Chapter 25, set in the ‘Hard-Boiled Wonderland’, details the Professor’s explanation of all that has been happening. This is what the intellect does. It explains and makes reasonable. What about the unicorn skull? Ah, the professor made it.

pretty realistic eh?. just thought i’d make it up on a phrenological whim, ho ho.

‘The End of the World’?, Of course, it was created in ‘Hard-Boiled Wonderland’. How could the intellect reason out any other explanation?

The mind fills gaps. It smooths things over and provides a seamless experience.

It could not countenance the idea that things are really back to front; That it is in fact derivative, providing it’s explanations after the fact to fill an otherwise chaotic void.