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| Registered Phenomena Code: 419 Containment Rating: Beta Lethality Rating: Orange |
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Image 419.A: Location of OL-Site-419, before containment {Circa. 10/06/2015}
Image 419.B: Civilian photographed evidence of extended RPC-419 activity near String Lake {Circa. 06/13/2023}
Containment Protocols (Update 09/01/2023): Due to the anomaly's aggression and proximity to civilian centers, observational containment of RPC-419 has been deemed a failure. An extermination order has been authorized of the central RPC-419 colony.1 An internal audit has turned over all relevant documentation to the Department of Occult Concerns (BoA) for sustainable study, with the present file remaining under temporary construction.
A standard cover story concerning abnormal animal migration patterns has been disseminated. Bi-weekly maintenance on the chain link fence securing Leigh Lake — otherwise designated as OL-Site-419 — has been suspended. Further instructions to collapse the underground entrances under the lakebed, along with plans to liquidate OL-Site-419, will be specified after the Site-002 Q3 Budgetary Meeting.
The remaining ASF/Protectorate personnel assigned to IB-100/419 have been issued standard F88 aquatic tranquilizer pistols and are advised to travel in groups while avoiding immediacy to the lakefront. Any civilians able to breach containment, especially adolescents, are to be considered unrecoverable. All further excursions into the subterranean tunnels to recover human remains have been postponed.
Image 419.C: Confiscated drawing of RPC-419, found on civilian Chris Johnson's unconscious body.
Description: RPC-419 is an enlarged species of largely aquatic, humanoid insects native to Leigh Lake, Wyoming. RPC-419 exoskeletons are jet-black with bright blue and green markings, possessing a head similar in appearance to the cephalic tagma of a Zygoptera (or "damselfly"). RPC-419 is only 1.4 meters tall on average. Their thorax is humanoid, possessing an emaciated physique with a bulbous abdomen protruding from the back. Two pairs of natatorial hind legs and scansorial mid legs allow for quadrupedal movement. A pair of spiny raptorial forearms allow for optional hexahedral movement and enhanced self-defense when threatened.
RPC-419 instances possess the currently unexplained ability to turn invisible when partially or fully submerged in water. Whether this is through paranatural means or via mirrored plating is presently unknown. However, some possible theories proposed by Dr. McGinnis point towards special proteins able to emit ultraviolet light when in contact with certain water solubles found within the waters of Leigh Lake.
Image 419.D: Polaroid of Chris and Lee Johnson, fourteen hours before the first disappearance (photographed by their parents)
Discovery: The existence of RPC-419 came to the Authority's attention during an unrelated ACI investigation into two infamous missing persons cases. Leigh Lake had already been on the Authority's radar due to local gossip. Articles of child clothing or trinkets that had washed ashore, as well as unfounded reports of buried human remains, had plagued the tourist spot for decades prior. Local coverage of the missing children had led to an uproar in scrutiny over the area.
Brothers Lee Johnson (age 10) and Chris Johnson (age 15) were both adolescent residents of Jackson Hole, WY. During their camping trip, their parents had originally planned a boating trip to the Mystic Isle. It was postponed after their father, George Johnson, complained of tinnitus and a nauseating headache. Chris and Lee were separated from their parents' base camp after straying too close to the beachfront. Neither child would be seen for the next six days. The search would remain inconclusive and out of Authority interest until 88 hours later, when Chris was able to contact local rangers on a two-way radio.
During his brief conversation with local law enforcement, Chris remained in a state of paranoid delirium. He revealed several failed attempts to call his parents' phone number before discovering a battered shortwave radio next to a stash of abandoned gardening equipment. Chris claimed to have dived after his brother after Lee was swept under the water. He claimed to have arrived at his current location after climbing through a pit of "salt and rotting meat." Through trial and error over the speaker, Chris eventually gained enough reception to upload several pictures of the "strangers" he claimed were stalking him from the treeline. ACI assets intercepted the initial radio call and Chris' reception. They were able to lock his phone as a smaller Protectorate rescue force was sent to the island for rescue.
Addendum 419.1: Discovery Debriefing
Foreword: A physical confrontation between Authority personnel had occurred on the evacuating lifeboat following a successful retrieval of the civilian. Both men agreed to conflict resolution via a debriefing interview with a Prolab representative.
Interviewer: Dr. Byron, lead Prolab specialist of RPC-419
Interviewee: "Agent ███," the ACI agent who accidentally discovered RPC-419
Interviewee: "Subchief █████," Operation Lead search and rescue mission that discovered RPC-419.
<Begin Log>
Agent ███: —Do not act like this, █████.
Subchief █████: No. I don't understand why you would remotely jam his signal, shut off his phone—
Agent ███: —There are compounding factors, Micheal!
Subchief █████: — During.
Agent ███: He could be sending alien info hazards online. Knowingly or not!
Subchief █████: — during a search! YOUR search and rescue mission!
Subchief █████: It's a circus, Micheal; A media-circus…
Dr. Byron: PLEASE, gentlemen! Yelling gets us nowhere! Mistakes were made; that's why we're cooperating.
Dr. Byron: As far as we know, there have been thirty-three missing person reports concerning the Lake within the past two years, sixteen of which have been investigated by the Authority.
Subchief █████: — Seven cover-ups were confirmed during the OPs.
Agent ███: Look——
<Agent ███ readjusts his chair.>
Agent ███: [The ACI] is tracking an otherworldly phenomenon. We don't deal with search and rescue unless the target is "hot," so to speak. That's why we got Protectorate involved.
Dr. Byron: You work with tracking and location?
<Agent ███ dismissively nods before making a flicking hand gesture.>
Agent ███: Read my file. We work in rapid response; we're used to things not of this planet, tending not to stay long. We were tracking the case first, and I have my orders. "Minimize threat to the veil."
Agent ███: Isolate and tracking tactics are standard procedures, especially when law enforcement is involved. Too much news attention. We only contacted the Protectors after we realized it wasn't our anomaly.
Subchief █████: Except we're not dealing with black ops; we're dealing with children. We're dealing with civilians, and you caused our one lifeline to go dark.
Subchief █████: That's too much attention, you asshat? You just gave every unsolved, true crime slot the juiciest headline of them all.
Dr. Byron: Please refrain from outright hostilities towards——
Agent ███: It's fine, my bad. The— ASF was not my idea. I wanted Whiskey; Everyone wanted Whiskey-7. But Whiskey-7 already had their hands full on the Site-002 fiasco!
<Agent ███ throws up his hands in the air.>
Agent ███: And search and rescue is your cunting job.
Subchief █████: Right.
Agent ███: I was just the liaison for my department, during the op. That’s it. I stayed on the boat and tracked the radio and cell frequencies, like he said to. █████ directed the extraction.
Dr. Byron: Alright. <Sigh.> Besides the aforementioned SNAFU, can either of you specify what complications took place during S&R?
Subchief █████: <Half-hearted chuckle.> The better question is what went right!
Dr. Byron: Surprise me.
Subchief █████: Well, for starters, there's no way of finding this kid. Deep brush on a remote island, in the dark, with no anomalous description outside the classic "it stalks people."
Dr. Byron: Each Protectorate agent is equipped with night vision, survival response kits, and basic medical—
Subchief █████: I know what we have! I’m saying a more serious anomaly —an actual apex predator — could have wiped us out. Easy.
Subchief █████: <Cough.> Second problem: no way of finding this kid. Over here, we have the better part of Protection on our lifeboat. Our eyes are in the sky, tracking this kid, but there is no way of coordinating where he is outside of a game of telephone.
Subchief █████: And then there's the holes.
Dr. Byron: … Holes?
Subchief █████: Holes.
Subchief █████: I saw a few ditches filled with water near the beach — white n' murky. I assumed the kid carved a few divots in the sand, trying to signal SOS. And that high tide widened the ditches. But they were everywhere.
Subchief █████: Oh, but they were worse inland! In the first fifteen minutes of the mission, three of my guys twist their ankles, just walking through the mud.
Dr. Byron: Right. And the third problem?
Subchief █████: Third problem? Oh yeah, the third biggest problem is that we had NO IDEA WHERE THIS KID WAS!
Agent ███: <Mumbling.> Oh-my-GOD!
<Argument over timestamps 1:18:23 and 1:31:36 was expunged for redundancy.>
Dr. Byron: Okay, you noticed torn cloth! Lots of it. And there was dry wood.
Dr. Byron: So—— christ, what, what happened when you found the kid?
Subchief █████: We were near the clearing; 'round midnight. The entire island smelled like shit. I couldn't describe how, but the trees just wafted the smell of rotting meat. There were big pools of water, bigger than any puddle should be.
Dr. Byron: … Large holes?
Subchief █████: Large holes.
Subchief █████: We find the kid at the top of the hill, scared out of his goddamn gourd, holding a sharp piece of driftwood. And—
Dr. Byron: Yes?
Subchief █████: He was holding a kid, crying. A crying kid. Chris, the bigger one holding the driftwood, dared not say anything as we approached. But the other kid. It, it—— It was a corpse.
Dr. Byron: A what?
Subchief █████: A cadaver. A—a, a barely living piece of rotting meat, animated, with a ragged shirt torn over it.
Agent ███: It was missing its bottom half. I saw the pictures.
Dr. Byron: Jesus.
Agent ███: Acquisitions didn't send you the photos?
<A moment of silence overtakes the room.>
Subchief █████: The kid-cadaver… thing still had its arms. It was wrapping its arms around Chris. It was sulking into Chris’ shirt. But it had no skin. It was tar black, with mushy muscle fibers and welts. Giant blue lumps, I remember those. But its—— head was intact.
Subchief █████: God, the smell.
<Dr. Byron presents a manila folder with computer-printed photos of the thirty-three missing persons last seen around OL-Site-419. He is holding two of the confirmed disappearance victims in his hands.>
Dr. Byron: Did the face match any description of the missing persons?
Subchief █████: I've seen the photos. Yes? No. I couldn't tell you. The— thing’s identity was at the back of my mind: To be honest, I was hoping not to look at its face; I didn’t look. I remember there being nothing in its chest. No organs. No—— and its spinal cord dangling.
<Displaying distress, Subchief █████ pauses before continuing.>
Subchief █████: I don't know why I did what I did next. Despite our agents approaching him in all directions, barking orders, the kid kept pointing the driftwood in one direction atop the hill.
Dr. Byron: And he didn't try to run? He wasn't scared of you?
Subchief █████: To be quite honest, I don't know. Kid was lucid. His legs were stiff, but his arms swayed and his eyes were almost half shut. Other rangers tried calling out to him. He was- he was on the brink of collapse. I was facing him! I tried locking eye contact as I went forward. Didn't budge. In retrospect, he was probably paralyzed with fear. I know that, now. The kid looked like he was on his last legs. He was transfixed!
Dr. Byron: Transfixed on what?
Subchief █████: The things. The "it."
Dr. Byron: Four-nineteen?
Subchief █████: It could've been. It could've been the fuckin' devil, and I wouldn't've known. I heard a faint chirping noise—a low monotone chirp. I decided to turn around and saw several fluorescent blue eyes stalking us from the foliage. Ten? Twelve meters above us. At first, I thought they were Christmas lights, of all things.
Subchief █████: I saw four ape-like silhouettes frozen in the tree brush.
Dr. Byron: Did you tell your teammates?
Subchief █████: Didn't have to! They saw. The things’ eyes were reflective like a dog’s, if they were dish plates. One of our guys flashed his flashlight at it, and they scurried around like cockroaches. Except they were the size of men.
<Silence for 6 seconds.>
Subchief █████: I don't know why, I don't understand why, but at the sight of this, I tried pulling the corpse off the kid without a word.
Dr. Byron: You decided to evacuate?
Subchief █████: I decided to get out of there, yes. Its weeping got louder. It gargled and spat and thrashed its little hands at me. I think it was trying to say something.
Subchief █████: And the boy? He-he-he, he fought me.
Dr. Byron: How long did they resist?
Subchief █████: They were children. Their only advantage over me was how muddy the soil was. I slipped but gained enough leverage to toss the carcass as the ground started to really collapse. That's when Chris really started to panic. And it slumped into a hole, and it— it.
<Subchief █████ begins gagging.>
Subchief █████: It was a child. Still alive. Somehow.
<Agent ███ lights █████ his third cigarette.>
Dr. Byron: And, Jesus, and how did evacuation begin?
Subchief █████: I heard a bang — gunshot, sorry. I remember I heard a gunshot because it stopped the boy's screaming. It rang out. Then, a thud sound.
Subchief █████: I think it was Mackaroy? He was east of me; I heard the bullet come from the east. He was the one who took the pictures ███ saw. He was the first to have his gun drawn, also.
Agent ███: Was that when shit hit the fan?
Subchief █████: There was this rustling from beneath. I heard the things jump down as I failed to flop to my feet. I drew my pistol and held the kid tight. He was nearly lifeless after fighting me off. I knew the creatures were blocking our path, only they never charged at us.
Dr. Byron: Where'd they go?
Image 419.E: Bodycamera photo of a RPC-419 instance following Chris Johnson, unnoticed by Protectorate Officers.
Subchief █████: A few tried burrowing, most flanked in a curved pattern to one of the leftmost water pools. I think they wanted the corpse. There was this hissing, that I had never heard before. And the stench of brine. It was like a cicada and—and an elephant, simultaneously as the Earth gave way.
Dr. Byron: The sinkhole?
Subchief █████: I assume so. And the hissing sound intensified.
Dr. Byron: I assume you did not get a good look at the pit?
Subchief █████: I saw other caverns collapsing. Briefly. I tried cleaning off the mud on my night vision and just… ran. With the kid in my arms, I just…
Dr. Byron: How did the other men respond?
Subchief █████: A few fired gunshots or slipped in. Most ran. ████████ called in the SNAFU; he told the captain to start the boat's engine. He was behind me. I just ran. And the boy kept sobbing over the tree branches breaking under my boot. Said to go back.
Subchief █████: I remember the corpse. The corpse was the first to fall into the hole. I heard others.
<Subchief █████ pauses as Agent ███ hands him a tissue.>
Agent ███: Seventeen. Uh, seventeen protectors got back to the boat. We left as soon as █████ came back with the kid.
Subchief █████: He was back there.
Dr. Byron: Who?
<Subchief █████ begins sobbing. He remains inattentive.>
Agent ███: The corpse?
Subchief █████: ████. He was late! He wasn't on when we scattered. I told him to swim the distance—tse. The fucking screams. Oh god.
<Subchief █████ vomits over the side of the table.>
<The audio remains inattentive for several seconds.>
Dr. Byron: Oh, Christ.
<End Log>
Closing Statement: Upon retrieval, civilian Chris Johnson was stabilized from critical condition on his escort back to Protectorate Field Hospital, Installation Five. Remote-operated aerial photographs later confirmed several large sinkholes where Protectorate forces grouped with the civilians, along with the first documented photographs of RPC-419 shifting through the terrain. An unnatural build-up of rotting or decaying tree wood within otherwise unnaturally marshy terrain was also noted.
Image 419.F: Protectorate medical examination of Civilian Chris Johnson, post-discovery
A media gaslighting campaign later framed the adolescent as having accidentally taken psilocybin mushrooms. Zoologists and photo-media experts, under Authority payroll, later made public statements discrediting Chris’ social media posts as pictures of raccoons with mange. Agent ███ was later placed on two weeks of administrative leave for general incompetence, though his unrelated investigation continued. Subchief █████ was denied psychiatric leave. The casualties were later ruled as unpreventable.
Five Protectorate rangers were considered KIA with no chance of recovery for their remains. However, the body of Lee Jackson was not found for another four weeks.
Addendum 419.2: IB-100/419 (Relevant) Incident Logs
Image 419.G: Anonymous civilian clothing found and pictured by ██████ ███████.
Incident Report 419-A: On 06/05/2023, at 1000 hours, civilians ██████ and ████ ███████2 notified the police because a cluster of children's clothing had washed up on the beach downstream of Leigh Lake. They had also mentioned finding a few pieces of skull fragments, which were never confirmed. The incident occurred hours after the Authority's second incursion onto Mystic Isle, upon which two operatives from Whiskey-7 were commissioned on a low-priority call. The OL-Site-419 fence was later erected that evening to the public's ire.3
"We are currently working [with Agent ███] to retrieve those items of evidence from Teton County PD, having kept the story out of the media's eye. […] Focus was diverted to containing the police. A lack of equipment, compounded by an unnatural build-up of driftwood stockpiled farther inland than naturally possible, prevented our operatives from pushing inland [for a more permanent base of operations.]
Interestingly, a pile of child-sized shoes was found in a waterlogged ditch near the island's eastern beachside. A crude channel was dug to connect the trough to the Lake, ████ dived in to save them from the current. [The operation was] considered largely a failure."
— Dr. Byron
Image 419.H: Adolescents roughly twenty minutes before the attack
Incident Report 419-E: On 06/13/2023, a civilian family, consisting of five preteen children and two parents, were playing near an unfenced section of OL-Site-419. In full view of their guardians, three of five children suffered an RPC-419 attack near the western end of Leigh Lake — opposite the Authority encampment. The Authority's presence was preoccupied with launching an underwater probe on location. Negligent of the recently disseminated warnings, the civilian group went undetected by security.
Only because of the closer proximity of Subchief █████ and two of his coworkers could Authority staff evacuate two of the three children and save an additional adult from drowning. Following a short-lived chase on land, the adults were interrogated and determined to be ignorant of the supernatural before first aid was administered.
The sub-nautical probe was successfully launched around 0800 hours and could survey unrelated RPC-419 instances until it disappeared within an underwater burrow at 0849 hours. It was not until 1500 hours during a third expedition that the still-alive, naked body of civilian ████ ███████ was found being stuffed within another entrance underneath the Lake — interference with the abduction resulted in an RPC-419 attack, causing the operators to retreat.
"[RPC-419] appears to be significantly slower on land, which may explain its less aggressive [behavior when stalking visitors to Mystic Isle]. The swarming and stalking tactics aren't too dissimilar from the primate-based anomalies I have worked with. […] It may be worthwhile to consider if -419 entities believe themselves to be enthralled in some form of territorial dispute. We'll have [to inform Dr. McGinnis] to compare similar behaviors with other insects."
— Dr. Byron
Image 419.I: (Now defunct) RPC-419 underwater tunnel entrance beyond Spring Lake Gate, later marked by RSF Personnel
Incident Report 419-F: On 06/27/2023, underwater welders were attacked during the initial installation of the submersible gate. The Maintenance Union personnel were accompanied by two patrol boats with lethal weapons. Welder A complained about seeing a large crevice underwater south of the team but was dismissed.
An ambush team of four RPC-419 instances disrupted above-water communication only four hours into the installation. A panicked use of firearms from the first two guards on the rightmost boat would later cause the first vessel to sink. However, the gate's installation remained strangely unpeated and was completed at 1700 hours. Progress was impeded due to complaints of ear pain from Welder B periodically throughout the installation. All team members successfully evacuated on the secondary boat to land, albeit accosted by a second group of RPC-419 approaching from the north.4
"They appear to be singling out Security forces the most. More peculiarly, RPC-419 has shown the capacity to use crude toolage. Use of displaced branches, small stones, and leaves or algae for camouflage when hiding in either tree brushes or near shallow parts of the water are behaviors demonstrated when trying to either capsize or drag Authority personnel under the creekbed."
— Containment Specialist ███████ ███████
Incident Report 419-L: Civilian Chris Johnson regained partial consciousness on 07/11/2023 at 1500 hours. At 1600 hours, two of four tracked instances of RPC-419 inexplicably breached containment very quickly. When questioned by two child interrogators about the series of on-and-off convulsions the subject was experiencing, the subject would only lucidly reply with some variation of an explanation of 'there being a bug inside of him' or 'an egg in his brain.' The two incidents were quickly linked, and a dispatch was tracked through cameras to intercept the entities.
Perimeter camera fourteen tracked the anomalies to have stopped around gate four, drawing farther back to the edge of the camera's vision as personnel arrived. When the ASF personnel caravan tried to move towards the Lake to get a clean shot at the entities, nine RPC-419 entities flanked behind to outnumber the three agents. The entities could not flip over the carrier before trying to disarm Guard B. Guard B successfully tranquilized three entities, on top of the initial two tracked instances, before being disarmed and engaging five RPC-419 entities in physical combat.
Image 419.J: Damage to lower fence exterior caused by RPC-419
Guard A — the caravan's driver — radioed to Installation Five and fell back to Gate B, successfully tranquilizing the one pursuing anomaly and opening Gate B. Upon the audio queue, the remaining RPC-419 instances turned their attention from Guard B as he shut the gate. However, one entity detached a door hinge as the gate shut, crushing its forearm but preventing it from fully locking and allowing the RPC-419 entities to funnel out of the OL-Site perimeter. Breach alarms were quickly raised from there. Grabbing Guard A's tranquilizer, Guard B pursued the hunting pack.
An executive decision by Subchief █████ allowed Protectorate forces to confiscate a separate unit's standard action pistols and take offensive action. A dispute between █████ and the two Prolab child interviews — later replaced by Dr. Byron — began centering around putting Subject Johnson in an isolated part of the facility overlooked by two guards given potential termination orders. The conversation would come ahead as Protectorate personnel could funnel and isolate the remaining five RPC-419 instances and engage them in lethal combat, terminating two. In an attempt to save Guard A, Guard B was able to terminate the last instance. Dragging a battered Guard A by his left ankle, the entity was slow enough for Guard B to tackle and forcefully drown one of the instances in a large puddle over seventeen minutes.5
Overall, Incident Report 419-J provided the Authority with ample tissue samples of RPC-419. Having completed a full autopsy on four instances, Dr. Byron has reassigned his Prolab unit to other phenomena within the park.
Addendum 419.3: "Engaged with Gaige" Season 20, Ep. 24 (included for archival purposes only)
Foreword: The following is a news segment from the conspiracy podcast "Engaged with Gaige," season twenty, episode twenty-four. ██████ ███████, the civilian witness who identified Lee Johnson's clothes in Incident Report 419-A, was invited onto the show after quickly becoming disillusioned with the evidence he had reported. Hereby referred to as "WITNESS-419-A," the civilian's rambly, four-hour interview and included news clippings have been heavily edited for coherency.
<Begin Log>
George Johnson: — it isn’t right. Laurine makes calls to the Rangers; I'm taking additional days off work. And— no one can tell us how he was found — where he is. Nobody can even tell us whose clothes they found.
<Officer Dunminn readjusts the microphone closer to Mr. Johnson's posture.>
George Johnson: Nobody can even confirm who they work for. We have not and continue not to have any contact with either of those people who found the child's clothes. We don't know what they look like. We shouldn't be going through this, the lies they're putting against us.
George Johnson: We’re good people; Chris is good. They're good boys. He would never take those kinds of substances. Laurine taught him better, and the coroner's office knows that. Lee's a sensitive boy; I never even took them to the island. How could two children boat over there in the dead of night?
George Johnson: And we're not even allowed to see— know where our Chrissy is. It's as if we don't exist.
George Johnson: He wouldn't've had access to that stuff.
<Mr. Johnson covers his face with a 1090 report copy from Jackson PD. Officer Dunminn courteously offers the man a tissue, with both men walking off stage. Mrs. Johnson readjusts her glasses and is offered the microphone by a close relative.>
Laurine Johnson: This event has turned our lives into hell.
Laurine Johnson: We came to Teton to gain peace of mind and, relax. The people calling us kooks or "preppers" — or who say this is all ideologically motivated — for going on a vacation trip are sorely mistaken.
Laurine Johnson: We're honest people, and our boys're honest. We haven't had any longstanding contact with [WITNESS-419/A] or any Rangers.
Laurine Johnson: I told George to get out of the water because I thought I saw a bear swimming or something. My little Chrissy was upset about not going, and that was it!
Laurine Johnson: It is not our job to argue with Prevention Hazards. We're thankful for the guidance of the Police Department. And we have no obligation to give interviews at this time. Thank you.
<Mrs. Lauren accidentally knocks over the microphone before reuniting with her husband. The chattering echo of flash photography quickly overtakes the ambiance of the room.>
<Video footage transitions to a News Anchor giving a daily forecast behind a caravan of activists posted outside the Craig Thomas Discovery Center before abruptly cutting back to the Gaige Rivers video set.>
<The set of the show resembles a Safari Army Tent and is accompanied by a corkboard, hunting rifles, taxidermied animals, a bear rug, and several stacks of papers. For a comedic bit, both Mr. Rivers and [WITNESS-419/A] are dressed in fishing gear during the broadcast.>
Gaige Rivers: That was a segment — NSP — that ran last Thursday of the couple who went on'na fishing trip. Was it a fishing trip, Mike?
<Inaudible response from person offscreen.>
Gaige Rivers: A fishing trip. All right. Folks—
<Mr. Rivers readjusts a stack of files so his torso is more visible on his side-profile camera.>
Gaige Rivers: We're not here to wage war with the families, but we can discredit some things. Cause this is what— this is what they're doing.
[WITNESS-419/A]: It's the Beaumann Hoax all over again, and people are not falling for it. I certainly didn't fall for it.
Gaige Rivers: Right.
Gaige Rivers: Because originally, they didn't want me to be here: Jackson PD warned my lawyers from even talking to you, spreading the truth. Dozens of people — who went all over the park and around Mystic — and I just saw their clothes bunched up around my walk.
[WITNESS-419/A]: Cause that makes sense: 'Hey, here are all those missing people's clothes. But uh, hey, everything's normal.' Don't send out hundreds of investigators; put a fence up to hinder law-abiding citizens.
<Timestamps 4:02:03 through 4:08:56 were expunged for redundancy.>
[WITNESS-419/A]: — and— and, it just makes no sense. It doesn't. They're trying to redo the Beaumann hoax.
Gaige Rivers: It’s sloppy. They wouldn't even allow us to get them on our show! Mike contacted George, and we had the police chief bar us from contacting them.
<Inaudible dialog.>
Gaige Rivers: Huh?
<Inaudible dialog continues.>
Gaige Rivers: Alright. Correction: Mrs. Johnson declined to come to our program.
[WITNESS-419/A]: But it still doesn't answer how these missing person stories that have all these holes in them will just have a thousand holes in all of them, be handwaved away by the police, and then never talked about again. Then, the media's attention is just magically directed to the other side of the park!
Gaige Rivers: So my opinion? My verdict is that this is a hoax, a lie. The family has their child. They're keeping him indefinitely to drum up a distraction. They want to get people all fearful and the media all riled up.
[WITNESS-419/A]: I don't think they're malicious.6
Gaige Rivers: No. They're lost in Jenea; 'certainly, not being paid.7
<Mr. Rivers grabs two pens and begins climbing with both hands>
Gaige Rivers: But Johnny'd— when he was here, he would have to remind me not every pawn was knowledgeable. And there's levels to their deception.
<Timestamps 4:09:41 through 4:11:03 were expunged for containing redundant information.>
[WITNESS-419/A]: You heard of what happened in o'eight?
Gaige Rivers: Two-thousand-and-eight?
[WITNESS-419/A]: Yeah.
Gaige Rivers: Nah? I mean, yes. We were in Tennessee.
[WITNESS-419/A]: No, not your public broadcast. I'm talking about Beaumann.
Gaige Rivers: Beaumann?
[WITNESS-419/A]: Yeah the ████ Beaumann cryptid?
<[WITNESS-419/A] briefly stretches before returning to the mic.>
Gaige Rivers: Well, I never heard of it.
[WITNESS-419/A]: Oh? Oh. Okay, so there were these greeny types. Landscapers went over to Mystic to size up and install a new dock for the island.
Gaige Rivers: For tourists?
[WITNESS-419/A]: Yeah. I don't know the full names of the two landscapers. The police just mentioned Beaumann by name. The park was going through a drought, so the water was low. There are four guys boating there. And, because it was so hard to get there, they arrived very late in the day, so they had to take measurements at, like, sunset.
Gaige Rivers: When is this? Summer?
[WITNESS-419/A]: Yeah. Their excuse is that they had to keep a quote for park maintenance. Anyway, they start taking measurements. One guy's getting unruly because it's getting dark, and he doesn't want to pack up the boat in darkness.
[WITNESS-419/A]: So the other guys just give in and go along. They start packing. They message back, saying they'll do it tomorrow. But, oh no, their boat stalls.
Gaige Rivers: Yeah. Continue, continue.
[WITNESS-419/A]: He — a guy named George — said that four shadow-like demons accosted them. They said they looked like shadow people.
Gaige Rivers: Oh shi—.
[WITNESS-419/A]: The guy complaining went out to put the boat back on the water and was attacked by things. He started tearing off his work shirt. And Beaumann's plus three had to fight them off using a flare gun.
<A moment of silence.>
Gaige Rivers: Shi— I never heard of this.
[WITNESS-419/A]: It was big for a month, around Jackson. Big. I was still working, then. And you had all of these media hosts talking about area folklore. A few newsies got one of the local tribesmen about Shoshone arrowheads; We dubbed it the "Beaumann Black Beetle."
[WITNESS-419/A]: It was a big story five to eight years ago. Everyone wanted to get involved: The police, the climate scientists, god, even the Indians got involved!
Gaige Rivers: … The Indians?
[WITNESS-419/A]: People keep saying — and, I cannot stress enough, they said this with no damn evidence — that Mystic Island was sacred land for them. So, they wanted to use it for goddamn land back. They're trying to claim it was a holy site for them to, I don't know, probably for some lawsuit.
[WITNESS-419/A]: But — and this is where it gets interesting — a police report found that those landscapers were carrying a pack of coronas in their truck.
<Audible gaws from set workers, off-camera.>
Gaige Rivers: They were drunk!?
[WITNESS-419/A]: That's not all, that's not all. Immediately after, a bunch of police and animal control workers came there to survey the land. Nothing! In fact, they spent so much time there that one of the guys passed out on the ride over. Something about 'heat stroke hallucinations' or 'his ears bleeding'. I dunno. But they didn't even really bother looking for the things!
[WITNESS-419/A]: But the landscapers swore they saw something by the beach. They swore they'd prove it.
Gaige Rivers: No way.
Gaige Rivers: Dammit, you had me going.
[WITNESS-419/A]: But it shows how they use psyops to take our agenda and further theirs.
Gaige Rivers: Yes. Ahem. And that's because — and say it with me, folks — it's a lie. The police want us to think there's a serial killer in the woods to justify their overstepping.
[WITNESS-419/A]: Because that's what's comfortable.
Gaige Rivers: — Right.
[WITNESS-419/A]: Cause that's what makes sense. Cause uh, oh! Uh, 'it's chemicals, but it's actually animals.' Uh, 'it's the children's fault, but there might be a child predator, but we don't have any evidence.'
[WITNESS-419/A]: ‘So. Stop. Looking!'
Gaige Rivers: Right! Oh, "we'll put up a fence," and—
Gaige Rivers: We have so many people closing in on the Teton Lights.8
<Gaige briefly moves closer to the microphone and clips his audio.>
Gaige Rivers: CONTINUING THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR HOMELAND AND HOLLOWING OUR RESCUE OPERATIONS OUT TO PREVENT PEOPLE FROM BEING SELF-RELIANT!!!
<The room remains silent for a couple of seconds. [WITNESS-419/A] looks unsure as to how to respond. Mr. Rivers clears his throat.>
Gaige Rivers: That is why we're offering some amazing products to help people like you fight back.
<End Log>
Closing Statement: "Normally, I'd chastise you for incompetence in not shutting them all up by now, but I think we've finally hit our luck streak. Gaige just did our job for us:
His scathing coverage of the Johnsons is unfortunate, but [WITNESS-419/A] was already retired; it would've been hell trying to discredit him. Now, it'll be hard for anyone to take him seriously. By association, Gaige diverted the coo-coo's attention away from us. Still, we must decide what we're doing with the kid soon. If it wasn't a document mix-up with the actual park's service, I don't know who let the parents know we had their child. We can't keep him in quarantine forever. "
— Site-002 Director
Addendum 419.4: OL-Site-419 Remote Submersible Expedition-012
Foreword: On 07/11/2023, with the apparent number of RPC-419 instances grossly underestimated, Site-002 Logistics granted the Anomaly Experimentation Team a more advanced remote-controlled rover for testing purposes. The Engineering Component equipped the remote vessel for aquatic and terrain-capable maneuverability to traverse the 419 cave system under the lakebed by Dr. Byron and overseen by Dr. McGinnis. EC-Submersible-1404 was first deployed on a lifeboat near the eastern center of OL-Site-419, accompanied by a squadron of RSF patrols.
Image 419.K: RSF-419/012 and 419/023 scouting the perimeter of the RPC-419 nest entrance.
<Begin Log>
<Audio-camera receiver four turns on. Several RSF guards connect EC-1404 to the submerging cables as Dr. McGinnis positions the axel over the water.>
Dr. Byron: —systems are a go! Connecting all audio channels.
<Dr. Byron begins to turn on the controls for EC-1404 and do a systems check. Two RSF Divers remain in the water to keep patrol near the boat.>
RSF-419/012: Curio on your left, one o'clock.
RSF-419/023: See ‘em.
<Long-range tranquilizer fires three times.>
RSF-419/012: Direct hit.
RSF-419/023: Probably won't be the last. <Sigh.> These things hunt in packs. And what— what's with these dingy fucking things.
<419/023 loudly attempts to unjam his pistol>
RSF-419/023: Where’s my firearm?
Dr. McGinnis: Temporarily decommissioned. I don't want you using excessive force.
RSF-419/012: And what happens if we're overwhelmed?
Dr. McGinnis: Then the other four go down there. Bullets are expensive; blame Presidium Logistics for sparing Protection from limiting their ammunition. We have a surplus of tranques.
RSF-419/023: Still doesn't explain why these things are out in bigger parties than ones and twos.
Dr. McGinnis: I don't know, Erik. Time of day? It could be their biological clocks. It could be a lot of things. That's why I'm here.
<With a loud thud, McGinnis secures EC-1404 swim gear. RSF-419/023 audibly groans.>
<EC-1404 is first lowered one meter into the water before descent. Both divers accompany the drone to the underwater entrance. Neither infrared monitors nor the guards' movement trackers detect movement in the water.>
RSF-419/012: Water's clear, but I don't see any entrance. I—
<A loud thud is heard over the intercoms>
RSF-419/012: Dammit.
RSF-419/023: Found the entrance. Red's having a brief SNAFU. Over. <Haussman uses his aqua-knife to cut RSF-419/012’s heel free of reed grass> Bit of a complication, though. This entrance seems to be covered in rocks and a bit narrow. Is it going to fit?
Dr. Byron: Won't know until we try. Right, reposition the rover and put it into all-terrain drive.
<RSF-419/023 and RSF-419/012 spend the next several minutes trying to funnel EC-1404 into the entrance. Rotary stabilization readjusts EC-1404 at a thirty-three-degree angle. The rover disengages its swimwear before switching over to all-terrain driving before being forcefully shoved through the opening. At this point, camera six reveals a wide, vertical shaft with two partially gaped tunnels intersecting with the pit.>
<Footage of EC-1404 moving through the tunnel (timestamp 00:05:31 to 14:03:31) were removed for redundancy.>
Image 419.L: Dr. McGinnis (left) and Dr. Byron (right) performing their morning diagnostics check
Dr. McGinnis: Stuck again. <Sigh.> Status report, Patrol-01?
RSF-419/023: No signs of creature attacks. Nothing really at all.
RSF-419/012: Any progress, top-side?
<EC-1404 uses traction gear to clear debris from its path. Video-feed on camera three shows signs of light distortion and ripples of surface tension.>
Dr. Byron: This damn seagrass. It's caught on tracks or something.
Dr. McGinnis: Hold on, I think I see something.
<EC-1404's wheels are briefly immobilized as the rover's weight shifts out of the water. The unsubmerged half of the tunnel is abnormally bright. A thick layer of silt and clay coats the walls of the cave.>
Dr. McGinnis: GPS says we're somewhere under the island.
Dr. Byron: How is there any light down here?
<As the tunnel grows wider, the footage shows a series of roots and tall grass in their surroundings. Small blemishes and gradient streaks of light blue within the foliage reflect off the camera lens. The patches of grass gradually get denser as the drone continues.>
<Having cut five meters eastward, camera four comes to a small, horizontal clearing. Tunnel walls and ceiling become more structurally defined, with the tunnel coated in a strange substance.>
Dr. Byron: You think it's anomalous?
Dr. McGinnis: It's glowing; the weeds are growing underground, Byron. Someone radio -002 back for potential subclass biology. We might be looking at an outbreak. Try getting a sample of the dirt.
Dr. Byron: Hold on, hold on. Switching over to camera four.
<Byron begins to collect samples of the surrounding flora and soil. The drone begins to lightly unpack the material on the walls using the blunt end of 1404's pincer-vacuum. After several attempts, a section of the leftmost wall collapses over the rover.>
Dr. McGinnis: Oh damn.
Dr. Bryon: Hold on, hold on. We just have to clear it to the left.
<EC-1404 is unable to move forward. Attempts to sift through the debris causes the tunnel to further collapse. EC-1404 attempts to go in reverse, causing more of the leftmost wall to collapse. As it does, its leftmost set of wheels is revealed to be caught on what is thought to be the drawstring of a light pink bikini top.>
<Dr. Byron continues to try and clear the passage. Upon loosening the soil, the pincer claw appears to get caught on a muddy sheet of tile.>
Dr. McGinnis: What were they doing? What is it?
<Silence.>
Dr. McGinnis: Byron!
Dr. Byron: I don't know. I think it's a shirt. Yeah, it's a shirt.
Dr. McGinnis: What size?
Dr. Byron: Couldn't say, uh. It's too slushy down here. Too wet, but. Wait, no. There's no head-hole.
Dr. McGinnis: I think it's pants. I think it's blue jeans? They look small.
Dr. Byron: Small, like a two-x? I mean, it's missing its left leg. Who knows?
<Dr Byron tries to readjust the flashlight over the debris. Several miscellaneous pieces of socks and long strips of leather are caught amongst the rockfall.>
RSF-419/012: Boat? Are you there?
Dr. McGinnis: … Yes, Patrol-01. McGinnis speaking.
RSF-419/012: We're picking up four/five curios moving along the floor bed toward the hole.
Dr. McGinnis: Shit.
RSF-419/023: What are your orders?
Dr. McGinnis: Duh, okay. Patrol-01, move in, and engage. Prevent them from going in after them. A second guard force will take your position.
<Dr. McGinnis nods for Patrol-02 — RSF-419/006 and -419/015 — to leave the main deck and take patrol around the boat's waters. Dr. Byron maneuvers EC-1404 to successfully cut off and store a piece of the white shirt for analysis.>
RSF-419/012: Understood. Over.
Dr. McGinnis: We need to keep moving.
Dr. Byron: Understood.
<EC-1404 continues to move deeper into the tunnel. The sound of rushing water intensifies. As the rover progresses, torn pieces of fabric and other articles of clothes haphazardly padded into the wall with clay become more visibly apparent.>
Image 419.M: Still frame from camera five on EC-1404.
Dr. Byron: Do you hear that?
Dr. McGinnis: The buzzing?
Dr. Byron: No, I think it's water. I'm worried they're about to attack the droid.
<The narrow tunnel begins to expand, once again partially becoming submerged in water. The axel of EC-1404 develops a rightward tilt as it is caught on several more clumps of grass and muddied fabrics. As the recording progresses, the walls and ceiling of the passage become much more defined. The clay and silt of the tunnel abruptly transition into support beams and adobe slabs.>
<Monitor three, now positioned upward, reveals a large, well-lit cavern with several tunnels excavated into the structure. Crude arches of petrified wood support the collapsed ceiling.>
Dr. McGinnis: Well, God. How old is this place? What, who?… What do we do?
Dr. Byron: I don't know! <Cough.> Damn, that buzzing. Does that not bother you?
Dr. McGinnis: No, hold on.
<Dr. McGinnis turns down the volume on the monitor.>
Dr. Byron: I can still fuckin' hear it. It's grating. How big is this place?
Dr. McGinnis: Who can say? We might've screwed ourselves. We should've originally come here sooner. This is gonna take years to investigate.
Dr. Byron: What? No! We can't research these things any—— Shit. Shit.
<A raspy cicada-esque sound approaches. Byron readily pulls EC-1404 out of sight, narrowly avoiding detection from a rogue RPC-419 instance. Camera six tracks the movement of the approaching 419 instances on the ceiling. In its pincers, it carries a moldy, pinkish animal hide.>
Dr. McGinnis: Too close. Just let's focus on the exploration.
<Sticking to the shadows, Byron maneuvers EC-1404 to a position from behind the waterfall. Most of the remaining camera footage is shown in stills or zoom-frame. Cameras five and six reveal a small burial room. At its center lies four central pillars, with the walls comprising petrified logs or adobe slabs.>
<Under Dr. McGinnis's instructions, Byron quietly maneuvers EC-1404 behind the third and fourth rightmost load-bearing pillars. EC-1404 lies behind a pile of miscellaneous silver trinkets, including broken pottery and arrowheads. Strips of what are assumed to be animal hide blanket over the pots. Mold discolors the uneven smoothness of its skin a greenish tar-black.>
Dr. McGinnis: I count around six. Five, maybe? Get an RSF to find the carphone, radio to -002, but a——
<Inaudible comment of a junior research staff member.>
Dr. McGinnis: I don't see anything. Do you see it?
Dr. Byron: See what?
<Inaudible dialog continues for eleven seconds.>
Dr. McGinnis: The light. One of the temp staff saw a pocket of light. No, pull back. There. The way the four-nineteen went—zoom in that direction.
<Silence for fifteen seconds.>
Dr. McGinnis: What the—
Dr. McGinnis: Lord.
<Video camera four shows a large throne chair made of clay and bones. Atop sits the petrified corpse of what resembles a decorated Indian Chieftain. Most RPC-419 entities in the chamber are carrying large stones out of a crater left near the collapsed steep of the raised throne, now illuminated by cracks of sunlight above.>
<Inaudible dialog.>
Dr. McGinnis: We don't know that. We— ██████!
Dr. Byron: The hell are they doing? Maintenance?
"Though grainy, later footage analysis would conclude that most facial skin and eye tissue had been removed while other skin tissue on the side and neck remained. Blunt-head-force-trauma appears to have collapsed the frontal bone, with two juvenile bison horns placed in the crater. The body had been secured to the chair via rope, with several large, wooden shards nailing muscles and ribs in place. The lower half of the cadaver appears to have been disemboweled and displaced, with a series of four to five adult female rib cages fastened under it and held together by rope and a bed of clay. A few driftwood protrusions — which I can say for certain were added recently — gave the impression of cockroach legs or grasshopper appendages.
Several sheathes of skin are dragged off the silver pile by the RPC-419 instances — nearly uncovering EC-1404's concealment. Camera three observed the entities wrap the hide over the chieftain's lower cadaver. The false skin would then be layered over the clay and pierced by the sticks."
— Dr. Byron's personal notes
Dr. McGinnis: Someone, please get the carphone! Dorris!
<Dr. McGinnis briefly steps out onto the main deck. Dr. Byron readjusts EC-1404's trajectory before entering the leftmost archway. One of the three junior researchers present approaches him.>
<Inaudible dialog.>
Dr. Byron: I know what I'm doing. I——
<Inaudible dialog.>
Dr. Byron: No. I want to know what's splashing.
<Inaudible dialog.>
Dr. Byron: Do you not see the bug!? You think they're not gonna care we're down here? This thing costs 200k!
<EC-1404 successfully darts to the other side of the room undetected. The microphone on EC-1404 begins to clip as they move forward from the high-pitched chirping. A gradual rise in water level impedes movement, causing Junior Researcher ██████, who is not in the audio, to hypothesize that the main chamber of RPC-419 is lopsided. EC-1404 takes cover behind a series of pots.>
Dr. Byron: God, this ringing! <Cough, cough.> Someone get McGinnis back; he had the volume remote.
Dr. Byron: I swear to god I… I—
<For the majority of this portion of the footage, AET-1/419 members remain silent. The screams of children have been removed from this audio.>
<Cameras three, five, and six capture a larger pool of what was later identified as high-concentration salt water. There are nine RPC-419 instances in total, with five alive and three deceased.>
<Several half-destroyed bags of salt lay near the water's edge on top of a pile of corpses. A series of large holes in the back carry steam from the water upward.>
<On the pile, two entities work on stripping the adult female cadaver (later identified as a New York resident and Facebook conspiracist ███████ █████, age 29) of her bathing suit on camera three. Her body is slumped over, with several chunks of flesh missing from her skin. A dark-greenish mold shrivels and distorts the muscles' sinew.>
<To EC-1404's left, camera five shows a large pit of boiling water and steam. The pit is roughly four-by-two meters spacious, above water, and flush with the walls of the chamber. Pockets of what is assumed to be dark-green algae scour the surface of the boiling water, spreading out from the central ramp and tilting into the chamber. In the center remains a series of wooden pikes sticking out of the water. Of the eleven pikes, the bodies of eight children remain bound to them, with their necks above water. The majority of those present are alive, showing signs of struggle.>
<A plethora of visible disfigurements dot their bodies. Noninvasive flesh wounds are visible on the neck of each. Bulbous, fluorescent growths and dark skin coloration swell and, in part, immobilize the facial regions of some adolescents. In some towards the back-right, a pair of short antennae sprout from their left nostril as enlarged compound eyes press against and even visibly fracture the eye-sockets of the RPC-419 victims.>
<Dr. McGinnis, at this point, steps back into the main cabin of the lifeboat, car phone in hand. He silently watches the monitor as EC-1404 tries to take better cover.>
<The majority of the salvaged camera footage centers around camera six. Two instances of RPC-419 are observed swimming over to, unfastening, and dragging a screaming child out of the water. Black discoloration and what is presumed to be tattooing are present on the victim's deformed skull. Despite missing its lower right and lower torso, the adolescent appears to still be alive, kicking and screaming throughout the entire process. The two anomalies wrestle the corpse into shallow water before pinning the child on its back and using their frontal hooks to make several imprecise lateral cuts along the back of the corpse.9>
<A third RPC-419 instance — positioned off-camera — begins tearing the lower abdomen and legs off the other three deceased RPC-419 instances before detaching and dragging the closest deceased towards the carcass. Before camera six reaches a mechanical malfunction, the three RPC-419 instances are seen trying to connect the victims' lower spine with a piece of the abdomen.>
<The humming of all five RPC-419 instances begins to take on a much more melodic, higher-pitched humming. Dr. Byron nestles the rover into its hiding place before briefly putting down the controller.>
<Inaudible dialog, followed by footsteps up to the microphone.>
Dr. McGinnis: I, I, I… Christ.
<Dr. Byron puts down the central controller and proceeds to vomit in the washroom sink of the cabin. Dr. McGinnis picks up the phone and begins dialing to Site-002 dispatch.>
Dr. McGinnis: Christ. Okay. I'm calling the BOA to ask for an extension to our field research. We need to motion for an emergency meeting with C&D.
Dr. Byron: Wh- What?
Dr. McGinnis: I mean, Christ, Prometheus is gonna need to sort out… whatever this ritual is.
Dr. Byron: What? No!
Dr. McGinnis: What do you mean, "no?"
Dr. Byron: Robby, we need to nick this shitstorm. We need to pull out and call Protectorate!
Dr. McGinnis: W-why!!?
<Dr. Bryon begins rapidly gesturing towards the monitor. The hissing noises continue to grow in volume, becoming more chaotic.>
Dr. McGinnis: Frank, we just stumbled across highly potent thaumaturgy. The scope of the case file just expanded tenfold. You can't blow everything up. It'll be years before we can safely remove the anomaly.
<Bryon struggles to keep the controller in his hands. The other junior researchers begin showing signs of general distress and fatigue.>
Dr. Byron: What!?
Dr. Byron: We don't- <Cough.> have years! That's not our job. Our job is containment.
Dr. McGinnis: Containment is your job. 'Research' means to understand; and to be precautious. We need more resources to stop these things.
Dr. McGinnis: I'm not rolling the dice on neutralizing a highly vicious anomaly we can barely track. Incrementally——
Dr. Byron: No! You're not an anthropologist! <Cough. Cough.> We're not historians, our—our job is to——
Dr. McGinnis: Do you not see the massive cavern in front of us?
Dr. Byron: Rob.
Dr. McGinnis: This is multiple departments, at the very least.
Dr. Byron: Rob!
Dr. McGinnis: A&A has approved decades of research in lesser anomalous species. We need to be precautious.
Dr. Byron: And were those species located at one of the largest parks in the continental US? Rob, we're not doing this! You took away our guard's guns to "be precautious." It led to multiple people getting hurt.
Dr. Byron: We put up a fence around the pond—— lake, whatever, being "cautious." It didn't work. They're escaping more often, and people are more suspicious than ever. I keep telling Protection, "Fences. Don't. Work."
<The microphone begins skipping on the internal monitors. In the footage, a stationary EC-1404 begins to lose grip of its hiding spot and float out into the water.>
Dr. McGinnis: The fence would've gone up regardless! Every assignment this summer that has a general location on its anomaly uses a fence.
Dr. Byron: And how many of them are working!!? It burrows. They goddamn burrow, it doesn't change a thing! The longer our assets are here—
Dr. McGinnis: Frank, calm down. Neither of us is A&A.
Dr. Byron: Yes! Rob, no one has the money to continue this. Not BoA. <Cough, cough.> Not even A&A; This is Protectorate. Protectorate's funding this. They're doing search and rescue! They only give a shit so far as we minimize collateral!
Dr. Byron: Tch— This isn't a research mission! You don't have years. You have months at best. <Cough, cough.> This entire place—this lifeboat is a scarlet red flag to the entire veil. HR isn't depersoning me over your spreadsheets.
<Dr. Byron collapses on the ground from wheezing.>
Dr. McGinnis: Byron!
<Byron continues to intelligibly slur his words, his ears visibly bleeding. The hissing noise balances out to a steady pulsing over the receiver. Dr. McGinnis turns over to one of the Junior Research staff inside.>
Dr. McGinnis: Pull back the RSF from outside. There's been cross-contamination with a cognito— there's——
<Junior Researcher ██████ collapses onto the floor, vomiting. The pitch of RPC-419 continues to intensify.>
Dr. McGinnis: Shit. Shit! Where is it, where is it?
<Dr. McGinnis begins a frantic search of the cabin for the volume remote before exiting the cabin.>
<The patrol boat's main deck entrance is kicked open. Dr. McGinnis enters with a fire safety axe and begins clawing at the sound system. Diver-419/12, RSF-419/006, and -419/015 walk into the room. The speaker system falls dead. Both men remove the coverings from their ears.>
Dr. McGinnis: Shit—— <Hyperventilating> Guh.
RSF-419/12: Sir?
Dr. McGinnis: We—— we need to go.
<Dr. McGinnis grabs a box of cotton swabs.>
Dr. McGinnis: Put these in your ears. Start the engine.
RSF-419/12: Sir th—
Dr. McGinnis: The safeboat has been compromised. Put these in your ears and start the fucking engine.
<Dr. McGinnis heaves the master tape recorder off the floor before fumbling to shut the machine off.>
<End Log>
Closing Statement: A later evaluation at FH Installation-5 determined that the staff of AET-1/419 had accidentally incurred a potent memetic hazard being admitted by the RPC-419 being recorded. Dr. McGinnis' inoculation on previous projects with higher-memetic anomalies had allowed him to take immediate action and perform a ready evacuation. Contact with rover EC-1404 is considered decommissioned, with no plans to replace it. Members of the Experimentation Team are being treated for severe brain damage following several aneurysms.
Research has determined that RPC-419 reproduces through a trans-mutative reanimation process completed through ritualistic thaumaturgy.
Incident Report 419-M: On 08/22/2023, the severed heads of seven small children were discovered near Gate B via a surveillance camera. Displaying advanced signs of aquatic decomposition and skin discoloration, each head was wrapped in mud-covered, torn parchments of clothing. The display was submerged in a large trench of water, dug inland, with several patterned rings of salt encircling the hole. To the surprise of the ASF guards investigating the display, the human remains were found to have been reanimated via supernatural means, silently able to move what remained of their eyes and ears with full facial articulation.10 The severed adolescent heads, referred to as RPC-419-A, were sent to Site-002 Low-Containment Unit for study. Reclassification of RPC-419 to Beta Containment is pending review has been granted as of 08/28/2023.
Incident Report 419-N: On 08/27/2023, civilian George Johnson, father of Chris, was shot while trying to breach the perimeter of FH-Installation-5. Following a preliminary interview, Mr. Johnson had made several phone calls to Dr. Byron (under his official alias) and the then-disguised Protectorate Installation. A SNAFU occurred as ASF-Transfer ███ █████ tried to detain Mr. Johnson, then scaling the northwest perimeter, after attempting to flee deeper into the field camp. ACI informants had noted plans by George and Laurine Johnson to temporarily move out of the area due to continued skepticism by cryptid-enthusiasts. However, further Authority interference was deemed frivolous by the Protectorate.
A full log of the phone calls has been included:
[08/18/2023] “Hey! Mr. Barbradie,11 I know you said to only call for emergencies, but many people were asking about Chrissy, and the county said you were handling it. But, I— I don't wanna do an interview. Just please give us a call. Alright? Number's uh, five-seven-eight, four-one-three-two. Thank you for everything."
[08/21/2023] "Okay, I'm sorry for how I acted during our first encounter. It was a lotta stress. I'm sorry. I didn't, I didn't mean to lash out. It's been hard. It's hard to get out of the house. We didn't get the private investigator, like you said. We avoided the park roads. We just want these people to stop. Can you provide, uh, something signed? Some kinda update on our—"
[08/23/2023] "Okay, the questions are really getting to Laurine, Officer. People keep asking me about a fence. What, what fence? What are these people talking about? I haven't talked to the news like you wanted, and I'm assuming this is a real number, but… I've been patient. I've, I've tried not to call. I don't think you understand that. You can't say you'll do everything to protect us and then not say anything. Just please, give me a call. It’s five-seven-eight, uh, four… Sorry, four-one-three-two."
[08/24/2023] "Are you spying on me? I saw a van pull out of the supermarket. Someone's fucking following us, and I don't know where my fucking boys are. Some chucklefuck has a camcorder saying we're fake and he speeds off. I'm not gonna be silent about this, I'm going to the police and—— <Six-second pause.> Oh, damn."
[08/26/2023] "So, I got laid off 'cause no police report exists to give my boss. You never sent it. Who are you? Just, level with me? I don't know these people. Nineteen-action ran a story about me being a conspiracy theorist, half of the crazies think I'm some Bond, undercover agent. What the fuck, man. <Profuse sobbing.> I shouldn't have gone back to the island. I shouldn't have gone over her head. We didn't even fucking go. I told you Laurin stopped—"
[08/26/2023 - Second Voicemail] "Just please, just fucking call. Somebody. I didn't axe murder my kids. I didn't go back to where I and Beaumann saw them. It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing. I didn't do anything. I- I was revisiting memories. I wasn't actually trying to hunt anything. Anything! I'm sorry. I want Lee and Chrissy back. <Sigh.> Uh, five-seven-eight, four-one-three-two.”
[08/27/2023] "You have a hospital!? A damn hospital? <Exhale.> I went to the station, third time. Says there's no Officer Barbrady and that you were relocating tents. You can put up a goddamn fence but not call me back. You piece of shit. Give me a fake number; I know where——”
Mr. Johnson would succumb to blood loss during a scheduling conflict between remaining paramedics, stabilizing him, and an amnestics team trying to transfer him to a civilian hospital to avoid overcrowding in the camp. His death would be reported as a likely drowning a day after. The burner number given to Mr. Johnson was a generic ACI line later revealed to have been misfiled within the ASF directory. The Site-002 Ethics and Review Board would later review Chris's further detainment as unethical, transferring him to a mental health facility in Jackson Hole under Authority observation. Requests by Dr. McGinnis to begin the extermination of Leigh Lake and displacement of relevant entities to Site-009, as well as requests for disability restitution for the surviving members of AET-1/419, are pending review.