The Index
The Index (검지, geomji) is one of the Five Fingers of the Backstreets, and a Syndicate devoted to fulfilling the will of mysterious commands known as Prescripts.
Like the other Fingers, the Index is one of the most powerful Syndicates in the City, possessing enough influence to rival even the Wings.[1]
Overview
Like the other four Fingers, the Index is a large Syndicate with a unique culture and creed that all members follow fervently. Said culture centers around Prescripts: commands which are sent out from an unknown source and delivered through various means, whose contents range from mundane to utterly cruel and bizarre. Members of the Index, as well as Backstreets citizens looking for the Index's protection, are required to follow the Prescripts they receive. Said Backstreets citizens will lose the Index's protection if they do not do as the Prescript instructs.[2] Otherwise, there is no guarantee of punishment for failing to fulfill a Prescript; rather, an Index Proxy must receive their own Prescript telling them to punish the slacker.[3]
Most Index members grow numb to the workings of the Prescripts,[4] and will carry them out without question. Those who do try to rebel against the system have little chance of maintaining their spirit in the face of the Prescripts' seemingly all-knowing nature. Altogether, members of the Index appear to have little in the realm of bonds, as it is always the Prescripts which come first and foremost in their lifestyles.
Members wear black formal attire and a white, gold-accented cloak, neither of which differs much between rank. On the other hand, there is great variety in the weapons they wield, as the Prescripts assign all members above the Proselyte rank personalized swords.[5] Proselytes wear blindfolds meant to teach them to follow the Prescripts regardless of what is happening before them, which is removed upon their promotion.[6]
Prescripts
As a phenomenon, Prescripts are considered a Star of the City.[7] Prescripts contain highly unpredictable tasks, delivered to or by members of the Index. They may be delivered at any time, through any method,[8][9] after which they must be carried out by the receiver. Every Prescript is one-of-a-kind,[8] and the time limit for their completion varies from case to case.[10]
Prescripts might ask for something as easy as waving one's hand at an intersection, as bloody as maiming another human being, or as abstract as killing a painting. Abstract Prescripts are common enough that certain members of the Index are given the authority to interpret them for the receiver.[11] Yet even with the variety and 'randomness', it's understood that the Prescripts will always benefit the Index in some manner.[12] In this way, outsmarting the Prescripts is considered impossible. Prescripts are able to predict fate, know when they have and haven't been completed, and whether Prescripts are being fabricated, all of which they will adjust their commands to accordingly.[13][14] At the end of the day, citizens are not permitted to question how the Prescripts work or where they come from, lest they be targeted by Index Proxies.[15] In fact, the vast majority of people, including members of the Index, have no idea how the system really works.
Workings of the Prescripts
Somewhere underneath the City's surface lies one or more massive vaults, filled with pendulums and spinning wheels. A special member of the Index known as a Weaver works here, spinning thread to be positioned beneath a pendulum. The pendulum then functions as a seismograph, vibrating according to the motions of the City citizens up above. It writes in an unreadable tongue known as the "language of the City", which requires that the Weaver take the inscribed thread and weave it into cloth using spinning wheels, therefore making the language discernible. At this point the cloth has become a real Prescript, so the Weaver completes the process by stamping the slip and sending it to the surface by slipping it into a pipe labeled with the same code as the Prescript. Given that Prescripts are created from the day-to-day of City citizens, the Prescripts of the Index are thought to be generated from the people's wish for a direction in life, following the "will of the City" itself.[16] For this reason, they may even be considered comparable to gods,[17] having been born in order to fulfill the people's needs.[18]
Hierarchy
The Index's hierarchy system features at least four major ranks, which are comprised of a less traditional echelon. The ranks are as follows:
- Proselyte: An initiate of the Syndicate who joined after receiving a Prescript asking them to become a Proselyte. They may reject this offering if they wish. Proselytes learn the ways of the Index by shadowing a Proxy in groups of five to six (a "familia"), and will be promoted to either Proxy or Messenger after showing a certain level of competence.[6] Proselytes may be rewarded with fabric to extend the length of their own cloak; a longer cloak indicates their own progress as a Proselyte.
- Proxy: A higher rank equivalent to a Messenger. They receive and carry out Prescripts with their familia.[19] Their Prescripts can ask for anything, but the order to punish others who have failed to carry out their Prescripts is the most consistent one.[3][20]
- Messenger: A higher rank equivalent to a Proxy. The duty of receiving and delivering Prescripts to their recipients is held by them. It is unclear whether they receive frequent Prescripts like Proxies do.[21]
- Weaver: A special member whose position in the totem pole is unknown. They tend to the machines and looms that create the Prescripts. Their existence is a secret to most, and the Weavers themselves aren't aware of how many are in their ranks.
Recent Developments
During the events of Library of Ruina, a portion of the Index was sent by the Prescripts to District 12 where they were tasked with feuding with the Thumb for control of the fallen Nest.[22][23] While these Prescripts were ultimately forged by one rebellious Messenger, the Index Proxies were still instructed to follow them via other Prescripts, and the operation ended up benefiting the Syndicate anyway.[24] However, the Index never ended up taking hold of Nest L, as all those involved in the siege fell victim to the Library partway through.
Members
 The Index
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Enemies
Types of Index Enemies
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Sinner Identities
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| Device |  Don Quixote Proxy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gallery
Rien Story Log Portrait
Sora Story Log Portrait
Trivia
- Other members of the Index seen in additional Project Moon media include:
- The flower featured in the Index's logo is based on aconite, or wolfsbane[25], a genus of commonly toxic flowering plants.
External Links
- The Index - Library of Ruina Wiki
References
- ↑ Library of Ruina The Carnival pre-Reception - Roland: "Anyway, the Five Fingers have enough power and influence to rival the Wings, so nothing good will come out of opposing them."
- ↑ Library of Ruina The Index pre-Reception - Yan: "If you don’t carry out the Prescripts, the Index won’t provide protection… You have a family, right?"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Library of Ruina Artbook, page 336: "Within the Index, there are Messengers that deliver Prescripts and Proxies that act on behalf of the Prescripts. Sometimes, a Proxy might receive the Prescript to punish a slacker who won't carry out their Prescripts."
- ↑ Library of Ruina Artbook, page 386: "I imagine some of those people detest the Prescripts, while others grow numb to them. And it would be fair to assume that most Proxies and Messengers belong to the latter category."
- ↑ Library of Ruina Gloria's Page: "Each of us uses different types of blades. Starting with the ranks of Messengers and Proxies, the Prescripts give personalized swords."
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Library of Ruina Hubert's Page: "If they accept it, they will cover their eyes with a blindfold as they serve the role. The blindfold has little symbolic significance; it’s to teach the Proselyte to follow the Prescripts regardless of what is happening before their eyes. Usually, a group of five to six Proselytes accompany a Proxy, learning the rules of the Index and the role of each rank. If a Proselyte shows a certain level of competence, the Prescripts will assign the role of a Messenger or a Proxy to them. After being promoted, they are given a blade of their own, and they may take off the blindfold."
- ↑ Library of Ruina The Index, Episode 1 pre-Reception - Roland: "The Prescripts are long since appointed as a Star of the City."
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Library of Ruina An Index Proselyte's Page: "No two Prescripts are the same in any way; as well as their contents being completely different from each other, you can’t expect when and where you’ll receive one."
- ↑ The Index Apprentice - Sora's Passive "Prescript Delivered on A Device". This device is referred to as the "Great Magicked Beeper" in an Identity Story by the Index Nursefather of that Mirror World, and is described as displaying words through its bleeps and beeps. While not elaborated on further, this seems to imply her "Device" is a special type of pager, which are commonly referred to as "beepers".
- ↑ One example of a Prescript given is "To Rimi, Deliver a bacon pizza to Danny’s doorstep on 8th St. before 10 AM sharp on September 14th" (An Index Proselyte's Page). Another is "Eliminate the Thumb. No time limits" (The Index, Episode 1 pre-Reception).
- ↑ Library of Ruina The Index, Episode 1 pre-Reception - Gloria: "Dunno~? It’s up to Proxy Esther to clarify ambiguities in Prescripts, y’know~?"
Esther: "It does target all denizens of the Nest. Search for every single person of the specified age and take their spine." - ↑ Library of Ruina The Index pre-Reception - Roland: "That’s the scary part. Those Prescripts seem random, but they work out in their favor somehow."
- ↑ Library of Ruina Esther's Page - "They still cannot outsmart the Prescripts. The Prescripts know all. They can tell whether or not a Prescript has been carried out, how it was done, and if someone is delivering fabricated Prescripts. An individual sending counterfeit Prescripts out of their own volition can ultimately be traced back to the will of the Prescripts, and the City itself."
- ↑ Library of Ruina The Index, Part 2 pre-Reception - Yan: “So I began making fake Prescripts. I thought I was showing my will for the first time with that act… But then the Prescripts do this, as if they knew everything already…”
- ↑ Library of Ruina An Index Proselyte's Page: "However, if you question who delivers those Prescripts or where they come from and put your curiosity into action, the Proxies will come for you, so beware."
- ↑ Library of Ruina 얀샋ㄷ요무 pre-Reception - 얀샋ㄷ요무: "The Prescripts represent the will of the City… They know everything that goes on in the City."
- ↑ Library of Ruina Artbook, page 411 - "There are beings comparable to gods in the City, such as the Prescripts. (…) They're apparently products of the long-cherished desires the City's denizens hold. That would make the Prescripts of the Index--- a coalition of wishes to have a purpose in an aimless life."
- ↑ Library of Ruina 얀샋ㄷ요무 pre-Reception - Moirai (discussing the birth of the Prescripts system): "There are beings born out of the City folk’s wants. (...) That’s how gods were born; people needed them. They didn’t pop into existence because someone told them to. They can’t be made up by anyone, nor can they be oppressed."
- ↑ Library of Ruina The Index pre-Reception - Esther: "We will carry out the Prescripts we’ve received first. As Proxies, each of us will convey the content that Prescript Messenger Yan gave us to the Proselytes in our familia." (...)
Hubert: "Our familia’s task is to exchange the left leg of the fourteenth person we come across today with the right leg of the twenty-sixth person we run into." - ↑ Library of Ruina The Index, Episode 1 pre-Reception - Yan: "Usually, Proxies only receive Prescripts on the rare occasion... of someone else not carrying their Prescript."
- ↑ In The Index Episode 2 pre-Reception, Yan mentions receiving and following Prescripts prior to his promotion as Messenger, but does not allude to receiving any after that. While he is then informed that "the" Prescript has "invited" him somewhere, it is not clear whether it's normal for a Messenger to receive a Prescript or if he even received one in the traditional sense.
- ↑ Library of Ruina Chun's Page: "Right now, Nest L is practically a warzone with all the Associations, Syndicates, and Fixers at each other’s throats. (...) The Index appears to have been guided here by the Prescripts."
- ↑ As depicted during the Index Receptions of Library of Ruina, the Index members receive various anti-Thumb Prescripts, such as “Remove the limbs of all Thumb personnel still remaining in the Nest. And hang their bodies on skewers” and "Eliminate the Thumb. No time limits".
- ↑ The Index, Episode 2 post-Reception - Angela: "As you pointed out, the Prescripts of the Index end up benefiting the Syndicate. That Prescript commanded them to eliminate all members of the Thumb in L Corp’s Nest. Right when an Underboss and his Capos have disappeared."
- ↑ Library of Ruina Art Book - Vol. 1, Pg. 386
