A Mixed Bag
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Registered Phenomena Code: 158
Object Class: Beta-Orange (Utility)
Hazard Types: Ballistic Hazard, Sapient Hazard, Organic Hazard, Explosive Hazard, Extra-Dimensional Hazard, Immeasurable Hazard
Containment Protocols: Following Incident Site-009-1, RPC-158 and RPC-158-1 are to be allowed to roam along predetermined patrol routes throughout Site-009, with the express purpose of acting as active anti-breach forces. No fewer than two armed security personnel are to escort RPC-158-1 at all times. Under no circumstances is RPC-158 allowed to be any further than two meters away from RPC-158-1.
In the event of a large-scale containment breach or attack on Site-009, Protection personnel are to aid RPC-158-1 in its efforts to combat potential security threats to Site-009 and the entities contained within. Should RPC-158-1 exhibit active non-compliance, it is to be ignored and standard breach/attack protocols followed.
Under no circumstances is RPC-158-1 to be presented with any food items.
RPC-158 and 158-1 are to be contained within a standard Type-05 Humanoid Containment Unit, located in the containment section of Site-009. In the event of unauthorized entry into RPC-158's containment unit, said unauthorized subject is to be immediately transported into a separate containment unit and monitored for signs of anomalous behavior. Any and all tests which involve male personnel of eastern European descent must first be approved by the Site Director.
RPC-158 is to rest on a podium in the center of the room, overlooked by a remotely operated crane situated above it. RPC-158's podium is to be encased in bulletproof glass, save for the top of the encasement, which shall be left open to allow for crane arm access during testing.
Following the events of Test Log-02, a team of no less than five armed security personnel, accompanied by a fully staffed and equipped bomb-disposal squad, are to be on standby near RPC-158's containment unit at all times during testing.
Description: RPC-158 is an
Amazing! Co. duffel bag, designed to imitate the well-known three-striped Adidas brand, save for its label mistakenly reading "Adibas".
RPC-158 is assumed to be effectively infinite in volume, with no clear limit as to what can be pulled out of RPC-158 as of yet. Initial measurements taken via radar and lidar have invariably caused measuring equipment to return error messages in obscene, grammatically-incorrect Russian, even in machines which did not have a Russian-language setting. All items recovered from RPC-158 have thus far been covered in Adibas-related branding, despite many of these items having never been manufactured or sold by Adidas/Adibas. These items include:
- One Soviet-issue T-55 main battle tank, complete with live ammunition and a full crew of fighting-age Russian males. (See Test Log-01.)
- One Soviet RDS-37 two-stage hydrogen bomb. (See Test Log-02.)
- One 0.7 liter bottle of Soviet-era Stolichnaya vodka.
- One ██████ branded bag of Soviet-era sunflower seeds - This brand was initially an Authority front business in the Soviet Union.
- One instance of RPC-158-1. (See Test Log-04.)
RPC-158-1 is an anonymous adult Russian male, approximately between the age of 25 to 30, found carrying RPC-158 before being recovered by the Authority. RPC-158-1 is clad from head to toe in Adibas-branded garments, and any and all attempts at the removal of these garments have either led to the triggering of RPC-158-1's anomalous effect, or to the subject engaging in extreme, irrationally violent behavior against on-site staff members.
Initial attempts to terminate RPC-158-1 during the procedures of Test Log-03 have determined that the anomaly, despite appearing to have the same anatomical structure of a human male, is wholly unaffected by any form of exterior impact, explosion, concussion or other physical trauma. Further research will be required in order to determine the anatomical makeup of RPC-158-1, though all attempts at biopsy or surgical investigation have failed.
RPC-158-1's anomalous properties only begin to appear once a similarly-aged male of eastern European descent enters into RPC-158-1's containment unit. At such a time, RPC-158-1 will squat down, inviting the test subject to do the same. Without fail, the test subject will always squat beside RPC-158-1; whether this is due to some sort of psychic influence or an anomalous compulsion is as of yet unknown. Subjects who have engaged in squatting with RPC-158-1 will invariably begin speaking to RPC-158-1, though always in an obfuscated or untranslatable dialect. It is irrelevant whether or not the test subject actually has any previous knowledge of any of the languages or dialects in which they are speaking.
Eventually, the test subject will halt conversation with RPC-158-1 in order to reach into RPC-158, from which it will always pull out a set of Adibas-branded clothing exactly the same in structure and appearance as the outfit worn by RPC-158-1. After the test subject has donned the outfit, RPC-158-1 will nod and will step into RPC-158. No previous instance of RPC-158-1 has been observed to reappear after such an occurrence. This exchange has come to be known as Procedure Minsk.
At this time, the test subject will become RPC-158-1, adopting all of its mannerisms and anomalous properties, excepting the previous RPC-158-1 instance's appearance, until such a time as another subject arrives to take its place. Any and all attempts to remove RPC-158 from the test chamber have met with extreme violent outbursts from RPC-158-1, leading to many researchers coming to the conclusion that RPC-158-1's purpose is to guard RPC-158 until another subject arrives to take its place, though this has not been confirmed. Regardless, RPC-158-1 does not react with violence when test subjects arrive to remove items from RPC-158, seeming to act only when the object is threatened with damage or removal.
Test Log-01 - 3/28/2009
Subject: CSD-3804
Procedure: CSD-3804 was asked to reach into RPC-158 and pull out any object he could feel from within. After extensive pulling and grunting, the subject remarked that he could not pull out the object. He was then given the instruction to turn RPC-158 upside down and allow the object to fall out of RPC-158, which he did. This resulted in an Adibas-branded T-55 main battle tank falling into the room, immediately crushing and killing CSD-3804. Four (4) Russian crew members disembarked the now-inoperable T-55, carrying weapons and cursing in Russian. Subjects were uncommunicative when spoken to by test personnel, and reacted violently to attempts to approach them. Subjects were terminated. Notably, while the containment unit was highly damaged, neither RPC-158 nor RPC-158-1 were damaged, and neither attempted an escape.
Results: Two Casualties, Failure
Analysis: Further testing on RPC-158 is to be done via the utilization of a remotely-operated crane, so as to not waste CSD personnel and to more delicately handle the extraction of extremely heavy or dangerous items retrieved from RPC-158. CSD-3804 was carried and deposited into RPC-158 by RPC-158-1 during the course of the test's proceedings.
Test Log-02 - 4/13/2009
Subject: Dr. █████, remotely operating a crane.
Procedure: The crane was lowered into RPC-158's containment unit. A camera attached to the crane stopped recording upon entering RPC-158, and would not begin recording again until manually reactivated after testing was finished. Upon having grasped an object, the crane was raised, revealing the object to be an Adibas-branded Soviet RDS-37 two-stage hydrogen bomb. The extensive branding and cosmetic alterations to the device made its exact nature initially unclear, and test personnel accidentally activated several of its detonation systems. Upon realization of the imminent danger, the test was immediately terminated, and on-site personnel successfully managed to dispose of the bomb before any disaster was to occur.
Results: Inconclusive
Analysis: All testing on RPC-158 is to be halted indefinitely save for tests specifically sanctioned by the Site Director. Bomb-disposal and security staff are to be at hand for all future tests.
Test Log-03 - 6/03/2009
Subject: CSD-4218
Procedure: Subject CSD-4218 was instructed to enter the chamber and remove RPC-158, then move it into an auxiliary containment chamber for further testing. Initially, RPC-158-1 regarded CSD-4218 curiously. This was the first time RPC-158-1 had reacted to the presence of any individual entering the containment unit, possibly indicating that RPC-158-1's is capable of detecting the intentions of certain individuals. CSD-4218 removed RPC-158 from its podium. When CSD-4218 moved away from the podium area, RPC-158-1 sprung up from its squatting position and brutally attacked and killed CSD-4218. Security personnel entering the unit in order to recover CSD-4218's body for autopsy and place RPC-158 back onto its podium were also subsequently attacked. During the course of this fight, RPC-158-1 removed a loaded, fully-automatic Soviet AKM rifle from RPC-158, killing 3 Authority personnel, until RPC-158-1 eventually pacified itself over the course of two hours, allowing CSD personnel to place RPC-158 back on its podium. The AKM was later confiscated without resistance by security personnel.
Results: Three Casualties, Failure
Analysis: RPC-158 is not to be removed from the presence of RPC-158-1 under any circumstance. In the event of a containment breach, it is important to attempt to prevent RPC-158-1 from accessing RPC-158. RPC-158-1 may potentially have the ability to manipulate what is pulled from RPC-158: further research required. CSD-4218 was, similarly to CSD-3804, deposited into RPC-158. Neither CSD-3804 nor CSD-4218's corpses have yet been recovered or sighted since these incidents.
Test Log-04 - 6/21/2009
Subject: Dr. █████, remotely operating a crane.
Procedure: The crane was remotely lowered into RPC-158's podium without any interference from RPC-158-1, indicating either a lack of memory of the events of Test Log-03 or indifference as to the Authority's utilization of RPC-158. Pressure sensors on the crane's grasping unit confirmed that it had secured an object. The arm was retracted, and a second instance of RPC-158-1 was removed from RPC-158. This instance maintained a squatting posture despite the movements of the crane. Upon being lowered to the ground of RPC-158-1's containment unit, the second instance of RPC-158-1 nodded to the (newly classified) RPC-158-1-2, initiating Procedure Minsk.
Results: Conclusive
Analysis: Further research will need to be conducted into RPC-158-1's sapience/sentience. (Edit: See Interview Logs-01 and 02.) While this test has once again confirmed RPC-158's ability to manifest humanoid objects, it is as of yet unknown what significance RPC-158's ability to manifest new instances of RPC-158-1 has on Procedure Minsk. Notably, the new instance of RPC-158 was noted by researchers to "look strikingly similar" to CSD-3804. Further research required.
Researcher's Note: As no tests had been conducted for some time in which a new instance of RPC-158-1 was created via external means, perhaps this was RPC-158's means of creating (or perhaps recycling?) a new guard. Why it would require a new guard is as of yet unknown.
Test Log-05 - 7/09/2009
Subject: Authority security staff, operating both in-person and remotely.
Procedure: This test was conducted in order to verify RPC-158-1's indestructible nature. Anti-personnel explosive devices were placed throughout RPC-158-1's containment unit in preparation for the test, along with several canisters of GB gas, containing hundreds of times the lethal dosage of the gas. Upon the initiation of the test, the gas canisters were remotely opened. Simultaneously, all anti-personnel explosives in the room were activated. Despite GB gas being both colorless and odorless, the containment unit rapidly filled with thick grey smoke, making visual observation impossible. After one hour of exposure, the GB gas was neutralized, though the smoke did not dissipate. Heavily armored security teams entered the containment unit half an hour later in order to verify the termination of RPC-158-1, utilizing stun grenades in the hope to disorient a possibly-alive RPC-158-1. Upon entering the room, all five of the security team sent in to verify the results of the test were killed by automatic weapons fire originating from within the test chamber. The autopsy revealed that the weapon used was chambered in the 7.62x39mm cartridge. No traces of spent ammunition or a weapon chambered in that caliber were found within the test chamber.
Results: Five Casualties, Failure
Analysis: No further research is to be done on the possibility of terminating RPC-158-1. All current research points to RPC-158-1 being effectively indestructible via any known means. Due to its relatively easy containment and seemingly infinite replenishment via RPC-158, RPC-158-1's termination is hereby an extremely low priority for the Authority. Only two of the casualties were recovered post-incident, with the other three presumably being deposited at some point into RPC-158 as with other casualties.
Site Director's Note: Security personnel do not grow on trees. I expect to see more well-thought-out uses of valuable personnel in the future.
Test Log-06 - 8/11/2009
Subject: CSD-8235
Procedure: In order to learn the true size of RPC-158's interior without the utilization of any advanced electronic equipment, it was determined that live observation was necessary. CSD-8235 was consequently hooked up to and suspended from a tether harness attached to the roof of RPC-158's containment unit, hanging over its bulletproof glass enclosure. Constant visual and auditory contact was maintained with CSD-8235 throughout this process until the subject was fully lowered into RPC-158. Upon being removed from RPC-158 five minutes later, CSD-8235 was found to be deceased. The autopsy revealed that CSD-8235 had suffered from lethal alcohol poisoning, despite no evidence to suggest any consumption of alcohol whatsoever. Medical staff noted an "intense and lingering odor of vodka."
Results: One Casualty, Inconclusive
Analysis: All research into the size of RPC-158's interior is hereby to be put on indefinite hold, with the interior being assumed to be infinite in size in accordance to the varying sizes and unlimited numbers of objects removed from RPC-158. It appears that if casualties are recovered from RPC-158's containment unit in fast enough time, they are not deposited into RPC-158.
Interviewed: RPC-158-1
Interviewer: Dr. █████
Foreword: RPC-158-1 was brought in carrying RPC-158 in order to prevent a repeat of casualties sustained during earlier tests. The interview was set up in order to establish communication and find sentience or sapience within RPC-158-1.
<Begin Interview Log-01, 6/23/2009, 4:30 PM>
Dr. █████: "Hello, I am Dr. █████. I have been sent today to interview you in order to better understand you and your needs as far as the Authority is concerned."
RPC-158-1: (Silence)
Dr. █████: "Please, speak up. We understand that your situation is most certainly a unique one, but I am certain that as… people, we can reason with each other and come to a mutually beneficial understanding of one another."
RPC-158-1: (Silence)
Dr. █████: "158-1, we cannot guarantee the best conditions for you and your bag unless you speak up and tell us something."
RPC-158-1: (Silence)
Dr. █████: "Alright, stop the recording."
<End Log, 6/23/2009, 4:38 PM>
Closing Statement: RPC-158-1 was transported back to its containment unit along with RPC-158, with no conclusive result being drawn from the interview.
Interviewed: RPC-158-1
Interviewer: Dr. █████
Foreword: As before, RPC-158-1 was transported into the interview room alongside RPC-158-1. In this interview, RPC-158-1 was to be enticed with a bag of sunflower seeds and a bottle of high-quality vodka, as fitting the typical favorite food and drink items of the eastern European "Gopnik" stereotype which RPC-158-1 seems to represent.
<Begin Interview Log-02, 6/24/2009, 4:30 PM>
Dr. █████: "Hello again, 158-1. I understand that you didn't feel up to speaking with us yesterday, but today I brought something I thought you might enjoy…"
At this time, Dr. █████ holds up a bottle of vodka and a bag of sunflower seeds.
RPC-158-1: "ебать сеед дать магутнасць-"
After these exclamations by RPC-158-1, it leaps forward, simultaneously destroying both the audio and visual recording equipment for the interview.
Security teams were quick to rush into the interview room, but Dr. █████ had already been killed via blunt force trauma, and both the vodka and sunflower seeds were anomalously consumed. As RPC-158-1 had entered into its hostile state, the room was sealed until two hours later, when it was pacified.
<End Log, 6/23/2009, 5:43 PM>
Closing Statement: RPC-158-1 is not to be offered any food or drink, nor interviewed without the express, written permission of the Site Director.
On the 8th of January, 2010, Site-009 was attacked by the hostile forces of the group of interest known as the "Church of Malthus". Authority intelligence suggests that the purpose of this attack was to exfiltrate known Church of Malthus spies from the cell blocks of Site-009, as well as to gather any RPCs which the Church of Malthus believed would be beneficial to their cause.
Immediately upon entry into Site-009, recordings of RPC-158-1 demonstrate it becoming increasingly agitated, moving more than has ever been previously recorded, save for recordings of the object when in its hostile state. After approximately ten minutes of moving and agitated squatting, RPC-158-1 punches directly through the bulletproof glass holding RPC-158, removing one Adibas-branded RPG-7 from the anomaly. RPC-158-1 then used the weapon to breach the containment chamber door, despite said door being rated to withstand blasts of a force considerably greater than those produced by an RPG-7.
Site-009 Protection division had already called for support when RPC-158-1 arrived and began engaging Church of Malthus troops. Protection personnel, registering that RPC-158-1 had not yet displayed any hostile intent towards them, ignored it and continued engaging in combat.
Protection personnel who fought during the incident report that RPC-158-1 utilized an Adibas-branded AKM, which it removed from RPC-158. RPC-158-1's intervention resulted in the retreat of the Church of Malthus force and no loss of RPC entities or prisoners.
RPC-158 was initially recovered alongside RPC-158-1 during a raid by Russian police on a building known to contain squatters. After reports of anomalous activity were sent by Authority field agents stationed in Russia, RPC-158 and RPC-158-1 were retrieved by MST Foxtrot-04. Class-A amnestics were administered to members of the Russian police who had come into contact with the anomaly.