Chapter 27: The Noetic Gamble
Moments before the Cataclysm...
The clown's form retreated to the dark board, tracing a curved arrow to the Transposition Theorem.
```
⌠⌠
⌡⌡ ψ(e) dA → ∫∫∫ δ(x' - x) dV'
∂S M
```
His form turned away from the board, his gaze darting first to the Judge, who held his gaze with apathy, then to the sages of the Primordial Sun and the Ethereal Moon. Their eyes were tentative, and even the Orrery of Eternal Night held the same speculation.
But unlike the rest, it seemed they had figured it all out.
"The main problem lies not in the first five theorems... but in the last," he said, then paused, the smile on his face growing. "In fact, they possess no problem at all other than its uncertainty... and perhaps... the sacrifices to be made."
His eyes locked onto the silver ones of the Judge.
"What do you mean by sacrifices?" the Judge demanded, her eyes narrowing at his form. "Or should I remind you of the frail relationship between your Denomination and the Order?"
His form reclined backward as if sitting with his legs crossed on the still air, his face still holding that infectious smile.
"We'll get to that, my lady," he replied with a slight, polite bow. "But first, let's unpack this properly."
"This is the core operation of conscious teleportation," the sage of the Primordial Sun interjected slowly, his face contorted as if trying to recall something. Then, with a glint in his eyes, he added with slight enthusiasm, "It's the same as we had deduced... the process of moving a conscious entity, defined by its Animus wavefunction, ψ(e), from a bounded surface area (∂S) to a specific volume (M) in the spacetime manifold."
He moved toward the dark board, paying no heed to the still-hooded figures. "This is no less than the expression for it. I must say, that Steins fellow of yours is quite intelligent."
The clown raised his head, the smile on his face still plastered but holding a glint of appraisal.
"Well, it seems we've had our first answer," he said. His form approached the sage of the Primordial Sun, his chalk receding to the board... stroking the Oculus... "This solves the left side of the theorem... and..." He stroked the Iris with a straight arrow. "This solves the right side of the theorem."
"Thus, the universe is mathematically forced to recognize the target's presence at the destination as an immutable fact," came the lame, tired voice of the Ethereal Moon emissary, his hands spiraling in circles, pointing at the diagrams.
"So, in essence, you do not move through space," he continued. "You change the universe's ledger to state you were always at the destination..." His eyes danced to the two dumbfounded figures—well, four actually, but since the other two were hooded, he would just stick to two. "Isn't it right? So, can we move to the next?"
"Never thought the Ethereal Moon possessed such knowledge," the sage of the Primordial Sun remarked, his brown hair gleaming from the light seeping through the windows, a slight mockery in his tone.
The Ethereal Moon emissary, contrary to what he had expected, discarded the veiled insult as an unheard statement, his figure receding to sit on one of the chairs.
The clown smiled, but not at them... but at the fact that that being was still watching from above, still observing. He had to give it to Steins—he actually had a knack for predicting the future.
"I suggest you hurry, clown," the Judge intoned sharply. "Time lies not on our side." Then her silver eyes narrowed at the two sages of the Eternal Night. They let out slight shivers before regaining their composure. "I would like all present to cooperate."
"Very well then," the clown agreed smoothly. His chalk danced to the next... the Second Theorem... tracing another line toward it.
II. The Conservation Price (Corollary to the Transposition Theorem)
```
t₁ t₁
⌠ ⌠
⌡ L dt → ⌡ (L - ΔL) dt
t₀ t₀
```
All it took was a few silent scans. The sage of the Primordial Sun made to answer, but before the words could form, the Ethereal Moon had dissected it. "It's quite simple. It follows the general law of the universe: All actions exact or enact a cost." His hands tilted toward the board. "So, since no transposition is free, the 'action' of the system (the integral of the Lagrangian L over time, L dt) must be altered to facilitate the jump."
Then he rested his face on his palms. "While ΔL represents the fundamental energy-information cost paid upfront to execute the Transposition Theorem..." He glanced purposely at the Primordial Sun. "Any additions?"
The emissary of the Primordial Sun gave a knowing smile before answering.
"It seems low-level theories like this are your denomination's specialty," he said, then facing back at the board. "After all, the moon needs the sun to shine."
The smile on the clown's features grew wider. Such cruel banter—he was beginning to wonder what had brought that on. He glanced at the Judge, who watched the scene with indifference.
I see... it seems the Order cares not for the skirmishes between the Churches... well, the weaker ones.
"This is the personal toll felt by the caster as exhaustion, and the power drawn by an artifact to initiate the process..." A feminine voice from the Orrery of Eternal Night chirped in, one of her grey eyes covered with an eye patch, the other holding a hint of boredom. "Relic, I meant."
"Quite commendable," the clown said with a clap, his senses trailing that the presence was still watching from above.
"I find no value in your applause," she replied curtly. "I suggest we skip these laws and proceed directly to the sixth—the one with the problem... since time proves not to be on our side."
"Oh, that's quite thoughtful," the clown responded. Then his eyes darted to the Judge. "What do you say about that, my lady?"
The Judge's silhouette went silent for a while before answering. "I guess she's right. I suggest you skip to the last of the laws."
His eyes danced to the Ethereal Moon, who gave an apathetic shrug from his seat, and the Primordial Sun, who gave an affirmative wave.
"I guess the answer is unanimous," the clown noted. Acknowledging all of them, he whisked another white chalk from the air. "I shall proceed to the last."
Striking on the board, he traced an arrow to the last law... the Grand Gamble.
VI. The Noetic Anchor Conjecture (The Grand Gamble)
Statement:
```
N = λ · ‖Ø‖²
```
The entire Conclave looked at him in a daze... even the proud Primordial Sun was still scanning the simple expression frantically.
He couldn't blame them. After all, this was the most complicated yet simple of all the equations—the product of all the five previous ones.
The final missing piece he was certain the entity speculated by Steins—watching above—needed. He heaved a sigh.
"This conjecture defines the binding between the Animus (soul) and the Corporeal or Physical Form after the transposition," he explained slowly. "It is the foundational risk of the entire system."
The sages watched him keenly. He could even see the Orrery of Eternal Night pressing at him with their eyes, interest evident—except the Judge's, which held confusion.
Not that it mattered to her anyway.
He traced on the board a set of words, his chalk swiping soundlessly. When he was done, he paved the way to a new set of texts...
N: The Noetic Anchor, the "weight" of a soul in reality.
Ø: The Animus Signature, the unique resonance of a conscious spirit.
λ: The Noetic Coupling Constant
"Any comments?" His clown visage scrutinized the faces, contorted and lost in thought.
The sage of the Primordial Sun was the first to recover, his eyes gleaming. It seemed he was the first to digest the "truth."
"The Noetic Coupling Constant... it was the first constant identified from the previous Epoch," he said, as if more to himself. "Perhaps this gamble of yours plays on the effect of the transposition... of consciousness being converted to energy. Should the input be lesser than the required constant... it's... it's..." Then his eyes shone, glancing at the board. "Terrifying. Everyone could be unraveled..."
His smile widened. His form descended toward the sage of the Ethereal Moon, whose eyes were beginning to hold some revelation.
"You are right," the clown affirmed, not knowing his name, he added, "whatever, sage... Steins termed that as the Animus Drift. Should it be too low—that is, from the third law..." His hands pointed to the Reality Conservation Law on the board: "That is, Σ(δℒ/δg'uv) + T'uv artifact = 0. Should the value of T'uv artifact be less than the speculated energy λ, the value no longer equates to zero but births a negative value... The transposition under-pays the Noetic Debt, and thus..." He stopped his descent, glancing at the sage of the Ethereal Moon.
His eyes now shining with revelation: "The Corporeal Form, the physical body, arrives safely at the destination, while the Animus (the consciousness) is incompletely woven at the destination," the sage of the Ethereal Moon picked up eagerly. His form stood up abruptly, his hands to his chin. "The system converts the consciousness to energy sufficient to the remaining value of "T'uv artifact", resulting in Phantasmal Decay."
The smile on his face grew wider as he locked eyes with the sage of the Ethereal Moon. "The victims become half-real, fading ghosts anchored to a world that can no longer hold them..."
"Then, if the transposition pays high... if the "T'uv artifact" energy imputed in the system exceeds the constant... birthing a positive value..." the feminine voice from the Orrery of Eternal Night boomed—the same one-eyed sage from earlier. Her curious face added, "What happens?"
This time, it was the Primordial Sun that answered, his figure still glancing at the dark board. "A Noetic Recoil. The transposition over-pays the Debt." His eyes wandered from the board, his bearded form turning to the audience. "The excess energy must be balanced by the Universe. This manifests as Sympathetic Unweaving—a random region of the physical world, equivalent to the overpayment, is instantly unraveled into raw potential, leaving behind nothingness..."
Then, as if more to himself, his hands stroked his chin. "This place could be a city, a country... a continent, or even the very place the transportees stand on..."
"Then... perhaps... there needs to be certainty in the "T'uv artifact" to be imputed," the Ethereal Moon suggested, reclining not on his seat but on the handle. "It can't be lesser or more than the Universal Constant."
His smiling form retreated back to the board, his eyes now overlooking the ceiling. He could feel their desperate eyes on him, screaming: What is the Constant?
But that was the problem.
"The Constant is unknown... the exact value was perhaps lost in the previous Epoch," he revealed. He slicked his hair backward. "It's either Steins couldn't deduce it... or he did but didn't say. Still, it's unknown."
The result of his words birthed a silence in the cathedral—a still, hopeless silence.
Until the emissary of the Ethereal Moon broke it. "So that's why it's a Gamble... there's no value to calibrate "T'uv artifact" His face slumped dejectedly. "There goes our hope..."
The smile on his face never faltered, even when he felt the eyes of the silver-eyed Judge on his back.
"Tell me, Mr. Clown, how does this Eye of Wonder work anyway?" she asked, her tone laced with impatience.
He sighed—this was probably going to be long. He made his way back to the board, the chalk already in his hands. "It works by Geodetic Transposition, treating the planet's rotation, gravity, and magnetic field as a unified 'geodetic signature.'" His hands encircled the circle with a pupil. "The Oculus at the evacuation site copies the source signature and marks individuals by overwriting their personal resonances with its own, using a counter-spinning null-field to disconnect them from planetary spin."
His hands encircled the other circle with the visage of a planet in orbit. "The Iris at the destination overwrites the site's signature to match, creating a stable lock via its orrery." After pointing to the zigzag gateway, he traced an arrow to the line connecting the Iris and the Oculus... the Coriolis Cascade.
"In the Cascade phase, for three heartbeats, the marked evacuees are unwound into a stationary inertial frame while the planet rotates beneath," he continued. He swiped to the Iris. "Then the Iris ripples spacetime to catch and re-wind them seamlessly into the new location, exploiting Coriolis effects for instantaneous relocation without spatial travel..."
He could see hints of confusion on the Judge's face, but perhaps hindered by her pride, she wouldn't budge for more explanation.
He sighed again. "Think of it as a spinning wheel. You place your hand on one point of the spinning wheel... then..." He raised his hands toward the air. "You remove it. Note, dropping your hands again, even without movement, would place you at another position on the wheel." His eyes locked on the Judge. "Because the wheel spun while your hand was suspended. In theory, you waste no energy moving but utilize the energy of the spinning wheel... Thus you traveled from one spot to another."
He shrugged, returning to the diagram. He could see the Primordial Sun rolling his eyes.
"The Eye of Wonder does the same," he elaborated. "The Oculus creates a force that suspends the evacuees the way you suspended your hand, and the planet rotates freely beneath. Then the Iris serves as a beacon that tells where to land the hand—in this case, the evacuees. And..." He wrote a "poof" on the board. "...instantaneous travel."
"I see... seems it wasn't that complex," the Judge conceded. "So the problem is this goes against the laws of the universe. You need the perfect value to negate the universe's effect to zero."
This time, it was the exasperated Primordial Sun that answered. "Yes... but it's impossible, for the value is unknown." He folded his hands. "In other words, it's impossible to use the Eye of Wonder..."
"There's another way... a more certain gamble," the clown interjected, drawing their attention to his form. He could see bewilderment, curiosity, and... hope. He smiled—even the entity watching glanced on with interest.
"What do you mean by that, Mr. Clown?" the sage of the Ethereal Moon asked, his face dumbfounded.
He stroked the fifth law... The Animus Calculus...
Φ(∭miⁿd ∇Will dVc)
"The power of the will and mind..." The entire Conclave held their breath... or perhaps exhaled. "The alternative as proposed by Steins..."