[ In response to that, he reaches into his vest to pull the knife out to show it to Kim. ]
It's something that was created by the researchers back in the first world we were in. One side can cut any material, the other side cuts through the fabric between worlds. There were specific rules I had to follow about it to keep it safe.
It was something I was prepared to keep secret until the very end to protect. I know there are people that think it's because I didn't trust them, but I couldn't risk losing it, no matter what. It's part of why I tried not to rely on anyone too heavily. Outside the one obvious except.
It was far from intentional. [ But he shrugs, he's fine with how it worked out. ]
Knife cuts things, my hand closes the windows. The Watchers guided me through how to do both. But I think the reason I can close them is because I have the knife and know the feeling of it, more or less.
[That nudge gets a little more of a response out of him. It seems a bit like he's actively trying to distance himself, emotionally, from the things he's saying.]
It's just a 2mm hole. Not especially dangerous...
But there is one thing we know for sure about the pale, and it's that it expands.
Nothing, really. It's too small to affect the visual spectrum.
Right now, it only swallows sound. If you stand close enough to it, any noise is drowned out, like you're deep underwater. It also disrupts radio signals... that's how it was discovered in the first place.
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I'm used to taking things on myself. Not talking about them to anyone. But... it doesn't feel so bad having it out in the open now.
...You didn't seem too surprised when I was one of the ones out there.
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Though it wasn't until the past week or so that I realized this was a burden of secrets, which tends to point to one thing around here.
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At least now you understand why I reacted the way I did at the time.
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Yes. I suppose that must have been unexpected.
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But it's been a reason I've believed we would make it out of here.
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You said you had... a knife? I assume it has some kind of enchantment.
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It's something that was created by the researchers back in the first world we were in. One side can cut any material, the other side cuts through the fabric between worlds. There were specific rules I had to follow about it to keep it safe.
It was something I was prepared to keep secret until the very end to protect. I know there are people that think it's because I didn't trust them, but I couldn't risk losing it, no matter what. It's part of why I tried not to rely on anyone too heavily. Outside the one obvious except.
[ That's said almost wryly. ]
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He gives it a long look. There's a mixture of fascination and wariness, like one might have while observing a dangerous beast.]
It can both open and close these "windows"...? I'm just trying to understand.
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Knife cuts things, my hand closes the windows. The Watchers guided me through how to do both. But I think the reason I can close them is because I have the knife and know the feeling of it, more or less.
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I suppose that technique couldn't be used to close other sorts of... holes in reality, then.
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They've been a recurring problem, it seems. First in Revachol, then at that laboratory... And now, it seems they've been following us everywhere.
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I don't know. I'd have to see what it was exactly. To know if it was the same type of thing.
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Pale.
The absence of reality. So... yes, something like emptiness.
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It's worth trying, at least.
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It's just a 2mm hole. Not especially dangerous...
But there is one thing we know for sure about the pale, and it's that it expands.
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Maybe. Maybe not... If something can get through there, it might not be good.
But what do you mean expands?
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The problem isn't what will get through it.
[He hesitates, taking another puff of the cigarette.]
It's what will be swallowed by it.
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... Then I really hope there is a way to close it. Somehow. But... what did you see?
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Right now, it only swallows sound. If you stand close enough to it, any noise is drowned out, like you're deep underwater. It also disrupts radio signals... that's how it was discovered in the first place.
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That sounds like it'd be unpleasant to find.
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