Metalevels (ConceptTopic, 11)

From Compile Worlds

Revision as of 17:18, 11 November 2011

Metalevels is a term referring collectively to the use of "zero" and "one" as used as nouns classifying the characters in Compile Worlds.

The first mention of these terms was by Nanako in Episode 32, where she promptly claimed that Arle was a zero. It is now known that Arle is actually a one; what Nanako said here was not entirely incorrect, merely outdated. What is clear is that it is possible for a zero to become a one - as this is exactly what Arle has done, albeit unwittingly - but it is not yet known how this is done.

The term "zero" generally refers to an ordinary denizen of the Compile Worlds universe, while "one" refers to a specific few characters who have access to a certain scientific field, outside the dimensions of space, time and the usual magical fields. The ones are clearly far more powerful than the zeroes, though Angol Mois is definitely an anomaly, being technically a zero while being stronger in practice than any of the ones.

As well as being powerful, the ones all seem to share some intimate "behind-the-scenes" knowledge that the zeroes do not have. Thus, they have been known to frequently do Strange Klugs. In some cases it also appears particularly condescending to the zeroes. Nanako's case has been exemplified and exaggerated in-universe, where she has seemingly transformed from a very nice person giving the ex-ADMA all sorts of things to help them on their quest into someone that Doppelganger Arle has quite rightly called a "jerk". Perhaps the entire point of the LOPAC roles was to spread the ones about and encourage communication between ones and zeroes so it didn't just become an all out war between the two metalevels.