“Good luck,” Sarah bid him as they parted outside the mess hall.

  “I don’t need luck,” Sam said, trying to fabricate wishful fiction into materialized unearned confidence. “I’m the best gosh-darn Terran Thread-Weaver Taken in the history of the Web. It’s gonna be a breeze.” She smiled and squeezed his shoulder, joining Felix and Yvessa and leaving Sam and Erianna on their own.

  “So…” Sam said, “back to mine?”

  The elven Thread-Weaver gave him an amused look. “How many girls have you managed to tempt with that pickup line?”

  “Girls? None. Women? Two.”

  “Three it is.” She gestured him to lead the way.

  “So, let me have it. Why am I’m not going to like the explanation for why we’re called Thread-Weavers?”

  Erianna sighed. “Two reasons. First, there is the explanation itself. But there’s also the preamble to the explanation.”

  “Let me guess, what you’re about to say is just conjecture.”

  She nodded. “Like almost all major magical terminology, the exact origin is disputed, not to mention the method in which it became… universal is anything but clear. You’ve heard the theory behind Rulers, right?”

  “I have. That while maybe not all races had the same name for them, the meaning was similar enough so that when they encountered the Reshan terminology for the first time, they had no problem adopting the common term and superimposing it on the old one.”

  “Old ones, to be more accurate. But whatever the case, all races—besides yours, of course—use Ruler as though it was a term coined during our historical development. It’s sort of like ascribing to a realistic epistemological worldview, in a sense. We like to believe that we all managed to discover the objective and intrinsic quality of what a Ruler is on our own, so that must mean that the term is universal.”

  Sam looked at her in awe. “Epistemological realism? Really?”

  “Don’t give me too much credit. It’s a common enough comment that you’d find it on the Wikipedia page for Ruler.”

  “And did you?”

  Erianna blushed. “Immaterial. The main point is the criticism. Whatever you think about realism or whatever, touting Ruler as proof of that would get you laughed out of philosophy class.”

  “Since the first objection to the term most people raise is that Rulers aren’t rulers. If Ruler is an objective, mind-independent term, then how could it coexist under a term like Chosen? That doesn’t really match our semantic intuitions.”

  “Yep. So we’re not sure how come we all use Rulers, and the same goes for Thread-Weavers. Same explanation for and against. Well, not exactly the same, there are a lot more caveats for the etymological research, but that’s not important. The main thing is we don’t know why we all use Thread-Weaver. But as for the… common explanation: Thread-Weaver started out as a synonymous term for Ruler.”

  “Because the first Rulers were all Thread-Weavers?” Sam ventured a guess. If you didn’t know threads existed, and that becoming a Ruler was in the cards, it made becoming one a matter of pure dumb luck.

  “Yes. But again, that’s just how the popular explanation goes. There isn’t any concrete historical evidence that all the first Rulers were Thread-Weavers. We assume, for the explanation, that that was the case. And the explanation further goes that after the first Rulers came and went, and the system of magical progress, primitive as we assume it was, started to develop, so did the split between the two terms. Rulers became those Thread-Weavers that managed to catapult themselves into utilizing threads. And Thread-Weavers remained those who had the potential to become Rulers. A few more centuries, stages of development, and we’re left with the definition we have today.”

  “And that’s alright because language doesn’t have to make sense. It just has to be understandable to most people.” Sam sighed. “That’s pretty much what I thought. I mean, it’s not like I held secret hopes of finding out some ancient knowledge that would allow me to wield threads before becoming a Ruler. But it is something that I distinctly remember being annoyed about. Once I finally understood enough about how magic works to realize that the term Thread-Weaver doesn’t.”

  Erianna laughed. “I can only imagine. Thankfully, I didn’t have to go through that. I had learned through osmosis what those two terms meant, and how our magic worked, before I had developed any expectations that could’ve been dashed. However, I did hold some secret hope, after I had underwent my Awakening, that I was really special and would discover lost knowledge that would make the term make sense. No such luck for now.”

  “We’ll work on that together.” Sam clapped her shoulder as he opened the door to his room.

  Erianna smiled and sat down in Sam’s desk chair. “I can’t wait. But first, we must start with discovering some basic, tightly kept but far from lost, knowledge about what being a Thread-Weaver lets you do and what threads are. Take a sit.” She gestured him to the move his other chair in front of her.

  Through sheer force of will, Sam did just so while holding his tongue. He was so close to the starting line. To finally beginning to learn about what made him the Web’s last hope according to Web-Web’s previous form’s calculations. He couldn’t tarry any longer. There will be other opportunities to joke about Erianna and her sitting habits. He was sure yesterday wasn’t the last time the princess would flaunt politeness by invading his sleeping space.

  He sat down, releasing a tense breath, and locked eyes with Erianna. “Let’s fucking do it.”

  She smiled. “We’ll start with the theory. We don’t have to; you can start practicing without knowing anything about threads, as evident by the fact that you had to look at my uncle after your Awakening. But it’d be more time efficient to wait until you have some grasp of the basics before throwing you into the deep oceans.

  “Since you like analogies so much, it’s like you’re a diver and being a Thread-Weaver gives you a diving suit to plop down and survive in the deepest ends. Practice will make you a better diver, but your real job is… marine analysis or whatever. Which you can’t do if you can’t differentiate between a starfish and a seahorse. Not to mention, using your Sight for the first few times is pretty much like being submerged under a hundred meters of water. The opposite of a good time.”

  “I don’t doubt it,” Sam said. “I remember what it felt like after my Awakening. Definitely not fun.” And definitely not what he was actually remembering right now. Sam had spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out how to lie and pretend when it came time for him to use the Threadsight for the “first time.” He wouldn’t have to fake the pain, of course, and he didn’t care all that much about whether his previous experience would help him acclimate faster and thus change people’s opinion of him.

  But he knew that he couldn’t just succeed in accessing his Sight straight away. He had to pretend to be having difficulties with it. Hopefully, enough time had passed so that Sam wouldn’t have to pretend all that hard. Somehow, he doubted that, though. A voice in his head (and not a real one this time) told him that the switch allowing him to gaze upon the bare fabric of reality was just as readily available as it was on his second attempt, maybe even more so.

  “Alright…” Erianna stretched the word out. “So being a Thread-Weaver means one simple thing. You have access to the Threadsight before your level makes such an access part of your natural progression up the magical ladder. Technically, any person under level 10 who can access the Sight could be termed as a Thread-Weaver, since only after the two preparatory patterns your body gains, or inches upon, the instinct to catch on to the frequency of threads. The strict definition of a Thread-Weaver is anyone under level 8 with access to the Sight. But in more common parlance, the upper limit is people around our age and level. Well, let’s say a few years older and two levels higher.”

  “But we further differentiate between Thread-Weavers based on their… quality as ones. Quality measured by how early in their magical development they gain access to the Sight. Which is not to be confused with the quality of their initial Sight, which only applies to one sub-type of Thread-Weavers: us. The people who wake up being able to sense their core for the very first time with a blinding headache because the Sight keeps bombarding them with information. There’s isn’t a universal agreed upon terms for the two types, but I like to use Immediate Thread-Weavers and Later Thread-Weavers. Only people like us fall under the former category. Even if a person gains access to the Sight a day after their Awakening, they would still count as a Later Thread-Weaver.”

  “Is that something that happens?” Sam asked.

  “Probably not, and I certainly haven’t heard of any, but it’s also immaterial. The distinction is important not because the earlier age allows you more time to develop your skill, otherwise we wouldn’t be making such a big deal out of you. But because the other type of quality, the quality of their initial talents with the Sight, is much, much greater in Immediate Thread-Weavers.

  “All Later Thread-Weavers start with the same talent in using the Sight, and it is exactly the same amount of talent that is gained by a level 10 who stumbled upon the instinct to access the Sight. Which is only the first step of becoming a Ruler, and it’s not the hardest one. The hardest step is training your Threadsight enough so that you could use it to do… whatever it is necessary for becoming Ruler. A step that we, as Immediate Thread-Weavers, don’t need to bother with, because, no matter our initial proficiency with the Sight, it would always be enough for us to become Rulers.

  “All this was to explain why some Thread-Weaver are a ‘big deal’ and why some aren’t. Why when people think of Thread-Weavers, they think of people like us despite us being the minority of Thread-Weavers. And I’m sure Farris mentioned to you that from the perspective of the powers that be, they get more from Later Thread-Weavers than Immediate ones as the former are more likely to become Rulers. The question of why not to treat certain early bloom Laters like Immediates isn’t something we need to worry about, although I’m sure you are thinking about it, or will think about it, because I definitely have.

  “So that’s pretty much all there is to know about what Thread-Weavers are. Any questions?”

  Sam shook his head. “No. I was mostly aware of all of that, sans the terms. Which, by the way, thank you for finally giving me a term to use. You probably know that I love things being organized into proper categories, especially if I’m included in those things and categories. But this is just the starter, right? OK, all Thread-Weavers have access to the Sight at an early stage. We Immediates have very early access and much greater proficiency. What does the proficiency mean? What is the Sight and what are threads?”

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Erianna nodded with a laugh. “Took my leading questions straight out of my mouth. Unfortunately… defining the Threadsight is actually kind of hard. Besides the bare expatiation that it’s how a person views—although senses is a much more appropriate word, but we’re not going to get into another linguistic discussion right now—threads.”

  “Hard in the same way that describing how our biological senses really work is hard? Since it has to do with many different fields of study and very complex mechanisms? Or hard because we live ten thousand years ago and don’t know anything about the human body and how it really works?”

  “Mostly the latter. But there is a bit of the former. Honestly, though? I’m not really sure. Let alone me, even experienced Rulers like Farris don’t know much about this. These questions are reserved for only the most theoretically inclined and academically minded researchers. But I do know that the explanation doesn’t go as deep as our current knowledge of how photons are translated into visual signals in our brains. So there’s that.”

  Sam tsked but gave a reluctant nod. “So what the Sight is, isn’t that important. What proficiency in it means, I assume, is more so. But it’s also more to do with the practice and in any case, it’s a bit meaningless until we answer the other question.” He smiled to hide his nervousnesses, he wasn’t sure why, but he felt his heart beat in his ears. “What are threads?”

  Erianna nodded and slowly leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. “The basic answer is one which I’m sure you’ve heard before. Actually, strike that, I know that you have because I read that in your file. Threads are the most basic… everything of magic, really. I know that you’ve been given the strings analogy, but it’s not really strings, or rather, it’s not just strings. Every description you can think of for what the most basic unit is, fits for describing threads. Smallest particles. Smallest waves. To us, they are the building blocks of magic, the most elemental unit of magical existence there is.”

  Sam grunted in acknowledgment. “The most apt analogy I’ve come across was quanta. Which is basically the smallest unit possible in existence of any physical entity. Whatever threads are, they are the smallest, most basic unit of any magical entity, because any magical interaction requires them. At least, if the analogy is indeed correct. And threads really are the… Greek atoms of our time.”

  “That’s true. And we obviously don’t know that for sure. Maybe there is something below threads, even more fundamental. But we haven’t discovered anything that might indicate that. Regardless, theory and practice both treat threads as the fundamental physical element of all magic; in every physical existence of magic, every observable interaction, there must be threads because otherwise, there would be no magic.”

  Sam nodded, but struggled to hide a frown. He remembered what Web-Web had told him when they were trying to teach him to access the Threadsight. The AI had called threads the most basic form of material magic. But it had also mentioned that the core was the most basic form of magical energy that Sam could observe at that moment. He assumed that meant that there was an even more basic form of magical energy, one which might correspond directly with threads, perhaps what directly made up the core. But he still had no idea what was the difference between the material magic that threads represented and the energetical magic that Sam could find in his core.

  And, of course, it wasn’t like he could ask Erianna. Why the hell would he know about this stuff? Especially since he had an inkling that this sort of knowledge went way beyond the education that a young Thread-Weaver is given. Or so he thought.

  “Of course,” Erianna continued, “I’d be remiss not to mention the big overwhelming question of what magic is. That is, what are threads the building blocks for?”

  Sam stared at her in shock. “I thought magic was… well, magic.”

  “Magic is an objective phenomenon, and like any other objective phenomenon, people have been trying to explain every aspect of it since the moment they came into contact with it. Such a pursuit had only intensified after your empirically minded people joined the Web. Of course, we don’t actually know what magic is, but we do know of an important distinction within what makes magic, magic. That is, between threads and energy.”

  “But wouldn’t energy just be an expression of the… effects of threads? Like electricity isn’t something in it of itself, but is rather electrons moving around.”

  “This, unfortunately, is where my lacking understand of physics comes into play. What I do know, is that it’s also where the analogy between physics and magic break down. As far I as understand, in physics, energy is ultimately an expression of matter interacting with matter, i.e. it’s atoms all the way down and energy is a trick of linguistics.

  “But as far as we know, magic works the exact opposite. It is energy that makes the basis for every magical interaction, and threads are only the way we interpret energetic interactions. Meaning, when we talk about threads being the fundamental building block of magic, that’s because it is the quanta, as you said, required to exist in any interaction of magic with the physical world. But, theoretically, when magical energy doesn’t come into contact with anything non-magical, but only with itself, it could result in an interaction which doesn’t involve any threads.”

  “Theoretically?” Sam asked. “Because it’s not proven?”

  “Indeed. Every aspect of magic of which we are aware of, meaning we can sense, is, obviously, interacting with the physical world. It’s effecting something beyond itself. The energy in your pathways interacts with your pathways, with your body, and even with the outside world. Your core is the same. But the core is the most… pure expression of magical energy we can find. Although, to be honest, I don’t know why that is. The whole subject is way beyond me or my interests, since it has nothing to do with actually using magic or fighting.

  “At least, our current understanding of it doesn’t affect practical usage of magic in any way. I don’t know, maybe in the future they’ll find a way to make a magical nuke because of this stuff but right now… you don’t have to worry about any of the implications, questions, or problems that arise from the difference between physics and magic.”

  Sam raised an eyebrow. “Then why’d you bring it up?”

  “Because an inquisitive guy like you was bound to bring it up at some point, so it was better to get it out of the way first.” She chuckled. “But in all seriousness, this is just how they teach this stuff, well, minus the analogies with your scientific discoveries. We start by saying that threads are everything in practice and theory, but then we rectify that by saying that’s not true in theory and excuse ourselves for still acting like it is in both cases.

  “Trust me, the study of magical energy is more akin to philosophy than to any scientific field. We’re all grasping at straws here. We don’t even have a unit of measurement, nothing like we do with threads, let alone tracings or patterns. There’s just magical energy and we try to measure it using its effects on the physical world, meaning objects like our core.”

  “I thought the core wasn’t physical,” Sam said.

  “It’s not physical in the sense that it’s distinct from your physical body. But it is physical—at least when existing in said body, I don’t know what a core in a physical void would look like—in the sense that it interacts with the material realm. Think of it like this: the core is your consciousness, your mind. It interacts with the brain, because, obviously, but there are those… more amorphic aspects of it. Maybe there’s pure intellect beyond the physical world that your mind corresponds to. Maybe your soul. It’s a shit analogy as far as technical definitions go, but it gets the point across. The core interacts with your body, with the real world. It’s the most ‘uncorrupted’ expression of magical energy there is, but it’s still corrupted with matter, in this case, threads.”

  Sam nodded. “I remember seeing threads… there.”

  “Because there are threads there. Like I said, the question would be whether there would still be threads if a core exited independently of… well, not just a body, but any physical matter. But it’s still a moot point. Magical energy brings threads into being, but because any type of magical energy we interact with must be in the physical realm, then there is no reason not to treat threads as the fundamental cornerstone of magic. Like I said, we don’t have units of measurements for energy. We don’t have anything close to resembling the ‘quanta’ eneregtical equivalent, like threads are for matter.”

  Sam leaned back with a sigh. “Well, that’s good and all. But after this basic straightforward explanation of what threads are that shat over the popular understanding of what threads are, we’re still left with the question: what are threads? Yes, I get that threads are the manifestation of magical energy interacting with physical reality. OK, but what are they? Why can we learn personal information from them? Why do we need them to become Rulers? Why do some… why do they look different from each other? Atoms look differently because of the makeup of electrons, protons and neutrons. Do threads look differently because of a different makeup of magical energy in them? Or… what?”

  “I can’t answer your second question, I’m afraid. As even I only have conjectures as to why that is. But, as for explaining why we can learn personal information from threads… the answer is simple. Did you see the threads after your awakening?” Sam gave her a blank, annoyed look, which she promptly ignored. “You did, right? Did you ever see an atom?”

  “No.” Sam grit his teeth.

  “Your familiar with the fact about how there’re more atoms in… I don’t know, a grain of sand than there are stars in the—your galaxy? Something like that, right? There are a lot of atoms. There are a lot of threads, but nowhere near as much. They’re much more manageable, visually. Imagine if you could see an electric circuit and understand it based solely on seeing the electrons moving through it. That’s similar to threads. They represent the most basic elements in a magical interaction, and so if we see them, we can understand what that interaction was.”

  “OK, but why personal information? Why could Farris make me think of certain words?”

  Erianna tsked. “Farris gave me this example that he said will surely help you understand. Unfortunately, I looked it up, and he’s probably right. You’re familiar with Laplace’s Demon, yes?”

  Sam nodded. “The demon knows the precise location of every atom in the universe, so using science—Newtonian mechanics, I think—it can calculate what will happen to them in the future and what has happened to them in the past. Taking that a step further, the demon can know about every past event and every event that will happen because it all corresponds to atoms. It’s basically explaining how an omniscient being could be omniscient in a deterministic world using science. But it’s a deterministic claim. You should know I’m not a big fan of those.”

  “No? I think the jury’s still out on that. But that’s besides the point, leave the past and future aside. Just focus on a single person, you. Say I know everything about you, from the way your body works on a biochemical level to the way your mind does, whether it’s spiritual or physical or whatever. If I know all of that, would I know what you’re going to say next?”

  “That’s exactly determinism.”

  “It’s not. We’re talking about an equation, not the real you with free will, but the fictional you that is breakable into mechanical parts that we can calculate. If I know all of that, could I know what you’d say next?”

  “Yes.” Sam sighed.

  “So let’s take it a step back. If I only know how your body works, will I know when you’ll get hungry if you stayed put and did nothing?”

  Sam nodded.

  “Step further. If I only know how your lungs work, will I know how much oxygen they could process if pushed to the limit?”

  “OK…”

  “So by knowing about the mechanics describing physical proprieties interacting with each other, I can learn something that I hadn’t known before?”

  “Erianna…”

  “Bear with me.” She smiled.

  “Yes, you can.”

  “Same goes for threads. A thread describes the mechanics of magical entities interacting with each other in the physical world. Only, threads are much bigger than atoms, and there are a lot fewer of them, so we have a much easier time acting like demons than we have with atoms.”

  “Fine, but why would those magical interactions correspond to… I don’t know, echoing a name in my head? Reading stuff about my mood, or my past? Or everything else threads are said to represent?”

  “Raise your hand. Did that result in a magical interaction?”

  Sam followed the instructions automatically, only catching the fact that he’d raised his hand after it was already up. “Yes,” he said.

  “Good, now, when exactly that magical interaction began?”

  Sam stopped to think. “At the same moment that the physical interaction did.”

  “And when was that?”

  Sam looked at his hand, pausing for a few more seconds. “When the neurons in my brain got the command to move the hand.”

  “Exactly. And here we get into the real weeds of threads and philosophy of magic, and everything about how the mind works. Was there anything before the neurons started moving? Pure intellect? Because if there were, then that might mean that threads correspond to that nonphysical realm, spiritual or pure consciousness or whatever you want to call it. But if there wasn’t…”

  “Then that means that threads correspond to every facet of our being, because we’re all made up of physical elements which all come into contact with magic.”