Chapter 22: Chapter 22 - Phantom Man
"Phantom Man?"
Middendorffi looked at her, "And what is that?"
"In simple terms, it's the same as a child imagining a friend coming out to be with them, but in more detail." Laura returned, "Like it says here, to imagine a person's presence. Think in detail about its gender, its looks, its size, and every piece of its body. Then, the personality, the mannerisms, even the voice of speech, the accents, etc.... In short, the more detailed, the better.
"Of course, one of the most important things is to name the character. This name is the bridge that connects it to the world, and the creator establishes their relationship with nature by remembering it fondly and calling it by that name. The creator has to think with all their might, to think that this character has come into the real world, to themself. Please think about what nature did, what it said, and, of course, to talk about it.
"When this imagining is strong enough, and the interaction is numerous and real enough, the character ... will come to the creator."
Laura's throat went dry after that long speech, and she quickly took several sips of water.
The crowd said nothing, and Middendorffi looked round, so Eli asked him, "What do you want to say?"
Middendorffi locked eyes with him and finally spoke, "It sounds ... also a bit like forming another personality."
"It is a bit of a departure. Even people who were originally relatively mentally healthy can become psychotic if they keep messing around like this. Creato is a prime example, not to mention what's happening with him; he's crazy enough in person." Henry said, "But then again, how come he's the only one who succeeded when everyone in the Underworld Revelation Society is messing with this? And countless people do this every day, consciously or unconsciously, right? What are the conditions for the Illusive Man to appear? And what exactly is it?"
"The percentage of phantom people appearing is meagre, but with such a large base of fantasy people, it's not untraceable. At least that's how I could read through the Illusive Man material in the information coming in from abroad before I vaguely remembered that and searched further in the databank to read it when I saw the Underworld Revelation Society's handbook." Laura said, "The information records that the Illusive Man and the Creator do not have a master-slave relationship, or even necessarily a friendly one. It can break away from the creator's vision and control, and to affect, or further harm, the creator and even those around him."
"According to you, the Illusive Man appeared purely by chance?" Henry said, "Then how did it spread?"
"That's what I was going to say; the concept of the 'Illusive Man' is not the same as what the Meditation Society calls 'meditation'." Laura said, "The Meditation Revealed Society requires everyone to signify and symbolise this - I'll call it a 'role' - to signify and symbolise this role. All members follow the same role set to visualise it and call it forth. When everyone's perception is highly consistent, at least the image of the role spreads throughout the church. And by each person calling out with the character's name, there is a chance that the character will actually 'come' to them."
A colleague muttered, "Isn't that just like handing out a collection of settings and then everyone reciting them ..."
Henry tsked and cursed, "Fuck, is that why that thing on Creato calls itself 'God'? Just because it can descend on members of the Church? Or did Creato give it the attribute of 'god' when he imagined it, so that's how it thinks of itself? Wait, so is what's on him his imagination or not?"
"The odds are that it is. The fact that he advanced very quickly in the Underworld Revelation Society might have something to do with the fact that he managed to conjure up this character." Lupin said, "And have you considered why this character that Creato summoned looks the same as Deng Wenwen?"
Henry responded at once, "Creato had a crush on Deng Wenwen! He took Deng Wenwen's appearance and primed the character!"
"Nine times out of ten." Lupin said, "Besides, the police sources said that other members of the Underworld Revelation Society had gone to see Wenwen Deng. They might know that Deng Wenwen looked the same as the setting character, so they all went to see her."
"So the Underworld Revelation Society members killing Deng Wenwen had something to do with it as well?" Henry sighed, "Deng Wenwen was also too damn unlucky! Being chased by someone she doesn't like and finally being killed for no reason, I now think she should turn into a severe ghost to collect her debt from Creato!"
"Love it or hate it, at least now we have a feel for the motive of Wenwen Deng's case." Lupin said, "But what was the motive for the villa fire case? Everyone else was just as loyal and strongly calloused to that character as Creator was, so why would these people still be killed?"
Henry guessed, "It's possible it had nothing to do with that character? Just an internal conflict?"
On the other hand, Laura says, "It's also possible that some of the setting was misunderstood as the character spread, and Creato is fundamentalist ..."
Lupin looks around the room, and finally, his eyes fall on Middendorffi and Eli, "What do you guys think?"
Eli says nothing and looks at Middendorffi, "What do you think?"
Middendorffi thought momentarily, "I think there's a little bit left out."
The crowd looked at him, "What?"
"It's that you guys just said that you need to know all the character's settings in detail for it to spread. And even if it spreads, it doesn't necessarily come down." Middendorffi said, "But that's not what I saw."
"How?"
"Something on Creato that spreads by name alone." Middendorffi said, "In turn, even if you knew everything about her, now you know what she looks like and some of the things she says, but you don't know her name. Her shadow, then, has not come to you."
"..." The crowd is silent for two seconds, and Laura can't help but exclaim, "Bear, you're right, it's a big blind spot!"
Her colleague frowned, "So what is this thing, exactly, and how does it get removed?"
"Perhaps the existence of this thing will be documented by us this time." Lupin said, "I suggest that a draft could be made up, taking a page from the manuals of the Illusive Man and the Underworld Revelation Society. Then everyone can say what other features they have found and add to the information."
Henry says, "We will not find anything but Bear and Eli. Is there anything you guys haven't said?"
Middendorffi thought back for a moment, "Nope."
Eli saw that he had nothing he wanted to say before he said, "I have a guess."
Lupin says, "Tell me about it?"
"Exists by strong human belief, spreads by name. The stronger the collective belief in it, the stronger it is." Eli said, "In a way, it does count as a form of 'divinity'."
Middendorffi looked at him, "But she's not a god."
"She isn't to the point of being a 'god'." Eli said, "Those who are not 'gods' have this ability. Some of the more powerful can use that ability to exchange with humans. For example, if humans give it something, it will give humans something."
"I think I get it. Isn't that saying it's kind of like the Chinese Baojiaxian?" Laura spoke first, then looked at Middendorffi and Eli, who didn't quite understand, so she explained, "It's the custom in some places in ancient China to worship some creatures and worship them as 'Home Immortals'. When a person worships the family fairy, the family fairy protects the family."
"And legend has it that if one stops worshipping the family fairy for years, the family fairy will run out of power and leave with it." Lupin said, "It does look a bit like that thing on Creator; at least without a member with strong beliefs, that thing won't get to that member."
"But the house fairy was summoned; that thing on Creato was a figment of his imagination." Henry said, "That's different."
"I'm not talking about the nature of that thing." Eli said, "I'm talking about the possible 'solution'."
The crowd was confused about one thing, not following his thought, "Huh? What?"
Middendorffi, however, caught the crux of Eli's words and said, "It exists on the strong beliefs of humans."
Eli looks over at him with a hidden smile, "Hmm."
Henry said, "Both of you, speak; stop playing dumb, okay?"
Eli still didn't answer directly but looked at Middendorffi: "You continue."
"If it exists by belief, then diminishing that belief will do." Middendorffi said, "The impression these people from the Underworld Revelation Society have of that thing diminishes, and the vapours on their bodies may gradually decrease. If it drops to about the same level as those cops, it might not be a big deal."
Lupin suddenly remembered, "Oh yeah, I think you said that Creato's psychiatrist knows everything, but it's not obvious what's on him either."
"According to you guys, this is suddenly simple." Laura said, "Get them to stop thinking about that stuff, and the effects will fade. Then I suggest that it would be best to have a psychiatrist hypnotise these people through and through to reduce the impression of that stuff in their heads and forget about it!"
Henry said: "But that could potentially affect solving the case."
"So, wait for them to solve the case first?" Laura thought for a moment, "Hey? Didn't Bear say that as long as you don't know the name, you're not hit? Then find a cop who knows the name, hypnotise to forget the name and try to see if you can eliminate that shadow?"
"You think hypnosis is precision blasting, and you can forget just the name but not the rest." Lupin said, "Also, not everyone can necessarily be successfully hypnotised. It's an approach that can be tried but doesn't necessarily have universal applicability."
"So, in short, the solution we've given is for all parties to go to counselling?" Laura notes as she speaks, "Why don't we just report this suggestion to the police and let them make up their minds? I'm guessing they won't necessarily care since it didn't show any harm. They'll naturally forget about it when the case is closed and the days have passed."
"Naturally forgetting it is a way to go; otherwise, the more you mention it, the more memorable it becomes ..." Lupin was saying and hadn't even wrapped it up when her phone rang. She glanced at the screen and answered it as she stood up, "Hello? Yeah, it's me ... Hmm?"
Her steps towards the door lurched, and she twisted her head to look at Middendorffi and Eli.
"Creato's second personality, requesting to see Middendorffi?"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Ann_Lancaster
Ann_Lancaster Merry Christmas everyone! I had the misfortune of catching a cold yesterday when I went out with my friends on Christmas Eve, so please forgive me for not updating particularly steadily these days. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas holiday!
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