literature

Magic in Science Fiction

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Literature Text

Uses three principles: that of the manifest, that of the potential, and that of the apparition.

Principle of Manifest:
Magic is energy. Pure, unfettered energy, and is the source of all forms of it. Just as all matter was created by a big bang, all energy was created by a similar event that occurred in a spiritual dimension, Imanne. Likewise, just as matter is never destroyed, energy is not used up, and is also finite. It is one of the fundamental laws of reality.

Magical energy therefore forms the base patterns from which all other energy is channelled, and so can be used in place of effect and counter effect. A person wanting to create a fire could choose to strike two rocks together and generate friction and therefore sparks, to light a piece of paper. Alternatively they could manifest magic as thermal energy on the paper, thereby providing the same effect to cause it to catch fire.

These so-called ‘magical reactions’ can therefore take the place of much scientific advancement, accelerating it rather than retarding it. It allows a scientist to bypass the usual steps of acquiring resources and constructing an action/reaction generator or process, and instead advance scientifically by using magical energy to cause an event provided the mathematics of the equation are sound.

Magical energy exists on its own solely in the Imanne realm, but all organic life – that is to say, anything that has an organic cell, animal or plant – can act as a conduit for this energy. Thus raw magic energy can be found wherever there is life in the material universe, and as such provides an intricate universal web between all living things. While only the barest functions of life are required to cause magical energy to be channelled into the material realm, only those capable of independent thought, i.e. consciousness, are able to manipulate it. A creature that is born with a consciousness will also be born with a soul, a consciousness that exists in Imanne and is tied to the consciousness and body of the owner, due to their comprehension of magic. This forms the foundation for magical application, barring its usage from almost all animals.

However, it must also be observed that magic therefore has by-products. If magic is used to conduct a modification of matter that could normally be performed by science, and said reaction is not completely efficient – which would ideally result in a total reconstitution of the energy and resources involved – it creates Red Energy, a form of magical energy consisting of a reversed polarity that is harmful to organic matter. If the volume of Red Energy is small enough, any local magical energy will slowly subsume it. If the concentration is large enough it will linger and not dissipate without intervention. Red Energy will never dissipate if there is no magical energy nearby, but stored magical energy will be drained to dissipate it if any is contained within the vicinity. Methods of artificially-removing Red Energy consist of transforming local types of energy back into magical energy, and thereby generating a large enough concentration to eliminate the pocket of Red Energy, or using spirits to consume the energy and then releasing it back into Imanne.

While Red Energy is often simply created as a means to balance out any equation performed using the influence of magical energy, the quantities tend to vary depending on the nature of the equation being performed and how prepared it is to conduct it. For example, if a person wished to cause a lump of iron to rust in an environment that did not have oxygen, a significant amount of magical energy would have to be siphoned through a process of mass fabrication to turn it into oxygen atoms, which could then be used to make the material rust. Magical energy could also then be used to accelerate the process of oxidisation. While the process itself would produce only minimal Red Energy, the act of mass fabrication would generate significant amounts due to the inefficient process used. To try and minimise the effects this can have, mages and their respective scientists still maintain a significant amount of knowledge in the fields of biology, physics and chemistry, though these fields are heavily influenced by Manifest, Potential and Apparition.

Principle of Potential:

The Principle of Potential covers what magic can do once in the material universe. Usually magical energy is immediately converted into a more ‘conventional’ energy, as it is employed as an instant form of power. However, to account for how taxing continuous magic use can be on a body and how it can damage the user if the energy drawn exceeds their limits, magic can also be pooled as raw energy and use in the process of automation. Almost any material can be used to store energy once it has been brought in, though it has been found that the best substances used are harvested natural ones such as wood and leather, and almost any form of liquid. Metals tend to be least effective at magical storage, but are very efficient at storing magical formulae.

A magical formula is the mathematical processes required to perform a magical reaction, preserved as a concept by drawing a small amount of magical energy and converting it into the concept. A formula on its own cannot perform the function it is designed to do, as doing so would expend the energy maintaining the formula’s existence and render it non-functional. It works in a similar manner to a computer in this respect, and space reserved for its fundamental systems can’t be overwritten without losing the content.

These formulae can stand in for the active abilities of a mage, provided one has imprinted the necessary directions into the material containing the formula. From there any individual can activate the formula, assuming that their own magical energy is potent enough or they have access to a stored cache of power.

Once a magical reaction is started, it is usually impossible to stop unless the ability to do so has also been encoded into the equations that govern it, or until it reaches its natural conclusion. This allows mages implementing abilities drawn from their natural sources to activate or deactivate any magical power they have direct control over. However, to control a secondary source – i.e. another mage or stored formula – the mage must have the necessary intellect to create a counter-pattern to reformat or destroy the original. However, in its most fundamental state, this is quite an elementary process. Due to all energy being simple a different iteration of magical energy, all of it can be therefore converted back into its principle state.


Principle of Apparition

Just as humans and Elves and such are being constructed out of matter, spirits and apparitions are constructed out of magical energy in Imanne and exist in the same way. As such, it is quite possible for mages to summon such creatures in a similar manner as they would magical energy, the key difference being that this energy is sentient. Because of these different paremeters, it is necessary for the mage to utilise significantly more power to summon the spirit’s sentience, energy and potential.

In addition, once a spirit is summoned it must be sustained, using a permanent link established to Imanne through the mage. Though channelling the energy does not drain the user, enabling the spirit’s use of its complete range of powers, it does require power to maintain the tunnel through which this energy passes. The tunnel therefore necessitates a drain on the mage in question, limiting the time for which a spirit can be retained in the material world.

Thus, ethereal beings are broken down into two subcategories: Apparitions and Spirits. Apparitions form the collection of Immane minds that are of little value, serving only as aides and secretaries of a magical nature. They have little power or ability of their own, and ones they do possess are usually woefully poor in comparison to their elder cousins. Spirits, on the other hand, are far more powerful and require the most significant amount of energy to summon and sustain. Their abilities are many and varied, and depend entirely on the kind of spirit. However, due to their selective and mercurial nature, any mage wishing to enlist the assistance of such a powerful creature must be bonded to it.

The bond is a metaphysical process that connects the mind and body of a spirit to the mind and body of a sentient being in the material universe, meaning that the basic form of the energy tunnel is already established through this connection. Hence, summoning the spirit requires less and it can be sustained for longer, though the relative energy cost is still high. Unfortunately magicians can only then specialise in maintaining the spirit or conjuring their own abilities, as very few are capable of channelling enough energy for both. As is the way with many core bodily functions, a mage cannot purposefully kill himself through continued control of a spirit, and his instinct will take over and sever the tie if it going to prove fatal. A mage can, however, be killed if the spirit summoned is innately more powerful than he can maintain, or if his link is prevented from being cut. Furthermore, due to the intimate tie between the soul of the spirit and the mage, if the spirit is killed, rather than banished, while in the material world, the resulting feedback will kill the mage or leave him braindead.
Prompted by one of the commissions I've been writing - and with permission to upload this here - this brief thesis provides a cursory idea as to how magic may work in science fiction, provided we bend the rules a little.

This document is still a prototype but I figured it's got enough to be uploaded.

Screw you, genre boundaries!
© 2014 - 2024 battlebrothertherix
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noorelven's avatar
well thought out ....