SURVIVAL DIFFICULTY:
Class habitable
- {$one}
- Undisturbed
- {$three}
Level 403 is the only place in all of reality uninfected by the great glass cogs of the Heart of the Universe. It can only be reached through the Ginnungagap at (169,460,190,55,169,108,7,483,209,105,473). It's just about 3 units west of Level 13, you can't miss it.
The level's shell is a gargantuan, pearlescent black orb. Its surface cannot be marked, moved, or deformed in any way. Any light that reflects off of it ends up in grayscale, making it the only thing for miles which isn't tinted in eye-watering blue.
Inorganic matter can pass through the barrier as if it were intangible. As a matter of fact, so can most organic matter. The one type of matter that Level 403 denies, under all circumstances, is human flesh. Any other creature can pass through, be it animal, plant, fungus, elemental, android, phantasm, divinity, or microbe.
Just not humans.
Normally, I'd be fine with that. We have drones, we can just fly one in and see what it's like. And it's nothing special, really. Aesthetically pleasing, sure, but not uniquely.
However, like I said, Level 403 is the one place in all existence that remains untouched by the Heart of the Universe. It is the one place in which death ceases to exist. And humans, specifically humans and ONLY humans, are forbidden from entering.
This, dear reader, is my white whale. Everything I've done and catalogued in this world has been for this and the Heart. The purpose of Object 59 was to replace our current death with one we can overcome, control. A force more natural and understandable. But the threads of time are too weak to hold it in place, and the Heart is too deeply entrenched in the Ginnungagap to be transplanted. The Crystal Lens was meant to circumvent the death rate by beaming down a boon from the heavens, but the ceiling is too thick to reach that high. The Amber Man could have slowed the rate by engulfing the Heart, but it vibrates too violently for anything to stop it. Everything I've summoned or created has failed. Level 403 was my last option.
To be human is a blessing, to be given the gift of highest thought and greatest perseverance. And yet, we are punished for it.
I would much sooner destroy everything I hold dear than let this barrier get the better of me. Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale.
-auxiliary