First referenced:
The Portal in the Forest
Also referenced:
The Desolate Guardians
'I was told that everyone I'd served with in the military died shortly after I left.'
First located in the universe of the Darkness Entity by Cristina Thompson, the Soul Reader is a multi-dimensional device that is typically perceived as a book or diary. It would appear this perception is by design, as it ensures an operator requires no special training to operate the device, and also prevents damage to the operator due to the multi-dimensional properties of the device. The Soul Reader is capable of causing severe brain damage through improper use, such as attempting to interpret information that is too complex for a normal human mind to handle.
When interpreted by the Regret Demon a full depiction of the device caused instant near-lethal damage to Danny, which was only undone by threatening the Regret Demon with activation of the device. This depiction was then reinterpreted by Cristina Thompson while inebriated to create a crude sketch of a mechanical device which appears to consist of a large number of sharp serrated blades, cogs and pipes.
When activated, the device creates an interface between the user and a target soul, whether its physical form is alive or dead. Apparently considered to be a monstrous creation by an extinguished Sentient Flame which was interrogated by Cristina Thompson, the device apparently can cause significant pain to the soul being interrogated, and will force the soul to divulge information whether it wants to or not. Normal human souls do not appear to experience any discomfort when interrogated by the device.
The Soul Reader may have originated from, or passed through the universe containing the Dreamer On High prior to being found by Cristina Thompson in the Darkness Entity universe. A half-wild, crazy individual who was speaking gibberish (potentially due to damage from the Soul Reader or Dreamer) hurled what appeared to be a journal book through the portal being generated by the Dreamer On High and some enslaved Brownshirts immediately prior to the Dreamer's demise, however this has not yet been confirmed, and the movements and origin of the Soul Reader largely remain a mystery.
The Soul Reader has since been passed on by Danny to Conn Thompson, who has used it to read the story of Vasiliev Blaku.
Conn Thompson's plan to use it to extract the truth from The Sword regarding The Crushing Fist however resulted in unusual behavior of both the device and The Sword himself, with the Soul Reader displaying jumbled text followed by 'CRITICAL FAILURE'. Further manipulation of the Soul Reader resulted in a powerful multispatial discharge from the device, along with emergence of a powerful malicious entity within The Sword. Deactivation of the Soul Reader allowed The Sword's normal personality to reassert itself.