"You don't remember?" Luo Shu pressed, unwilling to accept it.
IR1705 nodded. "Yeah, I don't."
Frustrated, Luo Shu cast Enhanced Memory on her again.
"What about now? Remember anything?"
IR1705 rolled her eyes. "Did I say I don't remember? It's 'The Administrator' who doesn't remember."
The sole survivor of world resets… forgot?
Luo Shu refused to believe it. "That's a lie!"
"Why would I lie? That's what 'The Administrator' said!" IR1705 snapped.
"I meant he's lying, not you."
She crossed her arms. "Impossible. My ability is absolute. If 'The Administrator' said he doesn't remember, then he genuinely doesn't."
To prove her point, she accepted Luo Shu's "friend request," and her ability appeared in The Anomaly Archive:
[Page 108]
[Item Designation: Chaos Insurgency - IR1705]
[Object Class: Euclid/Tier-2 Reality Bender]
[Description: A reality-bending chef whose food warps your will.]
[Special Containment Procedures: Provide a kitchen and ingredients. No personnel above Clearance Level B may interact. Maintenance by D-class only.]
[Anomalous Properties: Truth-Telling Cuisine. Eat my food, spill the truth—no lies, no refusal.]
[Status: Anomalous Friend]
[Interaction Log: Click to Play]
[O]
Her ability resembled Rainbow Lollipop's Persuasion—both were cognitohazards, bypassing willpower and Hume levels.
In contrast, Divine Persuasion wasn't a cognitohazard; it could be resisted with strong will or higher Hume levels.
Memetics were also cognitohazards, but with propagation effects—unlike IR1705's food.
Now convinced, Luo Shu accepted: 'The Administrator' truly didn't remember.
But this revelation was terrifying.
Forgetting trivial things was normal—but forgetting your own name meant severe amnesia or brain damage.
If 'The Administrator' forgot the "Revealer of Truth," despite its critical importance, it implied:
His mind was damaged by the "Revealer of Truth," or
The trauma was so severe it scrambled his memory retrieval.
But in the anomalous world, there was a third possibility:
An anti-meme.
Many knew the "Revealer of Truth" existed, yet none could explain Luo Shu's origins or purpose.
Classic anti-meme behavior.
Luo Shu flipped through The Anomaly Archive in his mind.
The source of the anti-meme was likely here—the Archive itself, hidden in his consciousness, self-concealing like an anti-meme.
This aligned with SCP-055's behavior toward him, suggesting a deep connection.
The anti-meme guarded the secret, waiting for the "Revealer of Truth" to unveil it.
'The Administrator' knew the "Revealer of Truth" was dangerous, yet remembered no details—fueling his paranoia and hostility.
As the world's guardian, he couldn't tolerate such a threat.
Though Luo Shu now grasped the weight of his identity, the truth remained shrouded in fog.
If even 'The Administrator' didn't know, who would?
The answers lay within himself.
Still, IR1705 had given him a critical clue: SCP-196.
No wonder the Insurgency risked exposing her—they needed Luo Shu to know.
As long as the Foundation valued her ability, they wouldn't execute her, allowing this message to reach him.
"If possible, I'll get you out," Luo Shu promised before leaving.
"Wait! One last thing!" IR1705 called. "Alpha 'The Bandit' said: If we ever met like this, I must tell you the true meaning of the Chaos Insurgency!"
The true meaning?
Not the mission statement or HAOS doctrine on their website?
Luo Shu paused, intrigued.
"Chaos is the unformed cosmos, the veiled truth. Division is the cleaving of heaven and earth, the light piercing the dark, revealing the world's secrets. Our mission is to end the chaos and uncover the truth."
Lofty ambitions—to "split the cosmos" itself!
Luo Shu withheld his usual sarcasm. This was far grander than the Insurgency's public rhetoric.
'The Bandit' hadn't defected from the O5 Council for power—he'd had that already.
He'd left for the truth.
Under 'The Administrator's rule, the Foundation would only bury secrets deeper.
To uncover them required a force outside the system—the Chaos Insurgency.
This world was a fog of chaos, waiting for Luo Shu to cut through and reveal what lay beneath.