Distortions

> *"I can see the Distortion, and the Distortion can occur to anyone. I don’t exactly know who coined the term “Distortion” for the phenomenon, but people just started calling it that at some point. No one knows how it works, but the experience so far suggests that this phenomenon is a manifestation of strong emotional desires and explosive surges of feelings."*
> - Moses, *The Distortion Detective* Chapter 1
>
>

**Distortions** (뒤틀림) are powerful, monstrous entities in the City whom are former humans who have been overcome by their emotions. The process by which humans Distort is referred to as the **Distortion Phenomenon**, and it has been graded as an Urban Nightmare-class threat, becoming the priority topic of investigation for many groups and individuals in the City, though individual Distortions are rarely graded higher than Urban Plague.

Distortions are similar to Abnormalities, with the difference being that Distortions are ultimately willingly manifested from their hosts' desires, while the Abnormalities come from the collective unconsciousness of humanity and were also in large part artificially created from experimentation.

## Description

### Origins

The Distortion Phenomenon is heavily related to  Lobotomy Corporation, its Singularity, and its plans. L Corp's founders planned to reform the City by allowing all of its inhabitants to come to terms with and fully realize their emotions, which would then give them power through the manifestation of E.G.O. They intended to do this through the release of Light (a product of their Singularity) over a period of seven days, and committed atrocities within their company to collect it.

Ultimately, L Corp. succeeded in collecting and releasing the Light. In the City, this was seen as a bright pillar of light emanating from L Corp's headquarters, completely brightening the City even during nighttime. The City's residents were almost all seen to smile and experience happiness and relief, and there was a universal sense of calm. However, after three days of the Light, Angela interrupted its release out of her desire for revenge against the plan's creator Ayin. This led to four days of complete darkness during which negative emotions such as misery and grief overwhelmed any and all positive emotions gained from the Light.

This event, known as the White Nights and Dark Days, initiated the Distortion Phenomenon. Because the Light was released into the City, people affected by their emotions still gained significant changes from the Light. However, because it was incomplete, the majority of people who experienced great emotional instability were unable to overcome it and "Distorted" into abominations, given almost magical powers by the Light, and were uncontrollable, reflecting their overwhelming negative emotions.

### The Pianist

While the City remained mostly unaware of Distortions following the White Nights and Dark Days, this quickly changed after the manifestation of the Pianist and the destruction it left in its wake. Appearing in District 9's Backstreets, the Pianist devastated the district and caused the deaths of 300,000 people, becoming the first and worst large-scale incident of the Distortion to ever occur. This quickly brought the Distortion into the public perception, though most still remain unaware that smaller cases of the Distortion occur throughout the City. Nevertheless, the destructiveness of the Pianist, and other subsequent incidents appearing with no seeming cause, led many groups to begin investigating the phenomenon, such as the  Zwei Association.

### Overview

According to Moses, a Fixer who operates as "the Distortion Detective," the Distortion is akin to a disease slowly incubating within everyone in the City. Even before a person fully Distorts, they show invisible signs of Distorting which are perceptible only by her, and the only people who are completely free of such signs are the few who manage to control their emotions and successfully manifest E.G.O. (like Moses herself.)

While most Distortions retain none of their humanity and only manifest in ways for "claiming and expressing their desires [one-dimensionally]," in certain cases an individual will be able to fully retain reason after Distorting, though this generally only makes them more dangerous in that they can plan and strategize while still pursuing their desires. Furthermore, certain Distortions have the ability of physically manipulating others around them, either Distorting them as well or altering them into other forms.

It is also possible to "solve" and reverse an individual's Distortion regardless of how far it has manifested by having them accept their emotions (in a way which Moses compares to mediating human relationships,) though this does not guarantee that they will not Distort again. Ultimately, it is up to the individual to master their own emotions.

The process and manifestation of Distortion is different for every person based on their own experiences and desires, with certain similarities based on specific emotions (such as electricity as a sign of neurosis.) However, there is one factor in common between all those who are Distorting: the voice of a woman whom only they can hear, which speaks with them, breaks them down, and encourages them to give in to their desires. This voice, described as beautiful and otherworldly, is actually that of Carmen, who had come to regret her self-sacrifice and chose to use her presence in the Light to encourage others to accept and love themselves, flaws and desires alike... thus causing the Distortion.

## Known Distortions

### *Library Of Ruina*

* The Pianist (Unknown reason how it was manifested.)
* Yesterday's Promise (Unknown reason how it was manifested, but implied to be in part by Roland's contract lead to his team's devastation.)
* L'heure de Loup (Unknown reason how it was manifested, but implied to be because of Roland's single-handed rampage annihilated all Middle Finger Operations.)
* The Blood-Red Night (Manifested after the light released them from the book, their previous status as a Bloodfiend was the result of another entity 's influence.)
* The Puppeteer (Unknown reason how it was manifested, but implied to be because of Roland destroying his workshop and his "son".)
* The 8 o'Clock Circus (Unknown reason how it was manifested.)
* The Crying Children (Gave in to the emotion of the E.G.O during The Crying Children Reception)
* The Eighth Chef (Unknown reason how it was manifested.)
* The Musicians of Bremen (Unknown reason how it was manifested, likely further distorted by Argalia upon being recruited.)
* The Church of Gears Leader (Unknown reason how it was manifested, likely further distorted by Argalia upon being recruited.)
* 얀샋ㄷ요무 (Gave in after discovering the truth behind the prescripts.)
* The Black Silence (Gave in during its own reception, albeit temporarily.)
* The Conductor (Manifested after the light released them from the book.)

### *WonderLab*

* A Party Everlasting (Gave in upon learning that the Branch O-5681 Manager was dead for a long time.)

### *The Distortion Detective*

* The Photographer
* The Mock Exam
* Fei Lei
* Laundry of Dreams
* The Human Thunderbolt
* Marksman of the Mist
* Larierre
* Rusk