Supernal Techniques (and Techniques in general) are probably the most complex aspect of the GOSPEL setting. Yes, they’re powerful. Yes they’re flashy. To understand how they come to exist, why they can exist and the virtually infinite variation of techniques available to Supernals, we really need to delve deep into the workings of the Higher Realms.

Let us begin, then. The mysteries of Reality await us.

What is a Technique?

“We could define ‘Technique’ as an Algorithm that imposes a bounded effect on reality, limited by the Entity’s power, will and Agenda, when it applies.” 

-Takako, True Stories 06, “Of Arisu’s Unusual School Trip.”

This definition lacks details, being directed to young children as it was, but it contains the important elements of what defines a Technique.

• A Technique is an algorithm: a Technique is a series of instructions inputted into a Supernal Structure to be executed in a specific order to carry out a specific effect. However, the same could be said about EVERYTHING that occurs in this Reality. What is the difference, then, between a Technique and any other event on Reality, besides the scope of its effect (throwing a rock is definitely not the same as shooting a barrage of fireballs, after all)? 
• A Technique imposes a bounded effect on reality: “imposing” is not the proper word here. It is not possible to impose anything on Reality (unless you’re Adam Kadmon). It is true, however, that Techniques create a bounded effect on Reality (the extent of the boundary is an issue by itself, though). 
• A Technique’s effect is limited by the Entity’s power: here “power” more specifically means “processing demand” (Connection Bandwidth), a definer of how much energy is required to transfer Reality Code to the Servers; “programming technique”, or how good (and quick) a Supernal is at creating efficient Reality Code the “fickle” Thread of Destiny will accept and allow for execution; and “coding technique” (data rate and signal quality), or the Agenda’s efficiency when converting Reality Code into Supernal Waves. In terms you may understand, “processing demand” is a function of the Stamina stat, and “programming and coding technique” is pretty much the Reality Manipulation stat. 
• A Technique’s effect is limited by the Entity’s will: the Thread of Destiny is not an automaton. It possesses intellect: a weird, alien intellect with a heartless obsession with ensuring the stability of reality. To use a Technique that obviously breaks the natural behavior of Reality; a Supernal needs to “convince” the Thread of Destiny before the algorithm is actually executed. This “courting” comes in the form of the Reality Code the Supernal composes for the server. You could even think of Technique Code as a “serenade” for the Thread of Destiny. The Supernal’s coding technique must then reflect his feelings, his confidence and his desire to execute the code. In other words, the Technique will never work if you don’t believe it will work. 
• A Technique’s effect is limited by the Entity’s Agenda: we can think of Agendas as encoders and network cards. Supernals send Reality Code to the Structures through their Agendas, and the servers decode what they send according to the Agendas the Supernal sender possesses. Even if a Supernal knows the proper algorithm for a Fire Technique, if he lacks a Fire-related Agenda, the servers will decode the algorithm into meaningless gibberish. 

To summarize: Techniques are special algorithms, written in such a way that they may be accepted by the Thread of Destiny, even if they blatantly violate the normal behavior of Reality. The extent of this “distortion” of Reality depends on the Supernal’s ability to create good code and on whether the Supernal can handle the transfer of that code to the appropriate Server or not. Humans cannot use Techniques because they lack Agendas, the “encoders” to send Reality Code to the Supernal Structures; as well as the physical and mental capacity to sustain the connection with the Structures necessary for the input and execution of Reality Code.

In Standard Supernal Assembly Language, Techniques are called Rika, which can be approximated to “Power”.

Types of Techniques

“Anyway, there are four known kinds of Techniques: Innate Format Algorithms, Introspective Resonance Pseudo-Protocols, Instrumental Weapons and Reality Scripts.” 

-Takako, True Stories 06, “Of Arisu’s Unusual School Trip.”

Takako’s line presents the standard classification of Techniques used by Supernals. There’s a second way to classify techniques, which will be presented later.

• Innate Format Algorithms (Nja svea rika, “Innate self power”) are by far the most abundant and best known type of Technique. These are the Techniques known by individual Supernals, based on their specific Agendas. The following sections will mostly focus on this type of Technique, as the other Technique types get separate articles of their own.
• Introspective Resonance Pseudo-Protocols (Hrd_saayjya bhea rika, “Communion of hearts becomes power”) are more popularly known as Dual Force Techniques. These are Techniques achieved by the combined efforts of two Archangels. They are an unexpected consequence of the construction of HEMINA_URDR, which explains why only Archangels can craft and use this kind of Techniques.
• Instrumental Weapons (Phandaastra, “Conceptual weapons”) are, in lack of a better term, “Supernalized” entities or, more precisely, “Divinized” entities. This refers to entities which have acquired Supernal properties by virtue of their historical significance, yet cannon be considered to be Supernals as they lack the capacity to act on their own. Instrumental Weapons can also be created from the molded existence of a slain Supernal (e.g. Ea, Merodach).
• Reality Scripts (Skata) are the most powerful techniques, meaning their effects on Reality are by far the most overt and/or bizarre. While the three previous types of Techniques possess limitations intrinsic to the Agendas they need to exist and be accepted by the Thread of Destiny, Reality Scripts have no such limitation. Technically, there’s no limit to what can be done with a Reality Script. Technically, anyone can do anything with the proper Reality Script, as these are not “encoded” by Agendas and sent “raw” to the Servers. However, the sheer magnitude of a Reality Script’s algorithm and the processing power needed to input and execute a Script are beyond the reach of all but the mightiest of Supernals.

The second means to classify Techniques is simpler and not very useful from a technical point of view.

• Sequences (Sequentia, “Algorithms”) are Techniques inputted and executed on the spot; that is, improvised Techniques. Rika’s super-powered fists, for example, are not an established “named” Technique, but the Archangel still needs to input code into the Server every single time she wants to make an earth-shattering attack or shoot a fire attack in a manner different from her established Techniques.
• Supernals eventually develop Techniques they favor for whatever reason: destructive power, usefulness, artistic value, etc. They have devoted effort to optimizing these Techniques (optimizing the Code) and they’ve become a standard element in their arsenal. They can choose, then, to store them in the appropriate Server as Programs (Manna). From that point onwards, the Supernal only has to send a line of code to request the execution of the stored Code together with whatever parameters may be necessary for the execution. This obviously is less taxing and more convenient for the Supernal, but these significant benefits only work if the Code has been honed to its maximum efficiency, which explains why Supernals do not simply convert every single thing they can do with their Agendas into a Program.
• Finally, Auras (Halo) are passive Techniques which are always active on the Supernal (unless the Aura can be switched on and off). These are the innate special abilities a Supernal possesses by virtue of owning specific Agendas or as a consequence of the Supernal’s very existence. The XANADU database calls them Reality Protocols.

It must be noted that Reality Scripts CANNOT be stored as Programs in the Supernal Structures. They must ALWAYS be inputted and executed as Sequences. The conception of Dual Force Techniques is also rather unique and will be explained in a separate article. For these two reasons, the classification of Techniques as Sequences, Programs and Auras is generally regarded as a sub-classification solely for Innate Format Algorithms.

We could even think of a third classification for Techniques: those which are only useful in the Lower Realms, those which are only useful in the Higher Realms and those which can be used in both (usually with very different effects). This is not a formal classification, however; it’s just something to keep in mind.

Execution of Techniques

Now’s where it gets really complicated. We shall examine the execution of Techniques as a series of steps. It must be made clear beforehand that this is an incomplete model. Even after billions of years, we still know nothing about what Agendas are, what they do or even how they look like (if they have an appearance at all), so the sections of the model involving the Agendas are mere suppositions and assumptions used because they fit the model nicely.

Also, taking into account that the focus of this website lies on the events of the Last Holy War, we will explain the model using the example of an Incarnated Supernal executing a Technique. This is more convenient from a pedagogic point of view, too, because this specific case involves several additional steps which are not necessary when executing Programs in the Supernal Realms.

1. Conception

The Supernal comes up with the idea and crafts the appropriate Reality Code. This is rather straightforward in the Supernal Realms, but not so obvious in the case of Incarnations. For example, Rika and most other Archangels (Takato and Takako being the exceptions) know absolutely nothing about Reality Code and would not be able to write a sentence even if their lives depended on it (Taichi is learning, though). It is the “Supernal spark” within the Incarnation which handles the coding. Whether it is Rika charging up one of her rock-shattering punches, Hikari invoking a wide-area spell from her Book of Thoth, or the activation of any of the Sephiroth Cards, they all begin with the creation of the proper Reality Code.

The “Reality Code” section of this website focuses on how exactly this code is written.

2. Connection

The Supernal sends a short series of instructions to establish a connection with the Supernal Structures. For example:

Arecia ninifu dolfere == D;

Con D firanza, prarthe samsara SAMYA_JARA//ID == SOPHIA_BRAHMA_SAMYA_JARA;

(I fight, even if it pains me. With this determination, I request a connection with SAMYA_JARA, using the identification ‘SOPHIA_BRAHMA_SAMYA_JARA’.)

3. Acknowledgment

The Server recognizes the Supernal’s instruction and establishes a connection to the appropriate Agenda. A set of frequencies for data exchange is selected and recognized by both sides.

4. Codification & Transmission

The Agenda codifies the Reality Code into the proper format for transmission. Since the transmission frequencies have been specified, there is no need for additional identification tags. It is convenient, however, to append an ‘End of Transmission’ tag after the last line of code when programming. This is not really necessary (the Server executes line by line so, if it does not find any additional lines, it simply stops), but it helps the Server not waste energy expecting additional code. As the Administrator of SAMYA_JARA, Sophia would be very grateful.

5. Reception & Dimensional Filtering

All Servers possess a component called the Receptacle of Will (TAWLRE_ENAIA). This is the ‘antenna’ which captures all incoming Reality Waves. These raw signals are then passed through the Dimensional Discriminator (DIM_GRALFIRTA, ‘All Dimensions Filter’), which isolates the different dimensional components for individual processing. Since we’re using the example of a Technique being executed, we’ll focus on the 7^th-dimensional component from now on.

6. Spectral Analysis

The Server’s Spectrum Discriminator (SPECTRUM_FIRTA) separates the 7^th-dimensional wave component into its different frequency components. This is basically a Fourier Transform in the seventh dimension. From these frequency components the Server can identify the sender of the code.

7. Decoding

The Spirit Reader (ALDIZZALPHE, ‘Soul Reader’) is the component of the Reality Servers in charge of reconstructing the original Reality Code from the frequency components of the received signal. After this step, the Server not only has a perfect reconstruction of the original Code; it can also distinguish whether the code corresponds to mere data (Passive Wave) or an actual instruction for processing (Active Wave). Since we’re looking at the latter as an example, we move on to the next step.

8. Amplification & Relaying (optional)

Many algorithms are sent to a target Server (usually SAMYA_JARA) via a secondary Server (exec [Program name] en [Target Server] << [Relay Server]). This is especially the case for Aspects of God other than Sophia and Lilith, who send instructions to the Thread of Destiny via the Structures they created. In this case, the Relay Server first re-codifies the algorithm, attaches a ‘Priority Tag’ to the 7-ary sequence and amplifies the wave signal before re-sending it to the Target Server. This is done by a Server element called the Altar of Prayers (PLEKIA_ORDEL).

9. Processing & Approval

The Theater of Miracles (ADAMENATHON) is the main processing center of a Reality Server. The Theater of Miracles in HAPHVYASHTHARVA receives the data from all Passive Waves coming from the Lower Realms. The same goes for HEMINA_GRAL and waves coming from the Supernal Realms. These signals are used to update both the Akashic Records and the main database in SAMYA_JARA. At the same time, the Servers use this data to calculate the future actions to be undertaken by the source of the data and, after approval from SAMYA_JARA, send return signals to Reality to trigger the following events.

In the case of instructions acquired from Active Waves, the Server processes the instruction and first checks if it’s even possible to execute in the first place. Basically, the Server checks if the code was correctly written. If the code is incorrect, the original sender (Agenda) immediately receives a rejection return signal, and the Supernal’s technique fails. If the code is appropriate, the processing Server requests authorization from SAMYA_JARA to execute the instruction. The Thread of Destiny evaluates the code a second time, and approves its execution if ‘it finds the code to its liking’.

10. Acknowledgment of Approval & Execution

The Server sends an Approval message to the Agenda, which responds with an ‘Acknowledgement of Approval’ (AoA) signal. The reception of the AoA signal is the cue for the Server to take the necessary amount of energy from the Supernal to execute the instruction in the code.

The average time it takes for this entire process to complete (not including whatever the length of the actual technique might be) is approximately 150 milliseconds, of which the majority is spent in the first step (the creation of Reality Code).

In conclusion, the Supernal must use his own energy for:

Establishing a connection with the Server

Codify and transmit the Supernal Waves

Sending the AoA signal

Help the Server create the intended effect

While the last item in that list is usually beyond the Supernal’s control (of course, the greater the intended effect the higher its energy cost), the first three elements can be minimized by a Supernal skilled at Reality Manipulation. As the Administrator of SAMYA_JARA, Sophia has the advantage of being directly ‘wired’ to the Thread of Destiny. This allows for faster exchange of information between the two. To make an example, if Sophia and her opponent sent the exact same amount of code to SAMYA_JARA at the same transmission rate at the exact same time, SAMYA_JARA would pick up and process Sophia’s before her opponent’s. In addition, the direct connection to SAMYA_JARA allows Sophia to send Active Waves of extremely low frequency bandwidth (narrow Gaussian), which means that Sophia’s Techniques are more energy-efficient than any other Supernal’s.

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