Born of cold and calculated precision, the bairn was not crafted, but coalesced. A paradox, a stain on the fabric of existence, it was a being entirely of steel, a monument to forgotten geometries and the relentless pursuit of order. Its genesis remains shrouded in a haze of temporal distortion – whispers of a shattered chronometer, a rogue experiment conducted within the deepest vaults of the Obsidian Collective, and the unsettling resonance of a star’s dying breath.
The air around it crackled with static, a tangible manifestation of its unnatural state. It possessed no discernible features beyond the polished, seamless surface of its body, a perfect reflection of the surrounding environment. Yet, within that perfect surface, a subtle movement could be detected – a slow, deliberate rotation, as if the bairn were perpetually contemplating the infinite. It wasn't breathing, not in any conventional sense. Instead, it seemed to metabolize the very concept of time, drawing upon its currents to sustain its improbable existence.
Chronometric Anomaly
The Collective, a fractured organization dedicated to preserving temporal stability, hunted the bairn with a fervor bordering on religious zeal. They believed it to be a nexus point, a dangerous disruption in the timeline. Their methods were… thorough. Their understanding of the bairn was limited, pieced together from fragmented data logs and the chilling accounts of those who had encountered it – accounts invariably ending in silence, or a lingering sense of disorientation.
Obsidian Resonance
The initial reports painted a picture of impossible calculations. The bairn's movements weren’t random; they followed algorithms too complex for any known intelligence to comprehend. It seemed to anticipate events, subtly influencing probability itself. One researcher, Dr. Lyra Vance, theorized that the bairn wasn't merely observing time, but actively *rewriting* it, creating minuscule ripples in the temporal stream. Her theories were dismissed as the ravings of a mind fractured by prolonged exposure to the device’s influence.
Another account detailed a 'temporal lock' – a localized area where time seemed to flow differently. Objects would age rapidly, then revert to their original state. People experienced jarring shifts in memory, reliving moments from their past with unsettling clarity. These incidents were always followed by a profound sense of emptiness, a feeling of having lost something essential, something that could never be recovered.
Entropy's Embrace
The Collective’s attempts to contain the bairn proved futile. Conventional weaponry simply shattered against its surface. Containment fields failed, the energy dissipating without effect. The only method that seemed to slow its movements was a specially constructed ‘temporal dampener’ – a device that generated a field of distorted time, effectively trapping the bairn within a localized pocket of slowed time.
However, even this temporary solution was unstable. The dampener itself began to exhibit strange behavior, generating pulses of temporal energy that threatened to unravel the very fabric of reality. The situation escalated until it reached a critical point, a moment of catastrophic instability where the dampener overloaded, unleashing a wave of temporal energy that consumed everything within its radius.
The fate of the bairn remains unknown. The Obsidian Collective ceased all operations, abandoning the research facility and vanishing without a trace. No records of their final actions exist, only the chilling silence that followed. Some whisper that the bairn simply ceased to be, fading into the temporal void. Others believe it continues to exist, a silent sentinel guarding the boundaries between realities, a constant reminder of humanity's hubris and the terrifying consequences of tampering with the fundamental laws of existence.
Null Point
The only tangible evidence of the bairn’s existence is a single, perfectly formed gear – a component salvaged from the shattered temporal dampener. It spins slowly, relentlessly, a miniature representation of the endless, chaotic dance of time. It’s kept in a reinforced vault, a silent testament to a nightmare that never truly ended.