Christmas Tinsel

Story so far

While waiting for the Airship Portal elevator, Carl caught a sparkle on the floor: leftover Christmas Tinsel from the tree that had stood in the guild's main space. It should not have been there. The Strippers had cleaned most of it up, and the rest of the decorations dissipated on arriving at this floor because they had come from the Memory Simulation. The Cleaner Bot does not service the main guild room. The only explanation was that this tinsel had been looted on an earlier floor, from outside the simulation, and simply been missed.

The realization destabilized him — like taking a step and finding the ground an inch lower than expected. Wondering which reality the tinsel came from, he grounded himself in a bleak marvel: every person, place, and object around him is real, imaginary, or somewhere between, and the consequences of touching them do not match their own reality. They live in a simulation of a simulation, where the make-believe parts are often deadlier than the real ones. It led him to Pater Coal, to Lightning Lou, and to the failsafe he carries.

Appearance

A few thin, sparkling strands lying on the floor of the guild's main space.

Role

A physical anomaly that serves as the chapter's proof that realities are bleeding into each other.

Relationships