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Info
Hello! This was my Gift Exchange 2022 piece for
CuBard, based on our apparently shared love of the unlucky dimension-hopping rascal that is SCP-507 (seriously top-tier S1 article, go read it if you haven't).
More blathering from me in author post dor those curious, but for now, hope you all enjoy the pandimensional character exploration from another set of pandimensional characters!
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Black Queen Gnosis, present and ready to begin.
Queen Amethyst, reporting in.
I’m Black Queen Curie, curious as ever and ready to make some discoveries!
I, the Empty Empress Shadowsage, am at the service of my dear sisters, as always.
Um, Hi, I usually go by B.Q. Hera, and I’m also here-a… heh…
…Alright Let’s just go ahead and get on with it.
Baseline
The individual at hand is always human (or a close enough analog) so far as we’ve seen, and usually but not always male, and can go by many names regardless; often even within the same timeline. These range from appellations as mundane as “Steve” to as over-the-top as “Grabnok the Destroyer”.
Hold on, so many names and yet the latter is what you picked to title this catalog?
It was Sister Sage’s (very insistent) request, and I just have more important things to devote my care and attention to.
I stand by my inspired decision as well as my sense of boundless commitment.
Actually, I kinda like the name it too, tbh
Fine, whatever. So what does this Steve even destroy?
So, he doesn’t really “destroy” much, per se. He is more of an inadvertent traveler of the multiverse who, with very few exceptions, almost never appears to be able to exercise any control over exactly when and where he ends up when he switches dimensions.
Wait, so it’s just a completely random process?
Not exactly; As far as I can tell, Grabnok always or at least almost always translocates to a dimension that at least shows short-term habitability, at the very least. So for example, think of traits like breathable atmosphere, non-immediately-fatal temperatures, etc.
It’s fascinating actually! He might end up somewhere alien and dangerous, but Neither Gnosis nor I could find any examples of an iteration just shifting into the void of space or some gas giant or magma planet.
Well sure, but if some of them DID disappear and end up floating in the void or burning to a crisp or something, how would we know? Who the hell would find them?
Most specific iterations we’ve followed seem to last quite a while longer than you’d expect if there weren’t some environmental restrictions. As in, an average amount of shifts so close to one that we’d be lucky to hear of even a single successful return and subsequent event or two.
Let’s just call it tentative for now and move on.
Prerequisites
- Mainly just the existence of Earth and the development of human beings and human civilization, with at least somewhat regular anomalous activity suspected as well. At least as far as we can tell.
- So vague things we’d probably guess in the first place…
- To be fair, the bastards are almost uniquely hard to concretely track down the origin universes of. When one disappears, do you know whether they’re shifting to a new dimension, or just shifting back to their original?
- Ugh my head is already starting to hurt.
Utility
Can we somehow figure out that whole instantaneous interdimensional travel, if it can be controlled at least? The Library is big; an endless space isn't exactly the ideal transport hub in a lot of ways. Maybe study and experimentation can make the effect transferable and/or learnable?
Ideally, that would also be my main target as well. Quite a useful ability if it could be controlled.
I’ve got another one! So for one thing, maybe studying the guy's peculiar abilities could help us determine the validity of PIM Theory!
What theory?
Pseudo-Infinite Multiverse Theory. It’s her weird little hypothesis that the multiverse isn’t actually infinitely vast with infinite iterations, but instead just has such a large finite number of universes that the same worlds and people and such can pop up like, millions of times or something and we wouldn't know the difference.
OK A) It’s not stupid, even our sister Cosma, the PHYSICIST, said it might possibly hold water, and B) *So large we couldn't EASILY tell the difference*
I promise you you don't want to ask her any more questions about it, Hera.
Whatever, y'all are assholes. Point is, Grabnok here might be an exception if we could figure out how to use him properly? Oh and just think of what he could show us in terms of Narrativistic Supercluster inter-similarity!
Can we mute her for a bit?
You know what, just send a summary to me later Curie, but for now yes, please drop it. This is already taking longer than it should.
Intellectual cowards, the lot of you.
Vulnerability
Most things really; despite the aforementioned tendency to avoid automatically fatal locations and dimensions, Grabnoks aren’t actually usually very hearty travelers, or even physically adept at much of anything.
So if it will kill or maim your average human paean, it’ll do at least as much for our Grabnok the Misnomer here, got it.
Um, powerful as this dude sounds, have any of them ever actually shown any hint of being able to control their powers?
Put a pin in that, Hera.
Instance: Timeline C-231:
This timeline's iteration seems pretty average, far as I can tell. pretty well-traveled at this point, with lots of phobias and some hardcore PTSD from a few really unpleasant trips.
Like what?
Oh you know, escapades like the planet of Megaspiders, the Voidlands of Bellowing Discord, that Tartarean prison colony in J-616, and so on.
Sage also tried to use his as a ritual sacrifice once.
I didn't know who he was! He just popped into the building and happened to fit the physical characteristics I needed, not my fault.
What was the ritual for?
Purely benevolent and important work, I assure you…
Besides, he shifted back like halfway through my carving the third sigil on his chest; so no harm, no foul.
Instance: Timeline A-067:
This one has mental issues himself as well, to say the least.
Apparently all he does is wear a creepy smile and speak in cryptic riddles and threats.
Has he always been like that?
No, in fact he apparently had a growing fear of people who smiled after one shift for another, interestingly enough. I couldn't find many details on this one though.
We'll have to mark this one down as one to look more into.
Instance: Timeline B-881:
So, this is my universe, and probably the only reason I was invited to this cataloging session tbh. My first ever actually, so bear with me sisters; I’m actually pretty damn new to all this, if you’d believe that!
Yes, we easily would Hera. Get on with it.
Right, sorry. Well, I’ve actually met the guy, while doing recon at a Foundation site I’d infiltrated while looking for Dad…er, my timeline’s version of Dr. Gears. In my universe, he didn't seem to even mind his containment all that much, even if he did seem sorta lonely and melancholy when we chatted. During a containment breach I initiated to get in, I offered to let him out, but he just said “No thanks.”
Well, not a lot of friends to be had for an anomaly locked up in a Foundation site.
He actually did mention a couple “friends”; a couple of other on-site sapient anomalies, this engineer Bailey or something who got along better with “freaks like him” than her own coworkers…
Yeah Boo-hoo, the world is mean and steps on the meek.
Damn, chill out a bit would you please?
Bitch, I will step on you too.
Everyone chill the hell out and focus. Fair point raised though, how are the dude’s poor social skills here relevant?
Hmm, actually it might be worth checking if those or similar bonds exist in similar iterations; could be useful if we ever need to get a specimen or ten of our own.
Oh, um… yeah, cool I guess.
Instance: Timeline C-421:
My turn! This is not my original universe, but a similar one to my original as well as seemingly to Hera’s, coincidentally. This Grabnok was also in Foundation containment, but per my inside contacts there, he suddenly arrived in pieces after one shift.
what do you mean by “pieces”?
I mean literal pieces, his main body was missing an arm and a leg, which appeared at different points simultaneously in the same room. Seems something violent got to him shortly before shifting back.
Oooh, now we’re talking!
Grabby Boy himself was already almost dead from blood loss. All my contact knew besides those basic details was that he was apparently delirious and half-conscious for a couple of minutes, and kept muttering incoherently about Lincoln or something.
These guys are so weird, man.
Instance: Timeline G-035:
So as to your earlier question, Hera, You can pull that metaphorical pin back out. To date, this is the only iteration to demonstrate wide-ranging and consistent control of his anomalous abilities.
Most importantly, here he manifests additional traits not seen in other iterations. I’m talking low-level reality-bending, high CogHaz and memetic resistance, even potential telepathy. I don’t know what exactly his goals are, I thiiink they’re on the vengeance or power accumulation side of things.
How do you know all that?
I was the one to study him, quite recently in fact. Followed him around the library, this one is a member of the Serpent's Fang, though he's not exactly the most idealistic of their bunch. Unless hatred of those who hurt him and anyone tangentially connected to them counts as an ideal.
Dude is a frightening sociopath…
I like him, actually, interesting conversation partner! refused to acquiesce to even a little bit of harmless direct experimentation. He just laughed it off and said I sounded like my father.
Wait, so he knows all about us and our little sisterhood?
Oh don't worry, I didn't tell him anything, I think he just may have heard basic details about me from other hand members we both run with.
May not have had to tell him anything if he's "potentially telepathic"
…I need to go check on something.
[ShadowSage has left.]
You have to be kidding me. OK has anyone else here interacted with him?
I did briefly, but only briefly… Like I said he's a frightening figure.
Did you happen to have our mental intrusion protection glyphs active and properly applied at the time???
I mean Yeah! of course, I know better than to walk around the Library without 'em.
OK I'm pretty sure I did!
…
Curie?
She did not.
[Curie has left.]
Oh hell Nah, nope.
[Amethyst has left.]
Shit, shit, OK I need to talk to the others.
[Gnosis has left.]
Uh… Hey guys? What's going on?
Where'd everyone go?
…
I should check on my Grabnok, actually, see how he's been holding up.
[Hera has left.]
<Session ended.>