A Chaotic but Perfect World: In the Epping Forest

New discoveries and theories

-So now, if we try these things, we'll find out the type of the ball's password and the amount of information in it.
Serly repeated the newly found information.
Oliver looked at her like it was a competition who was going to do more work.
-Yeah, but let me do that. You did the research instead of me, it would be unfair if you did the attempts too.
Serly guiltily smiled.
-Okay, you do that. I'll write all the new things we found out.
He smirked.
-You mean I?
She hid her unfaded smile and took paper and pen and began taking notes.
-Three taps if it's with a sound, right?
He wanted to be sure.
-Right.
Oliver tapped on the ball with a pencil, but nothing happened.
-Let's see if Emily was right about the typing too.
He rubbed the ball with his hands, but nothing happened.
-All that's left now is pictures.
He went and brought a flashlight.
-Ten times?
He looked at her, but she was busy.
-Yes.
He lit the flashlight ten times.
Nothing happened.
He angrily turned around.
-Nothing happened. Did I do something wrong, or is that information wrong?
The ball began sparkling. A green light appeared in the ball.
Serly raised her head to look at him and smirked.
-Look behind you, Oliver, none of you are wrong.
Oliver turned around and smiled.
-So, pictures it is. But what picture? I'm guessing it's going to be one of the pictures on the walls.
He wondered.
-Careful, Oliver, more that 3 wrongs and the ball's locked forever.
She warned him.
-What?
He looked at her unemotionally.
-How are we supposed to know which of the pictures is the right one?
He stopped and thought.
-I-I'll go and see which picture might be the right one. Where's the drone that Emily used?
She left the room.
Oliver thought.
-There's no way I'm letting her do all the work on her own. She did my job instead of me and is still going to do more? She's certainly a competition. And not only in the working field...I mean...it can't be...
She came back with the pictures of the pictures on the walls.
-All these pictures are photos of locations and rooms. And they're all almost the same. The exteriors are grey and dark, the interiors are bright. There has to be some kind of detail in them...
Oliver came closer.
-The thing you said a while ago is roaming in my head. Why would they leave this outside like that?
Serly took the ipad and shrugged.
-What are you going to search now?
He asked her surprised that she's so in love with her job.
-If the password needs a specific kind of photo.
Oliver quietly watched her, then suddenly spoke.
-Then...let me do it.
Serly looked at him.
-I gave you a chance, now you give me a chance.
His eyes were begging.
-Fine.
She gave him the Ipad.
He smiled.
She began carefully examining the photos.
They were both silently working.
-I'm starting to think these are the same pictures from different angles and lightning.
Serly told him her opinion.
-But why would someone do that? Just to play with our minds?
Oliver asked with suspicion clear in his voice and on his face.
-Maybe. Did you find anything?
She looked up from the photos.
He raised his eyebrows.
-The password can be anything chosen by the creator.
Serly licked her lips.
-And...does the creator show the picture to set that as the password, or does he give a description of the picture?
-I think it's shown.
Oliver squinted.
-Can you search how the ball is created?
Serly asked him calmly but commandingly.
-I think that's what we need to know too.
He slightly smirked.
-Just to speed the process, I'm going to do research too. Just to speed the process, not because I doubt you.
She stated.
-You doubt me?
He asked her jokingly.
Serly smiled awkwardly.
-I doubt everything...and everyone.
She left to get an ipad.
Oliver found out something.
-To create a ball, one must choose what kind of ball they want. A ball can be good and evil. A good ball keeps memories, thoughts, feelings and other harmless things. An evil ball keeps dark magic, evil plans, traps of all types and so on.
Serly came in.
He turned his attention to her.
-Read this.
She takes the ipad and reads it all.
-That's interesting. I'm going to see if there are signs to find out whether the ball's good or evil. It can be good too... otherwise...why would they leave it outside like that?
Oliver nodded and smiled.
-I agree. But it can be evil too. It might be left outside to lead us to a trap. Evil balls can do that.
Serly nodded.
-You're right.
She began searching.
Oliver stared at her for several seconds and spoke.
-I'm going to keep reading more.
She just nodded again.
After long silence, he read his information.
-Only the creator knows whether the ball's good or evil.
They sighed.
-A ball's created from thoughts. To make the thoughts come alive, one must first create the potion for keeping memories. It is called Retinetia.
Serly squinted.
-Do you think finding out the ingredients of that potion is necessary?
Oliver bit his lip.
-It's probably not necessary, but you never know...
-Then I'll research that. What else do you have?
She asked sternly and curiously.
-The thoughts are put in the potion by putting your head in the potion for an hour. You can keep your breath for an hour by taking one teaspoon of the potion for keeping your breath. It's called Conservatus spiritus. After your thoughts are recorded, they freeze in the potion and float on the surface. Collect them and put them in a boiling water. They'll melt. Stir it, but don't stir it with something that could be boiled in that temperature. It's 70°C.
Serly looked at him with suspicion.
-If the water's getting boiled at 70°C degrees, then the atmospheric pressure must be really, like really, low. And a low atmospheric pressure means a higher place. And no normal spoon will be near melting. Why would they write that?
Oliver shrugged.
-Bad at physics.
She smiled.
-Very bad at physics.
They laughed.
-You finish reading that and I'll read what I found. Lots of interesting stuff.
He smiled.
-Okay. After stirring, lower the water's temperature.
-Before cooling down the boiling water, I say change your location first. Or not, if you want to die.
Serly smiled at him.
-If Hemsworth created this ball, by going through all this, he must have really important stuff hidden in it.
He made a conclusion.
-Yeah...
She got lost in thoughts.
-How has he survived?
He wondered.
-I was thinking the same thing, then I remembered...portals. The portals he uses are the type when the destination is controlled by the creator. Or the destination is always the same.
She reminded him.
-He sent a pot full of water while boiling and then he sent his frozen thoughts there? Then he somehow stirred it?
Oliver found that hard to believe.
-That's proof that he probably uses technologies, more specifically robots, too. Another thing that proves that, is his guards' drones.
She stated.
-You think he sent a robot and water through a portal, told the robot to boil it and sent his frozen thoughts, then told the robot to put it in the boiling water?
He squinted at her.
She shrugged.
-Do you have any other theories?
Oliver thought for a moment.
-A lot coming to my mind now. But I still can't imagine him doing all that.
Serly sighed.
-Then let's move on.
Oliver lowered his eyes again.
-The thoughts will freeze in a round form. The ball will need a password. Put Retinetia drops in it. If your password's with sound, make the sound right after you put the potion drops in it and quickly stir it. If your password's with pictures, put the photo you picked as your password in the water right after you put the potion drops in it then quickly stir it. If you want your password to be a word or sentence, write your password on a piece of paper, put it in the water right after you put in potion drops and at the same time read your password with a loud, clear voice. After all these stir it. Collect them and put them together, like a puzzle. Let it dry for a day. Your ball is ready.
He finished reading.
-Ah... that's how you have to make a ball. As in for Retinetia...
Oliver looked at her.
-Does it have anything to do with the ball?
She bit her lip.
-Not fully related, but I see connections.
He squinted from curiosity.
-Read it.
She looked at her research.
-Retentia is a rare potion used by very powerful witches and wizards. It is a potion used to record things, like thoughts, feelings, sounds, memories and material things, like pictures, writings, clothes etc.
-Okay, we already knew all this.
She continued.
-In the early XIII centuries, in the secret community of witches and wizards, whoever used this potion, were killed. According to some researchers, they killed them, because that incredibly rare potion was very often used for evil deeds. The ingredients were unknown, but there are some theories, which believe, that these potions' ingredients included voices of sufferings of ghosts, nightmares, haunting visions, parts of a dead body. Retinetia isn't used or found these days, as it's dark magic.
Oliver was surprised.
-Then how did Hemsworth find one and why did that site tell us to use a potion that's not used or found?
Serly thought.
-What if Hemsworth went to the early XIII century and stole a bottle of it? That means he has portals or a portal that can travel to the past...and the site...knows something?
Oliver huffed.
-The more we do research, the more we get confused!
Serly blinked.
-What was that site called?
Oliver angrily looked at her and answered bitterly.
-I didn't pay attention to it's name...
He looked at the site's name.
-WickedToolsAndDarkMagicHistory
-History.
-Yeah, history. They should've written the whole...paragraph in past tense.
He was quite mad.
-Anyways...what about Hemsworth?
He managed to calm down.
Serly shrugged.
-He's a mystery. But we still don't know which picture the password is.
Oliver leaned on the table.
-Maybe it's not any of these pictures. Maybe he put these pictures here just to make us think it's one of these, find a random difference in them and try that picture then the ball locks and we lost information.
Serly sighed.
-That's possible too. How can we figure out?
Selena and Emily came in.
-You two, we need the table.
Serly and Oliver looked at each other.
-Fine, but where do we go?
Oliver asked her seriously.
-I don't know. Aren't you just doing research? Why do you need a table?
Selena looked at him expressionlessly.
-We'll survive without a table. Come on.
He said to Serly.
They took their stuff and went outside.
Selena smiled and whispered to Emily.
-They're getting along pretty well, right?
She was hinting at something, but Emily was clueless.
-Yeah, they're a great team...I bet she drugged him or vice versa.
Selena turned to her with a resting face, called "seriously?".
Oliver and Serly sat down on the logs.
-These are so uncomfortable...
She complained.
He smirked.
-Want to sit on my lap instead?
They laughed. She slightly blushed.
-I will if you want me to.
-That's a shame I wanted you to do it by your own free will.
She took her ipad and slid closer to him.
-There. Happy?
Oliver smiled.
-Very.
He quietly stared at her, then sighed.
-I just...want to tell you...that I...I am enjoying working with you.
Serly looked at him.
-Oh.
She stared at him coyly.
-I mean...so am I. With you, not with me, myself...did I say that right?
He chuckled and sadly smirked.
-That's actually pretty surprising after what I did... I'm not usually like that, I...I was just...I admit, jealous of you. Your assessments of me hit home too close, so yeah...there's that.
She looked at him with wide doe eyes.
-That- that was nothing. I understand that. It's nothing personal. Just repressed feelings and undeserving invisibility. It's normal. Happens all the time.
-Not normal according to feelers, but moving on.
She chuckled.
He smirked thankfully at her and took his iPad.
-And now what? We can't know which picture is the password.
He waited for her ideas.
She looked down at the ipad and sighed.
-I don't know. I don't know what we can do now...
She was visibly worried and lost.
He saw that and wrapped her hand around her waist.
-Sure, these pictures might be to trick us, but they could also be a clue.
She looked at him hopelessly.
-And what could they be hinting us?
He thought and squinted.
-What if we examine the maps the SJs sent us and the maps Selena and Emily maybe got done?
She looked down.
-We'll try...but I really think all these things are leading us to a trap. But we'll keep going, otherwise, who's going to find out if there are survivors, save them and stop Hemsworth?
She looked back at him.
Oliver smiled lightly and went in the thinker's room.
---
-I have one question.
He went closer to the table and put his hands on it.
-About what?
Selena asked bluntly.
-The maps. Can we take them?
Oliver looked at her hopefully.
-Does that ball have anything to do with the maps?
She asked with the same tone.
-The ball can't be solved yet. We have information about it, but we don't know what picture is the password. Yes, the password is a picture. It might be one of the pictures on the walls, but it might not be one of the pictures on the walls. And we need the map, to find the places in the pictures and search for clues, find something hopefully.
Selena thought.
-Fine.
Oliver smiled.
-Great! And also, can we mark the places in the pictures?
-Anything, but red.
-Also, can we take the recordings?
Selena blinked.
-Only one. The other part was recorded by the SJs, so.
-Thanks, I hope we'll find something useful.
He left the thinker's room.
-So do I.
Selena thought to herself.