Divine Science: Chapter 2 – Kyros of Zarax

Chapter 2 of the Divine Science pack from the Facebook game, Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy.

Memory Details
Subject: Kyros of Zarax

Location: Ancient Greece

Time Period: 6th Century BCE

In-Game Introduction Video
Video Summary: The DDS is attempting to synchronize millennia old memories. Because the memories you'll explore are ancient, you may feel disoriented even confused. You may also find it hard to discern reality from fiction. This is normal, please remain calm.

Following the events we unlocked in the last sequence, you will now explore the origins of the Hermeticists tradition. You will follow the exploits of the Pythagoras of Samos, the Greek mathematician and scholar. You are one of his protégé, Kyros of Zarax.

Harmony
I return to Samos a champion. The people are proud of my accomplishments, as though they had reaped the honor themselves. How gracious of them.

Adagio
Pythagoras, my master, awakens me before dawn. I am fatigued, but happy to serve him. I owe him everything, starting with my victories at Elis.
 * I follow Pythagoras through the empty, quiet streets of Samos. Helios has not yet risen in the heavens and the chill of the morning still lingers.
 * Pherecydes, an acquaintance of my master, greets us. He is up early. Pythagoras says my performance at the games was nothing short of spectacular. I grin.
 * My master compares my exploits with those of Coroebus of Elis. Coroebus! Coming from anyone else, I would have laughed, but he is wise in all things.
 * Pherecyde s' hands are soft and clammy when he congratulates me. He is a learned man, but he does not abide by my master's high moral and ethical standards.
 * Pherecydes leaves us. Like countless others, he will never experience the liberating power of abstinence and asceticism. I feel truly blessed.
 * We continue at a leisurely pace, quiet and contemplative. The people will soon forget I was their champion, but it is of no consequence, for I will not.

Accelerano
Samos slowly awakens. We enjoy a frugal breakfast— bread dipped in wine— at the agora as the morning chill vanishes. It will be a blistering day.
 * We are near the local smithy when Pythagoras abruptly stops and shuts his eyes. What has caught his attention, I cannot tell over the bustle of the city.
 * Pythagoras moves with increasing speed toward the smithy. He enters it and, gasping for air, urges the blacksmiths to continue their work.
 * My master's face glistens with sweat as he moves from one smith to another, paying close attention. He suddenly picks up a hammer and strikes an anvil.
 * The smiths drop their work to form a circle around Pythagoras. He takes another hammer. "Twice as heavy," he rasps, striking the anvil again.
 * "Listen! Can you hear it?" Pythagoras asks, his voice quivering. "See the difference?" The blacksmiths stare at him, dumbfounded. So do I.
 * Pythagoras continues to strike the anvil with hammers of various sizes. He is drenched, but a broad smile distorts his usually austere features.

Allegretto
We leave the smithy with ten hammers of different sizes. It is not yet midday, but the air outside is almost as unbearable as it was inside the smithy.
 * The load I carry makes every muscle in my body ache. My back burns by the time we reach my master's home. This heat is not helping. Helios is furious today!
 * As soon as we arrive at the villa, I drop the hammers next to Hestia's altar, in the enclosed courtyard. My back will thank me later.
 * The temperature in the courtyard is tolerable, but I recognize the look on my master's face. There will be no midday meal today!
 * Following my master's instructions, I place the anvil the blacksmiths have brought to the villa in the middle of the courtyard.
 * I hit the anvil, then hit it again, and again. Four strikes with one hammer, and then four strikes with another weighing twice as much. My arm is numb.
 * Pythagoras imitates the sounds the hammers make, his voice echoing in the inner courtyard. At dusk, he tells me to stop. Our work, whatever it was, is complete.

Allegro
Pythagoras, on his knees, draws lines in the courtyard's sand. He writes at a furious pace, then throws sand over most of his scribbles, only to begin anew.
 * My master writes for hours without rest, refusing any food or drink Theano, his wife, offers. Soon, notes and diagrams cover the courtyard‘s ground.
 * Slaves light torches. My master examines and reexamines his notes, occasionally adding a number or two. He mumbles words like "ratios" and "octaves."
 * Pythagoras barely touches the food Theano has prepared for the evening meal. "Everything is related," he declares. "Everything adds up!"
 * "The first four numbers,“ Pythagoras mutters. "The four elements... The perfect number!" He suddenly stares at me. "I see it now! The tetractys!"
 * My master finally sleeps. This will give me a chance to take a look at his notes. I should not be doing this, but I must read them!
 * Pythagoras‘ notes in the sand reveal a triangular figure with four rows; a large triangle formed by various smaller ones. His tetractys?

Presto
Several men have gathered at my master's villa; renowned scholars and venerable elders crowd the inner courtyard. One of them leans on Hestia's altar! I glare at him until he moves away.
 * Most of these men share Pythagoras' beliefs in the fate of the soul. A few of them even follow his strict way of life. Unbelievers are also present.
 * They are skeptical when my master explains his theories. They do not understand what he means by "music of the spheres" or what the tetractys represents.
 * "There is geometry," Pythagoras says, “in the humming of the strings; there is music in the spacing of the spheres!" His guests stare in silence.
 * "Music," Pythagoras explains, "can be expressed as whole number ratios of the first four numbers, which form the tetractys!" Skeptics begin to leave.
 * Many guests, however, seem to grasp Pythagoras' hypothesis. I envy them. They question him, so they can better comprehend his theories.
 * Orestes, a learned mathematician, raises his cup to honor my master. "The tetractys is the sum of all wisdom!" he declares. "Praise Pythagoras!"

Opus
We arrive in Croton three years to the day after I was named "Periodonikēs," winner of all four festivals— for the second time! Pythagoras views this as a good omen.