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A Physics Lesson

I don’t give myself enough opportunities to emphasize Edmund’s intelligence and smarts anywhere near as much as I do his more obvious qualities. Fortunately, I had an idea for this piece from Marsel-Defender in May of 2024 that could while still holding true to the character.

He could tutor someone shy and nervous, who might need a good friend like Edmund in his life. At the time, this rabbitkin named “Mortimer” was intended to be just another in a long line of one-off characters that wouldn’t be mentioned ever again. Obviously, plans change, and now he’s a major part of Edmund’s life, but were it not for this piece none of that would have been possible.

And another fun fact, this was the story where I started to figure out what level of technology Crossroads would have. I decided that they would have technology at a comparable level to ours, except it would be more magical in nature due to the properties of the plane. Instead of televisions, they would have projectors fueled by illusion magic, for example. Similar functions, but using methods more mystical.

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The plains outside of Magistrum City are a popular hangout for the students of the school, away from the watchful eyes of their instructors. Despite the flat terrain, there exist enough shrubs, hills, and hideaways for them to have relative privacy.

On this day, Edmund could be found walking up to one such hidey-hole, a small cave on the outskirts of town, wearing naught but a pair of breeches and a backpack to carry his things. For the tigerkin youth, such limited garb was what passed as “casual,” and his friends knew better than to think he was just showing off. One such friend, a short white rabbitkin named Mortimer, accompanied him, dressed in breathable fabrics for the warm spring day.

“Morty, remind me why we can’t just use the library?”

The young hare sighed, “I don’t want my parents to know I need a tutor.”

Shaking his head with a wry grin, Edmund countered. “Ya sure you’re not embarrassed to be tutored by a ‘meathead’?”

“Ed, that may have worked for you before, but no one is going to think Professor E’s apprentice is ‘just a meathead’.” As he finished speaking, Morty sat down and beckoned his friend to join him.

“Fair ‘nuff.” The more athletic of the two set his backpack down on the ground, taking out his Magistrum communicator. Connecting to the school’s archives, the device accessed the contents of their required reading, creating an exact copy in the form of an interactive illusion.

Flipping through the book, Edmund confirmed the topic as he hunted for the relevant section. “Ya said you were having physics trouble?”

Looking away, Morty started to sulk. “Yeah. My folks’ll kill me if I don’t pass.” Having hit the right page, the tigerkin gently placed a hand on his classmate’s shoulder before giving him some words of encouragement.

“Hey, that’s why I’m here, Morty. You’ll be a whiz kid by da time we’re done.”

It was a small gesture, but enough to dispel the doubt in his head. “Thanks, Ed.”

“Notta problem. Now, looks like you’re learning about work and power?”

“Yeah. I’m having a difficult time keeping the two straight in my head.”

The mind mage’s apprentice’s face lit up, smile growing wide. “I think I have just the trick, but imma need some room.” Standing up, took some boxing tape from his backpack and wrapped his hands with it, walking out into the clearing just outside the cave.

Mortified, the rabbitkin tried but was unable to stop him. “Ed, wait. What if people see us!?”

“‘S fine as long as you stay in da cave, Morty. Now, to help you remember which is which.”

Laying his body flat on the grass, the tigerkin began to shift his weight onto his right palm, slowly raising himself off the ground. Though his arm tensed, it was clear that the effort was putting minimal strain on him. Looking toward his would-be pupil, he began to lecture.

“In order to lift myself up off the ground like this, my arm is doin’ work.” Lowering himself back down, just above the ground, he continued, “And it’s also doing work to lower myself back down like this, ya see?”

Watching his friend and classmate performing a practical demonstration, Mortimer started growing beat red. “Umm. I think I get it, but what separates that from power, Ed?”

Still holding himself aloft, the ‘meathead’ continued, “Good question. Power and work ’re related. Power is the amount of work being done over time. Say it takes me one sec to lift myself back up.” He demonstrated his example by doing just that, before lowering himself back down. “Then, I repeat da same move, this time takin’ two seconds.” Again, the athletic one among them brought his body back up into the air, slowing his pace as his arm bulged and tensed. “Because the second rep took twice as long to do the same amount of work, I was using half as much power. That make sense?”

Morty froze, unable to respond when he noticed that a couple of other students, ones he didn’t recognize, were staring at his instructor lifting himself so effortlessly off the ground. Even still, he couldn’t bring himself to talk. It was Edmund who broke the silence, with a blunt question.

“You gonna keep gawkin’, or you want me to start over?”

That was enough to break the poor rabbitkin out of his stupor. “Sorry, Ed. Yeah, I think I got it. But… people are starting to stare.” And, in fairness, Mortimer knew that he would have this lecture burned into his mind, instantly recalling the moment whenever the subjects of work or power came up.

“Let’em stare. Ya get used to it. Trust me, they’ll clear out before they know you’re the one in that cave. Besides, we need to run through a few problems ta make sure ya got it down.” Fetching a canteen of water from his pack, Edmund quaffed the crisp, cold liquid, magically chilled by its container.

Once more captivated by the sight of his friend, chugging away, only one phase could leave Morty’s lips. “You’re such a meathead, Edmund.”

After finishing his drink, the tigerkin laughed, “You weren’t saying that earlier.”

Without thinking, the hare retorted, “I said you weren’t ‘just a meathead’. You’re still a meathead.”

“Got that right.”

Sitting back down, Edmund returned to his lesson, stopping once it was clear Mortimer understood the material. Then, they returned to their apartment and their other roommates.