Editing Genius The Transgression/Chapter One: The Cosmos (section)

===Catalyzing===

Geniuses do not know what they are, and this torments them. Is a genius a mortal touched by something transcendent, or is he transcendence itself, a mathematical icon given form and temporality in the body and mind of someone who was once human? What is the "genius"? The man, with his unique gifts, or the spirit, that takes up residence in the cramped and fleshy home of a mortal mind? Many peers torment themselves over these questions, for there are no clear answers. A genius' Breakthrough is a traumatic experience that can wipe away sections of memory and radically change parts of a new mad scientist's personality; for every one of the Inspired who catalyzed gradually, her mundane concerns slowly transforming over the course of weeks or months into Inspired conceptions, another experienced a Breakthrough like a lightning-stroke that wiped away consciousness and intellect and left mind and spirit utterly transformed.

Every genius catalyzes in one of five ways; poetic geniuses say there are five sorts of angels or daimons that can descend from on high to inhabit a mortal mind. This psychic spark is both a human mood or impulse, such as anger or curiosity, and a resonant archetype larger than any single human. In the moment between "mere human" and "more than human," the walls of reality crash down and a new light shines behind a genius' eyes, but there is still humanity there, stripped, perhaps, of its individuality and subtlety, but undeniably mortal. Rage, hope, sorrow, jealousy, curiosity: one of these defines a genius so completely that it served as a bridge between the mundane and Inspired worlds. This catalyst defines a genius' behavior, and also defines his Obligation. When morality and sanity fall away, when Illumination gleams like a poisoned star in the genius' mind, he turns to his catalyst, which is his one inseparable link with humanity. While a foundation is more a statement of function than metaphysical intent, and even a Lemurian's baramin is as much procedure as it is philosophy, a catalyst is an internal and unchanging reflection of a genius' thoughts during the Breakthrough that carries through to the rest of his life.

A genius' catalyst does not change: it is stamped on his soul forever, linking a mortal brain to an Inspired vision. A genius' catalyst usually has precedent in his mortal days. A Grimm, a genius of rage, was probably an angry person before the Breakthrough, whether he fulminated and ranted whenever something went wrong or merely carried himself with quiet, carefully-leashed fury. Klagens, who catalyze in sorrow, are often sensitive, troubled souls throughout their regular lives. But the catalyst also needs an event, an initial injection that sets it to transforming the genius' brain. Even if the event is the same or similar for two geniuses, something must happen to open a door in a mortal mind. A young army technician might see one brutality too many, and lash out with hate and coherent light. An astronomer one night sees something impossibly beautiful off the rings of Saturn, something that never appears again, and grows obsessed with knowing what it was. An animal behavior researcher watches her laboratory burn, her animals running past her feet, and vows an unspeakable revenge against those who doubted her work.

Catalysts aren't social groups. The geniuses in a town who catalyzed to dreams of a brighter tomorrow don't sit down every Friday over tea to make plans. There's every chance, in fact, that they disagree and can't stand one-another. A catalyst is a personal transformation, and is not often shared with others. In fact, only since the 1950s have the divisions received formal scrutiny and analysis; before that time, geniuses were linked with angel-like beings to reflect their inhuman mental state, and connected with the planets of European astrology. (It was a clumsy relic of a system, usually ignored by both peers and Lemurians.) Whether defined as the five catalysts or as a motley assortment of metanormal "overminds," these groups are real 
psychological phenomena for geniuses, simultaneously reflecting a mad scientist's humanity and her distance from her fellows. In dire straits, a genius can view her catalyst as a blessing, as the only thing that keeps her clinging to humanity, even if that contact is based on hate or on some desperate, paradoxical need for simultaneous vengeance and approval. However, a catalyst also permanently opens a genius' mind to the magnificent horror of Mania, which defines the unique trajectory of her madness. Each catalyst front-loads a Derangement into the genius' mind. This Derangement is always gained first when a genius gains a Derangement for any reason, and it is lost last if a genius works to improve her psychological stability. Insanity plagues a mad scientist, and as her grip on reality slips through malice, negligence, and a rejection of her Obligation to her fellow human, she begins a downward spiral grimly predetermined by her catalyst.

But a catalyst is more than a steward of a genius' sanity and a harbinger of her madness. The first door that opens in a genius' mind reveals truths and possibilities he never before considered, tainted and illuminated by the mood of her Breakthrough, but nonetheless invaluable in its clarity. Each catalyst provides a new genius with a favored Axiom, closely linking a mad scientist's newfound knowledge to his state of mind.