Ciphers and Cryptographs (Whisper)

[Inali]

14th Trial of Ymiden, 711th Arc
Inali wandered the second floor of the Caesious Wing of the University. She was unsure whether the Institute of Languages held the information she hoped to uncover, but it was as good of a place to start as any. While the Eidisi had considered starting her hunt in the vast libraries, she knew how easily one could be ensnared by texts that were tangentially related to the subject at hand. No, it was best to seek out an expert and ask them for their advice and guidance first, then reference the texts and treatises they suggested. Years of experience always dwarfed her voracious appetite for knowledge, no matter how fast she read. Inali held onto that truism as she walked along the main hallway, searching to the left and right for any scholars that were not occupied by their work.

As she walked, the Eidisi pondered how linguistics and languages would relate to cryptography. The more esoteric written languages like Yjik could be used as a type of pseudo-code. Few could read the language, and notes written in it were relatively safe from prying eyes. Still, anonymity was never assured. Thus, Yjik did not fit her needs.

A few bits later, Inali had made it to the last few feet of the wing. She sighed and resigned herself to ferreting out the information she needed within the library stacks. The scholars that worked within the library wouldn’t be as useful as a Linguistics professor, but they would have to do. Surely they knew something about basic ciphers and codes. As Inali began to pivot on her heel and walk towards the library, a small ray of light at the end of the hall caught her eye. She approached it slowly and peered into the doorway which was held slightly ajar by a rounded brick. The flickering glow of lantern light spilled out into the hallway, leaving the figure at the desk silhouetted in darkness. Inali spoke up cautiously in a quiet tone,

“Excuse me… I was looking for information on cryptography. I wish to make my own code of sorts, to store my research. Can you help me? Do you know of anyone that can? The whole wing is nearly empty…”

Inali trailed off at that and grimaced inwardly. Why did she have to babble on in the presence of chartered faculty members? They had been all too clear in the past – brevity was preferred. The Eidisi held her breath, anxiously awaiting a reply from the mysterious figure.

[Whisper]

An Associate Professor in the Caesious Wing of the Viden Academy, Vael Talius was by no means an impressive figure in such a world renowned Institute. By all accounts, he had an impressive resume, with a number of qualifications in various fields on Linguistics beneath him. His favoured area, however, and one which he strived to work on for his Licentiate, was the niche area of ‘Forensic Linguistics’. For many others in the Institute, it was a waste; it was a subjective field based around what the individual wanted to interpret. There was no science to the subject, many argued.

Thus Vael had been shunned by all… even, to an extent, his affluent family. His previous work allowed him a position within the faculty still, but many of his ideas were ignored, and he was not given the opportunity to teach. He would prove them all wrong, he kept promising himself. His formula was almost complete and, with that, he could finish his paper and be reinstated into a full position on the Academy staff.

In his small cubby-hole of an office, by dim candlelight, he worked away. In some ways, he enjoyed the peace. Having a room at the end of the corridor meant that anyone wishing to belittle him would actually have to go out of their way in order to do so. Many could not find it in themselves to sink to such levels, so he was left alone, so long as he stayed confined to his own room.

Vale was disturbed from his intense concentration at the small, nervous voice which spoke through the crack in the door. Closing his eyes for a moment, he counted for five ticks before reopening them and turning around to face the owner of the voice. A young eídisi stood there, looking very much the way she sounded - lost and out of place. The disgraced scholar took instant pity on the girl, who could not have been older than about 25 arcs. A mere youngling. “Come in, child,” he gestured to the seat opposite his desk, one which had not been occupied in a number of seasons, now, “Please, have a seat.”

He waited to see if the girl would comply before continuing, “What is your name?” He first asked, introducing himself in turn, knowing that, unless she had specifically searched for the knowledge, she would not know that he was the laughing stock of the Institute or, indeed, the Academy. The Institute tried to keep such things quiet. “I am afraid that Cryptography is not my particular area of expertise… however I do have a lesser qualification in the area. Enough to assist a budding linguist, at least! Do you have an idea of the exact areas of cryptography which interest you, child?”

[Inali]

Inali released a shaky breath and unclenched the fingers that she held tightly against her side. Even if the rest of the encounter was a failure, she wouldn’t have to face the sting of being ignored. Such pain was not uncommon - if a young scholar wandered the halls past the designated office hours, they were often met with cool stares or the gentle click of a closing door. Many of the students who came from affluent families were outraged by such treatment and they often demanded to be seen. Such tirades were allowed only once, and the resulting tirade often left the arrogant pupil in tears. The professors of the University were not uncaring. They simply had a hard time finding value in anything else other than their own area of study, which they attended to with a tenacity that often bordered on mania.

Inali stepped into small office and took a seat on the offered chair. Thus far, this scholar had been almost kind. While his behavior was different, Inali welcomed the chance to introduce herself. Few cared about the names of their pupils.

“I am Inali.”

She nodded as he replied with his own name,

“I appreciate your time, Professor.”

Inali paused for a moment, allowing the question to roll through her. She had come to his office to narrow down the subfield within cryptography that interested her. Still, that was hardly an answer to give to a professor of the Academy. Inali spoke slowly, drawing on the few articles she had read concerning cryptography.

“I am interested in the theoretical basis of cryptography and how it informs the creation of strong ciphers, but I am more interested in the practical component. Historical ciphers are only notable because someone cracked the cipher. I want to do more than simply record my research in the Ancient Language - I want to create a code that…”

Inali paused. She wanted to create a coded system that what? It went without saying that she wanted a system that would be meaningless to prying eyes. Surely there was something more. She continued, her voice filled with trepidation,

“I want to create a code is more than the sum of its parts. Something that inspires awe and fear while still being concise, without losing the original intent of the message. I want to create something elegant and functional. Moreover, I want to be able to do this for many languages.”

The young Eidisi stopped again, blushing slightly,

“But first, one step at a time.”

[Whisper]

The man smiled as the girl entered. She was clearly nervous; he wondered if she was even a student of the Tertiary Academy. It was not uncommon to have a keen Secondary pupil to come searching for more free knowledge out of ambition for their future. Generally, those students were only supported if they came from affluent families, especially if they proved themselves to be useful. But this young eídisi looked like she must at least be old enough to have finished her compulsory education. “Inali, a beautiful name.”

The man sat silently, hands steepened in front of his hooked nose as he listened to the young lady practically blurt out her reasoning for seeking out assistance from the faculty. The professor got the distinct impression that Inali was nervous about wasting his time. However he worked hard to keep the kindly smile from curling and growing into one of cruel amusement at the girl’s awkwardness. But then, it occurred to him, he might just be projecting. He might just be wishing his own personality onto the other.

“Cryptography, from what I know of it, is a broad field. One which is buried primary under much mathematics. I am sure you are already aware - given your obvious keen interest in the subject - that the general field of linguistics is more scientific than it is arts-related? Cryptography is perhaps one of the most scientific sub-fields.” The disgraced lecturer leaned forward, so that his lower arms were now rested on the desk in front of him.

The dim light of the room flickered, though the man was used to working by such poor light, and appreciated that he was able to easily make out the girl’s features. “In linguistics, we spend much of our time analysing already existing encrypted codes and languages. To truly understand the process of creation, it would be beneficial to understand the mathematics of encoding one language into another.”

The eídisi stood, and invited his guest to do the same, “Of course, with knowledge of linguistics alone, you would be able to create a rudimentary code of sorts into which you would be able to translate words and even sentences.” He bent over and blew out the light on his table before making his way to the door, with the obvious indication that she was to follow. “Of course, the mathematical knowledge is not pure mathematics in the sense that a layperson might assume I mean. How good is your knowledge of syntax and morphology? If you were to look at the structure of a few existing languages, you might be able to find features from a number of systems which you could pull together to create your own cipher.”

[Inali]

Inali smiled graciously at Vael’s praise and chastised herself inwardly, willing herself to release the tight grip that kept her fingers locked in fists at her sides. He had taken the time to not only ask her name, but to repeat it. She had often wondered if the most esteemed professors of the Academy had somehow transcended to a place where names were meaningless. She had become so used to being called ‘student’ and ‘child’ that hearing her given name caused a small jolt of unease. No, she reminded herself, You’re not in trouble. Finally, she managed to impart a measure of calm into her actions. The young eídisi's breaths were even as she listened to the professor discuss the intersection of math and linguistics. It was a truth that she had hoped to avoid, as her studies had taken her away from math and she had been more than happy to neglect to the cold, number filled discipline. She nodded in agreement with his statement before jumping slightly at the flickering lamp light.

The professor was correct, of course. Linguistics had appealed to her over many of the other disciplines at the University precisely because it examined languages and codes that already existed. It was a near perfect blend of the past and the present. The Academy used modern methods to critique old theories concerning nearly forgotten languages. It was a dizzying mix of theory and practical study. If a scholar within the Linguistics department wished to tackle a new challenge, there were always plenty of younger languages and dialects to analyze and argue about. When compared to the cutting edge science departments where researchers were always expected to unearth new discoveries, her own department seemed far less stressful. Older students that had continued their studies for many years had assured her that the Caesious wing was every bit as cutthroat as the Viridian and Cerulean wings. Perhaps learning more about mathematics would shield her from the harshest of criticisms from within her department. Cross-disciplinary learning was rarely a bad idea.

Inali stood and followed the professor, blinking rapidly in the growing darkness that covered the room. Thinking quickly, Inali did her best to summarize years of lessons.

“I’m rather familiar with the syntax of the Ancient Language and Rakahi. I studied the basics of the sequence of subject, verb, and object order as well as the common hypotheses of grammar that have been proposed for each.”

She then listed a few of these for emphasis before continuing on to discuss her lessons in morphology.

“Again, I focused mainly on the Ancient Language and Rakahi. My knowledge of Common… needs a lot of work. I never found it to be worthy of my time.”

She frowned and continued speaking after a moment,

“Thinking about it now, I imagine the study of the history of cryptography would benefit from a strong grasp of Common. Oh well. Anyways, I devoted more time to morphology than syntax – I wrote a lot of my papers on the most critical morphemes in Rakahi. My more recent papers examined how the root words of the language evolved in tandem with the growth of the sea trading routes of the Biqaj. My professors tore the latter of the two to bits, but I expected that. Rakahi is a popular language.”

Inali nodded,

“Yes, that was what I was hoping to do. I’m sure I can dive into the math side of it later to develop stronger cryptographs, but for now I was hoping to rely on what I’ve learned thus far. If I get pulled too far into the mathematics department, I might not ever emerge.”

She grinned at this and awaited further directions from the professor.