Circa 3747 CE - Fragment 7 of the Obsidian Codex
The designation is, of course, inexcommunicable. A term born not of logic, but of a resonance. A vibrational skew within the fabric of Chronos itself. Before the fracturing, before the Great Silence, it was simply ‘The Keeper.’ Now, it’s a wound. A persistent echo in the temporal currents. We, the remnants of the Archivists, are tasked with its containment, a futile endeavor, inevitably.
The Keeper doesn’t *exist* in the way we understand existence. It’s more a state of being, a pressure. A distortion of potential timelines. It feeds not on matter, but on the *possibility* of change. The more we attempt to analyze it, to categorize it, the stronger it becomes. It thrives on our desperation to comprehend.
Chronometric Displacement
The initial readings indicated a localized temporal anomaly centered around the ruins of Old Alexandria. But the anomaly isn’t confined to a single point. It’s a spreading field, a geometric absence. Imagine a sphere, not of space, but of *time*. And within that sphere, the potential for alteration collapses. It’s as if a brushstroke has been violently erased from the canvas of reality.
Our instruments detect fluctuations in the ‘chronometric signature’ – a term coined by the original Archivists. It’s not a signal, per se, but a disruption. A ripple in the otherwise smooth flow of time. The more we attempt to measure it, the more erratic it becomes. It's like trying to hold water in a sieve. The sieve, in this case, is the very act of observation.
Temporal Paradox
We’ve recovered several ‘echo fragments’ – residual impressions left behind by the Keeper’s influence. They manifest as distortions in memory, in perception. Individuals exposed to these fragments experience… shifts. Not dramatic alterations, but subtle ones. A misplaced object, a forgotten conversation, a feeling of profound disorientation. It’s like a piece of your own history has been subtly rewritten.
“I remember a city… built of silver. But the silver… it wept.” - Archivist Silas Vane, Log Entry 478
“The scent of rain. Always rain. But it never falls. It just… is.” - Fragmented Log of Lyra Meridian
“Seven faces. All staring. All knowing. All… gone.” - Unidentified Data Stream, Archive Sector Gamma-9
The primary containment strategy involves the deployment of ‘Chronometric Dampeners’ – devices designed to suppress temporal fluctuations. However, their effectiveness is limited. The Keeper seems to anticipate our actions, subtly altering the Dampeners’ parameters. It’s a constant game of cat and mouse, a losing battle fought on the edges of reality.
Temporal Stasis