Aleister's Plan


 * Warning: This article covers information concerning a plot central to the setting of Toaru Majutsu no Index as a whole. Beware of major spoilers if you aren't up-to-date with the latest novels.

Aleister's Plan (アレイスターの), or just the Plan, refers to the overall master plan of Aleister Crowley, founder and Board Chairman of Academy City as well as the greatest magician of the 20th century, which guides his actions and the events of the Toaru series.

Shrouded in mystery for most of the series, the exact nature and goals of Aleister's plan have long been a matter of speculation, both in-universe and out, with details gradually being uncovered and the overall plan only fully revealed in the later stages of Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index.

Principles
Vast in scale and impact, the full extent or even general details of the plan are unknown to most people, with only certain individuals such as Aleister himself and Aiwass knowing what it fully entails. With Aleister's genius level intellect, he calculated for most possibilities, backup plans for interference and counters for any possible threats.

Different from a typical linear plan, where each step is stacked up one after the other and the failure of one step would bring down the lot, Aleister's plan has a parallel set-up, with thousands of sub-plans which can be switched between as required. It is designed so that regardless of success and failure, and no matter how many setbacks occur along the way, everything will eventually lead in a single direction towards Aleister's ultimate goal, a set-up which is necessary given Aleister's curse of failure. With Aleister's lifespan having been extended by 1700 years through the use of his life-support system, he has enough time available to carry out the plan regardless of how many setbacks occur.

The ultimate goal of Aleister's Plan is the destruction of the phases, the source of the 'sparks' that distort destiny and were responsible for his daughter Lilith's death as well as the misfortune of countless others, eliminating magic in the process.

While talking to Fiamma of the Right, Aleister mentioned that Fiamma's plan was similar to his own, but based on an outdated format, in that they both involved changing the world by preparing a temple filled with strange power, drawing out the power of the right arm within that temple, and readjusting the thickness of the phases with that power.

One of Aleister's theories which has influenced the plan is that of the Aeons of Osiris and Horus — abandoning the old rules of Christianity and start anew with new laws and freedom. He based this apparently after witnessing an ugly side of believers from a certain strict Christian denomination and of the modern magical society that claims to have abandoned mundane desires. The plan is based in the Aeon of Horus, and modeled after Aleister's own Thelema, the will originating from within his soul, to carry on forward no matter what.

Academy City
Academy City serves a number of roles in Aleister's plan. The most advanced city in the world, full of scientific institutions and research facilities, Aleister has used it to gather the resources and knowledge necessary to fully carry out the plan. The espers created through the city's Power Curriculum Program form the building blocks of the Imaginary Number District, an aggregation of the AIM Diffusion Fields they emit. Aleister stated that "Academy City is not different from a small world that has sealed a certain type of power", an alternatively shaped temple.

Having lost the Imagine Breaker during the final battle with Mathers, Aleister needed to reacquire it once it resurfaced. To do this, he modeled Academy City following the Thelema of the person who would eventually be born to wield it, Kamijou Touma, creating an environment suited to the Imagine Breaker and its user, which would draw them in and draw out their potential.

Underneath Academy City is a network of artificial nerves and blood vessels, which can be used to gather the powers of the city's espers together, in a manner similar to how Rensa replicated the powers of the Level 5s.

Windowless Building
The Windowless Building is Aleister's main base within Academy City, connected to and controlling many of its core functions and systems, including the UNDER_LINE network used by Aleister to monitor the city. Possessing formidable defenses such as the Calculate Fortress, capable of withstanding a nuclear attack, it also houses his life-support system, which extends his lifespan by 1700 years prevents traces of his life force from leaking out and being detected by certain magical detection systems, and keeps the alternative possibilities of himself that he brought forth bound to his body, as well as the parallel processing device known as the Reading Thoth 78, used to verify adjustments to the plan.

The Windowless Building is actually a spacecraft, with a set of rocket boosters at its base, meant to carry him to as part of the final stages of his plan, and a non-Euclidean interior which can be extended to connect to the destination coordinates if the spaceship is unable to launch.

Imaginary Number District
Academy City is the only place in the world that has and creates esper powers and advanced technology that can rival the Magic side. Moreover, regarding espers, they are a vital part in the plan as the aggregation of their AIM diffusion fields creates the Imaginary Number District, and allows both Kazakiri Hyouka and Aiwass to take shape in the world.

The Imaginary Number District has a different set of laws than those who abide to religions. When the Imaginary Number District, however, is brought forth into the same realm as Academy City, it creates pressure inside the city, making all magicians that use magic inside the city overload and injure themselves.

Perhaps the most crucial of all parts of the mysterious plan surrounding AIM, is the creation of angels, all brought out through the AIM diffusion fields by espers. The first angel brought out was the Key to the Imaginary Number District, Kazakiri Hyouka, which when inputted with a code can become Fuse Kazakiri, a powerful angelic form. However, it is later revealed that Fuse Kazakiri was simply a model to allow Aiwass into the world. Both need the AIM diffusion fields to exist and require a code inputted into Last Order that is propagated into the Misaka Network in order to take shape.

Sisters and the Misaka Network
The Sisters Project was made to produce clones of Misaka Mikoto for military use, but was later scrapped when researchers discovered that the clones were only 2-3 levels. The project was later reused for the Level 6 Shift, creating 20,000 clones for Accelerator to kill in order to achieve Level 6. However, this too was scrapped due to Touma's actions. Although earlier than planned, Aleister wanted to have the Level 6 Shift fail all along in order to migrate the massive amount of individual clones to outside facilities for treatment. Moreover, they can also be used for military operations, such as what happened during the Gemstone Mining incidents.

This is because Aleister wanted to cover the globe with the remaining Sisters, who, being espers, release AIM fields. The Misaka Network acts as a guidance control mechanism for the Imaginary Number District.

Imagine Breaker and Kamijou Touma
Perhaps the most central of all in his plans is Kamijou Touma, who wields the current generation of the Imagine Breaker. It is implied by Heaven Canceller that Aleister had influence in having Touma sent to Academy City. The most readily significant change that Touma's arrival in Academy City is giving birth to Kazakiri Hyouka, Aiwass' model, in the Imaginary Number District due to fear of it being killed by Touma's Imagine Breaker.

Despite his importance to his plans, he is more than willing to use Touma in dangerous situations, and is described by Stiyl Magnus as it is almost like Aleister is deliberately giving Touma trials to overcome, like the Saints of ancient times. Although seemingly not enough for Touma to handle or for Aleister to influence, as he gives a direct order in retrieving Kamijou Touma back to Academy City, keeping it best that he is alive. Moreover, according to Girl in the dress, that even though Touma and Accelerator act in irregularly, it is still within the range of Aleister's plan.

He is referred to as one of the main cogs of his main plan, and that he has 98% chance of affecting the plan, though it is unknown what this entails.

Touma's Imagine Breaker is needed to contact Aiwass's core, though how or why is unknown.

The entity which is sealed within Touma by the Imagine Breaker, also plays a role in the plan, though its exact role isn't clear. Fiamma glimpsing the invisible thing after severing Touma's arm was part of the reason why Aleister attempted to eliminate him in person, and on dealing with the entity when it emerged during the battle at the Windowless Building, Aiwass remarked that while it had grown, it still had a long way to go and its purity left much to be desired, saying that Aleister had been making detours.

Accelerator
Referred to as The One Who Wields the Power of God, since Level 5s are ranked in which how much use they are to the research of SYSTEM, Accelerator being the 1st ranked is the closest to achieving Level 6 and understanding the sense of the heavens. It is confirmed that Aleister truly does want Accelerator to go "beyond" Level 6, as asked by the Heaven Canceller towards him, as he stated that he has successfully inputted the numerical settings of the AIM diffusion fields into Accelerator, and in the process of making Accelerator, Last Order, and Kazakiri Hyouka as the Trinity. This maybe a reference to Accelerator getting black wings. If so, it could mean that Accelerator gaining even more angelic properties such as white wings and a halo, as what happened in World War III, maybe a step forward in his plans.

Accelerator's powers as the #1 are required to contact Aiwass's core though how or why is unknown.

Kakine Teitoku
Referred to as The One Who Has Touched the Territory of God, he is the "Spare Plan" for Aleister Crowley's plans if ever Accelerator fails to meet his expectation. Despite Aleister's apparent disregard for his life, it has been shown that Kakine is only as useful as his powers, and is still "reused" by him to create Dark Matter after collecting the parts of his body in his dismemberment during his battle with Accelerator. After being replaced by Beetle 05 in becoming Kakine Teitoku, it is unknown what state Kakine now has in Aleister's plans.

Magic Gods
Aleister possesses an immense hatred towards the Magic Gods. In addition to his childhood-born hatred for the god who supposedly created the world and its rules,  Aleister hates the Magic Gods as they are deeply connected to magic and the phenomena he detests and wishes to eliminate. Not wishing to become a Magic God, Aleister made adjustments to himself to ensure that he would remain 'human'.

Though a minority, the Magic Gods hold the majority of the Magic Side's total power and each possesses immense power, capable of changing or destroying the world, intentionally or not. Their powerful existences create distortions which change the world even if they are not aware of it, setting rails which guide destiny. Regardless of whether they peacefully talk or exchange blows over issues and clashes of opinion, go forward or back, or do nothing at all, their actions unintentionally influence the outside world and bend the rails of destiny. Together with the 'sparks' creating by the colliding phases, the Magic Gods are one of the main factors influencing the rails of destiny and the distribution of fortune and misfortune, which affects the fates of humanity and the world - the phenomena that took the life of Aleister's daughter Lilith, which Aleister truly hates and seeks to eliminate.

Animosity aside, the Magic Gods themselves are an impediment to Aleister's plan. As well as being immensely powerful existences who distort the rails of destiny, they are also beings capable of manipulating the phases and creating new ones. The true Gremlin also resided within a secret phase, known as the Hidden World. Additionally, they had their own plans for Kamijou Touma, bearer of Imagine Breaker and a key piece of Aleister's plan, whom they wished to become their 'scorer'. As such, they needed to be dealt with.

In order to eliminate the Magic Gods, Aleister has prepared a number of techniques and countermeasures. Lacking the raw innate power of a Magic God or a special exception such as World Rejecter, Aleister required a different approach in order to face them as a 'human'. One of his methods involves the tools he inherited from his mentor Allan Bennett, the Blasting Rod, which amplifies the effects of magic to ten times what the target imagines it to be, with subsequent amplifications increasing as the target's subsequent expectations affect the basis for the amplification, and Spiritual Tripping, a magic that uses gestures to drive images into a target's mind and create illusionary weapons which have the same effects on the target as they imagine a real one would, drawing out destructive power from their own mind. Rooted in an opponent's imagination rather than the user's power, it effectively involves drawing out destructive power from the Magic Gods themselves in order to defeat them while remaining human. On facing it, Touma thought that the methodology showed some promise of working against the likes of a full-power Othinus and while mentally cutting down Magic God with absolute confidence in their power was still a question, the odds were better than using human power against them. Aiwass also forms a key part of Aleister's anti-Magic God countermeasures, its immense power capable of being enhanced even further by the Blasting Rod.

Aleister developed a technique which converts his willpower into a strange form which can bring death to a Magic God, which can be delivered to a target through the Anti-Art Attachment connected to him. He also developed a method to breach the Hidden World where the true Gremlin resided, though converting coordinates filled with non-existent numbers to decimal in order to do this apparently wasn't easy. After confronting Gremlin and forcibly obtaining the Magic Gods' base parameters, Aleister constructed a spell, which he swapped out with Zombie's spell that Gremlin were using to enter the world safely and injected into them, which drastically reduced their power.

Although the High Priest considered Aleister's only real accomplishment to be Aiwass, which he considered a failure, Aleister's measures were ultimately effective in drastically weakening the Magic Gods and capable of killing them, with Zombie and the High Priest falling victim before World Rejecter dealt with the rest.

Aiwass
Aleister's greatest treasure and the cornerstone of his plan is the entity known as Aiwass, an 'angel' whom he contacted in 1904 and received the Book of the Law from. Not found in any religious text or mythology, Aiwass originates from the deepest layer of the world, beyond the phases of magic and religion, at the Pure World of physical laws. Due to this position and its immense power, it holds the possibility of destroying the phases, and Aleister's plan involves utilizing its power to realize this possibility. Being an energy-based entity, Aiwass apparently requires a vessel in order to wield its full power on the 'surface' of the world. According to Aleister, Imagine Breaker and Accelerator are required in order to contact Aiwass's core.

Aleister's method for bringing Aiwass to the surface was through the use of the Imaginary Number District guided by the Misaka Network. Via the code inserted into Last Order, Fuse Kazakiri was fine-tuned like a factory production line in order to have Aiwass form. Aiwass compared the process to forming a crystal, with the AIM diffusion fields compared to salt water and the artificial angel to foreign material like dust introduced to enable crystallization, with the qualities of the core carefully prepared in order to get a crystal with a particular shape and size. Alternatively, the power of the city's espers gathered using the citywide nerve network can be used to summon Aiwass, together with the Karma chains, which symbolically bind human thought, as guidance.

As well as being a means through which Aleister's ultimate goal can be achieved, Aiwass also plays a key role in Aleister's anti-Magic God measures, with its immense power further enhanced through the Blasting Rod. As a vital part of the plan, its existence is kept secret to all but a few individuals, referred to by the codename 'Dragon'.

Phase Destruction
The ultimate goal of Aleister's plan is the destruction of the phases, and in order to carry this out, it is necessary to utilize the elements he has prepared in a large-scale ceremony. Given the nature of Aleister's plan, it is likely that other variations are possible, but what will be detailed here is the ceremony attempted on December 11th.

The components of this particular ceremony included Aiwass, Imagine Breaker and Kamijou Touma, the Windowless Building and Reading Thoth 78, Academy City's espers and the citywide nerve network, the Karma-bearing chains and their summoning sword, Spiritual Tripping, the Blasting Rod and Aleister's past.

The stage chosen for the ceremony was in, outside the planet and the limitations it places on magic. To reach this stage, the Windowless Building was made as a spaceship capable of leaving the Earth, and if it were immobilized, the non-Euclidean interior would be extended to the destination coordinates instead.

Kamijou Touma was made to ascend the interior of the Windowless Building, which symbolizes a third tree separate from the Sephiroth and Qliphoth as well as a mountain, with symbols of mountain climbing made from urban materials and the chains driving him on representing the mountain's devilishness which reaches for human karma as well as power that binds human thoughts and leads them to ascend the mountain. At the same time, Touma was guided through visions of Aleister's past by the Reading Thoth 78 in the form of Mina Mathers. During their battle at the summit, Aleister revealed the nature of the Blasting Rod in addition to his Spiritual Tripping. In the final stages, the citywide nerve network was used to gather the powers of the city's espers at the Windowless Building, and using the chains that bind thoughts and the sword summoning them as guidance, Aiwass was summoned.

This ceremony follows Aleister's idea that 'every man and every woman is a star' (i.e. everything has a necessary role); every component is effectively utilized in the ritual. On the other hand, it also means that if an element fails, it can lead to the ceremony's collapse. In the case on December 11th, a delaying action by the Reading Thoth 78 bought time for an external attack to break the Windowless Building's closed-off environment, allowing Index's group to see the true form of the temple and obtain information which Tsuchimikado Motoharu used to safely remove the sword from Tsuchimikado Maika, disrupting the summoning and causing Aiwass to vanish.

Other
Another aspect of Aleister's plan which has yet to be elaborated upon is the 'opposing axis'. The confrontation between Kihara Noukan and Kamisato Kakeru, in which Noukan's Anti-Art Attachment was ineffective due to its connection to Aleister and his conflicting desires, a dead-end which Noukan in the end couldn't break through, was apparently part of the opening act in order to create the 'opposing axis', with Aleister setting up the rails to reach the conclusion benefiting him most while taking into account his own weaknesses. As he was about to be put into cold-sleep, the mortally wounded Noukan considered that his student Kihara Yuiitsu would likely be thrown onto the front line and that the fact that he would be retiring there might well have been arranged as preparation for something, possibly Aleister's next move to deal with World Rejecter, and as such chose his last words to encourage Yuiitsu's growth in order to surpass him and become a new type of Kihara which would be needed for the future.

While no plan has apparently been made by Aleister concerning the Gemstones, he left Kaizumi Tsugutoshi to deal with collecting them rather than let foreign countries crudely experiment on them.

Interferences

 * GREMLIN, more specifically, the Magic God Othinus. She is attempting to create a new type of esper that rivals Academy City's espers—a Holistic esper. Moreover, she is interested by the "specimen" that resides within the Windowless Building to create such a being.
 * Leivinia Birdway has stated that she was studying his work up until his supposed death, and when she told him that his plan was starting to crumble, he gave her a warning instead of killing her. Due to her manipulations, she created the conditions that led to all 27 companies affiliated with Academy City to cease all cooperation, which led them into forming the Anti-Academy City Science Guardians, another hard hit for Aleister.
 * Aleister himself has stated that Heaven Canceller can easily stop him if he desires so; he only needs to stop the machines that keep Aleister alive and everything would be over. The Frog-Faced Doctor scorned such idea, as Aleister was also one of his patients. Because the doctor refused his last chance at doing so, Aleister cut all links with him, including his control over Aleister's life-support machines.
 * Hamazura Shiage: all scenarios and ideas point out that Level 0s would always die, or at the very least, get heavily injured in a clash of high powers; Shiage constantly breaks all odds and emerges with either superficial or minor injuries. Shiage has defeated a Level 5 three times, something which is impossible or was never done before; this has forced Aleister to rework numerous plans and the need to have him eliminated.
 * Imagine Breaker has been stated by Aleister to affect 98% of his plans, thought it is unknown what this entails. However, if Touma were to ever learn the true grasp of Aleister's plans, he would most certainly not take it lying down. Motoharu once warned Aleister that if he continues using the Imagine Breaker, then he should ready himself not to treat him half-heartedly, for, surely, his right hand will eat his illusions alive.
 * Ollerus made himself clear on how the Gemstones should be handled in Academy City when he easily took out the strongest gemstone, Sogiita Gunha, to send Aleister a clear message.
 * Fiamma of the Right, with his own version of the right hand; even though Fiamma saw the truth "within" Kamijou Touma, and detaining the means of understanding it with his Osiris knowledge, something Aleister can't allow, he thought it was enough to just cut off Fiamma's physical right arm and beat him, leaving him for dead. He survived, something Aleister hadn't planned, thanks to his Holy Right keeping him alive and the rescue by Ollerus. He might prove to be a reoccurring threat to his plans due to his apparent ability to understand what lies within Kamijou Touma.
 * Fräulein Kreutune is an impediment to the plan, due to her innate drive to learn and transform after acquiring enough information, and then transforming that can reverse the position of prey and predator, and irreversibly damaging her world. She is imprisoned in the Windowless Building to deprive her of senses and putting her in an environment that she does not consider interesting stops her from learning anything and potentially "transforming." After failing to evolve to a form that can threaten Aleister's plan, inadvertently through Touma's efforts, she may no longer be a threat to the plan.
 * Kamisato Kakeru and the World Rejecter weren't known to Aleister prior to the attack on the true Gremlin on December 3rd and thus weren't initially factored into the plan.
 * Misaka Mikoto coming into contact with the Anti-Art Attachment has created a potential threat which Aleister intends to have eliminated.

Background
The earliest roots of Aleister's plan lie in early childhood, with his initial motivations for starting down the path of magic. His experiences with his parents, teachers and others in their town, who believed in God and proclaimed righteousness yet acted disgracefully, gave him a hatred of the God who created the world as well as a desire to find the correct laws which that God could not and improve the world and humanity. To that end, he sought the true path that he considered lost due to blind belief.

Aleister eventually joined the Golden Dawn but would turn against them after learning about his future daughter's death due to the influence of the 'sparks' from the colliding phases and the cabal's contributions to the phenomena, leaving others to suffer negative consequences while being protected by Blythe Road's Treasure. Through the Battle of Blythe Road, Aleister ignited a conflict within the Golden Dawn and struck down its magicians, cursing them to die or live a life stripped of all possibilities for success. In eliminating the founders Westcott and Mathers, Aleister made use of Blythe Road's Treasure, an arrow made of a severed hand bearing Imagine Breaker, which was destroyed during the final battle with Mathers.

Some time later, Aleister met and married his wife Rose. In 1904, while in Egypt, the entity Aiwass conveyed secrets to Aleister through her, which he would compile into the Book of the Law. Aleister's first daughter, Lilith, was born not long after, and after halting his research to focus on ensuring his family's safety during the initial unstable period, Aleister went on a journey to a great mountain in order to make up for lost time and find a way to avert Lilith's foretold death. Ultimately though, Lilith died as predicted, with Aleister only learning via letter after finishing his task at the mountain, unable to even be with her in her last moments. Leaving a tearstain in his diary that day, Aleister thoroughly gave up on the laws which he had cursed since childhood.

Lilith's death was the main influence on the course of Aleister's research and the plan he would eventually create. Cursing and hating the world, he continued to seek the destruction of the phases and magic, in order to free humanity from their influence, believing he would only then have truly fulfilled his duty as a father. However his life would continue to be filled with failures and disappointment. His wife broke and left him. The he founded collapsed due to an error made while healing the sick. He was deported several times and never managed to establish a proper base for magical research. In 1909, he experienced another failure while trying to cross the abyss in Africa and encountered Coronzon, who unknown to him had been contracted by Mathers years before to bring him to ruin. Though Coronzon was driven off, this encounter would have major repercussions in the future.

On December 1st 1947, while being pursued in the British countryside, Aleister turned his own blade on himself, in accordance with the rules he had set when he had destroyed the Golden Dawn, and received the curse of failure. To most of the world, this was where he died. However he was actually saved by Heaven Canceller and ended up coming to Japan where he founded Academy City.

Around this time, he developed his master plan in its current form. Having experienced failure before and now being cursed to suffer it, Aleister devised his plan, modeled after his own Thelema, so that regardless of success and failure at any step along the way, events would ultimately proceed in one direction towards fulfilling his goal. In order to draw in the Imagine Breaker once it resurfaced, Aleister modeled Academy City's set-up after the Thelema of the wielder yet to be born.

Toaru Majutsu no Index
Several key points in Aleister's plan were accomplished during the course of Toaru Majutsu no Index. For the most part everything was either according to plan or within acceptable results up until the events at the end of World War III. When Fiamma and Touma clashed, all of rules of the "old world" including parts Aleister had controlled were all gone. So many variables and deviations arose to the point where he couldn't take any real action even through the use of hostages of others.

Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index
Following World War III, Aleister took considerable detours to try to get his plan back on track while also pursuing the true Gremlin.

On December 3rd, Aleister had finally recovered and his plan was back on track, however he himself cursed it for the first time, coming to the realization that what he was doing was little different from what the Magic Gods he so thoroughly hated did. He attempted to carry out the destruction of the phases on December 11th, but the attempt ended in failure.

Shortly afterwards, Aleister was attacked by Coronzon, revealed to have supposedly possessed the body of his other daughter Lola, but the possibilities he had bound to himself diffused across the world. The majority of them left Academy City to Coronzon while they sought to take the British Commonwealth in retaliation, while one possibility (a young girl) accompanied Touma and aimed to fight back within the city. Following the subsequent battle against Coronzon's secondary avatar A. O. Francisca, Aleister made a single deviation from the plan when faced with Accelerator, giving him an opportunity to shoot him which Accelerator ultimately decided not to take, recognizing it would be meaningless at that particular point. Afterwards, Aleister infected the city's computers with a virus and had an evacuation begin so that Coronzon wouldn't get anything out of it.

Later, during the subsequent events in the United Kingdom, Aleister privately acknowledged that his carefully-prepared plan was past the point of correction, with the resurrection of Lilith and the struggle to defeat Coronzon and rescue Lola being outside of anything she had expected, and had failed from the moment she left the Windowless Building. After breaking free from the seal in Academy City, stabbing Aleister in the graveyard of Edinburgh Castle after deceiving him and burning Mathers' corpse, Coronzon mocked him on how his master plan had come crashing down the moment he heard Lola's name.