Absurde (アブスルド Abusurudo?) (French for "absurd") was a mysterious voice that first spoke to Molonev Menhir in November ES 577. Following its direction, he eventually became Springfoot Jack and founded The Phenomena, the predecessor of the Starship Cult. Absurde eventually manifested itself within a child that took the name Moon Child.
History[]
Ever since he had been left on Ceres in March ES 560 by the Stellar Nursery Society, Molonev Menhir's life had lacked a sense of direction. Relegated to working menial jobs, he lost his sense of purpose after his friend Daizaburo Sato was killed in an accident in late August ES 575. He became homeless two weeks later and joined a small group of homeless men who survived by scavenging. On November 2, ES 577, Menhir was dumpster diving on Shank Shin Bone Street when a loud and mysterious voice spoke to him, proclaiming itself to be the God Absurde. It promised to bestow on him a sacrament and commanded him to accept the sign and become its servant. Menhir fled in terror, ending up in an unsavory part of Ceres called The Sink. Here he was confronted by a mortally wounded criminal with a gun dressed as a circus clown. Believing that this was the sign he had been sent, Menhir held him and looked into his eyes as the clown died, receiving a sign.
Menhir realized that "there is no meaning to this life," and that any attempt to find anything deeper would uncover insanity. His life changed completely, and he made it his mission to "spread the curse". Adopting the persona of a demented circus clown named Springfoot Jack, he became a highly skilled hypnotist and underwent cyberization. He also founded The Phenomena, a traveling circus troupe.[1]
The birth of Whophon in Phase 42.
In April ES 582, Absurde instructed Springfoot Jack to visit Luna at night, which lead The Phenomena to tour Guyot. A month later, Jack found Jetan G, who had escaped following the destruction of the Karkinos Research Lab on April 9.[2] Giving him the nickname of "Moon Child" or "M.C.", Jack hypnotized him, putting him through seven brutal tests, all of which he survived. Six years later in June ES 588, Absurde, who had not given Jack a revelation in some time, told him rename M.C. "Whophon". Whophon's powerful hypnotic abilities then manifested, creating the illusion of him floating above an ocean with lightning flashing as he declared that God had been seated within him. Jack tried to kill him with an axe, but was stopped cold when Whophon generated an illusion of him being instantly turned into a skeleton. Believing that Absurde had now chosen Whophon as his medium, Jack surrendered his leadership of the troupe, which Whophon promptly renamed the Starship Cult.[3]