13HRP – 0103 – Locked Box
Primary Description
13HRP – 0103 – Locked Box is a small, darkwood object rimmed with tarnished brass and fitted with a single keyhole that refuses any known key. Despite its ordinary appearance, the Locked Box is one of the most dangerous containment anomalies recorded within the Hollow Reality Project archives. It measures only twenty centimeters wide, yet its presence alters spatial memory and time flow in subtle, progressive ways.
At first glance, the box seems harmless — polished, balanced, and faintly warm to the touch. However, prolonged exposure to it causes nearby observers to experience momentary lapses in recognition. They forget why they entered the room, what time it is, or even who they were speaking to seconds earlier. When someone attempts to open the Locked Box, daylight does not spill inside. Instead, a soft, immediate hush floods the area, erasing the moment from the local timeline.
Those who lift the lid are consumed by what witnesses describe as ordinary time made hungry. No trace of them remains — no footprints, no breath, no echo. Family photos blur, names vanish from official records, and digital timestamps flicker and reset as though reality itself reconsiders their existence. The box leaves behind only an absence shaped like a person and a memory that collapses if anyone tries to describe it for more than sixty seconds. Researchers monitoring the events through indirect instruments report static bursts followed by complete data corruption.
Behavior and Anomalous Effects
The Locked Box does not move or vibrate but emits a faint subsonic hum that becomes stronger in enclosed spaces. Moreover, recordings taken near it reveal gaps of silence lasting several seconds, suggesting that sound waves are partially absorbed. Radiation and temperature readings remain normal, though electromagnetic sensors fluctuate as if detecting pulses from beyond the measurable spectrum. Furthermore, personnel within five meters of the Locked Boxexperience irregular heartbeats and mild disorientation, typically followed by dreamlike recollections of missing objects or forgotten rooms.
Interestingly, the anomaly reacts to emotional states. When an observer feels curiosity or grief, the box grows slightly warmer. Conversely, when fear is present, its surface temperature drops. During one test, a researcher whispered the phrase “I remember you,” and the box emitted a short ringing sound, similar to metal striking glass underwater. Afterward, the researcher disappeared, leaving behind a single sheet of paper reading: “The lid knows the face of memory.”
Historical Notes
Records suggest the Locked Box was first discovered in an abandoned apartment within the Mirror District, found resting on a dining table surrounded by six chairs — all of which were neatly set but untouched for decades. The original discoverers, a group of city surveyors, documented the box’s existence and returned to the site with containment specialists two days later. When they arrived, the apartment had vanished entirely. In its place stood an empty lot covered in black dust and mirror fragments. It took another year before the Locked Box reappeared, this time inside a sealed government archive mislabeled as “Found Footage – 1978.”
Since recovery, the object has relocated itself twice without human assistance. The first time, it appeared inside a cryogenic storage chamber. The second, within a sealed elevator shaft. Both relocations occurred during regional power outages. Analysis indicates that the box follows no linear spatial logic; instead, it seems to slip through unobserved intervals of time — the forgotten seconds between blinks, heartbeats, and thoughts.
Containment Procedures
The Locked Box must remain in a vacuum-sealed glass case within the Temporal Isolation Wing of Site-13HRP. Motion detectors, chronometers, and redundant memory recorders are to operate continuously. Personnel assigned to observation are required to undergo hourly cognitive stabilization to prevent recognition drift. Under no circumstances should the lid be lifted without authorization from the Site Director and two senior anomaly analysts.
Additionally, the containment chamber must remain brightly lit at all times. When lighting drops below 50 lumens, faint handprints begin appearing on the glass, indicating a temporal bleed. Should this occur, staff must reestablish illumination immediately and perform synchronized vocal grounding exercises to reaffirm temporal coordinates. In the event of total blackout, personnel are to seal the chamber and evacuate. The room will then reset to an earlier time frame within sixty seconds, erasing all occupants present during the anomaly.
Research Theories and Hypothesis
Researchers propose that the Locked Box functions as a metaphysical reset mechanism, possibly created to delete specific moments or individuals from existence. It may represent an attempt by an unknown intelligence to curate the timeline, removing perceived errors or paradoxes. Others argue it serves as a mercy device, offering oblivion to those burdened by guilt or unbearable memory.
Furthermore, a growing faction within the Hollow Reality Project believes that the Locked Box contains a fragment of The Hollow Entity itself — perhaps a heart, a thought, or a forgotten reflection. They point to the recurring description found in recovered documents: “The sound of silence inside the box matches the pause between two thoughts.” If true, opening it might erase not just individuals but also the boundaries between thought and existence.
Conclusion
The 13HRP – 0103 – Locked Box remains one of the most enigmatic anomalies under study. Though it shows no aggression, its effect on causality and memory makes it one of the most dangerous artifacts in the Hollow archives. Scholars continue to debate whether it is a weapon, a form of containment, or an instrument of divine mercy. As one researcher wrote in her final log before disappearance: “Perhaps the box does not erase us. Perhaps it only returns us to the place where nothing remembers.”
Last modified: 2025/10/07 at 23:02 pm
Published: 2025/10/11 at 12:59 pm
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13HRP – Hollow Reality Project
By Silvia Moan