ARCANA 1:

Extract from a Military Intelligence Report on Adam Blackwell and Allegations of Supernatural Abilities

MILITARY INTELLIGENCE CORPS 

INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION REPORT - AWS-78-46

Report Class: Top Secret

Country: United States of America 

DOI: 12/09/2025

Report Prepared By: Dr. Alastor Reynolds, U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command

Summary: The following report is a detailed account of matters surrounding U.S. citizen Adam Blackwell, the accident that led to his discovery of an ancient artifact at the Robinson Site in Antarctica, and a breakdown of the supernatural abilities that he now seems to command. It provides a breakdown of all relevant informations on the incident and the individual, an evaluation of his abilities and apparent limitations, and a recommendation for further actions. This matter should be considered both pressing and extremely delicate; both immediate and carefully considered action is required. 

OVERVIEW

The following report offers a comprehensive breakdown of all matters related to Adam Blackwell and his remarkable discovery. Due to the sheer length of the full report and the need for immediate action, the author has felt compelled to include this brief overview that covers the essential data and recommendations. It will also point towards where in the report additional information on each subject may be found. 

Given the unusual and extreme subject of the report, the author feels the need to do something even more out of the ordinary and include the following statement in the name of clarity: none of this is a joke. The subjects which are covered within are baroque enough that a reasonable reader might be inclined to believe an ill-conceived prank is being set upon them, or perhaps that they are in the middle of an esoteric drill or training exercise. None of these are the case. Expert analysis, controlled experiments, spectrographic readings, and first-hand witness accounts are all in concordance: this is real. While we must allow for a small, outside possibility that this is subterfuge being carried out by foreign entities, (a full explanation of this contingency can be found on page 572) if that is the case, it is of such subtle and sophisticated capabilities that it should be treated as the genuine article until such a time as conclusive proof to the contrary emerges. 

In the interest of absolute clarity in the face of the outlandish, let us state what we are dealing with. U.S. national Adam Blackwell has come into possession of an ancient ring, believed to be a creation of the ancient Harbinger empire, henceforth referred to as “Article Zero.” (For a breakdown of Article Zero’s exact properties and dimensions, see page 389.) While wearing Article Zero, Mr. Blackwell can trigger a localized, limited suspension of the natural laws of the physical world. He is able to do so by reciting words from one of the ancient Harbinger languages, which acts as a sort of incantation and directs the nature, focus, and extent of the physical anomalies. Other findings at the Robinson Site (page 213) and various sundry sources of archeological information, (page 267) re-contextualized by recent events, strongly suggest that this is not first occurrence of this strange phenomena, but a practice that was known to the Harbinger Empire and which Mr. Blackwell is now rediscovering. 

In layman’s terms: magic is real. Magic is real and it’s coming back. 

Here, in bold key strokes, is what we know: Adam Blackwell was born April 15th, 1998, in Portland, Oregon. Father was Julius Blackwell, a factory worker, and mother was Flora Blackwell (née Rodriguez), a dental hygienist and second-generation immigrant of Mexican descent. He graduated from Lincoln High School in 2017. Began study at Oregon State University before transferring to Sinclair University, from which he holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology with a concentration in archeology. Currently enrolled in a master’s degree at the Sinclair Graduate School of Archeology. No criminal record, no known associations with groups of interest, no known radical or anti-government sympathies. (Full biographical report can be found on page 28.) 

On November 3rd, 2025, Mr. Blackwell arrived at the Robinson Site in Antarctica, an archeological excavation into what is believed to be the ancient Harbinger City of An-Serith. (Full details on all current information and theories regarding An-Serith on page 68.) Following a mechanical fault in an elevator lift, Mr. Blackwell was left stranded in the depths of the dig site on November 4th. A successful search and rescue operation was executed, and Mr. Blackwell was retrieved in a delicate but stable medical condition on November 6th. (For a full investigation into the accident and rescue, see page 191.) It was during this time that Mr. Blackwell came into contact with Article Zero. 

Mr. Blackwell was transferred for medical treatment to Davis Station, recovering beneath the care of Dr. Gillian Tanner. (Full transcript of her debriefing on page 837.) On November 26th, a team from the Robinson Site discovered a pile of rock, ice, and destroyed mine shaft lift 68.4 miles to the East of the Robinson Site. (A map of all relevant areas can be found on page 1,045.) Upon hearing of this finding, Mr. Blackwell carried out a few experimental efforts, and per his own admission, realized that he now possessed the extraordinary ability to relocate matter in space. 

Mr. Blackwell returned to America on November 28th, and surrendered himself to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency office in Chicago later that day. (Full report on his initial interactions with DCSA on page 731.) He was referred to Military Intelligence Corps and transferred to Fort Belvoir on December 2nd. He is still held there. 

Mr. Blackwell was examined by a team of medical, military, and intelligence personnel, and his abilities were thoroughly tested by a group of physicists in the employ of the Intelligence Corps. The team was headed by Captain John Berkhoff, MC, USN, a man whose thirty years in service of his government are unblemished by either error of judgment or improper conduct. (Captain Berkhoff’s full written report can be read on page 395.) Their findings are as follow: 

Mr. Blackwell is currently capable of teleporting matter from one place to another, effecting that outcome through instructions delivered by speaking the Harbinger Language of the Stars. (Primer on our current knowledge on this language on page 210.) Mr. Blackwell’s abilities work on all kinds of matter and seem unaffected by matters of scale or distance - teleporting a pebble across a room seems no easier or more difficult than teleporting a boulder across the a vast open space.

His abilities are limited by his knowledge of the Language of the Stars, an obstacle that might be overcome given time and effort. However, there is a sizable caveat to this. In Captain Berkhoff’s own words: “It has become immediately apparent to the team studying Mr. Blackwell’s capabilities that the expansion of his capabilities would be necessary only to make his abilities safer and more precise. If he were indifferent to the issue of collateral damage, or, worse, if he were acting with destructive intent, it is quite clear to us that he is already fully capable of simply making anything that’s in front of him disappear. Whether this is also clear to Mr. Blackwell or not is a matter on which we strenuously discourage gambling.” 

Theoretically, Article Zero could be taken from Mr. Blackwell, thus neutralizing his powers and possibly even enabling someone else to acquire them. We must, however, strongly discourage this course of action, given the events of December 6th. Lieutenant General Harlow Smith overruled the intelligence committee’s recommendation and commanded two privates to relieve Mr. Blackwell of Article Zero. The results were disastrous, almost resulting in the deaths of both men. (A full incident and injury report can be found on page 874.) Analysis of the incident has concluded that nothing that happened was due to conscious action by Mr. Blackwell. Instead, it seems to have been a countermeasure against this action carried out autonomously by Article Zero itself. Worse still, archeological study suggests that the death of the individual bearing Article Zero might not result in the countermeasure stopping - it may, in fact, cause it to continue unchecked until its damage reaches a truly devastating scale. 

As such, the situation is quite delicate. We evaluate the risks involved in removing Article Zero from Mr. Blackwell or killing Mr. Blackwell to be too high to consider either a realistic option. We also do not believe that containment is a practically feasible measure. Mr. Blackwell remains in our custody simply because he wishes to do so. Simply put, if he no longer wished to cooperate with US forces and became willing to do harm to effectuate that outcome, we have no facility that could contain him. Given the uniqueness of his faculties and our inability to reproduce them, this is not something that is likely to change in the foreseeable future. 

There are, however, some positive indications. A thorough psychological profile on Mr. Blackwell (which can be read in full on page 303) has shown him to be a man thoroughly inclined towards obedience of the rules as stated, an innate respect towards authority, and a general distaste for anything that could be called radical or violent action. Given these parameters, it may be beneficial to focus on making Mr. Blackwell sympathetic and receptive to our government and its policies, rather than on doing anything that might antagonize further than Lieutenant General Smith’s actions already have. Additionally, a study of our current international climate (page 1,114) suggests that the public revelation that an American citizen is possessed of uniquely powerful - and uniquely potentially destructive - power may not be an altogether undesirable element. 

There now follows our report in full, concluded by our detailed recommendations for further action. (Page 1,1182.) 

- Dr. Alastor Reynolds, U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command

December 9th, 2025

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