Pattern Mechanics

Fundamental to the rules of quantum mechanics and relativity is the assumption that Energy (Forces) and Matter are incontrovertible. Scientific materialist reductionism argues that Mind and Life are simply derived from Matter. The technocracy stops there.

However, the Comparative Pattern Control Dynamics Society, primarily composed of Etherites with a few unusual Hermetics and Virtual Adepts joining in, felt differently. For some time, the Comparative Pattern Control Dynamics Society has been attempting to study the fundamental nature of reality manipulation. Science is fundamentally about describing the world and how it works. Etherite scientific endeavors can operate in a much less confined worldview than their technocratic cousins, and it became quite clear that Life and Matter, or Matter and Force, behave similarly in fundamental ways, but remain separate and distinct.

In conjunction with the more traditional mystics of the Society, the leading Scientists have developed the theory of Pattern Mechanics to explain this finding. While still only having a small number of adherents, it has been gaining a steady amount of interest and a number of articles discussing it regularly appear in Paradigma. Just as Quantum Mechanics builds upon newtonian mechanics, Pattern Mechanics is the natural extension of quantum mechanics and relativity theory. Mind, Life, Matter, and Force are all forms of Patterns, the fundamental unit of substance and complexity. The more complex and improbable a pattern is, the higher its Pattern number, and the more Pattern energy it contains.

This Pattern energy is manipulated via the fifth fundamental force of the universe - Quintessence. The word Prime is used rightly, for this Sphere is the basis of all the world's complexity and patterns. Prime is what makes things supernatural. It's common to all creatures that are beyond the natural order. Drawing on the local quintal forces is how any mage creates something from no apparent cause - Prime is basically the universal cause. (The Choristers be right in linking it to a higher being, but Pattern Mechanics is about science, not religion) The Avatar is the Primal component of a mage or scientist, the inner genius and capability to draw on the Prime. Built upon Prime is a hierarchy of Pattern, based on complexity, improbability, and information content. At the top is Mind, the ruler and pinnacle of all patterns. Akashics, for all their Kung-fu action, have hit on one of the great truths in that the Mind is the true master of a person, not the body. Mind is sublime and unbelievably complex, and the source of most other complex patterns. Psionic energy can be transformed into an array of different patterns - witness the fact that orphan mages can create what they believe in without magical or scientific training. It is exceedingly difficult to create a Mind pattern - creating the same type of mind as the average person requires the same skill as creating the force of an atomic weapon or hurricane, exotic and unknown forms of matter, and fantastical and amazing living creatures.

Next is Life. The vital essence burns in all living creatures, and resists the pull of entropy and decay. Life is not as tremendous as the power of Mind, but it is quite powerful none the less. Living patterns can change and develop of their own accord, and naturally create more patterns of a similar level. It is notable that all Life patterns can turn into a Matter pattern naturally, but it requires supernatural means for a Matter pattern to become alive.

Matter is close to Life in complexity. As matter does not naturally replicate, it remains a lesser sphere, but it is still close in level.

Forces is the least complex type of pattern, but that does not render it less powerful. On the contrary, its very simplicity grants the ability to perform vast feats of power from little quintal energy.

The Art and Science of Aetheric Quintonics

(aka Ars Vis, aka Prime)

Sense Pattern Energy

Level 1

At this level, a scientist can see the potential causal force around beings. The supernatural becomes clear to a scientistr senses.

Crystallize Pattern

Level 1

This is the practice of anti-magic, the use of primal force to resist the effect of hostile causal forces. Making the pattern harder to change is distasteful, but it can stop hostile effects in their tracks.

Quintonic Capacitor

Level 1

An object can store an electric charge as long as it is isolated from the ground. An Avatar can hold even more quintessence by careful isolation of the avatar from the background causal energy.

Pattern Linkage

Level 1

With this level of pattern control, a scientist can link patterns with his own, making them part of his pattern or creating a close awareness of the other pattern.

Disrupt Pattern

Level 2

Without the causal force, the normal functioning of patterns is disrupted and made chaotic. Send the patterns of a person or animal into disarray, and the person will collapse in pain. Complex machines react chaotically, but simple pattern prove resistant.

Pattern Counter-Resonance

Level 2

The fact that supernatural beings can control primal forces cuts both ways. Reinforcing a pattern with primal force can make it especially strong against those that control the primal force. This is actually a more refined version of Pattern Crystallization, hardening one pattern as opposed to the surrounding environment.

Pattern Creation

Level 2

The power of ambient Primal Energy can cause an Pattern to come into being without a visible cause. This is the reason Quintessence is called causal energy. This can also create patterns composed purely of raw Primal energy.

Unstable Quintonic Device

Level 2-3

Charging an object with causal force can power an effect with having an Avatar involved. Normally, this requires metastable quintessence (Tass), but further understanding can allow these devices to be created with straight quintessence. These Unstable Devices are simple to make, but work only once - once the causal energy is triggered, it rapidly dissapates, often destroying the associated pattern.

Quintonic Conductor

Level 3

Causal force can be pulled from areas of high Quintessence charge by all Mages with the proper mental focus. With the better understanding of Quintonic principles, a scientist can conduct Quintonic force between objects, or into an Avatar.

Capture Pattern Energy

Level 3

When a pattern decays, some of the pattern energy can be redirected to the scientist's purposes. While this is only a small amount of quintessence, it is available easily whenever a pattern is carefully destroyed.

Fortify Pattern

Level 3

A scientist of skill can apply the principles of counter-resonance and crystallization to fortify his own pattern, rendering it extremely difficult to alter or damage. This can be reinforced with quintessence.

Stable Quintonic Device

Level 3-4

Charging an object with causal force can power an effect with having an Avatar involved. Normally, this requires metastable quintessence (Tass), but further understanding can allow these devices to be created with straight quintessence. Stable Devices such as a talisman or artifact can be formed at this level, recycling their causal energy in a steady-state system.

Pattern Control

Level 1

Power - Pattern Sense

Description: a scientist can detect and analyze patterns in far greater detail

Mind: No-Mind, the art of sensing others psionic presences. a scientist can see emotions and the inherent vibe of a place.

• Life: a scientist can sense any living creatures in the area. a scientist can analyze a living creature and determine what it is and what, if anything is wrong with it. a scientist can see through living objects as if they were not there.
• Matter: a scientist have X-ray vision and hearing, looking and listening through barriers as if they were not there. a scientist can identify and analyze the characteristics of matter in detail. If a scientist are looking for a specific type of matter in the area, a scientist can detect it.
• Forces: a scientist can see in any spectrum. a scientist can see in IR or UV or the faintest traces of visible light, making night vision part of a scientist's life a scientist can hear or feel any type of sound from infrasound to ultrasound. a scientist can sense the general state of the weather around a scientist. a scientist can see the flow of electricity

Power - Pattern Ward

Description: a scientist block other patterns from interfering with a scientist's own personal pattern. The threat does not go away, a scientist can just resist it more effectively.

• Mind: Mind Shield. Resist mental attacks and domination.
• Life: a scientist can resist diseases and natural toxins / venoms.
• Matter: a scientist can resist attacks on a scientist's cybernetics or prostheses or resist natural toxins
• Forces: a scientist can resist extreme heat or cold, or avoid static charge entirely.

Power - Enhance Personal Pattern

Description: a scientist can alter a scientist's own personal pattern to become more effective. This is limited to minor effects equivalent to merits

• Mind: Multitasking and Concentration
• Life: Minor biological tweaks such as ambidexterity and catlike balance.
• Matter: Cyborgs and others with prostheses are the only ones who can use this power
• Forces: Not really applicable outside of the digital web

Level 2

Power - Pattern Transmutation

Description: Transform a pattern within a given type

• Mind: Imbue emotions in objects or people, send thoughts to a willing recipient
• Life: Transform lower lifeforms with low levels of vital force
• Matter: Transmute matter to another simple form of matter
• Forces: Control, amplify, and transform the forces. Sound become light becomes an object's kinetic energy.

Power - Personal Pattern Restoration

Description: Self-regeneration

• Mind: Eliminating mental problems is possible, but requires knowing that a scientist have a problem to begin with.
• Life: Heal thyself
• Matter: Cyborgs and others with prostheses are the only ones who can use this power
• Forces: Not really applicable outside of the digital web

Level 3

Power - Shape Pattern

Description: Actively alter a pattern with deliberate control

• Mind: Telepathy, shaping a mind's thoughts
• Life: Better body, healing / harming of others
• Matter: Sculpt a matter pattern into a scientist's chosen shape
• Forces: Deflect kinetic energy, alter the light, or control the forces around object. This level allows for complete control of energy inside a machine

Power - Greater Transmutation

Description: Make more complicated patterns and cross over into other types of pattern on a personal scale.

Power - Minor creation

Description: With Prime energy, a scientist can create patterns out of Quint alone on a personal scale

• Mind: Create fake thoughts as a hallucination / illusion, create minor mental constructs
• Life: Create lesser creatures with fairly simple life patterns with low levels of vital force
• Matter: Create simple objects composed only a few life patterns
• Forces: Fireballs and force shields and more. These force patterns are either large and sweeping, or precise and focused.

Level 4

Power - Complex creation / transmutation

Description: a scientist can create complex arrays of patterns that form one super-pattern

• Mind: Edit the minds of other sentients,
• Life: Create greater creatures with higher levels of vital force, improve the attributes of others, or transform a scientist's own pattern.
• Matter: Create complicated devices, with multiple independent pattern. This includes making a single pattern into a more complex device, such as turning a normal watch into one worthy of 007.
• Forces: Create and control complicated forces. This allows a scientist to precisely control forces like gravity or create vast and complicated manifestations such as a full-sized storm.

Power - Overlay Patterns

Description: Combine two or more patterns into one whole. The patterns being combined can be supernatural in origin or extremely complicated.

• Mind: Possession combines the scientist's mind with the target. Astral Projection is the reverse effect, unlinking the Mind pattern from the body Life pattern
• Life: Combine two living patterns to create a chimera. With other spheres, this also allows for impressive cybernetic prostheses.
• Matter: Alloying and combining matter patterns allows for the creation of materials greater than the component parts. Combining steel and glass creates a tough, flexible transparent material, for example. This also would allow the formation of extremely strong bonds between materials, and perfect separation of components of a mixture.
• Forces: Combining forces allows for a scientist to piggyback a signal pattern onto an unrelated force, such as static or speech. This also lets a scientist create novel forms of energy, such as sound that penetrates like an x-ray.

Level 5

Power -

Description:

• Mind:
• Life:
• Matter:
• Forces: