North Pole
Anteverse 188 is regarded by GATE researchers as a stable self-nucleated spatial 'exception'.
Believed to be a refuge outside our universe, it may constitute an actual Anteverse, but those studying it argue whether it technically qualifies - seeming to exist precisely nowhere, there is nothing detectable beyond its bounds. Optical measurements indicate the glass is between 10 and 15 meters thick, but no data has been successfully garnered beyond that. Neither can it be directly exited. As such, the entity is currently classified as an 'exception'. Dr. Martin Jessup notes that Anteverse 188 may bear similarities to Anteverse 11's superpositional state.
That is not to say one cannot leave. TransRecon Team 4 noted an intense density of perforation signatures connecting several locations on Earth. These are frequent enough to have 'imprinted' on the local continuum, and appear to cluster seasonally, as if heavy perforation traffic occurred regularly, for certain brief periods.
Anteverse 188's origins have provoked an unusual amount of debate among GATE researchers.
The region appears to represent an 'idealized space' brought into being by forces unknown, and governed by laws that GATE staff are yet to fully fathom. At some stage in A188's history, it would also seem that a secondary entity was introduced: IS-0127, one of the more curious - and potentially dangerous - subjects yet encountered by GATE.
Further, Anteverse 188 appears to present a psychical hazard. The first GATE scientist who visited Anteverse 188, Dr. Simon Harkness (TransRecon Team 4), seems to have become compelled to don specific festive clothing items and return to the location. He now refuses to leave, except on certain dates - and then only briefly. No amount of intervention, restraint or therapy has managed to persuade him otherwise. At this time, Dr. Harkness is checked in on bi-weekly by project staff while further investigation continues.
Dr. Martin Jessup has speculated that the psychical threat of IS-0127 is part of its fundamental nature: in 'forging the Snow Globe from an internal blueprint, memory or mental image', its creator ignored their own 'subconscious vectors', which also formed a part of the creation. IS-0127 may therefore have been, Jessup suggests, 'accidentially instantiated in the same act of creation as the Snow Globe itself'.
In contrast, Dr. Daria Kale has proposed that Anteverse 188 is little more than an elaborate trap mechanism, created by or for IS-0127 itself, to imprison or liquidate another, unidentified entity. In her words, 'the A188 / 0127 complex suggests a lethal lure or attempt to ensnare some unknown organism, of which IS-0127 is either a predator or, possibly, nemesis.'
There have been a handful of reported sightings of a secondary humanoid entity, tentatively designated IS-0105-B, but no contact has been made. Options for further investigation are currently before GATE's Research Ethics Committee.
Overview
North Pole is a Portal World / location accessed through the snow globe, IS-0105. The globe can be found in holding cell IS-0127 in Cascade Laboratories' Containment Block Dirac, after leaving the Furniture Store. It can be packaged, carried freely, and used by touching it to enter North Pole.
Upon arrival, the player appears on a wooden train platform where a train periodically passes after completing a loop around the town. The train is driven by Simon Harkness, who speaks in festive Christmas lines. The portal exit is located at the top of the tallest building, above several flights of stairs; using it returns the player to IS-0127's holding cell, and if IS-0127 has already been defeated, Winter Cabin is unlocked as a Home World.
IS-0127, also known as The Snowman, stands in front of the burning tree. Adjusting its hat triggers the fight, and defeating it drops its loot. North Pole also contains a building with an open wall that houses the Sleigh vehicle, which can be driven and has two seats, and a large building to the right of the tree containing the Wishing Shelf, a unique furniture piece that can duplicate up to three resource items after a Portal World reset. Presents can also be found around the world, containing various items.
- Shaking IS-0105 before entering, or while other players are inside North Pole, causes a brief blizzard-like weather effect.
- The player cannot place another IS-0105 in North Pole.
- The Wristwatch shows a distorted date and time here, as if time does not exist.
- A GATE compendium entry describes Anteverse 188 as a stable spatial exception with no direct exit, and notes unusual perforation signatures and a psychical hazard tied to IS-0127 and Dr. Simon Harkness.
Official description
Anteverse 188 is regarded by GATE researchers as a stable self-nucleated spatial 'exception'.
Believed to be a refuge outside our universe, it may constitute an actual Anteverse, but those studying it argue whether it technically qualifies - seeming to exist precisely nowhere, there is nothing detectable beyond its bounds. Optical measurements indicate the glass is between 10 and 15 meters thick, but no data has been successfully garnered beyond that. Neither can it be directly exited. As such, the entity is currently classified as an 'exception'. Dr. Martin Jessup notes that Anteverse 188 may bear similarities to Anteverse 11's superpositional state.
That is not to say one cannot leave. TransRecon Team 4 noted an intense density of perforation signatures connecting several locations on Earth. These are frequent enough to have 'imprinted' on the local continuum, and appear to cluster seasonally, as if heavy perforation traffic occurred regularly, for certain brief periods.
Anteverse 188's origins have provoked an unusual amount of debate among GATE researchers.
The region appears to represent an 'idealized space' brought into being by forces unknown, and governed by laws that GATE staff are yet to fully fathom. At some stage in A188's history, it would also seem that a secondary entity was introduced: IS-0127, one of the more curious - and potentially dangerous - subjects yet encountered by GATE.
Further, Anteverse 188 appears to present a psychical hazard. The first GATE scientist who visited Anteverse 188, Dr. Simon Harkness (TransRecon Team 4), seems to have become compelled to don specific festive clothing items and return to the location. He now refuses to leave, except on certain dates - and then only briefly. No amount of intervention, restraint or therapy has managed to persuade him otherwise. At this time, Dr. Harkness is checked in on bi-weekly by project staff while further investigation continues.
Dr. Martin Jessup has speculated that the psychical threat of IS-0127 is part of its fundamental nature: in 'forging the Snow Globe from an internal blueprint, memory or mental image', its creator ignored their own 'subconscious vectors', which also formed a part of the creation. IS-0127 may therefore have been, Jessup suggests, 'accidentially instantiated in the same act of creation as the Snow Globe itself'.
In contrast, Dr. Daria Kale has proposed that Anteverse 188 is little more than an elaborate trap mechanism, created by or for IS-0127 itself, to imprison or liquidate another, unidentified entity. In her words, 'the A188 / 0127 complex suggests a lethal lure or attempt to ensnare some unknown organism, of which IS-0127 is either a predator or, possibly, nemesis.'
There have been a handful of reported sightings of a secondary humanoid entity, tentatively designated IS-0105-B, but no contact has been made. Options for further investigation are currently before GATE's Research Ethics Committee.
References to this (8)
Other entities of this type
- Albatross
- Anteverse
- Canaan
- Cascade Laboratories
- Dunkeltaler Forest
- Far Garden
- Flathill
- Fragments
- Furniture Store
- GATE Arch Defense Facility
- Hydroplant
- Induction Wing
- Manufacturing West
- Office Sector
- Praetorium
- Reactors
- Residence Sector
- Rise
- Royal Range
- Security Sector
- Shadowgate
- Some Distant Shore
- Temple of Stone
- The Encroachment
... +9 (see sidebar for full list)