"The centerpiece of your curse is a behavioral matrix," said Theodore, getting straight to the point.
"A behavioral matrix?" Albatross titled her head, not quite understanding the significance of what was said. "Like the ones you used to make your undeads? When did they put that in me? Wait, how did you even know!?"
"There must have been plenty of chances to do so. You mentioned having to take basic training for three years before being made to work, right? It's probably sometime during then, especially since you said that you can't quite remember it. Something must have happened for your memories to be obscured in such a way."
Theodore was convinced that Albatross's lack of recollection was unnatural, a way to hide the process of how the curse was implemented perhaps. Otherwise, how do three years' worth of memories just disappear?
"As for how we found out," Theodore continued. "Well, Elder Kalman here had done a cursory scan on you the other day, confirming that you do, in fact, have a crystallized cluster of Aether within you. According to him, it was about the size of a large strawberry. As it appeared to be located in a spot that would have otherwise killed you had the crystallization occurred naturally, we concluded that it was likely artificial, and thereby, it must be a behavioral matrix."
Unfortunately, that was as far as Kalman could make out. The specifics of the behavioral matrix and the instructions imprinted within it could not be gleaned with his abilities. Even without Theodore's barrier getting in the way, it seemed that this was the best Kalman could do.
'The other day,' said Theodore. As Albatross pondered on those words, she realized that it must have been the day Theodore asked for a physical examination, in other words, just a day prior. For a moment there, she wondered how they were able to check her body without her noticing, but considering that Kalman was an elder, one could only assume that it was an easy task for him. Indeed, the capability of a mage was far too different from that of a commoner.
Though he realized that Albatross wasn't exactly pleased with that revelation, Theodore continued his explanation after giving Albatross time to digest the information.
"Now, under normal circumstances, a behavioral matrix of the size found within you would not be able to overwhelm your magic resistance and take control of your Aether, but unfortunately for you, a way around this was found."
As he spoke, Theodore began to unbutton his shirt. At the same time, he began bundling his threads of Aether together. Before Albatross could begin to question what he was doing, Theodore used the reinforced thread to cut open an incision in his chest, just below the sternum. With the sensation of pain suppressed via Aether overlaid with the nervous system, Theodore began to fiddle with his insides with two fingers, a scene that caused Albatross to turn away as she felt a chill run up her whole body from an instinctive revulsion.
Before long, Theodore pulled out a semitransparent piece of solid his body and placed it on the tea table. Oddly, there was not a speck of blood on this object, likely because Theodore was meticulous enough in his control to keep his blood from leaving his body.
"Anyways, this is a behavioral matrix, one made from my own Aether to be precise."
Looking at the piece of red crystal placed on the table, Albatross felt a certain familiarity with it. A moment later, she realized that this must be one of the crystals Theodore had shown her the other day, the same ones he said he'll be using to construct his undeads, the ones he said that he had extracted from his own body.
"With a behavioral matrix made of the subject's own Aether, magic resistance won't be triggered when it began to make changes to the Aether within your body. Within the three years of 'basic training,' there ought to be more than enough time to form one within the bodies of the apprentices-in-name and extract them without notice. At the same time, this also means that no matter how much you increase your magic resistance, you can't get rid of the curse. You *can* however, nullify the effects with enough Aether control, but after seeing the type of Aether-form you have, I'd say that it'd be next to impossible for you," Theodore explained. "Anyways, I can confirm that the method works as I've tested it on myself. It's quite a genius idea if I do say so myself. When I came up with this method the other day..."
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As the talk was getting long-winded, Kalman went into the kitchen to make some tea. When he returned with the teapot, he was generous enough to bring along with him three crude mugs to share with the rest. Naturally, Albatross did not touch the tea. She had learned her lesson from before.
"However, the behavioral matrix alone does not make the curse due to its complexity," Theodore continued after taking a sip of the tea. After inspecting it with his Aether, of course. "Kalman and I have discussed this at length the other day, but the behavioral matrix found within you is too small for functions as complicated as this curse of yours. For it to work, one would need to 'teach' it to differentiate information, what could be said and what couldn't be said, it had to understand what it means for something to be a secret in a variety of contexts, and that's just one of the many restrictions placed on the apprentices-in-name. I highly doubt that there is someone capable of that here and even if there is, it'll take a crystal ten times larger or denser than what you have inside of you right now. As such, rather than trying to 'teach' the behavioral matrix to recognize a complex social concept that is a 'secret', it is better to have it react to a simpler stimulus. which leads us to the 'basic training' that you were talking about."
"Basic training...."
Though she barely understood a word that was said thus far, the mention of the 'basic training' brought Albatross to her full attention. Those three years were nothing but a blank for Albatross. And for some strange reason, she didn't think that it was particularly strange until she mentioned it to Theodore the other day. As if by trying to talk about it and failing to do so, her mind had finally realized that something was wrong.
"We suspect that the so-called 'basic training' is a period in which you and the other apprentices-in-name went under mental conditioning, possibly with the aid of drugs that weaken the mind. Hypnosis might also be used."
"On that note," Kalman chimed in, "I have reasons to believe that the drugs used might be a modified version of the Truthseeker's Oil. The symptom of memory loss is also consistent with prolonged exposure to the drug. Additionally, some years ago, a mage had actually inquired about the drug. I didn't particularly care at the time and just gave him the whole recipe so that he'd leave me alone, but I remember him mentioning the name 'Llewellyn'. If I remember correctly, many of their clan members are in charge of the workhouses in Lancea."
Theodore barely recognized the name when Kalman mentioned it to him the other day, but having heard it again, he recalled it being the name of the mage clan that specialized in illusory magic.
"So, with all that information put together, we formed the following conjecture: Through mental conditioning, the apprentices-in-name were made to react to the violation of rules imposed upon them with either extreme feelings of fear, guilt, or revulsion, something that could cause the body to experience a large amount of stress in a short time. In turn, the body would react to the large influx of stress as if it were poison and begin the process of getting rid of it. One of the reactions would be the dramatic increase in Aether activity within the body. The behavioral matrix would then react to the heightened Aether activity and trigger the curse. Assuming that our conjuncture is true, then by just disabling the behavioral matrix we can partially undo this 'curse'. The mental conditioning placed on you, however, is another problem entirely."
"What do you mean?"
"If we assume that our conjecture is true, then the immense stress caused by violating the restrictions *could* kill you. We're talking about a conditioning process that took place over the period of three years after all. If I were given that kind of time, I would make sure to implement safeguards just in case the behavioral matrix is compromised. It wouldn't be out of the question. As the curse would originally put you into a state of stasis, a heart attack due to extreme stress shouldn't be a problem, but if the effect of the curse is removed, however, then that's another story entirely. There could be other problems we were unable to predict too. Either way, what I am saying is that the removal of your curse may cost you your life."
At those last words, the room momentarily fell silent. In anticipation of Albatross's reaction, Theodore and Kalman spoke no more. Meanwhile, Albatross's eyes remained on Theodore, her gaze sharp as ever. Without a single change in expression to be observed, she opened her mouth.
***
End of Chapter 77
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