Endless Blue - Week 49 - The War of Math and the Acumen Cipher

Numerology

The War of Math and the Acumen Cipher

Many tools are credited with the rise of the piscean races over the wilds of Elqua's oceans.  The advent of aquaculture; the domestication of zoological diversification, the exploitation of mineral resources, all have been strong pillars in a foundation of societal growth.  But perhaps the one most precious invention has nether substance nor weight, yet has spawned nearly every technological advance of import in the history of the Endless Blue.

This creation of the mind is none other than mathematics.  Without it, commerce cannot prosper, science is left bereft of action, and pisceans are prevented from attaining their true potential.  With its power, any mind can conjecture about the laws of nature, find patterns in the physical world, even investigate, comprehend, and teach the insights gleaned from simple calculation when applied by a logical methodology.  Sadly, the truth is that there are forces conspiring to keep the populace mathematically illiterate.

Leviathans Amongst the Schools

Both the Holy Church of Olyhydra and the Synesthete Synod have been waging an ongoing campaign, though on opposite sides, to keep the common piscean mathematically permanently retarded.  Were it not for this concerted effort at undermining the educational standards of the Known World homeseas, pisceans may have discovered secrets of the universe and freedoms undreamed of by their stunted minds.  Instead, they now flounder under the oppressive influence of self-interested organizations that prefer to enforce their control through dogma or deception.

The only force that has made more than a token effort to combat this history of ignorance comes from the restless inquiries of the Godless.  Unfortunately organized religion has done quite a thorough job of slandering their image.  With popular loyalty securely in their places of worship, it is an against the tide battle for those of atheistic viewpoints.  The Resurrectionists are forced to remain out of the philosophical war, both in fear of the revelation of what they truly are and of repercussions against their guise as the Academy of Doctors.  As such they are quite impotent in the face of the Church or the Synod, despite the underlying need for mastering the mathematical grades that is inherent in their healing works.

The Mathematical Grades

The art of math is broken down into grades.  These are considered levels of difficulty inherent in computation that form the basis for the next grade.  By mastering one grade, the individual is catapulted into an even wider understanding of the world at the next grade.

1 Numeracy (number literacy) -- Most all pisceans attain this level of math, which includes knowing the order of numbers and understand the concepts of greater and lesser.

2 Functions (basic arithmetic) -- This level not only includes simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, but also extends into the order in which complex series of equations must be resolved (i.e, multiplication/division before addition/subtraction).

3 Algebra (variables) -- The basic concept of representational math, where a symbol refers to an unknown quantity that can change depending on the data supplied.  Only the educated on Elqua reach this level of mathematical literacy, and rarely without the support of an organization or insights from a numerical form of synesthesia.

4 Geometric (spacial relations) -- These are the skills of the architect, the math of constructing shapes and their relationship to each other.  This is the last "public" grade of math, known to the greats of piscean history and is the most complex mathematical skill available to the Olyhydran congregation.

5 Calculus (limits and infinities) -- Considered an esoteric science by the educated of the Known World, this level and above are poorly known except by Synesthetes.  It is the study of change, learned by the synesthetes in glimpses from number-form members of the Synod.

6 Probability (math that predicts based on some data) -- This discipline opens the doorway to synesthetic divination, teaching the diviner how to gauge the aftermath of an action and the likelihood of desired results transpiring due to outside interference.

7 Heuristics (math that pre-guesses based on nebulous or no data) -- The penultimate step in divination, allowing the synesthete precognitive knowledge of events barely hinted at in the present.

8 Cipher Acumen (math that self-calculates)  -- This pinnacle of mathematical understanding is not just artificial intelligence, but such intelligence independent of physicality.  A self perpetuating formula, ever constant is its self-summation.

The Acumen Cipher

Just as the Resurrectionists have their cynosure in the quest to revive the dead Icht, the Sensates have their apex of philosophy, also inherited from the Icht: The Acumen Cipher.  Unlike the Resurrectionists, however, the Synod has already achieved theirs -- though not without the prior theories postulated by the Icht.  It was actually synesthete diviners of the Icht Dominion that created a primitive prototype of self-computing arithmetic promised in the Eight Grade of Math, but its finalization into the form it holds today was firmly caused by the Synod.

The existence of the Acumen Cipher is virtually unknown outside the Synod, and is only a mathematical abstract to those synesthetes that do not comprise the inner council.  A mental exercise in the potential puissance of mathematics, the Acumen Cipher mostly serves as a communal goal that ties a disparate conglomeration of pisceans that, by their very nature, leaves them as incapable of working together as the pre-Occupation Kraken.

Capable of computations far beyond the level of math currently possible among the Known World, delving into calculus as a norm and peaking into levels of numerical computation that would perplex even the most intelligent today.  This great leap in mathematical skill was directly resultant from the a form of synesthesia called number-form.  With this type of synesthesia, numbers take on a relational pattern in actual space -- a mental map of math.  This visualization of numbers as allowed intuitive leaps in mathematical innovation, building up over the years into long sought after ultimate expression of computational science: the self propagating formula.

The Acumen Cipher is a ghost of sorts, in symbolism if not in actuality.  It appears as a wavering, blurry outline that is roughly patterned after the piscean form, with an indistinct head atop an ephemeral torso, wavering limbs and a phantom tail.  Those entrusted enough to be in its presence can, if they listen intently, hear the mumbled sounds of numbers being added, subtracted, multiplied, divided... A faint yet haunting refrain of math lofting on the currents as the Acumen Cipher must continue to calculate itself lest it cease to function.  It cannot interact with the world around it directly, and to communicate in sentences of only a few words it must speed up its calculations for weeks in advance to gain itself a sliver of buffer time where it can address its attention elsewhere.  But its origins with the synesthetes is evident, as it expresses every form of synesthesia known concurrently, projecting a globe of faintly glowing light, shapes, sounds, and sensations around it.  It is as if you were seeing through the Cipher's invisible eyes, hearing with its non-existent ears, feeling the sensations of its ethereal form.

Most of the inner council's efforts delve into these palpable expressions of the Acumen Cipher's divining synesthesia, and the prognostications extracted from such an all encompasing synesthesia guide the Synod in its overreaching goals.  While finding two synesthetes that can operate together without working at cross purposes, no synesthete has ever experienced a negative sensation from the vision of the Acumen Cipher.

Forbidden Lore, Knowingly Hidden.

There are surprisingly many mathematical tomes that hide the secrets of calculation in their treated and tattooed pages.  The synesthetes of the Synod cheris their Codex Calculus, while the masterful pontiffs of the Harsh Mistress fearfully guard their few copies of The Divine Insight.  Patterns in Numerology lingers never too far from the reach of a Resurrectionist employing either side of their dichotomous skills.  But perhaps the most humbly named book that holds the secrets of education lies in the hands of the Godless and is passed between its students, entitled just Math.  The Church of Olyhydra has unequivocally banned the book from the households of its faithful, castigating it as apocryphal and evil.  Sensates take a less direct approach to spurning its existence, choosing instead to influence the experience of those around the grimoire into negativity and distaste.  Little would please the Godless as a whole more than to get the work into the hands of every piscean in the Fluid Nations, as their philosophy is sure of the material's potency to undermine the machinations of the deistic.

Endless Blue - Week 48 - The Synesthete Synod and the Art of Sensate Divination

Conspirology

The Synesthete Synod and the Art of Sensate Divination

Just as the oceans of Elqua have water currents layered over gulf streams over deep see undertows, so to have the political forces that govern the Fluid Nations.  Local territories vying for dominance under the province of  homesea governments conducting détente and espionage among their peers.  But above this level of intrigue run the currents of secret organizations -- groups of faceless, nameless pisceans with the power and resources to guide the Known World in the direction of their choosing.  Under their self-interested direction, they influence the policies and cultures of the Endless Blue from afar, bringing about a new world order that the few aware of this interference want to succeed.  The organization's adherents are known as Sensates, and the name of their governing council is whispered among the free pisceans: The Synesthete Synod.

What is Synesthesia?

Those precious few blessed with the gift of inate precognition experience the world quite differently than the majority.  They see the world around them in all its beauty and horror, but their senses are intertwined.  Stimuli that would normally only trigger a single sense for the average piscean can trigger multiple senses for a synesthete.  A certain sound would trigger a taste on the synesthete's tongue, or a brushing touch elicits a scent on their gills.  This condition has be described as a "union of senses", and intrinsically alters the individual perception of events and the world.

But synesthesia need not manifest in such generalized reactions.  The most common form of synesthesia -- at least 60% of those that possess the condition -- expresses itself as a cross-linking between two forms of sight.  When reading letters and numbers, these synesthetes automatically associate color to each grapheme.  One letter would be seen as written in blue while another penned in green, regardless of the actual color in which the text is printed.

Synesthesia is an additive condition, meaning that extra sensory input is invoked in response to proper stimuli.  It has been described by some that experience its effect that the world around them has an "overlay of color" or other form of sense.  Artistic interpretations of the condition have revealed a synesthete experiences the world as an ongoing masterpiece of art, sound, and other senses.  However, not every experience from synesthesia is pleasant.  Jarring sounds that would trigger the fight or flight reflex in a normal Elquan would take on an additional layer of disruptive sensation in a synesthete, such as visual flashing of color or a sharp taste of bitterness.  And since synesthesia is an autonomic process, there is no respite to the negative sensory overload -- it cannot be turned off.

The addition of color to one of a synesthete's senses is the most common expression of the condition, but not the only expression.  Not only could symbols trigger the association of color, but flavors, scents, touch -- even emotions of the self or the personalities of others.  The additive information is not limited to color, but can invoke tastes, smell, temperature, or touch.  It is this matrix of sense-to-sensation that makes the condition powerfully potent in the use of divination.

Divination of the Synesthetes

Divination expresses itself through the minds of those both bemused and addled with synesthesia's sensory feedback. When all the aspects of synesthesia are in harmony -- ie. the extra sensations other than the knowledge itself are pleasurable.  The more pleasurable the sensations in contemplation and completion of an action, the more beneficial the result.  However, even if two different individuals share the same kind of synesthesia, rare do the associations coincide.  In sound/color synesthetes, while one might see red when hearing a bass sound, the other might see violet.  As pitch increases, the first may see a lighter shade of red at one octave higher, while the other may instead see yellow for the same note.  The same applies to the other sensations, and it is this difference that leads to personalized divination.

For example, through number/color synesthesia patterns can be found.  The following pattern represents the input of stimulus that anyone experiences daily without the gifts of divination or synesthesia:

For those that are not fortunate to have their senses in union, divining the future would look much like this:

At first glimpse, the field is a blurring tapestry of light and dark.  Even looking closely, a piscean can barely make out that the pattern is comprised of 5s with some 2s intermixed.  But to a synesthete, the pattern jumps out vividly with but a glance:

The clues for the hidden data are there for any diviner to see, but it the comprehension of that encrypted information that is unclear.  Such is the way of most divination.  But when coupled with the insights bestowed by synesthesia, patterns not only become clear but reveal their meaning more implicitly.  Now, the future is rarely ever so simple.  The following pattern is more random, where the threads of numbers become more diffuse just as the threads of fate are unfathomable:

The same data is being convey as the first message, but now the ancillary data further obscures the divination.  But coupled with synesthesia, even corruption of the pure message becomes clear:

It is this "corruption" that the Sensates are attempting to resolve y their influence over Elquan life.  By small applications of their art, a nudge here and a urging there, they hope to maneuver events into a pattern that is more syncopated with their senses.  They hope to guide the anomalous sensory input (such as the green digits in the above example) into a more esthetically pleasing sensation, thereby altering the course of events by way of  personal taste.  Through their actions, they would alter the dispersal of 4s and 6s, reducing their presence so the inherent message came through clearer.

The particulars of an individual Sensate's expression of synesthesia (be it grapheme/color, number/form, or even emotion/flavor) are personal, and so personality is a factor in what is considered pleasant.  As such, two Sensates may end up working at cross purposes when their synesthesias manifest in contrary manners.  Due to this, most synesthetes eschew working directly with others of their ilk, especially those with the same sensory pairing.  In rare occasions the synesthesia of two individuals meshes seamlessly, and it is the Synesthete Synod's ongoing mandate to find those whose gifts compliment each other and support the resultant divination.  It is the dream of the five seat inner council to uncover a set of five special synesthetes whom all work in unison.  In this way, the Synod is as much a victim of Sensate manipulation as the conspiratorial-minded pisceans accuse them.

The Sensate World Order

To enact their alterations on the passing of history, Sensates must make a very hands-on effort.  While they will employ others to carry out their edits to current events, they themselves still must take an active role in order to gauge the effectiveness with their synesthesia.  This has led to the second reason they are called Sensates, and this time in a negative connotation.  Sometimes great lengths must be taken to enact change, and indulging in the urges of others -- a form of leading the way -- is one of the surest methods.

A direct result of this approach has synesthetes participating in the same seductions they are using on their target.  The have developed a reputation of hedonism and indulgence that the Olyhydran church has decried, and the two influential parties have become bitter enemies.  The totalitarian edicts of Olyhydranism are diametrically opposite of the perceived decadence of the Sensates, and the church has begun a doctrine of vilifying synesthesia as corruption and divination as sin.  One of the most difficult challenges for the Synesthete Synod and the pursuit of their New World Order is the interference of the Olyhydran religion.  To seduce a mind that has dedicated its soul to servitude requires a steady hand and a light touch else their machinations may collapse around them and irrevocably destroy any hope of synesthetic harmony.  The Matron of the Waters has decreed to her flock that the veniality that Sensates wallow in is unforgivable, casting those whom succumb to the Vastness for eternal damnation among the aberrations.

"From the flavor of music to the caress of thought,
the cacophony of existence can be conducted to suit one's taste..."
-- Dogma of the Synesthete Synod.