ISS File: MSC-010-X – Addendum: Encounter Report
Date of Entry: [Standard Galactic Time: 12/21/4103]
Reported by: Dr. Vance "Wildcard" Helbram
Reviewed by: Dr. Elias Varesh
Incident Log: Encounter with the Faceless Detective
[Location: ISS Headquarters – Main Corridor, Cafeteria Wing]
The following is a personal testimony submitted by Dr. Vance Helbram regarding an unexpected encounter with the individual designated as "The Faceless Detective."
[Begin Transcript]
Dr. Vance Helbram stepped out of the ISS cafeteria, a fresh mug of coffee in his hand, the scent of burnt caffeine trailing behind him. His ISS coat hung loosely over his shoulders, still slightly wrinkled from his earlier shift, but he hardly cared. The day had been long, filled with existential horror and the sudden realization that the laws of reality were more suggestions than rules.
So, naturally, he coped the best way he knew how—bad jokes.
"You know," he muttered to no one in particular as he took a sip, "for an organization dedicated to protecting the multiverse, we sure do get our asses handed to us a lot."
He turned the corner, expecting the usual empty hallway, maybe a few tired researchers dragging themselves toward their next caffeine fix.
Instead, he walked straight into a void.
A figure stood there, waiting. A shape that shouldn't exist and yet did, occupying space like a contradiction.
The Faceless Detective.
No face. No eyes. No mouth. Just the suggestion of a presence, a shadow cut from the fabric of something deeper than the multiverse itself.
Helbram froze mid-step, mid-thought, mid-sip of coffee. The warm liquid burned the inside of his mouth, but he barely noticed.
A long silence stretched between them, the universe itself seeming to hold its breath.
Helbram exhaled slowly and, because he was him, he did the only logical thing.
He raised his coffee mug in greeting.
"So," he said casually, voice even, "do I scream now, or do we just awkwardly stare at each other for a few minutes?"
The Faceless Detective did not move. Did not breathe. Did not react.
And yet, Helbram felt something. A shift in the air, a ripple in the unseen fabric of the universe. The kind of pressure that made lesser beings crumble under the weight of something that should not be.
And then, the Detective spoke.
Not with words. Not with a voice.
But with an idea—a thought pressed directly into Helbram's mind like ink seeping into paper.
"Do you want to know why?"
Helbram's fingers tightened around his mug. The question was absurdly vague. Too open-ended. Too dangerous.
But he had spent his entire life poking at things he shouldn't. It was in his nature.
"Why what?" he asked, keeping his tone light, casual, as if he wasn't having a mental conversation with a being that had just erased an entire universe like it was a typo.
"Why I erased it."
Helbram hesitated.
The logical part of his brain screamed at him to back away, to end this conversation immediately.
But the other part—the reckless, insatiably curious part—leaned in.
"Alright," he said slowly, "why did you erase it?"
The Faceless Detective was silent for a moment. Or perhaps he was considering.
Then, the thought pressed into Helbram's mind.
"Because it was already gone."
A chill crawled up his spine.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It never did."
And then—
Reality flickered.
The hallway. The lights. The very concept of being here for this conversation.
For a fraction of a second, Helbram saw something behind the walls of the universe—something vast, shifting, unwritten.
And then it was gone.
He blinked. The Faceless Detective was no longer there.
Just an empty hallway.
Just the faint, fading echo of a presence that had never truly been there to begin with.
Helbram looked down at his coffee, then up at the space where the Detective had stood.
Then, very slowly, he exhaled.
"You know," he muttered to himself, "I think I need something stronger than coffee."
[End Transcript]
Final Notes:
Following this encounter, Dr. Helbram was placed under immediate observation. However, despite repeated scans and cognitive checks, no trace of external tampering or memetic influence was found.
More disturbingly, when reviewed by ISS surveillance teams, there is no recorded footage of this interaction.
Helbram maintains that it happened. Dr. Varesh believes him.
But officially?
The ISS has no record of this event.
Because, perhaps—
It was already gone.
End of Document
[Authorized by: Dr. Elias Varesh]
[Reviewed by: Dr. Vance "Wildcard" Helbram]
ISS File: MSC-010-X – Addendum: Second Encounter
Date of Entry: [Standard Galactic Time: 12/28/4103]
Reported by: Dr. Vance "Wildcard" Helbram
Reviewed by: Dr. Elias Varesh
Incident Log: Encounter with the Faceless Detective (Second Occurrence)
[Location: ISS Headquarters – Dr. Helbram's Office]
The following is a personal testimony submitted by Dr. Vance Helbram regarding a second encounter with the entity designated as "The Faceless Detective."
[Begin Transcript]
Dr. Vance Helbram had survived another day at the ISS. Barely.
He leaned back in his chair, stretching as he took a victorious sip from his "Galaxy's Okayest Scientist" coffee mug. His coat was stained with something blue (he was 50% sure it was non-toxic), his brain was fried from arguing with an overly aggressive alien mother, and his patience had been obliterated by trying to calm down her screaming plasma-breathing child.
He exhaled dramatically.
"Another crisis averted. Another day in paradise." He raised his mug in a self-congratulatory toast. "Truly, I am a beacon of professionalism."
The ceiling light flickered.
A shadow stretched unnaturally across his desk, bending in a direction shadows had no business bending.
Helbram sighed. Of course.
"Y'know, normally, people knock before dropping by uninvited," he said, not even bothering to look up.
Silence.
Then—a presence.
It was subtle, more a suggestion of existence than something tangible, but Helbram had felt it before. The Faceless Detective was here. Again.
He took another slow sip of coffee before finally acknowledging him.
"So," he said, finally looking up, "what are we doing this time? Another cryptic conversation? Are you gonna erase my office from existence? Or—oh! Are we playing charades? Because if so, I call dibs on guessing first."
No response.
Helbram smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Nothing? Really? You could at least pretend to be interested."
Then—
A floating question mark appeared.
Not drawn. Not projected.
Just… there. Hanging in the air like reality itself was confused.
Helbram stared.
Then he grinned.
"No way," he breathed, leaning forward. "You actually reacted to that?!"
The question mark tilted slightly, as if considering.
Something like a eureka moment slammed into Helbram's mind.
It had emotions.
Not obvious ones. Not human ones.
But something.
That was all he needed.
Because Helbram? He was the kind of guy who made the worst possible decisions at the worst possible times.
So, naturally—
He pulled out a pen.
"Alright, buddy," he muttered under his breath, clicking it open. "You need a little personality."
And then—
He drew a smiley face.
Not on paper. Not on a screen.
Into reality.
Right in front of the Faceless Detective.
It was crude. Simple. Just two dots and a curve, floating in the air.
But it was there.
The Detective stared at it.
The question mark flickered.
For the first time, Helbram felt something shift.
Not danger. Not an overwhelming cosmic presence.
But something strange.
A hesitation. A consideration.
Helbram leaned back, arms behind his head, grinning.
"There. Now you're not so faceless anymore."
And for the briefest second—
The smiley face moved.
Just a fraction of a twitch.
But it moved.
Then—
The next blink, it was gone.
So was the Detective.
No words. No explanation.
Just a faint echo of something unknowable—and the lingering imprint of a moment that shouldn't have been possible.
Helbram laughed to himself, shaking his head as he capped his pen.
"You know," he muttered, taking another sip of coffee, "I think we're making progress."
[End Transcript]
Final Notes:
• Surveillance scans show no record of this encounter.
• The smiley face drawn into reality vanished the moment the Faceless Detective disappeared.
• Dr. Varesh has advised Dr. Helbram to "stop encouraging existential anomalies."
• Dr. Helbram has ignored this advice.
End of Document
[Authorized by: Dr. Elias Varesh]
[Reviewed by: Dr. Vance "Wildcard" Helbram]