Posted by Agent Santos

As many are aware, many Agents who explored the Thymosphere were witness to a phenomena we at Espercorp had not ever witnessed before. “Santa Claus” appeared within the Thymosphere and gave any Agent willing to engage them a ‘gift’, presumably in celebration of the Holiday. Was this phenomena an ‘Esper’? Or something new?

Needless to say, it’s an alarming occurrence that requires  explanation. Since Christmas I’ve had to fend off countless emails from inquiring Agents demanding just that. Well, I’m working on it. My whole winter break got taken up researching the subject. Not that I’m complaining, mind you, but I was hoping to have some time off and instead I had a business trip to the North Pole. Anyways, it’s taken me some time to compile my notes on the subject, and compare my research with the Chief Spectrologists at Espercorp. But here it is, finally.

Initial Encounter

The best way to start this is to begin with a story. It was 12:03 am, the very beginning of Christmas Eve. The stockings were hung above the Espercorp Furnace with care, and we had decorated a Treant and let him loose in the main lounge.  I was answering support email when I suddenly got a company-wide instant message from Scotty: 

‘everyone to the hub NOW.’

Scotty doesn’t usually take the time to add periods to his sentences so I knew that this was important. By the time I got there everyone was already crowded around the Esper screen, looking at something big and red. “What is it?” I asked.

“It’s Santa!” Rusty exclaimed with joy. I laughed initially, but after a closer look, the resemblance was unmistakable, even through the blurry resolution of the Esper Screen:

Apparently he had appeared before Scotty just minutes ago, and since then Scottyhad been trying to engage in communications. It’s never a good idea to battle a new Esper right off the bat, because you don’t really get a sense for its personality once it’s antagonized. It also seemed a little rude to immediately attack the Santa Claus. So Scotty started out by offering it a cookie. By cookie, of course, I mean a concentrated disc of energy.

Santa took the cookie and ate it in one gulp. He then did something remarkable. With a wave of his hand, he materialized a crystal container, just like the ones that Scotty made to transfer large batches of items. How he knew how to do that we still don’t know. Scotty thinks he must have been able to read his thoughts.

Santa left the container floating in front of us and then took a giant leap straight up and through the roof.

“After him!” shouted Dr. Alister. I saw a flash of purple on the Esper screen and I knew his Varg was on the move. 

“Don’t let it engage,” said Scotty. “We don’t know what this guy can do.”

But Dr. Alister rushed out of the room without a word. We all followed, up the stairs and to the roof. We couldn’t bring the Esper Screen, as it was too big and had to be plugged in. On our Radars we found nothing but Varg, howling at the night sky.

Scotty scanned the immediate upper atmosphere. For a split second he detected a few Dvalinn, but then they were gone.

Field Report: The North Pole

After some deliberation it was decided that we needed to follow up on this immediately. We needed more data of Santa Claus, to determine what it was. We had speculated that ‘unique’ Espers might exist, but never found one before. It made sense that a manifestation of such a prevalent folk legend would exist in the Thymosphere, but why would it specifically contact us? How intelligent was this entity, anyway?

The most likely place for Santa Claus to be was, naturally, the North Pole. Dr. Jones was already away visiting his family, and Dr. Liu was sick with the flu, so it fell to me to conduct this emergency mission. I took a ferry to the mainland and caught the next flight to Siberia. 

I had three transfers and the trip in total took about 21 hours. I tried to sleep on the flight, but by the time I arrived at the tiny, one-runway  airport my brain was already feeling the fatigue. I pushed it away, though. The adrenaline of the chase came back to me in a rush of cold Northern air. 

Dr. Alister had some contacts in the country who picked me up. They were a surly, quiet bunch, but they spoke English well enough when they chose to. We set up the ANCHOR equipment in the backseat of their off-road vehicle and headed North.

I calibrated the Radar to scan for the particular oscillations that Santa had given off. As a further measure, I dropped cookies periodically. It seemed the best thing to do to attract its attention. This continued for some time, to no avail, and the hazy twilight of night in the North Pole descended. We arrived at an outpost for the night, and I gratefully slept.

The next morning the Thymosphere had changed completely. Everywhere around us  I picked up remarkable crystal structures returning readings of—to my excitement— candy. This was it. Overnight, Santa Claus’ Factory had sprung into existence around me.

I called out my best Ice Espers to explore. Iorek, my trusty Nanook, led an exploration party of Korora, Erawan and Ilwyn. I kept Norbert, my Wyvern, safe in my ANCHOR for deployment, just in case. Bundled up in about a dozen layers of clothing, I wheeled the ANCHOR equipment outside to explore the world, which to me was a frozen waste but to my Espers was doubtlessly a colorful wonderland of Esper food.

We scanned a number of energy signatures that resembled that of the known humanoid Espers, like Dryad and Sylph, but they stayed well hidden from our Radar, and I only caught partial scans. I imagine they were Elves. 

I caught plenty of scans of the buildings, however. Their walls were made of crystallized Ice Energy and Tanzanite. Their roofing was snow. Studded throughout the walls in various embellishments was candy of every shape and size. I had only a modest portable Esper Screen that took greyscale captures, but here you can see what appears to be a candy cane drainpipe and a peppermint window.

But for all that, no Saint Nick. I began to feel restless. Little did I know that at that very moment, every other Agent in the world was meeting him, as he travelled instantaneously across the Thymosphere to every active ANCHOR he could find. But I was in the middle of nowhere, offline. I couldn’t connect to the main ANCHOR hub, and had only my Party of 5 Espers to my name.  The weather was growing colder. In retrospect I acted rashly, but I don’t think anyone can blame me for trying to catch an Elf.

I took two of my most subtle and nimble Espers, Ilwyn (Ghost) and Korora (Pokey), and sent them to explore one of the nearest buildings. Pokey went equipped with a candy to present to the first Esper it found. I had Ghost go in through an alternate entrance.

I gave them instructions remotely, and together we cornered one of the elves, which at this point was still a partial energy signature on my Radar. It wouldn’t sit still long enough to get an accurate read, but between the three of us we were finally able to corner it. But right in the middle of the Scan, it disappeared. Just poof, like that. 

Perhaps there was a chill in the weather wind, but I suddenly became very nervous. Sure enough, the Thymosphere began to change very rapidly. The candy on the walls abruptly disappeared, and the walls of the structures became tall, jagged, and unforgiving. And a large energy signature began to approach my location. It was Santa, accompanied by a party of two Duneyr, two Durathror, two Dainn, and two Dvalinn.

Now I’ve done it, I thought, and called my Espers to me to prepare defensive formations.

Here’s the crucial part of my report that I still am unable to explain. When Santa Claus landed in front of me, my whole Radar went to static. And when it cleared up again, everything was different. Santa Claus wasn’t there anymore. It was something different, a massive Ice Esper that resembled an Alpha Jotun. I’ve since dubbed it Jack Frost. Level scans were through the roof, far higher than 50. Where once had been an assortment of seasonal Deer, there were only eight massive Dvalinn. They surrounded us. Even though I was in the real world and theoretically safe from anything these spirits could do to me, I don’t mind telling you I was scared.

We all just stood there, frozen in time for a moment. Then Jack Frost let out a massive Ability storm. The Dvalinn next to him added their strength to the storm that suddenly engulfed me and my Espers. The closest ability it resembled was Absolute Zero combined with Blizzard, and it targeted all of my Espers at once. They all immediately froze solid and then shattered before my eyes.  I didn’t know how to react. It’s difficult to freeze one Ice Esper, let alone three at once. And then to one-hit all 5 of my Espers—- I didn’t think that kind of power existed in the Thymosphere.

When the dust settled there was nothing. My Radar detected nothing, no Santa, no Factory, not even a single Selkie in a radius of miles. My Espers had been sucked back into my device, no health left to stay manifest. Disconnected from the ANCHOR hub as I was, it would take me 12 hours before I could generate enough power to heal them again. There was an air of finality to the episode. I was sure that even if I waited until my Espers were ready to make another excursion to the North Pole, I would find nothing. Defeated, I decided that it was time to head home.

Just before I packed up, however, my Radar detected something. It was an Item, a container, like the one Santa had given us not 48 hours ago. I collected it carefully with ANCHOR and examined its contents. Inside was a massive lump of Coal.

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So that’s that, Agents. It’s all we know about the episode. The one other thing that we can tell you is the countless scans you Agents made of Santa Claus on Christmas Day gave us a lot more information about him. He has the size and energy capacity of the strongest Alpha Espers we’ve encountered, but so far has not attacked anyone. Unlike Alpha Espers or individual instances of normal Espers, the Santa that appeared to everyone was the same iteration. So it was the same Esper, not a bunch of different Santas, that somehow travelled throughout the world at instantaneous speeds. Since that day no one has reported sighting Santa Claus. We haven’t yet mounted another expedition to the North Pole, and even if we did I imagine it would prove fruitless. However, I have no doubt that around Christmastime next year, Santa Claus will be back. And by then, with your help, Agents, we’ll be ready to get some answers.

By Dr. Cornelius Rhine

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Greetings, Agents! This is the first entry of a ‘column’ of sorts that I intend to update periodically with elaborations on aspects of the Thymosphere. If you have a question you’d like me to answer, send it to support@espercorp.com c.o.  Dr. Cornelius Rhine.

Today I’d like to address a phenomenon that happens quite frequently in the Spirit World: Esper Dissipation. Often when I explain the average day of a Field Agent to those unfamiliar with Geomon, they react in shock at the notion of fighting creatures and causing them to dissipate. It strikes them as inhumane. But once you understand the nature of dissipation, you see that it’s really a natural part of the Thymosphere’s ecosystem, and is generally harmless to the Esper.

Dissipaton occurs when an Esper loses the ability to maintain a solid state any longer, usually as the result of some kind of outside force. Its energy is depleted and its physical frame damaged in such a way that it undergoes a rapid breakdown in structural integrity resulting in dissipation. The Esper literally breaks apart into a multitude of little pieces of Energy and Matter that fly off in every direction. During the process, parts of the Esper might break off, fuse, or crystallize in various manners depending on the circumstance.

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What’s left behind are various energetic compounds, some of which we are able to collect using ANCHOR technology.  There are always some number of stray crystal shards, which are useful for our experiments here at Espercorp and have thus been adopted as our de facto currency. Espers also tend to leave behind refined samples of their Elemental Energy, of which we collect samples for research and development. It is important to note that a portion of the dissipated Energy is also absorbed by your party in the form of Experience. Other Items you may find, like flawed crystals, etc. are all left over from that Esper’s dissipation.

But what happens to Espers when they dissipate, you ask? Well, based on our observations they seem to float around as mist for about thirty minutes. Evidently they remain aware, or at least their various disparate particles remain attracted to one other, because slowly bit by bit the Esper will reassemble itself. It starts by taking on a shapeless, amoeba-like form and  absorbing whatever Energy it can process. During this time the Esper is quite vulnerable. A predatory Esper could easily snap up the raw energy for its daily meal, and if too much of the dissipated Esper is consumed, it will never be able to reform. 

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Often when Espers are in this state they hide within an object of like Energy. For example, a Plant Esper might blend with a tree formation, and absorb Plant energy until it has gained enough strength to take its previous shape once more. Even once it has achieved a solid form it is not entirely safe. It will be low on strength, and in need of sustenance before it can again defend itself.

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Can you guess what Esper is hiding in this Tree?

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Now, this invites the question: why don’t our own Espers have this problem? When our Espers are healed they don’t come out of it 2 levels lower. They retain all their strength, and continue to grow stronger. The answer, my Agents, is bonding. Espers bonded to a crystal need never fear losing any of their Energy, because the very chemical bond that keeps them from running away also keeps them from dissipating wildly. Whenever any excess energy from a bonded Esper is knocked off, it gets sucked right back into the crystal, where it is stored until the Esper is healed. When a bonded Esper dissipates, it explodes into a huge Sphere of Energy, but the bond pulls it together again. It’s really remarkable that these energetic properties of the Thymosphere lend themselves so well to our purposes here at Espercorp.

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In conclusion, if you find yourself worrying about the huge number of Espers dissipating, don’t. Dissipation is a natural part of life in the Thymosphere. The landscape changes rapidly, and Espers get absorbed and created at every instant. Your scope of the Thymosphere is limited by the ANCHOR devices, but here are huge spiritual weather patterns that you are entirely unable to detect.  Entire habitats of Espers get erased and reformed every day. And for every flock of Piccio that dissipates, another will reform and take its place. All Energy in the the Thymosphere is self-contained. It all feeds back into the same system. I seriously doubt that the 8,000 or so Field Agents we have active in the field will make a significant difference in the Thymosphere’s ecosystem for some time to come.

-Dr. Cornelius Rhine

Founder, Espercorp

By Dr. J. Alister

Since the assignment of our Agent’s most recent mission, “Things the go Bump,” we have collected significantly more scans and samples of the “Orc” Species Class. I’ve decided to take this opportunity to state my observations of one of these in particular, the Imp. Imps seem to have birthed from the concept of the eternal underling, eager to please, useful in a wide variety of capacities, but entirely unable to think for themselves.

Discovered by Agent xcellz 

Size: 0.8 m

Energy: 15eV

Strength: Shadow

Weakness: Mind

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Appearance:

Imps are flying mammal Espers that have the appearance of a flying cat or monkey with spiked horns running down their backs. An opposable spiked tail provides balance while steering themselves in the air, and can be used for grabbing and stabbing. Their batlike wings are comically small given their heavy, rotund bodies— were this creature to appear in the terrestrial world it wouldn’t be able to get an inch off the ground. But the Imp can fly, and even hover, flapping at an alarming pace. They aren’t very agile, and they often crash as a result, but their bodies are tough and elastic, so they usually bounce back with little damage.

Behavior:

In the wild, Imps are scavengers. They tend to settle into a tree or found enclosure such as a cave or hollow trunk, and there they maintain their nest, a mismatched assemblage of found objects and dissipate from other Espers. They sleep on a bed of Embers at night and throughout most of the day, awakening at dusk to search for food.

Imp are omnivores, and will scavenge whatever food they can, be it the thoughts of passing humans, or an unsuspecting Esper. They often like to hide in trees and pounce on their prey from above, but being more opportunists than planners,  they do not have the patience to wait anywhere for long.

 Other Notes:

Although Wild Imps aren’t very impressive by their lonesome, they display entirely different attitudes when they become bonded to a human. The bonded Imp becomes extraordinarily attuned to the human’s desires, focusing entirely on their master’s thoughts as they manifest in the Thymosphere. Within hours of bonding they will offer gifts, as a cat might present a mouse to its owner. I have found that when I need an Esper to help manipulate elements of the Thymosphere, Imps are far more responsive than Cottle, which are easily distracted by their own side-projects. But however eager to please, Imps are so clumsy and short-sighted they are a risk within a laboratory setting. I attempted to use a few of them for an experiment and they set fire to the test subject within twenty minutes.

I am not familiar with the fantasy genre material that Agent Santos assures me the Imp Esper is derived from, but he tells me that they have a long history as fairy or demon-like mythological beasts in ancient folklore. They are considered mischievous rather than outright malevolent, which matches my own observations. It seems that their behavior comes from a motivation to get the attention of human-kind, or rather to be associated with power. Unable to actually take control of their own situations, they gravitate towards those who do, and align their interests as best they can. 

Posted by Dr. Nielson

Discovered Nov. 26 2010 by Agent zippylee

Size: 0.5m

Energy: 30eV

Strength: Earth

Weakness: Fire

In honor of Thanksgiving, we’re going to explore an Esper that literally embodies the spirit of the season: a Turkey Esper that crops up when American’s thoughts turn towards their stomachs and roasting featherbirds stuffed with bread and raisins. I’m a vegetarian, but I wasn’t always such. I still remember the delicious meals I would enjoy every year with my family. Mashed potatoes and gravy, creamed corn and carrots, green beans and almonds, and of course the Turkey with cranberries. It’s no surprise that Gobbler have started showing up already, in anticipation of the nationwide feasting that will occur this week.

Appearance

Gobblers look basically like a turkey, though they have some interesting additions. Often they will appear as a roughly-drawn picture, or more often, a colorful hand or handprint. We suspect this has a lot to do with the common elementary school activity of drawing turkeys with a hand-print. As we have seen in other areas of the Thymosphere, the thoughts of children are much stronger, perhaps because their imaginations still roam free, not yet having been reined in by the strictures of terrestrial institutions.

In addition to its variable shape, Gobbler is often seen in traditional Pilgrim Garb, and sometimes (more rarely) in an Indian Headdress. These are, of course, a product of the stereotypical notions that most people have about the circumstances surrounding the “First Thanksgiving” as it were.  Gobbler are formed from these thoughts about Thanksgiving as well, and costuming is one of the many ways that the Thymosphere manifests physically.

Behavior

Gobbler are almost manically drawn to the consumption of their terrestrial brethren. This Thanksgiving while you eat your meal, there is bound to be a Gobbler clucking around your dinner table. They recognize a turkey, even when it’s cooked, and will often stand right on top of it. Despite this, they don’t seem to be upset by the notion that they’re being cooked and eaten. Not that I’m an expert on determining the emotions of birds. But what we’ve observed, just by releasing a Gobbler in the Espercorp kitchen on Turkey Night, is that they seem very peaceful. They will even take their excess Spirit Energy and produce packets of Consumables in the form of various Thanksgiving dishes, and lay them out for other Espers to eat, literally sharing themselves with others. I think that’s a pretty nice thought, don’t you?

Other Notes

This is the big Gobbler population boom, and it happens once a year, but it doesn’t last long. Their plump bodies are rich with Spirit Energy, and during Thanksgiving Season you can expect predatory Espers to be feasting on them by the thousands. Since Gobblers themselves are benign and rather, well, dim, they don’t fare too well in the wild. Any Gobbler found after Thanksgiving week is a very lucky bird indeed. Doubly lucky, since Gobbler haven’t got the best Luck attribute in the world. If I were one of you Agents, I would bond with one and keep it protected. Who knows what an Esper with that much energy could become with a little training! Just be sure to keep them away from your Fire Espers. Gobblers go up in flames like a 10-month old Christmas tree!

By Dr. Cornelius Rhine

Agents, I confess I’ve spent less time researching new Espers lately. It’s not that I’ve grown tired of the research, it’s simply that something new that is capturing my attention tenfold. The research I am conducting now is exhancing my understanding of not only all Espers, but of Life, the Universe and Everything.

As you know, the irreplaceable Mr. McDouglas recently perfected the Esper Screen (now officially dubbed the Spectrescope), which allows us to essentially view the Thymosphere! But Agents, have you considered what our spectrescope might show if we turned its gaze not on outward on the Spirits but inwardly, towards ourselves?

Matter of the Spirit World is created by output from the Terrestrial World, and the most prolific Spirit-matter-makers are us, human beings. Humans have more enormous, advanced brains than any species that has ever existed in the history of our planet, and we are constantly thinking. And every time we think, those thoughts are added to the Thymosphere.

They’re easier to detect on the Spectroscope than Emotions or Moods, because they’re more focused and thus more concentrated and dense. A single thought often consists of dozens of unique emotional compounds, as well as unique combinations of specific ideas and concepts.

Sometimes, the meanings of the thoughts are clear:

Other times, they’re more complicated and confusing.

Thoughts swell into being like gaseous bubbles of Spirit energy. Espers love them—they’re like delicious snacks prepared especially for them. If they see a particularly tasty thought, they might just swoop in and snatch it from you right then and there.

Different Espers prefer different thoughts, and that’s a primary factor in determining why certain Espers show up in certain areas. Winglet, as you know, feed almost entirely on wishes, and Baku suck up dreams. Gullbro tend to peck out bits of Jealousy from thoughts that they find, and Elgar graze on Confidence.

We’re still learning to recognize which thoughts are what, but if these thought scans are studied further we at Espercorp may be able to develop the first brain scanner that can actually read people’s thoughts! That, as you can imagine, is both an intensely exciting and intimidating prospect for a Scientist. For obvious reasons, we’re going to keep this technology private for now. My research from now on will probably gravitate towards exploring the smaller details of the Spirit World. What makes up the individual components of Espers? How are the various Elements of the Thymosphere are formed? My goal is that be studing the point at which the physical becomes thought, we will be able to discover more about the basic nature of this new frontier into reality and consciousness.