10th April 1690

Somewhere in Mangaluru

It was drizzling lightly when Vijay's Raya Imperial R1 came to a gradual halt in front of the secret laboratory of Pillai Optics. Kattappa immediately held an umbrella as Vijay got down and escorted him to the door. After he entered, the royal guards as well as Kattappa stood guard right in the rain, looking around vigilantly and patrolling the perimeter at the same time.

Getting into the lab, Vijay was immediately greeted by Ghana Patra Pillai.

Pillai came forward to greet him with a smile, wearing a black shirt and a black lungi, "Welcome, your majesty, it is my honour to receive you." Vijay smiled and shrugged, as if to show he had no choice, "How can I not come? The things you mentioned in the letter were really, how do I put it..." Contemplating the word, he spoke out, "Phenomenal."

"I really didn't think it was possible, capturing the image of real life onto a slide, but somehow you did it"

Pillai was embarrassed by the compliment, but in his heart, he was feeling extremely proud.

"It is thanks to your support, your majesty."

"If it wasn't for you convincing me to try taking the chemical approach, I would be stuck trying to do the impossible for all these years."

"Besides, Your majesty, I have to thank you for giving me access to the research papers. Without them, I couldn't have made the breakthrough." He didn't know exactly what database he had been given access to, but judging by the kind of research results available, he could tell it was a top-secret one, so he was extremely thankful to the emperor.

As they walked towards the actual laboratory, Vijay got curious and looked at Pillai, "What helped you the most?"

Pillai's face brightened at the question, as if he had been waiting for it. "I came across a researcher named Sitamaha Lakshmi Subramanyam. Every breakthrough I made came after studying her work. I must say, Your Majesty, she deserves much of the credit for the camera I built."

"I read her paper on the photosensitive properties of silver halide compounds. That paper was crucial for me, Your Majesty, because it proved that silver iodide reacts to light chemically, forming latent images."

"Ah, I never imagined that a chemical substance could have such a peculiar property," Pillai remarked in excitement.

"I also read another paper titled 'Mercury Vapour Development of Latent Silver Images'. It helped me understand how invisible images can be made visible using the natural properties of mercury vapour. Then there was 'Chemical Fixation Methods Using Sodium Thiosulfate', which explained how to make images permanent by removing unexposed silver."

"It felt as if Madam Subramanyam herself had been exploring photography, painting, or printing, Your Majesty. Of course, I referred to a few other studies to improve polishing techniques, durability, and tonal range, but the core ideas all came from Madam Subramanyam."

"So," he added with a grin, "I decided to name the camera after us both, the 'Subramanyam-Pillai Camera'. What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Vijay stroked his chin and slowly remembered a 20-year-old girl he had seen when he went to the secret laboratory a few years ago, 'So it was her!' With a little thought, he nodded, agreeing to the naming proposed by Ganapatra Pillai, "It's good, but don't make your findings public yet. I have to see if I can get Miss Subramanyam out of the laboratory. If she agrees, then it is all right, but if she does not, you will have to remove the surname."

Ganapatra Pillai paused in his footsteps, but still, understanding the nature of this imaginative partner of his, he nodded with some reluctance.

Finally, they arrived at the laboratory, where Vijay had to change into a special uniform to prevent contamination. He couldn't help but glance at Pillai, who was already dressed and ready, and realise with a hint of amusement, 'So that's why he was wearing just a simple lungi and shirt.'

As he stepped into the all-white laboratory, his eyes were immediately drawn to a metal box placed on a table. Walking around it, he figured out where the eyepiece was and where the lens was.

"How does it work?" Vijay asked with a look of curiosity.

Pillai enthusiastically came forward and explained with an animated expression.

"Your Majesty, to capture an image, we first need a subject, whether it's a person or a landscape. When light reflects off that subject, it enters through this lens."

He gently tapped the large oval lens mounted in the centre of the metal frame. Vijay, although he already knew, nodded with a look of understanding.

"As the light passes through the lens, it bends and converges onto the silver plate, much like how a magnifying glass focuses sunlight into a single point. The same principle applies here. The focused light forms a pattern of bright and dark areas on the plate, matching the subject being photographed."

'It's basically the principle of refraction. ' Vijay thought in his mind

"Now, here's where it gets interesting," Pillai continued. "The silver plate is coated with silver iodide, a compound that reacts when exposed to light. This idea came from Madam Subramanyam's research. I followed her methods, and after countless attempts, it worked. I managed to replicate her results. Basically, the stronger the light, the more the chemical reaction, and where there's less light, the change is weaker. This creates an invisible pattern on the plate that mirrors the light and dark areas of the subject. I've even coined a name for it, 'Gupta Chitra', meaning 'hidden image' or 'latent image.'"

For Vijay, who was watching from the side and looking at the components Pillai presented one by one, it was very interesting because there were several possibilities that led to Subramanyam discovering such peculiar properties of silver iodide. One possibility is that she might have discovered that light also carries energy, and if he moves a step further, she might also have had an idea that it could also act as a wave. So basically, she could possibly have laid down the foundation of wave-particle duality, a foundational concept of quantum physics. Even in his last life, no one person made this discovery; it was attributed to several scientists like Einstein, de Broglie, and others.

In this life, did a single woman make that discovery? Another possibility is, she did not discover the peculiar property of light, but she simply discovered the peculiarity of silver iodide molecules and has not discovered that it is because of energy that its molecules are being torn apart. She might not have discovered that although silver separates from the iodide, it stays in place, creating tiny visible clusters, which were basically the bright areas of the subject where more light hit.

This is a much more digestible conclusion, where it means she does not know why it is happening, but she discovered that it is happening.

Ganapatra Pillai had no idea what was running in Vijay's mind, but he continued to explain, "After the silver plate coated with silver iodide is sufficiently exposed to the light, the plate should be held over heated mercury."

"The mercury vapour sticks to the silver plate, and it makes the invisible etchings within the silver iodide plate visible. The parts where less light fell stay dark, and the parts that were exposed to more light become lighter."

"Then you can see the picture, your majesty, but you will have to wash it with sodium thiosulfate to remove the leftover chemicals so that the image won't keep changing, and then the image is permanent."

"Voilà, the subject is photographed."

Vijay mulled over whatever he heard, did some simulations in his mind and nodded in satisfaction, "It can only work well in direct sunlight, right?"

Pillai was genuinely impressed by how quickly the emperor grasped the principle and analysed every detail. He nodded enthusiastically.

"Correct, Your Majesty. The process requires strong, direct sunlight. It's best operated outdoors, and even a little cloud cover or haze can ruin the exposure. Partial shade is unacceptable."

"I recommend shooting between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on a clear, sunny day."

"There are other factors too, such as exposure time. It varies depending on the sunlight but typically takes between five and thirty minutes to capture an image. At present, there's no reliable way to know when the exposure is perfect, though I intend to research that later. For now, the lens aperture should remain wide open at around F/4, and the subject, whether a person or a landscape, must remain completely still for the entire duration."

"I also strongly suggest mounting the camera on a stable tripod with proper reinforcement so vibrations don't distort the image."

"Oh, and one more thing, Your Majesty," he added. "The temperature must be kept below 25 Tapans for the chemical reactions to occur correctly. I've tested it at higher and lower temperatures, and the results were highly inconsistent, especially in the heat, where the image turned bleached and unrecognisable. Humidity must also be avoided, as moisture fogs the silver surface and interferes with the development process."

Vijay asked, "Do you have a sample image?"

Pillai grinned sheepishly, "Of course I have, your majesty, please take a look." He was extremely proud as he handed over the slides, which he kept in a secure locker like a treasure.

Taking the pictures into his own hands, Vijay's eyes widened, "Oh wow!" he exclaimed. In fact, he was not actually blown away, but he had to act like that because the jump from what was usually available in this era to this almost photorealistic black-and-white image with the highest definition, close to that of an electronic camera in the future, was absolutely mesmerising.

Despite being used to higher definition images, Vijay felt surreal as he looked at photos of such high quality after such a long time.

"Can you mass-produce them?"

Hearing the question, Pillai's face immediately shrivelled up, " Unfortunately, not yet, your majesty. Mass production of silver iodide is still a problem. The camera itself has no bottlenecks. I can mass-produce the camera as long as silver iodide is mass producible."

"In that case, make me five more cameras. It will be useful for the Olympics."

"As you wish, your majesty."

"I guess this will bring you another Dharma Award, Pillai."

"Hehe," Ganapatra Pillai chuckled, trying his best to appear humble.

"What does it make it, fourth or fifth?"

"It's the sixth, your majesty."

"Haha, alright, I apologise." Vijay patted Pillai on the shoulder, "Anyway, you did very well, you brought out one more revolutionary and era-defining product."

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