[He's not going to humor that first bit with anything more than a grumble.]

Ah. In that case, I suspect that it is the author's documentation of what they experienced within the Shimmer. As for the writing, it depends. The Shimmer may distort writing, or they may have developed a cipher for an unknown reason.

[...]

Of course, it raises the question: how would they know that I would become involved? There is only one person who I can think of that would, and she is far from in my good graces.