Administrator (no ontology)
From Mazeworld
This article is about the in-game term. For the real-life administrator and author, i.e. the real life person who has written and runs MazeWorld, see Tempest.
An Administrator (also referred to as an Admin) is the common name given to the supernatural and deity-like being that rules and administrates MazeWorld. The only known administrator is Hebizuka Jinkou, making her the effective overseer of the Mazes in their entirety.
Origins and abilities
An immortal and immaterial concentration of sentient energy, referred to as the Entity, forms what is essentially the Admin's "soul". The Entity has the power to inhabit one or many "shells", which is nothing more than a host body. While this body they inhabit needs not to be originally that of a living creature, the Entity prefers to inhabit the bodies of living creatures and seem to be attracted by beings of peculiar, unique character and personality. Creatures inhabited by the Entity are also known to have no need to eat, drink, sleep, or reproduce, though can choose to do so as they please and if they so wish. Any shell the Entity chooses to inhabit, automatically reaches the status of Administrator, as well as the above described traits (immortality, inediate, etc). The Entity does not overtake or alter their shells' personality, but does ensure they are aware and conscious of their newfound capabilities.
The Admin's immense power and near complete control of MazeWorld is explained by the fact the Entity inhabiting them has created the entire realm, and maintains its existence as long as the Entity can inhabit a shell - in order for the realm to remain stable and keep its coherence, the source of this realm must also preserve its stability and coherence. It is unknown why or how MazeWorld was created at all, and Hebizuka herself has never given any insight or explanation, despite there being no evidence that any beings have been inhabited by the Entity before her.
The Entity, when threatened by a being sufficiently strong to challenge its shells directly, seems to "disable" those shells' immortality (though they remain extremely resistant to damage); it seems capable of recognizing worthy potential challengers and will encourage the current Admin to fight whomever is contending to "succeed" to them. As such, the Entity seems to have a mind on its own in the sense that it will choose, as its new shells, the bodies of whoever defeated the current one. Depending on the situation, the Entity can simply inhabit the new bodies and also remain in the current ones' (addition process), or leave altogether the old ones and elevate the new ones to Admin status (replacement process).
Should it fail to find at least one new suitable shell, the Entity's stability will be compromised, and it will lose its coherence and eventually collapse. This threatens the entire realm, which can be potentially completely erased from existence (termination process) as a result. It must be noted that there are no limits on how many beings the Entity can inhabit at once - while it needs at least one to sustain itself, it can inhabit as many as required, it would simply mean all of the resulting Admins would need to cooperate to manage the Mazes together.
Identity and purpose
Currently there is only one Administrator: Hebizuka Jinkou.
Hebizuka Jinkou
Hebizuka Jinkou redirects here.
- Form: Youkai female (species: nure-onna)
Hebizuka Jinkou, sometimes referred to as "Lady Hebizuka" by members of the personnel, and informally but very occasionally as "Hebi", is currently the only Administrator.
Being the only Admin, she performs various tasks as the Administrator of the Mazes; primarily as an overseer, watching over the Mazes, its inhabitants and creatures, and their whereabouts. She also serves as the direct superior to the top positions in the Mazes, and may occasionally give direct orders to the personnel if there needs to be something done that doesn't require direct Admin intervention. Typically however, Hebizuka contents herself with simply watching the Mazes rather than intervene directly, finding the world to be, in her words, "much more interesting when it achieves things on its own rather than being manipulated to do so".
Among Hebizuka's more occasional roles are those of population control in the direct sense; she can decide which creatures can become part of the Mazes' bestiary, adding and removing creatures at her leisure. She can also create, assign, and delete positions within the Personnel, keep track of the population meters for each species, and directly influence what technology level the Mazes' inhabitants are able to work with and live off of. The Mazes have gone through several configurations and several combinations of species, societal systems and technology levels.
In a general sense, the powers of an Administrator are theoretically limitless; the only restrictions seem to be self-imposed,out of a personal desire to simply watch the Mazes and its inhabitants come and go with the tools and technology they have available, and out of interest, if not fascination in the many ongoing conflicts between each of the various creatures and Factions living in the world that she oversees, and feeling that she has no right to intervene and that these conflicts should be resolved on their own, without any intervention on her part.
In theory, if another person were to be elevated to the status of Administrator, depending on if Hebizuka would still be there or not, it is likely that the way the world is managed would be affected in turn. And it would also seem that Hebizuka herself isn't opposed to the idea of someone else running the show, as long as whoever comes to rise to her status is sufficiently worthy. Enter the Contestant...
