Mark Space

Mark Space (マーク＝スペース) is a character originally introduced in Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Stiyl prior to appearing in the main Toaru Manutius no Index novels. A member of the Dawn-Colored Sunlight magic cabal, he is a loyal assistant of Leivinia Birdway and a magician who specializes in using the Minor Arcana of Tarot Cards to perform elemental spells.

Appearance
He is a tall blond man who wears a clean black formal suit.

Personality
Despite being Leivinia's assistant, he seems to be slightly strict to her especially when there is a job that she needs to do even emphasizing that someone who cannot distinguish work from play doesn't have qualities of becoming a leader. Also, despite Leivinia's personality, he is loyal to her and their organization.

Background
He is the personal assistant of Leivinia Birdway and is part of the Dawn-Colored Sunlight magic cabal.

British Royal Family Arc
Their leader, Leivinia Birdway was one of the listeners whom Queen Elizard reached using the Union Jack. Despite the war raging outside, Leivinia tells Mark Space not to get involved with it. Mark tells her that this could be their chance to analyze Curtana, but Leivinia replies that if they tried anything, it will only anger the Queen, reiterating that they need to stay out of it and under the radar. Mark Space notifies that Patricia has already left looking quite excited, to which Leivinia orders Mark to get her back.

World War III Arc
During World War III this group helped defend the French and UK military from Fiamma's global 'Cleansing', saying they'll help since they don't want to rule over a wasteland when they take over the world. Mark also explained to Leivinia everything that is happening around, as well as his hunch about Fiamma's plan.

Homecoming Arc
He, along with Kamijou Touma, Hamazura Shiage, Accelerator and other subordinates of Leivinia Birdway, go to the Kamijou Residence.

After a little session of explanations, Leivinia gets thirsty and tells Mark to make her a Cinderella. She insists it is a nonalcoholic beverage, but Mark tells Touma it's just mixed juices. Enraged, Leivinia kicks him in the shins and he goes away to the kitchen. When he returns, he finds Fremea Seivelun and his boss wrestling. Looking for a way to calm things down, he and Touma call Patricia Birdway. At her suggestion, both add chili sauce to the Cinderella.

Hawaii Invasion Arc
Mark Space and the other members of the magic cabal are part of the party that goes to Hawaii to oppose GREMLIN’s presence there. He and the others appear before Touma and Mikoto just after they have set up a bomb in order to draw out a member of GREMLIN, which in this case was Cendrillon, leading to the New Honolulu International Airport terrorist incident. Immediately after appearing, Cendrillon initiates a Cinderalla-related spell, causing several of Leivinia's men to trip and convulse in pain, as her magic worked upon their feet. It is unknown if Mark got hit by Cendrillon’s spell.

Later, during the Coral Street Shopping Mall shooting, Mark is shown to be just fine. Here, he asks Leivinia if things are going well. Leivinia replies that the battle is continues due to the fact that the gunfire still hasn't ended. She mentions Saronia A. Irivika getting people involved without getting herself involved, making her want to take the fight to her. She tells Mark that the reason she wanted to win over the normal people that was used by Saronia for the shooting was for her to get a good idea of where the magician was, but says she never expected Saronia to be in the same shopping mall, though says that the multi-sided attack by them was fairly effective, making it easier to find her.

Mark replies that if even if Leivinia has people at all the nearby exits, there is still a chance that Saronia can slip by the confusion. Leivinia replies that she can just follow the flow of magic power, as such she can't mix in with the normal people. Mark asks what would happen if Saronia doesn't refine any magic power, to which Leivinia says that it would be unthinkable as the place is not a safe zone for her. She says when a surprise attack could come any time, Saronia will put up her defenses so she can deal with one, and she will be forced to do so even if she knows purifying magic power is dangerous. There, Leivinia then notices the arrival of a famous figure within the crowd, President Roberto Katze. After Leivinia successfully analyzed how Saronia's spell works on her victims on her papyrus, she tells Mark to compress the analysis data from the papyrus and send it to their contact with the Russian Orthodox Church, telling him to ask politely. Mark asks if they will answer honestly, to which Leivinia says that they will since GREMLIN is currently damaging Academy City's technology and America's funds in helping Russia's recovery after the War, telling Mark to tell them any delays could have a major effect on their recovery.

Touma then asks how Saronia's magic works, to which a frustrated Leivinia asks someone to explain it to him. Mark then cuts in after getting a response from the Russian Orthodox Church, noting how quick he got his reply. Leivinia says that his last comment on Russia's recovery being affected must've worked. Leivinia then snatches the tablet computer from Mark, and here it is revealed that the enemy magician's name Saronia A. Irivika, and talks about her personal information. As they discuss her involvement with GREMLIN and what Saronia is after, Leivinia then returns the tablet to Mark. Afterwards, Touma receives a call from Accelerator, saying that he knows what GREMLIN is after, and that is the Trigger, and that they are going to use it to erupt Mt. Kilauea.

After the eruption of Kilauea and the invasion of Trident, Mark Space arrives in the Blackport Naval Base where a contingent of Trident soliders led by a GREMLIN member is attacking. He complains to the GREMLIN member after she used her magic to threaten a fellow soldier. Here, he shows that he is using the ace of swords card from the Minor Arcana. The GREMLIN woman asked Mark if they were concealed all over Hawaii to gather information, after hearing that battles between magicians have begun in the islands of Lanai and Hawaii, to which Mark confirms. Mark says that he doubts that they can completely turn the situation around, but at least they can buy some time to allow them to have a more effective retreat. The woman asks if he really thinks that a mere magician trained from a young age can reach the level of GREMLIN, to which Mark says that he has a full deck of Minor Arcana cards at his disposal to entertain her.

After Leivinia has shown that she has used Touma and the others from the Science Side to draw GREMLIN out, Mark then asks Leivinia if it was really the best to leave the situation as is, likely knowing how the cooperative institutions of Academy City has severed times with the City because of Touma and the others' actions. Leivinia says that given what she has done, it is only natural for Touma to criticize her. Mark then tells her that she should have told him his true intentions, to which Leivinia asks how it woudl have helped, as her plan constituted of splitting the science side in half and leaving the cooperative institutions as bait for GREMLIN. Mark then says that her plan is an effective method in tempting GREMLIN, though Leivinia says that it isn't a sure thing as if GREMLIN suspected it to be a trap then it would be all for nothing. Mark replies that even if GREMLIN suspected it to be a trap, they then will take action based on that suspicion. He says that GREMLIN wished for an anti-Academy City structure on their side, and do not want the cooperative institutions to interfere and destroy the balance of influence. Mark says that whether GREMLIN cooperates or makes enemies of the cooperative institutions GRMELIN's actions will be centered on the cooperative institutions, and that the cooperative institutions function as bait either way. Leivinia chastises him for thinking that their actions were just, calling him foolish. She tells him that whatever their reasons they still led 27 cooperative institutions to leave Academy City and diverge from the side that protects the world. Mark Space is silenced by this, to which Leivinia says that though the institutions may already have the desire deep down, but she was still the one that purposefully drew that desire out. Leivinia then says that the institutions will now be criticized by others as the ones who are destroying the world's peace, and will eventually lead to casualties. With all those, she just can't see if what they had done can be called just. And with a pause, references Touma when she says that she says that she stood on the side of justice.

Magic God Othinus Arc
Though not actually appearing, he was one of the men that Leivinia contacted to gather votes for a certain swimsuit shop (50% Less Skin Covered) that she wants to go to as a counter to Kamijou's proposal to go for the other swimsuit shop (Tropical Bright Girl) instead. Mark just replied to Leivinia via e-mail that they don't have time for that nonsense and told her that she should have some sense.

He is in contact with Leivinia right after the disastrous attack on Sargasso of the North Sea by the alliance. Here, he briefs Leivinia on how the spy in GREMLIN has also noticed the mistake on his part and has sent the correct information regarding the location GREMLIN's base. Here, Mark tells Leivinia that it is located in Tokyo Bay.

World Rejecter Arc
When Leivinia first received the report on Sample Shoggoth, the parasite which had infested Patricia in Antarctica, she initially balled it up and threw it at Mark's head before taking it seriously. Unable to find a solution with the cabal's resources, she left Mark and her other subordinates to act on her own. While Leivinia was at the Kamijou Residence on December 3rd, she began to call Mark to make her a Shirley Temple out of habit before catching herself.

Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Mark Space
In this story, Mark is sent to the Blue Research by Leivinia Birdway to save her sister Patricia from an oncoming attack. He defeats Wyss Winered and manages to save both Patricia and the entire ship.

Abilities
As a member of the Dawn-Colored Sunlight, he is proficient with Golden-style magic. Also, he appears to be adequate in melee combat, as he managed to kick an Earth Element attack that targeted Patricia with his foot quickly, which caused it to disappear, and return his leg to the previous position, all without the girl noticing anything.

Tarot
Mark is specialized in the Minor Arcana. The minor arcana has 56 cards divided into the four suits of wands, cups, swords, and coins, which can be used to create symbolic weapons of fire, water, wind, and earth respectively. Of the four suits of the minor arcana, Mark specializes in the 14 sword cards that correspond to wind. That includes the number cards from ace to 10 and the court cards which were the Page, the Knight, the Queen, and the King. Also, the tarot cards Mark uses are special cards that were optimized to be used as symbolic weapons that activated the spells used by Golden-style organizations.

The sword card symbolic weapons are not all equal, and the ones with greater numbers aren't stronger than the ones with lesser numbers. Even though they all have the attribute of yellow, the number changes the power that manifests itself in the real world, so the spell activated by each card is different. He doesn't have 14 of a single spell, but 14 different spells.

Tarot cards are generally intended to be used for large scale ceremonies and not for a battle with quick actions. However, by scattering the cards in order, he can prepare the "table" for such a ceremony. Using tarot cards as immediate attacks is the proper course of action, as one simply flips tarot cards without thinking. But tarot cards are not discarded. The true essence of tarot does not lie in each individual card. The table on which multiple cards are lined up is what is important. By chaining a combo, Mark can arrange a Golden-style ceremony to summon the power of an archangel.


 * Ace of Swords: By making the card stab a distant object, Mark can instantly travel to it. He used this card to board the Blue Research which was out in the ocean.
 * Two of Swords: Symbolizes silence and interruption. This spell splits mind and body apart causing the target to lose consciousness.
 * Three of Swords: Symbolizes the trigger of mayhem and the sorrow that invites bad luck. With this spell the air becomes a single giant sword that is used to attack.
 * Four of Swords: Symbolizes flight and banishment. Allows the user and everything he holds to disappear into thin air in order to escape violence. In the meanwhile the card floats in the air, and the user reappears after evading the attack.
 * Five of Swords: A wind attack that can slice objects.
 * Six of Swords: Symbolizes the chance to answer a difficult question. Its effect is not shown.
 * Seven of Swords: It was supposedly used by Mark but not shown.
 * Eight of Swords: Symbolizes a hindrance, a wall, or a weight. It can create a wall of wind to protect from an attack. By quickly spinning it before its effects wear off, Mark is able to reverse the card and thus also its meaning. It then makes the power being scattered outward to transform into an attacking sword.
 * Nine of Swords: Mark began activating this card, but it fell from his hand so its effects were not shown.
 * Ten of Swords: Symbolizes a great tragedy. When upright, it is the greatest symbol of tragedy among the 56 cards of the minor arcana. However, when reversed, it holds the meaning of a strong heart that fights against unreasonable atrocities. Its effects were not shown, but it might be the key to activate the complete ceremony just by using it.
 * Page, Knight, Queen and King of Swords: While the number cards indicate the kind of phenomenon that would occur, the court cards indicate who it would occur to. After the combo of the number cards from 1 to 10 is completed, the court cards are used to call a mass of Telesma equivalent to a portion of an Archangel's power. As all cards are of the yellow attribute, the "table"'s color becomes yellow as well and allows him to call the power of the corresponding Archangel. By channeling this power, Mark can create large phenomena. He first used it to defeat Wyss and cause large damage to the Blue research, then saved the ship from a down wave by causing bubbles to explosively increase the volume of the water. Thus, it was lifted up with simple explosive force which caused the down wave to miss it.

Quotes

 * (Index SS: Kanzaki]) “Boss, shouldn’t you start focusing on our job here? I am not sure someone who cannot distinguish between work and play has the qualities needed to be a leader.”―after calming down the tension between Birdway and Kanzaki
 * (Index SS: Styl) “To her, we are nothing more than small gears within a larger plan. And our survival is not a necessary part of that plan's success.”―to Touma while suspecting his own boss
 * (Index SS: Mark Space) “N-no! I am prepared to accept a penalty, but please let it be anything but that white bunny thing! That thing would definitely put my death somewhere around #3 on a list of most humorous causes of death!!”―to Leivinia Birdway who is about to punish him
 * (Volume 22) “Given the situation, it seems Fiamma of the Right’s plan is to purify the surface of the earth. He seems to be disseminating pure Telesma to cause a change in the foundation in order to save the world. He must be thinking that changing the foundation will change all of the structures on top of it.”―explaining what is happening to his boss, Leivinia Birdway
 * (NT Volume 8) From: Mark Space To: Leivinia Birdway. Sub: We don’t have time for this nonsense. Have some sense. Body: / /―via e-mail that he sent to Leivinia