RPC-174

tagnone

30

30

beta-red.png

Registered Phenomena Code: 174

Object Class: Beta-Red

Hazard Types: Aggression Hazard, Animated Hazard, Grouped Hazard, Sentient Hazard, Contact Hazard, Ideological Hazard,

Containment Protocols: RPC-174 is to be sealed in the center of a 2m x 2m x 2m cube of stainless steel. The cube is to be kept in a Class A hazardous item containment chamber and supervised by two armed security personnel. Upon manifestation, RPC-174-1 is to be terminated swiftly.

Following the events of Incident 174-3, Containment Protocols have been revised. As contact between RPC-174 and RPC-174-1 appears to be unavoidable, containment protocols should focus wholly on the immediate termination of RPC-174-1 following its manifestation.

RPC-174 is to be kept in a 15m x 15m x 15m containment chamber fitted with 4 motion-sensing cameras in each corner These cameras are to be tested for functionality once a day. The eastern wall is fitted with an array of 98 8kw CO2 lasers, positioned 8 cm above the chamber floor and at regularly spaced intervals of 5 cm.

Any testing involving RPC-174 must first have permission from the on-duty site administrator and be carried out within RPC-174’s chamber. Before testing, the automatic laser system should be shut down, and the supervisor should be ready to activate the manual override. All involved personnel should cover all exposed skin before entering the chamber, regardless of whether they intend to contact RPC-174 or not. If RPC-174-1 manifests during testing, all personnel should evacuate the chamber before the manual override is activated the manual override should be immediately activated regardless of the contents of the chamber.

Any personnel who have come into direct contact with RPC-174 are to be immediately fitted with an explosive ankle bracelet and quarantined. As no evidence indicates that the effects of RPC-174 are contagious, affected personnel may, under supervision, continue to use Authority facilities normally during Stage 1 and Stage 2. At the supervisor’s discretion, affected personnel should be quarantined or terminated before reaching Stage 3.

Any quarantined instances of RPC-174-2 are to be kept in a standard humanoid containment chamber and be tested upon only with the permission of the on-duty site administrator. If a breach occurs on site, all instances of RPC-174-2 are to be terminated via detonation of their ankle bracelet and all testing is to be ceased.

Description: RPC-174 appears to be an ordinary Greek-style xiphos. The blade of RPC-174 is 44 cm long and primarily composed of iron, while the hilt is 14-karat gold with a large topaz embedded in the rounded pommel. Trace amounts of leather on the blade and hilt indicate a sheath, but no such object was found upon post-recovery investigation. Subsequent carbon-dating of the leather indicated RPC-174 is at least ~1500 years old.

RPC-174 was recovered in Skyros, Greece on ██/██/2007 when local resident Adrian Alexopoulos, his wife, and two children found RPC-174 buried in the ground next to a half-buried sarcophagus [Note, Authority personnel are still searching for said sarcophagus]. According to his wife, Alexopoulos pulled the sword from the ground and stowed it in his backpack, intending to melt down the hilt. Approximately 90 hours after initial contact, he transformed into RPC-174-2 [See Incident Report 174-1].

RPC-174's anomalous properties manifest in two ways. The first way is manifesting RPC-174-1. The second is affecting live humans within a fifteen (15) meter radius with a desire to touch RPC-174. When a human does touch RPC-174, they will begin the process involved in turning into RPC-174-2.

RPC-174-1 is an entity that occasionally manifests near RPC-174, usually within a 1-meter radius. RPC-4174-1 appears to be a skinless, extremely muscular humanoid with very slim ankles. RPC-174-1, when manifested, will attempt to use RPC-174 to kill all nearby sentient creatures other than itself and RPC-174-2 [See Incident Report 174-2]. Because of RPC-174's second anomalous property, those injured by RPC-174-1 in this manner turn into RPC-174-2, and the bodies of those killed by RPC-174 have been observed to posthumously undergo the same process.

RPC-174-2 are instances of humans who touched or were killed by RPC-174. Finished instances of RPC-174-2 have no skin, have no discernible gender, and are extremely muscular, except for the heels, which are held together by an overgrown Achilles tendon. In order to reach this stage, however, affected persons go through three stages:

Stage 1: 6-12 hours after exposure- Visible increase of aggression, strength, and testosterone levels in all subjects. Subject’s eyes acquire a darker tone. Skin becomes drier and is prone to flaking. Subjects report severe headaches, but no pain from damaged skin.

Stage 2: 24-72 hours after exposure- Drastic increase in aggression and strength, though no increase in testosterone is visible. Muscle tissue begins to swell. Skin, hair, and reproductive organs begin to slough off. Wild hallucinations are common; subjects no longer know who or where they are. Many express great pain due to their deteriorating physical state, as well as a desire to recontact RPC-174, claiming it will cure their injuries and “give them great power”. A few cases have documented subjects speaking Ancient Greek despite no prior knowledge of the language.

Stage 3: Approximately 96 hours after exposure- Vocal patterns cease; subjects emit only grunting and screaming noises. While still walking bipedally, behavioral patterns emulate those of a wild animal, and basic sentience is lost, aside from an urge to specifically target humans when attacking. Subject is now considered an instance of RPC-174-2, and appropriate containment procedures are to be followed.

Incident Report 174-1: After undergoing the transformation into RPC-174-2, Adrian became hostile and proceeded to kill all individuals in the area. The primary method of homicide employed by RPC-174-2 was wrestling the victim into a headlock and then snapping their neck in a quick motion. A total of ██ civilians were killed.

Incident Report 174-2: RPC-174 had been temporarily contained at [REDACTED] immediately following recovery by Authority personnel when it manifested RPC-174-1. RPC-174-1 proceeded to attack all humans in sight with RPC-174 [A total of ██ Authority personnel and █ civilians were killed. Class-B amnestics were applied to all known sources of information in relation to the incident, a cover-up is still underway.

Incident Report 174-3: On ██/██/2007, RPC-174 manifested RPC-174-1 inside its secondary containment unit. RPC-174-1 then breached primary containment, punching through the concrete cube RPC-174 was contained in and pulling the sword free. Security personnel stationed inside RPC-174’s containment unit engaged RPC-174-1. One of the guards was killed and the other fled, opening the containment unit door. RPC-174-1 escaped through the open door with RPC-174. RPC-174-1 was then engaged by on-site security and terminated. █ Authority casualties resulted from the containment breach.

Incident Report 174-3: On ██/██/2017, RPC-174 manifested RPC-174-1 during testing. In the controls room, Researcher DeShantis refused to active the laser array and harm Researcher Harrison. Researcher Harrison was holding RPC-174 at the time, and RPC-174-1 proceeded to wrest the sword from his hands. After avoiding several blows from RPC-174-1, Researcher Harrison used his key card to unlock the containment unit and fled the chamber. RPC-174-1 escaped through the open door immediately after. Researcher Harrison and ██ other Authority personnel were terminated in the resulting breach.

Addendum 174-1:
The Authority is a violent institution. People get maimed, people get killed, people… have worse things happen to them. Nobody’s denying that. Some of the containment protocols require human death. Sacrifices have to be made, sometimes in the traditional sense of the word. That’s why what happened yesterday is unacceptable.

I understand why it happened. Nobody wants to have blood on their hands. Nobody wants to feel responsible. But everyone has to consider the situation economically. You cannot let your emotions get the better of you. You need to consider what will happen if you act, and what will happen if you don’t, and listen to logic. The Authority doesn’t have time for illogical people like Researcher DeShantis or Researcher Harrison.

Anyone testing 174 should understand that they may undergo excruciating pain via holes being bored in their ankles. Anyone supervising that testing should be prepared to cause that pain. If you hesitate, if you freeze up because you don’t want to hurt your friends, they’ll get hurt anyway. They will die. And in a worst-case scenario like yesterday’s, other people will die too.
Don’t hesitate.
Dr. Lance

« RPC-173 | RPC-174 | RPC-175 »

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License