Herbert Heinrich and Robert Emille were German physicists, and second cousins, who had begun to explore ideas pertaining to the mathematics of numerology, astronomy and astrology, veering from peer-reviewed science and into esotericism, as was the trend at the time. It was 1828, and they had become enamoured with the anachronistic calendars of the Tarabestant monks, who were believed to have predicted hundreds of historical events, using a series of unique ancient clocks, hidden in a temple in North Africa. The cousins eventually devised a route through the process of elimination, to a destination in the Atlas Mountains. After a lengthy and expensive expedition, they finally found the ruins. From the account of Herbert Heinrich:

‘We came upon a fissure in the land that descended in a steady incline towards a vast rock face towering above us. The steps that ascended the wall were less than a foot wide, meandering, crude and precarious, leading to the entrance above. We took our time, the sandstone from which it was carved being very brittle. I must admit, my vertigo was a hindrance. Upon entering the aperture, we found a vaguely oval room. At the centre of this space stood six stone plinths, each around three feet tall. Atop these were roughly-hewn stone ‘cubes’, (or Cuboids, as their dimensions were not uniform). They were made of a black, shiny granite-like mineral. On one side of each was a small, coiled aperture that mimicked the entrance to this site. Herbert was the first to look into the hole within one of these objects, using a torch to illuminate - the dimensions of the interior appear to stretch beyond the physical limits of the exterior. A clever trick, I am sure. We carefully removed these items from their plinths. Once secured, we began to explore the greater structure. At this point, we entered a corridor that abutted the main room. We soon found that it continued for many miles, a seemingly featureless, peculiarly unvarying tunnel. We lacked the provisions tocontinue any further and have vowed to return with more equipment to explore the space more thoroughly.’

Upon returning to the United Kingdom, they began to study the Cuboid artefacts. Lacking knowledge of radiation, the pair would describe proximity to the cubes with increasing alarm, both complaining of flu-like symptoms. They began to experiment with various materials to block these effects, with prolonged exposure causing painful cramps in the hands, and rendering them unable to work. With fear that the artefacts might carry a contagion, they made efforts to find any account of such minerals in previous scientific papers. Pitchblende, which is a mineral containing silica, uranium, radium and lead, had been shown to cause irritation and a form of poisoning, that we would later show to be kidney, liver and lung damage through inhalation of radioactive dust. Egyptian physicist, Akmal Youssef, had discovered a similar physical reaction to a fragment of a unique mineral deposit found near the village of Manshiyyat Dahshur, in Cairo. The stone appeared to emit some form of irritant that caused lesions to form on the skin. The cousins had noticed similar sores on their own bodies. Herbert and Robert borrowed heavily from Youssef, who spoke of “energetic waves” produced by the object. Eventually, Herbert discovered that one of the sores in his arm had broken, to reveal a deep cavity with a startling similarity to the maw in the side of the Cuboid itself.

Removal of the material that had formed on the edges of the wound was so painful that it was decided to anaesthetise the arm. Whilst removal was attempted, it was discovered that the depth of the wound went beyond the physical depth of the arm. A sterilised rod of a good ten inches was passed through the hole, with no apparent materialisation on the underside of the arm. A sample was taken and appeared to be a form of crystalline silica. They named the condition Foris Spiralis Crystallina, or Coil Syndrome. Its aberrant effects are recorded in detail - as the condition worsened so, too, did their health. A fissure formed in Emille’s face, with a diameter of a few inches. The wound deepened, a fistula, made from the same crystalline scab, forming on the interior. When a light was shone within, the depth was unfathomable - like the wound in Herbert’s arm, this too appeared deeper than the extent of his head. No pain was felt, and there was no cognitive decline. Against all physical laws, the ‘hole’ did not appear to occupy the same space as his head, but was somehow attached to him. Cases of this disease spread out from the Emille homestead, resulting in multiple fatalities. The stillborn foetus carrying a vast hole over its left eye was the gravest result of exposure, which eventually spurred the cousins to finally find a material capable of blocking the effects of the Cuboids. Lead, as it turned out, was the key, and various lead-lined boxes were produced to house all six Cuboid objects.

In a brief, presented by the Merrylin Institute after analysis of the Cuboids in our possession, we have this short summary:

‘A series of crude Cuboids, found in the ruins of a structure in Northern Sabha, Africa, by Robert Emille and Herbert Heinrich. On one side of each Cuboid is a vaguely coiled aperture. By looking into said aperture, it is immediately noticeable that the internal space is larger than the physical dimensions of the Cuboid. It is proposed that the Heinrich / Emille Cuboids are manifolds - higher dimensional objects. Experiments show that the aperture is expelling charged particles, and that the interior of the cube exists outside three dimensional space. Therefore, the aperture itself can be compared to a relativistic jet, seen expelling ionised particles from black holes and quasars. We believe that the description of the ‘temple’ can be seen as an attempt to mimic the Cuboids themselves on a far larger scale. The Cuboid itself is a layer of glass and unique carbon nano- filaments that are either manufactured or formed around the hyper-dimensional object, or somehow occur naturally. It is suggested that the Cuboids were placed in a circle, with the apertures facing inwards, towards the centre, where we assume the Alabast was held. The Alabast was thus bombarded with these charged particles. The purpose of this is unknown.’