Fortnite players find giant purple cube that restores shields, shoots lightning

Fortnite players have discovered a giant purple cube located on a mound in the middle of the island's desert. No one knows what it is, though it appears to have fallen from the sky and the desert land around it is marred by scorch marks. Get too close to the cube and it'll propel you backwards. Shoot it with any weapon and you'll be zapped with a bolt of lightning.READ: Fortnite rifts are now shooting lightning bolts

Epic, of course, hasn't said what the cube is about, but it's not from the island's world. Players can bounce on the cube as if it were a bounce pad — strike it with a pick axe while bouncing and the player is catapulted into the air, only to crash and die.

Similarly, whacking the cube's side will send the player flying backward, taking significant damage upon landing.

The cube's not all bad, though. Any player within the vicinity of the cube will see a pulse of energy across their screen, followed by a slow trickle of shield health. Stick around long enough and the cube will fully restore the shield; just don't get too close because an accidental touch is swiftly punished.

The giant purple cube likewise dislikes being shot — hit with with three or more bullets and it'll pulse with anger, ejecting a lightning bolt that blasts the player to instant death. During each activity, the cube ripples with purple electricity, each wave briefly illuminating alien symbols with an unknown meaning.

Assuming the cube does kill someone, the death is recorded in the bottom left of the screen with the player's name, followed by "...got to close to [cube name]." The cube's name is an indecipherable symbol with a upward left-facing arrow within L and | marks. The cube's appearance joins bolts of lightning that started shooting out of the game's rifts yesterday.