Truth slowly blinked at Sophia.

“Could you just… walk me through that idea?”

Sophia grinned a little. “System Astrologica, the work tracking and spell delivery system for Starbrite. Starbrite employees can be found everywhere on the planet, in orbit, and even on the moon, but there is not the slightest chance in Hell they would go anywhere the System didn’t reach.”

Truth nodded along. “Yep.”

“Also, as far as I’m aware, nothing can jam it or block it. It is alway in effect.” She continued.

“Also correct.”

“But it shouldn’t be. Magic operates on fixed, known, principles. We are always learning more about those principles, but the basic rules are pretty nailed down at this point.”

“Really?” This was news to Truth. Sophia rolled her eyes and nodded.

“Yes. For example, rules like “There is no effect without a cause, every cause requires energy, all energy has an origin.” Things like that.”

“Are those actually provable bits of natural philosophy, or did someone program a golem to come up with aphorisms?” This time it was Truth that rolled his eyes. Sophia counter rolled.

“Provable. You want the proof?” She pointed at her little bookshelf. “Right there. The statement is a few words. The math demonstrating the principle can run hundreds of pages long.”

Truth blinked in shock. “Damn. I had no idea.”

“Nobody does. It drives me kind of nuts. But that is what Natural Philosophy is. Looking at the world, making a guess about why it’s the way it is, then trying to prove that.”

“Alright. So, why can’t the System Astrologica be explained by conventional Natural Philosophy?”

“Because there is no effect without a cause, and there is no cause without energy, and all energy has an origin.” She leaned forward, her fingers coming up and tracing through the air. “Let’s say you needed a spell. I don’t know…”

“Shockwave.”

“Sure, Shockwave. You tell the System Astrologica “Hey, I need Shockwave.” So that’s you, the origination point, using your energy, to send a message. The System receives that message and sends you Shockwave. Okay, great. How?”

Truth shrugged. He hadn’t yet explained how the System mutilated the soul. Didn’t seem relevant so far.

“Search me. I always just thought “Load shockwave,” then the notification popped up- “Shockwave loaded. Mission Critical Spell. No Charge.”

She looked fascinated. “What was that like?”

Truth searched for the words. “You could feel the System when it first activates in your body. Like a little… something, partially filling your first aperture. It fades with time, and you just stop noticing it. But you can feel whatever spell you originally had loaded leaves you, which gives you a horrible, empty feeling, then a new spell comes in, which feels so satisfying. Like… sinking into a hot bath is satisfying. You feel right.”

“And there is no visual sign of it happening? Or anything beyond a feeling of satisfaction?”

“No. Other than the Notice from the System, I mean.”

“That is so cool.” She breathed out excitedly. “I want the System.”

Truth shook his head hard. “You don’t. You absolutely do not want the System. At all. Ever. In any way shape or form. Including the new Citizenship system.”

<>

You want to spread more of your “siblings” around?

“But we are getting sidetracked. Why does this mean the System Astrologica exists on another level of reality?” Truth pressed.

“Well. Where is the spell coming from? I mean that literally. The information that contains the spell.” She waved a book around. “If I were to try to jam all the information in this book into your head, physically put the actual, physical book in your head, you would know exactly where it was coming from, and how it got there.”

She put the book down, then pointed at him. “Load Malunions and Nonunions in the Shin, Ankle and Feet, 27th edition!” She then spread her hands. “And all this complicated information got into your head… how, exactly?”

“Magic?”

“Obviously, but how? No effect without a cause, no cause without energy, no energy without an origin. So assuming that the System Astrologica is the “origin,” how does it use its “energy” to create the effect of you knowing the contents of a medical textbook? Or Shockwave, for that matter. What does Shockwave do, anyway?

“What it says- it creates a high pressure wave in the air or water. Or solid materials too, actually, but the air and water were the bits I cared about.”

“That sounds kind of dumb.”

“Yeah? So if I were to send a high pressure wave through a fifty four kilo sack of mostly water, what happens to all the not-water things in the sack?”

Sophia winced. “Right.”

“So why can’t the System Astrologica be a series of transmitters communicating with a single, supremely powerful, spirit of intellect? The System handles all the communication side of things, it is permanently a part of you, after all. So the user does not think about it, or know about it.”

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<>

“Theoretically it could, but- energy. Those cosmic rays come from the cosmos, yes, but we can trace the origins of most of them backward to their source. Same deal with communication altars. We can track the signal’s origins, and disrupt transmissions by using any means that disrupts the flow of cosmic rays. Which can be a lot of things, ranging from flooding the aether with more spells, to certain metals, to just a lot of “stuff.” Rocks and water, for example. So in practice, the System cannot be transmitting messages from under the biggest rock in the deepest trench in the ocean.” Sophie explained.

“Relays wouldn’t cut it?”

“Relays that no one can spot, that work in every tunnel, in every mineshaft, in orbit, on the fucking moon?”

“Could beam the message up to the moon.” Truth said, playing Angel’s advocate.

“That nobody can spot? Ever? For however many decades or centuries Starbrite has been around?”

“That is still a… open question. How long Starbrite has been around, I mean.”

“Who cares? Longer than we have been alive, is the answer. Centuries, probably. And in all that time not one person found a transmission station or relay tower? Ones powerful enough to work literally everywhere on the planet? Just because it’s the simplest explanation doesn't mean it’s right. And there is no available evidence to support the “hidden transmitters” hypothesis.” Sophie shrugged.

“Still kind of a jump from there to “so the transmissions are coming from a higher tier of reality,” though.” Truth wiggled his hand. Sophie flicked hers, brushing aside his argument.

“Again, not really. We know some degree of interaction with higher tiers of reality is possible. It’s how Almandels work for one thing- literally poking holes through reality to reach Heaven.” Truth nodded fervently. He had firmly gone off Almandels since Happori Village. Sophie continued.

“And it’s not my field, but I know items from higher realities do land on this planet, and they can distort the area around them. To the extent of changing the nature of the universe there. Some spells alter your degree of reality, too. Some forms of spell resistance create a sort of local superreality.”

“Yep. Body cultivation, for one.” Truth grinned.

“Um. Yeah, I guess.” She looked distracted for a moment, but recovered. “So think about what that actually means. The spell, or the thing from a higher reality or whatever, is affecting the world at a level the rest of the world just can’t operate on. In those reality incursion situations, we, the people stuck in this reality cannot even perceive the thing making the changes.”

Sophie liked to use inflection a lot, Truth noticed. It was interesting. A complete turn around from the flat monotone she used when interrogating him. This, exploring the bounds of the world, learning and discussing new things, was what made her excited. Her eyes were bright, her hands spoke as fast as her lips, and the words came trippingly from her tongue as it was. This is what she loved. Truth smiled, happy for her.

“I have been to one of those places. There was a drop of water that tried to rewrite the world around me, so that I could perceive colors that don’t exist in this universe. At least, humans can’t see them.”

“Oh cool! Where?”

“A former agroforestry research station in south west Siphios. A good time was not had by all.” Truth’s voice turned dry. Those birds had messed him up.

“I still can’t believe you went to Siphios. Of all the insanely dangerous places…”

“It’s lovely, actually. The people are friendly, the food is good, the scenery is better. And Sophia, remind me where we grew up again? Was it the High Aristocrat District?”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s different.”

“It really isn’t. The whole world is a slum. You just need to know how to get around.”

“Oh very edgy. Careful you don’t cut yourself there.”

“I’ll spare you my rat-based theory of existence, then. So the System Astrologica exists outside of our physical reality?”

“Eeeh.” Sophia wiggled her hand. “Physical” is a kind of loaded word, like “Material.” Don’t get hung up on it. But basically, yes.”

She put the textbook on the table, then put a pen on the book. “OK, this is the transceiver system. Wherever the pen’s shadow falls, is where the system reaches.” She held the pen vertically. Most of the light was coming from the ceiling. It didn’t cast much of a shadow.

“Alternatively, imagine you were the system. You are seeing the whole surface of the book, because you are positioned above it. And if you reach down, you can affect that surface.”

Truth slowly nodded. “I think I’m following your analogy. Because it’s not really connected to the planet, it can see the whole planet and as far away as the moon. It is literally looking at things from outside our three dimensions, and it’s able to ignore our reality to an extent, so it can reach everywhere, transmit information everywhere.”

“Exactly.” She nodded. “Like a vast, all seeing eye.”

“Noooo…” Truth’s voice trailed off. “No, not like an eye.”

“Oh? What then?”

“Like a spell aperture.”

“Huh?” Now Sophie looked confused.

“A spiritual super-structure built over the physical body. It has defined characteristics. We describe it as having walls, of being full or collapsing, but what we are talking about is something we can’t directly touch. You could cut open a thousand people and never find a spell aperture.”

She nodded slowly, then with increasing speed. “Yes. Something that we cannot directly touch, but can only influence through cosmic rays and cosmic energy. The System Astrologica almost certainly relies on cosmic energy in some form, but at a level we cannot perceive. We can only interact with it through spells.”

Truth slowly shook his head. “No. Not spells.”

“Eh. Call it what you like, but at the end of the day, it’s all spells.”

“Not the System Astrologica. It goes in at the level of the soul.”

“Huh?” Sophia looked puzzled again.

“The System Astrologica doesn't interface directly with your mind. It comes in through your soul.”

“I have to tell you, that might be what it feels like, but it’s not how anything works. The soul does not think. It just is.”

“The nous does, to some extent. The soul and the mind are in contact.” Truth was firm on this. He had reason to be.

“I suppose. Not really my field. Still, your psyche has to process the information-”

“It comes in through the soul. That is exactly what the swearing in ritual is for. Creating that connection.”

“Oh. Huh. Can you explain that more?”

Truth nodded. This next part wouldn’t be very nice. Then he pulled up with a jolt. “Hey, if the System Astrologica is some kind of higher dimensional entity that is coming at us through the soul… wouldn’t that make it a demon?”

“I think Spirits of Intellect are pretty pissy about the nomenclature. They certainly don’t consider themselves demons.” Sophia disagreed.

Truth nodded at that, but all he could think of was- What if the System Astrologica is a stellar eminence?