“So you say this little thing is... Magic?” asked the professor.

“Indeed it is, my friend!” replied the explorer with enthusiasm. “Indeed, indeed it is! I managed to acquire it during my last trip to Egypt, from a local who told me of its... Peculiar qualities.”

The two middle-aged men were chatting from beside a small table in a dusty, book-filled study; a young man about twenty-five years old, the professor’s assistant, was standing near the door. Upon the table was a cushion, and sitting on top of it was a beautiful gemstone.

“Do you mind if I inspect it more closely?” said the professor.

“Not at all, not at all. Though I do must insist that you wear a glove,” replied his colleague, pushing a box of nitrile gloves towards him. “I’m not implying that you could damage it, certainly, but I have determined that while the stone has no effect by proximity, simple contact with the skin will trigger its abilities; it has a very specific effect on the mind of people.”

The professor, meanwhile, had donned his glove and was inspecting the gem. It was truly marvellous: at first it seemed to be perfectly clear, but on a closer look one could see an effect not unlike a multicoloured flame, bouncing around inside the stone, as if it was trying desperately to get out. “Fascinating. Truly. And, you said something about mental effects?”

“Please, let me demonstrate,” replied the explorer, taking the bauble and turning around. “Here, kid, catch!” he said, and lobbed the item across the room to the assistant, who reflexively snatched it out of the air.

“I’m not trans really I’m just a normal cis man who sometimes likes to dress up and really likes to read transgender fiction on the internet but that absolutely doesn’t mean that I–” the assistant quickly blurted out, before jerking his hand open as if he’d been scalded by a glowing ember and dropping the stone on the carpet, where it landed with a soft thud.

There was a moment of silence, then three voices spoke out almost together.

“Oh.” “Huh.” “Fuck.”

The moment stretched out further, awkwardly, before the explorer exclaimed “See! I told you! Simple skin contact with the stone compelled him to rationalise away his deepest thoughts!”

“Amazing!” replied the professor. “Simply amazing! The Royal Society will celebrate your name for years to come!” He patted his colleague on the back. “Have you thought about what to call it? As the discoverer, it is your right.”

“As a matter of fact I did,” replied his friend. “I think I will call it the Jewel of Denial.”