Anti-Memetic Containment

In the Foundation's official documentation, every anti-meme is portrayed as extremely dangerous, as if they cause havoc unseen.

Yet, based on Luo Shu's experience, Anomalous Item-055 has always been perfectly safe.

It sits quietly in Sublevel 5 of Site-19, never causing trouble—only speaking when "the Revealer of Truth" (Luo Shu) appears.

As for murder or arson? Anomalous Item-055 claims it has never done such things.

It's just a harmless "recording device"—what ill intentions could it possibly have?

Compared to 055, Anomalous Item-2358 is even safer.

Year after year, it stands in crowded streets, peaceful and non-threatening.

Its anti-memetic effect is so weak that it's less potent than Anomalous Item-126's perception-blocking—anyone using W-class or stronger mnestics can see it.

And unless amnestics are administered, those who see it won't forget it.

Yet, despite this, the Foundation still stations MTF Epsilon-7 ("Forget-Me-Nots") permanently at Times Square, ensuring no one using mnestics notices Anomalous Item-2358.

When Luo Shu first arrived, he merely glanced at the anomaly twice before a man holding an aerosol canister approached.

The man reeked of the Foundation—Luo Shu instantly recognized him as an Epsilon-7 agent, ready to administer Class-A amnestics.

Though Luo Shu wasn't afraid of Epsilon-7 or amnestics, he was still a wanted fugitive and preferred to avoid complications.

So he activated Anomalous Item-055's Unobservability, entering an anti-memetic state.

055's anti-meme effect far surpassed 2358's—even Epsilon-7 couldn't detect Luo Shu now.

Only someone like Marion Wheeler, a true monster of the anti-meme world, could bypass this.

The Epsilon-7 agent suddenly froze mid-step, his mind blank.

"Who am I?"

"Where did I come from?"

"Where am I going?"

At least he still remembered his identity—he just forgot why he was walking over.

Scratching his head, he sheepishly returned to his post.

With Epsilon-7 distracted, Luo Shu approached Anomalous Item-2358 in his anti-memetic state.

He noticed two handwritten notes stuck to the translucent blue tree, describing an anomaly with identical effects but opposite properties.

According to official records, Anomalous Item-2358's primary effect is cognitive hijacking—forcing observers to fixate entirely on it.

This resembles Anomalous Item-012 (Unfinished Symphony) and Anomalous Item-126 (Unseen Friend), both of which hijack perception.

But the outcomes differ:

012 drives victims to self-mutilation, bleeding out to "complete the symphony."

126 causes starvation as victims forget to eat.

2358 consumes all mental focus until it kills the observer.

Fortunately, Luo Shu's Anomalous Nemesis milestone (10% resistance) protected him—his mental defenses exceeded 2358's hijacking threshold.

That's why he dared to approach it directly.

Now, about those notes—they described a meme-based anomaly with 2358's hijacking effect but meme-like propagation.

This was fundamentally incompatible with anti-memes.

Memes spread cognitive hazards to propagate themselves.

Anti-memes erase knowledge to silence witnesses (like Anomalous Item-3125).

Meaning, meme anomalies won't kill hosts until after spreading.

The notes also revealed another ability:

[When not under direct human observation, Anomalous Item-████ grows and expands rapidly. Due to its intangible nature, it bypasses most barriers. It grows aggressively to maximize chances of being seen. Direct observation halts and reverses its growth.]

In short:

Don't look? It grows uncontrollably.

Look? It kills you.

The inevitable result? Human extinction, with the meme anomaly taking over.

No wonder its classification was Keter.

Thus, the only viable containment was:

Keep it in a high-traffic area (constant observation).

Ensure observers don't actually perceive it (via anti-memes).

Solution: Anti-memetic containment.

By exploiting anti-memes' hidden nature, the meme's cognitive hazard is suppressed.

This ensures:

The anomaly is always observed (preventing growth).

Observers remain unaware (preventing death).

Realizing this, Luo Shu's Anomalous Item Catalog updated with two new entries.

[Page: 123]

[Item No.: Anomalous Item-2358]

[Designation: "I've Seen This Before…"]

[Object Class: Euclid]

[Image: …]

[Description: …]

[Special Containment Procedures: …]

[Abilities: Anti-Memetic Seal. A misunderstood anomaly—you thought the anti-meme was the threat, but it's actually the safeguard!]

[Status: Recovered]

[Interaction History: (Click to replay)]

[O]

The moment Luo Shu saw "Recovered", he barely glanced at the next page.

"Recovered" meant one thing—this ability once belonged to the Catalog (or Luo Shu himself)!