Powered by the Blackness
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
An Ongoing Report on the Possibilities of Utilizing Energy Drawn From the Netherworld as of 10/1/2007
By Dr. Jonathan Harper
What this report contains is a detailed progress report of my current research on the possibility and practical applications of using scientific and technological means to recreate and utilize magical spells and effects, as well as the applications of utilizing power converted from energies drawn from the Netherworld. The first section of this report is an account of the genesis of this research and how it has developed. The second part is on the current and possible uses of energies drawn from the Netherworld. The third and final portion is about the applications and practicality of using technology to use and create magic or “techno-magic”.
How this research came to be is subject matter usually found in horror stories of just about any medium. I was with friends climbing Mt. Diable one weekend and when we were roughly halfway to the top, I fell through a weak point and ten feet into a small cavern. What transpired next I cannot recall with total accuracy but I believe I was attacked and possessed by one of the demonic entities that are believed to inhabit Mt. Diable and some areas of Cap au Diable as well. Over the course of the following weeks, this entity used my body to construct a device which I would come to call the Negative Engine. Before the entity could complete this project, it was forced from my body by the actions of a vengeful party.
After these events, I had decided to complete the project myself; there were problems however, since the blueprints written up were in a language I have only recently been able to fully translate. Once the blueprints were translated, I was finally able to dismantle and reassemble the device without fear of doing irreparable damage. I figured out how the majority of the Negative Engine functioned and developed most of my theories and research based on my examinations.
As it turns out, the Negative Engine and all of its related accessories are simple analog devices whose actions are determined by my own wishes as I am using it and how much power is being drawn at the time. How the device is capable of determining what I want to do is as of yet unknown, since I was unable to identify all of the device’s components and functions. I am however, almost to the point of being able to build a completely digital version of the device, effectively miniaturizing the device considerably and allowing for greater efficiency and improved capabilities.
While I am currently unable to determine exactly how the Negative Engine draws its power, I do know where this power comes from. The device draws all of its power directly from the Netherworld, the place where nearly all of us go when we die. Exactly how it makes a connection to the Netherworld to draw its power is unknown at this time since I am too afraid to dismantle a key component which I believe makes this connection for fear of permanently severing this connection, thus rendering the device unpowered and useless. The component in question is precisely twice the size of a golf ball, spherical in shape, made up of a silver metal, possibly iron, tin or silver, covered in tiny magical sigils, and with several wires coming out of it. Eventually, dismantling this device may be required to determine how the Netherworld connection is made so that it may be duplicated.
The full extent of the device’s capabilities is unknown at this time; there may very well be no limit to what the technology can do. I prefer to relate the currently known abilities to the runes used by the Norse god Odin, as they protect, ensure success in combat situations, heal wounds and injuries in both organic and inorganic beings and materials, and allow for the resuscitation of the nearly dead. In the future technologies developed from what was learned from this device could expand on the previously mentioned abilities from providing cheap and near-limitless power, to actual resurrection of the dead from the Netherworld itself.
As mentioned before, the Negative Engine draws its power from the Netherworld. Currently, this power is used by the device’s accessories to either harm or heal targets designated by the user. Harming targets is done by converting newly drawn energy from its negative form, to a more pure, damaging form. The conversion is done simply by running the negative energy through a transistor based converter to change its frequency. The newly converted energy is then concentrated and then focused into the desired offensive blast. How healing is done has not been determined at this time, but I believe that certain mechanisms in the device, invoke some kind of magical spell or effect when triggered by the wishes of the user, and the flows of power within them. This can also provide an explanation for other effects generated by the Negative Engine’s components.
Aside from powering the Negative Engine and its functions, I believe negative energy drawn from the Netherworld can also be converted to electricity to power appliances and other things used by modern civilization. If this theory turns out to be true, it would solve the energy crisis experienced around the world due to its quality of being seemingly unlimited. Free flowing negative energy can also be utilized for all sorts of beneficial applications from medicine, paranormal investigation and control, defense, and scientific experimentation and exploration of the properties of negative energy and where it comes from. With knowledge of where negative energy comes from, many mysteries surrounding life and death and finally be explained and put to rest.
Of course, utilizing negative energy does have its risks, even now as I utilize the Negative Engine. I have hypothesized that there must be negative side effects of being so close to a font of negative energy. Effects have been noticed, but these effects are by no means detrimental. So far, I am said to glow extremely faintly in the dark with a deep, dark purple color, and I leave a light, transparent purple trail of energy whenever I run as fast as I can. This leads me to theorize that negative energy exposure has similar effects to radiation exposure. If this is true, then the detrimental side effects could include cancer, infertility, some variety of radiation sickness, immune system damage or failure, changes in the DNA of my sperm which could produce deformed, mentally challenged, stillborn or mutant offspring, demonic possession, mutation in myself, organ system damage or failure, and death. I however am willing to assume all the risk in the name of scientific discovery and progress.
Another set of risks to harnessing the Netherworld comes from whoever or whatever inhabits that plane of existence. Since the Netherworld is where sentient life supposedly goes when it expires, spirits of the departed currently residing there may have problems with their dimension being tapped for power by their living descendants. Therefore, care must be taken not to irreparably damage the Netherworld lest we risk reprisal from the locals or wind up with no place to go after death. However, I do believe that in time, those residing in the Netherworld may come to embrace the changes brought about by these technologies as it may very well offer another chance at life.
This third and final segment of this paper deals with the concept and practicality of “techno-magic” or the use of technology to create magical spells and effects. Magic has long been thought to be outside the realm of reason, beyond those without the ability to sense or use it. Before the creation and subsequent study of the Negative Engine, I would have accepted that as truth. However, I have come across evidence and theories that this may no longer be the case.
There have been many cases of unexplained phenomena throughout human history which were eventually explained, controlled and harnessed. Given the recent discoveries in my research, I see no reason to believe that the same cannot happen to magic. It already has to an extent, but it is only tapped and used by those capable of using it. If magic can be tapped and controlled through technology, then its benefits can be made much more widely available to the greater whole of civilization.
There are of course, obstacles to this. Magic is an incredibly esoteric and varied subject, with dozens of interpretations of similar subjects all over the globe. I theorize that the key to this is to find the root interpretation, the common thread shared by all varieties of magic. From there, a new variety of magic can be developed which can easily be created and controlled by technological elements which in turn can be easily used by normal, everyday people. Due to my current inexperience and lack of knowledge on the subject of the history of magic I am unable to determine any obstacles or any other troubles to this goal until work on it is well underway.
In essence, negative energy drawn from the Netherworld, properly converted and/or manipulated can be utilized for a variety of purposes, from providing a cheap, potentially infinite source of energy, to laying the foundation for making the esoteric and powerful phenomenon known as magic available to all and not just those sensitive to it. In this issue of my report you have read about the beginnings of my research and how it has progressed. From there you read of the possibilities of the negative energies drawn by the Negative Engine. Finally, I explored the idea of bringing magic to the masses by harnessing it through technology so that it could be exploited by all. In conclusion, despite my still limited knowledge on the subject matter (mainly due to me just now being able to scratch the surface), I can see no limit to the possibilities of the technologies I am now privy to.
