A Psychic Interjection is a cognitive event; a spontaneous insight, observation, or instinct generated by an agent’s Psyche in response to its environment. It is the core mechanic by which an agent’s innate nature and biases actively process the world, translating raw perception into meaningful, character-driven understanding.

These interjections are not random. They are the emergent consequence of an Incarnation’s unique soul resonating with the symbolic undercurrents of the Tapestry. For the player, these events are rendered through the Subjective Interface as intrusive thoughts or sensory highlights.

The Philosophy of Resonant Perception

Traditional perception systems often treat the world as a set of objective data points to be discovered. The Psychic Interjection system operates on a different principle; the world is a symphony of meaning, and an agent’s soul is an instrument tuned to resonate with certain frequencies.

An interjection is not the game telling an agent what is there. It is the agent’s soul telling itself what it believes about what is there. This system makes an Incarnation’s biases, traumas, and core beliefs the very lens through which the world is understood, turning every moment of discovery into an act of profound self-revelation.

The Three-Stage Mechanic

Every Psychic Interjection is the result of a three-stage, passive process that occurs constantly as an agent interacts with the world.

1. The Trigger (Resonance with an Archetype) An Interjection begins when an agent perceives a stimulus that resonates with the Archetype of one of its Psychic Components. The world is seeded with these symbolic triggers.

• A piece of advanced technology might trigger components attuned to [logic].
• A primal forest might trigger components attuned to [nature].
• An act of state-enforced brutality might trigger components attuned to [order] or [justice].

2. The Check (The Unseen Calculation) Once a stimulus triggers a resonant component, the simulation performs an unseen check to determine if an insight is generated. This represents the dialogue between the soul’s innate predisposition and its learned competence.

The formula is:

[Strength of Component's Attunement] + [Relevant Skill Level] vs. [Stimulus's Narrative Difficulty]

This check is passive and automatic. Crucially, agents are only aware of a successful check. Failure results in silence. This ensures that an agent’s perception is defined by its limitations. An unobservant or unskilled Incarnation is simply blind to the deeper layers of meaning that a more attuned Incarnation would perceive constantly.

3. The Output (Generated Insight) A successful check generates a Psychic Interjection, a temporary cognitive event. The content and flavor of this event are determined by the Valence of the component that won the check. For the player’s Incarnation, this cognitive event is then rendered by the Subjective Interface.

Illustrative Example: An Agent Examines a Strange Plant

An agent with a high Botany skill encounters an unknown alien plant. This stimulus triggers checks for any Psychic Components attuned to [nature].

• Case A: High Positive Valence (+0.8) [nature] Component

  • Cognitive Output: The system generates an insight with a positive framing. The agent forms a spontaneous, positive hypothesis about the plant.
  • Player’s View: The Subjective Interface renders this as the plant glowing with a gentle, green aura, and a line of text appears: “[Nature’s Whisper: Success] A marvel of adaptation… Its root system is likely medicinal.”

• Case B: High Negative Valence (-0.8) [nature] Component

  • Cognitive Output: The system generates an insight with a negative, threatening framing. The agent forms a spontaneous, negative hypothesis.
  • Player’s View: The interface renders this as the plant glowing with a thorny, red aura, and a text warning: “[Nature’s Grudge: Success] An invasive species. Aggressive… It must be purged.”

This system ensures that what an agent knows about the world is a direct function of who they are.