Nil

Nil's first appearance.

**Nil** also known as **The Nothing**, **The Moment Between Moments**, **The Unthought** and **The Dreamless Sleep**, is an ancient and god-like psychic being that seeks to undo all conscious thought in the universe by spreading itself from host to host.

The first involvement of Nil was after Macland Row was blooded by Jane. Fearing her interference, Macland was strapped to an upright table by Arvin Carpenter, who presented him with a procedure whose "results [were] perfect. Statistically speaking". Dr. Finch suggested that Macland was going to be given a "memetic defense mechanism, mostly for fighting off potential telepaths", though such experiments had been strangely abandoned. Macland was then forced to look at a screen projecting horrible imagery. Jane tried to hamper the procedure by giving Macland the effects of painkillers and bad level.

The second involvement of Nil was after Jane decided to sync with the now-protected Macland, in the hopes of obtaining useful information. She eventually unveiled a secret passage in Macland's mind, labelled "Purgatory", which would allow her to exit. Nil rose when she tried to cross this passage, however, and begun destroying both hers and Macland's conscious thoughts. Jane managed to leave Purgatory, later returning with Fuse who had come with her; Nil seemed unprepared to deal with more than one intruder, and they finally managed to push through to the exit together. Macland was left in a coma.

Grizwald revealed that Nil was originally discovered by a group of monks who were seeking Nirvana and contact with God by sleeping without dreaming. Eventually, these monks would all die, walking out into the cold like zombies. The last monk, however, escaped and was able to tell the tale of what had transpired. He didn't call the being they had seen God any longer – he called it Nil. The monk never slept again, and eventually died from sleep deprivation. He further explained that after the Second World War, three separate countries would again discover Nil. Its presence could be invoked by a series of traumatic experiences, and was originally sought out as a defense against psychics. They, too, would admit to seeing something when they didn't dream. Some of them figured out how to keep it at bay, by staying well-rested and keeping dream journals, learning that if they kept dreaming, nothing would happen. However, eventually some of those infected with this presence began trying to spread its influence, and were put down.

Nil's presence was again discovered in more recent years by Arvin Carpenter, who implanted it into Macland Row's mind, telling him that it would defend against Jane Doe. Which it did, in a way, before putting him in a coma. Nil still lurks in Macland's mind, but Jane is working on finding a way to remove it permanently.

Nil is currently in Carpenter's mind, and is working with him.

It refers to Jane as "The Red" and is apparently terrified of her.

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Comic 626 - Find the qualia
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Comic 369 - Push the statue out
3. ↑ Comic 632 - Continue observing Macland
4. ↑ Comic 236 - Inject Macland
5. ↑ Comic 254 - Check Macland
6. ↑ Comic 255 - Pass Macland out
7. ↑ Comic 259 - Double check Macland
8. ↑ Comic 260 - Mind drug Macland
9. ↑ Comic 357 - Force sync Macland Row
10. ↑ Comic 371 - Do
11. ↑ Comic 387 - Overload the defense
12. ↑ Comic 390 - Check on things