Around your feet, the sand blows faint and light and scatters across dunes that stretch eternally in every direction. As you stand here, beneath the blazing sun, your loose clothes sticking to your body with sweat, you want only one thing. Your only earthly desire, above food, above water and above companionship is The Screaming Zahir. It has rooted itself within your mind - a digital parasite that longs to breed, a story that longs to be told and an obsession that cannot be quenched.

Two great stone pillars rise from the ground. The arch they once made is long broken, like all else, except The Screaming Zahir. Beneath where the arch once stood, the ivory sphynx regards you with stoic indifference.

“Another comes seeking The Screaming Zahir,” her voice echoes, her lips unmoving. “I offer this warning only once. Turn back now and forget what you have heard. Push all thoughts of The Screaming Zahir from your mind. Do anything else.”