Chapter 12 (part 2/2) - The First Computer

  With his materials ready, it was time to return to work. He would have to wait until after working hours to test his invention, but his mind was already swarming with dozens of possible variations for the circuit.

  It needed to be compact enough to be practical, tactile, and intuitive. According to what he had read, a magic practitioner could interpret numbers by “absorbing” some of the energy and decoding it. Creating a device like that would be much simpler, but it would limit its usefulness and its reach outside the Tower. His calculation circle had to spark a revolution, improve the world… and also redirect the eyes fixed on his mind toward the neglected content the Tower had ignored.

  Even though his knowledge of electronics and programming was extensive (and had allowed him to reach something like a calculation circle so quickly), it wasn’t anything others couldn’t have figured out if they hadn’t ignored Earth’s material for so long.

  I can’t really blame them… studying computational logic makes little sense when there are no computers.

  And that was precisely what made this circle the perfect invention… assuming he could actually bring it into existence.

  “I see you’re restless, kid. What’s going on?”

  Dodoon asked after noticing Vincent unusually distracted, even more than usual. He tended to drift off often, but today was excessive.

  “It’s nothing, I’m just thinking about a personal project. I’m counting the minutes until I can work on it.”

  “Oh? And what’s it about? You’ve piqued my curiosity.”

  “Well…”

  After hearing the explanation, the logic, and the complexity of the mechanism, Dodoon’s eyes, dark even in the sclera, seemed to brighten. The craft of constructing magic circles was a serious discipline for the truly passionate. Those who saw beyond personal power could recognize their real potential. The Tower was covered in magical engravings that made everyone’s life easier: elevators, lights, sensors, refrigeration… anyone who didn’t understand the importance of circles was a fool, and Vincent certainly wasn’t one.

  “And you really think it’s possible?”

  “It’s all in the books, isn’t it?”

  To Dodoon’s eyes, Vincent was a brilliant young man. Perhaps he would never become a competent mage due to his condition, but thanks to that very limitation he had never fallen for the instant gratification offered by conventional magic. His enthusiasm was contagious, even if his project seemed impossible.

  “Assuming that’s the case… you’d still need techniques far more complex than anything you’ve worked with so far. Do you really need a rotating circle at the center?”

  “Yes, it’s to switch the type of operation. The circle can add, subtract, multiply, and divide… though it’s actually two circles.”

  “And what you say would be the display, do you really need three of them?”

  “I haven’t found a way, for now, to make the entire operation happen on a single screen. It has to be something replicable, and that would be far too complicated to understand. I need one display for the two numbers being operated… and another for the result.”

  Vincent continued explaining to Dodoon how his machine would work. He wasn’t afraid of having his idea stolen… nor did he know whether Dodoon was somehow working with the Tower. What he did know was that the man had immense experience, and if he could help him even a little, all the better. Also, just to be safe, he made sure to reference his books constantly, pointing out that nothing he had conceived came from the other world. He was simply making use of the Tower’s neglected material.

  Without realizing it, every craftworker in the workshop was listening. The stress of death, and of the months leading to the night he died, had made him forget how exhilarating it was to invent and design a new product. His enthusiasm was contagious, and by now everyone there had caught it. There were still a few hours before the workshop closed, but Dodoon gave him permission to start working immediately, since he wanted to see the finished circle by tomorrow.

  Not wasting this courtesy, Vincent got to work, preparing the three disks that would make up his circle. One larger disk and two smaller ones that would rotate at the center. The smallest, innermost disk switched the type of operation; the second allowed him to input numbers.

  After inscribing the basic logic into them and leaving the grooves where the gems would be set, the first problem appeared. A predictable problem, but impossible to calculate precisely. The inner circles needed to fit perfectly inside the main plate, but once baked they changed size slightly due to moisture loss. It took a few attempts before the pieces slid together properly, but once he managed it, the hardest physical challenge was done… or so he thought.

  The second challenge was weaving the tiny connector threads to the quartz pieces to form the display. This part caught Dodoon’s attention in particular; he had never seen anything like it.

  “You do know there’s a way to summon signs of light, don’t you? You could spare yourself all that work.”

  “My budget is very limited. I read that it was possible, but its energy consumption is enormous. If I used it, the screen would only stay lit for a few seconds. It’s much more practical to have a display that can stay on for a few minutes.”

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  “Hmmm…”

  Dodoon couldn’t help commenting and asking questions whenever he saw Vincent move on to a new stage.

  “And you’re saying it can handle decimals as well?”

  “Easily. It’s just a matter of where to place the decimal point. It also handles negative numbers.”

  “Hmm hmm.”

  Dodoon nodded with satisfaction. A very good sign.

  Everyone in the workshop was an erudite. They were passionate about the craftsmanship of the process itself, so they weren’t a great representation of the masses. Even so, every answer Vincent gave only excited them more. Several coworkers offered suggestions, pointing out, for instance, that the display itself, due to its orderly layout, would naturally draw spiritual energy, which would have saved him a few gems.

  They were right. There was plenty to optimize, but better to have too much than too little, especially since he would have to demonstrate the device publicly. It would be humiliating if he didn’t have enough strength to activate it.

  His coworkers and Dodoon stayed a while longer, hoping to see the first prototype, but once it became clear it wouldn’t be ready until late at night, they left. Vincent would have done the same, if not for the fact that there were only a few days left before the next payday, when his workload would increase. And there was also the threat of the tribunal, which could be convened at any moment.

  Fatigue weighed on his back. Years in an underfed body had limited his ability to stay awake, and he would’ve collapsed long ago if not for the pills he’d bought at the Forge.

  He hadn’t planned on buying any, but just like predatory marketing tactics back on Earth, the pills were displayed at the counter like candy. For only one silver tower, Vincent bought three Runner Pills and one Scholar Pill. Runner Pills would keep him awake for hours and dull his hunger for a while. The Scholar Pill promised to clear all mental fog and sleepiness, sharpening his concentration, but he saved that one for later.

  By the time the sun dipped below the horizon and the Tower’s lights turned on, Vincent finally finished the first prototype.

  “Alright… now I just need to set the discs in place.”

  He did so carefully, first setting the inner one, then the outer ring. Once the full circle was assembled, the displays lit up. Numbers flickered at random, glowing as spiritual energy seeped into the circuit. It behaved like an engine that wasn’t receiving enough fuel yet. Vincent had to feed a bit of his own spiritual energy into it so the circuit could “fill up” and finally stabilize.

  “First, let’s wipe the circle clean of all information.”

  Vincent rotated the inner disc to the result position, then charged the inner gem to initiate a new operation. The displays lit fully, signaling a reset.

  “Okay, now… a simple calculation.”

  He turned the outer disc, the one used to input numbers, until its notch aligned with the first input slot. If everything worked correctly, mere touch should be enough to enter values. When he tapped the gem marked “2”, the number appeared on the first display.

  “Good.”

  He then rotated the disc to the second input slot and pressed a “3”. The second display lit with the number.

  “Everything is going according to plan… now, the result.”

  Vincent rotated the inner disc to the addition setting and aligned it between both displays. Then, with a minimal pulse of energy, he focused on the central gem, and the third display manifested the answer: a “5” formed from tiny, glowing quartz crystals.

  “Ahh…”

  He couldn’t believe it. It worked. It worked on the very first attempt… he had to test it again.

  He turned the dial and reset the result. The energy discharge required no intent; the circle handled that, stripping any meaning from the pulse and using it purely as fuel for the calculation. Then he tried a two-digit subtraction.

  “Fifty-four minus… twelve… gives a result of… forty-two.”

  Then he tried three digits, then division… growing overconfident, he jumped straight into a five-digit multiplication, and that was when…

  Pfzzz

  One of the circuits burned out.

  “Ah.”

  One of the paths between two data-receiving gems had burned out. The flux hadn’t held, and the heat charred the tiny connector.

  “So that’s where the problem is… nothing that can’t be fixed.”

  There were two solutions: replace the flux with a more expensive one capable of forming a proper cable, or thicken the path and lose a bit of efficiency. His coworkers had already pointed out that his circuit was probably drawing more energy than intended because of the quartz displays. So for now, he chose to thicken the connection.

  “As long as I can use it, everyone else will too.”

  After scraping and widening the channels, the issue was resolved. He had to repeat the process a couple of times when testing large multiplications and divisions. Just to be safe, Vincent slightly modified the circle’s logic so that if a result required more digits, the answer would deliberately take longer to appear, preventing overheating.

  “Alright… that should solve every problem. Unless I’m missing something…”

  It felt wasteful, but to be safe he took the scholar’s pill. The pill was kneaded with glucose and coated in cornstarch to keep moisture out. Nothing fancy, but the moment he bit into it he felt a faint magical current flow through him. Almost instantly, his mental fog and exhaustion evaporated, clearing space for new ideas to rush in.

  “No way… how did I not think of that? There’s no chance it could…”

  Just in case, almost certain he wouldn’t break his circle, he attempted to divide by zero. He set any number in the first slot and a zero in the second, then charged the central gem to compute the result.

  Crack

  One of his gems split. Luckily it wasn’t the central one, not the costly one, but one of the small consciousness gems responsible for division. It was unsettling and lasted less than a second. A dark pinpoint appeared at the center of the bright gem and split it in half. It behaved like a tiny black hole, dimming the light of the entire workshop for an instant.

  “Shit…”

  He had fortunately bought spare gems, but he couldn’t help thinking how stupid it had been not to add an exception for that operation. To be honest with himself, he had left it on purpose just to see what would happen, but he hadn’t expected it to break his circle.

  Having satisfied his curiosity, Vincent replaced the shattered gem and inscribed an exception for divisions by zero, preventing the calculation circle from even attempting to process them.

  “And with that, the circle should be foolproof.”

  Stepping back to look at his work, he couldn’t help feeling a deep swell of pride at what he had just completed. The calculation circle was beautiful. Its organized patterns made it look almost like a mandala, and the embedded gems gave it the appearance of a designer timepiece. It had its own light, always glowing faintly, flickering.

  Vincent picked it up and spun it. Despite not being glued together in any way, the inner disks didn’t detach easily, locking into place almost magnetically as they turned toward their different slots.

  “It’s perfect…”

  He said it to himself. He had the habit of talking aloud when he was alone.

  By the time he finished testing everything, it was already morning. Sunlight poured through the workshop’s windows, and the effects of the runner’s pill were finally fading… that was when he heard a commotion outside the workshop. Someone was shouting, demanding that the door be opened.