Chapter 38 : Tempus Fugit - If only for my peace of mind.
ENTRY: Alpha-130
ANNO:0 - LOCAL:2009
LOCAL DATE: AUGUST, 19TH
BEGINNING RECORD
"It's been a few days since I witnessed the birth of a supernatural creature, one for whom it would be, let's say, awkward to be conceived in a traditional manner, and it made me reach a few conclusions.
"Firstly, there's a factor which isn't present in the Far Future but is here, one which allows the Belief of all of two humans to give birth to a minor supernatural creature.
"It stumped me for a few days, as I spent my free time pondering what could be the reason for this quasi-exponential increase in magnitude of the influence of the locals on the Immaterium, until it slapped me in the face.
"The answer is magic.
"More precisely, internal magic.
"See, all magical displays in the original setting are some shade of Warp-manipulation, from Sanctioned Psykers to Wytches from the boonies, and even the servants of the four pricks. They all have to tap into the Empyrean first to then manifest a phenomenon.
"Yet, all the humans, magicians and creatures from my current universe? They have this sort of internal capacitor, more or less developed, which allows them to spout metaphysical phenomena out of nowhere.
"Well, from the depths of their magical capacity, more like, but my point still stands.
"Or, since it's the only thing that I can think of which separates a local from their grimdark counterpart, it has to be the reason why their influence on the Immaterium is so much goddamn stronger.
"Two people, to manifest one fucking spirit.
"It would be inconceivable in the original setting, unless they were, I don't know, two Primarchs faffing around, or two really powerful Eldarii psykers, maybe?
"When I think about it, it's also possible that this is part of the reason why I have so much trouble with my Telepathy, because I don't really want to imagine how much louder the Voices would get when I really start focusing on it.
"So, internal magical mojo somehow has a marked influence on the local Immaterium, more or less behaving like a multiplicator for Belief to coalesce into tangible beings.
"Now, that's fine and dandy for sure, but it doesn't explain why those supernatural beings would coalesce outside of the Immaterium in the first place.
"Here again, I suppose the ambient magic of this world is playing a role that I can only begin to suspect.
"As I understand it, the denizens of the Warp from the Far Future can only step into the material plane if 'invited' or through stepping through a breach between the two dimensions. When they 'die' in the material plane, they get punted back into the Immaterium, get benched until they coalesce once more, and once the process goes through, they are right as rain and can start corrupting people once again.
"My leading theory as to what happens here is that this realm's magic somehow reacts when enough Belief gathers around a concept, breaches the border between the Materium and Immaterium as a reaction, and embodies the newborn entity while simultaneously cutting them off from the Warp.
"I reached those conclusions after observing the Zashiki-warashi for a few days, and it is undeniable that it got cut from the sea of souls and thoughts. For all intents and purposes, the little Yokai is no different to any other denizens from this realm despite having been literally spat into it three days ago.
"It doesn't appear to have maintained a connection with the Warp, only using what I'm fairly certain is magic to play his tricks and bring good fortune.
"The young couple somehow managed to realize that something was happening and are ecstatic, by the way. The Yokai didn't take umbrage to it, so I'll adopt a 'live and let live' approach in regard to it for now.
"But I digress.
"Sadly, I have only one example to base those conclusions off for now, but I'm reasonably certain that I've pinpointed the phenomenon accurately.
"Which leads us to my last theory.
"I think the gods-
"What?! No! Bad Skully, stop bonking me, you goddamn glorified tincan!
*Angry binary noises*
"Well now, it's not my fault if those exist and are a real thing here, right?
*Sullen binary noises*
"...As I was saying before I got so rudely interrupted, I think the local gods originate from the same phenomenon.
"Which, from an academic standpoint, proposes a really interesting solution to the chicken or the egg problem that is the origin of the various faiths and their related divinities.
"The Warp, from my knowledge, is both acausal and atemporal, after all. Which means that a divinity can possibly cause the events depicted in its mythology before it is even born.
"In other words: I'm theorizing that humanity literally created the supernatural through the influence of their Belief on the Immaterium, and, since those supernatural creatures are cut from the Warp at 'birth', they were then free from growing organically from there on instead of being continuously influenced by sapientkind's beliefs like it is the case in the Far Future.
"Which handily explains why the various local mythos, while inspired by those of Earth 'Prime', are so wildly different from our own: they simply grew from a similar starting point in lieu of staying static.
"Now, why and how they reached their current state, I don't know, and I'm not overly interested.
"The important part is that humanity created their gods and pantheons, and maybe should've been a bit more cautious instead of generally making them raging assholes.
"Which brings us to our last point, and the one that directly concerns me: the theoretical influence of Belief and Faith on me.
"And… the picture isn't very bright.
"If only two individuals can manifest a supernatural entity because they are faithful shintoists, then I shudder thinking what billions of individuals starting to worship me like the Empire did with the guy on his golden throne would do to the -until proof of the contrary- sole living being with a still active connection to the Immaterium.
"...
"I already had some ideas about some countermeasures I could put in place to shield me from the worst of those consequences, as a thought exercise, but, now?
"Now, I know that those are a necessity.
"If only for my peace of mind."
ENTRY: Alpha-130
ENDING RECORD
Of course, my holidays weren't only spent being a training maniac or gloomily thinking about a hypothetical cult in my name.
No, I also reached a few goals of my own in the meantime, one in particular.
Holding the pose was extremely awkward, since I more or less needed to remain sprawled on my side, frozen in one very specific position to avoid messing up, with only the help of my mirror to see what the fuck I was doing exactly.
Add to that the stabbing, white-hot, little pinpricks of pain making my skin feel raw and the maddening sound of the needle coming and going with its electric buzz, and I would wager that no small amount of people would have said fuck it and gone to see a professional.
Luckily, I was both very stubborn and a dirty cheater who cheats.
Teeth gritted, brows furrowed in intense concentration, half of my mind channeling Beauty and the other focused on the image I had come up with for myself, I finally, finally bring the finishing touch to my fifth -and final- tattoo.
The last few drops of ink go into my skin after hours spent at it, and I can only deeply sigh in relief as my self-appointed task is finally over.
Wordlessly, I cut the power of my tattooing needle, before going boneless on the ground, muscles almost crying in relief at moving once more after having stayed in the same pose for hours on end.
Shifting my focus from Beauty to a trickle of Wellness to halt the bleeding, I flop on my back on the cold ground, a deeply satisfied smile on my face.
In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter much, yet I'm still immensely proud of the result I reached all by myself-
-and with no small help from the Immaterium, yes, but it worked because I gave myself the means to.
And, beyond the frustrating difficulty of tattooing yourself at times -especially the shoulders, god, the shoulders!-, it had been sort-of fun, in a way?
I mean, I joked, earlier this year, about maybe becoming a tattoo artist…
I hum consideringly under my breath, crossing my legs as my arms come under my head to prop it up, my brows slightly furrowed as I think.
…But what if I made it my job for real?
Let's see.
If I make a good scrapbook, I could probably find myself an apprenticeship of some sort once I get the fuck away from Japan, blow some minds away after a few months -being supernaturally gifted has its perks, after all- and relatively quickly enough get myself a shop to my name.
…It would definitely be a more interesting job than all those I had during my previous life-
-even if I am pretty sure I'd be sick of inking imaginative 'tribals' and 'doggystyle'-type of tats after a while, but, let's be realistic: every job has its downsides.
And, if I'm really, really fucking good -which is already the case-, then I can fleece everyone who steps into my shop, and I'm fairly certain rich people will want something more unique than a tribal sleeve because their buddies all did the same or some shit.
…That could be fun.
…Maybe I should go for it.
Unbidden, a smile curls my lips, as I stay leaning on the cold ground, forgetting for a beat the harshness of the humid and hot Japanese summer.
I exhale, eyes closed, as ball bearings orbits around me in the most convoluted way I can think of, the safety -and lower temperature- of the Basement allowing me to relax once more.
I inhale, mind fixed two different ways, on one hand intent on my growing prowess with my telekinesis, on the other stubbornly 'strangling' my ever present connection with the sea of souls and thoughts as tightly as possible.
It must look pretty, mesmerizing even, to watch so many little metallic spheres, behaving like so many planetoids orbiting around myself, as if I am a star, the image hazy due to the incense under the shaded lights of the candles and the baleful and blue glow of Skully's optics.
Two hundred fifty-six.
That's how many pieces of metal I'm juggling at the same time, my theory about my proficiency growing exponentially once I got it having held true to the test of time, which made me immensely glad.
I don't want to imagine how much of a time sink training this part of my kit would've been if it had been additive instead of increasing by a factor of two with each stage.
Skully lets out a trill, and my eyes flutter open slowly, the ball bearings falling like a tinkling rain on the hard ground all around me as I take a deep breath while relaxing my concentration.
I exhale slowly, before nodding to myself.
I've increased as much as I could during this month, everyone comes back tomorrow, which means it's time.
Tonight.
Tonight, I'll be one-upping the Shamans of old, or die trying.
[AN: Prima's theories are, roughly, 90% true, if you're curious about it. There are some nuances she didn't quite catch, but, for all intent purposes, this is how and why the setting is like it is in those conditions.
Better tattoos, getto!
And the next chapter is going to get a little esoteric and wild, you're already warned! :3
Hope you enjoy, xoxo]