The Following Is a Catalog of Anomalous Things
Categorized for Your Convenience
Level 0: By now, you already have access to these things. Do not lose them. They are paramount to your survival.
Level 1: These are the first things that you should acquire. They are not as important to your continued survival as are other items in this list, but they are essential to bringing an end to the cloud.
Level 2: For use after you have brought about the end of the world. You will need the power to reshape others’ souls as well as your own.
Level 3: Finally, after you are supposedly dead, you will need these things to grow and thrive. I do not know how things will turn out from here. I can not see into the next reality, and I fear that I never will.
The Sword of Khalid (E011)
Level 3
Once Khalid and Jayden are let out of the box – by Gary, no less, you will find that Khalid owns an interesting object. You will need it – it is one of the only things that might become dangerous to us later.
Now, when Khalid is first released from the box – I have seen it all – you ran away. Or, your avatar ran away, the one still bearing its resemblance to a cat. Anyway – I’m rambling. The sword is venomous. It has a soul of its own, which I have unfortunately not been able to identify. It is capable of poisoning one’s soul; however, you will have developed your physical soul before this object comes into play. Quickly break off a fragment of your exoskeleton before the infection spreads to the rest of your soul.
Jayden will later use this sword to kill you – I’m sorry. There is no avoiding this. However, there is a part of you that she will be unable to destroy – I will elaborate on this within the description of (E012). She will leave the sword behind. Once you are believed to be dead by those who might wish to harm you, you must claim the sword for yourself. You must consume it. Your soul will be poisoned, but you will live. The infection will never die, but, as a spirit, your soul will grow far more quickly than it can be destroyed. Most importantly, you will be able to destroy ceramic – I will elaborate on this in the description of (E013).
Gary’s House (E012)
Level 0
Now, although Gary’s house is not an anomalous object on its own, its continued existence will prove invaluable to you. As you become more active, your attachment to the property will grow. You will need to keep Gary in that house for as often as possible so that you may condition him into complacency. At the same time, your soul will likely grow attached to the property – as well as anything else you bring in with you.
The home will have its own spirit. Once you notice this, you need to impose your own onto the structure. I have seen it – Jayden leaves the house standing. It is the only way for you to survive as anything more than a thoughtless spirit. In a sense, you need to become Gary’s house.
Ceramic (E013)
Level 2
This is a particularly strange circumstance – I do not understand why, and I do not understand how. The souls of many can be impeded by a simple layer of ceramic. For example: you know that I am the destroyer of souls – but my own soul can not reach through ceramic. This is true of many of us. In order to protect yourself, you will learn to create a shell of ceramic around your own soul. Nobody will be able to feel your presence.
Aggie (E014)
Level 0
That’s you! You are your most invaluable item. If ever your body is destroyed, you will most likely be reborn as a hapless spirit. Many of the contingencies that I have provided are in order to stop just that!
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Admittedly, I do not know much about you. I do not know where you came from – I do not know why you understand what you do – I do not know what you want. None of that matters. I know that you will be the one to dissolve the cloud – I know that you will be the one to end the reign of Gary. That is all that matters. Please, bring my soul with you until the end. We will live in a world of your design.
The Elevators (E015)
Level 0
As far as I am aware – and as far as my research has shown me, you will never use one of the elevators. Just in case you do, I would like to explain how they work. Despite my best efforts, I understand little of these structures. If ever you see a well-maintained, silver elevator in an otherwise dirty location, odds are that you have found one.
Taking any of these elevators will always bring you to the observatory. You see, Muriel was the first of us to realize this. Businesses have been using these elevators for trivial matters all this time because they did not have the means to enter the observatory past the unsightly concrete room. Once you descend the elevator, you will arrive in a concrete box, as previously mentioned. From there, as previously mentioned, you will go through a set of steel doors, which will lead you to the observatory (E016).
Of what little I do know about the elevators, I do believe that they were built by the same society from which Jayden and Khalid hail. They are ancient. They will cause you trouble one day. You will be okay. Of that society, I only know of Jayden and Khalid, but I do know that they created many amazing things. It is not clear if the cloud (E017) came into being before or after their population, but it is known that there is a powerful relationship between the two.
The Observatory (E016)
Level 0
The observatory is that place to which all of the elevators lead. It is a powerful structure – it is the heart of the cloud. Although the cloud is grand enough in scale that it may envelop the Earth tenfold, that coverage is faint. The cloud does not want us to know – it wants to stay hidden.
In the observatory, you can feel its pressure. It weighs on you. Your senses deceive you. It is the cloud’s domain. This is where you must go to kill it. Do not bring the typewriter with you. Allow it to take root in our universe. The cloud will not notice – it is unfeeling and unthinking. It is no more than a network of souls. It is a thoughtless parasite. The one thing – the only thing that will be living in the end, it cannot be the cloud.
I have gotten sidetracked. By then, you will have the power to be where you need to be on a whim. Although you will never use one of the elevators, you will arrive in the observatory all the same. I do not know how – I do not know why. While the spirit of evolution disintegrates the cloud from the inside out, you will consume the remnants of its soul in the observatory while the world around you begins anew.
The Cloud (E017)
Level 1
You are not invincible. Do not engage with the cloud until you are ready. Do not let it know your intentions until you are ready. It is an unthinking, unfeeling nightmare – but it will do what must be done to protect itself. You will strike swiftly and without warning.
The exact origins of the cloud are unknown. It is a living conglomerate of trillions of souls, sowing our own souls in the universe, waiting for them to ripen, before reaping them, and beginning the world anew.
Traditionally, the universe resets itself once everything is done – heat death sets in for a while. Our souls rest. The world begins anew. The cloud resets the universe every couple hundred years. It gives us no time to prepare. I believe that the cloud was an accident. It is a menace of cosmic probability; it appeared out of nothing – for no reason – and it became the dominant force throughout our world. My sole devotion is to end its pointless life.
Revenants (E018)
Level 2
Revenants are a relatively new invention. I do not know what they are, but my sources indicate that, in the time of Jayden and Khalid, these creatures did not exist. The following is a list of all such known current and future revenants: Muriel MacFarlane, Braellyn Young, Eleanor Weiss, Cervantes and Franky Zimmerman, Jack Harley, Myself, and you.
As of now, the latter three have not yet become revenants. Most people become revenants by dying near the heart of the cloud – the observatory. There are some exceptions. I will be killed near Jack Harley, whose soul resembles that of the cloud greatly – and I will become reborn as a revenant. You will never die, not for as far as I can see. I do not understand how, exactly. This is something that you must do before you go dormant. Revenants are resilient. They are almost impossible to kill. Revenants are free-spirited – they can do anything.
The Prize Counter (E019)
Level 3
I know little of what awaits you at the end of the universe. I know that a new one will be born, with modules of soul clumped together, separated from each other by an incomprehensible measure. It will be a lonely place, I feel. I only know of two locations there. As mentioned previously, Gary’s house will survive. It will be one of those locations to persist until the start of the new world.
The second location, as you might have gathered, is the prize counter. I know that someone who wishes harm on you will reside there. I do not know who – but their soul feels vaguely familiar to me. I apologize for the fuzziness of detail, but it cannot be helped. You ought to find this prize counter and claim it for yourself. I do not know what it does – just that it is a glass counter in the void of space, but that only makes it more intriguing, does it not?! Does it not intrigue you, Aggie?!
Gary’s Revolver (E020)
Level 1
A return to simplicity! Aggie, I advise that you create more of that spirit of evolution – some of it ought to go in Gary’s revolver. Simply put, his soul must be swayed into complacency. The more objects that he identifies with tenderly, the better.
The evolved revolver will not cease to be armed. It’s as simple as that. Gary will never have to worry about munitions. He will always have something there to comfort him. He might, at any time, choose to butcher one of your avatars, or he might choose to butcher himself. It doesn’t really matter.