Focus

"A handful of souls could imagine the Focus. Fewer still could build it. But no one can truly understand it."

Focus is a concept created and nourished by the Kains. A Focus is any theoretical construction capable of preserving the human soul, spirit, and memory. Despite being quite abstract, it's said to be governed by mathematically rigid regularities. The term was coined by Georgiy Kain while working on his doctrine in necrosophy.

According to Victor Kain, a Focus can be compared to a study, a creative labaratory, a camera obscura, "almost perfectly sealed off—except for the door that was visible at all times". Victor believes it's impossible to break into Focus, as it's akin to entering someone else's mind or a drawn picture.

Many architects attempted to create a Focus on behalf of the Kains. Three architects in particular, Andrey Stamatin, Peter Stamatin, and Farkhad, were commissioned to create a Focus in their designs — to varying results. The Stillwater, Cathedral and Polyhedron were all created with the intention of becoming a Focus, with at least one of these intended to contain the souls of Simon Kain and Nina Kaina. The Polyhedron was the most successful attempt at the creation of a Focus: after Nina Kaina's death her memory resided in the tower.

Peter Stamatin built the Polyhedron as Focus for an immortal soul, a concept fervently believed in by the Kains. The Focus of the Polyhedron is described as "repeatedly reflected by reflections of reflections, disconnected from the ground, endlessly soaring between the firmament and the void…".

Buildings that are created with the intention of becoming a Focus but are never used as one hold strange energy to them. It is perhaps due to its abandoned purpose that the Cathedral is believed to be a soulless place by many in the Town.

Plot
Before Simon Kain's death, Nina Kaina's Memory had resided in the Focus of the Crucible. The Polyhedron was built as Simon Kain's Focus initially, but being occupied by Khan and his Dogheads the Tower couldn't house Simon in it. To make room for Simon, Nina's Memory was removed from the Crucible. Instead, Maria Kaina gave her mother shelter "inside her own heart", making two souls inhabit Maria's body.

After Simon Kain's death, his body was kept in the Focus of the Crucible. Despite the Kains believing the Focus to be impregnable, it is revealed that Simon brought his own murderer into the Focus — he was infected with the Plague. However, even though Simon was deceased, he still could communicate with the living through the Focus.

Victor believes that Eva Yan could become the Soul of a Focus, were she not enamoured of death so bizarrely and persistently. In The Bachelor's Route, Eva commits suicide in the Cathedral in attempts to turn it into a real Focus. According to Georgiy Kain, Eva died the very second Simon's soul reemerged in the Focus of the Crucible.

The Focus of the Crucible appears to be too small to contain Simon's soul, so Georgiy decides to transfer his brother's Memory into the Polyhedron. To achieve that, Georgiy must use the power of his mind, which will ultimately end in his death. It's speculated that Georgiy will die from the collosal strain that this work will have put on him; from the concentration of will, intellect, and all his mental powers.

At some moment, Nina left Maria's body and let Victor carry her soul into the Focus of The Crucible. As transferring a soul to the Focus takes enormous effort, Victor will die in order to preserve Nina's Memory.

Corpus
"«…No, it is not a house, and it is in no way related to our foolish, if one may call it, Cathedral. Initially, Focus existed only on paper; it was pure abstraction. A theoretical construction of Simon Kain's, an intermediate agent in a long chain of assumptions regarding the «existence of a human being outside their natural boundaries», as well as in the afterlife. Do you get what I mean? The term Focus can be often found in the works written 30 years ago; the meaning, depending on the context, may vary and refer either to a state of a «forsaken person» or «the concentration surge of human psyche» (sic). Later, after a short period of tranquility, Simon all of a sudden proceeded to materialize this subtle, elusive idea with the power of his blazing talent. He achieved overwhelming success in this field. Even those who had already known what Simon was capable of were amazed. It should be noted that the materialization of Focus became the first step towards the execution of Simon's audacious plan.» [libr.CIL] «The first example of Focus was a structure made of mirrors, drafts, hot-water bottles, and wooden boxes. The construction required geometric calculations, as well as the weirdest factors such as scent and location of «final things». It took its final form after two years of work. That's when it became clear that Focus is no fiction, but a working model. Inspired by his breakthrough, Simon created several Focus specimens, each different from the other. One could fit into a walnut shell, the other required to assemble an edifice so improbably large for our modest town, the third was housed in the wine cellar, and for the fourth Simon experimented with a yurt in the Steppe. The specimen shared one thing — its purpose. Focus allowed to preserve the Memory and maintain the permanent effect of the departed's presence. The concentration of this effect was so strong that by reaching Focus persons would be able to communicate with the deceased as if they simply left the room and were able to reply to the visitors through a thin wall <…> Eventually the term was used for any building that were suitable for preserving Memory. Time went by, and new opportunities were discovered in a random way. The one thing was constant — a man-made building. That's why architecture is so remarkably respected —of all forms of art it's the one that allows to translate the principles of Focus in the fullest and most accessible way.» [vir.12-F]  «We define memory as ability to preserve in real life the traits and feelings of a human being who is now long gone. The memory of a dead person lives just as long and just as fully as often and how properly they are remembered by the people that were close to them. This widely acknowledged banality is not as simple as it might seem. According to our legends, the person is being forgotten as soon as their soul leaves their body. Only constant mental effort, which demands really inhuman exertion, most thorough concentration of attention, memory and imagination allow us to keep the dead among the living just as if they were still alive <… This primitive childish view of life after death, which has nothing to do with the existence of the soul after its owner is deceased, has set in quite firmly in the late colonists’ traditions. Perhaps it has something to do with the special role of small children in our society?» [from personal correspondences] «Dear deceased of the Stone Yard truly cohabit the place hand in hand with the living! May the Earth watch over the human bodies, may Grace bring them food to their tombs — the nobles of the Stone Yard honor their dead in the most profound sense of the word. It's not the body but the spirit that they revere, the very object of their endeavors. <…> There are ones whose Memory is worth it. Even though these people are long gone, most of them still exist here. Say, the deceased Mistresses. It could be explained by mysticism, but the Town still lives with the idea of these women not being dead entirely; the Mistresses still pull the strings like colossal puppeteers whose shadows hang over the Town». [vir.204-A]"