Liminal classifies the threats in Sector 7 by origin and never by assumed species. A designation is a prefix for where a thing came from and a number in the order it was filed. Each entity has an exact rule an operative can learn, and an origin that no record resolves.
Seven phenomena were confirmed in the original operations manual: six in normal corridors and one confined to the Black Annex. Five more were filed during the armed response. New designations take the next free number.
Prefixes
| Prefix | Origin |
|---|---|
| ANOM | Reactor-generated or reactor-transformed signal life |
| S-DRN | Surviving Agency hardware operating under corrupted directives |
| EXT | Organisms or intelligences entering through RIFT-01 |
| ECHO | Residual Operator-pattern phenomena of uncertain personhood |
Filed designations
| Designation | Name | The rule |
|---|---|---|
| ANOM-01 | Red Static | Slows when watched; unfolds and advances fast when not. |
| S-DRN-02 | Stalker | Ignores observation; pursues on sight or a strong carrier trace. |
| EXT-03 | The Mourner | Centring its face completes a recognition handshake, then it pursues. |
| EXT-03 | The Choir | Recognition by any member is treated by every member as recognition. |
| EXT-04 | The Warden | Phases through walls; contact transfers the operative into the Black Annex. |
| EXT-05 | The Specter | Cannot fully resolve; direct light collapses its waveform and displaces it. |
| EXT-06 | The Banshee | Docile until lit; light triggers a cascade, then pursuit. |
| ECHO-07 | Lost Operator Echo | No confirmed attack response; answering it is the danger. |
| ANOM-08 | Reclamation | Takes up residue before the T-Link can; mended by kills near it. |
| S-DRN-09 | Sentinel Frame | Holds its coordinate and never moves. |
| ANOM-12 | The Lining | Runs inside the ring's wall and lashes across the corridor. |
| ANOM-13 | The Sounding | Keeps time with the sampling point; each sounding puts the lights out. |
Rules that contradict each other
The roster is a set of incompatible viewing rules, so that no single habit keeps an operative alive. Red Static punishes looking away. The Stalker makes looking irrelevant. The Mourner punishes looking closely, and the Choir has to be looked at to be hurt. The Banshee punishes lighting and the Specter punishes leaving the light off. The Warden ignores walls, and the Echo punishes responding. Every entity filed since the original manual adds a rule that contradicts one already on file.
Deliberate non-relationships
The Specter is not a variant of Red Static: the similar sensor noise reflects the lattice's inability to encode either cleanly. The Banshee is not related to the Mourner: their similar silhouettes are a projection artifact of T-Link rendering elongated anatomy. The Mourner, Warden, Specter and Banshee entered through separate overlaps and are not a faction, an ecology or a species.
See also
Records cited
- LP-MAN-1993-S7, section 3
- Critical Response field manual, ENTITIES
- The setting bible, section 6