Duncan had always been curious about just what was so special and dangerous about this Gothic doll who called herself "Alice" that the sailors escorting her had been so nervous, and that she could bear the designation of Anomaly 099 in a world overflowing with dangerous and bizarre things.
Granted, a doll capable of moving on her own and possessing intelligence was indeed rather uncanny. The sight of her occasionally running around with her head in her arms or operating separately from it was certainly horrifying as well. But in Duncan's view, that strangeness was still nowhere near enough to qualify for a "high-ranking designation." The simplest comparison was something Nina had told him:
Anomaly 196—Blood, a dangerous anomaly contained and sealed within the underground Sanctuary beneath Pland Cathedral. Its true form was an amount of blood equivalent to the total blood volume of an adult man. This anomaly displayed certain signs of thought, could flow and spread on its own, and would actively attempt to replace the blood within nearby qualified "hosts," seize their bodies, and escape. The way to prevent it from flowing and spreading was to store it separately in twenty-two blood jars and keep them frozen—but if anyone bled within ten meters of the storage site, the seal would fail instantly. The bleeding person's blood would be replaced by Anomaly 196, and their sanity would be taken over as well.
The anomaly ignored all countermeasures below the level of Saints and would unconditionally kill any host meeting its criteria.
As one of the most dangerous anomalies managed by Pland City-State, information regarding Anomaly 196—Blood had always been openly available to the public, ensuring that if it ever leaked into the city, the authorities could swiftly locate it and respond.
Duncan did not know what exactly a