Talisman of Simon

The Talisman of Simon is a blue orb with the word "Simon" emblazoned into it. It gives the bearer the power of suggestion over others, and makes them think it was their idea. It doesn't make them a zombie however, as their personality remains unchanged, and they will not acknowledge that they are under the holder's control. They may even become irritable when told that their free will has been taken away. It is unknown whether this is an affect of the talisman, or part of the personality of the victim. It is paradox proof as if one is told to agree that it controls their actions, they will only say that they agree because they choose to. However, the holder's words have to be legible, if the words are mumbled they will have no affect. It seems to work on a quantitative basis, seeing as if one has more talismans than another, they will have to do as instructed (including forfeiture of their talisman). If two people have the same number of talismans, it appears they cancel each other out and neither will have any power over the other. The talismans were created by the sausage-like creature calling itself Simon (likely as a reference to the childhood game Simon Says). According to him, the spirits will fuck you in half if you deface a talisman. Apparently, the power is in the signature and not in the talisman itself as when Simon had written his name with a '$' instead of a 'S' on a scrap of paper, the "$imon" paper acted as an infinite talisman, giving the holder control over all people regardless of how many talismans they had.

During the episode, Simon also acted as a banker for the talismans.

When asked why he was giving out talismans, he stated "It is my firm conviction that every individual should have access to [the] independence and social validation that only comes from the life giving properties of the talisman." Later on, he elaborated "Everyone deserves the right to make their own rules, and to be able in some capacity to enforce those rules on other people."

This item was first introduced in episode 203: Income Parable as an allegory for money. It also made an appearance at the end of episode 206: New Heaven although its anomalous affects were not used.