Magic is Programming

Chapter 10: Soul Computer

Building a computer made of mana in his soul was not an easy or simple thing to do, of course, but at least he could start from concepts higher level than transistors and binary logic, Carlos reflected as he looked over the notes he'd written during their discussion. He was glad he'd thought to buy a notebook and pen before leaving Erlen; there were way too many details to rely on just memory.

"So you think it's viable?"

Amber nodded slowly. "Some of the pieces you suggested are strange, ideas that I've never even heard of before, but I think soul structures to do them may be possible. And if this all works together like you think it should... It's hard to believe your world really built devices that incredible from such basic building blocks, though, and I'm worried that with it being so new and experimental something might go wrong."

"Putting the concepts into this form is new, but the concepts themselves? Those have been worked over and refined and improved by more people than the most legendary soul structure plans your world has ever seen. I get it, though. It's all completely new to you, and you're nervous. I'll go first, so you can see proof of it working."

Amber shook her head. "No, you need to finish learning that spell first. There's a reason I told you to do that instead of bringing up soul structures myself, earlier. Knowing how consciously using mana feels will make building soul structures, especially soul structures intended to interact with mana, much easier and faster. You will learn that feeling by casting your first spell."

"Oh, ok. I'm still excited to organize and flesh out more details about the soul structures plan right away, though. Maybe do that, then learn and cast the spell, then come back and revise the plan with any new insights. And then I can go first to prove it works before you spend your soul shell on it. Uh, provided I actually have enough of a soul shell to do it with. Can you check that with your mana sense?"

"Yes, I can check that. Hold still, and try not to resist." Amber leaned close and focused intently.

Carlos breathed slowly and tried not to fidget as Amber continued inspecting him for over a minute. He thought he felt a few strange pushes of intangible pressure, but the sensation faded so quickly he wasn't sure whether he was just imagining it.

Finally, Amber sat back and took a deep breath. "Yes, you have a full protective mana shell around your soul, just like normal for any other person. You've barely even touched it so far, so there's plenty for making soul structures."

Carlos let out a long breath. "Phew. That's a relief. Might even have room to experiment, I guess." He paused to consider for a moment, then added another item to the top of his summarized list of soul structure ideas: 0 - translation understanding magic.

He'd been thinking of it as translation magic because that's the main thing he used it for, and Purple had even called it a 'translation spell', but it was more than that. It was an aid to understanding in general, and he wanted it to grow more effective. Plus, he was worried a powerful mage might be able to dispel it, and making it a soul structure would protect against that. Suddenly losing the ability to talk with everyone would be terrible. All of that, and he was pretty sure he could make it synergize with a lot of the rest of his list, making the whole thing stronger.

An hour later, Carlos was yawning as he pored over his notes by the dim light of the fire, but he felt deep satisfaction about the work he'd done on his plan. It was all neatly organized, too, maybe a good start for writing a book about it to sell someday.

1. Comprehension aid: My first wish from Purple, but embedded into my soul. This will help me understand whatever I might need to understand, whether that's the speech of an unfamiliar language, the proper ways to do mundane everyday chores, the mysteries of the universe and magic, or anything else.
2. Introspector: Analogous to monitoring, diagnostic, and debugging tools of a computer. This will examine the state of my soul and its structures and give me information about them and potential improvements.
3. Mana redistributor: Analogous to computer configuration tools. I want to be able to control how my overall soul development is distributed among my soul structures, to focus development on the things that are the most useful and/or the most needed. I also want to be able to tweak my soul structures after creating them, to fix any issues I find, or implement new improvements I think of.
4. Spells database: Analogous to a computer's hard drive. Stores all learned spells and spell fragments. Can also erase spells or fragments that I decide are no longer useful, recovering the mana and storage space to use with other spells or fragments instead.
5. Spells linker: Analogous to a compiler, mostly. Builds whole spells from referenced spell fragments. Checks validity of candidate spells before committing them to the database. Saves database space by storing spells with references to reused fragments. Makes temporary duplicates of spell fragments as needed for casting or preparing.
6. Mana sensor: Roughly analogous to a camera and microphone. Senses mana, and its structure and types, both external and internal.
7. Mana manipulator: Roughly analogous to robotic arms and other such action output devices. Manipulates mana, organizing its structure and converting its type as needed, both externally and internally.
8. Spells preparer: Analogous to computer memory. Holds spells, and potentially spell fragments or other similar things, that I'm actively working on or want to have ready to use.
9. Spells activator: Analogous to keyboard and mouse, or computer input control devices in general, and CPU. Helps facilitate casting spells, and using soul structures in general, connecting and interpreting my intent and control signals into action.
10. Reflex improver: Analogous to optimization components in both computer software and hardware, such as a CPU's branch predictor. Helps improve both determining the correct/ideal action to take and the speed and efficiency of performing it. While the computer analogy would focus solely on how my soul structures respond to my intent, I'm hoping this will also improve how my mind and body respond to my situation.

Carlos sighed and shook his head. Ok, so maybe the biggest noteworthy concepts that went into creating computers were all about the low level details of how to make sand and metal and glass and stuff actually do calculations, and not the higher levels of abstraction that went into making soul structures. Still, there were important high level abstraction concepts too, and he'd added five computer-analogous soul structures to the four Amber had, plus the comprehension aid wish.

Amber only had a mana sensor, mana manipulator, spells database, and spells preparer. Carlos had asked about something to increase personal mana pool, but apparently that couldn't be done internal to the soul and was an inherent part of the general enhancement layers around the soul instead. He hoped there was enough synergy for everything to fit. Amber had said that ten was the theoretical maximum number of soul structures, and it would suck to find out he had to pick something to remove.

Speaking of synergy, thinking through the specific details of what synergies existed, and holding those synergies in mind while making the soul structures, would help pack the structures tightly and ensure that those synergies would actually happen. So, Carlos had gone through and listed every synergy he could think of, even the tenuous arguable ones.

1-2: Comprehension aid helps introspector understand the state of my soul and the implications thereof, and reports that understanding to my mind. Introspector also examines the comprehension aid.

1-3: Comprehension aid helps mana redistributor understand what the results of investing mana in each place will be, and how to implement chosen changes. Mana redistributor allocates how much mana goes to improving comprehension aid, and how.

1-4: Comprehension aid helps understand new spells and/or spell fragments to learn them and add them to the spells database.

1-5: Comprehension aid helps spells linker translate references to partial spells into their full content and properly understand the combination, and helps analyze spells for validity and potential compression improvements.

1-6: Comprehension aid helps mana sensor understand the structure and purpose of all sensed mana.

1-7: Comprehension aid helps mana manipulator understand the best ways to achieve the desired result of manipulating mana.

1-8: Comprehension aid helps spells preparer translate intent into action (maybe eventually prepare without speaking?).

1-9: Comprehension aid helps spells activator translate intent into action (maybe eventually activate without speaking, or even cast unprepared spells quickly and without speaking?).

1-10: Comprehension aid helps reflex improver understand which reflex is appropriate for the situation.

2-3: Introspector examines mana redistributor, helps it find where to put mana enhancements, and works with it to implement any potential fixes, refinements, and improvements detected. Mana redistributor allocates how much mana goes to improving introspector, and how.

2-4: Introspector examines spells database.

2-5: Introspector examines spells linker.

2-6: Introspector examines mana sensor, and uses it to detect details of the mana and structures within the soul.

2-7: Introspector examines mana manipulator, and helps guide it in how to implement any potential fixes, refinements, and improvements detected.

2-8: Introspector examines spells preparer.

2-9: Introspector examines spells activator.

2-10: Introspector examines reflex improver, and uses it to help draw attention to details that I may want to take action on.

3-4: Mana redistributor allocates how much mana goes to improving spells database, and how.

3-5: Mana redistributor allocates how much mana goes to improving spells linker, and how.

3-6: Mana redistributor allocates how much mana goes to improving mana sensor, and how. Mana sensor helps track and detect how much mana is in each soul structure, and how it's arranged and used.

3-7: Mana redistributor allocates how much mana goes to improving mana manipulator, and how. Mana manipulator helps move mana to the desired structures, and arrange it in the desired configuration.

3-8: Mana redistributor allocates how much mana goes to improving spells preparer, and how.

3-9: Mana redistributor allocates how much mana goes to improving spells activator, and how.

3-10: Mana redistributor allocates how much mana goes to improving reflex improver, and how.

4-5: Spells database supplies spell fragments for the spells linker to use, and stores the combined/linked results.

4-6: Mana sensor helps detect the details of any sensed magic that I want to learn and add to the spells database.

4-7: Mana manipulator helps form the appropriate symbols/structures for learning each spell or fragment.

4-8: Spells database supplies spells for spells preparer to prepare.

4-9: Spells database supplies spells for spell activator to cast.

4-10: Reflex improver helps reflexively form the correct conceptualization to add new spells or fragments to the spells database.

5-6: Mana sensor helps detect links between spell fragments, and the structure of assembled spells or fragments.

5-7: Mana manipulator helps create links between spell fragments, and helps assemble the structure of spells or larger fragments.

5-8: Spells linker expands compressed spell fragment linkage structures into the full form of a spell for the spells preparer to prepare.

5-9: Spells linker expands compressed spell fragment linkage structures into the full form of a spell for the spells activator to activate or cast.

5-10: Reflex improver helps spells linker select the appropriate fragments to link together.

6-7: Mana sensor detects mana for the mana manipulator to manipulate.

6-8: Mana sensor detects mana to be used in preparing spells.

6-9: Mana sensor detects mana to be used in activating or casting spells.

6-10: Mana sensor detects mana for reflexes to respond to.

7-8: Spells preparer uses mana manipulator to prepare spells.

7-9: Spells activator uses mana manipulator to activate or cast spells.

7-10: Mana manipulator provides options for reflexive actions to take.

8-9: Spells preparer holds prepared spells for the spells activator to activate.

8-10: Reflex improver helps prepare spells correctly.

9-10: Reflex improver helps activate or cast spells correctly, and spells activator provides options for reflexive actions to take.

Carlos yawned, and shook his head again, trying to stave off sleep just a little longer. Finding synergies for the structures where "synergy with everything" was intrinsic to the concept was easy, but for some of the others he was really reaching. Still, reaching or not, he'd managed to fill out the list for every single pairing of soul structures. If what Amber already had was silver rank, then surely this pile of interlinking synergy with more than twice as many structures would be at least platinum, and maybe higher. He'd have to ask if there were any special benefits for higher ranks. And what defined the ranks, come to think of it.

...Tomorrow. He'd ask tomorrow. He yawned again, and set the list aside, before settling into his sleeping bag and drifting off to sleep.

Enchanter Tornay eagerly opened the message that had just arrived from Guild headquarters, quickly skimming it for just how much he would be rewarded for his part in the dungeon core acquisition. Then he blinked, frowned, and started reading it properly. His hands started shaking. This... How? It made no sense, how was this possible?

Enchanter Tornay,

We commend you for your prompt action on the detection of such a valuable prize. Your execution has proven lacking, however. The package did not arrive as expected.

You are hereby ordered to find and secure the package. You are relieved of other duties until this task is complete. If you succeed, all reasonable expenses will be reimbursed and you will be rewarded ten percent of the package's formal assessed value. If you fail, you will be fined ten percent of the estimated value.

We expect regular updates on your progress.

Supreme Enchanter Nyralis

He slowly, shakily, sat down. This was... bad. Ruinous, even. He couldn't possibly pay a fine that big, and what the Guild did to enchanters who fell that far behind in their dues didn't bear thinking about.

He took a deep breath, then another. And another. It was all ok. It was still salvageable. He just had to find that dungeon core. Somehow.

...That rude man earlier this evening knew something. Something had led him to come to the Enchanters Guild, and to specifically ask about a teleportation scroll. Perhaps it might be a clue that Tornay could use. He had to find him. Damn, he should have asked the man's name! He sighed, then shook his head and squared his shoulders. He'd just have to track the man down without it.