Mysteries of Aurora - Wednesday, 4th September 2024

 Wednesday, September 4^th, 2024

After she awoke, Freya turned on her radio to one of the campus radio stations.

 

“This is AAUA Student Radio Auroran. Now celebrating 105 years of continual broadcasting.”

 

Freya reflected on that, even in the Second World War, with the Luftwaffe unable to reach Urbs Aeterna, the radio stations in the city and further west continued broadcasting.

 

“Official Orientation activities will start today, to help new students familiarise themselves with the vast campus. They will run until Friday.”

 

Freya knew that already, but it was good to be reminded. She started getting ready.

 

 

Freya entered the Dining Hall, where the first year students of Sigrun Sigurdottir Hall were meeting prior to the first Orientation event.

 

“You’re early,” Dana said.

 

Freya shrugged. “Breakfast first,” she said.

 

“Of course.”

 

 

By the time Freya had finished breakfast, most of the students in the Hall had gathered.

 

“Good morning, everyone,” Dana said. “The first event will be a treasure hunt across the campus as is traditional. It is to help everyone familiarise themselves with the layout before classes.”

 

“How traditional?” another student asked.

 

“As far as I know, John, it started in the 19^th Century, although similar events occurred in earlier eras,” Dana answered.

 

“Oh,” the student, John, responded.

 

‘Not everything is ancient,’ Freya thought.

 

“It will start in half an hour at the Central Plaza,” Dana said.

 

“That’s good,” Freya said, bouncing up and down. “I can hardly wait.”

 

 

Olivia and Janara approached the Central Plaza.

 

“Are you OK?” Janara asked.

 

“It’s just that it’s going to be crowded,” Olivia answered.

 

“And you don’t like crowds?”

 

“No.”

 

“I’ll be with you,” Olivia said.

 

“Thanks.”

 

 

Freya looked around the Central Plazza. The crowd was close to being visually overwhelming but she focused on the people nearby.

 

“Welcome, New students.”

 

The crowd quietened down.

 

“In ten minutes, the annual orientation treasure hunt will begin.”

 

‘I can hardly wait,’ Freya thought.

 

“You will join with other students in groups of five to twenty.”

 

 

“Five to twenty!” Olivia said.

 

“Would less then ten be OK?” Janara asked.

 

“Probably,” Olivia responded as she looked around.

 

 

Freya meet up in a group of eight, most of whom were also residents of Sigrun Sigurdottir Hall. “Colorful,” one of the others said.

 

“Well,” Freya said as she twirled a pink pigtail. “I am an artist. This is one way I express myself.”

 

“Oh, of course. What’s your name?”

 

“Freya, and you?”

 

“Daniela.”

 

The group them introduced each other.

 

 

“The first clue… find a place where plants are abundant and have purpose.”

 

“That would be a botanical garden, right?” Daniela asked.

 

“Could be a herbarium,” another girl, Julia, said.

 

“That too,” Freya considered as she looked at her tablet. The Aurosoka map of the University was then shown. “The Botany department is to the north.”

 

“Let’s go,” Daniela said.

 

 

Olivia and Janara had met up with a small group. “Herbarium, that makes sense,” Olivia said. “We’ll go there.”

 

“Sure,” one of the other students, Ethan, said.

 

“North from the Grand Plaza,” Janara said. “Between the Main Library and the History Department. Then through the Art Department.”

 

“Is there another way?” Olivia asked. “As she looked around at the crowds heading in the same direction.”

 

“We could go on the elevated walkways,” Janara suggested.

 

Olivia looked at one of the nearby ramps up to the walkways. “That’s a good idea.”

 

 

Daniela lead the group into the Botanic Gardens, which looked like an oasis within the built up environment of the University. “Freya?” she asked. She turned and saw that the pink-haired girl had her eyes closed. “Are you OK?”

 

“I’m fine. It’s that I get visually overwhelmed sometimes,” Freya explained in a tone that indicated that she was tired of explaining it. “Something I live with and have adapted to. And synaesthesia gives me an advantage. I can hear the group’s footsteps and smell the foliage of the Gardens.”

 

“And you’re an artist?”

 

“I like pushing my boundaries.”

 

“That doesn’t explain much,” Daniela said.

 

“I know, it is part of who I am, but it doesn’t define me.”

 

“Good that you have figured that out.”

 

 

Freya walked along, following the patterns given off by the group’s footsteps. She knew the scepticism Daniela had displayed. It was the same as that many at her school had before they had got to know her. ‘They will see that I’m capable, despite my limitations.’

 

 

“It has to be around here somewhere,” Daniela said. “We’re now somewhere in the middle,” she added to Freya, who still had her eyes closed. ‘I had heard something about it. Is it that she’s overstimulated?’

 

“Thanks,” Freya said. “The pattern of the walkways tells me something.”

 

“And that is?” Julia asked.

 

“I’m still thinking it over,” Freya said. “I also have ADHD, so focus doesn’t come easily.”

 

“Got it,” Daniela said. “A lot of issues,” she murmured.

 

“Neurodivergence, not issues!” Freya added in an annoyed tone.

 

Daniela realised she had struck a nerve. “I didn’t mean it like that,” she said sincerely.

 

 

Freya breathed deeply as she calmed herself. “It’s that others had underestimated me in the past.”

 

“Sorry about that,” Julia said.

 

“So, where’s the next clue?” Daniela said, sounding like she wanted to change the topic.

 

Freya thought about the pattern she had found and also remembered the map of the university. “We entered through the south.”

 

“Yes,” Julia prompted.

 

“Then that means it should be in somewhere in the greenhouses!” Freya said.

 

“Then that is where we shall go!” Daniela said.

 

 

Olivia’s group approached the Herbarium along the walkways. “There it is,” Janara said.

 

Olivia looked, the building looked like it dated from the late 19^th Century. ‘The University is a patchwork,’ she realised. Areas were rebuilt over the centuries. She looked at the walkway as they walked along. She wasn’t sure how old it was. They soon entered the Herbarium building.

 

“Now, plants with purpose,” Janara said.

 

“Medicinal plants?” Olivia asked.

 

“Probably?” Janara asked.

 

 

Freya and the others entered the Main Greenhouse.

 

“It has to be in the centre,” Freya said.

 

“How do you figure?” Julia asked.

 

“The pattern is leading towards there,” Freya answered.

 

“So, a focal point?” Daniela asked.

 

“Yes,” Freya said.

 

 

They sound found the center, where they found a statue that seemed to be of a blend of Juno and Frigga. “There’s an inscription at the bottom,” Daniela said. “But it’s in Auroric.”

 

Freya opened her eyes and looked at it. “Seek the roots, where knowledge flows,” she translated.

 

“You know Auroric?” Julia asked.

 

“My family is bilingual,” Freya answered.

 

“Right, so that might mean either the Library, or the History Department,” Julia said.

 

“The Library is older, so it might be the Library,” Daniela said.

 

“Well, they are next to each other,” Freya said. “We could go to one first.”

 

 

Meanwhile, Olivia’s group found a similar inscription in the Herbarium. “Seek the root of where knowledge flows,” Janara read.

 

“Sounds like the Library,” Olivia considered.

 

“It could also be the History department,” Ethan said.

 

“That’s a good point,” Olivia said.

 

“So, where first?” Janara asked.

 

“The History department,” Olivia decided.

 

 

And so, the treasure hunt progressed. Freya found that while the others in the group didn’t understand her differences, they accepted them.

 

‘It’s certainly better than when I started high school,’ she thought after finding the fourth clue in the Main Art Gallery.

 

“Where next?” Daniela asked.

 

“The Education Department,” Freya said.

 

“That’s good. We’re crossing the campus many times,” Julia said.

 

“Plenty of exercise,” Freya said.

 

“That’s certainly true,” Daniela said.

 

 

Olivia had similar thoughts as she approached the Education Department. Her dyslexia allowed her to see some patterns before others.

 

“You’ve been quiet,” Janara said.

 

“Oh, just thinking.”

 

“About?”

 

“That the treasure hunt has been a fun way to learn about the campus,” Olivia answered.

 

“It definitely has been.”

 

 

Freya and her group returned to the Central Plaza several hours after the treasure hunt began. She saw that most of the students were still engaged in that activity. She knew that her unique perspective had helped the group solve most of the clues more quickly than otherwise.

 

“Looks like we’re early,” Julia said.

 

“We’re not the only ones,” Daniela said.

 

“That’s true,” Freya said.

 

“I’m sorry that I underestimated you earlier,” Daniela said. “I’ll try to remember, neurodivergence, not issues.”

 

“Exactly,” Freya responded with a smile.

 

 

Olivia returned to the Central Plaza a while later, when many more other students had finished the treasure hunt. She understood that the objective was knowledge and wisdom. Not just as concepts, but as a way to navigate the campus.

 

 

“Thank you for participating in the Treasure Hunt. I hope you all have attained a greater understanding of the layout of AAUA and of your fellow students.”

 

Freya looked at Daniela nearby. ‘She certainly understood more than most did in the past. But I do wonder how others in my classes will react, especially when I create tactile art in way I usually do.’

 

 

Freya returned to the Hall shortly afterwards and grabbed her sketchbook. The various patterns of the search for the clues had inspired her.

 

 

Dana found Freya sketching in a common room shortly before dinner. “I heard that the treasure hunt went well.”

 

Freya looked up from her sketchbook. “It did. I learned a lot about the university’s layout, and that some students will accept my differences.”

 

“You don’t seem that different.”

 

“ADHD and synaesthesia together. It makes me different enough.”

 

“Oh,” Dana said. She hadn’t realised.

 

“As I said to someone today, Neurodivergence, not issues,” Freya said and told Dana of the conversation she had with that person.

 

 

Olivia was still thinking about the treasure hunt when she and Janara entered the dining hall for Dinner.

 

“It was interesting wasn’t it?” Janara said.

 

“Seek the roots, where knowledge flows,” Olivia repeated.

 

“Olivia?”

 

“The inscription. I know what I’m going to do.”

 

“What do you mean?” Janara asked.

 

“Not only am I studying the Nordic Era and the foundation of the Commonwealth, but also the origin of Aurora itself.”

 

“You mean what’s behind those myths?”

 

“Exactly,” Olivia answered. “The truth is buried somewhere in this University. I’m going to find it.”