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Original Article: Grundlegende ätherische Informatik und ihre Möglichkeiten
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The following document, partially reproduced here, was found in the residence of research assistant Reier, after he was discovered to be a member of the "Mages Academy" Group of Interest. At this time, the information reproduced here is for informative purposes only, and may not be used as reference material until its actual accuracy can be verified. Any additions to this document made with a ballpoint pen are also included.
Document Title: Theodor Schramm1: Basic Aetheric Informatics and its Applications
Introduction
Aetheric Informatics deals with the evaluation and processing of aetheric information. Aetheric information is defined as information originating in the Astral Plane, that is or was previously coupled to objects in this universe. It defines the possible actions of all objects. Inanimate objects usually have very little aetheric information associated with them, merely describing how they are to behave under given physical laws. Living beings, by contrast, are coupled to a comparatively large amount of aetheric information that guides the random processes in and around their bodies in certain directions, thereby forming the identity of each living being.
The Soul
One of the most important basic concepts of Aetheric Informatics is the concept of the soul. It is defined as the entirety of an object's aetheric information that is not related to its mere existence. This data is mostly obtained through natural processes, and assembles itself into a cohesive whole, the soul. The reason why is currently the subject of research. Data that is essential to the mere existence of an object is collectively referred to as its Fundament. **
The Creation of Souls
Souls are created from excess aetheric information. This can be accomplished through three processes, referred to as Physical, Metaphysical, and Direct Addition.
- Physical addition occurs whenever inanimate objects combine into a sufficiently complex whole. This generates new aetheric data defining the behavior of the new object within the universe. This information replaces the individual data of the component parts, however this data is not lost. The remaining data are then combined to form a soul. An example of this are bacteria that have naturally developed from inorganic substances, although under normal circumstances their soul is so rudimentary that it is usually ignored.
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- Metaphysical addition occurs when an animate object with its own consciousness interacts with an inanimate object. This generates new aetheric data, which are added onto both the soul's consciousness and to the inanimate object. The reason for this phenomenon is unknown, but it is believed to be some kind of reference for the Astral Plane.
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- Direct Addition is the process of bringing together aetheric information and then coupling it to an object, resulting in a soul. This process does not naturally occur, and must be carried out by a mage, or other entity capable of manipulating aetheric information.
Natural Creation of Souls
In nature, souls usually only form in living beings, since very few life forms use the same object as a tool over and over again. This is not the case in human environments. Since some objects remain in use for many years, even being passing on for further use, under certain circumstances they can develop strong souls.
Soul Strength and Attributes
A soul can be endowed with various attributes. An attribute, as the term is used here, denotes a property that is not part of the Fundament. There is no known restriction on programmable attributes, although in some cases it is necessary to overwrite fundamental aetheric information for the property to manifest as intended. It should be noted that the entire Fundament must not be completely erased, otherwise the object to which it is coupled will be removed from objective reality. In order to implement an attribute, it is necessary to first strengthen the soul. In this context, strengthening means adding additional aetheric information to an object. It is essential to add data in a targeted manner, since data without an assigned place and purpose often unintentionally couples to the object, giving rise to unwanted attributes. Additionally, make sure to avoid deleting a soul, as doing so will immediately erase all properties of an object not dictated by its Fundament. This is particularly dangerous for conscious beings, as removing their soul causes them to immediately enter a state similar to brain-death.
Methods of Soul Strengthening
The most widely used method of soul strengthening is aetheric editing, the alteration of aetheric information through the use of specialized data magic (see pages 8-24 for more details). However, there are various other ways to strengthen or alter a soul. Three of these methods are the aforementioned Physical, Metaphysical, and Direct Addition, but there are also special abilities and specific, not necessarily magical rituals that facilitate strengthening. In some cases, a soul with a consciousness unconsciously edits itself, thereby creating new attributes. It is believed that most methods of soul strengthening and editing have not yet been discovered.
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Special Case: Consciousness
Consciousness, the ability of an object to consciously make decisions, is the most common attribute associated with souls. The reason for this is because a rudimentary consciousness can be generated very easily from unused aetheric information. More complex constructs can also arise, as more aetheric information is gradually added to the consciousness. Consciousness can often arise unintentionally when aetheric informatics is improperly applied.
Properties of Aetheric Information
In most cases, the laws of conventional computer science can be applied to Aetheric Informatics without further any difficulty. Aetheric information can be copied, overwritten, erased, encrypted, and combined in almost any way, as well as compressed, although compression entails a loss or simplification of certain properties of the object coupled to it. Furthermore, information can only be linked to an object in unencrypted form. When encrypting aetheric information, the coupled object will be immediately erased from objective reality, but will reappear again if the aetheric information is decrypted. Aetheric information can also be hard-coded, making it unalterable. Another thing it has in common with normal data is that it has volume. However, this only plays a minor role in Aetheric Informatics, since its storage medium, the Astral Plane, is infinitely large. One major difference distinguishing aetheric information from ordinary data is its ability to recombine without outside intervention if not assigned a place and purpose.
Applications
Aetheric Informatics has a wide variety of potential applications, since it can be used to assign all possible properties to all possible objects.
- The most frequently used is the self-repairing trait, which can be created by hard-coding the Fundament, causing the object to always try to maintain the prescribed state. This hard-coding can also be used to provide infinite resources to run machines, such as electricity, oil, and consumables. However, it should be noted that these resources must have a source, such as the Astral Plane.
- Another possibility is to create perpetual motion machines. However, this requires a consciousness within the object controlling all processes within the machine or organism, to regulate energy output and turn it off if necessary.
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- Another application is to bestow special properties on organisms and materials, such as increased resilience, longevity, and anomalous capabilities^^1^ ^.
- It is possible to program a consciousness via aetheric editing, which in the past has been used to create entities such as golems. Currently, attempts are being made to transfer this concept to robotics and computer technology, for various purposes including shifting their power supply over to Astral Energy.
- A field with applications in both law enforcement and archeology is psychometrics. Psychometrics is a branch of aetheric informatics that deals with reading the souls of objects used by people in the past, to draw conclusions about the history of the object.
Illustrative Applications
Anderson's Multiscrewdriver: Anderson's Multiscrewdriver was a proof of concept for the applicability of aetheric informatics, brought into existence in 1821 by Ernest T. Anderson of England. Anderson gave an off-the-shelf screwdriver the attributes "flame producing" and "always fit", creating a screwdriver that could be used on any screw while also acting as a lighter when in contact with combustible materials.
The Free Golem: The Free Golem was a proof of concept created by the Austrian Richard Bauer in 1934 to demonstrate that consciousness could be created from nothing. He had molded clay into a golem's body, and had given it a consciousness that enabled the golem to perceive its environment and freely make decisions. It should be noted that the golem only possessed a mind comparable to an insect.
Spell Books: Spell books are now given attributes to help their user access the Astral Plane more easily. Naturally, such attributes are far more complex than those of Anderson's Multiscrewdriver, consisting largely of safeguards to prevent the caster from being noticed by demons, Astral Beings, or elementals while casting magic.
1: The bestowal of anomalous powers on beings and conscious objects is strictly regulated and carefully monitored by the Department of Magic Abuse and Accidents.
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Manipulating Souls with Aetheric Editing
Souls can be manipulated in a variety of ways through aetheric editing. Objects can be bestowed with enhanced and even anomalous properties, potentially reshaping their physical form. However, care must be taken when working with very old or frequently used objects, since the accumulated aetheric information from these items often has interacts in unexpected ways with newly added data.
In addition, the preparations that are necessary to make before carrying out an edit heavily dependant on the individual user. Small changes, such as the mere deletion of a minor, passive anomalous trait can usually be made without preparation and consume only a few Thaum. However, the programming of a consciousness, for example, often requires a ritual and the participation of several other mages, depending on the complexity and one's individual ability. Exorcisms of powerful beings such as demons or elementals, or repairing anomalous properties that endanger reality, always require multiple mages and powerful rituals, as they consume multiple kiloThaums. However, in all cases it is always important to check exactly which data are being deleted or added. Errors in programming usually result in unwanted effects, and if no protective measures are taken these can sometimes be fatal for the programming mages and everyone in their vicinity. This is especially true when working at the scale of megaThaum or more.
Link
It is possible to connect the souls of different objects together. This link can have various effects. If it is too strong, the two souls and their any associated consciousness merges into one. However, as long as this point is not exceeded, communication between the two souls, among other things, is possible with skillful programming. This method requires 40 to 80 Thaum and a in-depth understanding of all souls to be linked, because if not programmed properly, one soul can take control of the others or otherwise exert undesirable influence over them. More on this on p. 98-102.
Binding
Coupling a body of aetheric information to an object is called binding. When a soul is bound to an object, it gains full control over the object, unless restricted by the mage. For example, it will be able to move the object by itself, or use it to generate energy. 1 Souls can be bound to individual objects to varying degrees. There is the possibility of binding them to multiple or to all parts of an object, which allows the soul to persist even after the object's destruction, a phenomenon commonly seen in cars, ships, and buildings in everyday life. Binding usually consumes 20 to 100 Thaum.
1: In the past, the souls of living beings, including humans, were used for such purposes, a practice that is now proscribed and forbidden.
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Illustration of the destruction of an object whose soul is bound to several components.
However, souls can also be attached to just a single component of the whole object. If the object exercises some form of control over itself, after destruction that control is limited to only that portion still attached to the soul, even if the object is later fully restored.
Illustration of the destruction of an object whose soul is bound to only one component.
However, care must be taken if the object to which a consciousness is to be bound already contains another. In this case, both will struggle for dominance over the object, or merge into one. The outcome of such a scenario is dependant on various factors, including the data volume of the opponents, their intelligence and their assertiveness.
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Aethereal Constructs
Aethereal Constructs are manifestations of aetheric information in our universe. They can have a solid body, but can also be completely insubstantial or have no body at all. By definition, consciousness is also one of the aetheric constructs, but is not listed here.
Phantom
When a living being or an animate object dies, the soul usually separates from the Fundament and remains in the Astral Plane. However, the aetheric information of Phantoms has been removed from the Astral Plane by natural or artificial means, and is now in a state of constant motion. Corruption of the data during its release from the Astral Plane often results in anomalous properties.1
Avatars
Avatars, also known by the obsolete terms tsukumogami or artifact spirits, are projections of the powerful souls of inanimate, self-aware objects, and can take various forms. Avatars are bound to their object and can control it through willpower alone, but cannot move away from it. It is possible to detach Avatars from their object, but this is a very complicated process, since Avatars' aetheric information contains large parts of the Fundament. When an object the Avatar is associated with is destroyed, the Avatar disintegrates, unless the object's soul is attached to its component parts rather than to the object as a whole. In this case, the avatar is able to freely move around in space until its item is restored, at which point it is immediately transferred back to its vicinity.
Tutelary spirits
Tutelary Spirits, sometimes also called household spirits, are projections of uncoupled, aetheric information from the Astral Plane that fulfill a protective obligation towards certain objects or organisms, fulfilling this role using anomalous abilities. Tutelary Spirits can be summoned, bound and used for various purposes. There are multiple theories as to the origin of Tutelary spirits, but most mages believe they evolved from aetheric information shaped by religious or superstition. They usually have no material form.
1: There are black magic practices to achieve this, but all are criminally prosecuted. This also applies to attempts contact the souls of the deceased or reconnect them with objects in our world.
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Nature Spirits
Nature Spirits are avatar-like constructs that are coupled to multiple natural objects (such as rocks, bodies of water, soil, and mountains) and living beings, and generally have no fixed form1. The origin of nature spirits has not yet been conclusively confirmed, but it is assumed they represent a composite of souls, arising from metaphysical addition by both animals and humans. Most nature spirits are 200 years old or older, and consist of the souls of 20 to 5000 objects. As a result, they usually have a wide sphere of influence, within which they can manipulate the objects to which they are linked. Nature spirits usually have a pronounced instinct for self-preservation, and will try to protect their territory from any kind of harm. A mage can use various techniques to render them docile.
Malicious Construct
Malicious Constructs never have a physical form, and their function is similar to computer malware. They attach themselves to souls and constructs, and use their aetheric data to cause abnormal behavior and traits. Malicious Constructs do not occur naturally and must be programmed by a mage.2 There are ways to protect aetheric data from malicious constructs, although none provide complete protection.
Astral Beings
Astral Beings are collections of aetheric data in the Astral Plane that are not coupled to anything in the physical universe. Astral Beings are normally harmless due to their confinement in the Astral Plane, but become extremely dangerous if they manage to latch onto a mage. They are then able to influence the material universe, and have access to enormous amounts of Astral Energy.
Amalgamations
Amalgamations are souls that have been fed uncontrolled amounts of aetheric information. They are difficult to classify as other types of constructs, since they can share characteristics of each of them. Amalgamations do not usually occur naturally, and are usually very dangerous, as they can possess a wide variety of different abilities.
1: Only very strong nature spirits possess a physical body.
2: The creation of harmful constructs is considered black magic and is therefore forbidden.
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