Fragment of the Universe (2024)

"You see a song in front of you. It's approaching, becoming more colorful by the second."
- Fragment of the Universe's Entry

Fragment of the Universe (O-03-60) is an Abnormality whose form is a black ball made of a material not found on Earth, with five appendages coming off of it in an asymmetrical manner. The main portion of the body has three brightly colored heart shaped spots on it. The four long appendages are referred to as tentacles. The fifth appendage coming off of the top of the body has a shape similar to a poorly drawn heart. It has been described as having a "metaphysical form [that] can hardly be explained in human language."

Ability[]

Fragment of the Universe's ability will trigger when its Qliphoth Counterreaches 0. Its Qliphoth Counter can fluctuate in the following ways:

• Decrease by 1 with 50% chance when getting a Normal Work Result.
• Decrease by 1 with 70% chance when getting a Bad Work Result.
• Decrease by 1 when an Agent Panics in its Containment Unit.

When the counter reaches 0, Fragment of the Universe will change its form and breach. Its "head" warps into a distended maw filled with misshapen eye-like organs, while the heart-shaped spots on its body shift from red and purple to dark crimson. While breaching, the Fragment of the Universe, with only 230 HP and slow Movement Speed at 20, will roam around the facility trying to approach employees and attack them, dealing Black Damage (3-4). Sometimes it stop to sing its 'song', dealing constant White Damage (3-4) to nearby employees in the same room for an amount of time. It will keep wandering around until subdued or the day ends.

Origin[]

The Fragment of the Universe seems to be a member of an alien race that arrived on Earth from outer space. It had no stable form when it first arrived. When it was found by the company and brought to the facility, the workers started experimenting on it, focusing on the Abnormality's reactions. After the experiments, the Abnormality's form would change depending on what it saw that made it happy, like a child's smile or the shape of a heart. It also tried to mimic sounds, such as the sound of laughter. The current form of Fragment of the Universe is a black ball covered by 'hearts' of different colors, probably caused by the experiments, and is able to produce unknown sounds, implied to be a 'song', named "Echoes From Beyond" by the employees. In some cases, when employees attempted to interact further with the Abnormality, they received severe mental damage and underwent psychosis, eventually leading to their placement in psychiatric facilities.

Where it was found, how it arrived to the facility, and when the experiments took place are unknown.

Details[]

Fragment of the Universe responds to the four works in order from best to worst: Attachment, Repression and Insight, and Instinct.

Like all Abnormalities, its energy output is determined by the number of PE Boxes (Positive Enkephalin boxes) at the end of the interaction.

Fragment of the Universe's emotional state is divided into 3 sections: Bad, Normal, and Good. Completing 0-3 E Boxes will cause it to feel Distressed, completing 4-7 will cause it to feel Normal, and 8-12 will provide a Happy result. Its usual cooldown timer after a task is around 15 seconds. Its Qliphoth Counter is 2.

Unlockable Information/Upgrades[]

Basic Information (Cost: 12 PE Boxes)

Unlocks and shows the name of the Abnormality, subject classification, Risk Level ( TETH), portrait, Damage Type ( Black 1-3), the amount of E-Boxes (12), its emotional states, and Qliphoth Counter.

Instinct/Insight/Attachment/Repression Work Preferences (Cost: 4 PE Boxes)

Unlocks the percentage level list to the respective work.

Managerial Guidelines 1/2/3 (Cost: 4 PE Boxes)

• "Managerial Guideline 1"
  • "When the work result was Normal, the Qliphoth Counter lowered with a normal probability."
• "Managerial Guideline 2"
  • "When the work result was Bad, the Qliphoth Counter lowered with a high probability."
• "Managerial Guideline 3"
  • "When employee <name> panicked during work, the Qliphoth Counter lowered."

Escape Information (Cost: 12 PE Boxes)

Information if the Abnormality can escape or not, plus its Qliphoth Counter (2). This include its defenses when breaching:

Red: Normal (1.0) - White: Weak(1.5) - Black: Normal (1.0) - Pale: Vulnerable (2.0)

Work	Level 1 Chance	Level 2 Chance	Level 3 Chance	Level 4 Chance	Level 5 Chance
	"Low" (30%)	"Low" (30%)	"Low" (20%)	"Low" (20%)	"Low" (20%)
	"Common" (40%)	"Common" (40%)	"Low" (30%)	"Low" (30%)	"Low" (30%)
	"High" (60%)	"High" (60%)	"Common" (50%)	"Common" (50%)	"Common" (50%)
	"Common" (50%)	"Common" (50%)	"Common" (40%)	"Common" (40%)	"Common" (40%)

Observation Level[]

Level 1(1 Section unlocked): Speed Rate +5

Level 2(2 Sections unlocked): Success Rate +5%

Unlocks the E.G.O. Gift'Fragments from Somewhere'.

Level 3(3 Sections unlocked): Speed Rate +5

Unlocks the E.G.O. Weaponand Suit'Fragments from Somewhere'.

Level 4(All details unlocked): Success Rate +5%

E.G.O. Equipment[]

• Weapon

• Suit

• Gift

E.G.O. Weapon Fragments from Somewhere

Fragments from Somewhere
Grade:	Cost:	Max Amount:	Damage:	Attack Speed:	Range:	Observation Level:
TETH	20	3	Black 5-9	Fast	Medium	3
Requirements: None

Special Information
Details	Special Ability
"Do not attempt to understand it, just use it. The spear often tries to lead the wielder into a long and endless realm of mind, but they must try to not be swayed by it. It took a different form every time it was produced, but we managed to stabilize the gestalt after a lot of effort and trouble. There is a rumor that this spear emits a bright light when it hears an echo from another world."	"Max SP +40% for 30 seconds (10% chance) when used by an employee whose Prudence Level is 4 or below"
Notes

E.G.O. Suit Fragments from Somewhere

Fragments from Somewhere
Grade:	Cost:	Max Amount:	RED Defense:	WHITE Defense:	BLACK Defense:	PALE Defense:
TETH	25	2	1.0 Normal	1.2 Weak	0.6 Endured	2.0 Vulnerable
Observation Level: 3		Requirements: None

Special Information
Details	Special Ability
"Do not attempt to understand it, just use it. Sometimes, the wielder may see things we have long forgotten. However, the details of these cannot be specified, as each employee seems to see something different. It took a different form every time it was produced, but we managed to stabilize the gestalt after a lot of effort and trouble."	None
Notes

E.G.O. Gift Fragments from Somewhere

	Fragments from Somewhere (Brooch 1)
	Effects: Success Rate +2, Work Speed +2

Drop Chance: 5%

Observation Level: 2

Story[]

• "An Abnormality that resembles a child's innocent doodles. Originally, it had no stable form, its shape would continually morph. To this day its aspects still change, albeit at a much slower pace. Component analysis has revealed that the Abnormality consists of matter that does not exist on Earth. It is notable for its metaphysical appearance that one cannot explain with words."

• "It often shows incomprehensible linguistic activity. One employee tried to decipher its speech (see Document #1 <Employee David’s Song>), but their mental contamination level rose beyond the limit within several days. They suffered severe psychosis and had to be quarantined."

• "The Abnormality's tentacles (which are quite different from what we consider the average tentacle; for simplicity’s sake we’ve monickered them as “tentacles”) can pierce through the barrier of humanity. Employees impaled by the tentacles will suffer semi-permanent brain damage."

• "When the Abnormality escapes its Containment Unit, it will emit noises in the corridor. As the sounds it makes have what could be considered a melody and syllables, we consider it “singing”. However, none of our staff can precisely remember it, given that most of the time they are unable to describe it due to their serious brain damage. Those who were within 100 meters of the “singing” called it a sound unheard of in this world. Because of these descriptions, we’ve titled it “Echoes from the Beyond”. (See Document #2 <Singing>)"

• "Experiment_1 <The Possibility of Communication>
  We have determined that the Abnormality has an intelligence similar to (or even higher than) that of humans, and gave it a simple language learning course. As a result, a crude communication by combining words has become possible. The following is a segment of the communication record with the Abnormality.

  Q: Are all of your kind similar in appearance?
  A: Negative. Outside. Child. See. Picture. Face. Happy. Change. Form.

  Q: Why have you come here?
  A: Knowledge. Share. Human.

  Q: Why do you want to share your knowledge with us?
  A: Understanding. Knowledge. Moment. Know. Universe. Coincidence. Negative; None.

  This section is an attempt to decipher the conversation with the Abnormality.
  1. It based its form on a picture drawn by a child. It changed its form because the child's expression while drawing it was happy.
  2. It came here to share its species’ knowledge with us. The moment we fully understand that knowledge, we will know their ultimate goal.
  3. There is no such thing as a coincidence in the universe."

• "Experiment_2 <An Experiment on Laughter>
  After watching a video about laughing for 30 minutes, the Abnormality understood the concept of “laughing”. After that, when employees entered its Containment Unit to work with it, it would sometimes emit a strange noise with what appeared to be the shape of a smile on its face. It looked like it was mimicking laughter."

• "Experiment_3 <Comprehension of Symbols>
  We taught it the meaning of various symbols along with language. Among them was the shape of a heart. This symbol provoked a distinct change from the Abnormality.

  Q (Showing the Abnormality a picture of a heart): This is the symbol of the “heart”. Many people believe that emotions come from the heart, and this symbol is used to express positive emotions or a liking towards someone. (Omitted)

  Afterwards, several symbols resembling hearts were seen on the Abnormality’s body. It seemed to understand that the symbol could be used to express friendliness towards humans. Combining the results of the previous two experiments, we can confirm that this Abnormality is non-hostile to humans, and wishes to become friends."

• "Document #1 <Employee David’s Song>
  David was famous in his department for his attempts to communicate with the 'Fragment of the Universe'. He was an intellectual who enjoyed reading philosophical books and gazing at the stars. He held interest in the Abnormality and as such he got the job; he researched its language and behaviour purely out of personal interest.
  So what became of David? Eventually, he succeeded in entering the domain of the Fragment of the Universe. However, it was obvious that his small brain couldn't withstand it. He was transferred to the psychiatric ward, and died of starvation while singing an unrecognizable song. This is why the Abnormality’s voice cannot be revealed to the public.
  Audio Record: Echoes in the Universe (Currently Removed)"

• "Document #2 <Singing>
  ...Why didn't you tell me earlier that the Abnormality was responsible for their condition? I have no idea if there’s any pattern, but they all show the same strange behavior on the exact same days. Can you imagine a group of patients staring at the sky with dazed faces, wailing strange noises in the corridor at night while everyone is asleep? I had such a difficult time persuading the other patients that they must have been practicing for the company’s upcoming Halloween event. Psychiatric treatment and medicine won't help.
  "Coming, coming, still coming," they keep repeating these words, and anything else they utter is not from any language we know. I think sending them to a general hospital was an unwise decision.
  -Doctor from the (Record Deleted) Ward."

Flavour Text[]

• "We may only be able to understand the secrets of the universe once we enter Fragment of the Universe’s domain."
• "The sight of crazed employees singing along with Fragment of the Universe appears as though they were performing a ritual to bring forth something or someone."
• "One of the things Fragment of the Universe said to us was: “There is no such thing as coincidence in the universe.” "
• "Many of our employees are understandably terrified when Fragment of the Universe attempts to mimic laughter."
• "The purpose of Fragment of the Universe’s tentacles is unclear, but it is certain that they can cause permanent damage to the human brain."
• "Fragment of the Universe’s tentacles blur the barriers between reality and the unknown."

Employee, upon hearing the song[]

• "The shadows engulfing me are finally gone."
• "Finally, I can see and feel again..."
• "The stars are singing to me… Can you hear them?"

Trivia[]

• Fragment of the Universe used to be the only TETH Abnormality that dealt Black Damage before the addition of Today's Shy Look. It is still the only TETH classified as 03 in their subject classification.
• After breaching, its features become much less friendly as its "head" warps into a distended maw filled with misshapen eye-like organs, while the heart-shaped spots on its body shift from red and purple to dark crimson.

Gallery[]