Picture	Information
	Bubble: DV-S8
	Broadcaster: Sorrowed Songstress Yongmo Shu
	Characteristic Vector: [UD1ROC1HAO4G0DBXPDO4]

Greetings to the people of bubble DV-S8, welcome to the birthday celebrations for two of our children, Guiyue Gu and Chen Zhan. I understand that you’re curious about the strange makeup on my face. You might be asking, “did I cry recently?” Yes, I cry easily, most that know me say that I’m a melancholic person, and I know that little Guiyue and Chen have the same “problem” as me. With the help of local researchers from the SCP Foundation, however, we have discovered that this is not, in fact, a problem, but a miracle.

The piece of immatter in my brain, which has been with me since the day I was born, is the reason I fall easily into tears. It makes me more sensitive to emotions, whether it is mine or yours, and when those myriad emotions combine I cannot help but weep, like right now. But - with the incredible support from the SCP Foundation researchers - we found out that it has brought something else. These cascading, roiling emotions are the source of my gift of singing. Now, Guiyue and Chen are showing promising talent as well, I don’t believe I was an isolated case. We, who were born with immatter, suffer from this inconvenience all our lives, but it has now turned into a blessing.

Immatter is an anomalous substance, that is true. But there is beauty in anomaly, that is something that Foundation researchers taught me. Today, at this place, in front of these two strong, resilient children, I want to show you the beauty of this blessing. Bubble DV-S8, listen to my song:

[A song without lyrics sung by a female soprano, with anomalous memetic properties. From the song, the audience directly feels the sensation of being moved to tears, inspiration for a better world after overcoming hardship, and well wishes to the pure souls of the two children.]

Thank you, everyone!

That night, Ms. Yongmo Shu’s voice received widespread praise from bubble DV-S8 - thanks to her unyielding effort, babies born with immatter received more care, and now everyone is waiting for the birth of the next songster. But another discovery was made the same night that would prove to be more valuable to other bubbles - the memetic effects of Ms. Shu’s singing was not only felt throughout bubble DV-S8, but also transmitted itself to bubble DV-SA, DV-AU, DV-K7… a large amount of neighbouring bubbles received her voice. Her complete, undampened voice.

As a result, we have deemed this the first ever performance from a Sorrowed Songstress. We discovered that, for those born with immatter, any semantic stream that they sing can be freely sent across immatter, without being dampened.

Picture	Information
	Bubble ID: H5-BM
	Sender: Rustsmith Chengqi Kong
	Characteristic Vector: [BZ2A83S5F55EOGK281GX]

How did the old saying go? “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”? If I want to make nice accessories, then I have to take on the oven’s heat. This aurite, it comes from immatter, right? Then I need to find answers in immatter.

I don’t have much aurite on hand anymore. I made a little compass, around the size of my finger. I mixed some charcoal, chromium, nickel and cobalt into my aurite, and magnetised it… just as I predicted, the needle points to some location in the turbulent immatter. When I reach out towards that location and grab, some aurite flakes stick to my palm.

What would it feel like, to be dampened by immatter… it is concerning, but I have to repeat the saying, “nothing ventured, nothing gained”. I still have a lot of ideas, new recipes… could I try putting my hand directly into immatter? I could get dampened, but maybe I could grab onto more flickering, ephemeral pieces of immatter. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” I need aurite, and I think aurite needs me as well.

Having done this for so many years, I never thought I would stake my life on a piece of metal. But this must be my destiny.

Picture	Information
	Bubble: 1K-ZZ
	Broadcaster: Brewmaster Sanlei He
	Characteristic Vector: [XECH2D07E6RDFJIA3NDV]

Damn it… I’m still thinking of that three-eyed eagle owl, it’s gotten to the point where I’m seeing its eyes in my jiuqu.

I stubbornly tried to grind up a little more aurite, this stuff is becoming an urban legend in other bubbles. I mixed it into my spirits and took a swig. I did this a couple of times, and every time without fail, I would always dream of that ghostly-white mountain, with that deer dreaming of the white horse, and that same eagle-owl carrying the ball, covered with eyes, on its back. It’s trying to say something to me… I think I’m starting to get it now. The dream world, its connection with my subconscious… but everything around me is immatter. Is the immatter cutting off the dream world? And what does this have to do with me?

And the deer, dreaming of the white horse. What does that mean? Is it telling me to “call a deer a horse”, to call black white? But what is the deer? And what is the horse?

Picture	Information
	Bubble: DV-S8
	Broadcaster: Sorrowed Songstress Yongmo Shu
	Characteristic Vector: [UD1ROC1HAO4G0DBXPDO4]

The researchers from the SCP Foundation helped conduct more tests for me. I never thought that my voice would have these effects… people of bubble DV-S8, do you have anything you need to broadcast? Any emergency messages, or messages that need to be sent in full. If you need, come to the broadcasting tower! I will do what I can to help.

The principles behind these anomalous memes are complicated… I can’t promise I can weave complicated, precise information into my songs. Messages that are more centred around feelings and emotions are easier for me to send. But no matter what it is, I want to help, I will help. It does not matter whether your message only contains a small belief or a well wish, do not think for a second that it is a waste of our resources. Immatter has blocked out so much. Faith… desires… hope… I believe that even the act of transmitting these things in full is deeply meaningful.

Come find me! Come find me at the broadcasting tower! Let my voice send your thoughts to every bubble!

Picture	Information
	Bubble ID: IL-G5
	Sender: Senior Researcher Noda Yu
	Characteristic Vector: N/A

Xin, I’m special.

I think I understand now. Characteristic vectors decide whether or not semantic streams will dampen when travelling through immatter, and both parts of my vector are constantly changing… thus, immatter cannot dissect my semantic stream. Of course, if I just casually stroll in, I will get dampened, immatter will swallow me whole, because I haven’t… crossed the threshold. The aurite is revealing this to me, when I feel it tug as it gets closer to my heart. Not my heart tugging the aurite, but the aurite tugging my heart. Maybe my changing characteristic vector… can be controlled to a fixed set of modes.

I made a small blade out of aurite… I think its revelations are becoming far clearer, my heartbeats, the call from a bubble far away, your visage… I’m doubting myself, will this hurt… but Xin, I miss you, I miss you so much… I can’t take it anymore… the latest predictions for immatter windows say what, three years? Five years? Ten? Ten years until I see you again? I can’t accept this at all… I can’t hold on for much longer, I don’t think I can put this off any longer.

You scolded me the other day, you said I was brash, stubborn, and that I saw the window to IL-G5 and jumped straight there for my research. You’re right… I’ve always been like this, if I found a direction then I could go days without rest, I wouldn’t be satisfied unless I’ve tried everything I could… can you forgive me one last time, Xin? Including all the mistakes I’ve made before? Because I’ve found a direction this time as well, and it’s pointing towards you.

I’m coming, Xin.

Picture	Information
	Bubble ID: CR-KV
	Sender: Guest Research Director Lan Xia
	Characteristic Vector: [P4WHR5I1JFKK9M060R5I]

To all at bubble CR-KH - my apologies, I am going back on my word. I need one last favour from you.

There are a few windows in the near future, from these immatter predictions, and I would like for every researcher except myself to leave this bubble. Maybe the thing that happened last time… has nothing to do with experimental procedures and operational guidelines. The micro-particles in bubble CR-KV are far too energised, even staying here will cause damage to your body, much less conducting research. And now, after a period of back-and-forth conversations and arranging research results, I think I can conclude that research into the 9th system symmetry has reached its end, the direction was wrong, there will be no results. There is therefore no need for everyone to stay in this dangerous bubble to do research.

But I have decided to stay here. I have stated before that I will be here until my death, there is no need to waste transmission window resources on someone as frail as me. Unlike everyone else, a little extra radiation no longer makes a difference to me.

Please do not worry - I can spend the remainder of my life here in piece. I have seen the research coming out of some groups, there are some novel research topics for me to pass the time, regarding the interactions between anomalous particles and aurite. I remember when I first made contact with aurite, they told me to describe what it felt like. Back then, I said that “I felt an infinite number of strands piercing through me”. This is real, I did feel that sensation at that time, but they stood so solemnly, like they were submerged in ice water… they are all good kids, so I have to let them leave.

Bubble ID: WL-9I
Sender: Junior Researcher Anlan Jiao
Characteristic Vector: [4SKJA8YGXK3AMIH2LJYI]

It seems like, including ourselves, a lot of bubbles have begun to understand the connection between aurite, characteristic vectors and immatter. Every researcher in our bubble is starting to find characteristic vectors. But there’s no direction… we’re all running around like headless chickens. We know that every person will cause a different reaction when they come into contact with aurite, but how do you turn these abstract reactions into specific ways to change oneself? What does “changing oneself” even mean?

I get this being an anomaly now - there’s no rhyme or reason at all. I’m starting to think that the cases of people discovering suitable characteristic vectors are close to miracles.

Picture	Information
	Bubble ID: H5-BM
	Sender: Rustsmith Chengqi Kong
	Characteristic Vector: [BZ2A83S5F55EOGK281GX]

The aurite is separating out onto my hands, piercing into them like spikes. Not only can I see it there, I can feel it carved into my fingers, my joints, scratching inside me with every stretch and movement. The longer I place my hands in immatter, the more aurite pierces them. Shit, I got dampened and lost my right ring finger… but it’s not a problem, I made a new one with aurite. I can make anything with aurite. These aurite spikes aren’t even interfering with my work, how could it ever give me trouble? It is my material, I am its craftsman, we are one.

My hand is going further and further in, the aurite in the immatter is calling me, there is a chance that soon, half my body finds itself in immatter… at this point, I don’t even know if I’m going too far, but it’s not happening anyway, the Foundation is here. They’re curious as well, those researchers in white, about my aurite-covered palms, my aurite crafts. They seemed a mix of perplexed and awestruck at how aurite and I work so well together. They want to collaborate - they’ll supply the aurite, and they won’t step in, only observe, I can do whatever I want.

No chance in hell I’m giving up this opportunity.

Picture	Information
	Bubble: 1K-ZZ
	Broadcaster: Brewmaster Sanlei He
	Characteristic Vector: [XECH2D07E6RDFJIA3NDV]

Shit, I must be going insane, how did I cook up making a wine glass out of aurite. I feel like I’m still drunk… or am I still dreaming? I’ve got no idea, my head is swirling, I can’t tell the difference. Do you people dream after getting sloshed? I used to be the type of person to have lots of dreams every night, one dreamscape after another, no logic to them at all, colours and shapes melting into each other. But not anymore - ever since touching that piece of aurite, that three-eyed eagle-owl has been staring a hole in me.

The Southern Mountain, this must be the Southern Mountain, the one in “may you live as long as the Southern Mountain” - it stands towering in this dream, the eternal Southern Mountain. And eternity is just another way of saying “unchanging”, “uneventful”, in a way it is death itself. That three-eyed eagle-owl, the god of this dreamland, looks dissatisfied and lost. This dreamscape was meant to be a gathering place, where us drunkards could meet in the realm of dreams, with the eagle-owl bringing us together. But what “together” is there anymore? Immatter exists in reality, and in dreams.

Immatter exists in dreams… God, the world is fractured, communication is severed, the Southern Mountain has risen in my dreams. Because there’s no communication, no gathering, immatter has rendered everything unmoving like a pool of stagnant water, nothing will move forward in this shattered world, it will fade into silence and disappear into eternity… in other words, it will die. I’ve died! How can someone dead get buzzed? How can someone dead brew an ambrosia?

The eagle-owl is frustrated too. It wants to feel intoxicated too, it wants to blend together with us in these hazy dreams. But the world is dead, eagle-owl, I can’t sell my liquor, I can’t reach any other bubbles, immatter has sealed us off, I’m helpless! I’ve only got a deer dreaming of a white horse here, what can I do!

……what the hell did I write?

Picture	Information
	Bubble ID: IL-G5
	Sender: Senior Researcher Noda Yu
	Characteristic Vector: N/A

<Recording begins>

Noda Yu: I’m here.

The camera appears to be on the camera operator’s head. He is holding a torch, in bubble IL-G2 late at night, and in front of him is a small research facility. A short moment later, all lights in the second floor of the facility turn on, and a man can faintly be seen walking to the second-floor balcony, looking over to where the camera operator is, rubbing his eyes, looking again for a short period of time, and then running rapidly back inside the facility. All lights in the entire facility suddenly turn on, and shouts can be faintly heard: “Medic team! Get the medic team here! First-aid kit, where’s the first-aid kit!”

Yu: I’ve succeeded.

Hengxin Shi: Noda!

Yu: Hengxin, I’ve succeed—

Hengxin Shi, holding back tears, throws the first-aid kit onto the ground, then wraps bandages around the camera operator’s body. The operator lowers his head, showing a large patch of blood on the left side of his blue shirt. Shi hurriedly tries to cover that area up with the bandages.

Shi: Noda… (choke) hold… hold on, the medic team is on their way… don’t… don’t… (choke) hold on, Noda… hold on…

Yu: Hengxin, listen to me—

The camera operator wants to loosen the bandages, but Shi persistently rewraps them.

Shi: Don’t… (choke) don’t…

Yu: Hengxin, listen to me. Calm down.

The camera operator puts his hand on Shi’s shoulder, the bandages fall to the ground. Shi lifts his face, covered with tears.

Shi: What?

Yu: I’m okay, Hengxin, I’m okay. (pause) Look.

The camera operator lowers his head, unbuttons his shirt, and pulls it open. A large hole at his chest, where his heart would normally be, is visible, but most of the bleeding has stopped, and parts of the edge of the wound are in preliminary stages of healing.

Shi: This… this is…

Yu: This is how I travelled through immatter. (pause) I’ve succeeded, Hengxin, I can now freely move through immatter, without dampening.

Shi looks at the camera operator, perplexed, and then bursts into tears, gives him a strong hug. Sounds of crying, interspersed with heavy breathing, can be heard.

Shi: Noda… Noda… (choke) I… I missed you… I missed you so much!

Yu: I know. Even though I couldn’t receive much from your semantic streams, from the few words I got, I saw that you missed me.

Shi: I have… I have so many things to say… (choke) that I haven’t told you yet… you’re here… you came back… (sobs)

Yu: Yes, I’ve succeeded. This is an exciting discovery. Now that immatter can’t stop me, we can start researching together, we can begin contacting other bubbles.

A short pause. Then, Shi lets go of his hug with the camera operator, and takes a step back.

Shi: What… what did you say?

Yu: I said, we can start researching together, we can start contacting other bubbles. Isn’t that the logical next step?

Shi: Yes, but… why… why are you like this…

Shi leaves his eyes at the hole in the camera operator’s chest for a few seconds, then shudders, and screams loudly.

Shi: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Yu: Hengxin, what’s wrong? I’ve succeeded, I can now travel through immatter, isn’t this an important discovery?

Shi: But you… but you… (choke) you can’t feel it.

Shi grabs the camera operator’s right hand, and places it on top of his chest.

Shi: Tell me… tell me what you feel.

Yu: I can feel your heart is beating rapidly. You’re excited, Hengxin, but this is normal, why are you acting this way?

Shi: Because I love you! Because I am excited! I’m thinking… (choke) I’m thinking about us… we can finally be together again, in each other’s arms, making meals together… watching… (choke) movies together, waiting for experiment results together on that sofa together… the two of us…

Yu: I can still do those things—

Shi: But you can’t feel those things anymore! You’ve… you just… so that’s why you said… (choke) you did…

Yu: I don’t understand.

Shi: Of course you don’t understand! Because… because…

The camera operator raises his head, and sees a medic team pushing a stretcher out from the research facility. In front of him, Shi slowly falls to his knees, onto the ground.

Shi: Because you don’t have a heart anymore!

<Recording ends>