Unfortunately, getting an experiment setup wasn’t as easy as running down to Psychotronics—or Phrenomorphics, in this case—and finding the first scientist available. There were a few rules and protocols to follow. Really, it was much easier doing these kinds of things on her own, but Dyna was fairly sure that she would be in a lot more trouble if she went off and caused another incident trying to do things on her own. She had tested the institute’s patience, found it quite great, but was worried about coming to the end of their rope.

It took about a week and a half to get authorization then another week to get the necessary setup ready. A bit faster than Dyna expected, if she were honest.

Dyna stood alongside November and Ruby in a large room within Phrenomorphics. It was yet another room that was in use before being fully finished. The walls were plain concrete and the drop-tiles weren’t yet in place in the ceiling. In the center of the room, a number of scientists and technicians were working on the machine found in the meat packing plant. The large metal ring with wires, capacitors, little spikes with series of rings around them, and other components set on it.

One of the scientists gave a thumbs up, then started shouting for everyone to clear away from the device.

“Warning: Controlled Noosphere Spatial Tear experiment beginning in Phrenomorphics Sector Three,” Beatrice said over the facility intercom system. “All personnel, please report any anomalies immediately.”

It took ten minutes after that proclamation before anything actually happened. Yellow spinning lights set into the walls above the gateway machine turned on. Shortly after, a low hum filled the room. A bright silver light appeared in the center of the machine, burning bright enough that Dyna was glad to be wearing the thick welder-style goggles over her eyes.

The hum grew louder and rougher, becoming more of a metallic buzz. All at once, the silver dot of light pulled apart, stretching into a ring that touched the interior edge of the circular machine. The edges of the ring vibrated, twisting and jittering. The scientist behind the controls, Doctor Langford, flipped a series of switches then slowly twisted a knob. As she did so, the jitters slowed, growing steady.

“Tear stabilized.”

Dyna had seen a few spatial anomalies. They were just little ethereal lights hanging in the air, barely noticeable if one wasn’t staring directly at them. It certainly wasn’t possible to see anything beyond them.

This portal was a bit different. She could clearly see through it now, though the world beyond didn’t look all that different. The unfinished laboratory continued through the portal, but the lighting was different. It was somehow both brighter and darker at the same time. Darker because the room lights didn’t seem to be on, but brighter because Dyna could see even beneath a small console that should have been casting a shadow. The spinning yellow lights didn’t seem to function on the other side either.

“Science Team, please stand-by. Security Team Doorknocker advancing.”

The few scientists that had been around the machine quickly cleared away, making room for silver-suited personnel armed with both conventional weaponry as well as disruptor weapons. The disruptors weren’t as powerful as the one that had turned the Hatman into a puddle of thought, but they should at least stall a Hatman-like entity long enough to collapse the portal. Leaving a handful of soldiers to keep watch on this side of the gate, the rest advanced forward, passing through the other side.

The soldiers fanned out beyond the portal. Much like the console, Dyna could see all the nooks and crannies of their suits even though there were parts that should have been in shadow. They didn’t stay in view for long, however, quickly leaving the relatively small opening that she could see in order to secure the rest of the room within the noosphere. One soldier remained behind, communicating with this side through hand signals.

“There wouldn’t be many tulpa there,” November said, speaking softly. “This place is too new. Not enough time for stray thoughts to integrate to the point of tangibility.”

“No tulpa could have walked down here?”

“I suppose,” November said with a shrug. “I wouldn’t. Better to stick around cities where plenty of stray thoughts are constantly being generated and the noosphere is less likely to change abruptly.” She paused, then frowned, walking a short distance toward the portal. “I’m surprised there is anything here at all beyond solid rock given how new this place is. It takes time for new buildings to enter into the collective thoughts of humans enough to form over there.”

“I mean, a lot of people were involved in this place. Builders, scientists, security… probably more than that. And it isn’t like they built this overnight.”

“True.”

While they were talking, the soldier still in view on the other side of the portal gave the thumbs up. A moment after, one of his fellows come through to this side, leaving him able to communicate via hand signals.

“Noosphere localized area secured,” Beatrice said as the soldier who had come through started speaking into a radio. “Progressing to experiment phase three.”

“That’s us,” Dyna said. “You ready?”

“I should be asking you that,” November said. “I look like I do now. You’re going to see what I actually look like. Are you sure you want that? You can still call it quits.”

“Can’t be as bad as the Hatman.”

That got a scoff from Ruby for some reason, but she didn’t offer any explanation. Fearless, or just fed up with the dalliance, she took the lead. Ruby didn’t hesitate in the slightest when approaching the gateway. She crossed over the threshold, maintaining her quick pace the whole way.

When she did step over, something changed with her. The lighting, of course, in much the same was as it affected the security team. However, there was something more. A roiling, flame-like shadow settled over her body. It followed her movements perfectly, clinging to her—or emitting from her skin—as she looked back over her shoulder, cocking her head as if to say ‘hurry up.’

“The after effects of what the Hatman did to her,” November said, offering an explanation. She held out her hand. “You next?”

Dyna nodded and stepped through.

She didn’t feel much different. The other side didn’t feel all that different either. The hum of the laboratory cut off, leaving near total silence behind. Her own breath, Ruby, and the few soldiers standing around still made noise. If not for that and the shift in lighting to that omnidirectional near-twilight, Dyna might not have been able to tell that she was outside reality at all.

The room itself wasn’t quite the same. First and foremost, it lacked the machinery around the portal. Several other elements were missing as well, mostly the mobile terminals and consoles that had been brought in for the experiment. Which made sense as they would not have had time to form into the collective thinking of everyone present. Maybe.

Dyna did note that she could not read the writing near the large door at the far end of the room. It was pure gibberish, scribbles and scrawls that looked like a foreign language at first, but were almost certainly just nonsense patterns. The text wasn’t moving, however, which Dyna wondered about. Was it that there were multiple people present who were all solidifying the text? She wasn’t that interested, but could easily imagine the scientists humming and hawing over that one little thing for weeks on end.

Dyna looked back to the portal just in time to watch November step through.

Even having been warned in advance, Dyna couldn’t help but stare. Watching a strange, static-covered human who was otherwise entirely normal just vanish had the hairs on her neck tingling.

The thing that stepped through in November’s place was shadowy, like most tulpa, though a body of frosted glass contained that shadow. The form was clearly… not human even discounting that part. It was like November knew what humans looked like and had tried to fashion her shadowy self after them, but forgot a few crucial details. Most of those forgotten details were in the face. Or… whatever November had in place of a face. It looked like a blank mask with two dark holes leading deep into its skull in place of eyes. A thin line stretched to either side of the mask like a mouth that was far too wide, except it looked like a drawing rather than anything that could open.

Beyond the face, November’s hands and legs were by far the most unnerving aspect of this form. Both were longer and spindlier than they should have been, thin tendrils more than proper limbs. November had neither hands or feet, just tapered ends.

Dyna tried not to stare—too late—she offered a smile. “November, feeling alright?”

November held up its shadowy arm, looking over its missing hand. “I rather liked having a body.”

The way she spoke was different as well. Dyna couldn’t quite tell if she was hearing November with her ears or if her voice was echoing around inside her mind. Either way, a heavy layer of static hung over her voice, making it sound like her voice was coming from an old radio even though she had lost all the visual static effects on her body.

Ruby shuddered, forcing her eyes away from November. “You had all that practice being a human. Can’t you look more normal?”

Dyna swatted Ruby on the forehead. “Be nice. This is normal for November.”

“Yeah, but…”

“Ruby…”

Ruby’s shadows roiled, but she just huffed and crossed her arms, looking off into the room. “Lucky the soldiers didn’t shoot her,” she mumbled.

That, though she wouldn’t say it, Dyna agreed with. The security team were clearly wary of November, watching her more than they were watching the rest of the room.

“You’ll get a human body when you go back through, right?”

“I certainly hope so. I wouldn’t have come through if I thought I would lose it.”

Dyna nodded, but didn’t get a chance to say anything more before she spotted movement on the other side of the portal. “Phase four is starting,” Dyna said, watching a sedated man strapped to a table being pushed through the room. Several guards hovered over him, surrounding him on all sides.

November, Dyna, and Ruby all backed away, allowing the large group space to come through.

“Why does he still look human?” Ruby asked, frowning as the gurney made it through to the noosphere. “Isn’t he a tulpa?”

Dyna frowned as well, thinking back. “The tulpa I spotted while chasing Harold also looked human. At least until I shot them. Then, they turned more shadowy,” she said, motioning toward November. “Any ideas?”

“Possibly a consequence of how they were created. Despite having crossed over myself, I can’t say I’m an expert in doing so.”

“But he is a tulpa.”

“He is. I can tell.”

“Good. Now, we’re in the noosphere. Can you tell how many integrations he has had?”

November’s mask-like face turned toward the tulpa. She angled her head, twisting in a way that humans wouldn’t be able to manage.

Dyna’s hypothesis at the moment was that the tulpa used by Ignotus-33 were far less substantial than anyone thought. How else could she have integrated with so many of them and yet come out the other side with only a mild headache, still feeling entirely like herself?

November reached out as Dyna watched, thin tendril-like arms touching the tulpa.

The human body of the tulpa popped like a water balloon caught in slow motion, with the rubber vanishing yet leaving behind the perfect sphere of water in the same shape. Except instead of water, it turned to a dark shadow. The shadow didn’t splash apart the way water would. Instead, November’s tendrils dove into it even more, making it thrash back and forth. The tulpa’s body shrank, legs and head disappearing into its torso. It didn’t stop there, shrinking further and further around November’s arms until there was nothing left.

Ruby backed away, taking several long steps toward the portal. Her face paled and the shadows clinging to her drew inward, shrinking down as if frightened. Seeing her back away like that did unnerve Dyna somewhat, but she did her best to remain standing and upright, not moving from November’s side. It was the least she could do.

If something went wrong, the soldiers had disruptor guns aimed at November.

November remained still, now staring at her arms where the tulpa had been just moments ago. “Interesting.”

“You didn’t have to integrate with it,” Dyna quickly said. “Are you… alright? Are you still feeling like you?”

November waved a tendril, dismissing Dyna’s concern. “I did not feel threatened by it. It had a mere one or two million integrations, a very small percentage of myself.” She paused, looking to Dyna with those deep pits in place of eyes. “Strange. It should not have been able to maintain a form at its level. And yet, I can find no memories of how it came to exist. I expected to remember waking up in a laboratory somewhere, but there is nothing. Or, perhaps rather than nothing, there is a conspicuous absence of several memories I would consider key to its existence.”

“Like someone removed them?”

November nodded.

“That… does make sense, I suppose. It explains why Sapphire has been unable to pull the complete knowledge of Ignotus from their minds. Someone wouldn’t send them after us, knowing that weakness, without taking precautions.”

“There is… something. Not enough from just one subject. If I were to consume more—”

“I thought you didn’t want to do that?”

“That was before, when I thought they were human-level. They are not.” She paused, then shuddered. “Though perhaps some time to adjust between each would be preferable.”

“Well, that might have to wait for a future date. For now, I feel like my theory has been confirmed. I still have something else to test, even more now that we’ve confirmed these tulpa are not remotely human-level.” Dyna paused, then glanced to the lead soldier. A man named O’Neil, she was fairly sure. “We should move on to phase five.”

O’Neil nodded, then barked some commands to his troops.

As they carted the gurney back through the portal, Dyna looked to November. “Remember, you don’t have to eat these things. We’re really just checking to see their rough level for future reference.”

“I imagine I will be far less inclined with the approaching subject,” November said, looking back to the portal. As she did so, she spotted Ruby. She cocked her head to the side. “You don’t need to fear, Ruby.”

“You’re really fucking creepy.”

“Ruby.”

“What? She is!”

“You have nothing to fear from me.” Slowly, she turned her mask toward Dyna. She didn’t say anything, however, before turning her mask back to the portal.

Another team was wheeling a tulpa toward the portal. Unlike the last, this one was not strapped to a stretcher. It was sealed in a cylindrical pod. A large cylindrical pod. Dyna hadn’t been sure that this was going to work, but the scientists had assured her that clearance was tight, but not impossible.

The mountain man came through. Unlike the human tulpa on the stretcher, the mountain man changed. His flesh peeled back much like November’s had, revealing a bulk of twisting shadows. It remained within the tube, but spread out throughout the liquid, diffusing.

The soldiers were tense, aiming everything they had at the tank. The mountain man made no attempt to escape. Or, if he was making an attempt at escaping, it didn’t look like it.

November stepped forward, peering through the glass. With her face little more than a static mask, discerning her expressions and emotions simply couldn’t be done. Dyna imagined even Id, self-proclaimed expert at such things, would have had a hard time.

“Well?” Dyna asked after a long moment.

“It is more substantial than the previous tulpa. Not anywhere close to the Hatman, but I would still be wary of consuming it.” She paused, narrowing her eyes as she looked into the glass. “It is… different, the way it exists is not natural for tulpa. I can only imagine that this entity was more constructed than integrated naturally over time. Someone pulled apart tulpa and mashed them together again to form this abomination.”

“Is there a way to disrupt that? Pull them back apart to make it harmless? Or at least less…” Dyna waved her hand vaguely toward the mountain man.

Although they had collected a number of advanced tulpa in the last few months, the Carroll Institute had been having a hard time with the mountain man. Dyna didn’t know the exact details, but he seemed to disrupt a lot of psychic abilities, making Sapphire and other mind readers fail or gather contradictory information. Either that or, being an amalgamation of tulpa, they were just reading different and contradictory parts of him.

It was hard to say for sure.

If they could peel him apart, then November might be able to eat little bits of him at a time. She would be able to figure out what was accurate and, maybe, find out a little more about Ignotus than regular tulpa had provided either her or Dyna.

Unfortunately, November was slowly shaking her head in a negative. She abruptly backed up a few steps. “I would recommend removing this entity from the noosphere as swiftly as possible. Its body is no longer susceptible to the contain—”

A spiderweb of cracks spread across the glass as she spoke.

Cries of alarm rippled through the soldiers. Those with disruptors didn’t hesitate to fire them off. Two of the soldiers, those who had wheeled him into the noosphere in the first place, grabbed hold of the cart’s handles and started pulling it backward.

They didn’t make it before a small shard of glass popped out of the containment tank.

Water rushed out. Along with it, shadow spilled from the tank. The shadow came through much faster than the water. Although it had just squeezed through a crack in the glass the size of a coin, it reformed into a hulking monstrosity of shadow. It did not have any human shape to it, standing twice as tall as the humans gathered despite being hunched over on its four limbs. Six white lights in its face served as eyes. Rearing its head back, it let out a roar that shook the floor.

It stood directly between the portal and everyone else.