Aleister's ponderings.

[ACMI: Strain]

There was no sound within the room other than the occasional beep of one of the machines around him.

Yes, this was the way Aleister liked to spend his time in thought.

Since he'd been in here, he had a lot of time to think about his plans. Academy City was following his designs well enough and he didn't predict any major issues with the plan's last few steps.

When he was this close to the end, some people might start to overlook things that weren't important to the plan. Aleister was not such a person. He looked at everything to try and look for problems before they endangered the plan.

This was why he'd started to look into the two visitors.

A plus B equals C. C equals A plus B.

C cannot equal B minus A in this system, it's a simple rule. A basic fact.

Of course, there were tricks that could overcome this in the rules of magic and science.

Let's put it another way;

"An Esper cannot use magic."

Tsuchimikado was the first obvious problem to those who knew about him. He was an Esper who could use magic. A proof that the previous rule was not absolute. But even he suffered injury when trying it.

Thus;

"An Esper cannot use magic without being hurt."

Even Aleister would normally follow this rule. Archetype Controller and his many spells followed opposing laws. Since he was a magician first and an Esper second, it was his ability that caused him pain. The reverse of the above.

"A Magician cannot use an Esper ability without being hurt."

The laws were complements to each other, yet it always depended on what you were first.

And yet;

Joule and Gunvolt. The two travellers.

The tests have shown results. They are able to use both Mana and AIM without creating a contradiction in values. They had somehow established a method that allowed them to do the impossible.

No, not "they."

UNDER_LINE had gathered information from them, a talk they had with their friends.

[ACMI3: Believe in Miracles]

A smile appeared on the magician's face as he recalled what he had heard.

"A parallel world?"

He held in his laughter as he pondered it's nature.

They clearly weren't from "The current world"

So the question instead became "What was the nature of the world they came from?"

Was it built off the same pure world as the current world, just using different phases? Or was it it's own "Pure world" that the phases of this world didn't affect in the same way.

It was interesting regardless.

He had gotten samples of their DNA and let labs analyse it. They were still "Human."

They shared enough that he could say that any differences would have to be "recent."

At least as much as that word mattered to the world he was a part of.

And so that raised the question, and it was an important one; "Would their world be free too?"

Aleister was Evil, he knew and accepted it. He even made it clear in his magic name. Yet he was not Evil for it's own sake. He had a reason, a purpose, behind all of the evil he had done in his long life.

And that was the claim he had made long ago. That he would wipe out all magic, shatter every last phase and put an end to all mysticism, remaking the world where people accept these tragedies as mere cruel coincidences and bury them saying they can't be helped, and bringing back the pure world where people aren't manipulated without their knowledge.

That was the choice he had made.

The pair of them could use mana, that meant they likely had phases. So; would his plan wipe out their phases too?

He hoped it would, but he wasn't sure.

Something bit at him, telling him to delay the plan long enough to bring their world in too. Aleister knew that the plan as it was wasn't likely to affect anywhere that he couldn't touch.

There were always other options though. He had time.

If his plan failed, he could pivot to the next one. And again. And again.

For over 1000 years.

He was really in no true hurry. So if the plan fails, then he can look into their "parallel world." In the meantime, he had other things to think about.

He couldn't let them die, at least not in a way that wouldn't allow him to study them. They were currently the only "Proof" that their "World" existed at all. No, it was important to keep them alive.

...Hmm. He could always get them both promoted to Level 5. That would allow them diplomatic protection. The church wouldn't kill a Level 5 without being aware it would get his personal attention.

But that meant that they'd have more "weight." They'd no longer be able to get involved with magic-related events without risking an international incident. It was that very thing that forced him to keep Misaka out of the cross of peter incident.

When a level 5 acted, it was seen as an action with his, and all of Academy City's, backing. It wasn't quite time for the world to go to war yet. That would have to wait a little longer.

"I'll prepare for the hour that it might be needed." He spoke softly, "The moment that war breaks out, they might need the protection."

There was no real care for them within him. Not like there was for the Imagine Breaker.

It would be interesting to an outsider. That which he cared for most was leaving the city to go to Italy while that which he cared for only lightly was given his protection.

The plan was interesting, in that way.

"They are children after all." A smile grew on his face. It wasn't a nice one though, more of an expression that let the knower understand the depths of his own sins.

"They are our future. If this world doesn't end in the next few months."

End of chapter.

I... have not read NT. I think I've said that before. All I know about it, I know from the wiki.

I really, really hope that I wrote Aleister right.

Fun fact, a list of wiki tabs I had open as I wrote this chapter:

Aleister Crowley, Aleister Crowley/Abilities, Phase, Aleister's Plan, Tsuchimikado, Magician-Esper Hybrid, Gemstone, Magician, An Involuntary Movement, Pure World, Personal Reality and the Azure striker wiki's page on Adepts.

I think I opened more but these were the ones open as I was finishing up.

...But yeah. I was basically trying to understand as much as I could from a part of the series I haven't got to yet.