LSECT

The Lunar Scale of Extra-Conceptual Threats, abbreviated as LSECT, was a theoretical scale to determine the relative threat level of magical creatures in comparison to conventional weaponry. It was proposed to the UN in the year 2056, three months after the existence of magic was established to the wider public. It was a widely despised proposal despite its acceptance at the highest levels of government, as it marked the criminalization of magic in Newmoon society.    

Usage & Background

  LSECT sorted magic into several categories based on threat level; Crescent Moon (conventional weapons fully effective), Half Moon (conventional weapons contextually ineffective), Full Moon (conventional weapons unusable). Later proposals added New Moon (unassigned or bizarre targets), Blood Moon (for targets that are contagious), and Black Moon (for targets that simply cannot be killed). The widespread backlash against the system, which portrayed any and all magic as a threat to be extinguished, finally prompted the addition of No Moon for "targets" that posed no threat to human lives, bringing the total number of categories to 7.   No Moon was assigned on a case-by-case basis to magical creatures who turned themselves in to the government. This allowed them to live legally within the system, albeit with debilitating restrictions on the use of magic. No Moon citizens could apply for visas and permits for the respective temporary and permanent right to use magic, though they were rarely granted beyond government workers and bureaucrats. Needless to say, this did not increase LSECT's popularity.   LSECT was officially dissolved in the year 2073 with the disbandment of the United Nations during the End of the World, though by that point it was almost unrecognizable. The creation of early Drones and the ongoing use of magic at the highest levels of government prompted countless rewrites that reduced the document to a bloated, tasteless footnote well before the complete restructuring of human and non-human society.    

Trivia

  The original proposal was drafted as The Lunar Scale of Extra-Conceptual Threats and Deception (LSECTD). The "D" was dropped in future revisions, presumably because the simplified acronym was easier to say. The final version still briefly mentions the "deceptive nature" of magic within the document despite many, many edits for "sensitivity."   It was eventually agreed— though rarely admitted— that LSECT was more or less a massive waste of time that depopularized the UN. The countries that took the proposal the most seriously, namely the United States, faced the most dire consequences in the form of several proclamations of independence from its own citizens.