Aranfan
Team Plasma Grunt
Performance enhancement being the name of the game, as it is, the dividing line between "hard work" and "cheating" seems completely arbitrary.Antumbra said:
In Memoriam (A Certain Magical Index/Scientific Railgun AU)
- Thread starter Shockz
- Start date
Alhazred23
Unreliable Commenter
Perhaps, but given how long Saten has been trying with no results to speak of, it seems like it would take some sort of miracle for her to hit their radar as someone who is 'worth' the extra support. Perhaps the Level Plus incident will make them consider throwing a bone or two to their massive population of disgruntled Level 0s, but with how they're handling it i wouldn't count on it.RedSurv said:
Indeed. Depending on what this top-secret 'Kihara Procedure' is, Level Plus might not even be all that different. In canon both System and Level Upper heavily rely on Testament-based processes to rewrite brain function.Aranfan said:
Can I have a link to that story please, or at least a name?Darth Artemis said:
Alhazred23
Unreliable Commenter
Unfortunately, once you've given Saten a ticket to plot relevance (aside from playing damsel in distress or being a morality pet), you then have to figure out what to do with her. Given the way canon To Aru is set up, this is harder than it sounds >_[;...Darth Artemis said:
Edit: Incidentally,<i] please[/i] don't necro the tread; i don't have a new chapter ready yet ;_;....
Thanks for the links.
Ars Poetica
ULTIMA RATIO NEMO OBLIGATUR
- Location
- The Kingdom of Fiore
- Pronouns
- He / Him / His
When's the last time that updated, anyway? I haven't taken a look at that for a few months...Darth Artemis said:
Alhazred23
Unreliable Commenter
Probably not since the last time you looked, then; i haven't been doing a whole lot of writing lately. If you wanna poke me with a pitchfork or something best to do it by PM though, as don't wanna clutter up Shockz' thread any more than i have already.Ars Poetica said:
Alhazred23
Unreliable Commenter
Eh, my ramblings on Capacity Down and what it means for Level 0s are all speculation. As i noted earlier, Capacity Down was not introduced or used terribly well in canon, so there are a lot of gray areas regarding how it works. If it exists at all in this fic it might work very differently. And if Telestina still has a big-ass mech in this fic, it better damn well have a CD unit equipped on-board, or i will lose all faith in the planning abilities of Evil Scientists -_-;.Darth Artemis said:Ah shit, I just noticed something from re-reading Boudoka.
Saten in canon isn't affected by Capacity Down, which means she most likely hasn't had the Kihara Procedure performed on her, probably as some sort of placebo control group like Alhazerd pointed out. Here she explicitly has had the process done on her going by this last snippet, so unless CD is changed in some way she's probably not going to get that scene with the baseball bat.
TheLastOne
Person of impeccable tastes (for destruction)
No, Level Upper worked on her - in Level 0s, the changes aren't significant enough for CD to work.Darth Artemis said:Ah shit, I just noticed something from re-reading Boudoka.
Saten in canon isn't affected by Capacity Down, which means she most likely hasn't had the Kihara Procedure performed on her, probably as some sort of placebo control group like Alhazerd pointed out. Here she explicitly has had the process done on her going by this last snippet, so unless CD is changed in some way she's probably not going to get that scene with the baseball bat.
If you think about it, the 6% makes sense given what we've already learned... namely, that they let you pay for extra work being done on you. I'm willing to bet that the flip side is that, for level 0s and 1s who can't pay, they put out even less work. It means they can defray the costs a little, and need bother spending effort only on the devoted.RedSurv said:
Less wasted work on weaklings, and more time spent on the weaklings you are going to waste time on so that you can actually work with them, basically. Also, I bet they can use them as test subjects - it doesn't stand out if they're doing non-standard work, because they're paying for non-standard extra classes.
TheLastOne
Person of impeccable tastes (for destruction)
I fixed that for you.RedSurv said:
Shockz
You might see it coming...but it'll be too late.
- Location
- At least a mile high
- Pronouns
- no
Minor edit made to the last chapter, due to an issue (pointed out by one of you) that would effectively break a large chunk of the story as planned. Edit will be copied to the AO3 and FFN versions when I get a chance.
Ah, you altered it so that Kiyama used a voice scrambler.Shockz said:
Alhazred23
Unreliable Commenter
I wonder if that's enough with AC's '30 years ahead' technology, though i suppose randomized dynamic scrambling would probably be tough to crack. I'd say either use a Stephen Hawking vocalizer or Hatsune Miku for bonus points.spacemonkey37 said:
"Gentlemen. Microsoft Sam has compromised the security of our programme. He must be destroyed."SolipsistSerpen said:
Alhazred23
Unreliable Commenter
Eh, whatever the source, it seems pretty clear that some sort of machine voice synth would be infinitely more difficult to trace than voice distortion. Heck, by the time of the series it would probably be a standard feature on all mobile phones (unless text messages go the way of the dodo in favor of the Next Big Thing.)
Chapter 7: Home Sweet Home
Shockz
You might see it coming...but it'll be too late.
- Location
- At least a mile high
- Pronouns
- no
Index/Home Sweet Home
"Look, I don't get it. What's wrong?"
Kamijou Touma and I are walking back to his apartment. Well, I say 'walking', but that is not entirely accurate. 'Walking' implies a casual, relaxed pace, and ours is anything but. I am moving through the crowds as fast as I can without drawing undesirable amounts of attention, ducking through alleys and taking side-streets whenever possible. I am not entirely sure Touma even realizes we are returning to his home; I have so far refused to answer his repeated inquiries as to our destination.
I am not even sure why I'm returning to his apartment. I need to go somewhere, I suppose, and it seems as good a place as any. I'd rather not get Touma involved, but I have few options at this point, and he is responsible, however unintentionally, for the current predicament. And he just might give me an advantage: I don't know why or how his powers, supposedly capable of negating other esper abilities, destroyed my mobile church, but they did. And maybe, just maybe, that means he's capable of neutralizing magic in general. Hence, why I am maintaining a death grip on his right hand with my own as I virtually drag him through the streets of Academy City.
They've found me, you see.
It became inevitable the moment my mobile church was destroyed, of course. With no other leads, sooner or later they would have to try another location spell. I just hadn't expected it to happen so soon.
When I yelled out my challenge to the bombers' logic, I immediately regretted it, for among the crowd on the first floor of the mall who turned to watch me, I spotted two extremely familiar faces. He was obvious in the crowd: an extremely tall man with long red hair, wearing a long black duster (not a trenchcoat, a duster; he was always fond of correcting people on that) that must have been utterly sweltering in the July heat. And once I saw him, it did not take long to spot her as well—a Japanese woman in a dark grey T-shirt and blue jeans, long black hair done up in a ponytail.
After I had said my piece, and the girl with the flower headband took over...for some reason, I did not run. Where would I have run to? For a long while, I just watched, and they watched back. Her expression was neutral, serious, as it always was when she was on duty. He...it was difficult to tell from two stories up, but he looked relieved, more than anything else.
Neither of them made any move to come after me, or head to the stairs. I suppose I can understand why; they wanted to avoid attention, and attempting to kidnap a child in the middle of a hostage situation, when that child was in the immediate vicinity of an officer of the law (albeit a junior one), would be a bit detrimental to that objective. No, they needed to grab me as discreetly as possible.
I used that to my advantage as the situation evolved, staying right where I was, right where I couldn't be approached without the Judgement girl noticing. And when the bombers' spokesman was killed, and the esper girl descended to the first floor, wreathed in lightning like some mythological thunder goddess, I watched as he ran to help the girl save the injured from the wreckage, while she just kept watching me, never moving, barely blinking.
When the police started moving in, directing the evacuation from the mall, I immediately ran down to the first floor. The crowd was so dense that I have no idea how close I came to them in the process of leaving the mall; I had no idea if they had some magic prepared to ensure I came with them quietly. As soon as I was out of the mall, I stayed in the vicinity of the largest concentration of riot-geared police officers I could find until I finally spotted Touma. I ran over to him, informed him that we had to leave immediately, and then—against his protests—we were off.
Finally, after nearly twenty minutes of running, I slow down and decide to answer his question.
"There are people chasing me. They were at the mall. I'm trying to make sure they're not following us."
He raises an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. Are these people from the organization which definitely does not use anything like magic?"
I know he thinks I am completely mad. Until the events of this afternoon, I would have been quite happy with that. Now, however... "If you like, just imagine I am...I don't know, a rogue foreign esper on the run from the program that created me or something. Whatever will get you to believe that I am entirely sane, and that I really do need your help right now."
"My help? Why the hell would you need my help?"
"Your powers. I'm hoping they will block their methods of tracking me."
He sighs. "So that's why you have the death grip on my hand."
"Yes."
"I still think you're crazy. Where the hell are you taking me, anyway?"
"Back to your apartment."
"Wha—why are we going this way?"
"To throw them off our trail, obviously."
"...right. Obviously. How do you even know where my apartment is?"
"Perfect memory."
He sighs again. "Why does this shit always happen to me?"
As he shuts the door, I direct him to close the blinds, never letting go of his hand. He notices my continued grip. "So, uh, how long are you going to keep holding on to me like that?"
"I don't know. Until...Until I think of something. Something. I don't know. What should I do? Okay. Tracking magic. That's what they'll be using. Tracking. How do I block tracking spells? I could set up the church again, but that just takes too much time...I need...I need a boundary." I'm aware that I'm thinking out loud, and blatantly talking about magic in front of him, but I can't seem to find the will to care at this point. "A boundary...like...the threshold of a home! Yes. That would do nicely, just set up a Hestian protection array, I can do that..."
Wait a minute.
I can do that?
Come to think of it, I thought it was exceedingly strange that I never once felt the geis release at the mall, when I (along with many others) were very much in immediate danger of death by explosion. I assumed that by whatever strange logic the geis uses to determine the level of threat to me, the situation was under control and thus needed no assistance from my magic. But what if…?
I try to run a search for protection from tracking spells, and come up blank, just as if the geis was active. But then I just think about the protection spells I know, and a couple immediately come to mind.
I stare up at Touma. "You...you broke it."
"Broke what?"
"You broke the geis!"
"Uh...sorry?" He blinks. "What's a geis? Is it expensive?"
"No, no, this is wonderful! I can use magic now!"
"Oh, God. We're back on the magic thing again."
"No, I mean, look, watch this!" I try and think of a way to demonstrate. Something quick and flashy—ah. "Fiat lux!" A marble-size orb of light bursts into existence in the palm of my hand.
He raises an eyebrow. "So you are an esper."
"No, no, look—" What else, what else— "Oh, it doesn't matter. Look, I need—what would work—a pencil and paper. Lots of paper. And whatever wires or cables or anything like that you can find."
"What? Why?"
"What do you think? I'm going to do some magic!"
Touma sits on his bed, watching me piece the whole thing together with what appears to be a mixture of interest, confusion, and (mostly) horror at the way I'm practically tearing his home apart. I am not sure whether or not he has decided to believe me just yet; but he is certainly doing his best to give that impression, occasionally asking just what exactly I'm using one of his possessions for now.
Finally, the nodes are in place; I kneel down in what I have calculated to be the exact geographical center of the apartment, place my hands on a piece of paper containing the largest and most elaborate circle of all, and mutter a few sentences of ancient Greek. At the same time, I release a pulse of mana into the circle, and it glows a faint red-orange. The glow travels along the large number of cables, cords, wires, and bits of string I've taped along the floor, walls, and ceiling, lighting up the other nodes in the same way.
And just like that, I am safe again. Hopefully.
"So...what, that's it?" Touma asks.
"Yes. Now, I am going to have to request that you not move. At all."
"Why not?"
"I have no idea how your hand will affect the mana flow providing the shielding. Since it appears to be working right now, the obvious solution is to ensure the minimum amount of disruption possible. Honestly, I'd rather not have you in here at all, but—"
"What? This is my home! You can't just walk in here and—" He's starting to get up. Not good! I run over and shove him back down onto his bed.
"I said don't move! You might destroy the entire array!"
He doesn't resist; he just shakes his head mournfully. "Freaking hell. This is not how I imagined this would happen."
"How what would happen?"
"Well, first time a girl comes back home with me at night, gets a look around my home, then after a while just shoves me onto the bed..." He trails off.
Oh. Oh. I glare at him. "You had better not be getting the ideas I think you're getting." Honestly, he's not bad-looking at all, spiky hair aside, but that sort of matter is so far from my thoughts right now that I'm a bit shocked he even brought it up.
"No! No!" He waves his hands in front of his face defensively. "I'm just saying, there's some interesting parallels there, y'know? Besides, you're a little..."
"I'm a little what?"
"Well...You know. Young. What are you, twelve?"
"Why, of all the—I am fourteen years old, thank you very much. And in any case, it's not relevant right now. What is important is that you do not move."
"Fine, fine." He sighs. "How long exactly do you want me to stay here?"
"Until further notice."
"Oh, for—" Another, louder sigh. "Fine. You know, the least you could do would be to tell me just what the hell is going on."
I consider the request. Honestly, I've already done just about the worst thing I could merely by alerting him to the existence of magic in the first place. There's no harm in telling him the rest of the story, I suppose, or at least the pieces of it I know.
"All right." I take a deep breath. "First things first. Magic is real."
"I gathered that, yeah."
"You don't seem very surprised."
He shrugs. "Way I figure, IPD and esper abilities had to come from somewhere, right? Might as well call it 'magic'."
"Yes, but magic is completely different from esper abilities. Different principles, different methods of accessing it, all of that." As I say this, though, I start to wonder. Touma's hand certainly did do something to the backpack, and it seems a violation of common sense that it would have a similar effect on two entirely different forces. I file that thought away for now, however; it's not really relevant. "Espers were discovered less than thirty years ago; humanity has been practicing magic since before the dawn of civilization."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"How come I've never heard about it before, then?"
"You have. But you have been brought up in a culture that discredits all but the most trivial and ineffective of magical rituals as the product of superstition or, occasionally, faith. Because these rituals have not been replicated by mainstream science, you are led to dismiss the evidence for them as historical fabrication or distortion."
"So, what, people used to be flinging spells around like in some kind of RPG, but then science happened and magic lost all its power?"
"No. Magic now remains as powerful as it ever was, and it would be disingenuous to think of it as not being a science—the scientific method applies to it as well as it does anything else in the natural world, though as far as I can tell, that attitude is relatively recent. The reason it is discredited is that knowledge of how to perform it has been intentionally, systematically, and thoroughly erased from history."
"What? What do you mean by that?"
Well. I suppose it's time to spill the beans. "There is an organization, loosely affiliated with the largest Christian churches—the Roman Catholics are the big ones, of course, though the Church of England, the Evangelical Church of Germany, the American Baptists, and the Eastern and Russian Orthodox Churches all have a significant presence—as well as some of the major national governments, that has as one of its primary goals the virtual eradication of magic. It is this organization that is responsible for propagating the idea that magic is the work of the devil, that the well-documented miracles performed by saints throughout history were the work of pure faith rather than skilled magicians performing good works in the name of God, that one should not suffer a witch to live. Somewhat ironically, it is also the only large organization that still passes on the knowledge of magic, teaching promising recruits the basics of the art that they may better carry out its mission."
Touma narrows his eyes at me, then starts looking around his room wildly. "Is there a camera here? Is this some kind of reality show? Cause I know I didn't sign anything."
"I am quite serious. I know it's a bit unbelievable—"
"A bit unbelievable? Listen, Index, you're telling me that there's some vast, centuries-old conspiracy that has somehow managed to erase every last trace of knowledge about magic from the world. I'm pretty sure that's flat-out impossible."
"And why, precisely, is it impossible?"
"Because you can't just...I don't know, control information like that. What's to prevent someone from just, I don't know, telling everyone?"
"Well, firstly, you have to understand that before the printing press was invented, it was in fact quite hard to widely distribute knowledge in the way you're saying. And afterwards...well, books can be burned, and there are quite a few spells that can remove a memory. Some of them from many, many people at once. Today, though, with the Internet, and all the myriad ways of quickly spreading information throughout the world...I don't know if a large-scale loss of containment could be fixed today. Which may explain why the organization is so much more paranoid now."
"All right. Let's say I believe you. Why is this...organization doing all of this? Is it...some kind of power thing, so they can rule the world from the shadows or whatever?"
Hmm. "I suppose that's one way of looking at it, although it was certainly never phrased that way to me. The reasoning is that magic runs the risk of giving too much power to single individuals or small groups, which is always a serious threat to peace and stability. And that's really the primary purpose of the organization—promoting peace and stability, at any cost. That's where its name comes from: Pax Christiana. The Christian Peace."
"Pax Christiana, huh. Is that, what, Latin or something?"
"Indeed. Latin does always make things sound more dignified, after all. Like my name; 'Index of Prohibited Books' would be a silly name for a person in English, but in Latin it sounds quite proper."
"Wait, seriously? That's what your name means? Who'd give their kid a name like that?"
"Ah…It's not my birth name." I'm not even sure if I even have another name; as long as I can remember, it has always been 'Index'. "It has a lot to do with what my job in Pax was. I am, essentially, a walking library. In theory, before destroying or permanently archiving any source of magical knowledge, the organization is supposed to allow me to read through it and memorize it, so that I can pass it on if they need it again."
"Okay...why would they do that? Aren't they risking a, what, a 'containment breach' by having you around?"
"The idea is that anyone can read or copy a book if they somehow manage to access it, but I would have to willingly divulge the information in question. And as for the latter, you see, that's what the geis I was talking about was for. I am not supposed to be able to actively remember more than the basic principles of magic unless either ordered to access the information by someone with the appropriate authority, or if I need to use magic in self-defense. Except I have managed to exploit the latter condition in order to escape captivity, and you've managed to remove the restriction altogether—something that was supposed to be impossible, by the way—meaning…" I suddenly realize something that hadn't quite sunk in before. "...Meaning that the largest containment breach in almost a century is now underway."
"And I'm at ground zero. Figures. So, what's gonna happen? You said they have memory wipes; if they find us, are they just gonna make me forget this ever happened? I'd be more than happy to oblige them in that case."
"Normally, yes. However, your ability suggests you might have a resistance to such mind magic. Which means they will probably just kill you."
"Kill me, huh?" He doesn't seem particularly perturbed by this revelation; he sighs, lays back on his bed, and stares at the ceiling. "They can get in line."
Odd thing to say. "Are there a lot of threats on your life?"
"Long-term ones, no. Day-to-day?" He stretches his hand towards the ceiling lamp, as if trying to grasp the light in his hand. "I'm a Level 1 who punches way above my weight class. Literally. Everyone wants a shot. And that's on the days where the universe itself doesn't have it out for me. So yeah, people wanting me dead is nothing new. These guys do sound pretty hardcore, though."
"I'm not privy to the exact details of their operations, but I suspect that whatever you're guessing, yes, they've probably done it at least once."
"Great. I've got the Catholic Church's black ops department after me. What is this, the Da Vinci Code or something?"
"We're—they're not all Catholic. I'm Anglican—Church of England, specifically—and so are the people after me. It's my understanding that I was something of a pet project for the Anglican division; certainly, the Catholics aren't exactly diligent in making sure any recovered spellbooks go through me before being archived or destroyed."
"Huh. Gotcha. What's an Anglican?"
"...really?"
"I know there are, like, Catholics, and then there are just the regular Christians...I think they're called Protestants?"
I think I feel a headache coming on.
"So...how exactly does this magic stuff work, anyway?" he asks.
"All right, then. Magic, fundamentally, is based around connections. For example, that first spell I showed you. Fiat lux!" The ball of light once again pops up into the palm of my hand. "Literally, what I just said there means 'Let there be light!'"
"So what, you just say funny words and you can order the universe around?"
"Well...Yes and no. It's not just about saying the words, it's about being the right state of mind to channel mana—"
"Mana? Seriously? This is all some kind of messed-up RPG."
"It's funny you should say that; it's only in the past few decades that 'mana' has become the accepted term for the energy that fuels magic. Before it was 'life force' or 'vital energy' in the West, and generally 'qi' in the Far East, with other names throughout the world. 'Mana' is a Polynesian word with a similar meaning, and so many fantasy books and games have used it as a shorthand for magical energy that many a new Pax recruit has just kept doing so. But no, when I cast that spell, it's not just me saying the words. First is the words themselves—they are taken from the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, wherein God creates light from nothingness. The symbolic value gives that specific phrasing a great deal of power. I am also speaking it in Latin, which, as an effectively dead language used almost entirely for ritual, makes the words less like ordinary language for the purpose of communicating. Now, none of that is technically required, but it exponentially decreases the amount of mana I have to channel into the spell to make it work. Which, for me, is a great benefit, as I produce very little mana naturally."
"Okay...that...kind of makes sense...I guess. So what does that have to do with you scribbling stuff on pieces of paper and then taping it all over my apartment?"
"All right. So, essentially—how much do you know about Greek mythology?"
"Uh…"
"Well, never mind. Hestia was the Greek goddess of the hearth and home, and this is essentially a ritual which uses a number of inscribed prayers to her in order to request protection over this home. The cables are there because cables are, today, commonly used as conduits for energy and information; no good magician would be caught dead without a very large bundle of telephone cables. I've modified this specific ritual a bit to make it specifically protect against magic; it should do the trick for a while."
"Wait, I thought you said you were Christian? Or...Anglican, or however that works."
"Ah. I am. I don't believe Hestia exists any more than I believe the Flying Spaghetti Monster exists. What matters, however, is that a great many people once did believe she existed, which gave rituals dedicated to her power. And though that power is weaker than it once was, it certainly remains effective enough if used properly. Indeed, you could even say it's stronger than it might otherwise be; a ritual that is used too many times by too many people may well lose much of its potency. There are a great deal of Christian rituals that are considerably less effective than they once were simply because of the sheer number of Christians who incorporate them into their daily life; the sign of the cross in particular has virtually no effect, unless the one making it knows how to channel mana properly."
"So...this...channeling mana thing. Do you have to be, like, special to do it?"
"I'm not sure what you mean by special."
"Like, are there...I don't know, genes that say you can be a magician or something?"
"No. That's the thing, really: anyone can learn to do magic if taught properly, though of course some people have better aptitude for it than others. That is why Pax Christiana is so eager to suppress magical knowledge: it would be far too easy, especially in this day, for a single magician, or small group of them, to cause unimaginable amounts of damage. Look at the Black Plague, or the World Wars. All cases where a small cabal of magicians altered the course of history, causing unimaginable loss of life in the process."
"Whoa whoa whoa. You're telling me World War II was caused by a magician?"
"No, that part of history is true enough; it was caused by German imperialism and a national desire for vengeance in the West, and Japanese imperialism motivated partially by a lack of available natural resources in the East. The history books, however, do not talk about how much more horrific the war was, on all fronts, due to the actions of magicians on all sides. The Nazis in particular; their obsession with arcane power is something that Pax has allowed to survive into modern popular culture, simply because they were so evil that it was hoped it would further discourage people from looking into magic."
"How'd that work out?"
I shrug. "There hasn't been a major breach in more than 80 years; either it's helping or it's not hurting too much. Certainly, none of their frequent imitators have ever put so intense a focus on the magical arts, which is a sign that Pax has been doing something correctly. The point is, magic is something that puts a great deal of power in the hands of individuals who are by no means guaranteed to use that power for peaceful, constructive goals. So Pax keeps the world safe from it."
"You sound like you agree with them."
"For the most part, yes."
"So why'd you run?"
"Mostly? I wanted freedom. I have spent most of my life inside a high-security wing of a convent in rural England. You might say I got a bit tired of it."
Touma nods. "So, to sum up: Magic's real, and you're on the run from an organization that wants to keep everyone from knowing this at any cost. And in the process of running, you've both ended up in my apartment, and you've just told me all of the things they don't want anybody to know ever. And you don't actually have a plan besides 'put up a protection thingy and hope it works'. All because you wanted to be free. That about right?"
"Well, rest assured I'm working on the plan—" My stomach growls loudly, and I reflexively look over in the direction of the kitchen.
"...and I'm still low on food from this morning, too." He shakes his head. "The entire universe hates me. It really, actually does."
That's...hm. Up until I haven't really thought much about the kind of strain all this might be putting on Touma. And in retrospect…"You know," I say, "with the geis gone, I don't necessarily need to hang around here. If I pack up all my spell components and head somewhere else, they should just stay on my trail instead of bothering you. I shouldn't have gotten you involved in all this in the first place."
"I think I'd rather you'd realized that before you told me all the top-secret stuff. But hey." He actually smiles. "Girl trying to get her freedom, on the run from the evil shadowy conspiracy? I can get behind that. If you think your fancy protection magic stuff will keep us safe, I'm cool with you staying here for now."
"...really?"
"Yep. Just figure out a way you can arrange the...magic...paper thingies so I can get out of bed, okay? I think...I think I'm going to get some shut-eye for now." He rolls over on his bed and buries his face in his pillow.
Well. I suppose that's one problem solved.
"Look, I don't get it. What's wrong?"
Kamijou Touma and I are walking back to his apartment. Well, I say 'walking', but that is not entirely accurate. 'Walking' implies a casual, relaxed pace, and ours is anything but. I am moving through the crowds as fast as I can without drawing undesirable amounts of attention, ducking through alleys and taking side-streets whenever possible. I am not entirely sure Touma even realizes we are returning to his home; I have so far refused to answer his repeated inquiries as to our destination.
I am not even sure why I'm returning to his apartment. I need to go somewhere, I suppose, and it seems as good a place as any. I'd rather not get Touma involved, but I have few options at this point, and he is responsible, however unintentionally, for the current predicament. And he just might give me an advantage: I don't know why or how his powers, supposedly capable of negating other esper abilities, destroyed my mobile church, but they did. And maybe, just maybe, that means he's capable of neutralizing magic in general. Hence, why I am maintaining a death grip on his right hand with my own as I virtually drag him through the streets of Academy City.
They've found me, you see.
It became inevitable the moment my mobile church was destroyed, of course. With no other leads, sooner or later they would have to try another location spell. I just hadn't expected it to happen so soon.
When I yelled out my challenge to the bombers' logic, I immediately regretted it, for among the crowd on the first floor of the mall who turned to watch me, I spotted two extremely familiar faces. He was obvious in the crowd: an extremely tall man with long red hair, wearing a long black duster (not a trenchcoat, a duster; he was always fond of correcting people on that) that must have been utterly sweltering in the July heat. And once I saw him, it did not take long to spot her as well—a Japanese woman in a dark grey T-shirt and blue jeans, long black hair done up in a ponytail.
After I had said my piece, and the girl with the flower headband took over...for some reason, I did not run. Where would I have run to? For a long while, I just watched, and they watched back. Her expression was neutral, serious, as it always was when she was on duty. He...it was difficult to tell from two stories up, but he looked relieved, more than anything else.
Neither of them made any move to come after me, or head to the stairs. I suppose I can understand why; they wanted to avoid attention, and attempting to kidnap a child in the middle of a hostage situation, when that child was in the immediate vicinity of an officer of the law (albeit a junior one), would be a bit detrimental to that objective. No, they needed to grab me as discreetly as possible.
I used that to my advantage as the situation evolved, staying right where I was, right where I couldn't be approached without the Judgement girl noticing. And when the bombers' spokesman was killed, and the esper girl descended to the first floor, wreathed in lightning like some mythological thunder goddess, I watched as he ran to help the girl save the injured from the wreckage, while she just kept watching me, never moving, barely blinking.
When the police started moving in, directing the evacuation from the mall, I immediately ran down to the first floor. The crowd was so dense that I have no idea how close I came to them in the process of leaving the mall; I had no idea if they had some magic prepared to ensure I came with them quietly. As soon as I was out of the mall, I stayed in the vicinity of the largest concentration of riot-geared police officers I could find until I finally spotted Touma. I ran over to him, informed him that we had to leave immediately, and then—against his protests—we were off.
Finally, after nearly twenty minutes of running, I slow down and decide to answer his question.
"There are people chasing me. They were at the mall. I'm trying to make sure they're not following us."
He raises an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. Are these people from the organization which definitely does not use anything like magic?"
I know he thinks I am completely mad. Until the events of this afternoon, I would have been quite happy with that. Now, however... "If you like, just imagine I am...I don't know, a rogue foreign esper on the run from the program that created me or something. Whatever will get you to believe that I am entirely sane, and that I really do need your help right now."
"My help? Why the hell would you need my help?"
"Your powers. I'm hoping they will block their methods of tracking me."
He sighs. "So that's why you have the death grip on my hand."
"Yes."
"I still think you're crazy. Where the hell are you taking me, anyway?"
"Back to your apartment."
"Wha—why are we going this way?"
"To throw them off our trail, obviously."
"...right. Obviously. How do you even know where my apartment is?"
"Perfect memory."
He sighs again. "Why does this shit always happen to me?"
* * * * * * * *
It's a good hour or so before we finally return to Touma's apartment; if I haven't lost my pursuers by now, I never will.As he shuts the door, I direct him to close the blinds, never letting go of his hand. He notices my continued grip. "So, uh, how long are you going to keep holding on to me like that?"
"I don't know. Until...Until I think of something. Something. I don't know. What should I do? Okay. Tracking magic. That's what they'll be using. Tracking. How do I block tracking spells? I could set up the church again, but that just takes too much time...I need...I need a boundary." I'm aware that I'm thinking out loud, and blatantly talking about magic in front of him, but I can't seem to find the will to care at this point. "A boundary...like...the threshold of a home! Yes. That would do nicely, just set up a Hestian protection array, I can do that..."
Wait a minute.
I can do that?
Come to think of it, I thought it was exceedingly strange that I never once felt the geis release at the mall, when I (along with many others) were very much in immediate danger of death by explosion. I assumed that by whatever strange logic the geis uses to determine the level of threat to me, the situation was under control and thus needed no assistance from my magic. But what if…?
I try to run a search for protection from tracking spells, and come up blank, just as if the geis was active. But then I just think about the protection spells I know, and a couple immediately come to mind.
I stare up at Touma. "You...you broke it."
"Broke what?"
"You broke the geis!"
"Uh...sorry?" He blinks. "What's a geis? Is it expensive?"
"No, no, this is wonderful! I can use magic now!"
"Oh, God. We're back on the magic thing again."
"No, I mean, look, watch this!" I try and think of a way to demonstrate. Something quick and flashy—ah. "Fiat lux!" A marble-size orb of light bursts into existence in the palm of my hand.
He raises an eyebrow. "So you are an esper."
"No, no, look—" What else, what else— "Oh, it doesn't matter. Look, I need—what would work—a pencil and paper. Lots of paper. And whatever wires or cables or anything like that you can find."
"What? Why?"
"What do you think? I'm going to do some magic!"
* * * * * * * *
Not having the quick-lookup array—which was apparently tied to the geis—proves to be less of an inconvenience than I would have guessed: my memory remains as eidetic as it ever was. Within minutes I've gotten a good read on the mana flow through the apartment—it would give a feng shui master a heart attack, but it could be worse—and drawn up a few of the necessary nodes—standard Hermetic magic circles, inscribed with some ancient Greek denoting their purpose—for a Hestian protection-of-the-home spell. The spell might be hindered a bit by the fact that the apartment doesn't have a proper fireplace—Hestia was the goddess of the hearth, after all—but hopefully two equivalent nodes—one on the undersized stove, one on the air-conditioning control panel—will do the trick, if I tie them together properly. Which I do, stretching a power cord liberated from Touma's game console from one sheet of paper to the other, and taping it in place at both ends.Touma sits on his bed, watching me piece the whole thing together with what appears to be a mixture of interest, confusion, and (mostly) horror at the way I'm practically tearing his home apart. I am not sure whether or not he has decided to believe me just yet; but he is certainly doing his best to give that impression, occasionally asking just what exactly I'm using one of his possessions for now.
Finally, the nodes are in place; I kneel down in what I have calculated to be the exact geographical center of the apartment, place my hands on a piece of paper containing the largest and most elaborate circle of all, and mutter a few sentences of ancient Greek. At the same time, I release a pulse of mana into the circle, and it glows a faint red-orange. The glow travels along the large number of cables, cords, wires, and bits of string I've taped along the floor, walls, and ceiling, lighting up the other nodes in the same way.
And just like that, I am safe again. Hopefully.
"So...what, that's it?" Touma asks.
"Yes. Now, I am going to have to request that you not move. At all."
"Why not?"
"I have no idea how your hand will affect the mana flow providing the shielding. Since it appears to be working right now, the obvious solution is to ensure the minimum amount of disruption possible. Honestly, I'd rather not have you in here at all, but—"
"What? This is my home! You can't just walk in here and—" He's starting to get up. Not good! I run over and shove him back down onto his bed.
"I said don't move! You might destroy the entire array!"
He doesn't resist; he just shakes his head mournfully. "Freaking hell. This is not how I imagined this would happen."
"How what would happen?"
"Well, first time a girl comes back home with me at night, gets a look around my home, then after a while just shoves me onto the bed..." He trails off.
Oh. Oh. I glare at him. "You had better not be getting the ideas I think you're getting." Honestly, he's not bad-looking at all, spiky hair aside, but that sort of matter is so far from my thoughts right now that I'm a bit shocked he even brought it up.
"No! No!" He waves his hands in front of his face defensively. "I'm just saying, there's some interesting parallels there, y'know? Besides, you're a little..."
"I'm a little what?"
"Well...You know. Young. What are you, twelve?"
"Why, of all the—I am fourteen years old, thank you very much. And in any case, it's not relevant right now. What is important is that you do not move."
"Fine, fine." He sighs. "How long exactly do you want me to stay here?"
"Until further notice."
"Oh, for—" Another, louder sigh. "Fine. You know, the least you could do would be to tell me just what the hell is going on."
I consider the request. Honestly, I've already done just about the worst thing I could merely by alerting him to the existence of magic in the first place. There's no harm in telling him the rest of the story, I suppose, or at least the pieces of it I know.
"All right." I take a deep breath. "First things first. Magic is real."
"I gathered that, yeah."
"You don't seem very surprised."
He shrugs. "Way I figure, IPD and esper abilities had to come from somewhere, right? Might as well call it 'magic'."
"Yes, but magic is completely different from esper abilities. Different principles, different methods of accessing it, all of that." As I say this, though, I start to wonder. Touma's hand certainly did do something to the backpack, and it seems a violation of common sense that it would have a similar effect on two entirely different forces. I file that thought away for now, however; it's not really relevant. "Espers were discovered less than thirty years ago; humanity has been practicing magic since before the dawn of civilization."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"How come I've never heard about it before, then?"
"You have. But you have been brought up in a culture that discredits all but the most trivial and ineffective of magical rituals as the product of superstition or, occasionally, faith. Because these rituals have not been replicated by mainstream science, you are led to dismiss the evidence for them as historical fabrication or distortion."
"So, what, people used to be flinging spells around like in some kind of RPG, but then science happened and magic lost all its power?"
"No. Magic now remains as powerful as it ever was, and it would be disingenuous to think of it as not being a science—the scientific method applies to it as well as it does anything else in the natural world, though as far as I can tell, that attitude is relatively recent. The reason it is discredited is that knowledge of how to perform it has been intentionally, systematically, and thoroughly erased from history."
"What? What do you mean by that?"
Well. I suppose it's time to spill the beans. "There is an organization, loosely affiliated with the largest Christian churches—the Roman Catholics are the big ones, of course, though the Church of England, the Evangelical Church of Germany, the American Baptists, and the Eastern and Russian Orthodox Churches all have a significant presence—as well as some of the major national governments, that has as one of its primary goals the virtual eradication of magic. It is this organization that is responsible for propagating the idea that magic is the work of the devil, that the well-documented miracles performed by saints throughout history were the work of pure faith rather than skilled magicians performing good works in the name of God, that one should not suffer a witch to live. Somewhat ironically, it is also the only large organization that still passes on the knowledge of magic, teaching promising recruits the basics of the art that they may better carry out its mission."
Touma narrows his eyes at me, then starts looking around his room wildly. "Is there a camera here? Is this some kind of reality show? Cause I know I didn't sign anything."
"I am quite serious. I know it's a bit unbelievable—"
"A bit unbelievable? Listen, Index, you're telling me that there's some vast, centuries-old conspiracy that has somehow managed to erase every last trace of knowledge about magic from the world. I'm pretty sure that's flat-out impossible."
"And why, precisely, is it impossible?"
"Because you can't just...I don't know, control information like that. What's to prevent someone from just, I don't know, telling everyone?"
"Well, firstly, you have to understand that before the printing press was invented, it was in fact quite hard to widely distribute knowledge in the way you're saying. And afterwards...well, books can be burned, and there are quite a few spells that can remove a memory. Some of them from many, many people at once. Today, though, with the Internet, and all the myriad ways of quickly spreading information throughout the world...I don't know if a large-scale loss of containment could be fixed today. Which may explain why the organization is so much more paranoid now."
"All right. Let's say I believe you. Why is this...organization doing all of this? Is it...some kind of power thing, so they can rule the world from the shadows or whatever?"
Hmm. "I suppose that's one way of looking at it, although it was certainly never phrased that way to me. The reasoning is that magic runs the risk of giving too much power to single individuals or small groups, which is always a serious threat to peace and stability. And that's really the primary purpose of the organization—promoting peace and stability, at any cost. That's where its name comes from: Pax Christiana. The Christian Peace."
"Pax Christiana, huh. Is that, what, Latin or something?"
"Indeed. Latin does always make things sound more dignified, after all. Like my name; 'Index of Prohibited Books' would be a silly name for a person in English, but in Latin it sounds quite proper."
"Wait, seriously? That's what your name means? Who'd give their kid a name like that?"
"Ah…It's not my birth name." I'm not even sure if I even have another name; as long as I can remember, it has always been 'Index'. "It has a lot to do with what my job in Pax was. I am, essentially, a walking library. In theory, before destroying or permanently archiving any source of magical knowledge, the organization is supposed to allow me to read through it and memorize it, so that I can pass it on if they need it again."
"Okay...why would they do that? Aren't they risking a, what, a 'containment breach' by having you around?"
"The idea is that anyone can read or copy a book if they somehow manage to access it, but I would have to willingly divulge the information in question. And as for the latter, you see, that's what the geis I was talking about was for. I am not supposed to be able to actively remember more than the basic principles of magic unless either ordered to access the information by someone with the appropriate authority, or if I need to use magic in self-defense. Except I have managed to exploit the latter condition in order to escape captivity, and you've managed to remove the restriction altogether—something that was supposed to be impossible, by the way—meaning…" I suddenly realize something that hadn't quite sunk in before. "...Meaning that the largest containment breach in almost a century is now underway."
"And I'm at ground zero. Figures. So, what's gonna happen? You said they have memory wipes; if they find us, are they just gonna make me forget this ever happened? I'd be more than happy to oblige them in that case."
"Normally, yes. However, your ability suggests you might have a resistance to such mind magic. Which means they will probably just kill you."
"Kill me, huh?" He doesn't seem particularly perturbed by this revelation; he sighs, lays back on his bed, and stares at the ceiling. "They can get in line."
Odd thing to say. "Are there a lot of threats on your life?"
"Long-term ones, no. Day-to-day?" He stretches his hand towards the ceiling lamp, as if trying to grasp the light in his hand. "I'm a Level 1 who punches way above my weight class. Literally. Everyone wants a shot. And that's on the days where the universe itself doesn't have it out for me. So yeah, people wanting me dead is nothing new. These guys do sound pretty hardcore, though."
"I'm not privy to the exact details of their operations, but I suspect that whatever you're guessing, yes, they've probably done it at least once."
"Great. I've got the Catholic Church's black ops department after me. What is this, the Da Vinci Code or something?"
"We're—they're not all Catholic. I'm Anglican—Church of England, specifically—and so are the people after me. It's my understanding that I was something of a pet project for the Anglican division; certainly, the Catholics aren't exactly diligent in making sure any recovered spellbooks go through me before being archived or destroyed."
"Huh. Gotcha. What's an Anglican?"
"...really?"
"I know there are, like, Catholics, and then there are just the regular Christians...I think they're called Protestants?"
I think I feel a headache coming on.
* * * * * * * *
After I spend about half an hour attempting to elucidate to Touma exactly how the (admittedly vast and often confusing) variety of Christian denominations are organized, we both decide that the whole thing is rather more complicated than it ought to be, and look for a different subject to discuss."So...how exactly does this magic stuff work, anyway?" he asks.
"All right, then. Magic, fundamentally, is based around connections. For example, that first spell I showed you. Fiat lux!" The ball of light once again pops up into the palm of my hand. "Literally, what I just said there means 'Let there be light!'"
"So what, you just say funny words and you can order the universe around?"
"Well...Yes and no. It's not just about saying the words, it's about being the right state of mind to channel mana—"
"Mana? Seriously? This is all some kind of messed-up RPG."
"It's funny you should say that; it's only in the past few decades that 'mana' has become the accepted term for the energy that fuels magic. Before it was 'life force' or 'vital energy' in the West, and generally 'qi' in the Far East, with other names throughout the world. 'Mana' is a Polynesian word with a similar meaning, and so many fantasy books and games have used it as a shorthand for magical energy that many a new Pax recruit has just kept doing so. But no, when I cast that spell, it's not just me saying the words. First is the words themselves—they are taken from the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, wherein God creates light from nothingness. The symbolic value gives that specific phrasing a great deal of power. I am also speaking it in Latin, which, as an effectively dead language used almost entirely for ritual, makes the words less like ordinary language for the purpose of communicating. Now, none of that is technically required, but it exponentially decreases the amount of mana I have to channel into the spell to make it work. Which, for me, is a great benefit, as I produce very little mana naturally."
"Okay...that...kind of makes sense...I guess. So what does that have to do with you scribbling stuff on pieces of paper and then taping it all over my apartment?"
"All right. So, essentially—how much do you know about Greek mythology?"
"Uh…"
"Well, never mind. Hestia was the Greek goddess of the hearth and home, and this is essentially a ritual which uses a number of inscribed prayers to her in order to request protection over this home. The cables are there because cables are, today, commonly used as conduits for energy and information; no good magician would be caught dead without a very large bundle of telephone cables. I've modified this specific ritual a bit to make it specifically protect against magic; it should do the trick for a while."
"Wait, I thought you said you were Christian? Or...Anglican, or however that works."
"Ah. I am. I don't believe Hestia exists any more than I believe the Flying Spaghetti Monster exists. What matters, however, is that a great many people once did believe she existed, which gave rituals dedicated to her power. And though that power is weaker than it once was, it certainly remains effective enough if used properly. Indeed, you could even say it's stronger than it might otherwise be; a ritual that is used too many times by too many people may well lose much of its potency. There are a great deal of Christian rituals that are considerably less effective than they once were simply because of the sheer number of Christians who incorporate them into their daily life; the sign of the cross in particular has virtually no effect, unless the one making it knows how to channel mana properly."
"So...this...channeling mana thing. Do you have to be, like, special to do it?"
"I'm not sure what you mean by special."
"Like, are there...I don't know, genes that say you can be a magician or something?"
"No. That's the thing, really: anyone can learn to do magic if taught properly, though of course some people have better aptitude for it than others. That is why Pax Christiana is so eager to suppress magical knowledge: it would be far too easy, especially in this day, for a single magician, or small group of them, to cause unimaginable amounts of damage. Look at the Black Plague, or the World Wars. All cases where a small cabal of magicians altered the course of history, causing unimaginable loss of life in the process."
"Whoa whoa whoa. You're telling me World War II was caused by a magician?"
"No, that part of history is true enough; it was caused by German imperialism and a national desire for vengeance in the West, and Japanese imperialism motivated partially by a lack of available natural resources in the East. The history books, however, do not talk about how much more horrific the war was, on all fronts, due to the actions of magicians on all sides. The Nazis in particular; their obsession with arcane power is something that Pax has allowed to survive into modern popular culture, simply because they were so evil that it was hoped it would further discourage people from looking into magic."
"How'd that work out?"
I shrug. "There hasn't been a major breach in more than 80 years; either it's helping or it's not hurting too much. Certainly, none of their frequent imitators have ever put so intense a focus on the magical arts, which is a sign that Pax has been doing something correctly. The point is, magic is something that puts a great deal of power in the hands of individuals who are by no means guaranteed to use that power for peaceful, constructive goals. So Pax keeps the world safe from it."
"You sound like you agree with them."
"For the most part, yes."
"So why'd you run?"
"Mostly? I wanted freedom. I have spent most of my life inside a high-security wing of a convent in rural England. You might say I got a bit tired of it."
Touma nods. "So, to sum up: Magic's real, and you're on the run from an organization that wants to keep everyone from knowing this at any cost. And in the process of running, you've both ended up in my apartment, and you've just told me all of the things they don't want anybody to know ever. And you don't actually have a plan besides 'put up a protection thingy and hope it works'. All because you wanted to be free. That about right?"
"Well, rest assured I'm working on the plan—" My stomach growls loudly, and I reflexively look over in the direction of the kitchen.
"...and I'm still low on food from this morning, too." He shakes his head. "The entire universe hates me. It really, actually does."
That's...hm. Up until I haven't really thought much about the kind of strain all this might be putting on Touma. And in retrospect…"You know," I say, "with the geis gone, I don't necessarily need to hang around here. If I pack up all my spell components and head somewhere else, they should just stay on my trail instead of bothering you. I shouldn't have gotten you involved in all this in the first place."
"I think I'd rather you'd realized that before you told me all the top-secret stuff. But hey." He actually smiles. "Girl trying to get her freedom, on the run from the evil shadowy conspiracy? I can get behind that. If you think your fancy protection magic stuff will keep us safe, I'm cool with you staying here for now."
"...really?"
"Yep. Just figure out a way you can arrange the...magic...paper thingies so I can get out of bed, okay? I think...I think I'm going to get some shut-eye for now." He rolls over on his bed and buries his face in his pillow.
Well. I suppose that's one problem solved.
Hm, bit infodumpy, but it's more than interesting enough that it doesn't bother me. This is actually a fairly plausible explanation for why Christians are using magic. I particularly like the comment about the scientific method magic being applicable to magic, because it's just so manifestly true.
Touma's complete ignorance of Christianity was amusing, too. I'm guessing that was partly a jibe at how badly canon handled it.
Touma's complete ignorance of Christianity was amusing, too. I'm guessing that was partly a jibe at how badly canon handled it.
King Arthur
The Once and Future King
Christianity is confusing, okay. I'm a catholic but me and Touma have essentially the same level of understanding when it comes to denominations and catholic politics.
you can call him a passive aggressive whiner, but Touma is no coward.Shockz said:
Idex: "one of the most dangerous and powerful groups in the world might come after you for knowing to much and for hiding me."
Touma:...... "meh, whatever, I'm going to bed, wake me up when things start exploding."
Well, the chapter was a bit of an infodump. Some parts of it...well it honestly felt like Index's dialogue was forced into explaining thing that she didn't need to explain. Maybe that's just how she is though - I mean I like to explain random minutiae to other people too.
FUKO DA!
Interesting. My understanding is that in canon, magic was a reaction to Esper abilities. Does this mean there aren't any gemstone analogues?
Also interesting.
Oh, it's not that hard...right?
cokerpilot
Here comes the rain.
Wait are you saying there is only one Christan magical organization. That was one of the things that I like about to original series the fact that the different branches all had their own magical organization which given history makes sense. Or do those still exist and this is an entirely new one who's supposed purpose is trying to cover up magic with no regard to politics.
I think it's going to be like the inquisition in warhammer, while it's technically one organisation, the reality is that it's littered with power-groups, factions, cabals, cult etc.cokerpilot said:
all with there own ambitions and goals.
..... at lest that my guess.
TheLastOne
Person of impeccable tastes (for destruction)
I would guess it's like the United Nations, only less effective, barely held together by the fact that they agree on the big issue (stopping the spread of magic).
Whiskey Golf
Being of Editing & Technical Assistance
- Location
- Chained to my desk
My understanding of things is that theoretically the Pax Christiana is supposed to be an interdenominational magic thimajiggy bound together in Christendom. In practice, because we're human and nobody's perfect, everyone's doing their own thing, so it's hardly unified. Rome's doing it's own stuff, Church of England's doing it's own stuff, and way back in the jungles of Sabah my dad's driving his 1985 Toyota Land Cruiser BJ60, with his portable church in the boot, except that where Index's is a jury-rigged grenade launcher, my dad's packing a man-portable mortar.cokerpilot said:
ckk185
Crazy Bunny Girl Scientist
- Location
- Port city
Welcome to SEA. Where even our priests are 100% manlier.The Eromancer said: