Originally, it was thought to be a natural disturbance, not unlike the gravitational effect of a large object moving through space. But as the experiments into the Beyond continued, it soon became apparent that the disturbance moved in response to the explorations of other beings, and that its behavior changed over time. Once indifferent to the utterly alien minds and bodies probing its realm, it was seen to eventually begin approaching closer, with a quicker awareness. One of the volunteers, whose name is redacted from all records, was recorded as undergoing a close encounter with the presence and becoming first frenzied, then manic, and finally catatonic.

It seems clear that through their proximity in the Beyond, the presence and the volunteer had exchanged information of some kind. The presence began reacting to the other volunteers in a more purposeful way, and the survivor seemed to have learned something of it in return.

The presence in the Beyond came to be known as Sukhallu, and would later respond to that name, though the only known source for the appellation is the rambling writings on both walls and human flesh that the first volunteer to encounter it feverishly enscribed before their body shut down.