The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 13 (Patreon)

This took a long time to write, for some reason.

Chapter 13 – Oversight

We relocated to a testing chamber, where several devices were set up for testing. The chamber itself was built to try and contain any ‘mishaps’, but I doubted it was rated to handle an explosion the likes of which would happen if my power ran out of control. After all, the building wasn’t exactly made of adamantium.

Oesau wasn’t the only one here, either. There was one other there, a man of clear Japanese ancestry, wearing a simple, Eastern-style business suit. “Ah, Chief. I was hoping you would be finished soon. I’m very much looking forward to this.”

Oesau nodded, before turning to look at me. “Ah, Akagawa, allow me to introduce Koyama Shijo, a researcher from the Magical Affairs Department. He’s been helping with the project to create CADs that will function for magical creatures.”

Koyama nodded once. “Yes, as you know, something about magical creatures makes it so that traditional CADs don’t work properly for them. While they can make spells, unfortunately the efficiency rate is something like 20% of that for normal users. However, when using their supernatural abilities, the efficiency rate is on par with normal CAD use.”

Oesau grunted. “Yes, it has been a problem that has plagued us ever since the Awakening, and the first magical creatures showed up. Something about the mental structure of magical creatures causes their magic to interfere with CAD use. Even people who were changed into magical creatures, and were proficient in CAD use before the change, find their efficiency rate tops out at 40%. The best anyone has been able to figure, it has something to do with the ‘wiring’ of a magical being.”

I nodded slowly. “Yes, I can see how that would be a problem. What is the government’s interest in this? Seems a relatively minor thing to get involved with, no?”

Koyama sighed. “Well, as you know, magical creatures account for fifteen percent of the population in Japan. That is on the high side globally, but not too far out of line. And many of the magical creatures have abilities that make them natural spies and combatants.

“If they could control their powers better, then they would be an effective force, especially if they were able to increase their numbers, like Vampires and Werewolves do, and still keep their ability to use a CAD. Just the prospect of a Werewolf being able to use reinforcement magic to increase his defense even more than it was before, is enough to warrant our interest. And that’s not even considering a Vampire’s myriad abilities.

“Naturally, these abilities are well enough on their own, but if you’re looking for a… well, an edge, to be frank, then you currently have to choose between being a powerful mage or being a supernatural creature. And that creates weaknesses. Weaknesses that can ruin plans.”

I sighed. “So, you’re Intelligence, or Military. Or perhaps representing both? And why are you being so open about this with me? And why here, instead of some private conference?”

Koyama grinned. “The why here is easy. Phantomline has been working on the R&D to try and find a solution to this problem for years, on a government grant. As for why saying this so openly, the profile we have on you suggests that you likely would suspect something, anyways, and being open would have a better chance of getting you on side, or at least not working against us. Frankly, there are a lot of people who are very keen on making sure you don’t go calling us your enemy.”

“And who is ‘us’, exactly?”

“The government of Japan, of course. Though I’m sure you wouldn’t be surprised if I told you that there were other governments with their eye on you. When you agreed to give some pointers to the Olympic teams and the Self-Defense Forces for body strengthening, it was decided that you were worth more as a willing partner than an unwitting or unwilling asset, especially considering your statement about what you did in the other world to the governments that wronged you. And your castle eliminated any question of preemptive hostile action.”

I sighed. Part of me really wished that I could just slip into obscurity, but I knew that would never happen. I was too powerful, in too many ways, to be ignored. The next best thing was something exactly like this, with a government actually wanting to work with me, rather than wanting me to work for them. And I really didn’t want to see how many governments I would have to annihilate before people got it through their heads not to mess with me if things went a more confrontational route.

“Very well, I assume that you have some kind of specific question in mind for me?”

“Yes, you are the first supernatural creature we’ve seen that is able to use powerful magic outside of their ‘normal’ abilities, rather than just throwing power around half-blind. That you are clearly able to use powerful magic with these foci of yours means that there is something we are missing when we try to translate traditional CADs to supernatural beings. I was hoping that these tests would bridge the gap in our knowledge, somehow.”

“And what would this knowledge be used for, exactly?”

“Well, obviously the government has interest in recruiting promising talents, in a variety of fields. The SDF, especially, is hoping for anything that would give us an edge in geopolitics. Especially with China becoming a powerhouse under their new Emperor. After he finished the reforms that sent the communists to the firing squads, he started expanding the military even further, with the intention of retaking all land that had ever been part of China.”

I nodded slowly, going over what I knew of the situation. I was still catching up on the history of the world over the last forty years, but the collapse of the Chinese Communist Party following the Awakening, as magic altered the playing field, was something I had read up on. The country had briefly fragmented as warlords took over, but reunited under Emperor Zhu Zexian, as he conquered or incorporated the others.

Once he’d ‘reunited’ what China had been before the Awakening, Emperor Zexian set his sights on everyone and everything that had once been part of China. Blatantly invading nations like Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam drew a lot of criticism from the international community, but all the powers that could have intervened were too busy with domestic troubles to risk ‘adventuring’ in Asia. He had propaganda in spades, however, displaying evidence of the corruption of the local leaders, and executing them for it. The evidence was even real, most of the time.

The new Chinese Empire was run as a strict meritocracy, according to reports, which allowed for upward mobility, or even just the illusion of upward mobility. That actually made the Empire fairly popular in the conquered areas, as regimes that had been… less than democratic were swept away. Sure, the Empire was a monarchy, and not even a constitutional monarchy, like the British, but the common people saw their old oppressors getting thrown to the dogs, and the new regime bringing opportunity, so the number of people who wanted to go back to the old ways weren’t enough to be a threat.

Oh, I was sure there was a dark side to it. There always was, after all. Power attracts a certain type of person. And even for those who have power thrust upon them, power itself, and wielding it, was a drug that could corrupt even the purest hearts.

I shook myself out of those thoughts and looked Koyama in the eye. “Well, given my limited understanding of this world’s magic, and the way you don’t practice long-term enhancement, that is the most likely source of the problem. Supernatural creatures automatically have some enhancement, which is what gives them their abilities. So, the CAD technology is probably having trouble reading, or interfacing with, enhanced bodies.”

Oesau grunted. “Then, as expected, it is an interference issue. The real question is how to clean up the signal to prevent interference.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “Oh, you already have an idea on why it isn’t working correctly?”

Oesau smiled. “Well, since the CADs work with supernaturals, even with atrocious efficiency, we know that it is possible. Unfortunately, as we tried to enhance the reading and scanning capabilities, efficiency actually went down. The readings were very similar to radio interference.

“Given your revelation of long-term enhancement, that comparison is likely closer to the truth than we initially thought. The CAD works by picking up brain waves and magic, and then processing them to make spells. If supernaturals have more magic in them, then the inefficiency is due to a signal-to-noise ratio issue. So, for the past ten years, we’ve been working on ‘scrubbing’ the input streams. The trick is in trying to scrub the streams, without scrubbing the ‘legitimate’ inputs.”

“Ah. That makes sense. The reason that a focus works is because it is a guide for the mage using it to create spells, rather than a tool trying to manage the spellcasting process based on user input. But that is why you can only be as precise as the will behind the spell.”

I considered the problem for a moment. “For a CAD, the precision is also the downfall, it seems. How do you calibrate a CAD for a normal mage?”

“We do a surface-level brain scan, and then adjust the settings to those base values. Surface-level gets us the ‘background noise’ level, which we can then set the CAD to ignore unless specific inputs are put in.” Oesau paused. “You’re suggesting doing the same process, but for magical ‘noise’?”

Koyama frowned. “The extra scanning by the Device in the field will reduce overall efficiency, and have an impact on battery health and processor load.”

“Yes, compared to typical CADs. But if you adjust for the magicule frequencies, then back-end efficiency for supernatural users will rise dramatically.”

“That isn’t something normal CADs will be equipped for. You would need to increase the size of the device to install the additional equipment.”

I cleared my throat. “Gentlemen, perhaps we could try a proof of concept before worrying about making it viable? It may be something more than just baseline mana ‘noise’. The type of mana might be important, as well. All creatures have a type, or types, of mana that they are predisposed to. However, supernatural creatures, as you call them, all have much more highly aspected mana than ‘normal’ people, which affects how they cast spells.”

Oesau frowned. “Sorry, I’m still working on this concept of magicules having aspects. What effect would mana aspects have on the spellcasting process?”

“Well, being a lich, my mana is heavily aspected towards necrotic spells. To cast a pure fire spell, I would have to convert my mana to Fire as I cast. This means that necrotic spells are easier for me to cast, while Fire spells take more effort. Tell me, how do you test the efficiency of those CADs for supernaturals?”

Koyama answered, “There are a few basic spells that are used as benchmarks across all CAD models, with basic formulae. We then track magicule throughput compared to the outcome of the spell. Each spell is cast several times, and an average is taken. Those averages are then averaged again across all spells in the test. These procedures are set out nationally, but the international standard mirrors this approach.”

Oesau nodded. “But the model doesn’t account for mana aspecting. We knew that some people were better at certain types of spells, but we attributed it to natural talent and skill, like with sports. With mana aspecting, it would be more like different types of vehicles designed for different functions, on different terrain.”

Koyama groaned. “In that case, you mean for the past forty years we’ve been trying to force a tank to race against a sports car, or forcing the sports car to go through a swamp, and wondering why we haven’t been getting the proper results? There are going to be a lot of people who are going to be very upset about all the wasted opportunities, if nothing else. This is going to change everything!”

I chuckled. “Well, we’re not exactly free and clear, yet. There’s still the matter of testing to see if the mana aspecting is the cause, and then figuring out a solution. Unfortunately, that solution may be as much hardware as it is software, and there’s a limit on how much I can help with that, since I am forty years behind the times on both.”

Koyama shook his head, laughing. “Oh, the academics in the office are simply going to love this.”