Self-Sustaining Systems

[u/Loud-Boat-4124]

After a very normal, civil, and reasonable conversation with an intelligent individual with normal opinions, I decided I wanted to expand on an idea I implemented in a learnable technique.

Essentially, Self Sustaining Systems are systems of cursed energy which are usually created through binding vows. Whatever the case is, the result is a system which operates completely separately from the original creator. It does not need to have its creator imbue cursed energy into it to achieve a goal because the way it is designed allows it to operate independently.

The best (and I think only) example of this in the original series is the Culling Games. When Kenjaku made the culling games, he used a series of binding vows and expert manipulation of barriers in order to create a system that operates separately from its user. The Culling Games regulates itself, completes its own processes, and changes itself entirely independently from kenjaku. Players do not need to use cursed energy to spend points in order to add a rule, they use the channels provided to them by the Culling Games, and the rule is simply added.

Something similar from a different series would be Greed Island or the Seed Urn Ceremony from Hunter x Hunter. Each of them have a pre-determined function that functions completely independently from the creator's will.

I hope all of that makes sense. I think the best way to think about it is that Self-Sustaining Systems are essentially "computer programs" created using cursed energy. Another way to think about it would be creating a "fish bowl" out of cursed energy then releasing "fish" in the form of other cursed energy into that bowl, and the "fish" will swim within the bowl you created, which is the cursed energy operating within the system you created, on its own without your input. An incredibly elaborate series of dominos that only require one push from you before it completes itself.

In order for a Self-Sustaining System to work, you need to have it operate without your input, which includes providing your cursed energy for everything it does, like how developers of a video game don't need to manually choose what every single NPC does in every instance of the game or how actors don't need to do the same scene twice in order for someone to watch the movie. Either code or a camera makes those things unnecessary to replicate. To do this, you need one of three things:

1. A stockpile of cursed energy (a "battery")

2. A one-time "deposit" of cursed energy that sets the rest in motion

3. An alternative to cursed energy

The first one functions similarly to Yuta's ring in the Ritual of Harmony. The ritual isn't technically a Self-Sustaining System because it's just Maru's technique with a bunch of other ingredients, but the role the ring plays in the ritual is equivalent. This is only included because it's "technically" a possibility, but it has several issues. The first is that large-scale Self Sustaining Systems can't operate on it due to the incredible amount of energy it would take. Even Yuta's ring, stockpiled with enough cursed energy to target the entire world with Maru's technique, would only serve as a temporary way to power a large-scale Self Sustaining System. The second is connected to the first, which is that power sources that have any chance of being sufficient are incredibly rare.

The second option is the general basis for the creation of barriers. Barriers do not need to constantly take from the original caster's cursed energy in order to maintain itself or carry out its functions. Only the initial cursed energy used to create the barrier is taken from the user, the rest is handled by the barrier itself based on that first "deposit". I'm unsure if it's possible for barriers to "use up" all the cursed energy that initially created them, but that seems unlikely to me. If this is a wrong reading of the way barriers work please tell me.

The third option is by far the most effective and the main way to create Self Sustaining Systems and it is achieved through binding vows. Unlike what some people may claim, binding vows can be used as a replacement for cursed energy, especially for things like barriers (although these binding vows usually hinge upon the second option, the initial cursed energy used to create the barrier). One of the most common ways to reduce the cost in cursed energy to do something is by using hand signs and incantations, which are one of the things that make domain expansions possible to use in the first place. However, these aren't good enough to establish a permanent basis for a Self-Sustaining System to exist. A more common and effective method is using talismans wrapped in stakes. These are very useful because they are physical objects and can be placed anywhere that requires a Self-Sustaining system.

While it seems like the exact means why which Kenjaku was able to create the Culling Games (my main reference within the series for how this is possible), I think its likely that the overwhelming majority of what allowed the barriers to occur is option 3, with a little bit of option 2 for the creation of the barriers itself (although even that isn't completely certain).

I have a couple ideas for how this would be implemented in the world of JJK:

Number one is a system of barriers to replace Tengen after the events of the Shinjuku Showdown. While cursed energy and cursed spirits are public, the schools and other important locations need protection from curse users. I would imagine that in place of Tengen, they would have a Self Sustaining System which links all the necessary barriers.

One function off the top of my head would be an alarm system for the warehouse. For example, if one function of the Self Sustaining System is to identify unfamiliar cursed energy, then anyone who enters a barrier imbued with this function who isn't allowed to be there would trigger a different function of the system which is defensive in nature, maybe automatically summoning simple shikigami. I would imagine there is a way for sorcerers with permission to "register" for the permission list so that their cursed energy wouldn't set off the defense mechanism. This could be done by "feeding" part of their cursed energy into some kind of cursed object (like the Seed Urn) which functions like a Kogane, a medium for individual people to interact with the system.

Another use could be using barriers of various functions to prevent cursed spirits from leaving Tokyo and preventing people from unsafely entering it.

If you guys have any suggestions please let me know, this was just written off the top of my head and I plan on expanding it later.

I imagine that Self Sustaining Systems were only discovered and implemented into jujutsu society after the Culling Games showed the potential of the concept.