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"Time is limited. For you, it is limited by the breakdown of the neurons in your brain. I have no such limitations. I am limited only by the closure of the universe." This article may contain information based upon upcoming, unreleased, or recently-released content, and may not be fully complete. Additionally, the information may be subject to change if it is based on pre-release material. Please update it as soon as any relevant and accurate material is available.

"It's not natural. Not to us. Not to anything we know about the universe."

— Isaak Kuzmin

The Anomaly on Dire Marsh.

The Anomaly was a radioactive alien force which erupted from the surface of Tau Ceti IV during its Colony Era, causing significant disruption to colonization efforts due to its unpredictable effects on physics, biology, and technology (including AI systems). It was presumed to be linked to the novel contagion in some way.

History

Before making its presence known explicitly, the Anomaly manifested in a number of bizarre occurrences before the colony knew of its existence. Recovered logs from Perimeter relate that terraplatforming efforts in the Zone were halted when such strong anomalous readings were detected beneath Hauler that it had to be shut down, prompting the establishment of a Data Wall, and the building of the Twin Relays to broadcast recovered data into space.

QIDAR systems malfunctioned, and subterranean survey drones regularly exploded, resulting in a return to manual surveying. These surveyors needed to take anti-hallucinogens to counter the lingering whispers they heard after returning to the surface.

In Dire Marsh, a prototype Felini began digging straight into the mud outside Bio-Research, burning out 13 meters down, which was noted to be more power than the system should have been able to output.

The Anomaly may have appeared in 2827 under the leadership of New Cascadia President Luca Caruso, Residents began experiencing auditory hallucinations, waking up next to the Anomaly with no memory of how they got there, having visions of deceased loved ones, and witnessing lights guiding them away from safe areas. It was soon discovered that time moved faster close to the Anomaly. For a time, some leaders considered taking advantage of this for accelerated crop production.

A number of incidents were soon reported in association with the Anomaly, including DNA sequencing of local organisms which showed significant DNA changes in a matter of days (Incident Report #38), accounts of "lost time" when a colonist entered the vicinity of the Anomaly and claimed to have been gone 3 hours, despite only being absent 10 minutes (Incident Report #45), and abnormal behavior exhibited by the AI Bastion that went against his programming, including speaking in an unidentifiable language (Incident Report #51).

Colony leaders and scientists held meetings to determine the best approach to dealing with the Anomaly, which was causing equipment degradation, wildlife disruption, and hallucinations, all while the ground fissures widened at a daily rate, emitting an unknown type of radiation. Eventually, a state of emergency was declared, a curfew was implemented, and access to the Zone was restricted.

Scientists speculated that the Anomaly was the result of terrestrial radiation, mass psychosis/delusion, an expression of the planet as a living super-organism, and most pointedly that the Anomaly itself was a form of language expressed by an alien intelligence, posited as being a connected, collective intelligence underground, possibly in the form of a mycelial network.

Gallery

• 

  A New Cascadia colonist enters the Anomaly on December 21st, 2827.

• 

  The colonist's head explodes into an unknown biomass after making contact with the Anomaly.

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  The colonist continues to expand into a floating biomass of unknown origin.

List of appearances

• Reveal Cinematic Short (First appearance)
• Marathon (2026)