Spaces_013-6D
Nickname: The Split Hour
Danger Ranking: 6D
First Reported: 1976–08–04 — Outside Dead Creek, Oregon

Summary:
The Split Hour is a circular clearing, precisely 33 feet in diameter, hidden within the deep woods of Dead Creek. At first glance, it appears mundane—soil, pine needles, and stones—but upon stepping into the center, subjects may spontaneously vanish, displaced across time rather than space. Return is not guaranteed. The surrounding air is unnaturally still, and watches, compasses, and GPS units fail to function correctly within 50 meters of the anomaly.

Those who return often do so barefoot, sunburned, or frostbitten, bearing knowledge they should not possess—or missing knowledge they once had.

The temporal rift is inconsistent, activating seemingly at random or in response to unknown criteria. Attempts to track its timing cycles have failed. The experience of being within the rift has been described as “falling upward,” “being erased and rewritten,” or “dreaming someone else’s life.” The anomaly often marks the skin of returnees with time stamps in reverse military format, though some marks are in unknown alphabets.

Temporal bleed is becoming more frequent. Photos taken near the anomaly sometimes reveal background details—buildings or landscapes—not present in the current era.

Known Properties:

• Entry may transport individuals to any point in time between 1603 and 2091 (based on returned accounts).
  
• Returnees report inconsistent memory retention—some clearly recall past or future events, others emerge confused or altered.
  
• Individuals may encounter themselves in different ages. Psychological damage from these encounters is extreme.
  
• Radio waves near The Split Hour sometimes carry broadcasts from decades past or future.
  
• A persistent humming is audible during activation. Frequency registers at 4.23 Hz, below human hearing, but sensed physically.
  

Containment Procedure:

• A permanent exclusion perimeter has been established 100 meters from the center. Site is disguised as a hazardous fire zone.
  
• Entry is strictly forbidden unless approved by Level-5 Chronoauthorization.
  
• Biological tagging and quantum time signatures are required on all personnel entering the area.
  
• Subjects who return must be quarantined for no fewer than 72 hours and are subject to temporal coherence testing.
  
• Any object retrieved from the anomaly must be stored in Chrono-Lock chambers and examined for paradox risk.
  

Encounters:

• 1983–07–12 — Dead Creek, OR: Dr. Jonas Krell entered and reappeared 47 minutes later. Claimed to have spent 18 years in the year 1811, where he lived under an assumed identity. Physical examination confirmed advanced aging.
  
• 1989–02–03 — Dead Creek, OR: Paracadet Lissa Hoyt stepped into the clearing and was recovered one week later with burns consistent with post-nuclear urban decay. She claimed it was 2074. All electronics on her person were fused or missing.
  
• 1990–06–29 — Dead Creek, OR: An unknown woman, estimated age 40, walked out of the site. She wore 17th-century Spanish clothing and spoke fluent Latin. She died of pneumonia the following morning. Internal examination revealed a pacemaker of 2032 manufacture embedded in her chest.
  

Recommendation:
The Split Hour must not be utilized under any circumstance. The threads of time around it are unraveling. It is not a portal—it is a wound.

List of Case Workers:

• Dr. Jonas Krell (Status: Retired – suffers temporal drift episodes)
  
• Agent Lissa Hoyt (Status: Deceased – refused containment, deteriorated rapidly)
  
• Commander Eli March (Status: Active – Chronoanchor specialist)
  
• Dr. Abena Kuol (Status: Active – Paradox containment theorist)
  
• Dr. Peter Song (Status: Deceased – 1985; body recovered with internal clock reading 0000:00:00)