The King & The Tide

Registered Phenomena Code: 009

Object Class: Omega-White

Hazard Types: Sapient, Teleportation, Memory Alteration, Tychokinetic

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Containment Protocols: Due to the unpredictable nature of RPC-009, sightings of the anomaly are to be explained to the public through multiple disinformation campaigns to further public skepticism and disbelief. Witnesses are to be amnesticized, RPC-009 manifestations are to be pursued and containment attempts are to continue as its nature has the capability to heavily damage normalcy.

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Description: RPC-009 designates a human figure which superficially resembles the deceased American singer and actor Elvis Aron Presley as he appeared in his thirties. Upon manifestation, the entity dresses in streetwear common to the location of manifestation, and is always observed wearing a pair of gloves.

The anomaly manifests and de-manifests at random intervals worldwide, most often around locations associated with the late Presley, mainly in Memphis, Tennessee. The anomaly seems to have an innate grasp on when it’s being observed, and uses this knowledge to try to avoid being looked at directly in the face. Generally, the anomaly will attempt to have a meal before de-manifestation, opting for food that the late Presley was purported to enjoy. RPC-009 manifests and de-manifests when not under direct observation: it actively seeks for unpopulated and unobserved areas when intending to de-manifest. Occasionally, RPC-009’s de-manifestation will leave behind a small mound of sand.

Any individual that identifies RPC-009 as "Elvis Presley", consciously or subconsciously, will become affected by a negative probabilistic anomaly targeting any attempt to pursue RPC-009. This phenomenon manifests itself as a series of statistically improbable non-fatal events that impede approaching or damaging it. Because of this, all containment attempts as of yet have ended in failure. The activation of this anomaly often leads to RPC-009 choosing to de-manifest shortly afterward.

Observed examples of this anomaly at play include:

• The jamming of firearms
• A random shift in crowd interest, leading to a large group of people knocking over the pursuant
• The suffering of a spontaneous, nonfatal heart attack

RPC-009 is also capable of exerting a memetic effect on certain surrounding individuals; said effect causes said individuals to view the anomaly as a related, mundane individual. Individuals influenced by the anomaly are unaffected by RPC-009’s probabilistic anomaly, but following its de-manifestation, any memory of RPC-009 will be erased from said individuals. These effects may be counteracted through the usage of QUIE glyphs¹ and other counter-memetic measures.

Discovery: RPC-009’s first documented manifestation occurred on August 19, 1977,² where it manifested within the bathroom at Marlowe’s Ribs & Restaurant in Memphis, Tennessee. The anomaly exerted its memetic effect on all surrounding individuals after manifestation, save for one Sandra █████, hereon referred to as "witness", and proceeded to order and consume a plate of mashed potatoes. Because the witness did not pursue the anomaly, it only de-manifested following its egress from the establishment. Said witness later reported the encounter to a local newspaper. Following similar incidents in the following months, the Authority confirmed RPC-009's existence.

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Addendum:

[+] Containment Attempt Summary 009.1

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On 1/7/1995, the Director of Site-220, Roy Daniel Hall, ordered the immediate application of "Operation: Heartbreak", a plan designed specifically to contain RPC-009. Said plan was on a far greater scale than any other attempt made by the agents of Site-220 previously,³ Whereas previous efforts involved simple dispatching of agents on-site to contain the anomaly and amnesticize witnesses, Heartbreak was a heavily funded and planned operation. It involved a total of eight high-cost remotely piloted drones to follow RPC-009 and prevent its escape, long-range gunmen, and the usage of mostly unbriefed, younger personnel in an attempt to avoid activating the anomaly's tychokinetic abilities.

The manifestation of RPC-009 that had spurred Hall's decision to go ahead with Heartbreak occurred at 7:34 GMT, where RPC-009 manifested near the Tennessee-Arkansas border. Due to this area being relatively uninhabited and barren, drones were quickly dispatched to surround RPC-009 to prevent it from de-manifesting.

[BEGIN LOG]

7:36: Drones successfully surround RPC-009, cornering it to an open field.

7:40: RPC-009 sits down, shaking its head.

7:42: Agents Calwell, Paulsen, Schweiss and Long are dispatched to RPC-009 - said agents were specially picked as to not know who Elvis Presley was.

7:45: Agents successfully surround RPC-009, grabbing it by its arms. In the scuffle its glove falls off, revealing the lack of a visible hand beneath.

7:47: Agents place RPC-009's left hand within a pair of handcuffs and push it to the ground, awaiting transport.

7:48: RPC-009 inquires about the agents' day.

7:55: Vehicle transport arrives. Agents begin to escort RPC-009 into the vehicle.

7:56: RPC-009 speaks. It informs the agents that his name is "Elvis Presley". The agents enter the vehicle with the entity, and prepare to drive. As they wait, the anomaly begins humming the melody to "Love Me Tender".

7:57: Vehicle breakdown due to severing of wires. Later inspection revealed that a small rodent, likely a field mouse, had climbed within the vehicle and gnawed upon the wire until it broke. Driver leaves to check on engine.

7:58: Driver reports a gas leak within the car, possibly due to the same rodent that chewed through the wires.

7:58:5: Large explosion caused by spark generated from severed wire in conjunction with gas leak. All agents incapacitated. RPC-009 is still unable to de-manifest due to an on-board camera hidden within the vehicle. It proceeds to retrieve the keys to its handcuffs from the floor, apparently launched by the explosion. Entity begins to run outside after retrieving one of Agent Calwell’s ammo cartridges and unlocking the door with a dropped key. Drones follow it.

7:58:20: The explosion is recorded and received by Site-220 high command - Director Hall authorizes the usage of high-calibre long range firearms.

7:58:23: Sniper Vance lines his shot from around 1400 meters. He is hidden near an abandoned building. RPC-009 stops running. Shifting itself up onto his toes, it bends its knees, extending its left arm forward and right arm upwards, leaning back precariously. Then, it puts its heels on the ground and moves its arms down, facing its left. Its knees slightly bent, it moves its left arm outwards while grasping the ammo cartridge in its left hand. It raises it to its mouth and opens it.

7:58:27: Radio communication records Vance muttering “is that….” under his breath. Vance fires. All seems normal at first - Vance has accounted for the speed of the wind to the left. However, almost immediately, the wind speed changes , causing the bullet to veer.

7:58:28: The bullet misses RPC-009 completely, hitting one of the drones instead. The drone begins to fall and smashes into another drone. A domino effect occurs as the drones begin to fall upon each other one by one due to wind patterns and previous inputs. Video stops. RPC-009 is believed to have de-manifested at this point.

7:58:30: Site Director Hall's monitor explodes due to previous technical issues, rendering it unusable.

RESULT: FAILURE
COSTS:

$~ 240,000 8 Destroyed Nucorp Drones
$~ 70,000 1 Severely Damaged Specialized Authority Transport Vehicle
$~ 10,000 Medical & Other Miscellaneous fees
- - - - - - - -
$~ 320,000 USD in losses

Director Hall was later reprimanded for the usage of such a large amount of resources on the containment of a low-threat entity as well as for the neutralization attempt.

[+] Video Log 009.2

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Following the containment attempt, on 1/8/1995 at 12:14 EST, RPC-009 manifested at Site-220. Security footage shows it emerging from one of the bathrooms in the east wing, fully clad in standard Authority researcher outfittings. At this point, it began to make its way to the cafeteria. It's memetic anomaly affected almost the entirety of the site, causing personnel to identify it as “Researcher King”. Following its meal at the cafeteria it made its way to the Site Director’s office, bypassed security measures unobstructed,⁴ whereupon it spoke to Site Director Hall who appeared not to have been affected by the anomaly’s memetic property.

The following is the transcript of the security footage taken from Director Hall’s office.

[BEGIN LOG]

Hall: Yes, It'll be-

The door opens with a loud creak. Hall drops his phone and turns his head towards the door.

RPC-009: Hey.

Hall: What the f-

The door closes. Director Hall stands up from his chair.

RPC-009: Hold it there, honey. You can’t chase after me. You should know that by now.

Hall: Are you-

RPC-009: Yes, I’m him. I know I've got a number, but please, I prefer King.

Hall: W-what are you here to do? This is, uh, the first time you’ve ever voluntarily made contact with the Authority. Are you here because of….yesterday's events?

RPC-009: Sure. Doubt they'll let you repeat that one.

RPC-009 chuckles.

RPC-009: But first, compliments to your chef. Not bad for cafeteria grub.

Hall: I will…relay that.

A scraping sound can be heard as RPC-009 pulls out a chair and sits down.

RPC-009: So, how’s it been?

Hall: How’s…what been?

RPC-009: Trying to contain me. Been a headache, no?

A pause.

Hall: No, hasn’t been easy. God knows how much we’ve spent on amnestics.

RPC-009 laughs.

RPC-009: Oh! How many times have you sent your pals over? A few hundred? Must be running them ragged. Wonder if you pay them enough for all that trouble.

Hall clears his throat.

Hall: Uh…Zero-zero-nin-

RPC-009: Please, call me King.

Hall: Mr. King, then.

Hall rummages through his desk drawer.

Hall: Let's…cut to the point. Why are you here?

RPC-009: Need to ask for a favor. You see, that stunt you pulled yesterday really got me thinki-

Hall: Are you going to turn yourself in? I promise, yo-

RPC-009: No. Honey, you really think it’d be that easy? Listen, I have a request for you. I’ll do something for you, and in return, you do something for me. Or at least, hear me out. That sound alright?

A pause.

Hall: Sure. Yeah. Just, give me a moment to process this. You’ve evaded us for 13 years, and now you’re right here in front of me. Sure.

RPC-009: You wanna…ask me some questions, or something?

Hall: Sure. Questions. Uh…give me a moment…

Hall retrieves a notebook from beneath his desk.

Hall: Uh…hm. To begin with, Mr. King, why do you impersonate Elvis?

RPC-009: Impersonate? Really, I’m offended. It’s less that I impersonate him, more that I am him, per se. The boy from Tupelo - that’s me, in the flesh.

Hall: Could you please elaborate?

RPC-009: It's tough to explain…

RPC-009 places its hand on its chin.

RPC-009: Best way I can put it is like this. Every person leaves indentations in the world. Most people's footsteps are washed away and forgotten about, but a great man like Presley would leave a great imprint, no? I'm that - the hole where he used to be.

Hall writes in his notebook.

Hall: Alright then. What is… your origin? Where’d you come from?

RPC-009: ‘Fraid I don’t know myself. Found myself sitting on the toilet, three days after that man died.

Hall: And why do you continue to manifest around the world?

RPC-009: Because dying of a heart attack caused by an addiction to prescription barbiturates ain't befitting of a man like that. Can't leave the building just yet, y'know?

A pause.

RPC-009: Anything else?

Hall looks away.

Hall: Frankly, that’s…all I have. I don’t actually have questions prepared. I’m the Director, not a researcher. And more importantly…no one expected you to just waltz right in. You haven’t really given me much…time to prepare.

RPC-009: Great. Now, would you hear me out?

A pause.

Hall: Alright. I’ll listen.

RPC-009 takes a deep breath.

RPC-009: Please stop pursuing me.

A pause.

Hall: Mr. King, you…know we cannot do that.

RPC-009: I know, I know. Duty and all that. Something about normalcy. But please, just hear me out. It’s been the same for the past 13 years. Some aged fan sees who they believe to be the great star and reports me at a restaurant and as you try to get close, I disappear. Why not give your men an off day?

Hall: You understand how your manifestations disrupt norma-

RPC-009: Sure, it does. By a tiny, tiny bit. Hell, you’ve already managed to make it into a lie. A hoax. No one'll believe the middle-aged mother who thinks she saw me. I'm not even that mad about the slander, frankly. What’s the harm of just stopping? Whenever you pursue me, I disappear. You wasted how much money seeing that to its end? Them’s the rules, and that’s how it’ll be.

RPC-009 shakes its head.

RPC-009: And what’s the harm of it? Some fans see the King again. So what? When someone who used to love the King, who used to dance and jump and holler at the concerts and scream whenever he made his appearance, now aged and tired, sees me out of the corner of their eyes, I see that gleam in their eyes, Danny. A gleam that could only be made by a man who used to be as great as that man was.

RPC-009 leans forwards.

RPC-009: Can’t you let people dream?

A pause.

Hall: I really am afraid that I cannot authorize such actions.

RPC-009 sighs and turns away.

RPC-009: Danny, Honey. Please. All legends die eventually. No matter how much you try to fortify your castles with moats and battalions of shells and seaweed and driftwood or whatever, the high tide inevitably comes. That's all we are, Danny. Sand on beaches.

RPC-009 pauses.

RPC-009: Go ask about the other greats. Ask anyone nowadays if they know who Clark Gable was. Or D. B. Cooper, or Thespis or Bogart. Old friends, gone forever. Washed away to sea. The King is no different.

RPC-009 turns back towards Hall.

RPC-009: And when the sea comes for him, I’ll wash away, too.

RPC-009 extends its right hand.

RPC-009: Promise.

Recording equipment fails due to a malfunction caused by lack of maintenance.

[END LOG]

Following the conversation RPC-009 proceeded to leave Hall’s office and walk into the hallway. At this point, Hall ordered security to apprehend RPC-009, but such order had failed to go through due to a malfunction in the radio system, causing it instead to broadcast the entirety of the song “Heartbreak Hotel", performed by the late Elvis Aron Presley.⁵ A search of the complex immediately afterwards revealed that RPC-009 was nowhere to be found, likely having de-manifested within an unobserved hallway.

[+] Footnotes

Footnotes

1. See RPC-727 for more details.

2. Three days after Presley's death.

3. Due to its proximity to Memphis, Site-220 was and still is the site most responsible for the effort of containing RPC-009.

4. All measures failed due to various highly improbable occurrences.

5. Later inspection revealed this to be caused by an unscheduled repair by a radio technician.

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