Some call them mobile engineers, but their true name is a complicated Nahuatl word that translates to “those who have tamed the black smoke mirrors.” They are the ones who have mastered the dark energies at work in the Other World. They are the ones who allow us all to See.

In the olden days the Aztecs would conduct ceremonies in which they looked into their round obsidian mirrors for glimpses of the Other World. Today we all carry an obsidian mirror in our pockets, although in the current fashion they have rectangular shapes. There is no need for ceremony. The mobile engineers have tamed the magic. With a few swipes of the fingers — remnants of an old, complicated ritual dance — you can inquire about the intentions of the sun and rain deities, or you can cast a spell to freeze an image into eternity, or you can establish an immediate link, through the Other World, to any other obsidian mirror on Earth.

How do they do it? They have books upon books of complicated formulae, and they spend countless hours weaving them into spells. Occasionally a talented magician is able to create a useful spell by themselves, but it’s more common for large guilds of them to form and toil together, for months or years, on the making of a single complex spell.

Once the spell is done, it is packaged into an “app” — from the Nahuatl word apazyahualtontli, meaning small container — and made available to whichever Onlookers want it.

Common Tech Jobs Described as Cabals of Mesoamerican Wizards