The Warden senses Operators at close range and phases through solid matter during pursuit. The cells it occupies corrode. Direct contact transfers the Operator into the Black Annex, a captive sub-space the Warden appears to carry with it. Walls will not stop it. The protocol is to make distance before it begins pursuit.
Some older records give its name as the Gaoler.
Corrosion
The Warden's passage leaves cells whose material definition is being overwritten. Corrosion is both a navigation warning and evidence that solid barriers no longer constrain it. See Environmental hazards.
The final breach
During the armed response the Warden steps through when the extraction hatch opens, between the operatives and the hatch, with several times a guardian's integrity. At each third of its integrity it goes out of phase and comes back behind the operative, faster each time.
The operations manual never said the Warden could not be killed. In the perimeter it can be put down. The final breach quiets when it is, and the Annex lets everyone go. It is not known for how long.
See also
Records cited
- LP-MAN-1993-S7, section 3, EXT-04
- Critical Response field manual, ENTITIES