Episode 6: The Rubedo

THE SCIENTIST: Experiment 31E, supplemental notes.

Date: October 12, 1843.

I have learned some…new information today. It may be only tangentially related to my experiment and yet…and yet it may dictate whether or not I will be able to complete it.

I refrained from storming into Manchester to confront Solomon and Rahul…for one day. I was far calmer this morning, although the Boy said that what I was insisting was calm was actually the same manner I have whenever he interrupts my recording of notes, which—according to him—has more of a murderous quality to it than my true calm state.

I wouldn’t have described myself as murderous. I know what murderous looks like on me…

But anyway…

We went to town, the Boy trying to remind me of all the times Solomon and Rahul had not committed potentially fatal acts against my person. I listened to his pleas in silence. I wasn’t going to do anything rash—I wouldn’t hurt them—

At first.

It wouldn’t have benefited me to immediately stab them both with the dagger concealed up my sleeve, although it would have felt cathartic. I needed to know why they had done all this, why they had lured me in, given me a tainted item, and let me nearly kill myself. I needed to know if they had acted alone.

Besides, the Boy was right. I had trusted them for so long, they deserved the chance to explain themselves. Without them I would never have come this far in my experiment. And our exchanges had only ever been cordial…until now.

But I wouldn’t let past friendship blind me to their betrayal. If they gave me so much as a false smile, that dagger would be in my hand and I—

Luckily, it didn’t come to that.

No, what it came to was… How do I even begin? This visit revealed a truth far more bizarre than I ever could have anticipated.

When I stepped into Solomon’s shop, he was assisting two gentlemen with the purchase of a necklace. Solomon looked up as I entered and his face…I’m not sure what I was expecting. Shock? Terror? Disappointment? Somehow, I had convinced myself that my very presence would rend their vile plans asunder and yet…when Solomon saw me…he looked relieved. Even smiled. Genuine. Warm.

Doubt nagged at me. This was not the face of a man who had just tried to kill me. This was the face of…a friend.

“Mr. Smith, look who has come to call on us,” Solomon said over his shoulder.

Rahul poked his head out of the door behind the counter, the door that led to the back of the shop. Rahul glanced about then spotted me.

His smile was the widest I’d ever seen from him.

“Corvino! And John!” he said. “Welcome back! Would you like to follow me? Mr. Abrams will join us in a moment.” He nodded toward the back room.

“No,” I said. “I think I would rather wait.”

Rahul shrugged, his smile faltering at my tone, and stepped fully into the front of the shop. “Whatever you prefer,” he said. “Mr. Abrams?”

“Just a moment,” Solomon said. His smile had faded too, but he jovially continued his exchange with the men buying the necklace.

Once that transaction was complete, the two men left with their purchase. They gave me an odd glance in passing—I could see the change in their faces as they looked then looked again when noticing I was not the gentleman my clothes suggested I must be. But they said nothing as they left. I wouldn’t have had the patience to deal with them if they had tried to say something, anything.

I could feel the pommel of my dagger against the base of my palm.

When the door was shut and we were alone, Solomon and Rahul walked out from behind the counter.

“You didn’t respond to our letter,” Solomon said. “Are you well? How did the experiment go?”

He and Rahul stared at me. There was…concern in their eyes.

They were not nervous. Not this time.

Perhaps they noticed something about my demeanor—some stray expression I failed to suppress, some tension I could not smooth out—but both their brows furrowed as they looked at me.

“Corvino,” Rahul said, “what’s wrong? Did something happen with—”

I interrupted before he could finish. “Were you expecting something to happen?” I asked.

That brought them up short. They glanced at one another.

Nervous.

“Vic,” Solomon began but I could no longer hold back.

“You gave me an unstable solution,” I said. “That panacea was not what you claimed. When running an electrical current through it, the vial exploded. It could have killed me. You know that electricity is part of my procedure. Did you know this would happen?”

Their faces expressed shock, their eyes wide, their mouths agape. But could I trust this, or was it just for show?

“It could have killed you?” Rahul gasped. He shook his head. “No, no, of course we had no idea it would do that,” he said. “Our colleague who gave it to us never mentioned anything about it being unstable—”

“And which colleague was that again?” I asked.

Solomon and Rahul exchanged glances, stuttering.

“It was—” Solomon began but stopped.

“I think it might have been…” Rahul trailed off.

“Wardlow,” I said. “You told me it was Wardlow.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Solomon said, his words stumbling over themselves. “It was Wardlow—”

“And I believe that as much as I believe it was created by Johann Dippel as you once claimed,” I snapped. “Now, you will tell me what that panacea really was, and who gave it to you. And just why do you wish to kill me.”

“Ma’am,” John murmured, trying to keep me in check. Foolish boy.

“We weren’t trying to kill you,” Solomon insisted. “It wasn’t supposed to do that—”

“Then what exactly was it supposed to do?” I demanded.

He and Rahul exchanged another look. It wasn’t nervous. It was something beyond that.

Something terrified.

“We can’t,” Rahul said, voice barely a whisper.

“Why not?” I asked.

“They’ll kill us,” he said.

At these words it was my turn to be shocked. I felt my body freeze in place, the unexpected words locking my limbs together, but I recovered quickly.

“Who precisely are they?” I asked.

Solomon shot a look toward the windows of his shop. People were passing by in the busy street outside. Solomon lifted a finger and bent it toward the back room. Without a word, he and Rahul headed to the back door.

They expected me to follow. I wasn’t sure if I should. What if this was a trap? What if there was someone—or something—waiting for me back there? What if they had weapons at hand? I could have been walking to my death.

“Ma’am,” the Boy murmured again. “I don’t think they’ll hurt you.”

“If they try,” I murmured back, “they will not succeed.”

I strode through the door, the Boy a step behind.

Once we were all in the back room, Rahul closed the door. And locked it.

I lowered the dagger’s hilt further into my hand. I wished in that moment to have armed the Boy as well, but I knew he never would have followed any orders to attack his friends. I also wished I had a pistol instead of a dagger, but those blasted things are so loud, there would have been no hiding what I had done from anyone in the vicinity.

Fortunately, there was no need for it.

At the click of the lock, Solomon turned to me, his eyes earnest.

“We had no idea they would make the solution dangerous,” he whispered in a rush. “They had promised us it wouldn’t hurt you, that was the only reason we had agreed to it—”

“If we had known,” Rahul said, also in hushed tones, “we never would have given it to you.”

“Then why were you so concerned that it could have harmed me if you didn’t expect it would?” I asked, whispering because they were whispering. Why we were whispering I had no idea. Did they suspect someone would overhear?

“We didn’t think it would hurt you,” Solomon whispered, “but…you may have…encountered something…”

“Encountered something?” I repeated. “Such as?”

Another exchange of glances. The two of them shared an unspoken language; I’d seen it before, but I’d never quite learned to translate it—the raise of an eyebrow, the quirk of a lip. But I could read the fear in their eyes plain as day…

“When you used the panacea,” Solomon said slowly, “it was supposed to…send out a signal.”

“A signal? How?” I asked.

“A magical signal,” Rahul said. “Something that would alert the Rubedo.”

As much as I wanted to scoff at the concept of a magical signal, there were far more pressing issues.

“What is the Rubedo?” I asked. “And why does it—or they—need a signal from my experiment?”

“The Rubedo Society is a secret organization of alchemists and mages,” Solomon said. He held up a hand. “Please hold your gibes until the end.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” I said.

Even the Boy didn’t bother to hide his incredulity. Solomon chose not to voice his own opinion, but a slight smirk did make an appearance.

“The Rubedo,” Solomon continued, smirk dissipating, “is a society that any magic user worth their salt wants to be a member of. They are well hidden from those who do not practice the art, but they have influence across Europe. They have eyes and ears everywhere…”

As he said that, I realized why we were whispering—he feared those eyes and ears. But why would they spy on us here?

“They’re expanding elsewhere too,” Rahul added. “Anywhere European empires touch, they bring Rubedo with them. My grandfather was a member, and he brought it along with him during his travels when he worked with the East India Company.”

“Sounds like the spread of a disease,” I said.

“Perhaps,” Solomon said. “I was once happy to join them, as was Rahul…”

The two of them rolled up their right sleeves, revealing identical tattoos. I’d seen it before, peaking out when they reached across counters and their shirts hitched up. A circle inside a square inside a triangle, all inside another circle.

I don’t know much about alchemy, but I’m familiar with that symbol. It represents the Philosopher’s Stone, the ultimate goal for alchemists to achieve. The Stone grants immortality and the ability to transmute lead to gold, leading to untold riches. But I’ve always wondered what good would alchemists do with such things if they ever were to achieve them? Would they share these miracles or selfishly keep them to themselves?

“So you’re both members of this secret society?” the Boy asked. “You’re…working with them? And they tried to kill Miss Trafford?”

I’d never seen John give Solomon and Rahul such a cold look before. He tried to pull himself up to his full height to look intimidating, but unfortunately Sol and Rahul are both significantly taller than him, so it did very little.

“We didn’t know they were going to try to harm Corvino,” Rahul insisted when he saw the Boy’s reproach. “We really didn’t. And, honestly, after some…recent meetings among our local sect…we have been reconsidering our membership.”

“Except no one cuts ties with Rubedo,” Solomon said. “The very idea is treated as ludicrous—who would want to leave such a prestigious group? Joining gives you access to the finest books on alchemical subjects, and you can collaborate with experts across the world. But…when you pledge your loyalty to Rubedo, you pledge it for life. And they take that pledge seriously… They don’t want people to leave, and if you try…they have ways of finding you…”

Solomon swallowed, his gaze dropping to the floor. Rahul put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“What does all this have to do with me and my experiment?” I asked. “Are they concerned that my attempts at reanimating dead matter will conflict with their stranglehold on the alchemical community?”

Rahul shook his head. “No, it’s not that. They don’t even believe your experiment will succeed.”

My scoff at that may have sounded more like a squawk. “The audacity!” I said. “What do they even know about my experiment?”

“Unfortunately,” Rahul said, sharing another look with Solomon. “Quite a bit. We may have…told them some things. We had to,” he rushed to add. “When you swear your loyalty to them, you must obey everything they command of you. When we made our vows, we never thought that would be a problem—what could they possibly ask us to do? We had assumed it was merely a way for them to guarantee that any progress toward the Philosopher’s Stone would be shared, not hoarded. But it seems the truth is, this loyalty pledge gives them access to what is essentially a large and powerful army of mages, who must do the bidding of the Elders. Or face the consequences.”

“And I assume the consequences are death or torture or some such horribleness,” I said.

Rahul shrugged and said, “Yes, thereabouts.”

“Right, right,” I said, “but again, you have yet to tell me just why I am involved here. I have never heard of this society before, and while I seem to have unknowingly encountered at least two of its members, I don’t see any reason why they would want to have anything to do with my experiment, especially if they don’t even believe it will be a success.”

Again, Solomon and Rahul shared a look. I was getting a bit tired of that. I didn’t glance over at John every time I thought about saying something.

“This is where things get a bit…odd,” Solomon said.

“Oh, this is where it gets odd?” I said.

“The Elders have noticed something,” Rahul began slowly. “Something…unusual. They noticed it years ago, and it seems to be getting worse.”

[sighs] “Just get to the blasted point already,” I sighed.

“Very well,” Solomon said. “There’s a problem with time.”

I furrowed my brow. “Time? Are they late or something?” I asked.

“No, not like that, Vic,” Solomon said. “Time, the entirety of time. It’s broken.”

All right, I will admit that at this point I did glance over to share a look with the Boy, but merely to see if he had understood that statement any better than I had. Judging by the wrinkle in his forehead and bewilderment in his eyes, he had not.

“I beg your pardon,” I said. “What do you mean time is broken?”

Rahul and Solomon both gave a resigned sigh.

“Years ago,” Rahul said, “the Elders noticed something they call the Divergence. Events were not happening the way they had been predicted in prophecies, prophecies that had until this point been reliable. And it wasn’t just ancient prophecies, it was happening with predictions made by modern Seers who had written down what they’d Seen would happen in a few years. Suddenly, after having always gotten things right, they were wrong. But not always. Sometimes things still happened as predicted, sometimes not. At first, they didn’t understand what was happening. They wondered if there was something wrong, something blocking the ability of Second Sight—major magical events can influence powers, but never on this scale. Eventually the Elders realized that something had occurred that shouldn’t have. Something had disrupted time as we know it, like a stone thrown into a pool of water, and its effects continue to ripple out as the years pass, the Divergence growing ever larger between what should have been and what is actually happening. It is getting worse, and the Elders have been trying to locate the source of the Divergence, what they call the Nexus. They believe the Nexus is responsible for disrupting the timeline, changing things that should never have been changed.”

I wrinkled my brow in further confusion. “But how can time go awry?” I asked. “What could possibly cause that?”

“The Elders claim to have theories about what happened,” Solomon said. “But they refuse to share them outside of their inner circle. Among us lower-level alchemists, we’ve always assumed that someone had performed a magical experiment that struck too close to the intersection of time and space, cracking it in some way they could not have anticipated.”

At the word experiment I cast my mind about for any of mine that had come close to affecting time. I could think of nothing. How could one even shatter time in such a way?

“Do they think Miss Trafford caused this Nexus?” the Boy asked. He looked at me, incredulous. “Have you ever gotten close enough to time to break it?” he asked.

“I honestly have no idea how to go about doing such a thing,” I said. “None of my experiments have involved time in such a way.”

“Perhaps not one you’ve already done,” Solomon said, “but maybe something in the future…something that could reach back to the past…”

“But what experiment could possibly do that?” I asked, exasperated. “The idea is completely absurd. Time can’t be broken, that’s just—”

“When you touched the vial containing the panacea,” Rahul said, “did you…feel something?”

I stared at him, startled. There was a knowing look in his eyes.

“Yes,” I said. “I felt like…”

“You were being pulled in two directions,” he said. “Two versions of you overlapping at once, living different lives, different experiences.”

“Yes,” I said again. “Except…I didn’t feel another version of me. I felt me, myself, on one side and then…on the other…there was nothing.”

Solomon nodded gravely. “There are those who have had the same experience,” he said. “They feel pulled in both directions, but on one side there is a void. The Elders crafted a spell that could allow them to see the split between the timelines, but it only works for each individual who encounters the spell. It doesn’t show them the entire timeline, so they can’t just track down the source of the Divergence by following it back. They have been piecing together the differences, one person’s life at a time, trying to narrow it down to where this all began. They still have a way to go, but they believe they have come close enough.”

“And why do they believe that?” I asked.

Solomon and Rahul shared a guilty look.

“Back when we first met you,” Rahul said, “we had reported that you were working on what appeared to be a resurrection experiment. Since we are obligated to report any advances we encounter relating to immortality, we felt we had to mention it. At first the Elders seemed uninterested, but in the past few months they have been asking us more questions about your work. Something they saw in their attempts at tracking down the Nexus must have pointed in your direction. They forced us to tell them everything we knew about you. We’re sorry.” Rahul looked at me with what I could tell was genuine pain at their betrayal.

At that look, I couldn’t help but feel they had been honest about not knowing the panacea was dangerous. Part of me still wanted to hate them for giving it to me, but another part wanted to forgive them.

I didn’t know what to do with such a volatile mix of emotions, so I tried to focus on what was truly important.

“So they gave you this supposed panacea to give to me,” I said. “And they told you it was somehow going to signal them if I happened to be this Nexus?”

Solomon nodded and said, “That is what they told us. They claimed it was based on an actual panacea—”

“They lied,” I said. “It’s more of a preservative.”

Solomon shrugged and said, “They have plenty of preservatives on hand—and this certainly wouldn’t be the first thing they’ve lied to us about. But they needed you to believe enough in what it was capable of for you to actually use it, hence their elaborate claims about its source and abilities. They did imbue it with special qualities—yes, magical qualities, get out your scoffing now—that tied it to the Divergence, as you could see when you touched it barehanded. And they told us—they told us—it would only let out a signal when you used it if the panacea detected the Nexus. When we hadn’t heard from you for so long, we feared the alchemists had come for you. We’re not sure what they intend to do with the Nexus when they identify it, but with how they treated us when they forced us to tell them about you…we had no faith that their methods would be kind. We didn’t realize they wanted to kill you…but maybe we should have.”

As I listened to him, something strange opened up in me. It was as if I were holding that damn vial again, pulled in two directions. I wanted to burn this Rubedo Society down. But I also wanted to know all their secrets.

“There was something in that panacea,” I said. “Something that actually worked. I think it might be the missing ingredient for my formula, but I could not identify what it was. Would you be able to find out for me?”

The Boy’s mouth dropped open, and he gawked at me. “Ma’am, is that really what you’re taking away from all this?” he asked. “They tried to kill you. They think you’ve broken time—”

“Yes, yes, I know, I heard the same story you did, John,” I said. “But if I’m going to have a gaggle of murderous magicians after me, I might as well get something beneficial from all this.”

I turned back to Solomon and Rahul. “Could you find what this ingredient is?” I asked them. “I need to know.”

Solomon and Rahul exchanged yet another of their secret language looks.

“We can try to find out what the ingredient list was,” Solomon said. “But it’s not exactly our top priority right now.”

“Well, make it so,” I said. “From the sounds of it, I don’t have a lot of time to finish this experiment before I have a bunch of wizards coming for my blood. So…please…find it for me.”

Solomon nodded soberly. “We will, Vic.”

“There’s something else you should know,” Rahul said. “There’s a meeting in two days of the local members of the Rubedo inner circle. We think they may discuss their plans regarding the Nexus. Sol and I aren’t allowed to go, but I know you have ways of not being seen. Perhaps you can sneak in and hear what they are plotting.” He grabbed a piece of paper from the desk, scribbled something, then handed it to me. “Here’s the address and meeting time,” he said.

I glanced down at the paper. This was not where I had expected this visit would go.

“Thank you,” I said, disbelief still deep in my bones. But they seemed so earnest…

I left shortly afterwards with the Boy. Riding back to the manor, we were both silent despite there being so much to say.

It was all so absurd…but there was something to it, a hint of truth I couldn’t deny. When I touched that vial…

I must find a way to get into this meeting. I must find out why they think I am to blame for this Divergence. I might be running out of time in more ways than I’d thought…