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Infrared imaging of RPC-301.
Registered Phenomena Code: 301
Object Class: Gamma-Orange
Hazard Types: 
Extra-dimensional Hazard 
Sensory Hazard
Containment Protocols: Remote-controlled auditory bait stations have been installed in a controlled outdoor environment 135 meters from Site-015 to contain RPC-301. These stations include speakers that must keep a constant level of 200 decibels every hour to attract RPC-301 at each activation interval. This is to prevent the anomaly from causing permanent loss of sound at any one station. RPC-301's containment area must be enclosed by double-sided soundproof walls. Research personnel are required to wear noise-canceling headphones when entering the area. Backup generators are put in place in the event of a power outage to ensure RPC-301's containment. In the event of a containment breach, Site-015 is to deploy a fighter jet equipped with a speaker broadcasting at no fewer than 200 decibels at high frequency to draw RPC-301 away from any populated regions.
Description: RPC-301 is a terrestrial-level distortion of space-time. Although not directly visible to the naked eye, RPC-301 visibly distorts the atmosphere around it. However, it can be seen directly through the use of infrared imaging.
RPC-301 is capable of absorbing all frequencies of sound within a 500m radius. The anomaly is also attracted to perceived sources of sound that can range 16 to 24 kilometers away. RPC-301 will linger within the region for a total of 5-10 minutes if there are no other sources of sound available. Within this time frame, RPC-301 will produce an anomalous field effect which acts as a dampener, disrupting the molecules in the environment from imparting kinetic energy. Humans and animals caught within this field will also be affected. Based on the discovery report, this effect is permanent. Even when outside the affected regions, the afflicted will be unable to perceive any sound due to the bones in the middle ear failing to transfer vibrations to the auditory nerve. Those not affected by RPC-301 will find themselves incapable of perceiving and producing sound within regions affected by RPC-301. When they leave these zones however, they remain unaffected.
RPC-301 was recovered on ██/██/2009 from [REDACTED], Arizona following a localized societal breakdown. Social media websites such as Twitter were filled with messages, photos and videos of the phenomena. More videos were uploaded on YouTube and Facebook. In the span of four hours, the Authority has tracked over 147 outgoing text messages. Because of the high probability of normalcy breach, Site-015 was approved to utilize Class R Amnestics on all media platforms. Outgoing calls and messages were intercepted and disrupted, comments and posts were deleted from all social media platforms and every video of the event were also taken down.
The anomaly remained uncontained for three days prior to Authority intervention. Casualties were estimated to be around 52. MST Echo-21 ("Sleeping Sirens") was tasked with assessing the situation and containing the anomaly. Upon their arrival, RPC-301 approached the MST at ██kph, prompting them to open fire on contact. Audio communications with MST Echo-21 were lost. However, visual reports showed the squad was still active during engagement.
Five minutes after initial contact, RPC-301 left the area, heading north. RPC-301 was then successfully contained 4.5 hours after. Visual recordings show the anomaly gravitating towards a geyser that erupted approximately 16.4 km from its initial location. MST Echo-21 and the remaining population of the town were brought in by the Authority for examination. While their ability to communicate vocally and perceive sounds were removed, interviews were still conducted through instant messaging. The effects of the residue are irreversible at this point and time.
Date: 1/25/09 11:50 AM. 2.5 hours after initial encounter.
Foreword: ██████ is a survivor from the town involved in Incident-301-1 during the initial encounter with RPC-301. The survivor cannot speak nor emit any auditory responses from his person. The room has been equipped with computers to facilitate text based communication. Dr. Apth has been called from Site-011 to interview ██████.
<Begin Log>
Dr. Apth: Greetings ██████, I am Dr. Apth. I am here to help you in anyway I can. After what happened this morning, I need you to try and describe everything that occurred prior to the entity attacking.
██████: [ Expresses minor discomfort before taking the moment to type on the screen.] I don't know what to tell you, doc. The day was quite normal for us. Nothing really happened outside a car accident on 5th and Weston.
Dr. Apth: When did the entity show up exactly?
██████: Well, after the accident. I want to say five… maybe ten minutes after? I'm not sure. It came out of nowhere, like from above or something. There wasn't anything to see though. But there were like, ripples in the air. Large, giant ripples like solid tar exhuming heat from the baking mid-summer sun. I found out that I couldn't hear my own voice, or anyone else's. There was nothing at all. There just was silence, and I don't think I was the only one suffering from it. This eerie, creepy silence that hovered over us. The only thing we DID hear though is this deep, low ringing sound from that thing.
Dr. Apth: How long did the anomaly stay?
██████: For about… four… five days now. Then it sped towards the edge of town.
Dr. Apth: How have things been during those five days?
██████: [ Subject scowls and shook his head for a moment before continuing. ] Everything sucks now.
Dr. Apth: Given everything that's happened, I'm sure this must be very difficult for you. With how everything was going in the town, at least you
██████: [ Visibly shows distress and anger at Dr. Apth, slamming on the keyboard. For a moment, ██████ calms down and begins to type aggressively, forgoing any attempt to fix the misspelling. ] hjnm, ugkyuy Doctor, do you even know what we had to live like for five days? Do you know what we lost? Let me tell you what our live are like. My daughter was part of the Church choir! I used to play the guitar! Me and my wife visit the local cafe every morning before we head off to work, and every time we make sure to talk to the Kales we always come across from down the street! To hear the sound of another person, their laughter, their stories, everything. The noise of the world that lets you know that everything around you is alive. You don't know what it's like to have that kind of feeling taken from you. My daughter and her friends will never hang out or speak together ever again. I'll never hear her sing again. I can't play my guitar anymore and I'll never hear my wife say 'I love you' ever again! We all sit there, angry, depressed, losing our minds because there is nothing there now. There is nothing to hear anymore. Nothing but the dead silence. You can't hear the break of wind crashing at your ears anymore, nor can you hear the sound of your neighbors talking. Complete and utter silence. It's not a natural silence. It is like there's this big empty void, a great big nothing. You don't know how much we enjoyed noise doc. So don't you DARE fucking tell me I am exaggerating.
Dr. Apth: I… apologize for my behavior. It is just, we've never had any sort of psychological damage involving hearing loss or anything of this caliber.
██████: I know what deaf people go through. Most are born with that problem, and others have an accident one point in their life. But imagine having all that suddenly taken away from you… and there is nothing. Absolutely nothing. The silence is damning. The ones who died? They couldn't take the silence. We tried to do the best we could, find a solution. Nothing worked. The cops couldn't do anything about it. They've no voice to bark their authority. The township couldn't reach out to anyone across the country. No one could hear them. People were panicking. The silence was getting to them. There were suicides, accidents, even fights. People were looting the stores. Many took advantage of what was happening. But you know what? They were doing it because they couldn't handle the emptiness. Those who killed themselves couldn't cope with it. The eerie dead quietness… the lack of social contact could push young folks like that to the brink. The others? They found their habits to be an alternative to stop themselves from going mad. We all miss the noise, doc. We miss the voices, the wind, the music, our families. We try to imagine our own noises in our head, hear things we wish we could hear but are not already there. We've even begun to forget what names we called ourselves because we're so used to using and hearing our own voice and the voices of others. Can you imagine what that is like?
Dr. Apth: I think I do now. Thank you for your time, ██████. Dr. Chaplin will escort you to your quarters now.
<End Log>
Closing Statement: ██████'s interview shows there to be damaging psychological and emotional effects for the afflicted. Based upon psychological maturity, age, social interactivity, there is a minimum chance for the afflicted to adjust and adapt without long-term complications and dysfunctions.
Foreword: Dr. Apth interviews MST Captain Markov of "Sleeping Sirens" over the incident with RPC-301's initial recovery. Dr. Apth and Captain Markov took their respective seats as they began to type.
<Begin Log>
Dr. Apth: I want you to explain to me your encounter with RPC-301.
Captain Markov: About as much as you can expect from the reports. We touched down by VTOL on the outskirts of town. Barlow took half the squad and had him move through the town to track and draw the entity away. We did not expect anything at first until it came barreling our way. Barlow tried to warn us. Based on the anomaly's behavior, I can only assume it was attracted to the propellers. We never saw it at first. But we knew we were already under the effects of RPC-301 when Barlow and his team's voice were cut off from the comms. We switched to our infrared vision and we found it. From what it looks like… well, I can't say it looked exactly like a black hole because it was emitting flares. Outside of the complete and utter silence, we heard ringing.
Dr. Apth: You said you heard… ringing?
Captain Markov: Yes.
Dr. Apth: ██████ reported the same thing.
Captain Markov: Yeah. I was not sure about that either. It was so strange to hear nothing but the ringing. We opened fire on the object, believing it to be hostile. Nothing was effective, so we stopped firing.
Dr. Apth: The reports said that RPC-301 remained in position for about several minutes until it sped away.
Captain Markov: Yeah, and it stopped at a geyser about ten miles from the town. From what I understand, the geyser had a very violent eruption. It must had been noisy enough to catch the entity's attention.
Dr. Apth: After you tracked the anomaly to its location, How were you able to report this back to the site?
Captain Markov: Sign language. Barlow was proficient in it and one of the operators knew enough to interpret the information we were signing to come up with an effective containment strategy for the anomaly.
Dr. Apth: Must have worked out well in your favor then.
Captain Markov: Yeah. But my squad nearly fell apart. It took Barlow and I a lot of time to keep their heads on straight. We were fine once we got back to base though. But we're sure as hell going to miss our voices.
Dr. Apth: Anything else you'd like to add before we conclude this session?
Captain Markov: Can't say it is all too bad though. RPC-301 did give us a leverage.
Dr. Apth: What do you mean by that?
Captain Markov: Stands up and begins to maneuver around the room. The operative moved to be in full view for Dr. Apth as he stamps his foot hard on the floor with each step he took. Then he gestures his hand downward to indicate the lack of sound from his steps.
<End Log>
Closing Statement: MST Echo-21 has been partially refurbished into a tactical espionage response team in light of recent developments. Research into RPC-301 is being investigated, primarily focused on what the ringing sensation described by MST Echo-21 is.
Foreword: Additional information of the events have been provided by MST Echo-21's second-in-command, Barlow, after observing the effects of the town's collapse.
<Begin Log>
Dr. Apth: When I spoke with Captain Markov, he mentioned how your squad nearly fell apart due to the lack of communication. How would you describe the psychological state of your teammates?
MST-Barlow: Shit was fucked. No one knew what anyone was saying. No one could hear a crack, whistle or burp. Mouths were moving but only silence had our tongues. It is like forcing the deaf and mute to speak in a blank white room about which jenga piece to pull out.
Dr. Apth: An unusual analogy.
MST-Barlow: The hostile entity remained immobile in the air after initial contact. There was no indication of the entity being sentient or sapient, but our real concern was what how it affected the town. It was a sheer stroke of luck that the anomaly remained in the area for as long as it did before we arrived, and then the geyser erupted.
Dr. Apth: Give me the full details of the effects.
MST-Barlow: Despite the physical presence of other individuals, the affected populace became completely isolated from not just their community, but the outside world. I estimated the town populace had about two days in of rationality before the effects really started to get to them. By the time we arrived, the town had already suffered from a localized societal breakdown. Cops lost control of everything. There was no local government anymore. The township, the mayor, all the big-heads couldn't get in touch with anyone for help and they couldn't establish order. We saw looting, officers failing to diffuse fights and getting assaulted themselves. Everyone was trying to call out to someone for help and none would come. RPC-301 has proven to be more of a threat just by its presence alone. We're not looking at the long term mental and cultural effects, doc. The creepy eerie silence does more than make people go nuts. With no effective means of contact or communication, how can you expect to keep everyone calm and together? Imagine if this hits a major population center. What do you think is going to happen to the infrastructure of our bureaucracies or our governments?
Dr. Apth: I think I am starting to see the full picture now. Thank you, Barlow. You are dismissed.
<End Log>
Closing Statements: RPC-301 poses an extreme danger to society if the object ever breaches containment. If the object ever reaches a major population center, the resulting panic could result in a full-scale Societal Collapse Scenario. Any areas suspected to be affected by RPC-301 are to be quarantined and inspected in an effort to counteract it's anomalous effects.
