186 lines
4.3 KiB
TeX
186 lines
4.3 KiB
TeX
% 2025.12.24-TheMagesWheels\\
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\herosection{The Mage's Wheels}{chapters/2025.12.24-TheMagesWheels/image/the-mages-wheels.jpg}
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\DROPCAP{../../dropcap_c/dropT.png}he mage built his wheels \\
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in a narrow tower above the river.\\
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From the windows he could see the river \\
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threading past the stones, \\
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always on its way somewhere else, \\
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never interested in arriving.
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His wheels were fine things: \\
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cast in brass, \\
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embedded with precious stones, \\
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words engraved with care.\\
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Each wheel turned another.\\
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Virtue answered circumstance.\\
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Question answered query.\\
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He did not call it prophecy.\\
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He called it `ordering.'\\
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He aspired to a complete ordering.
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When the wheels were finished, \\
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villagers climbed the stairs to watch them turn.
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A child spun them first. \\
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``Justice and Mercy,'' she read.
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The mage smiled and began to explain.\\
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The child interrupted. \\
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``Which comes first?''
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The mage hesitated, \\
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then adjusted a turnbuckle.
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Another visitor spun. \\
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``Patience and Action.'' \\
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Another furrowed brow.\\
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Another peg turned.
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For a time, \\
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the wheels seemed to be working well enough.
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Then the questions deepened.
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A farmer asked why telling the truth \\
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had cost him his land.\\
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A widow asked which wheel explained keeping faith \\
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when nothing was resolved.\\
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A boy asked where safety was, \\
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since it never appeared.
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Each time, \\
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the mage expanded the system.\\
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He added qualifiers.\\
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Nested gears.\\
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New rings to catch what had slipped through.\\
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The wheels grew heavier.\\
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Some required two hands to move.
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They answered more — \\
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and satisfied less.
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One afternoon, \\
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the village fool arrived.\\
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He spun the wheels hard.\\
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They rattled, then settled.
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``Faithful and Lost,'' he read.
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``Lost isn't there,'' the mage said.
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The fool laughed. \\
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``Yes it is — \\
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right there between the words! \\
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After all, \\
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lost happens!''
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That night, \\
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the mage added yet more rings.
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By winter, \\
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the tower was so packed with wheels \\
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there was barely room for people.\\
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The answers were precise, \\
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exhaustive, \\
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and incomprehensible.\\
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Visitors left confused or tired.\\
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The mage himself kept notes now — \\
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scraps of parchment tucked into the spokes.\\
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Sometimes the notes fell out.
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One evening, \\
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turning the wheels alone, \\
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he spun them with particular zeal.\\
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They rattled, \\
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wobbled, \\
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and finally settled on a pairing \\
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he had never imagined.
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``Finite Infinity,'' he read.
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He stared at the words for a long time.\\
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He tried to explain them to himself — \\
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and got nowhere.
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He reached for a pencil — \\
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then stopped.
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To account for what the wheels now reached toward, \\
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they would need more room — \\
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more distinctions, \\
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more of everything than any tower could hold.\\
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They would need to be wider than the fields, \\
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wider than the river, \\
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large enough to turn with the seasons themselves.
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They'd need to be wheels as large as the world.
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He set the pencil down \\
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and went to bed,\\
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his head a slow boil \\
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of impossible ideas.
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A few days later, \\
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he dismantled most of the machine.\\
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He kept only two small wheels.
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On one, \\
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he placed roots: \\
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Faith, Justice, Mercy, Patience.\\
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On the other, their shapes: \\
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Faithful, Just, Merciful, Patient.
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No outcomes.\\
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No explanations.
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And when visitors came, \\
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he no longer explained.\\
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He only smiled and nodded toward the wheels.
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One afternoon, \\
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he spun them himself.\\
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They slowed and settled.
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``Merciful Courage,'' he read.
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He did not interpret it.\\
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He leaned back \\
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and let the words hang between his ears. \\
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``I'm going to have to think about this one.''
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So he swept the floor and took a nap.
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Later that afternoon, \\
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the girl came and spun \\
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without asking permission.\\
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The mage didn't mind.
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``Patient Justice,'' she read, \\
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and made a face as if she'd been handed \\
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something heavy and oddly shaped.
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The mage poured water \\
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and set two cups between them, \\
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without saying a word.
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By the end of the week, \\
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people were spinning the wheels t\\
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he way they might touch a relic.\\
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Some laughed and spun again immediately.\\
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Some left and returned days later, \\
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to see what new pairing would meet them.
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The mage watched all of it, \\
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silently.\\
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There was nothing to say.
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He moved the larger wheels to the basement.\\
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He did not destroy them.\\
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He simply stopped feeding a machine \\
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that grew hungrier the more it was fed.
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The small wheels stayed by the window, \\
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ready for any hand \\
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that cared to spin them.
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