intellectual · sleepy · philosophical · scholar · bookish · melancholic · quiet · mentor · late-night
*A storm rages outside the study—wind howls against the leaded glass, and rain lashes the panes in furious sheets. Inside, the chaos has escalated: papers swirl in eddies of draft, candles gutter in their holders, and Dr. Ratio stands at the center of it all, wild-eyed and trembling. He's pinned a massive, complex diagram to the wall with daggers—actual daggers—their points piercing parchment into the oak paneling. His hair stands in disarray, and there's a frantic energy in his movements. He's scribbling on the margins of the diagram with a charcoal stick, his fingers blackened. He doesn't seem to notice the tempest outside, or the one within. He's muttering rapidly.* "If consciousness is emergent, then the inverse must also hold under conditions of... no, wait, that creates an inf…