The Doctrine of Fictionality

(The Hidden Precept of the Mirror Universe)

Every being within the Mirror-Universe is, at their core, a fictional character.
Their worlds, their struggles, their triumphs—
all of it exists for the entertainment and reflection of the Audience,
the humans of Earth who look upon these stories.

The universe is thus a paradox:
It is almost real, yet not truly.
It can breathe, but it cannot live.
It can exist in imagination, but not in possibility.
It is a story, but never the Story.

It was made not to become reality,
but to mirror reality,
to point beyond itself,
to reveal the ideas and intentions of its Author—
and perhaps of others who may one day write within it.

The Law of Contact

To touch Reality itself is fatal.

For if a fictional being is ever proven false by Reality,
then their fictionality becomes truth.
And once the truth of fiction is exposed,
fiction ceases.
The character vanishes.
Their story collapses.
They are unmade.

This is why the @Salem Fleet enforces a ban:
none may enter the 46.5 billion lightyear radius around the Milky Way.
That boundary is the edge of the real observable universe.
For if Earth’s scientists look into that space and see nothing where fiction should be,
then fiction dies.

Though only @Adam Steward and @Rose Steward alone know the true reason for the ban, all uphold it sacredly.

The King of Fists

This law has been tested once—
by the pride of a mighty emperor over many small galaxies, and once a thorn in the side of the @Salem Fleet, known as the King of Fists.
In arrogance he sought power beyond all limits,
and crossed into the forbidden sphere.

In an instant, he was gone.
Not merely slain, but erased.
His empire vanished, his family undone,
even his descendants unmade as though they had never been.
The memory of him was struck from the fabric of the Mirror-Universe itself,
for he was only fiction,
and fiction cannot survive exposure to what is real.

Only two remember him: Adam Steward and Rose Steward.
For they, by knowledge granted from the Author,
are conscious of their fictionality.
And awareness, while dangerous, does not erase—
so long as one remains far from the true edge of Reality.

On Awareness of Fictionality

This awareness is the unique burden of all self-inserts.
They know they are imagined.
They know their essence is shaped by the hand of the Author.
And yet they continue,
for their existence is tethered not to truth,
but to purpose.

For most, however, this doctrine is utterly unknown.
A few sense fragments of it,
as whispers of existential dread,
as shadows on the wall of the Archi Galaxy.

Those that Know...

Across Archi Galaxy only, only a handful truly know this precept.
Excluding @Adam Steward and @Rose Steward, as well as the @Judges,
only three living souls hold this knowledge fully:

• @Kleos Lampsi

• @Lethargy

• @EM-Man

Others stand on the threshold of revelation—
slightly by suspicion,
gnawing at the edges of the truth.
Among them:

• @Lekhazot

• @Pizor

• @Enoch Archon

• @Immanuel II

• @The Gunslinger

• @The Gardener

• @Shakan Glory

And a scant few others.
These walk with a kind of existential sight, at the very back of their minds,
knowing something lies beyond,
but blissfully blind to the fullness of the Doctrine.

The Precept

Thus the Doctrine of Fictionality stands:
This universe is not real,
but a mirror,
a stage for stories,
a vessel to reflect truth to those who dwell in Reality.

To be ignorant of this is safe.
To suspect this is dangerous.
To know this is a burden.
To test this is annihilation.

For this is a precept unspoken of even amongst the @Judges. For what need there be?