RPC-696

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Registered Phenomena Code: 696

Object Class: Beta-Orange

Hazard Types: Organic Hazard, Sentient Hazard, Tychokinetic Hazard, Emotional Hazard, Mind Control Hazard

Containment Protocols:

Image of RPC-696 taken by PVT Walker during the initial investigation.

RPC-696 is to be sprayed with one half-liter (0.13 gallons) of animal fluids every day at 18:00 GMT. At least once per week these fluids must consist of a specialized admixture of human origin¹. Contracts have been established with the nearest █████ bank at █████████ as well as with █████████ ████████ to ensure a steady supply of human admixture and animal fluids of acceptable quality. The bath should be made of █████, █████, and █████² in a 3:2:1 ratio.

RPC-696 must be recorded at all times; retrieved footage should be scanned for unexpected growth at least once per hour, even at night. Daily growth or shrinkage within a range of five centimeters (two inches) is to be considered normal and regular. Approval of acting heads of staff and a Level 4 or higher security override is required before any attempt to physically alter RPC-696. It is similarly important, before raising alarm, to review footage to determine if a branch has changed in size or if RPC-696 moved it from another location.

Detailed reports covering RPC-696's cumulative growth, movement, and health must be emailed to Dr. █████ or the acting head of staff through their intranet address at least twice a week. As of ██/█ /████, these regular reports are scheduled for Wednesday and Sunday. If these dates are missed and immediate contact fails, the facility will be presumed lost and a team will be dispatched for armed investigation.

While RPC-696 is relatively easy to contain³ and may be reclassified to Alpha at a later date, at no point should this encourage dereliction of duties. Current Beta classification is primarily motivated by a general lack of understanding of RPC-696's motives, needs, capabilities, limitations, and weaknesses. If containment of RPC-696 fails again, it could have dire consequences.

Background information about RPC-696 is available to Research staff via Description files "Physical Description" and "Anomalous Behavior." Additionally, all personnel, acting or transient, must thoroughly review "Safety Considerations" before physically entering the facility.

Description:

[Access File: Physical Description]

RPC-696 is a perennial tree mostly⁴ genetically equivalent to the Populus nigra⁵ common through central and eastern Europe. RPC-696 is ten and a half meters (34.4 feet) tall with a trunk approximately 2 meters (6.6 feet) in diameter. In appearance alone, RPC-696 is not overtly noteworthy. The most visually distinct feature of the tree is its wild, decurrent⁶ branches wholly unlike that of many modern cultivars, which is only notable to horticulturists, and barely visible "heart-shaped imprints"⁷ spread over most of the trunk between one and two meters (3.3 and 6.6 feet) from the ground. These imprints are suspected to be traces of healed-over scars generated by civilian activity. No concrete origin of these imprints has been determined; it has also been argued that they occur naturally on RPC-696's surface to function as a lure.

Based on the outcome of an attempted incineration of bark scrapings taken prior to containment, RPC-696 may be unusually flame retardant. This property is anticipated to share common origin with its apparent ability to absorb fluids more quickly and thoroughly than typical trees, even though its bark. Such absorption would imply that the tree's whole husk was made up of living or fibrous tissue. As of ██/██/████ this assessment has not yet been tested. Planned research initiatives on the subject were cancelled due to the somewhat precarious nature of RPC-696's containment.

RPC-696 appears to derive sustenance from animal fluids. RPC-696 does not appear to need sunlight or water to grow, unlike most plants.
At least when exposed to the bodily fluids of an animal or animals, RPC-696 is capable of limited motion and remarkable rapid growth. Any practical limits on these capabilities have not been yet been determined. Going forward, this particular factor is anticipated to be the deciding element in any future re-classifications of RPC-696's lethality or containment indices. It is imperative that any qualified personnel that observes RPC-696 growing or moving in a way that exceeds expected bounds report the incident immediately to the nearest accessible site, or failing this the first available MST. Any such request should be made as a ██████ priority alert.

[Access File: Anomalous Behavior]

Fashioned "the Paramour's Poplar," RPC-696 has been a famous matchmaking aide for ███ years. RPC-696 is particularly popular with those already in unsteady or hostile relationships. Historically, prospective lovers would couch letters in its branches; these letters would demand whoever read it meet for a tryst beneath the tree's low branches.

Over the years, no less than four lone operatives investigated these urban legends. Unanimously it was determined that they were baseless assertions, or at least that the effects were non-anomalous.
█████ ████████ █████████ ███ █████████ from the office of █████████████████, statistical analysis caught a previously unnoticed trend: of the four independent operatives who investigated RPC-696, each had untimely and undesired break-ups or divorces. This was the case even with the two in engaged in Authority-enforced cover-up relationships. Operative █████████, the only one of the four with unguided international travel clearance, made several return trips to a town in immediate proximity to RPC-696. The justification for these trips was determined to be falsified, which was the first such infraction on █████████'s report.
In a follow-up investigation, it was revealed that Operative █████████, who had been in a relatively stable homosexual relationship, was in fact taking these trips to meet a female lover under the branches of RPC-696. This sudden tryst occurred despite █████████ having, at no point, expressed or demonstrated any interest in the opposite sex.

Psychosomatic profiling found none of the expected neurological markers associated with such a dramatic change in sexual proclivities. When interrogated about these affairs, Operative █████████ had no explanation for their sudden change in sexuality other than, to quote, "finding true love".
During containment it was confirmed that via unknown means⁸, proximity to RPC-696 induces unusual, and often wanton, sexual acts that almost universally result in new couples. Experiments with staff and CSD personnel deliberately exposed to RPC-696's influence revealed that this seemingly random compulsion in fact had components of both Emotional and Mind Control mental hazards.

On discovery of Operative █████████'s sudden change in proclivities it was suspected that RPC-696's anomalous coercion generated exclusively heterosexual relationships; however, on review, numerous reports of homosexual relationships were obtained from the nearby populace and later corroborated. Building on those reports, several spontaneous and anomalous homosexual relationships were confirmed and recorded during the Paramour Garden phase, making a heterosexual coupling a non-essential component for RPC-696's coercion to take effect. The specific circumstances needed to generate, or prevent, a RPC-696 event were further complicated by the fact that all surviving relationships spawned by RPC-696 involve at least one male participant. This apparent discrimination in relationship composition is suspected to be evidence for RPC-696's sentient status and specifically motivated by RPC-696's base utilization of █████ for sustenance. The mechanisms used in determining which people are paired and their sexes are unclear.

RPC-696's anomalous effect of generating new relationships has been determined to have at least two components. If a subject has left a letter in RPC-696's branches, when any individual makes contact with that letter, both parties feel a compulsion to enter and remain within sight of RPC-696, or secondarily to enter under its branches at a coordinated time that ranges from three hours to six weeks of the event. Secondarily, any individual who has seen RPC-696 in person within a proximity of at least █ kilometers⁹ can be spontaneously coerced into a relationship, most frequently when RPC-696 has not seen a tryst within █ days. When an afflicted subject is deprived of their ability to approach or arrive at the coordinated time spontaneously arranged, they will became violent, often to the point of recklessness. This violence appears to be the direct result of a mind control class hazard.

During testing, as afflicted subjects were forcibly moved farther away from RPC-696, in raw distance¹⁰, their violent tendency diminished rapidly, eventually fading entirely at ██ kilometers. The second component of RPC-696's anomalous effect, a purely emotional longing for a new partner and desire to visit RPC-696 at a point in the future, did not fade at any distance. Interviews with civilians who experienced a RPC-696 event reveal such feelings even fifty to sixty years later, with some making regular visits. A test with a pair CSD personnel forced into a RPC-696 event revealed that, even when amnesticized this emotional desire remained; when put into solitary confinement at site ████ and asked to point to where their 'ideal vacation' would be, both personnel pointed within meters of RPC-696, an occurrence that was rated to have a likelihood lower than █████%. While this emotional hazard is manageable with attention, based on all tests, it is impossible to remove.
Both of RPC-696's coercive effects were observed even in individuals already in relationships who reported total satisfaction with their circumstances.

When exposed in a similar way, individuals with no recent romantic or sexual relationship frequently, but not always, demonstrated a sudden longing to enter a new relationship; they also demonstrated the inexplicable violent tendencies when restrained. The remainder of individuals with no recent romantic or sexual relationships appear to be totally immune to both RPC-696's Emotional and Mind Control hazards. Dr. █████'s own seeming immunity¹¹ was the motive for their initial promotion to the position of Paramour Gardens facility public face and director.

The final tests before the the Paramour Garden Incident were devised to deprive RPC-696 of visitors for escalating periods of time. This was intended to gain an understanding of its feeding patterns and the upper limits of its coercive range. During these tests, a strong Tychokinetic hazard was identified. If even only a single person in a █ kilometer radius of the tree had at any point placed a letter on its branches, then without fail they would attempt to enter the facility. Eventually this impulse became so strong it extended even to some people who had merely laid eyes on RPC-696. Multiple civilians successfully bypassed entire task forces in what was ███████████ to ███████████████ █████████ ████, or in essence, virtually impossible.

When totally deprived of animal fluids for a duration exceeding eighteen hours, RPC-696 demonstrates new and potentially hostile anomalous effects. While it does not appear to be the result of deliberate animosity toward humans¹², these hazards could lead to mass loss of life if left unchecked. RPC-696 is strongly suspected to be a Sentient hazard; there is presently no body of evidence for escalation to Sapient status.

[Access File: Safety Considerations]

• Avoid physical contact with RPC-696 at all times¹³. Make note of any contact with RPC-696 and the extenuating circumstances leading to that contact at first opportunity.
• Avoid physical contact with other personnel at all times. Make note of any contact with other personnel and the extenuating circumstances leading to that contact at first opportunity.
• If you have any unreported or otherwise unaccounted for preexisting relationship when you are ordered to relocate to the facility premises, you must describe these relationships in detail to the nearest qualified personnel and report to site █████████ for reprimand and immediate transfer.
• If you are approached by one or more potential romantic partners inexplicably while working on site, describe this encounter or these encounters to the nearest qualified personnel in detail and report to site █████████ for immediate transfer.
• If you feel sudden or pervasive romantic feelings toward any individual within a 5 kilometer radius of the RPC-696 facility, describe these feelings in detail to the nearest qualified personnel and report to site █████████ for immediate transfer.
• If you find yourself near or within the facility premises after transfer due to any of the aforementioned risk conditions, alert all available Level 4 or higher authorities, the current facility manager (as of ██/██/████ still Dr. █████), as well as all available staff. Once the Authority has been informed, you must terminate yourself at first opportunity.

Four addenda have been attached to RPC-696's documentation to enhance the debriefing process of new personnel. Because of the somewhat precarious nature of RPC-696's containment it is imperative that all active or incoming Research staff review each file every day they are active on-location, especially before advocating any changes to current protocols.

Addendum 1.1: Initial Field Investigation on █/█ /████.
Addendum 1.2: Transcript of Interview with Dr. █████ as head of operations on ██/██ /████.
Addendum 1.3: Paramour Garden Incident Investigation on ██/█ /████.
Addendum 1.4: Transcript of Interview with Dr. █████ immediately following extraction and treatment.
Addendum 1.5: Summary Notes on potential links to the Descendants of Yggdrasil.

Any questions about events reported in any of the attached files should be directed towards Dr. █████ through their intranet email address at ███████████████.

[Access File: Addendum 1.1]

Mission Transcript: "FIELD REPORT"

Date: ██/██ /████

Team ID: ASF-RR-15 "Flyboys"

ASF-RR-15-1: 1LT Dade

ASF-RR-15-2: CPL Radwanowski

ASF-RR-15-4: PFC White

ASF-RR-15-5: PV2 Giorgio

ASF-RR-15-6: PVT Lengyel

ASF-RR-15-8: PVT Walker

---

[BEGIN LOG]

[0000:07] [Dade]: We're on-site.

[0000:10] [Radwanowski]: I'm not seeing anything yet. Over.

[0000:14] [Dade]: We're here for a tree, man. You expected a firefight? Over.

[0000:14] < "Over." repeated with an apparently demeaning tone of voice. >

[0000:18] [White]: Creek clear.

[0000:19] [Lengyel]: Road clear.

[0000:27] [Dade]: Alright. Close in on the tree.

[0000:31] [Radwanowski]: I'm not picking up any EMS.

[0000:34] [Walker]: Sonar is clear.

[0000:39] [Giorgio]: Radiation clear.

[0000:41] [Dade]: Let's make this quick. Radwan, get that sample. Rest of you, brace for odd behavior.

[0000:47] [Radwanowski]: Alright.

[0000:56] [White]: There are leaves moving by me.

[0000:58] [Lengyel]: Roger.

[0000:59] [Giorgio]: I see them.

[0001:07] [Giorgio]: It's a squirrel.

[0001:11] [Dade]: I think we're clear.

[0001:13] [Dade]: Nothing to report so far. We sure this is the place?

[0001:18] [Radwanowski]: Yeah. See these shapes by where I'm working?

[0001:19] [Dade]: I saw those in the debrief.

[0001:19] [Dade]: Wait, is that a heart?

[0001:18] [Radwanowski]: Yeah.

[0001:18] < "Yeah." stated with an apparently demeaning tone of voice. >

[0001:19] [Dade]: No, shit-head, I mean a real, an-a-tomical heart.

[0001:25] [Radwanowski]: Oh, hell. Sure looks like one.

[0001:28] [Dade]: We got a camera?

[0001:30] [Radwanowski]: Cognito risk.

[0001:32] [Dade]: Let's just get out of here then. I don't like this.

[0001:42] [Radwanowski]: I got enough bark for a dozen eggheads. Still no sign of hostility.

[0001:46] [Dade]: Alright, all east for extraction.

[0001:48] [Giorgio]: Roger.

[0001:49] [White]: Roger.

[0001:49] [Lengyel]: Roger.

[0001:50] [Walker]: Roger.

[END LOG]

[NOTES]
- At the time of investigation it was unclear whether pictures of RPC-696 would trigger its effects. While not totally ruled out, this hazard has been deemed satisfactorily improbable enough to be ignored.
- Team Leader 1LT Dade reprimanded for not encouraging proper communications over the course of the field investigation.
- Recorded electromagnetic, radiation, and sonar feedback stored in site ████.

[Access File: Addendum 1.2]

Interview Transcript: "PARAMOUR BOTANICAL GARDEN"

Date: ██/██ /████

Interviewer: Dr. █████████, "K"

Interviewee: Dr. ██████, "S"

---

[BEGIN LOG]

[S] How's it going, Dr. █████████?

[K] Very well, at least now. You?

[S] This has got to be the smoothest job I've had since forever.

[K] Great to hear. Well, they've sent me out here to see how this "facility" of yours is running.

[S] Ha, it feels awkward to talk about it like that, doesn't it? It's too […] Civilian.

[K] I couldn't believe this was Authority property. It's more like ████████████████████████████████ than a proper containment site.

[S] We couldn't just lock away this sort of landmark without a major investment. It seems safe enough, so why not turn a profit while we probe it out? We can always have the garden "burn down" and let one of our front companies take the fall after we make our money back.

[K] I forget how pragmatic they can be when there aren't so many lives at stake.

[S] You've been stuck at ████████████ too long, Dr. █████████. You should ask for a reprieve. Study something a bit less "risky."

[K] You might be right. Let's see here […] I think I'm supposed to record your current experiments' status and your future goals.

[S] I've been running a few assays on the bark we got back from the first investigation. That wound healed over fast enough, but if RPC-696 stops exhibiting anomalous healing properties, a repeat like that could land us in hot water with the guests. We've still got plenty of sample, anyway.

[K] Okay.

[S] It's about like a normal poplar, though not quite. It doesn't burn, for one. We've got more specialized botanists doing everything up by eye until we're ready for more dramatic inspection.

[K] Any idea why it doesn't burn?

[S] It seems more veined than a standard lignin sheath. Almost spongy.

[K] Got it. What's next for the facility?

[S] We're going to try starving it out. Cut off that steady supply of people and animals we keep 'accidentally' let get frisky under its branches.

[K] Are you sure about this?

[S] Slowly at first, then more concretely. We're going to see what it needs, doesn't need, and at what threshold things gets weird. I'm sure things will get a bit weird at some point, anyway. We're probably going to start making preparations for the Garden to "close for remodeling," or even evacuate the area for a bit if that's what it takes.

[K] I see.

[S] We might be onto something good here, Dr. █████████. Maybe even a new drug. I already sent off a couple of my chunks of tree for the CRISPR boys to play with. Imagine all the stuff this sort of universal mood agent could do for the Authority.

[K] I can't imagine.

< Interviewer "K" pauses to scan his notes. >

[K] With that, I think we've covered our bases.

[S] Yeah.

[K] Actually, █████████, while I'm here…

< Interviewer "K" shifts uncomfortably. "S" does not appear to notice this activity. >

[S] What? Are we through already?

[K] I…

[S] You don't have to keep the interview going if we're done. It's fine.

[K] Don't worry about it, Dr. ██████. I think I was getting my files mixed up.

[S] Okay, Dr. █████████. Let's chat again, okay?

< Interviewer "K" nods and stands to go. "S" waves politely. >

[END LOG]

[Access File: Addendum 1.3]

Mission Transcript: "OPERATION GARDEN SNAKE"

Date: ██/█ /████

Team ID: ASF-RR-15 "Flyboys"

ASF-RR-15-1: 2LT Dade

ASF-RR-15-2: CPL Radwanowski

ASF-RR-15-3: SPC Smith

ASF-RR-15-4: PFC White

ASF-RR-15-5: PV2 Giorgio

ASF-RR-15-6: PVT Lengyel

ASF-RR-15-7: PVT Jenkins

ASF-RR-15-8: PVT Walker

---

Significant portions of this transcript are only authorized to be viewed by personnel with a 4.1 or greater on the Bryke Mental Resilience Index. Activate the following button to run the automated clearance checks and access the full transcript:

[Access File: Addendum 1.4]

Interrogation Transcript: "POST INCIDENT"

Date: ██/█ /████

Interviewer: Second Lieutenant George M. Dade

Interviewee: Dr. ██████, "S"

---

[BEGIN LOG]

[Dade] Are you feeling better, Dr. ██████?

[S] A little. Do you know if they'll get me Class A's?

< 2LT Dade falls silent. >

[S] Sir?

[Dade] I'm afraid you aren't going to be getting any.

[S] Why not?

[Dade] You're the only one left.

[S] I've already said I would file a report.

[Dade] You're not understanding me.

[S] So tell me why!

< Dr. ██████ slams the desk. >

[Dade] Calm down, Dr. ██████. You should know well enough.

[S] This is so far estranged from protocol, I…

[Dade] You're the only person left, which means you are the only person alive who we can confidently say will not be affected by RPC-696.

[S] I…

[Dade] This is where you are needed. Unless you have a damn good reason or a bitter pill, it's where you're staying.

[S] I…

[S] I think I can do it, but I'm not staying on site.

< 2Lt Dade pauses for a moment, and then nods. >

[Dade] I'm getting authorization for that now.

[S] Alright. Is that all you need?

[Dade] I'm here to record your observations fresh, too.

[S] I do have some thoughts on how things… went.

[Dade] Why are you still alive, Dr. ██████?

[S] I holed up.

[Dade] Anything else?

[S] Are you looking for why I wasn't affected?

[Dade] I think so.

[S] I have a strong suspicion that it has to do with, my, relationship status.

[Dade] I'm no egghead- sorry, 'scientist', but me and my men got debriefed. They said singles were usually affected too.

[S] No, I mean my relationship status in a very literal sense. I've never been in one.

[Dade] Wait, really? You?

[S] I think it was never meant to be.

< 2LT Dade shuffles his papers, scanning over a transcript of Dr. ██████'s previous interview. >

[Dade] Are you kidding me?

[S] What do you mean?

[Dade] Nothing that matters now. I think I got the picture.

[S] Okay.

[Dade] So what you're saying is, the minority group of people who didn't get affected by RPC-696 were all secret virgins?

[S] That's a rude way to put it, but yes. I suspect so.

[Dade] Alright, I'm getting the O-K on that topic. How about the attack? How did it go down?

[S] Everything was going well enough, with only a few careless staffers detained and deported. No sign of anything.

[Dade] That sure looked like fucking 'something' to me.

[S] Getting there. About four hours ago or so, I heard some glass shatter. There was a person outside a nearby window. They leaped for Dr. ████████ and at least by the time they made contact I saw she was gone. I ran.

[Dade] Go on.

[S] If that was all, that wouldn't be so bad. It sounded like a hurricane was hitting the garden. More people broke in and gunshots started. I pulled an alarm and ducked in a bathroom.

[Dade] So you missed most of it?

[S] More or less. I peaked out a few times by the time the halls were coated. I blockaded the door and made myself scarce. It went quiet after a while, but some of them must have found me.

[Dade] That'd be when my boys showed up.

[S] Right, complete with freshly perforated civilians. Did they make the other… 'wounds'?

[Dade] No, that was all things they did themselves.

[S] Jesus.

[Dade] I don't envy you, Dr. ██████. Did they tell you me and my boys did the initial investigation?

[S] No, they hadn't.

[Dade] That creek looked so peaceful then, but I knew deep down it was a lie. It's something hungry.

[S] I suspect much the same. It's all part of this same pattern, the relationships, the coercion, the manipulation. People coming back. I think if RPC-696 gets fed just right, we'll never have a problem like this ever again.

[Dade] What happens if it doesn't?

[S] I pray we never find out. I'll be doing my praying from a safe distance, in any case.

[Dade] You are a smart one, after all.

[S] Sir, if you get an offer for a fresh job at a site that's 'easy and safe'? Turn it down.

[Dade] Damn straight. I'm looking through my notes- that should be all we've got to cover, Dr. ██████.

[S] It was nice to meet you. I suspect you won't know me at all, should we meet again, though.

[Dade] I can only hope.

[END LOG]

[NOTES]
- In the aftermath of the Paramour Garden Incident, ASF Rapid Response Team-15 was dispersed. In its place a new unit was foundered to guard the redesigned, no-visitor-access Paramour Botanical Garden based primarily on sexual purity. The new ASF Rapid Response was subsequently code-named 'Monast Garden' as an homage to historic virginal botanists such as Otto Brunfels and Gregor Mendel.

[Access File: Addendum 1.5]

Investigation Notes: "CLEANUP CREW"

Date: ██/██/████

Team ID: ASF Rapid Response-15 "Monast Garden"

Investigator: HSLR Monica Smith

---

Investigation into the Paramour Garden has revealed troubling signs of involvement from the group referring to itself as the "Descendants of Yggdrasil".

The first indication of SoY presence was tenuous: rare plants of various species were discovered in the vicinity, starting from roughly a kilometer away from the Site, with pods scattered about to nearly █ kilometers away. While these were not species endemic to the region, they were growing healthily, and showed no sign of invasive behavior. Quite the contrary, it appeared as though the plants were scattered about for the specific purpose of enhancing and encouraging local flora growth, by balancing factors such as ████████, ██████, pH, soil nutrients, and so forth. Authority Botanists affiliated with the Site described this finding as, and I quote this view verbatim, "weird as hell," because the logistics of organizing and executing such a plan are presumed insurmountable, and the rewards, usually too insignificant to justify the labor. When evaluated, this strange flora distribution was initially considered potentially an anomalous effect, but is now thought to be a side-project executed by Descendants of Yggdrasil operatives. That is, in their spare time, when not preoccupied with monitoring RPC-696 or infiltrating Paramour Garden.

Far less tenuous was the discovery of footage of a single male, name █████████████████ identity confirmed as ████████████████ (████████), entering the facility after hours on ██/█/████. Unmitigated plant growth obscured parts of the camera used to watch the atrium (deliberate?), but the lack of facial identity was not noticed at the time, as during the Paramour Garden phase night entry was not uncommon. After the Paramour Garden Incident, Forensics used his profile and gait to connect him to an individual caught on the daytime camera, complete with a face. That face was tied back to this individual, previously marked 'of special interest' from the known SoY roster.
At one point in footage, ███████ takes out what appears to be a "phone" near RPC-696 and kneels for ten minutes (10:22). Based on his position and appearance, this was assumed to be the mystery subject "on the phone, contacting a lover". When he departs alone, soil disruption is visible to the camera, albeit very faintly. Given that the soil was also severely disrupted by the Paramour Garden Incident itself, and had to be resurfaced, investigation became complex. Camera footage was referenced to recreate the scene and carefully excavate the location, once found.
A pellet identified as a "plant bomb, or long-acting herbicide" [sic] was popped open, and buried, set adjacent to one of RPC-696's larger lateral roots. Much is unclear about how it got there, but I am confident that it was ███████ who placed it.
The team extracted the pellet and promptly treated RPC-696 with reversal and compensatory nutrients, but the herbicide was by that point long past expiry. Analysis of trace residue indicated that the herbicide in question was █████, a weak multi-purpose herbicide that is ultimately unlikely to harm RPC-696 in any enduring way. However, it is both plausible and likely that this "plant bomb" was a precipitating factor in RPC-696's especially violent activity, in addition to, or instead of, the experiments conducted by Authority staff at the Paramour Garden facility.

When contacted, the Descendants of Yggdrasil have denied any involvement in the incident, as well as disavowed ████████████████ according to descriptions of his actions. They followed this disavowal with offers to "care for" RPC-696 if containment proved "too specialized" for the Authority. While mass murder is not in keeping with their typical mode of operation, based on circumstantial evidence, I believe that the SoY - or perhaps, rogue elements within it - were in critically involved.
██████████████████████████████████. This is concerning, as containment is already tenuous without external threat. We, of Monast Garden, are not typically affected by the neurological hazards RPC-696 presents. This is by design. At the same time, the tree is fickle. It is impossible to tell when it is "taking offense" or "taking action" in the way you might be able to with a fauna or humanoid anomaly, and it is not as rigorous and predictable as most of the inanimate. Experiments using Monast Garden in care of ██████████████ have had superior containment outcomes to RPC-696, the very anomaly we were organized around. It seems to grow ever more demanding, in real time, even as we study it and contain it.

Worryingly, based on regular height and branch length measurements, RPC-696 had a period of growth following the Paramour Garden Incident, which was apparently unprecedented, and has not been matched since. That observation is made while taking into account the regular application of the "specialized recipe," which marks this as a clear case of anomalous growth. RPC-696 feeds on ████████████████ as much as █████ and ██. Consequently, when functional testing was resumed, it was determined qualitatively that the intensity of the neurological hazards had increased after this period coinciding with the growth, perhaps proportionally (exponentially?) to the increase in size of the tree.
Attempts to prune the Poplar have seen mixed results. An attempt to prune back a bough appeared to pass safely, but local statisticians observed that the rate of sexual assault increased by three standard deviations in a ██ kilometer radius, a deviation that lasted four months before gradually returning to the baseline. This event cannot be demonstrably linked to RPC-696, but it does not by any means appear to be a coincidence, either. It paints a grim picture of the potency of RPC-696, as well as the Authority's ability to contain it using a "clear-cut" approach. As designated HSLR, I strongly recommend maintaining the current designation and procedure, but I would not call this unsteady state a "successful containment".

On that note, were another incident on the order of magnitude of Paramour Garden to occur, RPC-696 would be impossible for the Authority to contain by any reasonable means without dramatic consequences. In a situation like that, enlisting the help of, or conscripting, more specialized personnel - as in the case of the Descendants of Yggdrasil - would in fact be an effective solution. Perhaps the only effective solution.

Given the subject of this particular investigation, one is forced to ask:
Was that the plan?

[Access Index: Footnotes]

Footnotes

1. After watering RPC-696 with a purely nonhuman admixture for five days, anomalous effects restarted unexpectedly. As of ██/█ /████ it is unclear whether this uptick was the result of a satiety concern from RPC-696 or a manifestation of some kind of taste preference.

2. The exact specialized recipe is made available by request to Dr. █████ through their intranet email address or via any site management with a Level 3 clearance and a 3.2 or better on the Bryke Mental Resilience Index.

3. Staff turnover at the Paramour Garden facility makes containment pricey and the retraining process laborious, however presently the containment process is considered both manageable and regular.

4. Bark scrapings taken from RPC-696 were sequenced and compared with a sample taken from a nearby seed bank. The two genomes had a correlation of 99.8%; experiments to determine the effect of this 0.2% genetic deviation on RPC-696's anomalous nature have been underway since █/██/████. As of ██/██/████, there have been no scientifically significant discoveries.

5. Black Poplar

6. Extending downwards; branching limbs frequently attached to other branching limbs rather than a trunk or stem.

7. Shapes similar to an ideographic representation of a heart, as in Unicode: ❤. Several shapes reportedly resembling human or animal hearts were observed during the initial investigation, however as of ██/██/████, no similar imprints have since been observed.

8. Pheromones, electromagnetic signals, and aural waves were eliminated as possible explanations via testing during the Paramour Garden phase.

9. Initially suspected to be 'still within eyeshot of RPC-696', this number has increased continuously over time.

10. Number of obstacles, width of obstacles, quantity of mass placed between the afflicted subject and the RPC-696, and duration kept out of line of sight all had no apparent impact on the degree of violent compulsion in any experiment; adding distance in any direction did.

11. The probable cause of this immunity has since been identified following the Paramour Garden incident. At the direct request of Dr. █████ and allegedly to 'ensure incoming personnel take RPC-696's containment seriously', this expected cause is listed in Addendum 1.4 via interview and nowhere else in RPC-696's immediate documentation.

12. No danger is observed when RPC-696 is allowed to attain fluids at a rate equivalent to that it typically amassed prior to being placed in containment or if it is fed fluids in ratios proportional to that typical yield.

13. While it is unclear whether contact with RPC-696 encourages anomalous effects, until more effective containment protocols have been developed, ████████████████████ has deemed it too risky to make regular or irregular contact of any kind.

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