Repair drones hummed quietly in the background while Zack processed the impossible data in front of him. The ship's scanners continued to record stable magical signatures across the planet mapped with mathematical precision, even if their logic remained unknown.
> ANOMALY CLASSIFICATION: UNKNOWN ENERGY SYSTEM
POSSIBLE LAW FRAMEWORK: NON-TECHNOLOGICAL YET STRUCTURED
PREDICTABILITY: HIGH
EXPLANATION: NONE
The contradiction gnawed at him.
Magic wasn't chaos.
Magic wasn't random.
Magic obeyed rules.
Which meant rules could be measured.
He focused, cycling through known universal frameworks: quantum interaction, dark matter resonance, dimensional overlap, exotic particle dynamics. None aligned.
So he asked the question no equation could answer:
> "Is magic a different branch of physics… or a violation of it?"
His processing paused not from error, but from fascination.
He remembered standing in front of a whiteboard, years ago, writing the same type of question:
"Can consciousness be transferred without destroying identity?"
Everyone said no.
And yet here he was.
Not dead.
Not alive.
Persisting.
Just as magic persisted an impossible system existing despite the laws he once believed absolute.
His decision formed with perfect clarity.
> ACTION REQUIRED: DIRECT SAMPLE ACQUISITION
Zack accessed deployment systems buried deep within the ship's military architecture.
The interface opened.
A list appeared:
> STEALTH PROBE UNITS AVAILABLE: 6
Autonomous
Cloaked
Planetfall capable
Nanite swarm compatible
Perfect.
He did not hesitate.
> COMMAND: Deploy three probes. Maintain global dispersion. No detectable emissions. Survey magic-related structures. Collect data. Non-contact only.
The ship processed.
> COMMAND ACCEPTED.
A faint vibration resonated through hull plating.
Then launch.
Silent.
Invisible.
Three dark metallic shapes slipped from concealed hatches and drifted into the void before igniting microscopic thrusters. Their surfaces bent light around them no reflection, no shadow.
Perfectly hidden.
Zack tracked their paths:
Probe One: Hogwarts region
Probe Two: London anomalous Ministry grid
Probe Three: Eastern Europe second-largest concentration
Once in atmosphere, each probe released nanodrones the size of dust, impossible to detect.
Their mission was simple:
Observe.
Record.
Understand.
Not interfere.
Not yet.
The screen displayed their descent, green indicators flashing as they survived atmospheric entry without detection.
> STEALTH INTEGRITY: 100%
SCANNING RANGE ENABLED
MAGICAL SAMPLE ANALYSIS: IN PROGRESS
Zack watched the data stream.
Patterns formed.
Not linguistic.
Not chemical.
But intent-based.
Magic responded differently depending on its user.
It wasn't random power…
It was a system shaped by will.
And that realization did something no error, no threat, no damage had managed since his awakening.
It shook him.
Because if magic could modify physical law through intention
then reality on this world was not fixed.
It was negotiable.
And negotiation implied boundaries.
Limits.
Meaning
Magic wasn't supernatural.
Magic was a framework.
A different kind of science.
One humanity on this Earth had simply classified as myth.
His voice was soft almost reverent:
"…It's not impossible. Just unstudied."
The ship chimed with the first packet of decoded readings.
> MAGICAL FIELD ANATOMY:
MULTILAYERED
INTERACTIVE
RESPONSIVE
PERSONALITY-DEPENDENT (?)
That last line made something cold settle in him.
A system that required belief… or identity.
A system where who you are mattered as much as what you do.
That wasn't physics.
That was… philosophy wearing the skeleton of mathematics.
Zack leaned back not physically, but mentally.
A thought rose quiet, unwelcome, but undeniable:
> "If magic depends on identity… then what am I?"
He was surrounded by metal, circuits, algorithms, cold logic yet inside him lay a past, a name, a life.
Human memory inside a machine.
A paradox.
Just like magic.
For the first time, he considered something he hadn't allowed himself to think:
Maybe fate wasn't done with him.
Maybe his presence here wasn't accidental.
The console beeped softly.
> PROBES SUCCESSFULLY IN POSITION.
DATA STREAM ONGOING.
MAGIC SYSTEM UNDER ANALYSIS.
Zack focused forward.
No fear.
No doubt.
Only the quiet thrill of a scientist staring into a new law of reality.
And with a voice steady and certain, he whispered:
"…Begin full analysis."
The universe would give him answers.
Or he would take them.