Mina Mathers (Reading Thoth 78)

Mina Mathers (ミナ＝メイザース) is a recreation of the Magician of the same name, who was a Magician of the Golden Dawn and the wife of one of its Three Founders, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers. A thought entity accidentally produced when Aleister Crowley incorporated the Thoth Tarot (トートタロット) into the Reading Thoth 78 (問答型思考補助式人工知能)| Mondō-Gata Shikō Hojo-Shiki Jinkō-Chinō (Rīdingu Tōto 78)|lit. "Discussion-type Thought Assistance Artificial Intelligence"}} parallel processing device in the Windowless Building and created an original grimoire, whose names and identities she also bears, she was given the reproduced identity and role to remind Aleister Crowley of his trauma.

Appearance
Mina Mathers appears as a young woman, wearing black risqué mourning clothing which exposes her legs and her large breasts. She has long white hair which is covered by her mourning veil. She also has black cat ears and a tail. Her dress has a star motif, with the images of constellations on her veil, dress and stockings, and several large silver stars fastening her dress.

As the recreation was adjusted to a form which Kamijou Touma would be comfortable with, it isn't entirely clear which particular details were down to Touma's preferences rather than being possessed by the original Mina Mathers.

Personality
Aspects of the original Mina Mathers' personality have been shown through her recreation by the Reading Thoth 78, though it isn't fully known if the recreation is completely accurate or deviates in any way.

In the past, she prioritized her goal like the other magicians of the Golden Dawn and she didn't regret the days when she had to beg her friend for living expenses, though she showed signs of jealousy for certain adorned figures who tended to forget they were protected by the state and the people's taxes. The recreated Mina also claimed to be truly jealous for the modern society and it's civilized definition of sexual harassment.

She appeared to like explaining things, leading Touma to wonder if she might have be lonely, and was slightly sullen after giving a long explanation only to be told she hadn't actually explained anything.

Though Mina conducted herself in a reasonable mature manner, frequently acting as a mediator when her husband and Westcott got into childish arguments, she also displayed a witch-like tendency to tempt, tease and lead astray, to Touma's mild misfortune.

Though she acknowledged him in a way and didn't blame him, the recreated Mina showed little love for her husband.

Background
The original Mina's past isn't fully known however she was a painter who married Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, a co-founder of the Golden Dawn, and was a member of the cabal herself. Mina's artistic skill gave form to the uncertain inspiration held by the Golden Dawn's magicians and played a key role in the creation of the cabal's ceremonial tools. She also often acted as a mediator to settle things when some of the eccentric members of the cabal, including her husband and Westcott, got into fruitless debates. Prioritizing the goal of the cabal's magical research like the other magicians, there were days where Mina had to beg her friend Annie for living expenses. At some point during the downfall of the Golden Dawn, Mina was among the many magicians struck down by Aleister Crowley, doomed to either die or live a cursed life devoid of all possibilities for success.

Later, Mina's identity was recreated by the Reading Thoth 78 and given to the thought entity and grimoire born within the parallel processing device, to remind Aleister Crowley of his trauma.

Aleister Crowley Arc
On December 11th, the recreated Mina guided Kamijou Touma through a series of visions displaying Aleister's past. She later assisted Touma during his fight with Aleister, delaying Aiwass long enough for Touma's allies to disrupt the summoning and knocking down the Blasting Rod.

Processor Suit Arc
When Aleister launched the Windowless Building into space to delay Coronzon, Mina acted to prevent the demon from escaping. As she prepared to face it, she was saved through the intervention of Aiwass, who created a new grimoire in order to sustain her existence outside of the Windowless Building. Escaping to Academy City, Mina worked to reunite and support her creator, running into Accelerator a couple of times along the way. During the battle at Heaven Canceller's Hospital on December 12th, she used her new grimoire's toxin to disable Index's John's Pen Mode which Coronzon had activated, before passing on Aiwass's message to Aleister.

Coronzon Arc
While Touma and Aleister's group pursued the roots Coronzon placed in the United Kingdom, Mina remained in Egypt, hidden in an RV, to protect Lilith.

Kamijou Arc
After going with the RV group as they escaped in the aftermath of the battle with the Queen Britannia's sinking, Mina realized Heaven Canceller's ruse in claiming to be Allan Bennett. Later that day, she was sulking in the RV on the outskirts of London as victory celebrations were underway. After Heaven Canceller tried to remedy the mood, she attended to the newly embodied Lilith, while explaining to him and Kihara Noukan about how William Wynn Westcott had acted as a cloud for Anna Sprengel.

Abilities
The exact degree of the original Mina Mathers's skill isn't fully known however this Mina has displayed some of her abilities.

Mina Mather's primary skill is her art, which has given solid form to the uncertain imagination held by many magicians and her primary tool is a silver palette knife which draws a rainbow line through space. These are the ultimate source that drew, colored and constructed the many cards and ceremonial tools used by the Golden Dawn. Because of this, she has been compared to, who gave fire to humanity.

She is capable of exerting an influence over cats, intentionally and unintentionally, leading to a large number gathering at her feet like a shadow, the likely source of her epithet. When the original Mina had attacked Dion Fortune, she had Fortune's house surrounded by black cats, with both regular ones and phantom black cats the size of tigers appearing, and had her back sliced open by the cats' claws.

Being a grimoire-based thought entity, Mina Mathers is capable of absorbing power from her surroundings, enabling her to automatically use magic for self-defense, despite being unable to refine magic power as a living being can. Additionally, the root of her existence, the Thoth Tarot, contains the essence of the Holy Guardian Angel Aiwass and through the 20th card of the Major Arcana, The Aeon (永遠)|Eien (Aiōn)}}, she is capable of drawing on Aiwass's power to a certain extent.

Mina is also capable of reading thoughts to a certain degree, though it isn't known if the original could.

Reading Thoth 78
While her existence was tied to the parallel processing device known as the Reading Thoth 78, Mina Mathers was bound to the confines of the Windowless Building. She was capable of choosing who could see her, though due to her influence over cats, they would be able to sense her.

Judging from Mina's statements, it would also be possible for the Reading Thoth 78 to simulate the likes of Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and William Wynn Westcott from the archives.

Secrets of the Black Cat Ritual
Secrets of the Black Cat Ritual (黒猫祭祀秘録)|Kuroneko Saishi Hiroku}} is an original grimoire derived from the Thoth Tarot, created by Aiwass through Mina's hand to act as a vessel to support her existence outside of the Windowless Building, freeing her from the bounds of the several dozen ton processing device. Aiwass compared the transfer to transferring a candle flame to a new candle when the first had nearly burned down.

The grimoire itself is a thick book with leaf pages bound by metal rings. Originally a cheap collection of ordinary loose leaf papers, the pages are filled with characters and symbols, and as with any grimoire, overturn normal physical laws, repelling rain drops as though they were made of plastic. As a grimoire, it holds a toxin which affects those who read it. Though it is normally a poison, following her understanding of her existence as similar to seemingly insignificant garbage data that wasn't deleted, with the potential to become a bug which can lock up a program, Mina was able to utilize it in a different manner to save Index from Coronzon's control, having the toxin burn though the pathways of her mind and fry out the John's Pen Mode controller, the poison acting as a kind of medicine in this case much like flipping a Thoth card upside down.

While using this grimoire as a vessel for her mind, Mina Mathers possesses a physical body, supported and bound by earthly forces such as air and gravity. Though she is something shaped the same as a person, she is still a grimoire rather than a human and as such her skeleton, muscles and organs don't need to move in a normal fashion, enabling her to ignore the upper limits that would bind a human body. Although she is no longer using the large-scale device, Mina retains the calculating capabilities of a true processing device in this state, being capable of calculating and executing movements which allow her to bypass Accelerator's redirection and strike him, as well as predicting and dodging his attacks. This body is apparently less energy efficient than her previous one, experiencing hunger and requiring food much like any other biological body.