animus_network | A question

what
you mean like soul stuff?

Perhaps. The specifics of it are beyond me, which would be why I am asking.

souls naturally decay when not weighed down by a brain
but astral projection is like a soul being tied to the brain with a leash
might be possible if you used familiars
but i'm a specialist in that field

[...]

I think I understand. [Sort of.] What is a familiar?

lingering thoughts of departed souls jammed together into a body
to make a soul-like entity dependent on prana
the magus controlling the familiar can use spells to see through their eyes

[... Now that sounds like--]

Do they have a consistent appearance, generally? Or does it depend on the magus that is controlling them?

[--the phantoms?]

definitely depends on magus
and some can even change form
like, they have some very general similarities
but what they actually look like depends on the ingredients used
identity
looks
powers
all these are affected by ingredients
like if you used a human spirit
then the familiar might have a humanoid form as one of their forms
like one girl uses dogs
another is supposed to use pigeons
in my time crows and dogs and pigs were common

[That's... unsettling, to see spirits being talked about like they're ingredients, but it doesn't sound as much like the phantoms as she first thought. Hm.]

I see. That sounds as though it would be... unpleasant, to be cobbled together with the spirits of others against your will.

What do familiars do, if I may ask? Are they sentient?

not as if they remember the process itself
most of the time anyway
and that depends again
on how sentient the ingredients were
humans or phantasmal beasts make for fully sentient familiars
just simple dogs would have the same sentience level as dogs

Is that so. It seems a great deal relies upon the magus' ability to procure the right ingredients.

[Not much like the phantoms at all, really. They seem human, in a way, but not fully self-aware...]

Thank you; this information has been quite interesting.

yeah
sentient familiars are actually pretty rare
difficult to get human souls
even more difficult to control them after they're assembled
animals can do most of the tasks with less than half the hassle
and you're welcome

I suppose if one were looking at it through a purely utilitarian sense, then yes, that would make the most sense.

is there any other way to say it?
i guess maybe some modern magi don't like killing people
to make familiars?
either way makes more sense to have animal familiars

Not all people with the power to create such beings are so reasonable, I mean to say.

yeah, some magi are pretty nasty
but there's organizations that keep them from getting too out of hand

And yet, I doubt such organizations have extended their reach to this place, let alone organize to the point of being able to exert power and order over others.

not very many magi in the tower either
at least, not very many i know for sure
but i bet if someone was fucking around with another person's soul
it would catch the attention of whoever keeps people in line

Unless, of course, they were the ones who were doing it.

[Even though their practice has been given a name - psionics - there is still so much left unknown about the extent of the administrators' powers.]

[Somehow, reading that sends a chill down his spine.]

okay i know ruana has psionics
but can she or anyone else really mess with our souls

[A long break between this and the next line.]

oh wait
they switched our bodies once
likely they switched our souls
usually this would't be possible
but fuck
they did it
they did Third Magic
would explain side effects too
shit
shit
shit

Pardon?

[Um...]

Are you all right?

yeah i'm okay fr the most part

[Actually, he wasn't. In the aftermath of the bodyswap, Lancer had been so focused on his guilt involving Ruler that he had forgotten the implications of the swapped bodies. As a Servant, he was a copy of the original Heroic Spirit, and yet the soul of said Heroic Spirit was still a unique one. The fact that the administrators could manhandle his soul unnerved him.]

read carefully i'm gonna type this fast
Third Magic is Materialization of the Soul
remember how I said souls degrade without bodies?
even if a magus can somehow project his consciousness and senses
he has to do it through various mediums
nothing like actually pulling a soul out of a body
Third Magic does that
it preserves souls that have lost their bodies so they won't decay
it pulls complete souls out of bodies
it probably can even call back and fix a soul that has already degraded
the body switch
two ways it could be done
alter the memories of a person to make them believe they are this other person
or take the soul out of one person's body
stick it in the other person's body
first option is wrong because people remember their times in the other body
means their souls were actually taken out
also i said souls have weight
think of them as a body part
human bodies reject body parts that don't fit
the bodies were rejecting souls that don't fit
and in some cases trying to write over them with the body's memories
that's the side effects

[He takes a moment to consider how he should type out the next bits of information.]

one case I saw was special
both people were special types of familiars
they were spirits to start with and their bodies are made of energy
both of their bodies were magecraft resistant
yet their minds still got switched
they were able to extract the souls from familiar and put them into different vessels
that's how advance their "magic" is

that's as much as I can figure out

[Okay, give her a moment to try to make sense of this all.]

That does match up with what we have seen. I do not want to jump to any conclusions or assumptions about what they might be capable of, but... that is certainly a good working theory, if I am understanding what you are saying.

[And an unsettling one, but there's no time for fear. Not when there's still work to be done.]

Do you know anyone here who might be more well versed in this "Third Magic"?

all the magi from my world understand the theory
what it's supposed to do, at least
but they don't know how it's done
i don't know how many of them are here
but you can try asking for a "Caster"

Caster. Understood. Thank you very much for your time. This has been enlightening, to say the least.

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