[Experiments]

The following day, Claude entered the laboratory with his supervisor. Elysium possessed several such rooms, each of which would be allocated to Official Mages. Of course, the equipment inside must be exchanged for or found by the mage themselves.

Rows and rows of workbenches lined the room, with the room given light by the large gas lamps that hung from above. Brass instruments gleamed under the flickering light, while glass beakers and tubes reflected a soft amber glow.

Catherine stood near one of the workbenches, dressed in a long, dark blue gown with a high collar instead of the standard Elysium attire. A light apron was draped over the front of her clothes.

Her dark hair was pulled back into a neat bun, though a few strands had slipped free, softening her otherwise sharp features. Claude himself wore a fitted doublet of deep brown, its sleeves rolled up slightly, revealing the crisp linen of his undershirt.

He had been greeted beforehand to wear articles of clothing that were tight-fitted, and comfortable, which was to prevent the clothes from getting in the way when experimenting.

"Good morning." Catherine greeted, her eyes still darting about, staring at everything other than Claude's eyes. "I take it that you have gone through the book I had told you to read up on."

Claude answered with a slight nod.

"Wonderful!" She clapped her hands, her posture slightly relaxing. "Though that book was merely an introduction to the field, it is more than enough for you to grasp the aims of our experiment."

"To challenge the existence of Gravitons?" Claude replied, somewhat uncertain as he recalled what he had read last night. Gravitons—particles believed to make up the force known as Gravity, one of three known fundamental forces of the universe. Yet, oddly enough, the book he had read yesterday seemed to argue that Gravitons do not exist.

"Yes. My supervisor and I experimented many years ago." As she mentioned her supervisor, her eyes visibly darkened, but she soon recovered. "It was a simple free-fall experiment."

She hurried to a nearby desk, picking up two spheres—one made of brass, the other wood. Relaxing her grip, she released them at the same time.

Crash!

The pair simultaneously struck the stone floor, chipping it ever so slightly.

"But ours was different. We performed ours under very different conditions." She squinted slightly at the fallen objects before looking up. "A vacuum."

Claude's eyes gleamed. 'A vacuum? How did they establish such an environment?' As Catherine continued speaking, Claude forced himself to stop his pondering.

"We found that the results were consistent with all the other free-fall experiments performed prior." She said, her eyes still fixed on the fallen objects. "Do you know why that posed an issue?"

Claude paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing. Unfortunately, no answer presented itself to him.

"Do not worry if you are unable to answer it." Catherine glanced at Claude's face which was knit in confusion, before comforting him. "You haven't been in contact with this knowledge for long enough."

Taking a breath, she continued. "The issue posed was straightforward. If Gravitons truly existed and were physical particles that mediated Gravity... Why do objects still fall in a vacuum?"

A look of realisation struck Claude as he heard her question. "That's right... A vacuum should not accommodate any physical particles..." he muttered.

"Precisely. And so, my supervisor and I went on to perform more experiments. My current research revolves around analysing this phenomenon. Just with a bit more precision." Catherine moved across the room, approaching a large workbench where a set of polished brass spheres and finely tuned instruments lay.

"We will be working on a more refined version of the famed Cavendish Experiment, as pioneered by His Eminence Cavendish." As she spoke his name, a flash of reverence flickered in her eyes. However, her reverie was short-lived, soon regaining her focus. 

"Follow me." Catherine motioned to Claude as she began walking to another bench nearby. "Today I will be performing another round of experiments, you need only observe and write down notes regarding the experiment."

"This should help you get a better understanding of our project, and the various experimental procedures required for it."

Soon, they arrived at their intended destination. It was a large glass box. Inside, a horizontal bar was suspended by a thin wire, with small lead spheres affixed to each end. A sizable, dense gold plate stood between them, held in place by an adjustable mechanism. In addition, a large lead sphere was placed close to one of the smaller spheres, and positioned adjacent to the larger spheres was a pendulum clock.

"This is where the experiment will take place." Catherine tapped on the glass with a fingernail. "The glass used here is a recent advancement from Elysium—several times stronger than ordinary glass."

She paused for a moment, then added, "Normally, glass is brittle because of the way molten silica cools into a disordered, amorphous state. However, by tempering it in high temperatures before gently cooling it, we can allow the silica to rearrange itself in a more even manner."

"This will allow the glass to withstand the pressure gradient formed when creating a vacuum environment, which I already created yesterday, with the help of a spell. And, if you so wish I could teach the spell to you."

Claude studied the enclosure with newfound interest. The notion that basic knowledge such as the behaviour of particles in different temperatures could be used to create such a novel technique endlessly fascinated him.

Catherine turned back to the experiment. "Today, we are aiming to determine whether this gold plate will interfere with the gravitational attraction between the two spheres." She gestured at the dense slab positioned between them. "I've already performed this experiment with other materials—lead, stone—both in and out of a vacuum. None of them showed any measurable effect on gravity.

"This is merely a repeat with gold to verify that the outcome remains consistent across different mediums. If gravity truly does still exist within the system, the large spheres should pull the smaller ones. Which should cause the bar to rotate ever so slightly, twisting the wire suspending it. "

She reached for a worn notebook resting on the table and handed it to Claude, along with a pen. "You'll be recording today's data."

Claude flicked through the pages. The notebook was filled with dense lines of writing, equations squeezed into margins, and precise diagrams illustrating past trials. Many pages were marked with tiny annotations, the ink sometimes smeared from hurried notations. Some sketches depicted previous setups. Others were tables of recorded measurements, neatly organised yet overwhelming in detail.

Catherine carefully adjusted the apparatus, using various mechanisms fixed to the external surface of the glass, ensuring that the bar was balanced, and the spheres were still.

"We'll begin now." She stepped back and gently released the suspension, allowing the wire to settle into a neutral position. The bar, now free to move, swung about for a brief while, before hanging motionless. Claude leaned in, staring at the still apparatus. 

Catherine spoke intermittently, her tone now serious. "The gold plate is precisely five millimetres thick. Distance between each large and small sphere—ten centimetres. Note that." Claude quickly scribbled down the information.

"The wire's torsional constant has been calculated from prior trials," Catherine continued. "Now we just need to wait."

Together, they observed the slow, swings of the suspended bar. For nearly an hour, Claude and Catherine repeated the experiment, allowing the bar to swing and recording their findings.

Claude's eyes flicked between the setup and his notes. The period of motion was unchanged from previous trials. No unexpected accelerations, no deviations in movement. The gold plate, despite its density, had done nothing to interfere with the attraction between the spheres.

Catherine eventually exhaled through her nose and straightened. "As expected," she muttered. "The presence of the gold had no measurable effect. Just like lead. Just like stone."

Claude tapped his pen against the notebook. "So this should confirm it—gravitational attraction isn't affected by physical obstructions."

"Exactly," Catherine said. "If gravitons behaved like conventional particles, they should have been blocked or at least scattered by a dense material like gold. But nothing has changed. Gravity behaves as though the plate isn't there at all."

Claude glanced down at his notes, flipping back to the records of previous experiments. The numbers remained consistent, regardless of the material used. If the existence of gravitons was to be upheld, their behaviour would have to be something fundamentally different from other particles.

Catherine crossed her arms, staring at the experiment with a thoughtful expression. "If we assume that gravitons exist, then we have to accept that they either pass through matter completely unimpeded or don't behave as discrete particles at all."

Claude nodded slowly. "Which would mean that the entire model of gravity based on them is flawed."

Catherine turned to Claude. "Write up the final observations, then clean up the setup. This may not be a new result, but every repeat brings us closer to certainty. To the truth."

"The next series of experiments will focus on altering other parameters. For example, heat. Even if Gravitons do exist as tiny particles that can pass through solid media, they should still obey the laws of thermodynamics. Thus, we can test to see if gravity is altered in a closed system when subject to extreme temperatures."

"Huh?" Catherine's breathing hitched, her serious facade cracking slightly. 'Since when was the last time I spoke so much...?' 

She glanced at Claude for a moment, a faint hoarseness crawling up her throat. It had been many years since she talked so much. Even with those few she called friends, she would merely have brief conversations, unlike now...

Perhaps it was due to her love of these experiments? The joy in confirming her hypotheses and stepping closer to the truth.

Or, perhaps this is a sign. Telling her to move on from that day... to make sure that this fresh soul will not have to bear the burdens of his predecessors. After all, is that not why she had picked him to join her project?

"That should be it for today. Cough! I'll send you some more books to read through so you can help more in the following experiments." As she finished speaking, she scurried out of the lab, like a mouse leaving its hole; leaving behind a slightly confused Claude.

Nevertheless, Claude soon regained his composure, standing in the silent laboratory. The various experimental equipment reflected in his serene eyes, stirring a sense of fascination in him. 'Knowledge... what a beautiful thing it is.'

Knowledge and power.

Every day, he could feel that his desire for both only grew. Still, where would this take him? Claude knew as little as anyone else. However, he could only hope, that he could live a life with few regrets.