Hymn Crystal
Hymn Crystals (ヒュムネクリスタル, hyumunekurisutaru?, lit. "Hymmne Crystal") are memory card-like devices that contain a program sealed within themselves. Said program always takes the form of a Song (Hymmnos Extract) for the Reyvateils to sing it.
The Storage Qualities of the Hymn Crystals
The Hymn Crystals are Grathnode Crystals that possess no special qualities and that strictly speaking, possess distortions with equal energy amounts for all wave directionalities. If an Install was attempted using them, the distortions would all offset each other, which means they would cause no distortions on the Reyvateil's Static H-Waves (in summary, their GD value is zero). In summary, it would provoke no effects upon being Installed, reason why Installs do not work for utilizing the Songs they contain.
The crystal maintains all distortion correction energies in equilibrium, so they would discharge no distortions upon the shape of the FFT Spectra that serves as the balance center for the energy, meaning their state is preserved forever. This preserved FFT Spectra that serves as the balance center itself is the [feelings], or [fully deployed Static H-Waves of the Reyvateil] that are recorded within the Hymn Crystal. The recorded mind of the Reyvateil itself then continues existing without destroying the crystal's internal balance.
Usage
As Grathnode Crystals, Hymn Crystals are technically capable of being Installed into a Reyvateil via her Install Port; however, the FFT Spectra within the Crystal cannot be accessed this way, analogous to how the nutrients within an egg are protected by the egg's shell. The proper method of installing a Hymn Crystal's contents is called Downloading, which is performed in a Download Ceremony.
During the Download Ceremony, the Reyvateil to receive the Song must have a partner, and if the Reyvateil is not an IPD, that partner must know her Hymn Code. With Hymn Crystal in hand, her partner recites a Hymmnos Spell that instructs the Song Server to convert the Crystal's FFT Spectra into Static H-Waves within the Reyvateil's Cosmosphere. Because of the differences between ATD and IPD Reyvateils, the Download Spell differs:
| AR=TONELICO/HARVESTASHA | INFEL=PHIRA |
|---|---|
| Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor
en chsee fwal fwal yor. |
cEzYA hymmnos.
<Hymn Crystal ID number> --x tArm azit |
| I'll be glad to turn you into a Song
and into the wings shrouding you. |
I'll gladly turn you into a Song.
Deploy from <Hymn Crystal ID number> |
As IPDs do not have Hymn Codes, they are not required to Download a Song. However, the IPD's partner is required to know the ID number of the Hymn Crystal they are Downloading.
In certain situations, it is possible to perform an "Uninstall Ceremony" where data from within a Reyvateil's Cosmosphere, such as a D-Cellophane, Grathnode Crystal or a Heart of the Land, can be extracted into the physical world. As above, the Hymmnos Spells for this ceremony differ between ATDs and IPDs:
| AR=TONELICO/HARVESTASHA | INFEL=PHIRA |
|---|---|
| Was yea ra chs hymnos yor
en chsee fwal fwal yor. |
cEzYA hymmnos. #9990 -r- mAtyy trix tb=b'0x11000101101' |
| I'll be glad to turn you into a Song
and into the wings shrouding you. |
I'll be happy to turn you into a Song. Store the target with the identifier #9990 into the "tn" variable, |
Why are Songs Crafted Instantly?
The Song gushes forth as soon as the Download is complete. This is because all the axes (all wave frequency bands, all time bands) are instantly and completely overwritten by the FFT Spectra recorded in the Hymn Crystal, meaning that the Spectra's state changes to [in the process of crafting a Song]. If we looked at it from the receiving Reyvateil's viewpoint, to her it would seem like the Song was born... as if she had already had known it previously, a little bird born within her memories and feelings.
Security
Because Hymn Crystals usually contain Hymmnos Extracts that can be dangerous in the wrong hands, Downloading them requires either a Hymn Code with high enough clearance or a high enough IPD level, depending on the Reyvateil's SH Server. In some cases Hymn Crystals are further protected with a license control key, similar to PC programs in the real world: once the Song has been Downloaded a certain number of times, its Crystal will disappear. For example, the powerful Hymmnos Extracts Purger and Despedia are contained within Hymn Crystals that allow only a single Download before vanishing.
In the event that a particular Song Magic is deemed too important or dangerous to be contained within a Hymn Crystal, it can be installed onto the Singer's D-Cellophane; this is how Misha Arsellec Lune is able to Sing Chronicle Key. If the designated Singer has a dedicated SH Server, like the Origins, the Song can also be directly recorded onto their Server to prevent it from being Sung by any other Reyvateil.