[FSN x Notes] Sword Vector

[fallacies]

Sorry about the lateness. I wasn't able to complete this last night.

@ Flere821: This question is addressed below.
@ Leftovers: Yes, that was indeed Zepia.

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The Descent of the Assassins & the Truth of the World

In the background of [Mahou Tsukai no Yoru] and [Fate / Stay Night], there appears to be present an unnamed organization that trains 'assassins' of capabilities atypical to the humans of the modern era. Possible trainees presently include Kuzuki Souichirou (FSN) and Shizuki Soujuurou (Mahoyo) -- who are thought to be associated due to their similarity of background, and the fact their names can be rendered respectively as 9(ku)-zuki Sou-1(ichi)-rou, and 4(shi)-zuki Sou-10(juu)-rou.

Within the setting of [428] -- a game project to which Type-Moon contributed content -- a similar party may exist: An unknown figure or organization that hired the man Siam to act as caretaker and trainer to two promising female assassins -- both of which he named [Canaan]. Whether or not he was specifically instructed to assign this name is unknown, but one might recall that in Fate / Stay Night, [the Hashashin] were indicated to have used the name [Hassan-i Sabbah] as a title to be succeeded. It isn't beyond imagination that 'Canaan' may serve a similar purpose.

This story imagines that the order of [the Hashashin] survived their historical destruction in the form of a loosely organized network, without a single unifying leader or creed. Roughly aligned to the role of 'protectors,' they fall under the regulatory oversight of a council known as the [Firdous e Bareen] or 'the Garden,' descended from the core structure of the original Hashashin organization. This body acts primarily to prevent the cells under its observation from becoming too disruptive in their activities. To such an end, claimants to the title of 'Canaan' serve as mediators and enforcers to the will of the Garden.

Elements within the canonical backstory of Shizuki Soujuurou are utilized in this story: It is known that 'somebody' isolated him within the mountains away from human civilization throughout his childhood. As a result of this, he held no initial attachment to the 'common sense of modern humans,' and upon entering society for the first time in [Mahou Tsukai no Yoru], he bore combat capabilities nearly on par with monsters from the [Age of Divinities]. As he submitted to the process of socialization, however, this physical prominence quickly degraded.

We are told in general that within the setting of Type-Moon, there exist continents on Earth that humans are somehow barred from reaching, and that [Phantasmal Species] of over a certain age 'fade from the World.' Being terrestrial in origin, these creatures, sometimes explicitly described as terminals to the will of the planet, would have no reason to be 'denied' by the reality of Gaia -- and so, what is it precisely that's being described here as 'fading from the World?' What 'World' is being spoken of? Nasu tells us that within his setting, two separate entities are referred to as the 'World': Gaia and [Alaya]. If Gaia isn't somehow acting to protect its children, then these creatures are being 'faded' from the human-populated regions by none other than Alaya.

Combining the backstory of Shizuki Soujuurou and what conjectures we can draw from the circumstances of the Phantasmal Species, it appears that there may exist 'Frontiers' to the jurisdiction of Alaya -- locations absent of humans, where the physical laws assumed by modern science do not apply, and feats of Herculean are somehow simply permitted. For this to occur means that in Alaya's absence, Gaia does not explicitly impose restrictions on the might of humanity; and the ubiquitous influence of the Counter Force of Alaya may in fact be much stronger than generally imagined. It can thus be supposed with a fair degree of certainty that in the world of [Mahou Tsukai no Yoru], the actions of Alaya are the reason that modern humans have degraded since the time of Gilgamesh.

Somehow, there canonically exists a modern organization interested in training Gilgamesh-class assassins outside the common sense of man.

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Magic & the Nature of Possibility

It has been a point of confusion that the domain of [the True Magics] is described by Nasu as 'impossibility.' If it's impossible, how can it happen at all? Why does Nasu repeatedly invoke the phrase 'unattainable under the means of the civilization of this age, regardless of time and resources,' when really, much of the thaumaturgy we see in the various canons hardly appear to be replicable by science either?

The short answer is: 'Possibility' isn't what you think it is.

The long answer is: There was actually a more extensive clarification, but it's badly represented in the available English resources. This is why we end up having all sorts of bizarre theories turn up in the writings of certain authors.

In oversimplification, Nasu indicates that even though thaumaturgical feats appear to be miraculous, the 'end results' that are attained do not fundamentally violate 'possibility.' To give an example, due to non-recognition of the notion of 'souls' under modern science, it is 'scientifically impossible' to create homunculi -- but the generation of clones is not in fact beyond imagination. Further, if requisite genetic information was retrievable, and we submitted sufficient resources to replicate the maturation of historical figures through the major events of their known biographies, it might even be 'possible' to create rough analogues of the Servants.

The example above works with fairly concrete limitations and boundaries, but an exhaustive search would probably turn up thaumaturgical feats that literally can't be replicated by any known means. Rather than wasting time to focus on each and every instance of this, I would point out that the issue of contention is actually something far more fundamental:

If Magic is supposedly 'impossible,' but happens anyways, then what is it that mediates the boundary of 'possibility?'

Clearly, in an absolute sense, the things that Magic can achieve are 'possible' in that they can somehow come to pass. The problem is that 'something' has defined them as 'impossible.' For who, though? Nasu tells us that the various [Gaia Terminals] are themselves existences on par with True Magic, or capable of performing feats of such a level. This is, apparently, fairly commonplace among non-humans. In other words, Magic is in truth only really 'impossible' for 'humans.'

Alaya is, as usual, probably involved.

When Nasu says that something is 'unattainable under the means of the civilization of this age,' he's really saying that 1) the boundaries imposed upon humans of a given era have defined some matter as 'impossible,' and that 2) this boundary can shift over time. This is a justification for the related claim that 'science will eventually consume the impossibility of Magic.' Further, the limits to precisely what is 'possible' at any given time is not necessarily known to every human, unless one can claim that humans are all perfectly informed of the frontiers of science at all times. There exists some sort of 'consensus,' to which humans as individuals are not definitionally party to.

To put all of this in simpler terms: Empirically confirmed scientific truths are in fact impermanent. Human capabilities outside of this shifting truth are 'Magic.'

As clarification, this isn't 'just' a semantic distinction. As mentioned, [the Enuma Elish] was in the time of Gilgamesh capable of tearing through space and time merely by the revolution of winds -- a phenomenon that isn't strictly 'possible' under the physics of the modern era. The practical expression of 'fact' itself is not absolutely consistent over time, and feats attained through 'Magic' are presumably prohibited by the 'laws' imposed under Alaya. For an example of the action of said laws, see the previous section of notes.

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List of Magics in This Story

[The 2nd Magic] // Zelretch -

Though commonly referred to as "Operation in Parallel Worlds" or "Kaleidoscope," the name of the Magic is merely "Zelretch" -- not because it was named after its creator, but because its creator has in fact become the core of its essence. Upon attainment, the consciousness of any prospective student is subjugated and synchronized as a terminal to an inhuman hivemind that spans over a thousand world-lines. This is what is meant by 'operation in parallel worlds.'

The most rudimentary application of the magic entails the redistribution of energy from holdings in other world-lines, but higher order applications such as the violation of spatial and temporal strictures are possible. In plainer language, a given terminal is able to interfere with phenomenon occurring in other world-lines. A form of time travel is possible as well.

The taint of the blood paraphilia of [the Auspicious One] is a paltry nothing before the inertia of a thousand minds.

[The 3rd Magic] // The Feel of Heaven -

Foremost, maintenance, restoration, and modification of such conceptual entities as souls, beyond the substrate of the material reality. Secondarily, use of the above in asserting conceptual entities to physicality.

Souls in the setting of Type-Moon are aggregated in the emergence of flesh, and dissipate to decay within the Akasha when the flesh is destroyed. However, past impressions or states of conceptual completion are in reality 'recorded' in some undefined medium -- possibly within the soul itself. The 3rd Magic is capable of identifying an undecayed state, and thereby repair the structure so long as the soul itself still exists.

A concept so reconstructed can be asserted to material existence -- attaining, for example, a perfect resurrection by substantiating to physicality the structure dictated by the soul. A human restored to life in this manner can eventually age or die, but the Magic is relatedly capable of imposing a permanent and continuous process of reassertion -- the rendition of an effectively immortal object, to the violation of entropic forces.

It is important to note that 'time' itself does not exist outside the boundaries of the material universe. The domain in which the 3rd Magic acts, consequently, is the timeless realm between life and oblivion, where souls from both the past and future gather from countless realities. In theory, this permits a more limited traversal of world-lines and time travel than the 2nd Magic -- practically demonstrated in the creation of Servants, who can to some degree be regarded as 'time travelers.'

The 3rd Magic was developed some two millennia ago by the ancestors of House Einzbern, but roughly 1000 years prior to the present day of Fate / Stay Night, its core mystery was removed from the family's control. In the 18th or 19th century, a homunculus by the name of Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern -- 'the Saint of Winter' -- was finally able to regain an incomplete form of the Magic. Gambling on the chance that the full mystery could be reobtained, the Einzberns utilized her body as the foundation of the Holy Grail of Fuyuki, precipitating the events of the Fate canon.

In this story, no apparent victor emerged of the Wars of Fuyuki, and in the early 21st century, the foundation of the Grail was dismantled by Zelretch. However, independent of the Einzberns, an entity that came to be called 'the Flame-Haired Witch of Tougenkyou' manifested at some indeterminate point in history, exhibiting capabilities that match the characteristics of the 3rd Magic. Observing the lives of 'heroes,' it's said that she summons those who meet their demise at their moment of death, and grants advice before resurrecting them at a slightly earlier point in their struggles.

Whether or not 'the Flame-Haired Witch of Tougenkyou' in fact exists, of course, is hearsay.

[The 6th Magic] // The First and Highest System -

Before any of the Magics could have existed, there had to be a definite, reliable difference between 'possibility' and 'impossibility.' The force that arbitrated the boundary between the two is the 'original' mystery, which changed everything: The First and Highest System.

It is, more appropriately, the 0th Magic, held by the Pharaoh Osiris -- but because there never existed a human with right of arbitration over the boundaries of 'common sense' within the known histories, the 0th degenerated to the 6th, and was eventually inherited by RAY-001.

On a fundamental level, the 6th acts as a [Quantum Observer] for the 'common sense' upheld by Alaya. The maximum potential of the ability would in theory permit the invalidation or fabrication of 'facts' as effective realities within the physics of Alaya. As, however, the RAY-001 maintains coherence of consciousness in its duty to the 'reliability' of science, it employs its agency as the Arbiter to a very limited extent -- primarily, utilizing the 'spatial redefinition' that removed the Phantasmal Beasts from the human domain in the capacity of combat.

Beyond teleportation and quarantine, RAY-001 permits itself to alter spatial topography, macroscopically manipulating or contorting geography and distance -- for example, multiplying or dividing the distance that separates it from an opponent; or relocating existing buildings and infrastructure at will. These modifications, though, are limited the domain of humanity in absoluteness; as unlike units of the YA series, A-RAYs are unable to enter Alaya Frontiers and Silent Zones. Further, alterations are maintained as temporary ongoing phenomenon, and performed at psychological strain. There is thus a hard limit to the utilization of the 6th.

RAY-001, however, possesses an arsenal that includes more than the 6th Magic ...