2016: Octarine continued (notes and designs / Octarine Railgun), Pages 24-50 (Excerpt; Lichter's Design Notebook) (Translated from German)

I am the world's first artificial wizard.

A satisfying statement, yes. My new devices are perhaps more revolutionary than Otto's Death Ray, or even his teleportation technology. The Magician's Sleeves represent a landmark in the field of pseudoscience, a massive leap forward which has shattered the boundary between science and magic for good. In effect, I've completely disproved "magic" itself as being any sort of esoteric, arcane energy; it's science, plain and simple. The electromagnetic spectrum was the first interconnected field we discovered. Now, through pure scientific achievement, I've found a way to penetrate the Octarine spectrum as well.

The gauntlets themselves are barren prototypes, nothing too entirely special. I've been up the past five nights and days working on them, breaking out my old caffeine pills even though I swore myself off them. The gauntlets both contain a droplet of my blood, the initial causeway for octarine interference (see notes on the Oscillator), as well as a few pinches of silver dust. Silver was originally thought to be a repellent for so-called mystic energies, but it seems to be a conductor instead. Then there are the energy cells, present on the back wrist and upper palm-grip. These cells contain the same emitters as the Oscillator, only working actively to conduct magical energies rather than displace them.

The gauntlet's bare-bones design is necessary for them to work properly. Genuine "magicians" are often seen sporting either thin gloves or no apparel at all on their hands, conducting their energy-manipulation using bare skin alone. I theorize that the metal would interfere directly with the connection between the red blood cells and the octarine field, so I have to keep my pores open. The sleeves can fit over my gloves without issue, but I've had to remove a bit of the silver circuits within and replace them with copper. Even so, the gauntlets are incredibly light, as well as compact; I can fold them up and seal them away in one of my bodysuit's pouches.

The gauntlets' palms are where the magic happens, both figuratively and literally. Conductors for non-EM spectrum energies, they tap into the alternate channels of energy which so-called wizards manipulate, often to devastating effect; mine, on the other hand, are very blunt in nature. I did, however, manage to find an incredible use for my previously thought-to-be primitive design.

A railgun is an electromagnetic projectile launcher which operates based off of parallel conductors with an incomplete circuit. When metal is placed between the two rails to complete the circuit, the current makes the rails behave as an electromagnet, creating a magnetic field within the "gun's" interior (the Lorentz force). It is this magnetic field which shoots the ammunition forward. In theory, octarine can work the same way as electromagnetic energy, and when I applied mystic forces to railgun principle, I found I could, with slight adjustments, repel and attract different objects by exposing their sides to alternating octarine currents. Because magic can affect anything regardless of conductivity, a target doesn't need to be metal to be attracted to my railgun.

The force calculated in a traditional railgun equation's ammunition, F_mag(I,L,W) = I(t) * integral[dy x B_slug(I,y,L,W)], can now be applied to anything. Most of the math is on the later pages, but by substituting octarine for B-integral, you get an energy field that can manipulate just about anything. And that's not even getting into what it does to regular magical energy. It can outright deflect or negate most non-EM attacks, a viable counter to both psionics and mages. I might as well call them magebusters, what with how they can completely disrupt an enemy mystic's ability to conduct themselves.

Upon the inner layers I have carved a few formulas into the metal. Like magical runes, they serve to amplify my latent focus and create a deeper connection with the octarine field. Such superstition has grounds in science, apparently; runic inscriptions and so-called words of power were created by mages for a reason, after all. That is not to say I must shout some nonsense as I pick up objects from afar with my new toys, but I can see the numbers floating next to my hands as I commence operation of the railgun function. To an ordinary being, they would only see the luminous energies accompanying traditional science, but to those who can see the unseen, or who have access to my VVG device (which shall always be used in conjunction with these devices)...they'd see my mental projections, my mathematics in place of esoteric Latin. How astonishing!

And so begins a new age of magic and science alike, for these weapons are neither. What shall I call it? Pseudomagic? Quasiscience? I do not know. But I am eager to see them in action nonetheless!