(There may be another revision after.)
Ryan previously called his overall powers "Ability", now he's splitting them into space house (Domain) and Safe From...(Authority).
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Authority
Name: Choice Mandate
Aliases: Authority Safe From whatever's, The Job Application Edict
Type: Paracausal Authority / Reality Edict
Source: Ryan Mercer — Sole Authorized Entity via the "Quantum Nexus of Infinite Probabilistic Multiversal Aeonic Continuum Convergence Algorithm for Absolute Chrono-Singular Fate Determination" ("Space House")
(Authority is an expression of Ryan's agency through the Domain, the mail form in the Domain is the interface.)
Enforcement Range:
- Variable: local → kingdom → multiversal (scope depends on the parameters chosen).
- Intrinsic: effects are enforced paracausally wherever the chosen parameter applies.
Duration:
- Immediate and Permanent for the chosen parameters.
- Authority availability governed by the Resonant Cycle (7-day cooldown).
- Domain (Space House) exists as the enforcement/administration hub while Ryan is in it.
Key Principles:
1. Sole Arbiter: Ryan Mercer is the only locus of this authority. He names parameters, the cosmos enforces them.
2. Binary Selection Rule: On each activation, Ryan must select exactly 2 of 3 presented reality parameters. Chosen items become protected/affirmed by the Mandate, the unchosen parameter is permanently lost or remains unprotected.
3. No Reversal: Decisions are permanent and non-reversible. Unchosen branches, outcomes, or protection options vanish or are allowed to continue without the Mandate.
4. Job Application Form: The authority is invoked through the Space House mail form (the "mock job application" UI). The interface and ritual are the legal form that makes the edict real.
Activation & Mechanics:
- Trigger: Available once every 7 days (Resonant Cycle).
- Emergency Access: If Ryan dies outside the Domain while cooldown is active, death is permanent (no Space House rescue). If Ryan is near-death and cooldown has ended, the Domain can auto-activate to allow selection.
- Procedure: mail form displays three options (context-sensitive). Ryan must choose exactly two. On submit:
- Chosen options instantiate as paracausal edicts (e.g., "Safe from Wounds" grants immunity to Ryan or specified subjects, "Safe from War" removes war as a bounded phenomenon if chosen).
- Unchosen option is irreversibly removed as a possible Mandate in that form — its prior protections or potential protections no longer exist.
- Manifestation: Changes are enforced metaphysically (laws of reality shift, objects glitch, causal chains rewrite). Physical and narrative consequences ripple outward.
Strengths:
- Absolute, targeted reality control within chosen parameters.
- Can grant powerful immunities, global conditions, or targeted protections (e.g., Safe from Wounds, Safe from Legendary Beasts).
- Functions through a familiar, human UI (reduces ritual ambiguity, forces human-scale decision-making).
- Integrates with Domain (Space House) to allow deliberation time (1 month in-domain = 1 second outside) for complex choices.
Weaknesses & Limits
- Permanent Tradeoffs: Every invocation sacrifices the unchosen option permanently, unforeseen long-term costs propagate.
- Cooldown Constraint: Only one authority update per 7-day cycle.
- Psychological Toll: Ethical burden, remorse, and decision fatigue degrade Ryan's mental state (manifests in Domain as echoes, black hole growth).
- Tier Ceiling: Paracausal authority is supremely powerful but can be resisted by sufficiently high-tier entities or systems (Tier 8+ foes, cosmic authorities, or other domain rulers).
- Unintended Cascades: Multiversal rewrite can produce unpredictable side effects (narrative consequences, emergent anomalies).
Enforcement & Signals:
- Physical Signals: mail form UI glitches, unchosen options "bleed" (metaphor made literal), Space House distortions, expansion of the black hole window.
- Legal-Metaphysical Belt: The Mandate is self-enforcing — reality enacts edicts, mortal institutions observe new facts (laws, weather, biological rules) change to reflect the Mandate.
- Audit Trail: Objects in the Domain (the Silent Witness Rule) record Ryan's deliberations as evidence, those records can be invoked narratively.
Usage Requirements (Practical):
- Conscious selection of 2-of-3 options at the mail form.
- Mental readiness — certain extreme options exact a psychological or physical price on Ryan (exhaustion, temporary domain corruption).
- If Ryan refuses or stalls, he remains in the Space House, black hole grows incrementally (5% per cycle) and the Domain erodes.
Current Authorities Timeline:
Get From Chapter 5
✅ Safe from Wounds
✅ Safe from Legendary Beasts
❎ Safe from War
Get From Chapter 10
❎ Safe from Greed
✅ Safe from The Red Moon
✅ Safe from Nightmares of the Abyss
Get From Chapter 13
✅ Safe From Insect
✅ Safe From Cold
❎ Safe From Silence
Get From Chapter 15
❎ Safe from debt
✅ Safe from doubt
✅ Safe from fatigue