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Without street lights Toulouse at night is a dark pit. Therain isn’t helping. To the north are the inhabited parts andto the south is the border with its searchlights. Moisturescatters light and both horizons are aglow, one in orange andanother in white. You can make out the silhouettes ofrooftops against the dim glow of the night sky. The streetsare pitch black.

How Butterfly finds the right door in this labyrinth is amystery but her rhythmic knocking is answered. Someone checksthe arrivals through a small hatch. Then the door opens andyou step into a three-storey building, covered in graffiti.Windows are boarded up but you’re surprised to find thefurniture remaining.

The house smells of mildew, filth and urine. The doorman, amiddle-aged man dressed in a stretched pullover and worntrousers is talking with Butterfly in a low voice.

Other residents are peering at you from doorways and the topof the stairs. Children, adults, old people. Nobody saysanything but some are wracked by coughing fits. You suddenlyrealize their number, one family per room.

“Changed,” Spark whispers. “Zone refugees.”

“Why do they live like this?” you ask. “Aren’t they given anallowance?”

“Mutant kids. The Institute would grab them if they knew.Grab the parents too sometimes. Those living on allowancekill their children. The rest live like this, hiding from thewhitecoats.”

You remember your old workplace. Shelves upon shelves withtanks and jars. A dead child, a mutant, floating in everyone. Huge freezers with frozen babies sleeping in icy cribs,their humanity faded out by the sterility of the lab.

They were nameless beings. Soulless aberrations. Cancerousgrowths cut off the sickened Humanity. But alive, it alllooks natural now. They’re hiding here because in the shadowof the social workers skulk the Institute doctors with poisonneedles and formaldehyde tanks.

Butterfly’s conversation ends and she gives the man a handfulof crumpled banknotes. You follow him to a small door anddown the cement stairs into the basement. The walls betweenthe cellars of different houses have been breached and theentire space is now a huge labyrinth where you can move fromone house to another. He brings you to a hallway where thefloor has collapsed in the middle.

A figure crouches at the rim: a naked, dirty youth, gnawingon a rat. His mouth, twisted vertically, reaches up to thecorner of his left eye. His coppery orbs have no pupils. Hehisses at you and flees into the dark with a single bound.The rat is left behind. He had no teeth but there are bitemarks on it.

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ZONES“In the east the mountains looked black, and over them the familiargreen wash of colour billowed and shone iridescently - the Zone’s greendawn.”

– ROADSIDE PICNIC

We know now that there are six changed areas, spread out around the globealong the 43rd parallel. On a Mercator projection they lie on an almost straightline which is called Pilman’s Radiant. Both astronomical and numerologicalexplanations have been sought for the parallel. For instance, it has beennoted that the degree corresponds roughly to the location of Deneb on thesky. This could have told something if the Zones had not appeared all aroundthe globe and not just on the side Deneb was.

None of the changed areas hit the oceans, which some consider proof thatthe Visitation was planned. On the other hand, even on Earth there is so muchland on that parallel that it may have been a coincidence. All Zones arecircular in shape but according to satellite images nothing special seems tolie at their centres. However, nobody has reached that far on the ground (orunder it) and all atmospheric flyovers have failed. Additionally, satellitephotos and observations on the ground do not always match.

Although the changes in vegetation and built-up areas may be drastic, biglandmarks do not disappear and can be used for navigation. Publishing mapsof the Zones is forbidden but there are quite a few pre-Visitation maps ofthese regions on the Internet. Stalkers are also constantly making their ownmaps to avoid newfound dangers on future expeditions. These hand-drawnmaps are valuable not only to other stalkers but also to the researchers ofthe Institute.

When the authorities’ attempts to penetrate into the changed regions failed,they were sealed and closed off from the rest of the world. People startedcalling them Forbidden Zones or just plain “Zones”. Beyond the border lieswilderness, farmland and even cities that for thirteen years have been onlyvisible in satellite photos. People left behind in the Zones have been de-clared deceased and no new survivors have been found in a decade. Close tothe border the remains of researchers, soldiers and early stalkers are alsovisible. Nobody has dared or been able to retrieve the bodies.

After reclamation failed, governments were more than willing to let the in-ternational community shoulder the burden of policing and observing theZones. The Zones and their borderlands became an international no-man’sland and the highest authority in all matters concerning them is the Interna-tional Institute of Extraterrestrial Cultures, a multinational research andsecurity organization founded by the United Nations.

The Institute’s original purpose was the perfect isolation of the Zones, ei-ther for all eternity or until such a time that their reclamation and restora-tion was possible. Only a handful of researchers picked by the Institutewould have access to the Zone and at this stage, isolation and security con-cerns took precedence. Research and xenology were seen as having onlyacademic value. Once the knowledge of diseases, mutations and monstrouschildren among the refugees spread, there were even demands to completelyclose the Zones from everyone, as if walling them off and denying theirexistence would make them to disappear. Their complete sterilization withnuclear weapons was also proposed.

There was never an agreement or a common strategy. Sterilization by nu-clear weapons would not, it was generally agreed, have removed the anoma-lies or other inexplicable phenomena. Additionally, both private and nationalassets remained in the Zones and nobody wanted to take the responsibilityfor destroying them. The Zones remained as they were and the authority andresponsibility for them was taken up by the Institute.

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Klamath Falls, USADiameter 101 kilometres. The Zone is on the border of California and Oregon, just south of the town of Klamath Falls. It is mostly wilderness, rural areas and small urban pockets. The western edge climbs up the slopes of the Cascade Mountain Range. The area is swept by large and powerful dynamic anomalies. Some changed life forms have crossed the border and are believed to have come from underground caves. Volcanic activity is frequent.

Harmont, CanadaDiameter 57 kilometres. The southern parts are city prop-er, the northern parts are suburbs, farmland and wilder-ness. Unbroken anomalous area but with rumours of life in the north, including mutated survivors. Replicas some-times cross the border but there are no proven sightings of other creatures. The Zone was partially formed over the mining town of Harmont. Unlike most borderlands, the remaining part of the town was not abandoned and gets by on slim government subsidies and a little tourism.

Toulouse, FranceDiameter 88 kilometres. Mostly rural, with some wooded hills the destruction of which has caused erosion effects even beyond the border. The Zone split the city of Tou-louse in half and swallowed up several small towns, suburbs and industrial areas. It also cut up the highway network of southern France. The anomalous area is reticular and in the holes of the net there are oases where all sorts of twisted life forms have survived. Artefacts are abundant and the Zone is favoured by stalkers.

Derbent, RussiaDiameter 70 kilometres. The Zone breaks up the low, for-ested coast between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains. It also cuts off the important land connec-tion and oil pipeline from Russia to Azerbaijan. The area is mostly forest, woodland and marsh but on the coast lies the port of Derbent. The Russian Zone is unique: its nature has remained nearly untouched while artificial con-structs and vehicles degrade quickly. Anomalies are still lethal, appearing and disappearing daily.

Saysu, ChinaDiameter 122 kilometres. The Zone was formed in a deep valley between two plateaus and reaches over into Mongo-lia in the northeast. The valley floor was composed of for-ests and marshland but there is also the city of Saysu and the surrounding farmland. Slopes and highlands are arid steppe and rocky, broken terrain. The Zone is large and poorly known as it is covered by colourful corrosive clouds that often move against the wind. These clouds prevent satellite imaging and make the Zone nearly inaccessible.

Sapporo, JapanDiameter 72 kilometres. The Zone lies between the cit-ies of Sapporo and Ashikawa. Several smaller towns were caught inside. There are also small woodlands and hills. In satellite pictures, some isolated woodlands are still vis-ible. Anomalous areas are large and sightings of inorgan-isms are abundant. Distortions of time and space, such as the mingling of night and day, are common and visible as areas of light and shadow.

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The BorderlandsThe Zones were created on different continents, terrains and societies butthey all have their borderlands. Although the borderland lies on this side ofthe border, it is so close to the Zone that there can be strange weather,lights on the sky and voices carried over from the Zone. Population centersnear the border have sometimes been evacuated to ease surveillance but justas often the inhabitants left voluntarily and the abandoned strip is widerthan the authorities would have required. Looters and a decade of wind andrain have finished the job. Wind howls through broken windows of the aban-doned apartment buildings while thickets grow on the fields and thistlesforce their way up through cracks in the asphalt.

The FallThere is no society without people. Only the buildings used for border con-trol have water and electricity, usually from their own tanks and generators.Phones do not work and only vital roads are kept in repair. The rest haveeither been abandoned or closed off with concrete barriers and rusty booms.Moving through the borderlands is not forbidden but visitors must be able toprove their identity and submit to checks. This is international land with itsown laws but without the police to enforce them. Soldiers guarding the bor-der obey the orders of their Institute superiors and nothing else.

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BOOKThe fled inhabitants are slowly being replaced by new ones: biker gangs,political and religious radicals, UFO cults, ostracized social and ethnic mi-norities and increasingly the Zone refugees. To them, the borderlands are ahaven outside society and in exchange for the primitive surroundings theyare relatively free from civil authorities and the prejudices and persecutionby general public. Borderlands communities tend to keep to themselves butsometimes members venture “into the real world” to work as illegal laborersor to sell whatever wares their community can produce.

Wild WestIn the borderland slums you can find drug trade, prostitution, illegal gam-bling and the manufacturing of pirated goods, although the refugees tend toavoid blatantly illegal activities. Strangers are regarded with suspicion andfor a good reason. Racist extremists often make armed attacks on refugeecommunities in the borderlands and the power struggles between organizedcrime syndicates often result in murder and arson. There is no police, soserial killers have free rein, organ traders are free to sell mutated bodyparts and deranged cults can carry out whatever sick rituals they want.

Beyond the borderlands lies the actual border. First there is a few hundredmetres of quarantine area and then the world suddenly ends and anotherbegins. Beyond the yellow warning signs there is nothing but the Instute anduninvited guests are observed through sniper scopes. Despite the harsh poli-cies there are few actual guards. The borders stretch for hundreds ofkilometers and the Zone itself is often its own best guardian.

Border TownsSometimes the Zone bisects a large town such as Harmont (Canada) or Tou-louse (France). Places like these are too big to die out. Factories and theinfrastructure are too expensive to be abandoned and relocating a popula-tion this large is difficult. Thus factories may still be operational, trains arerunning within sight of the Zone and the Institute is arguing with the stateabout security responsibilities. Electricity works at least in some parts andsome blocks have running water. Thousands of workers pass through thecrowded Institute checkpoints every day with their permits cleared by thisor that bureau or official. And the smaller roads are not even on the map.

In places like these, stalkers and their fences can easily disappear into thecrowds and access permits and identity cards that they can forge. Institutefacilities and research groups can be spied upon just by climbing into thehighest floor of some house with a pair of binoculars. Pursuing agents canbe thrown off by hiding in basements and underground tunnels.

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Another worldThe actual Zone border is invisible but some claim to feel it and even expe-rience pain or nausea upon crossing. It runs through wilderness, fields, cit-ies and even individual buildings. It is also very tall, reaching well into theupper strata of the atmosphere. While invisible, it affects its surroundingsby screwing with weather patterns. Aberrant temperatures and winds oftenform in the Zone and for example some anomalies can react to thunder-storms. This is why exceptional temperatures, mists and sudden storms arecommon also in the borderlands.

Crossing the BorderAt night, flashy and bright auroras or a hideous green glow are often visibleabove the border. The Zone begins right behind it. Even the first step overthe border can be the last and stalkers usually throw something where theyplan to cross. Zone phenomena never cross the border on their own, not evenairborne gases or liquids flowing downstream. This is inexplicable but theInstitute speculates that to its internal forces the Zone is a spherical sur-face. A human can cross the border easily and sometimes animals also wan-der over, although they are just as much in danger. However, creatures fromthe Zone, be they mutants or inorganisms sometimes make their way over theborder as well. Usually they return quickly the way they came but especially“replicas” (which aren’t actually organisms) seem to have a conscious desireto leave the Zone.

The scene beyond the border depends on the season and terrain but eachZone has its unique features. In Zone America, anomalous storms sweep themountainsides like waves and the ground is barren and scarred. Zone Canadais as dead as the Moon and dangerous anomalies and inorganic growths arethick on the ground. In Zone Russia, nature seems untouched (researchershave found many microscopic changes) but artificial materials and constructsdegrade or erode within days or weeks. In Zone China, caustic clouds blockvisibility like a colourful mist. In Zone France there are stable areas, “oa-ses”, between the anomalous regions, although the life within them has be-gun to twist and distort into something unrecognizable. In Zone Japan, ar-eas of light and darkness slide and float through one another like clouds,while distortions of time and space are popping up everywhere.

Radios are unreliable at best in the Zones and certain anomalies can silencethem for many kilometres around. Radar images tend to be completely unin-telligible, which is why the inner regions are known only from satellite pho-tographs. Of course, maps exist from 13 years ago but much has changedand the inner dimensions of a Zone can become distorted, entire regions candisappear or even be copied multiple times (this happens a lot in Zone Japanand you can basically get lost on an open field). In the early days it wasrumoured that there were actually seven Zones but the location of the sev-enth one had been kept secret. If the seventh Zone really exists, it is not onthe Pilman Radiant. Both journalists and conspiracy theorists agree on that.

AnomaliesAny unnatural phenomenon of the Zone that has no scientific or even reason-able explanation is an Anomaly. Like the artefacts, they break the laws ofphysics but the effects are often deadly. Countless of different anomaliesexist but some are clearly more common than others. Stalkers have given thecommon types names like “Mosquito Mange” and “Meatgrinder”. The anoma-lies themselves are often invisible but their effects on the environment canbe clearly seen.

For example, wind does not affect the vacuum inside a Void Bubble. Theterrible gravity of a Mosquito Mange has flattened or crushed everythingwithin it. A Merry Mirage looks often better lit and more colourful than itssurroundings. If there are no externally visible effects, anomalies may warpor delay sound, colours may be distorted and many people also experiencephysiological symptoms. Sometimes it’s a matter of instinct. A traveller mayfeel aversion towards a completely normal-looking location. The feeling can

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Silver Web is a patch of silvery or glassy web. Not everyone can even see it but touching it willcause death or serious injury within 24 hours. The actual causes vary, making this a metaphysi-cal anomaly.

Void Bubble is an area of vacuum. There is no physical reason why the surrounding air does notfill this area. It has no visible walls or borders.

Flashpoint is a very hot area or spot that fries everything entering it.

Magnetic Fountain is a small area that is often coated with trash. It draws matter to it, usuallyweakly at range but if something or someone strays too close the force increases all of asudden, crushing the victim against it. Some of these attract only metal, others only plastic orwood. Some may attract only liquids such as blood, or the vitreous fluid inside the eyeball.

Meatgrinder is a very dangerous anomaly and also very difficult to detect. It waits for some-thing to enter its area of effect and then exerts powerful tugging, pushing, twisting and crush-ing forces on it, often pulling its victim high up in the air in the process. Once triggered, itusually goes dormant for a while.

Merry Mirage is a psychic anomaly that amplifies the feelings of joy and pleasure within itsarea of effect. Variants for grief and anger also exist, as well as mirages that make the victimreturn to some earlier memory and be unable to tell what is real and what is hallucination. Somehave lost their memories altogether and had to be led out of the Zone by hand.

Mosquito Mange is a completely flat area with a gravity tens of times stronger than normal.Walking into a static mosquito mange usually means death. While dynamic manges are weaker,they can still cause serious injury.

Painting is a space where all motion slows down to an almost complete stop. Normal movement isfrozen in place and very quick motion (such as bullets) appears to crawl. Painting also distortssound but specific effects on light or radiation are unknown. If a hand strays within a Paintingit will suddenly slow down and finally get stuck as if embedded in concrete.

Shade is the shadow of an item or a building that always points in the same direction, regard-less of light sources. It is very difficult to detect at night. Shade terminates all organic proc-esses within the three-dimensional space it covers. Revitalizing the cellular structure has provenimpossible and any contact with a Shade usually results in a difficult gangrene.

be so strong that he becomes paralyzed when even trying to throw somethingat it. This phenomenon cannot be explained but it is very real, especiallyamong stalkers. They trust it more than they trust their own senses.

Anomalies can be divided into two rough categories: static and dynamic.Static anomalies are immobile, though their area of effect may change overtime. They may still disappear and new ones show up but they are generallylong-lived enough to be worth marking on the map. Static anomalies can bedifficult to spot but once noticed, they are fairly easy to avoid. However,they can be very powerful and cover huge areas. Most of are constantlyactive but some gather energy that is released explosively when they aredisturbed. After such a discharge the energy is spent and the whole anomalycan be safe for a while.

Dynamic anomalies are sometimes confused with inorganisms or quasichemi-cals. It may appear as an energy release similar to ball lightning, floatingaround at random, or a wave of high gravity that advances along the groundcrushing everything in its path. The flattened area may later repair itself, asif time were reversed. Most move either in a straight line or completely atrandom but never cross the Zone border. They are weaker and smaller thanstatic anomalies but just as or even more deadly because they can appear bysurprise or trap the stalkers in dangerous areas.

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InorganismsWhat is life? Zone creatures that behave like organisms but have none ofthe attributes or processes of an actual life form are called inorganisms.Little is known and even less understood about them. Some inorganisms canbe just badly understood or wrongly documented anomalies while othersmay be just insufficiently observed (and very special) mutants.

Unlike anomalies, inorganisms appear to have some kind of free will andgoals. To the horror of both officials and the inhabitants of the border-lands some have even strayed outside the Zones. They usually return fairlyquickly. Their numbers and species are unknown. There are some clearlyidentifiable or commonly encountered species such as Replicas but even thenno two Replicas are alike. Others types, such as “Burning Man” appear rarelybut sightings are sufficiently similar to call them a species. But there aremany inorganisms of which there are only singular sightings and in the worstcases different members in the same group have completely different ob-servations. Finally, there are extrasensory sightings when the observer hasperceived the inorganism in a way that is beyond the realm of normal humansenses and biology. The phenomenon has also been observed with anomaliesand artefacts.

Physical inorganisms include semi-liquid creatures such as the caustic poolsthat flow towards heat sources, even if uphill. There are also beings thatnormally exist only in a gaseous form but can form solid extensions likelimbs. Incorporeal inorganisms are even harder to comprehend. For example,according to study data, “Ghost Images” are incorporeal inorganisms formedout of light and shadow. Their presence will cause psychic disorders andhallucinations similar to hallucination-inducing anomalies. According to somedescriptions, the creature is actually a psychic delusion with an area ofeffect far larger than its visible parts.

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BOOKThese are just examples and there is no end to the different kinds ofinorganisms. Their reactions to stalkers range from ambivalence to furioushostility. Of course, it may be that the inorganism that tears its victim apartis only trying to find out how it works. “Replicas” also appear to have faintechoes of the memories and personalities of the people they are based on.This phenomenon has not yet been observed in other inorganisms and thedebate about their possible intelligence rages on within the Institute. Somethink that inorganisms are the aliens of the Visitation or at least their serv-ants. All attempts to communicate with them have failed.

OasesMost Zones, with the exception of Zone Russia, are anomalous regions. How-ever, they are not entirely dead. Here and there are spots where anomaliesare rare or stable enough for vegetation to survive and an ecosystem toexist. It may be just some half-dead scrub but the contrast to the barrenwaste of the anomalous areas is so great that the stalkers call them “oases”.These oases are usually too deep within the Zone to be reachable by thescientists operating from the borderlands and thus nearly everything that isknown about them comes from stalkers.

The Zone warps everything living and the oases are no exception. Plantscannot flee so they bend away from the nearest anomalies. The trunks oftrees may have a squashed shape to minimize the surface area facing ananomaly. The reason for this is unknown since most anomalies do not pro-duce any perceptible radiation. Mutations, deformities and unnatural growthscan make plants nearly unrecognizable and nothing found in an oasis shouldbe eaten even if you can identify it. Dead matter is abundant along withdifferent kinds of fungi. Growths as wide as a finger hang from tree limbs.And where there is vegetation, there are usually animals.

The size of an oasis can range from a few hundred square metres to severalsquare kilometres. In Zone Canada, they are merely rumoured to exist whileZone Russia is nothing but one big oasis where anomalies don’t seem to de-stroy vegetation. On the edges are hardy weeds, sickly grasses, dry shrubsor colourless horsetails sticking up from the mud. Dynamic anomalies mayhave cut wide swathes into the vegation but these are soon covered withscraggly mushrooms, grasses and ferns. Beyond these clearings are moss-covered trees. There may be plants that are unknown outside the Zone in theundergrowth. At times, the scenery can be as if from another planet butsuch vistas are as rare as they are deadly.

Although rare, animals and even humanoids have been met in and near oases.The braver ones even cross anomalous areas to get from one oasis to an-other. Practically all of them are mutants but the original species is usuallyrecognizable. They are also often injured or ill, perhaps poisoned by theirprey or the plants they have eaten. The ecology and food chains of the oasesare poorly understood but it is apparent that food is scarce and most mu-tants are starving. It is also unknown whether they breed or if they areslowly becoming extinct. The scientific community generally considers thestalkers’ taproom tales about eyeless monkeys, flying snakes or skinless beaststhat paralyze their victims with their howling to be nothing more but legends.

There are a lot of rumours about human mutants and it is known that some ofthe Changed have fled into the Zone after losing their Humanity. There istalk of entire tribes and communities of their kind, travelling from one oasisto another like primitive humans or apes. Stalkers have found symmetricalpiles of rocks, graffiti drawn with charcoal and totems made from the car-casses of prey animals, perhaps proving that the mutant tribes have theirown cultures and rituals. Observations or recordings of the tribes them-selves are very rare and it is quite possible that most stalkers who encoun-tered them never returned.

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You are crawling along a pipe slippery with stinking slimeand try to swallow your panic. The others went ahead and thecrawl is so long you nearly fall out of the pipe mouth whenit suddenly ends.

That would have been the end of you. The mouth extends a fullmetre from the wall of a pit wall and at the bottom is slimethat gleams in all the colours of the rainbow, pushing outtongues of blue flame. You are in the Zone.You climb on top the pipe and grab the outstretched hand ofButterfly who’s waiting at the edge. She is strong and youare soon out of the pit. Expecting a field of ruins, you findmost houses more or less intact. This one has collapsed onlybecause the bright jelly ate its way through the foundations.Alexander calls it Witch’s Jelly.

There is the smell of chemicals and ozone in the air. Norats, weeds, cockroaches or mildew. This is an anomalousregion. You glance towards the border through a crack in thewall. The mist gives floodlights halos around them and eventhis far out you hear the hum of electrified fences.Somewhere beyond the lights are the motion detectors, waitingfor you to reveal yourself. Behind the half-silvered windowsof guard towers lurk the snipers.Czar pulls a steel nut from his pocket. It has a strip ofwhite cloth tied to it. He throws it into the twilight and itlooks like a shooting star when it hits the bonnet of a car.The street behind the house is full of cars.Despite the dim light you can see figures slumped behindsteering wheels. Some of the corpses are just bones andothers are black and charred, as if burned to death. Thereisn’t a scratch on any of the cars.Another throw, now towards an alley that seems to go in theright direction. Midflight, the nut is yanked down into theground with such force it shatters into sparks against theglassy asphalt. A gravity concentration; certain death.Spark grabs the Czar by the shoulder and points to the otherend of the street. A black mass is advancing in yourdirection along the line of cars. Czar throws another steelnut through a display window in the opposite building. In thedark you cannot see where it lands but the sharp knock itmakes sounds natural.

Up close, the mass is a dark grass that grows out of metal.It hisses in the damp air. The grinning skulls behind thesteering wheels explode on contact with it.As if by mutual agreement you all leap after the steel nut.Dusty and trash-strewn floor catches your fall while shardsof glass rain down all around you. You can feel a great forcesweep past you in the street.

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XENOLOGY“Xenology: an unnatural mixture of science fiction and formal logic. It’sbased on the false premise that human psychology is applicable toextraterrestrial intelligent beings.”

- ROADSIDE PICNIC

Xenology is a scientific discipline for the study and understanding of theVisitors and their motivations. It has become traditional in the science com-munity to prefix “xeno-” into any research or terminology concerning theZones, resulting in things such as “xenotechnology”, “xenobiology” and soforth. In practice, xenological research has two main branches: one to in-vestigate the Zones themselves and another to study the artefacts broughtout of there as remnants of the Visitors’ culture or technology. Both seek toultimately understand both the Zones and the Visitors but there has beenlittle true progress in that since day one.

Officially, all xenological research falls under the jurisdiction of the Insti-tute. In reality it is conducted by a myriad of corporate, military and aca-demic instances, as well as some intelligence agencies. Those without a goodworking relationship with the Institute acquire their artefacts by other meansand the most important of these means are the stalkers. Even the legal re-search is top-secret and the Institute releases no information even on projectsunder its direct supervision.

Funding, from both within the Institute and outside, is based on privatesponsorship, secret business relationships, corruption and the sale of dataand inventions to the highest bidder. Xenology has been compared to nuclearweapons development during the Cold War. Everyone is in competition witheveryone else and spies and defectors play an important role. The researchprojects are caught in a whirlwind of money, ideals and ambition. Thefts ofinventions or research data, sabotage of facilities, kidnappings of key per-sonnel and assassinating suspected defectors are all part of the business.

The veil of secrecy has not always held. Financial scandals, random revela-tions about illegal experiments and artefact-related accidents receive a greatdeal of attention from the media. The consequences range from fines andfirings to the suspects’ mysterious disappearances. There is always too muchmoney involved in xenological research and the trail always leads far toohigh up the ladder. Those caught and convicted are almost always scape-goats for the real culprits. The situation troubles the convicted, the activistsand the Institute all alike, because after the show trials are over, it is busi-ness as usual and nothing ever changes.

Some of the finest minds in Humanity have been lured into xenology butmany of them have come to regret their choice. They can no longer discusstheir research or publish articles about it. After illegal experiments theycan no longer switch careers even if they wanted to, because their finan-ciers now have blackmail material. The experiments themselves can be life-threatening and no protection or safety measure is foolproof against theZone phenomena. Their families are under the threat of kidnapping, theircolleagues perish in mysterious accidents, extortion over past mistakes iscommon and corruption is rife overall. The use of stalker-smuggled arte-facts in xenological research is just one more felony in a long list.

Xenology also has its critics. Some scientists think the legitimate basic re-search amounts to making up names for phenomena that still remain unex-plained. They think the greater goals of the research, especially changingthe future of Humanity with alien technology (according to the VisitationTheory, that is) should be openly recognized. Many researchers honestlyhave good intentions and are driven by a desire to improve the World butthis does not extend to those deciding on the use of their findings. The highrates of the Institute mean that basic research is difficult to conduct andprojects always come with economic, military or political baggage.

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BOOKArtefactsAccording to the Visitation theory, artefacts are cultural and technologicalremains left behind by an alien culture. They are some kind of cosmic gar-bage, abandoned and unnecessary. Artefacts are only special for Humanitybecause their effects or their very existence breaks the laws of nature andphysics as we know them. There are countless different kinds of artefactsbut some are more common than others and there has been only a handful oftruly unique finds. Most types of artefacts have probably not been foundyet and in practice the definition of an artefact should be expanded toinclude portability. Although some of them are dangerous to handle, theymust be small and light enough to be carried off the Zone.

This definition of artefacts is by no means complete. If they had been leftby the Visitors, it would mean they had, in a very short amount of time, beento everywhere in the Zone, including sewers and houses that have since rot-ted away. The placement of the artefacts is random and without a pattern,unless one counts the fact that the rarer, more powerful artefacts tend tobe found deeper in the Zone. Even right up to the Zone border, swept cleanby the Institute’s robots years ago, new artefacts can suddenly be found.And the CCTV footage cannot explain how this can happen.

There are alternative theories. Some say they were abandoned on purposeto be discovered by humans, that we might learn to understand and perhapscommunicate with the Visitors through them. Others say they are a gift, meantto raise our overall level of civilization and technology. Those who do notbelieve in the Visitors’ benevolence say that they gave Humanity the toolsfor its own destruction.

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The Zones do not grow but with the artefacts, their phenomena are spread-ing outside their borders. Indeed, it has been said that with the artefacts,humans can eventually turn the whole Earth into a single, vast Zone. In be-tween lies the theory that the artefacts were discarded thoughtlessly, castaside at random but that the Visitors’ relationship with time is differentfrom ours. The artefacts got sprinkled throughout time, appearing to us onceour linear now hits the time where they are located.

Many artefacts are easy to believe to be remnants or refuse of alien tech-nology but others appear to be coagulates or precipitates rather than items.All artefacts retain their abilities even outside the Zones. They are catego-rized into exogenetic and endogenetic. Exogenetic artefacts possess somepower or ability that is activated by an outside stimulus (for example, a Pinforms light patterns only when squeezed). It does not matter how accidentalor difficult the application of this outside force is. By contrast, endogeneticartefacts break the laws of physics merely by existing.

If, for example, an artefact is partially invisible (when touched, its shapefeels different from what it looks like) or it has always the exact sametemperature regardless of its surroundings, it is an endogenetic artefact.The best-known endogenetic artefact is probably “So-So”, a tube about thelength of a man’s hand, with a powerful, inexhaustible electric charge atboth ends. Artefacts may have properties from both the main groups butgoing by their greatest power they usually belong clearly to one or the other.Endogenetic artefacts often interest industrial and medical researchers.Exogenetic artefacts tend to have lucrative military applications.

Artefacts are practically indestructible. Some can be temporarily reshapedand many exogenetic artefacts react to pressure or touch. In theory, theirpowers could have no limit but in practice they have always been observedto have limitations in the area, duration or force of their effects. These,however, can change even between two otherwise identical artefacts. It ispossible that our senses can only pick up a fraction of what an artefactdoes. Humanity may yet find such a Pandora’s box in the Zone that life onEarth will become impossible.

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THE PLAYERS’

BOOKSo-so is a cylinderical battery with an endless energy charge. In stronggamma radiation it will split up into two So-Sos.

Itcher is a small, soft orb. When its surface is dented it will start toreturn to shape, causing psychic disturbances, nausea and hallucina-tions to those nearby.

Pin is a thin cone that will form patterns of light and colour eitheralong its length or from its sharp end when squeezed.

White Wheel can be set into a rotating motion on a surface or aroundan item and it will continue rotating until physically stopped. Neitherfriction nor gravity affects it while it is spinning.

Empties are two hand-sized discs always 29 centimetres apart. If oneis moved, the other will also move to hold its position. No force canmove the discs closer or further apart. There is nothing between them,so they can, for example, be located on opposite sides of a wall.

Black Spray is a black, round crystal that reflects light with a delayand in strange angles, as if its inner dimensions were several lightminutes. There are often inexplicable changes to the light’s wavelengthor intensity.

Rattling Napkin is a silvery bundle the size of a large napkin. It slowlygathers an electric charge, straightening up into a flat, rigid disc. Everysix to eight hours, the charge becomes full and is discharged into any-thing conductive nearby and the napkin crumples up again.

Lobster Eye is a wand the length of a man’s arm, with a translucentsphere at one end. When the shaft is squeezed the sphere heats up.While the shaft itself will not become even warm, the radiating heatfrom the sphere will usually force a human user to drop it after aboutforty seconds. It then cools down instantly.

Golden Orb is a metaphysical artefact held by many to be a merelegend. Touching it will make the person’s deepest, most secret wishcome true. Many consider it to be just a new take on the story of thegenie in the lamp and its three wishes.

Death Lamp emits a green beam of light like an electric torch. Every-thing in the beam’s area dies, down to microbes. It’s victims will noteven decompose properly afterwards. The effective distance and du-ration of the beam are unknown.

Bracelet is hard to categorize. It strengthens the wearer’s vital func-tions. The specific effects vary from bracelet to bracelet but theycan remove the need for food, water or sleep, neutralize poisons andremove diseases, or accelerate healing from injuries.

Despite its name, Grey Crown does not fit on a head. A person touchingit will hear or otherwise experience the thoughts of those nearby,whether they want it or not. If this is done in a crowd, the effect maydrive the user insane.

Newton’s Cube is a cubical object full of very small moving parts andmechanisms, as if made by a mad watchmaker. It would appear to betwisted and changed technology from our world. The cube is surroundedby a bubble of vacuum up to a distance of two metres.

Triorb is a group of three spherical items. They can be touched orrolled around but their location and distance related to one anotherremains the same. If one is moved, the others move as well.

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MonumentsSatellite surveillance has picked up buildings or formations that did notexist prior to the Visitation. Sometimes it appears as though an older forma-tion has changed, while some new formations seem to have popped up out ofnowhere. These post-Visitation formations are called Monuments. Since theyare all located deep inside the Zones, there are more rumours than real dataabout them.

According to stalkers, the Monuments often have similar powers and effectsto endogenetic artefacts but so much stronger that they can be very danger-ous. According to some definitions, the only true differences between anartefact and a monument are size and that the latter is practically impossi-ble to move. Not all monuments can be classified or they are combinations ofthe main types described on the following page. Nine times out of ten, themonument’s powers make it dangerous to approach and lethal to apply.

However, stalkers also tell about harmless, merely amusing or even usefulmonuments. The scientists scoff at stories of monuments that return thedead to life or give material form to the thoughts and mental images of thosetouching them. Such monuments are unique and apparently permanent forma-tions. A single Zone might only have a few of them.

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THE PLAYERS’

BOOKTombstone is an infamous black obelisk in Zone France, which sendsout madness-inducing pulses. Many of its victims will stagger aboutnear its base until they die.

Room is a chamber deep inside Zone Russia. Like Golden Orb, theRoom is believed to grant the deepest, greatest wish of those whoenter it. What a person consciously wishes and what he really, trulywants deep down inside are not always the same thing.

Living Chasm is a legendary monument but its location is uncertain. Itis said that the freshly dead thrown into it are later found in theZone intact, alive, and naked.

Blue Jaw is a crack in the rocks in Zone USA, littered with crystalsaround its edges. It is said that those who look within see their ownfuture but that the sight has driven many insane.

Torch is in Zone China. It is some sort of illuminating energy burst ora narrow spray of fire that extends nine kilometres upwards andlights up the satellite images from the Zone. Its effects up close areunknown.

Frost Vault is in Zone Japan. It is a stone ring with an icy windblowing through it. Nobody has made it alive through the ring, even inheavy protective gear. The Vault is one of the few monuments thatnon-stalkers have been able to observe and document.

Black Bridges is in Zone France. It is a rugged rock formation wherestone has shaped itself into high, interconnected arcs. For some rea-son, there is always night at the Black Bridges.

Green Mountain is in Zone Russia. It is an obelisk formed by plantmatter. Near the Mountain, all dead organic material rots away inseconds.

Empty Door is in Zone Japan. It is a dark cave mouth that sucks in airwith a terrible force.

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QuasichemicalsIn anomalous regions one cannot help but notice the strange mists, puddlesof slime, growths of crystals, or layers of colourful dusts. They may beassociated with the anomalies but are usually quasichemicals, substancesfound in the Zones whose behaviour and properties cannot be explained byscience. The difference between an anomaly and a quasichemical is not al-ways obvious but a quasichemical can be taken out of the Zone while anoma-lies cannot be moved. The consequences of doing so are often serious andresearch into quasichemicals has caused several high-profile accidents.

In the Zone, quasichemicals are a lesser danger than the anomalies but nev-ertheless, they are a danger. Witch’s Jelly may have carved out kilometre-long ditches and Caustic Clouds can cover an area hundreds of metres across,making it almost impossible to avoid them. Some materials have been devel-oped to protect against quasichemicals but they are unreliable – while aprotective suit may hold out against one type of Caustic Cloud, a cloud of adifferent colour can eat right through. A porcelain container may hold whenused to gather Witch’s Jelly within the Zone but shatter when the jelly ispoured out outside the Zone. The behaviour and chemistry of quasichemicalsare poorly understood, which makes predicting their effects difficult.

Witch’s jelly is prismatic slime (someconsider it a thick colloidal gas) thatemits cold blue flames. It turns fleshand stone into jelly on touch butthere is an unknown and random limitto the extent of the change. Becauseof this, it is found as small puddlesand ditches rather than lakes.

Caustic clouds are thick, colourfulmists. Some are formed of near-weightless crystals while othersconsist of some sort of liquidstrands that float in the air. Theycome in many varieties: caustic, bur-ning, freezing, petrifying, desiccat-ing and so on.

Livesoap is a cluster of apparentlyweightless, metallic bubbles. Theyglow blue in the dark. Bubbles emitarcs of lightning into their surroun-dings and the voltage is enough tokill a human.

Screaming salt forms white or col-ourless crystals and masses. Theydo not react to erosion but turn todust when touched. The particlesstick to organic surfaces and cre-ate new crystals and masses. Thisis painful and stiffens the tissue,but is not lethal in itself. The onlyway to get rid of the crystals is tocut off the skin and the top layerof muscle in the affected area.

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THE PLAYERS’

BOOKYou hold a fist-sized, silvery piece of metal in your hand.When you put it in your pocket and let go, it suddenly weighsso much it pulls you to the ground. You can’t even get yourjacket out from under it. Taken in hand it is light again.Sure, this rock breaks the laws of physics but you expectedsomething more wondrous. It is also difficult to transport.

The placement of the artefacts makes no sense. If the Visitorshave really left them behind they must have been everywhere.Inside the buildings. At the rusty bus stops. In a barn fullof cow bones. You feel like a lab rat wandering in a test maze.

Spark says there actually is a pattern to their placement. Thesaying that the shortest route to an artefact is the hardestdetour is dead on. Powerful artefacts have been surrounded bysuch anomalies that they act like cheese in a mousetrap.

He has also found artefacts in the habitats of the Zone tribesand believes they have been worshiped as some sort of idols.Sounds incredible. Could the mutants really have a culture?

Czar’s map is from another stalker and has brought you to thisplace. An old farmhouse in the middle of a half-dead glade. Itsroof has collapsed and the walls are growing white, chalkylace extending to the closest trees like a spider’s web.

From within, through doors, windows and the collapsed roof,comes a white glow, sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker. Theshadows of the lacy growths seem to sway to its rhythm.

You begin circling the house as the evening fades into a cloudynight. Long shadows dance around it. On the south side it looksas if lava had once flowed from inside. Now it has settled intoa blue mass of rock, with a rosette of blue crystals growingfrom it.

Czar first touches the rosette with a stick and then with hisgloved fingers. Finally he grabs it and effortlessly yanks itstraight out of the rock. The crystals have fused together attheir base and the artefact comes out as a spiny circlet.

The “Blue Crown”, whatever it does, is your largest find.Other than that, you have a couple of Pins and a strange tubewhose ends snap seamlessly together when touched. Spark al-ready named it “Loop”.

You’ve also picked up a few different crystals and a couple oftest tubes of orange slime. That has now vaporized and begunto glow so brightly that the tubes work as lamps. They must bepriceless – or mere cosmic baubles.

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INSTITUTE“Roughly speaking, we make sure that the extraterrestrial marvels foundin the Zones come into the hands of the International Institute.”

– ROADSIDE PICNIC

Officially, all xenological research in the world has been concentrated un-der the IEC (Institute of Extra-Terrestrial Cultures), or “the Institute” as itis usually referred to. It is an independent organization founded by the UNand it is responsible for all security issues associated with the Zones, fromoverseeing xenological research to preventing items or samples from theZones falling into the wrong hands. To achieve these goals, it usually coop-

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