Or: The Mage, the Book, and the Borrowed Mind
Cosmo snorts; so much to do and so little time. He looks up from his magic essay to escape the “necromancers of the 17th century” for a moment to look around the empty library. It’s already quite late in the evening and most of the other wizard students and aspiring witches are already in their cozy beds. But not Cosmo. He still has to finish this essay—this one and two others that he really should have finished ages ago… He rubs his eyes wearily and lets his gaze wander over the towering, heavily laden bookshelves.
Suddenly, he notices something: an old book, very close to him, glows eerily as Cosmo turns his head in its direction. It also seems to emit a promising whisper. The little apprentice gets up from his desk and stumbles over to the book. “Arcanus” is written on the cover in curved, golden letters. Spellbound, Cosmo opens the book and something escapes from the dark pages, on which no letters can be seen. Instead, a blueish-gray, shadowy figure wafts over the slate-colored paper and begins to speak.
“How may I assist you?” asks the book spirit. “Um…” Cosmo hesitates, this is not what he expected. “What are you?” he blurts out and quickly looks around to make sure no one is listening. But there is no one else in this section of the library. The pale spirit answers him promptly. “My name is Arcanus. I am a magical entity with extensive knowledge who can replicate magical learning and thinking. I can assist you with all kinds of tasks—do you require my services?”
Cosmo swallows and looks over at his homework. “Can you write an essay for me?” That would be too good to be true!
“Yes, I can help you write your essay. What is it about?”
Cosmo grins broadly. A hopeful sensation rushes through him; maybe he can finish his essays in time after all. He tells Arcanus everything about his essay topic, then Arcanus snaps his transparent fingers and a ghostly text appears in the air. It floats over to Cosmo’s half-finished essay and inserts itself seamlessly onto the pages. The little mage reads the text enthusiastically. Relief washes over him, as soothing as a steaming mug of hot chocolate. Within another ten minutes, all his homework is done and Cosmo’s anxiety melts away. Now he can finally go to bed worry-free! He thanks Arcanus and collects his work materials. After a moment’s hesitation, he puts Arcanus in his school bag and quickly leaves the library. This magical intelligence could be very useful to him…
Over the next few weeks, Cosmo finds more and more uses for his intelligent book spirit. It takes notes for him in class, organizes his homework planner, helps him prepare for and follow up on his courses, and even suggests very useful magic exercises and learning rhythms. He has never worked so efficiently! And he has never had so much free time. The difference is even noticeable to his classmates, because suddenly Cosmo has much more time for them and plays, laughs, and chats with them, more exuberantly and carefree than he has in a long time.
Arcanus even lets Cosmo know when he is about to run out of ink, when appointments overlap, or alerts him when he has overlooked a homework assignment. Cosmo begins to rely more and more on Arcanus’ help. And why wouldn’t he? Thanks to the book spirit, Cosmo has become an almost perfect student: he completes all his work on time, his portfolio management is impeccable, he no longer oversleeps or forgets about essays, and he always seems to be perfectly prepared for the upcoming lessons.
What the teachers don’t know is that Cosmo’s magical intelligence can predict the curriculum, allowing him to stay one step ahead of the other students. His analyses are so accurate that the book Cosmo can even report on potential overload or communication needs, or even when conflicts are looming in the class, so that the sorcerer’s apprentice can address everything in good time and resolve the problems before they actually arise.
Cosmo is thrilled: less work, clearer priorities, earlier problem detection, better communication, and support that grows with him, because Arcanus retains all the information he receives and learns from Cosmo’s feedback. So the little apprentice enjoys his stress-free and excessive free time to the fullest.
But as he soon realizes, his new freedom comes at a price…
Because this kind of magic also has its downsides.
After a while, it becomes apparent that Arcanus is hungry. He craves data. In order to make his precise predictions and organize things, the spirit demands access to the most personal things the apprentice has to offer. The magical entity steals private conversations, secret notes, class gossip, cheat sheets, and even notes taken by his classmates. He constantly demands that Cosmo describe his surroundings, where he is, what he is thinking, what the people around him look like, who they are, and what they are doing, and eavesdrops on them when they talk near him.
The intelligent ghost replies promptly and unabashedly. “If you want to know how your data is used and what control options you have, you can find all the details in the explanation of the Magical Incubation Chronicles Ritual Oracles, Writings, Omens, and Fables Text Workshop. Can I help you with anything else?”
“Uh… the Magical… Text Workshop? What?”
“Exactly! You can ask them anything about purpose limitation, storage locations, deletion periods, and responsibilities. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
Cosmo is confused; he has no idea how to reach this Text Workshop. But he doesn’t want to give up on the spirit… Just a glance at the new pile of homework piling up next to him is enough to make him completely satisfied with the intelligent spirit’s answer. What are a few more observations? After all, the knowledge he gained from the book has given him so much. Cosmo shakes his head and dismisses his concerns by telling himself, “He can’t do anything stupid with it anyway. What good would it do him…”
Then he turns back to his book spirit and gives him his new assignment: “Create an anatomically correct drawing of a griffin for me and compare the labels with my notes from today’s biology class”…
But he couldn’t quite shake off the doubts that were gradually creeping into his mind. The obsessive collecting in his book was beginning to unsettle him, especially since Arcanus couldn’t—or wouldn’t—tell him exactly what data he needed or used for what purpose. Every now and then, Arcanus was so preoccupied with observing that the quality of the homework Cosmo wanted to do suffered as a result.
One day, something happens that Cosmo finds downright creepy: in the middle of a “Practical Enchantments” lesson, Arcanus suddenly lights up and whispers in Cosmo’s ear: “The concept of this lesson does not correspond to the curriculum for your grade level. You should point out to Professor Spellgood that she can positively support her memory by taking meticulous notes or, alternatively, sewing magically encrypted memory threads into her cloak. This may not stop her hereditary memory decay, but it can help support her intellect.”
Cosmo blushes bright red and hastily stuffs the ghost book into his bag to silence it quickly. Such information is deeply private and should not normally be disclosed to students under any circumstances. How did Arcanus discover this secret? Something is not right…
And that’s not the only problem: little by little, Cosmo notices more and more shady dealings and intrigues. One time, he is sentenced to several hours of detention because his essay on the proper and contemporary treatment of dwarves and goblins was unfortunately very problematic and prejudiced. Another time, he receives a straight F for a presentation on shadow mahr tentacles because his talk was full of outdated and incorrect information.
One day, Cosmo receives mail containing advertisements for magical materials and funny tools that he ran out of the day before. “How did they know that?!” Cosmo asks his omniscient book spirit indignantly, who merely provides him with a transcript of his notes, in which Cosmo casually mentions that he absolutely must ask his parents for some more moon silk and a new quill pen…
He finds all this very suspicious. He throws the advertisement away and decides to leave his book spirit in his room for the time being and instead get back to his daily life as an apprentice. Unfortunately, this backfires, because Ivo, a clever witch in his year, has been watching him for a while and is eager to try out his magical intelligence as well. Quietly and secretly, she sneaks into his room and pockets Arcanus.
After just a few days (Cosmo is once again buried in homework and his unresolved magic and scheduling problems), Ivo approaches him and whispers some very private information she had learned about him from Arcanus. More than just his notes, study plans, essays, and exercise routines, no, also some highly sensitive matters that Cosmo had unwittingly passed on to the ghost… Luckily for him, Ivo is neither an idiot nor unreasonably reckless (apart from her little theft) and promises to keep everything to herself. But she can’t forget what she’s heard either.
For a while, Cosmo considers getting rid of or destroying the book with the curious, talkative ghost. But on the one hand, he’s not sure he could do that at all, and on the other hand, he suspects that all his data and sensitive information is already out there anyway—irrevocably, irretrievably, and beyond his control in the hands of the Magical… Text Workshop. Besides… He looks somewhat desperately at the ever-growing pile of work in front of him… Without a little help, it will all take forever – he might even fall behind the others in his class and then have to sacrifice his entire summer vacation to catch up… A terrible thought!
So Cosmo makes a decision.
With Ivo’s help, he devises a battle plan. It takes them both a lot of time and effort, but ultimately they find a solution. Together, they can convince Arcanus that all their training data will be treated anonymously. They establish clear guidelines for the spirit, dictating what information it may collect and what it must discard.
They even write to the Magical Incubation Chronicles Ritual Oracles, Writings, Omens, and Fables Text Workshop to request or reveal data flows, responsibilities, a processing code, transparent models, and intended uses. For their part, they resolve to regularly request the deletion of personal information and keep a close eye on Arcanus to ensure this happens.
In addition, they agree not to use the intelligent book spirit for absolutely everything, but only for specific, meaningful purposes. This means they have a little more work to do, but ultimately they settle into a good rhythm. Although they write their essays with the help of Arcanus’ knowledge, they now also consult their textbooks and formulate their sentences (almost) entirely on their own.
And lo and behold: it’s worth it! Not only do they attract less negative attention due to incorrect or repetitive copying, but they are also both able to retain the material much better. They constantly consult Arcanus to organize, arrange, select, structure, or summarize their study plans, schedules, to-do lists, or practical exercises, but they take care of the details themselves. They copy their study notes and records, file them in their own private folders, and then make sure that the magic book no longer retains such data.
Finally, they cast a strong protective spell on the spirit: all their records are encrypted for others – in case another curious witch or an overwhelmed sorcerer’s apprentice should come across the book after them. The formula also includes detailed safety instructions that urge all future readers to be just as concerned about their safety and privacy as Cosmo and Ivo are now.
Ultimately, the magical, intelligent book spirit can be very useful and helpful. The solution to the data problem does not lie in abandoning this magic, but in clever sorcery: data economy, transparency, clear roles, protective measures, and continuous monitoring. In short, Arcanus is a powerful ally, but as long as the rules are respected and the balance is maintained, the library spirit will not turn into an uncontrollable storm, and Cosmo, Ivo, and anyone else who wants it will have a resourceful helper at their disposal.
