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An actual reasonable higher up? There might actually be a god in this metallic prison they call a 'facility'. You doubt you'll have time to ask him about everything, especially with how late it is. It can't hurt to ask some basic questions though!
You adjust your tie while clearing your throat. Your face slips into a well-used mask. A polite yet professional smile. You straighten your posture to make sure you're not slouching. You want to be as presentable as you can. "If it wouldn't be too much of a bother for you, sir."
"Oh, luv, you're trying too hard." He slips on a comically thick British accent. He clears his own throat quickly after. "I appreciate the gesture. Most of your ilk don't take this job seriously. What do you want to know?"
"I suppose I should start with something simple - What exactly ARE anomalies? All I know is three categories they fall into and that's about the start and end of it."
"That's a tricky question to answer, son." Rudolf taps his foot on the ground while he thinks of a good way to answer it. "In the most literal sense, anything can be an anomaly. Even something simple as a pencil that can only be used to draw and nothing else. The anomalies ARC cares about?"
There's a breathlessness in his voice as he's given an excuse to ramble about anomalies. "Anomalies are objects, entities or phenomena that disregard the laws of psychics as we know them. The only united link between any given anomaly is one factor: <span class="mu-b">They have a will to persist, to continue existing.</span>"
"So they're all sapient?" You ask for clarification.
"Not quite." Rudolf shakes his head with a light chuckle. "It's more that instead of following reality's rules, they follow their own internal logic. For a simple example?" Rudolf clicks his tongue. "An anomaly that manifests as a soldier will never be able to process our reality in a way outside of war, violence and the comradery it has with fellow soldiers."
Your mind flashes back to Colt and that one anomaly he apparently works with - Red Blooded American. Maybe that explains his behavior to an extent? Maybe he has some artifacts from that particular anomaly?"
"In essence, anomalies take an idea or concept we humans believe in and they twist and corrupt them into their own personal realities. They are free to disregard reality if it would get in the way of their limited worldview. Even inanimate, non-sapient anomalies do this. We are tasked with finding value out of their blatant rejections of reality. To exploit their ideas and to make them our own."
"My advice for dealing with them? Learn what <span class="mu-b">idea</span> they based their reality around and work around that. Even rejecting their ideology must be done under their own rules."
So that's how they work. Something with a strong enough idea, a strong enough emotional 'core' behind it, can become an anomaly. That tracks with what little you still know about IN LIMBO.
Its pollen induces nostalgia-laced memories, maybe that's a clue.
