"OK, so…the shinma underlie all of reality. Physics, magic, space and time…the shinma are the stage on which those things play out. They define all of reality by contradicting it. Like, shinma Nirguna doesn't exist. So anything that isn't part of Nirguna, exists. That which does not suffer itself to be named has no identity; anything that's not part of it, has individuality and identifiable qualities. And so on. Following at all?" Harriet half-smiles. "Because that's where my teammates used to stop listening and pat me on the back and tell me everything would be all right and they didn't need to know the details."