#Ellisvere

[wendelyngandr]

So, Novi's stubborn refusal to share Ellisvere's notes on Presence Theory is her central point of conflict - it is the paradox of her behaviour that drives everyone she knows up the wall and throws her life into chaos. So why does she hide her mother's secret research?

Firstly, doubt. Ellisvere's discovery amounts, essentially, to magic, a way to directly download the imagination into the physical world, bypassing art, technology, the entire prospect of human ingenuity and labour... properly expressed, Presence shatters the ontological integrity of the world.

So, in the face of this incredible claim, Novi searches for evidence to back up her mother's theory.

All the while, she suspects that anyone else reading Presence Theory would dismiss it as nonsense, and conclude that Ellisvere was off her rocker - an idea all too easily corroborated by her mysterious disappearance.

Was Ellisvere the greatest scientist ever, or a crank? This is the question Novi has to settle in her own mind before she is comfortable opening up to anyone else about it, and the very process of settling this question forces her to follow in Ellisvere's tracks. And when she crosses paths with Dr. Salven, she struggles to justify why her actions aren't irrational. Salven is a good accelerant because, as Ellisvere's protege and former lab partner, he is convinced (as Novi is) of her genius, but as a representative of the scientific establishment, his involvement threatens to take Presence Theory out of Novi's hands, rigorously falsify it, or if it ends up being true then cycle it into the world's already insane pace of technological development. What Novi fears is a loss of control - over her own narrative about her mother, her competency with the technologies of her time, and her own integrity as a person.

As the story progresses, Novi finds it increasingly easy to believe that she is losing her mind. Yet she clings to the hope - and terror - that the universe is in for an ontological revolution.

In the midst of all this, she looks to Mobulas for help because (as his actions at the art show suggest) he is perceptive and deeply curious, while also having a sense of discretion. She intends to leverage their friendship to help her figure things out without tipping her hand, but the very thing Novi needs from Mobulas (his trust) is put in jeopardy by her manipulative tactics.

Novi's superpower is Doubt, Mistrust, Confabulation, Illusion. She is a sneaky goblin fleeing with the Arkenstone in her hands - or is it only a polished piece of quartz? She is the gaslight gatekeep girlboss of the story, she is a wet cat doing parkour in the streets, she is constantly defying the retribution she knows the world has for her...

#Hnoko Daydreams #Novi #Ellisvere #Dr. Salven #Mobulas #Presence Theory