Anomaly

A large static electric cloud around an Epochium crystal.

An **anomaly** is an abnormal event that occurs in damaged timelines of The Multiverse. Anomalies can affect various parts of the world in strange ways that can sometimes be quite harmful to living beings. An anomaly is the byproduct of a timeline repairing itself and can be encountered in higher frequencies near sources of Epochium crystals.

## History

Anomalies were discovered by the Space Time Continuum Task Force in timelines they warped to using the Time Gate. The first signs of anomalies were present near the borders of continuity zones where the most damaged parts of the timeline existed. It became understood that timelines with large amounts of energy (due to damage by The World Builder) resulted in the formation of Epochium crystals that would slowly dissipate the energy back into The Multiverse to repair the event. The release of this energy from the decaying crystals was the catalyst for anomalies to exist.

## Types of Anomalies

Many types of anomalies can be encountered depending on the severity of damage to the specific timeline. From basic alterations of the weather and gravity to complete terraforming of environments, anomalies could cause both minor and major damage to living beings around their epicenter. There are a few commonly recurring anomalies that have been recorded.

### Weather & Environment Based

These anomalies can affect aspects of the environment including weather patterns, climate, and terrain.

* Lightning Storms: Electricity is often discharged more frequently near Epochium deposits and continuity zones in abnormally precise burst clusters.
* Rain, Shine, and Fog: The immediate weather can alter within a matter of minutes of even seconds. Thick fogs can roll in from seemingly nowhere and a rain can start when the skies were perfectly clear only moments before.
* Terraforming: Small and large changes to the landscape including sudden flattening of forests, destroyed hills & mountains, and abnormally high tides.
* Tessellations: Features of the terrain and sky (mainly clouds) become blocky and primitive shapes, almost as if the world is losing resolution quality.
* Gravity: Floating structures or pieces of terrain in specific spots, uneven gravity gradient across landscape.
* Seismic: Irregularly weak and strong localized earthquakes.
* Localized Light Sources: Blindingly bright spots of light coming from nowhere in the dead of the night.

### Perception Based

Anomalies that affect a living being's perception of their environment and blocks basic feelings of sensation.

* Color Shift: Color in vision shifts between varying hues and tints, and even sometimes entirely becomes grayscale.
* Glitch: Usually occurs when stepping over strange markings on the ground. Operator vision will momentarily become fuzzy and "glitchy".
* Nausea or Fatigue: Operators can feel uneasy and even pass out randomly.
* Tinnitus: Loss of hearing, strange ringing in the ear.

### Rift Based

Anomalies that usually appear near newly opened rifts (either Time Gates or Minutemen warping locations). These are usually very harmful to living beings.

* Electric Storms: A small localized storm of lightning appears in small patches.
* Char Zones: Small pockets of extremely hot gas that burn living beings that get too close or enter.
* Gravity Zones: Small pockets of extremely buoyant plasma that launches living beings upwards.
* Rift Tears: Human sized rips in space time that are often left behind from Minutemen short-warping. Going through this rift usually takes you to the last place a Minuteman rifted from.