their location and compared the results...after some thinking about it.
"The patterns exist across all observed locations."
Lunivara added,
"But they are not perfectly identical."
Jude looked between them.
"...Yeah. That part too."
A pause settled between them.
Then—
Lunivara said quietly,
"It changes."
Leontius nodded.
"Controlled variation."
Jude frowned.
"Sounds worse than before."
Before: it was repetition.
Now:it was adjusted repetition.
The difference changed everything, the courtyard continued around them.
Lunivara looked across the academy.
["Its not copying."]
A pause.
["Its maintaining..."]
END CHAPTER 44