tagshow
The version of the document you are viewing has been redacted to obfuscate memetic hazards.
Contact the acting Head Researcher if you believe you have already been exposed to RPC-139.
Registered Phenomena Code: 139
Object Class: Gamma-Yellow
Hazard Types:
Organic
Gravitational
Animated
Info-Hazard
Invisibility
Regenerative
Containment Protocols: Although RPC-139 cannot be secured traditionally, its effect is ostensibly self-containing. As detailed by Procedure 139-SUBTERFUGE, fraudulent rumors of phenomena similar to RPC-139 are to be disseminated to the general public, and efforts should be taken to discredit claimed encounters.
Internal Authority documents with distinctive positional information relating to RPC-139 must be flagged as info-hazardous, and redacted versions shall also be created. An independent research team stationed at Site-305 is currently investigating methods of reverse-engineering RPC-139's effect.
Description: RPC-139 appears to be a spherical mass of variably-pigmented skin tissue 2 meters in diameter. The object is held about half a meter above the ground and roams at an average speed of 0.4 meters per second. Its motion is meandering, characterized by a jagged "zig-zag" pattern.
The object is carried by limitless force; external pressure cannot slow it or alter its trajectory. This would render it incredibly destructive, but in practice RPC-139 tends to avoid collisions with physical matter. However, RPC-139 does show preferential attraction to areas marked by human settlement.
RPC-139 exists under a memetic "cloak"; the object becomes entirely imperceptible to any subject who holds knowledge of a past location it has visited. In order for the effect to activate, a subject must not only be able to recognize the place visited but also understand factually that RPC-139 has once visited it.
Information that can trigger the effect extends to: firsthand experience; secondhand observation of true recounts; and the viewing of photographic or video material. Of note is that falsified information does not trigger "cloaking", nor is the mask activated by the object's present location; in firsthand accounts, RPC-139 could be observed and interacted with for an indeterminate duration after initial exposure.
History: Reports of RPC-139 date back to the early 1900s, first spawning out of Europe. A broad path of movement can be traced from reported locations: the object migrated to Asia sometime in the 1940s and was appearing on the American continent by 1980. Where and how RPC-139 traveled this distance is unknown, as this transition was marked by a 5-year gap in sightings before the object resurfaced in Canada.
The first photographic evidence of RPC-139 known to the Authority was captured in 1945.
Incident 139-01:
In contrast to its normally-avoidant behavioral patterns, RPC-139 entered an intersection in [REDACTED] around 5 PM on November 26th, 2002. RPC-139 lingered for at least 15 minutes during this event, rotating in place and inciting a substantial obstruction to traffic flow.
Civilians at the scene began to argue over whether the object existed, eventually escalating to violence. The event was concluded by an unknown individual who, according to testimony, carried a plastic bag filled with cloth that was used to "feed" RPC-139, at which point it left the area on its own accord.
Municipal police dispatched to resolve the brawl were unable to locate the reported object.
Addendum: On April 9th, 2008, RPC-139 neared the exterior of Site-███. It was quickly identified by multiple personnel, who used the opportunity to formally analyze the object.
Dr. Redmond attempted to remove a sample from RPC-139 with a knife. The incision revealed no biological structure except for further layers of skin. Bleeding was not present, nor any other sign of injury, though the object did slow down. A 5 by 15 centimeter strip of skin was extracted and identified as mundane human tissue.
The skin sample was found to be a genetic composite of at least four different individuals, three of whom remain to be identified, if they exist at all. The lone match was an Arthur Sullivan, currently residing in [REDACTED], over 1,500 kilometers northwest of Site-███. Sullivan was temporarily detained but determined to have no knowledge of RPC-139.
An X-ray scan of RPC-139 was also conducted at the time of the encounter; the resulting image showed a female human skeleton at the object's core.
Incident 139-02:
On the morning of April 12th, 2008, Dr. Redmond made renewed contact with RPC-139.
From accounts, the object rapidly accelerated toward him after he spotted it in the distance. Once collision was made, an unseen force avulsed Redmond's skin and affixed it to RPC-139's mass. Redmond lost consciousness and was recovered in critical condition.
Witnesses were questioned and treated as per standard protocol. A medical assessment at Site-███ found that a combined total of about 0.5 square meters of skin had been torn from Redmond's chest and face, down to the granular layer.
In light of this incident, Redmond is seemingly immune to RPC-139's memetic effect. He has since proven able to perceive the object on multiple separate and unconnected occasions. In turn, RPC-139 has frequented [REDACTED], Redmond's current town of residence.